Using his paraglider, photographer George Steinmetz flies above some of the most diverse and extreme deserts in the world… sand dunes, volcanic peaks, brightly colored hot springs, ancient cities, unusual farms, herds of wild animals… pattern upon amazing pattern. Look at them all online or find them in his book, Desert Air, after watching this video from National Geographic.

The U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds operated the F-100C from 1956 until 1964. After briefly converting to the F-105 Thunderchief, the team flew F-100Ds from July 1964 until November 1968.

In this film from 1959 we see the Thunderbirds flying in formation, low level passes, in cockpit views and much more. The original source footage had no audio so I have added a generic jet engine sound for some background ambiance.

From the wdtvlive42 archives.

NASA engineers take the Curiosity test rover to California’s Mojave desert to learn how to drive on Martian sand dunes.

Mark your calendars: the Curiosity Rover is still on target to land on Mars on August 6, 2012!

There are two dromedary camels that live in Arizona that are now internet famous: their names are Nessie and Baby. You can tell that they are Dromedary or Arabian camels because they have only one hump (vs two. And, despite cartoon lore, they do not store water in it, but they do drink a lot of water.) 

Nessie and Baby get brushed and cuddled, they race, and they run from “dangerous” plastic bins, among many other activities like pineapple eating: 

Baby and Nessie are just two of the animals at Camels and Friends.

Professor Brian Cox builds sandcastles in the Namib Desert to explain why time travels in one direction. It is a result of a phenomenon called entropy; a law of physics that tells us any system tends towards disorder. 

“Entropy explains why, left to the mercy of the elements, mortar crumbles, glass shatters, and buildings collapse.”

via It’s Okay to Be Smart.