Humans on Mars
Humans on Mars: The Craziest, Weirdest, and Most Plausible Plans in History Once Curiosity rover made it to Mars, the imagination naturally wandered to the possibility of people getting there some day....
View ArticleRare, Beautiful and Disturbing Objects
Rare, Beautiful and Disturbing Objects From the National Library of Medicine Buried in the National Library of Medicine's collection of more than 17 million items are some pretty amazing, largely...
View ArticleAqua Satellite’s Incredible Images
10 Years of Aqua Satellite’s Incredible Images of Earth From Space One of the stars of NASA's fleet of satellites is Aqua, named for its ability to measure water vapor in the atmosphere, water in the...
View ArticlePlanned Cities Seen From Space
Many of our most popular posts are image galleries, and this year our readers favorite collections included microscope photos, doomsday scenarios, auroras and lots of images of Earth from space. The...
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1: Tolbachik, Russia
1 Tolbachik, Russia (181) It is hard to argue with naming an unexpected eruption that produced 20+ km lava flows from multiple fissures the recipient of the 2012 Pliny for Volcanic Event of the Year....
View Article2: Etna, Italy
2 Etna, Italy (125) Etna started the year off with a bang -- multiple paroxysms over the first few months of 2012, extending a string that started in 2011. Some of these paroxysms were spectacular,...
View Article3: Havre Seamount, Kermadec Islands
3 Havre Seamount, Kermadec Islands (105) Considering no one actually noticed the eruption happening until weeks after it was over, Havre makes an impressive showing in the 2012 Pliny rundown. I'm, of...
View Article5: Sakurajima, Japan
5 Sakurajima, Japan (41) Much like Kilauea, Japan's Sakurajima is a constant in the Pliny's. Sakurajima kept producing its multitude of small explosive eruptions, many of which are caught on the...
View Article4: Tongariro, New Zealand
4 Tongariro, New Zealand (45) When most people think about the active volcanoes of New Zealand, Ruapehu springs to mind. However, that volcano merely rumbled in 2012. It was its neighbor, Tongariro,...
View Article6: Fuego, Guatemala
6 Fuego, Guatemala (36) Guatemala's Fuego had one of its most active years in decades, with multiple large eruptions. One of the biggest was in May, when the volcano not only produced pyroclastic flows...
View Article7: Kilauea, Hawai'i
7 Kilauea, Hawai'i (28) Kilauea is one of the perennial Pliny contenders - landing one spot higher in the 2012 countdown than in 2011, when it actually produced a new fissure eruption (just shows that...
View Article8: Tungurahua, Ecuador
8 Tungurahua, Ecuador (8) Tungurahua had an especially active year, with some large explosive events that sent pyroclastic flows down the slopes of the volcano and ash across the region. The activity...
View Article9 (Tie): Popocatepetl, Bezymianny, White Island
9 (tie): Popocatépetl, Mexico; Bezymianny, Russia; White Island, New Zealand (7) We start off with a three-way tie of very different volcanoes -- one that looked like it might do something spectacular...
View ArticleCopahue, Chile/Argentina
The ballots are in, the results are counted and now its time to count down to the 2012 Pliny winner for Volcanic Event of the Year. The methodology for voting - I give 5 points for every 1st place...
View ArticleMars Rover Curiosity
2. Mars Rover Curiosity On August 5th, the Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft cut through the Martian atmosphere, deployed a supersonic parachute, and lowered the Curiosity rover from a hovering,...
View ArticleExoplanets
1. Exoplanets, Near and Far It’s been another good year for exoplanets, as the Kepler mission entered its extended mission with 105 confirmed planets under its belt. A different group of researchers,...
View ArticleGasherbrum I
The Extremo Files completes its round up of the year’s most impressive exploratory feats today with a look at the best mountaineering expeditions of 2012. Kraig Becker, the climber and outdoor...
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