These two brown bears couldn't have picked a more stunning setting to engage in a spot of rough and tumble.In front of a spectacular, snow topped mountain range in Alaska, the giant animals took each other to task, with one even taking a crafty low side-swipe.Despite one of the bears holding a definite weight advantage, the pair grappled and exchanged blows.
But after 15 minutes of hard combat they seemed happy to call it a draw and went hunting for salmon in a nearby river.The incredible duel was captured on camera by amateur photographer Scott Cromwell during a special bear spotting trip.He flew for six hours from Homer, Alaska, to Hallow Bay, which is part of the Katmai National Park, also in Alaska, just to see the majestic animals.
Scott, 38, said: 'The guide and pilot flew us over a known area and we spotted a few bears so we landed on the beach a few hundred yards away from them.'We walked up to about 250ft from them and stood and watched from a dry part of the river bed.'They instantly quit fishing for salmon in the river and ran out in the open in between us and the mountains.'The smaller bear came out into the open first but then the bigger one galloped after it making a lot of noise.
'They circled around the whole large area a couple of times and then started wrestling right in front of us - we were no more than 100ft away.'I couldn't believe what was happening - we had only just got off the plane and this all seemed to have happened instantly.' Television repairman Scott said the bears battled for 15 minutes before getting bored or hungry and returning to hunting for salmon.He added: 'I was leaning over the whole time while shooting, trying to get as close to the ground as possible without including any grass in the foreground.'It truly was the most enjoyable 15 minutes of my life. In fact the whole trip was the best six hours of my life.'Seeing bears this close really is incredible.'
Plummeting through the air off the top of a 421m tower is not everyone’s idea of fun, but for these base jumpers it was an experience of a lifetime.
Some 98 of the extreme sports enthusiasts took part in the 2009 International Tower jump in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, today.
The structure was built in 1995 for communication purposes and is currently the fifth tallest freestanding tower in the world.
The Maldives government has made an eye-catching plea for climate change action by holding the world's first underwater cabinet meeting.
Politicians from the Indian Ocean island nation donned scuba gear this morning to send a message to world leaders ahead of December's UN climate change conference in Copenhagen.
The nation's president Mohammed Nasheed has voiced fears the archipelago will be swamped by raising sea levels unless action is taken to reduce carbon emissions.
A giant, anvil-shaped cloud bubbles up towards the Earth's stratosphere, looming over West Africa.The amazing formation would be invisible to anyone on the ground and would even be obscure from a regular passenger jet since they can reach up to 75,000ft.But astronauts captured the astonishing picture from hundreds of miles up as they orbited the globe on the International Space Station.Anvil clouds are formed mostly from ice and normally form in the upper parts of thunderstorms. They get their shape from the fact that rising warm air in thunderstorms expands and spreads out as the air bumps up against the bottom of the stratosphere.Streaks of snow are often seen falling out of the edges of anvils. This light snow usually evaporates as it falls through the relatively dry air surrounding the upper part of the thunderstorm.
Images released today showed Tom Marshburn and Christopher Cassidy doing final maintenance work on the exterior of the complex ahead of their departure today.The four-hour and 54-minute procedure involved rewiring, camera setup, tidying cables and installing handrails and a portable foot restraint to aid future spacewalkers.The five spacewalks together spanned a total of 30 hours.The team from the visiting Endeavour shuttle fitted Japan's new outdoor experiments platform with television cameras, completing the final task for the £1.45 billion Kibo complex.'Congratulations, you guys just completed the ... assembly,' Mission Control radioed once the second camera was secured.'I can verify from up close it is, indeed, a beautiful laboratory.'Space shuttle Endeavour's astronauts are inspecting their ship to make sure it's safe for Friday's landing.The survey of the wings and nose, being conducted Wednesday morning, is standard before a shuttle returns to Earth.Nasa wants to make sure Endeavour's heat shield was not pierced by micrometeorites or space junk during its two weeks in orbit. The astronauts used a laser-tipped boom to check for damage.Endeavour and its crew of seven left the international space station Tuesday.As the inspection was under way, an unmanned Russian vessel carrying several-thousand pounds of supplies docked at the station. Commander Gennady Padalka had to manually guide the craft in because of a problem with its automatic system.
Snapshots of water-filled balloons bursting figure as amazingly frozen moments in time. Granted, they also bring back memories of when you were a young scamp, mischievously dropping water bombs on hapless cyclists from overpasses, or soaking whole streets in drive-by drench-athons – but those days of innocence are gone now. So, it just leaves us to sit back and wonder at the beautiful physics of the things – as well as the devilish uses to which they can be put.
In a general sense it’s all to do with pressure – like peer pressure, but without the wicked little peers saying stuff like, “go on, soak the suckers, or we’ll soak you”. Yes, pressure. The pressure of the point of the pin, needle or whatever else it is that exerts force on the balloon, and the high pressure of the water inside the balloon, which is suddenly allowed to disperse. Since the water cannot all escape from the tiny hole pricked in the elastic material, it bursts to even out the pressure.
But enough talk; let’s see some shots of a water bomb bursting in sequence. A dart is let fly en route to puncture a balloon…
When the dart pierces the skin of its target, the balloon creases as it starts to split open, while ripples in the water’s surface tension begin to appear.
The water’s effervescence becomes more turbulent as it bulges, making its escape, even as the latex of the balloon surrenders to gravity.
Then there’s the magic moment from a photographic point of view, the instant when the water, shorn of its rubbery mould, still holds its roughly pear-shaped form…
…Before collapsing in a shower of water droplets.
s with so many things that are meant to be fun, some folks seem to take it all so very seriously. Throwing techniques include: not tying the water balloon closed but instead just twisting the end a few times so water begins to squirt out on the flight path; and overfilling the balloon so there’s enough weight and water to cause a good soaking even if it explodes on the ground. There are even accessories called ‘water balloon launchers’ as well as different types of nozzles and valves, all brought to you by a variety of money spinning manufacturers.
Maybe we’re traditionalists here at EG, but give us any balloons and we’re away, off on a journey of mischief and mayhem. Yes, we know you’re not supposed to use standard air balloons because they’re meant to be too thick, but when you’re holding a water bomb as big as a watermelon, no matter how hard to handle it may be, you know you’re going to cause a splash if it’s dropped from a great height. Oh yes.
But after 15 minutes of hard combat they seemed happy to call it a draw and went hunting for salmon in a nearby river.
Scott, 38, said: 'The guide and pilot flew us over a known area and we spotted a few bears so we landed on the beach a few hundred yards away from them.
'They circled around the whole large area a couple of times and then started wrestling right in front of us - we were no more than 100ft away.
