10. Hurricane Ike: Galveston Braces for Storm:
10. Hurricane Ike: Galveston Braces for Storm
In a picture from National Geographic News’s tenth most viewed photo gallery of 2008, Sylvia Renteria recoils as a wave churned by Hurricane Ike meets a seawall in Galveston, Texas, on September 12.
Before landfall, the National Weather Service’s chilling warnings of “certain death” spurred officials and residents of the coastal town to gird for the worst–and stoked fears of a replay of the devastating 1900 Galveston hurricane that killed 6,000.
Photograph by Matt Slocum/AP
9. Best Microscopic Images of 2008 Announced:
9. Best Microscopic Images of 2008 Announced
Glowing-hot carbon nanotubes form an expanding orange ball in this winning image from the 2008 Small World photomicrography competition, sponsored by Nikon and featured in an October 15 National Geographic News gallery. In nine other masterworks of magnification, a beetle danced on a pin, and drugs yielded crystal rainbows.
Photograph by Paul Marshall/National Research Council Canada/photo courtesy of Nikon Small World
8. Colossal Squid Revealed in First In-Depth Look:
8. Colossal Squid Revealed in First In-Depth Look
The carcass of a colossal squid floats in a tank at the Museum of New Zealand on April 30, giving scientists their first close look at the elusive deep-sea creature.
The squid was frozen for months after being caught by fishers off Antarctica in 2007. A dissection of the thawed beast yielded astonishing discoveries, including the animal kingdom’s largest eyes and light-emitting organs that may serve as cloaking devices, scientists said.
Photograph by Marty Melville/Getty Images
7. Alien-like Squid Seen at Deep Drilling Site:
7. Alien-like Squid Seen at Deep Drilling Site
A mile and a half (two and a half kilometers) underwater, this alien-like, long-armed, and–strangest of all–”elbowed” Magnapinna squid is seen in a still from a video clip obtained by National Geographic News and published on November 24. (See video and read full story.)
The video–obtained by a Shell oil company ROV (remotely operated vehicle) at an ultra-deep oil- and gas-drilling site–sparked shocked reactions everywhere from the Digg link-sharing site to CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360
Video still by (copyright 2001) MBARI
6. Chile Volcano Erupts With Ash and Lightning:
6. Chile Volcano Erupts With Ash and Lightning
After 9,000 years of silence, Chile’s Chaiten volcano erupted, generating on May 3 what may have been a “dirty thunderstorm.” These little-understood storms may be caused when rock fragments, ash, and ice particles collide to produce static charges–just as ice particles collide to create charges in regular thunderstorms.
The eruption, which continued off and on for months, forced the evacuation of thousands of residents and cattle from this corner of Patagonia.
Photograph by Carlos Gutierrez/UPI/Landov
5. Hurricane Ike Pummels Texas Coast:
5. Hurricane Ike Pummels Texas Coast
On September 13 a worker inspects damage in front of the JPMorgan Chase Tower in downtown Houston, Texas, after powerful Hurricane Ike slammed into the Gulf Coast, damaging buildings, flooding streets, and knocking out power for millions of people.
With winds reaching 110 miles (177 kilometers) an hour, Ike came ashore above Galveston, Texas, as a strong Category 2 storm just after 3 a.m. ET.
Photograph by Mark Wilson/Getty Images
4. Eight Natural Wonders Added to UN Heritage List:
4. Eight Natural Wonders Added to UN Heritage List
Filled with forests, waterfalls, and fantastically shaped granite peaks and pillars, China’s 56,710-acre (22,950 hectare) Mount Sanqingshan National Park was among the 174 wild sites–eight of them featured in this gallery–added to the UN World Heritage list in July 2008.
Chosen by a committee of the UN’s Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), World Heritage sites are natural and cultural areas recognized for their universal value to humanity.
Photograph by John Wang/Getty Images
3. Best Science Images of 2008 Announced:
3. Best Science Images of 2008 Announced
Under intense magnification, a long-fin squid’s suckers–each no wider than a human hair–resemble the leafy star of Little Shop of Horrors.
This electron-micrograph image may have only won an honorable mention in the 2008 International Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge, but thanks to enthusiastic bloggers, these suckers were the breakout stars of National Geographic News’s gallery of the contest’s highlights, posted on September 25. Among the other marquee attractions: a bugged-out take on the Mad Hatter’s tea party and a “glass forest.”
Image courtesy Jessica D. Schiffman and Caroline L. Schauer; Drexel University
2. Giant, Unknown Animals Found off Antarctica:
2. Giant, Unknown Animals Found off Antarctica
Collected from deep Antarctic seas, this 9.8-inch-long (25-centimeter-long) giant sea spider was one of 30,000 animals–many new to science–found during a 35-day census in early 2008 and featured in a National Geographic News gallery on March 28. Other odd discoveries included a balloon-like sea squirt and giant starfish.
Photograph by Paul Marshall/National Research Council Canada/photo courtesy of Nikon Small World
1. Best Wild Animal Photos of 2008 Announced:
1. Best Wild Animal Photos of 2008 Announced
Man and right whale size each other up in the winner of the 2008 Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition’s underwater category, announced on October 30.
“The whales were highly curious of us. Many of these animals had never seen a human before,” Skerry told National Geographic.
Photographed off New Zealand for National Geographic magazine (more photos from the magazine article), the whales shared top honors with a comical, quizzical monkey, eagles in an air battle, and a battling lizard and snake, among others. (The National Geographic Society owns National Geographic News and National Geographic magazine.)
Photograph by Brian Skerry/NGS
Indonesian farmers turn their hoes to mining 2008:
Indonesian farmers turn their hoes to mining, illegally digging for gold on a torn up riverbank in Borneo. For the chance to make five dollars a day, thousands have left their fields to join Indonesia’s gold rush.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/12/photogalleries/top-ten-galleries-photos/
