Fourteen children were injured today when a bolt of lightning hit their elementary school in Talcher, eastern India.
The youngsters, 11 girls and three boys, were attending classes at Kalamachhuin Upper Primary School when the bolt struck just after 2pm local time.
Two students were seriously hurt. Nine others were also taken to a local hospital.
The school's headmistress, Hemalata Sethy, said: "Suddenly, I heard a bursting sound and later, I found 10 to 12 students lying on the floor unconscious.
"After I alerted, villagers come to our rescue."
Earth Changes
© Barcroft
A deep-sea anglerfish
A deep-sea anglerfish
Ancient sharks, giant oil fish, swarms of crustaceans and a primitive shell-dwelling squid species called the Nautilus were among the astonishing life captured by remote controlled cameras at Osprey Reef.
Justin Marshall, the lead researcher, said his team had also found several unidentified fish species, including "prehistoric six-gilled sharks" using special lowlight sensitive cameras which were custom designed to trawl the ocean floor, 4,593ft (1,400m) below sea level.
"Some of the creatures that we've seen we were sort of expecting, some of them we weren't expecting, and some of them we haven't identified yet," said Mr Marshall, from the University of Queensland, Australia.
© The Telegraph
The drainage system uses the natural camber of the city to quickly channel water outwards.
The drainage system uses the natural camber of the city to quickly channel water outwards.
Torrential rain and flash floods have caused £1.9 billion of damage in China. Nearly forty people were killed this week alone in a series of landslides.
But the 100,000 residents of the ancient city of Ganzhou, in Jiangxi province, are safe and dry, thanks to two drains built during the Song dynasty (960-1279), which proved far more effective than modern sewer systems at coping with the downpour.
Two long tunnels, built using bricks from the city walls, cross the city and channel floodwater into two ponds that function as reservoirs. The designer of the system, Liu Yi, named the drains "Fu" or Fortune, and "Shou" or Longevity.
"The ancient residents of Ganzhou were very advanced in hydro-technology," said Wang Ronghong, head of the city's project management and maintenance office.
© What's On Xiamen
Tens of thousands of small fish kept jumping out the sea near Xiamen Binhai Park
for 15 minutes Wednesday afternoon.
Tens of thousands of small fish kept jumping out the sea near Xiamen Binhai Park
for 15 minutes Wednesday afternoon.
"That was too weird, it seems they were trying to kill themselves", said Mr. Wu, a nearby resident, who felt quite concerned about these fish.
At about 1:30 pm on 14th July, Mr. Wu was walking around Xiamen Haibin Park when he saw this strange phenomenon.
At the very beginning, only some fish appeared near the surface. After a while, tens of thousands of fish gathered together and moved towards the seashore. All of a sudden, all these silvery small fish jumped up together to almost one metre high.
© Reuters/Stringer
Fishermen salvage fishing nets from their capsized boat after Typhoon Conson hit Mariveles, Bataan province, north of Manila July 15, 2010.
Fishermen salvage fishing nets from their capsized boat after Typhoon Conson hit Mariveles, Bataan province, north of Manila July 15, 2010.
In the Philippines, power was gradually restored to millions of homes in and around Manila after Typhoon Conson hit the capital harder than expected on Tuesday night, killing 23 people and leaving dozens missing.
Tropical Storm Risk downgraded the typhoon to a tropical storm on Thursday, but the Philippines' weather bureau said it was expected to regain strength as it moved over the South China Sea and headed toward southern China and northern Vietnam.
Conson was due to hit land late on Friday, the Tropical Storm Risk website said.
© Agence France-Presse
Thick oil from the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill floats on the surface of the water and coats the marsh wetlands in Bay Jimmy near Port Sulphur, Louisiana, June 11, 2010
Thick oil from the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill floats on the surface of the water and coats the marsh wetlands in Bay Jimmy near Port Sulphur, Louisiana, June 11, 2010
Samantha Joye, a marine sciences professor at the University of Georgia at Athens, said it's good news that the microbes are eating the methane. However, the microbes also use oxygen in the water, and Joye said the repercussions of the resulting oxygen depletion aren't yet known.
Joye said she hadn't completed her analysis yet, but that the data so far show that the microbes are much more abundant in the plume than they are in the water layers above and below it.
© Paul Hoppe
The Return of Agent Orange
A few weeks back, the New York Times made mention of an astounding development, which has, for whatever reason, received little fanfare or recognition. Despite its Vietnam War notoriety, Agent Orange is in vogue again, this time down on the farm. Its reemergence, and in this particular setting, raises a host of troubling questions that are not being well considered.
Over the past year, there have been increasing reports of emerging superweeds resistant to Roundup, the preferred weedkiller of America's farmers. Roundup is sold in tandem with Roundup-ready seeds, both marquee products of the Monsanto Corporation. In the 1990s, when the latter product hit the market, it was momentous, revolutionary - a godsend: Roundup-ready seeds are genetically designed to resist application of the potent herbicide. By sowing Roundup-ready seeds and dousing their fields with the trademark weedkiller, farmers could forego the expense and toil of tilling the land, and losing valuable topsoil in the process. Production was enhanced, time and money saved. It was quite an economic boon to farmers, at least in the short run. Environmentalists were also pleased in light of the topsoil angle. Needless to say, Monsanto was thrilled that farmers were even more dependent on its products.
© Unknown
Conson, the first typhoon of the year, hit the Southeast Asian archipelago late on Tuesday before sweeping over the heavily populated main island of Luzon with maximum gusts of 120 kilometres (74 miles) an hour.
"The wind howled like a child screaming," said Rigor Sambol, 52, a father of six who lives in a coastal shanty town on the outskirts of Manila that was partly destroyed.
"It was so strong, our houseboat nearly got flipped over. I had to take the children one by one to a nearby gym where they spent the evening on the cold floor."
© USGS
Wednesday, July 14, 2010 at 08:32:22 UTC
Wednesday, July 14, 2010 at 04:32:22 AM at epicenter
Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones
Location:
38.002°S, 73.282°W
Depth:
28.4 km (17.6 miles)
Region:
BIO-BIO, CHILE
Distances:
55 km (35 miles) SE of Lebu, Bio-Bio, Chile
100 km (65 miles) NW of Temuco, Araucania, Chile
100 km (65 miles) SW of Los Angeles, Bio-Bio, Chile
560 km (345 miles) SSW of SANTIAGO, Region Metropolitana, Chile
© Gavin Young, Calgary Herald
To the east, tornado warnings were issued through the afternoon for areas ranging from Drumheller, through the Strathmore region and into south eastern Alberta counties as at least three storm cells moved through, bringing rain, hail, high winds and the threat of even more severe weather. At least one funnel cloud was spotted near Strathmore during the storm, prompting some to head to their basements to wait out the severe weather.
Environment Canada meteorologist Sandy Massey said more rain is expected, with some areas north of Calgary predicted to see up to 70 mm falling tonight and tomorrow. Wednesday is expected to be a bit drier, she said.
