Harbingers of the apocalypse? The secret of Antarctica's Blood Falls is revealed

The so-called Blood Falls, which were unexpectedly discovered in Antarctica in 1911, are not something paranormal or harbingers of global catastrophe. As it turned out, the specific colour of the water is of entirely natural origin.

This is stated in a study by materials scientist Ken Levy from Johns Hopkins University, which was published in the journal Astronomy and Space Science. The blood falls were discovered during a British expedition to Antarctica in 1911 by Thomas Griffith Taylor and have since been attributed to a variety of natural origins and linked to apocalyptic prophecies.

It is only now, more than 100 years later, that scientists have understood how this terrifying sight appears. To do this, Livy had to carefully study samples taken from Taylor Glacier in November 2006 and in mid- to late November 2018. Powerful electron microscopes came to the scientist's aid, catching the real culprit red-handed.

"As soon as I looked at the image under the microscope, I noticed that there were these little iron-rich nanospheres," the scientist explained.

According to him, these nanospheres originate from ancient microbes and are extremely tiny, making up one hundredth the size of human red blood cells. At the same time, they are very abundant in the meltwater of Taylor Glacier.

In addition to iron, these nanospheres also contain silicon, calcium, aluminium, and sodium. As Levy explains, it is this unique composition that gives the water its blood colour when it leaves the glacier and comes into contact with oxygen, sunlight and heat.

Speaking about why no one had found these nanospheres before, Levy notes that scientists were simply looking for the wrong thing.

Since it was believed that water acquires its red colour due to the presence of a mineral, scientists were looking for it. But nanospheres do not have a crystalline structure that would make them minerals, so they could not be detected.

Earlier, OBOZREVATEL also reported that scientists had solved the mystery of the Bermuda Triangle.

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