Posted on December 2, 2022 (Updated on July 9, 2025)
Record Dive into the Deep Sea
Natural EnvironmentsNo man has ever sunk so deep: with their submersible “Trieste”, Swiss oceanographer Jacques Piccard and US naval officer Don Walsh reach the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench – 10,910 metres below sea level. A sensation! The metal sphere into which Piccard and Walsh squeeze themselves on the morning of 23 January is only
Posted on December 2, 2022 (Updated on July 9, 2025)
Record CO2 emissions
Natural EnvironmentsGlobal emissions of carbon dioxide have never been as high as they are today. In 2010, it even rose more sharply than ever before. This has now been announced by the US Department of Energy. The figures exceed even the worst fears. For years, experts have been warning about the speed of global warming. Apparently
Posted on December 2, 2022 (Updated on July 9, 2025)
Pluto is out!
Natural EnvironmentsOur solar system is one planet poorer. For 76 years, Pluto was the ninth planet. Now it has officially been stripped of its planetary title. It has thus been relegated to the league of “dwarf planets”, where it will play a much less important role in the future. With the discovery of the “planet” Eris,
Posted on December 2, 2022 (Updated on July 9, 2025)
Hurricane Kyrill rages across Europe
Natural EnvironmentsWith wind speeds of over 200 kilometres per hour, Kyrill raged across Europe during the night on Friday. Peak values of the hurricane were measured on the Feldberg in the Black Forest and on the Brocken in the Harz mountains. 47 people died in the hurricane, many were injured. The damage is estimated to be
Posted on December 2, 2022 (Updated on July 9, 2025)
No more than a pinprick
Natural EnvironmentsFor years, the drill bit has laboriously hammered and twisted its way into the hard earth’s crust. Time and again it got stuck. Now the press spokesman for the deep drilling programme in Windischeschenbach announced the end of the scientific project: on 12 October 1994, the drilling rig and its measuring equipment had to be
Posted on December 2, 2022 (Updated on July 9, 2025)
Niagara Falls drained
Natural EnvironmentsNiagara Falls. It is an unreal picture: Where otherwise around 4 million litres of water plunge into the depths every second, only a bare rock edge now juts into the air. Engineers have drained the US part of Niagara Falls. The water is currently diverted via a tributary. The reason for the diversion of the