Haboob - Intense Sandstorm Formation

Image via Wikipedia

   A haboob (Arabic هبوب) is a type of intense sandstorm commonly observed in arid regions throughout the world. There is almost no visibility in close proximity when inside the area covered by the haboob (as can be seen in the video below).

   During thunderstorm formation, winds move in a direction opposite to the storm's travel, and they will move from all directions into the thunderstorm. When the storm collapses and begins to release precipitation, wind directions reverse, gusting outward from the storm and generally gusting the strongest in the direction of the storm's travel.

   When this downdraft, or "downburst", reaches the ground, dry, loose sand from the desert setting is essentially blown up, creating a wall of sediment preceding the storm cloud. This wall of sand can be up to 100 km (60 miles) wide and several kilometers in elevation. At their strongest, haboob winds can travel at 35-50 km/h (20-30 mph), and they may approach with little to no warning.

via: YouTube

2012 Pole Shift: Prophecies of the Maya & I Ching

This Discovery channel show presents good coverage of the general subject of 2012. However, the subject goes far deeper than this and goes to include two predominant theoretical predictions to the end of the world. Those two being: the Ancient Mayan civilization, and the Chinese I Ching book.

via: YouTube

So what do you guys think will happen on the December 21 2012? Is it just another useless prediction of the end of time like the recent one by Harold Camping, or is there some truth to this date?

Tiny Insects under Scanning Electron Microscope

Here's few awesome pictures of tiny insects blown up under SEM. You can see all the stunning little details of the insect's bodies and their appendages. They definitely look scary, even more so if they were that size in real life.