Giant Crystal Cave in Naica, Mexico

Cave of the Crystals or Giant Crystal Cave is a cave connected to the Naica Mine 300 metres (980 ft) below the surface in Naica, Chihuahua, Mexico. The main chamber contains giant selenite crystals (gypsum, CaSO4·2 H2O), some of the largest natural crystals ever found. The cave's largest crystal found to date is 12 m (39 ft) in length, 4 m (13 ft) in diameter and 55 tons in weight.

The cave is extremely hot with air temperatures reaching up to 58 °C (136 °F) with 90 to 99 percent humidity. The cave is relatively unexplored due to these factors. Without proper protection people can only endure approximately ten minutes of exposure at a time.

 A group of scientists known as the Naica Project have been heavily involved in researching these caverns.

 Naica lies on an ancient fault and there is an underground magma chamber below the cave. The magma heated the ground water and it became saturated with minerals, including large quantities of gypsum.

 The hollow space of the cave was filled with this mineral-rich hot water and remained filled for about 500,000 years. During this time, the temperature of the water remained very stable at over 50 °C (122 °F). This allowed crystals to form and grow to immense sizes.

Source: Wikipedia

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Bachelor party finds Stegomastodon fossil in New Mexico

The gigantic Mastadon fossil found at Elephant Butte Lake is now at its new home in Albuquerque.

Excavation is only expected to take about six hours but will require some pretty heavy-duty machinery. The skull is filled with sand and might weigh as much as 1,000 pounds.a 

The Stegomastodon skull has been successfully moved to the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science to be studied.

The fragile fossil was placed in a cast to protect it on the journey.

A group of men at a bachelor party found it earlier this week.

Paleontologists say it could be the most complete fossil of a Stegomastodon ever found in the US.

The fossil will be studied for the next several months before potentially going on display for the public.- Krqe

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Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum - The Largest Collection of Historic Air and Space Objects in the World

The National Air and Space Museum (Independence Avenue at 6th Street, Washington, D.C. ) is just one of the nineteen museums, galleries, zoos, and buildings owned and operated by the Smithsonian Institution. Originally called the National Air Museum when it was formed on August 12, 1946 by an act of Congress, some pieces in the National Air and Space Museum collection date back to 1876. It is an enormous museum that can satisfy anyone with a love of air power and history or space exploration.

An average of almost nine million people visit this museum each year. The Air & Space Museum maintains the largest collection of historic air and spacecraft in the world.

The (Enola Gay) The B-29 That Dropped the Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, August 5, 1945

Discovery, created in 1979

Via: puerrtto

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