The World’s Southernmost City

Markozen.com Geography

The southern part of South America is fractured into a number of small islands collectively known as Tierra del Fuego. Located roughly between 52° and 55° latitudes, these islands constitute some of the most distant landmasses on earth measured from the equator.

The region is sparsely populated, but there are two major population centers here—Ushuaia and Río Grande—both located on Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego, the largest island of the archipelago. This island is shared by Argentina and Chile, and while the Chilean part is geographically larger, the Argentinean side is more populous. Both Ushuaia and Río Grande are similarly sized, but Ushuaia is located further south, a position that has allowed it to claim the title of the “southernmost city in the world,” although it is not the only town who claims so.

world's southermost cities

Ushuaia is the administrative capital of Tierra del Fuego, an industrial port and a tourist hub. Almost all tourist trips to Antarctica start from here. People from all over the world fly in to Ushuaia, disembark and immediately proceed to board one of the cruise ships that line the dock, for the voyage south. Few actually stop to explore the city.

Ushuaia has a sizable population of 71,000 and the infrastructure to call itself a city. There is a settlement called Puerto Williams further south, but it has a population of only 2,800. Puerto Williams is the capital of the Chilean Antarctic Province, and it too claims the title of world’s southernmost city. But because of the town’s small size and population, that claim is not taken too seriously.

southermost city Ushuaia

 

Ushuaia’s claim is challenged by Punta Arenas, the capital city of Chile’s southernmost region, Magallanes and Antartica Chilena. Punta Arenas is among the largest cities in the entire Patagonian Region with a population of 127,000, as of 2012. The city is located north of Ushuaia, but Chilean authorities claim that Punta Arenas is a truer city than Ushuaia being vastly larger than Ushuaia both in population and area. Ushuaia is only 23 square kilometers, while Punta Arenas is more than seventeen thousand square kilometers. This makes Punta Arenas a strong candidate to the title of the “world’s southernmost city”.

southermost city Punta Arenas

 

If size is not a criteria, than Puerto Toro is the world’s southernmost settlement having a permanent population of 36—mostly fishermen and their families. It is the only such community on Earth that is situated below the 55th parallel south. It is also the only Chilean locality and port with coasts and waters belonging to the Atlantic Ocean.

Puerto Toro was founded in 1892 during the Tierra del Fuego Gold Rush and was once one of the most important towns in the region. Once the gold prospect diminished, people moved out and Puerto Toro became a small hamlet.

southermost city Puerto Toro

 

200,000 UFO Fans Plan to Storm Area 51?

Markozen.com Paranormal
Area 51 (Groom Lake, Dreamland) File Photo near Rachel, Nevada (Photo by Barry King/WireImage)

A bizarre online campaign suggesting that UFO enthusiasts storm Area 51 in search of alien secrets hidden at the infamous base has seemingly garnered the support of nearly 200,000 people. The wild idea is reportedly the brainchild of a group of online agitators who created a Facebook event titled ‘Storm Area 51, They Can’t Stop All of Us.’ Although the proposed gathering appears to have been just a joke, the concept captured the imagination of the masses online.

To date, a whopping 181,000 people have declared that they are ‘attending’ the event and another 200 thousand individuals have expressed interest in joining in on the action which is set to take place on Friday, September 20th at 3 AM. Of course, as anyone who has haphazardly accepted an online invitation to a distant relative’s art gallery opening or dance recital can attest, the vast majority of the people who indicated plans to join in the horde almost certainly will not be in attendance when the big day arrives.

That said, there’s a very real possibility that some foolhardy individuals may genuinely make an effort to storm Area 51 on September 20th when organizers allegedly plan to “meet up at the Area 51 Alien Center tourist attraction and coordinate our entry.” Aside from the installation’s incredibly stringent security measures which prevent unauthorized visitors, the very fact that the date and time of the planned surge is public knowledge is a pretty good indication that the daring gambit will prove futile. It could also wind up being criminal should would-be trespassers push the proverbial envelope and really try to gain entry to the base.

Area 51 researcher George Knapp, who famously broke the story that Area 51 existed back in 1989, responded to the idea on Twitter by noting that “this plan has been proposed multiple times over the last 30 years. Then, as now, it’s a really bad idea.” To that end, he stressed that “there are no aliens at Area 51, no alien tech either” and that “base security is more than capable of handling Winnebago trespassers.” With that in mind, it would undoubtedly be wise for the idea to remain in the daydreams of UFO enthusiasts sitting at their computer rather than being put into practice.

