To the native Wixarika of Mexico, better known as the Huicholes, the mountains of Catorce and the desert at their feet are the centre of the world, a temple of prayer on the level of the Vatican.
To a pair of Canadian mining companies, it's a mother lode of gold and silver in a market hungry for both.

Posted: 8:24:11 AM  

National test for emergency broadcasts

It sounds like one of those forwarded emails or Facebook comments that we ordinarily roll our eyes at and delete:

"The government is going to take over the airwaves on November 9."

But this one turns out to be true -- sort of.

The FCC is indeed coordinating the first-ever national test of the Emergency Alert System at 2 p.m. on that date, meaning regular broadcasts will be momentarily paused.

Viewers and listeners should simply see or hear the ever-popular "this is only a test" message.

Nationwide EAS Test - FEMA website

Posted: 7:59:03 AM  

The Phobos-Grunt spacecraft is scheduled to blastoff on November 9, 2011 from Baikonur Cosmodrome.
The probe will reach Mars orbit in 2012 and eventually land on Phobos and return the first ever soil samples back to Earth in 2014.

Posted: 7:53:12 AM  

An underwater volcano near the Canary Islands has been spewing so much lava that it could soon protrude above the Atlantic Ocean, creating a new island.
For three weeks it has been growing in height and now towers 100 metres above the sea bed.

Typical Human:

Meanwhile Spanish newspapers are debating who would take responsibility for the new territory.

The volcano off the coast of El Hierro, the southern-most Canary Island is pouring out magma and causing the ground to shake several times a day. Since July there have been more than 10,000 earthquakes on El Hierro, most of them imperceptible.

Posted: 7:31:36 AM  

Fistral Beach is well known for its surfing and has held major international surfing competitions in the past while is also home to the British Surfing Association.
It is however something of a geographical freak as many of the world's premier surfing spots are in tropical climbs.

Posted: 7:30:25 AM