Rjukan Norway
This city has installed mirrors to bring the Sun back to its place
In Rjukan, mountains hide the direct sun for part of the year.
Actual fact 1 min
THE CABINET OF CURIOSITIES REAL FACTS
Geography and country.
Amazing borders, landscapes and maps that thwart our habits.
561 documented stories available Collection in process of constitutionDiscover allGeography and countryCustoms and know-howAnimalsCharactersHistory and archaeologyScience and inventionsSpaceNature and EarthScary StoriesBig HacksOther curiosities
United States California
These dunes can make a serious note
Eureka sand produces a sound under certain conditions.
Actual fact 1 min
United States Yosemite
This waterfall looks like lava... thanks to the Sun
In Yosemite, Horsetail Fall can turn orange at sunset.
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Germany Immendingen and Aach
Where does the water go when the Danube disappears under the pebbles?
The underground detour of the Danube leads to another basin.
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Australia Purnululu
These striped mountains hide microscopic inhabitants
The bands of the Bungle Bungle mix rock and living.
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Brazil - Maranho
These white dunes are filled with lagoons
Lenisis Maranhenses looks like a desert, until the rainy season.
Actual fact 1 min
Canada Ontario
In Saint John, the rapids change direction with the tide
Reversing Falls responds to the tides of the Bay of Fundy.
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Central Asia Aral Sea
In 2014, part of the Aral Sea disappeared from view.
Satellites have documented the drying up of its southern eastern basin.
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Southern Africa Lesotho
In this country, going down at the bottom still leaves you almost 1400 meters
The astonishment comes from the minimum altitude, not just the summits.
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Iceland Surtsey
This island was born before the eyes of the researchers... who was going to come first?
A recent land has made it possible to follow the installation of the living.
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Yemen Archipelago of Socotra
On these islands, many species have no other home
The world map can be reduced to a small archipelago.
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Madagascar - Tsingy de Bemaraha
This Madagascar forest has... stone needles
The landscape evokes trees, but its tips are limestone.
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Turkey Pamukkale
This white landscape looks like snow... it comes from hot springs
The water gradually removes the contours of the basins.
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Seychelles Aldabra Atoll
On this atoll, part of the ancient reef is in the open air
The landscape keeps track of a marine past.
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United States South Florida
This expanse of grass hides a river that spreads almost everywhere
In the Everglades, the flow can take the form of a tablecloth.
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Croatia Plitvice Lakes
These lakes owe their dams to almost invisible builders
Water, minerals and organisms together shape the obstacles.
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Massif du Mont Rose Switzerland and Italy
This border reaches a peak... which is not the highest point in Switzerland
In the Mont Rose massif, neighboring peaks have very different roles.
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Mont-Saint-Michel France
At Mont-Saint-Michel, the landscape can change even before the end of the day
An expanse discovered becomes again a surface of water at the rhythm of the tides.
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China
A huge country, a single official hour: how does China do?
The administrative clock does not follow every movement of the Sun through the territory.
Actual fact 1 min
Russia Kaliningrad and Kamchatka
Eleven time zones... but how many hours between the two ends?
A small subtraction corrects a big idea received on the map.
Actual fact 1 min
South America Guyana and Brazil
Did you know that France has a land border with Brazil?
The answer appears as soon as the map is unfolded beyond Europe.
Actual fact 1 min
North Atlantic Saint Pierre and Miquelon
These French islands are very close to Canada
The nationality of a territory cannot be deduced from the nearest capital.
Actual fact 1 min
River Landscapes
How can a river give up its own loop?
The water path can change until it leaves an old curve behind.
Actual fact 1 min
New Zealand North Island / Te Ika-a-Mui
This island has two official names... without being cut in two
The same place can be recognized in several linguistic traditions.
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South Africa Cape of Needles
Where do the Atlantic and Indian Ocean officially meet?
A landmark on the coast marks a boundary that water does not draw as a land boundary.
Actual fact 1 min
Australia Canberra
Why is the Australian capital neither Sydney nor Melbourne?
The answer is a city created to hold a place that two others coveted.
Actual fact 1 min
Near East Dead Sea
This “sea” is locked in the land... well below the ocean level.
Its name hides a lake, a deep depression and a life that is not noticed at first glance.
Actual fact 1 min
Belgium and the Netherlands Baarle
A border cuts that door... what's his address?
A Dutch number, a Belgian number: this threshold raises a very concrete question.
Actual fact 1 min
Ecuador Chimborazo
Which summit exceeds Everest... when you change the rules?
To separate two mountains, it is still necessary to decide where the measurement begins.
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Norway Svalbard
Is it really forbidden to die in Longyearbyen?
The rumor seems perfect for an Arctic city. An essential detail brings it down.
Actual fact 1 min
United States Four Corners
Can we be in four states at the same time?
On this map, four angles meet at the same point.
Actual fact 1 min
North Africa
Snow in the Sahara: Is the image really impossible?
The white on the desert surprises. It is above all our image of an ever-burning desert that deserves to be revisited.
Actual fact 1 min
Tonga
This land was born in 2015... why did it disappear seven years later?
The satellites followed a piece of land that the volcano had created and then destroyed.
Actual fact 1 min
Louisiana, United States
Did the Mississippi really sink backwards?
During Hurricane Isaac, the sea momentarily thwarted the usual meaning of the river.
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Chile Atacama
Why look for traces of Martian life in a desert in Chile?
A landscape helps prepare research on another planet, without being its perfect copy.
Actual fact 1 min
Asia Himalaya
The Himalayas look still, but their birth is not over yet.
An encounter between plates continues to transform this immense mountain range.
Actual fact 1 min
Polar regions
How can the sun stay up when it is midnight?
The Earth continues to turn. It is his inclination that changes the show.
Actual fact 1 min
Colombia - Sierra de la Macarena
Who put red at the bottom of this Colombian river?
In Caoo Cristales, an aquatic plant participates in the show that made the river famous.
Actual fact 1 min
Italy Campione d’Italia
This village surrounded by Switzerland belongs to Italy
A political border and a customs border do not always tell the same story.
Actual fact 1 min
Vatican and Italy
In the middle of Rome, a few steps are enough to change state
An international border crosses a landscape that is spontaneously associated with a single city.
Actual fact 1 min
United States and Canada Point Roberts
Why do these Americans go through Canada to go home?
A straight line on a map is sometimes enough to complicate all journeys.
Actual fact 1 min
Bering Strait Russia and United States
Did you know that these neighboring islands can live on different dates?
Two nearby islands are separated by more than one body of water.
Actual fact 1 min
Bolivia Salar de Uyuni
Why are scientists interested in this salt mirror?
This expanse of salt fascinates photographers, but also those who measure the Earth.
Actual fact 1 min
Russia Lake Baikal
What do the huge ice rings of Lake Baikal hide?
On the ice, huge rings signal activity hidden beneath the surface.
Actual fact 1 min
Mauritania Plateau de l’Adrar
Who drew this huge eye in the Sahara?
A spectacular circular shape has long suggested the wrong explanation.
Actual fact 1 min
Canada Victoria Island, Nunavut
An island in a lake on an island... how far does this nesting go?
The card can be read as a set of nested dolls.
Actual fact 1 min
Canada Quebec, Manicouagan
Why does this Quebec reservoir form a ring?
An old impact and a recent development have drawn together this landscape.
Actual fact 1 min
Botswana Okavango Delta
How can a flood prepare the ground for fire?
In this wetland, water and fire are not always simple opposites.
Actual fact 1 min
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