Amazing Spectacular Sea of Salt

The world’s largest salt flats, Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia, is an unearthly place that has to be seen to be believed.This place is immense. It is over twelve thousand square kilometers in area, which makes it the largest salt flat in the world. To give an idea, that is over twenty five times larger than the more famous Bonneville Salt Flats in the United State. It also has the distinction of being the highest salt flats in the world at three thousand seven hundred meters above sea level. The mounds in this first picture are not, as you may first suspect, a naturally occurring phenomena. The hand of man is at work here.

The slat is literally scraped away from the surface and piled up in the mounds that you can see here by the locals. Salar de Uyuni is what remains of a prehistoric lake. All around it there are mountains which means there are no drainage outlets and the salt is left at the old bed of the lake. After it is scraped up these mounds are then created. This allows the water to evaporate more quickly and certainly makes the salt easier to transport away from the salt flats.

The origins of the Uyuni goes back some forty thousand years. Then it made up part of the huge prehistoric Lake Minchin. With time the lake dried up. Two lakes still remain - the Uru Uru and (no sniggering at the back) the Poopó. Two salt flats were left, the smaller Salar de Coipasa and the Uyuni. Twelve thousand square kilometers is pretty large by anyone’s standards.

 Certainly, the mounds of salt only add on to the unearthly appearance of Uyuni. Even though it is extremely isolated it, located in the Oruro and Potosi departments in the Southwest of the country, the Bolivians encourage tourism to the area. As it is near the crest of the Andes it is on the tourist trail and can be reached without too much difficulty for the more adventurous traveler.

Coincidentally the major minerals to be found in salt are halite and gypsum. One use of halite is to keep ice off our pathways and roads while gypsum is used as a finish for walls and ceilings - you probably know it as drywall. There are also considerable stocks of lithium in the salar, which are used in the production of batteries and certain pharmaceuticals. However, Bolivia as a nation exports none at the moment. It does not want large multinationals muscling in and is preparing to develop its own strategies to ‘mine’ the lithium.

Amazing Spectacular Sea of Salt

Two Headed Cat

A kitten has been born with two faces, and it meows simultaneously through both mouths.However, the cat has a cleft palate and can only eat through one mouth.Only one in a million kittens is born with two heads and it is unusual for this one to be doing so well.In August a kitten with four eyes, two noses and one mouth was born in Ohio, but it died after five days.The condition is thought to be more common among snakes and turtles.The cat was delivered in a vet's surgery in Perth, Western Australia, after its mother experienced complications during the birth.Louisa Burgess, who helped deliver the cat told the Australian website InMyCommunity.co.au: "we have seen cats with two tails and extra legs, but not this."It has a full tummy and it survived the night so that is a good sign. It seems content, it meows and purrs.

Two Headed Cat

Hydrogen-fueled 3-Wheeler

In urban areas, most vehicles used for daily transportation are just occupied by one person. Taking advantage of this fact, industrial designer Daniel Julier has designed the 3Wheeler, which according to its name is a three-wheeled vehicle with a single rear wheel. The 3Wheeler is a 1+1 seat concept, which means, that in addition to the driver’s seat there is a collapsible seat in the rear to give the driver the possibility to host a passenger if need be. If the rear seat is not in use, it can be folded down and the space can be used as trunk.

Since the vehicle has been designed for just two occupants, it’s lightweight and hence fuel-efficient. The concept is intended to be powered by hydrogen cells and driven by an “in wheel motor” built into the rear wheel. Fuel cells and hydrogen tank are located under the hood and the bottom is filled with super caps that can give a boost of energy to the engine for a short while and also store the energy retrieved from breaking.

Hydrogen-fueled 3-Wheeler