Rebirth of the Amber Room
Natural EnvironmentsIt has been lost for decades. There are countless speculations about where it is and whether it still exists at all. Whatever may have happened to the legendary Amber Room, it can now be admired again. On 31 May, Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder presented a reconstruction of the work of
Water bubble burst on Mont Blanc
Natural EnvironmentsOn the night of 12 July 1892, an erupted glacial lake claimed almost 200 lives. The masses of water caused a mudslide that overran the small resort town of Saint-Gervais while it slept. A peaceful summer day comes to an end. Not suspecting anything bad, the inhabitants of Saint-Gervais go to bed on the evening
Shifting sand dune swallows lighthouse
Natural EnvironmentsIn the north of Jutland, a huge dune has gone wandering. Its masses of sand have now buried the local lighthouse. Its operation was abandoned years ago. Now the Museum of Flying Sand, which was located in one of its outbuildings, is also closing. The lighthouse sent out its first signal to the open sea
Whale trapped in tidal power station
Natural EnvironmentsA six-metre-long humpback whale has strayed into the reservoir of the Annapolis tidal power station in the Canadian Bay of Fundy. The power plant’s turbines have been shut down to avoid injuring the whale. It remains to be seen how long the operators can economically justify an outage. Since 1984, the Annapolis tidal power plant
Daredevil drilling on the high seas
Natural EnvironmentsNear the Mexican Pacific coast, four propellers fight against the waves. They try to hold the drilling ship, the Cuss I, in place. For 3500 metres below it, its drilling rig is supposed to turn into the seabed. After several weeks and persistent attempts, the US researchers have now succeeded in drilling a 183-metre deep
Volcanic island Krakatau explodes
Natural EnvironmentsThe eruption of the volcano Krakatau completely destroyed the volcanic island of the same name between Sumatra and Java. 36,000 people lost their lives in this natural disaster. Most of the victims drowned in the destructive tidal waves triggered by the exploding volcano. Thousands of kilometres away, the monster flood still wreaked havoc. Krakatau volcano,