 

An F-22 Raptor from the 27th Fighter Squadron out of Langley Air Force Base, Va., participates in Red Flag 13-3 March 5, 2013, at Nellis AFB, Nev. Red Flag is a realistic combat training exercise involving the air forces of the United States and its allies. During the exercise, aircrews and ground crews train to fight, survive and win together. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Matthew Lancaster)

An F-22 Raptor from the 27th Fighter Squadron out of Langley Air Force Base, Va., participates in Red Flag 13-3 March 5, 2013, at Nellis AFB, Nev. Red Flag is a realistic combat training exercise involving the air forces of the United States and its allies. During the exercise, aircrews and ground crews train to fight, survive and win together. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Matthew Lancaster). Area 51 in red circle.

 

If there are no Aliens at the base, then what in the hell are these?

51a

 

51e

 

51g

 

What the hell is this then?

51b

–

Gyro Drop

Markozen.com Bizarre

There is a thrill ride called Gyro Drop at South Korea’s Lotte Amusement Park. However this video is substantially embellished. It’s just a basic free fall ride. The swing part doesn’t happen. But the video almost made me crap my pants.

 

Volcanic Eruption Spotted From Space

Markozen.com Nature

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station captured a breathtaking image of a massive volcanic eruption that occurred over the weekend. The amazing photograph was snapped on Saturday morning when the ISS passed over the uninhabited volcanic island Raikoke as it rumbled to life and unleashed an enormous plume of ash and smoke into the sky. According to a post from NASA, volcanic monitoring stations measure the height of the plume to be around 8 to 10 miles.

Thanks to the remarkable timing of the flyover, the astronauts were able to capture the eruption as it was seemingly nearing its peak, taking on an eerie mushroom cloud-like shape. The space agency explained that the top of the plume is known as the ‘umbrella region’ and consists of dense ash rife with “sharp fragments of rock and volcanic glass.” Noting the curious rings which formed at the base of the plume, NASA suggested that those features are probably water vapor clouds.

Raikoke (Russian: Райкоке, Japanese: 雷公計島), also spelled Raykoke, is as of 2019 an uninhabited volcanic island near the centre of the Kuril Islands chain in the Sea of Okhotsk in the northwest Pacific Ocean, 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) across Golovnin Strait from Matua. Its name is derived from the Ainu language, from “hellmouth”.

 

 

DON’T WATCH ALONE: THE ‘DON’TS’ RATHER THAN THE ‘DO’S’ OF MOVIE POSTERS

Markozen.com Movies

Dangerous Minds

‘Don’t Look in the Basement’ (1973)

These movies have a clue in their title. You could say the whole fricken plot’s in the title. Don’t Go in the Attic, Don’t Look in the Basement, Don’t Answer the Phone, you know the kinda thing. Don’t do any of these things OR ELSE! You know it’s gonna end up bad. And that’s part of the attraction.

Most movies with a big ol’ Don’t in their title promise a gory flick featuring some dumb numb nuts sophomore who ignores the advice on the poster ends up kebabbed by nightfall. The idea is simple—stick to the rules or end up dead. It’s a well-worn trope: the myth of Eve and the apple, or Bluebeard’s latest squeeze snooping in the closets, or the enquiring Pandora opening that goddam box of hers. Hindsight’s great but not when you’re dead—for Pete’s sake just don’t do it.

And that’s all part of the thrill—waiting to see what happens when someone answers the call from Mr. Slice ‘n’ Dice or goes out into the woods one moonlit night in their scanties (as you do…) never to return. These are tales to make us aware of possible dangers no matter how bizarre. To make us feel protective, and vow never to be oh, so dumb. Yet, somehow they can seem like fears from an age when things were, shall we say, more straightforward and death wasn’t just one disgruntled shooter or suicide vest away. Horror movies can’t compete with real life horror—but that kinda takes all the fun away. Here, with the emphasis on fun and cheap thrills, is a selection of all the things you really don’t want to do…or maybe, just maybe, you do…?

‘Don’t Go In the House’ (1979)

‘Don’t Go in the Attic’ (2010)

‘Don’t Open the Window’ (1974)

‘Don’t Go Near the Park’ (1981)

‘Don’t Go in the Woods’ (1981)

‘Don’t Fuck in the Woods’ (2016)

Don’t Let Him In’ (2011)

‘Don’t Let Them In’ (2015)

‘Don’t Answer the Phone’ (1980)

‘Don’t Hang Up’ (2016)

‘Don’t Knock Twice’ (2016)

‘Don’t Look Up’ (2009)

‘Don’t Blink’ (2014)

‘Don’t Speak’ (2015)

‘Don’t Click’ (2012)

‘Please Don’t Eat My Mother’ (1973)

‘Don’t Let the Riverbeast Get You’ (2012)