Lebanon cave takes on Amazon for spot in new seven wonders
July 21, 2009Lebanon's Jeita Grotto on Tuesday was selected as one of 28 finalists for the seven natural wonders of the world, facing the Amazon, Mount Vesuvius and others for a spot on the prestigious list.
"This is a moment every Lebanese should be proud of," said Nabil Haddad, who heads Jeita's national support committee.
"The Jeita Grotto is a medal of honour for Lebanon and has placed Lebanon on the global tourism map again."
Jeita, in a river valley near the capital Beirut, comprises two limestone caves, upper galleries and a lower cave through which an underground river runs.
A cement bridge allows tourists to walk through the palatial structure and view the glistening stalactites and stalagmites formed over millennia by drops of water creating new pathways around rock too hard to dissolve.
The cave is 10,000 metres (close to 33,000 feet) long and features one of the biggest stalactites in the world, hanging 8.2 metres (27 feet) from the ceiling.
The Swiss-based non-profit organisation New7Wonders Foundation is to annouce the new wonders of nature in 2011.
A panel of experts nominated the initial batch of candidates, online voters selected finalists and an estimated one billion online voters are to select the final seven on the site http://www.new7wonders.com
(c) 2009 AFP
-
DNA analysis reveals rapid population shift among Pleistocene cave bears
Feb 19, 2007 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Historic Italian cave may collapse
May 01, 2008 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Peruvian stalagmites a new basis for 'Inconvenient truth'?
Apr 29, 2009 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Mathematical Theory For Ideal Shape in Nature
Dec 06, 2004 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Researchers Study Cave's 'Breathing' for Better Climate Clues
Mar 09, 2009 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Engineers build first sub-10-nm carbon nanotube transistor
Feb 01, 2012 |
4.9 / 5 (33) |
30
-
Something old, something new: Evolution and the structural divergence of duplicate genes
Jan 31, 2012 |
4.6 / 5 (7) |
1
-
The hidden nanoworld of ice crystals: Revealing the dynamic behavior of quasi-liquid layers
Jan 30, 2012 |
5 / 5 (5) |
1
-
Stock market network reveals investor clustering
Jan 27, 2012 |
3.9 / 5 (23) |
8
-
Of microchemistry and molecules: Electronic microfluidic device synthesizes biocompatible probes
Jan 26, 2012 |
5 / 5 (2) |
0
-
Do some geologists actually act a lot like Randy Marsh?
Feb 11, 2012
-
Discrepancy between oxygen and carbon-dioxide levels
Feb 09, 2012
-
where gems are found in the world
Feb 09, 2012
-
Wind Waves in Reservoir ~ Wind run-up and Wind set-up
Feb 08, 2012
-
Balance of oxygen in the atmosphere
Feb 01, 2012
-
The case for a methanol-based economy
Jan 30, 2012
- More from Physics Forums - Earth
More news stories
Climate change causes harmful algal blooms in North Atlantic: study
Warming oceans and increases in windiness could be causing of an abundance of harmful algal blooms in the North Atlantic Ocean and North Sea, according to new research.
2 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
New European rocket lifts off on maiden flight
A new lightweight rocket, Vega, lifted off from Europe's space base Monday carrying nine satellites on its inaugural flight, mission control said.
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
55 minutes ago |
5 / 5 (2) |
1
Salvage workers begin pumping fuel from Italian shipwreck
Salvage workers Sunday began pumping fuel from the shipwrecked Italian cruise liner Costa Concordia, a day ahead of schedule, officials said.
17 hours ago |
5 / 5 (2) |
0
NASA budget will axe Mars deal with Europe: scientists
US President Barack Obama's budget proposal to be submitted next week for 2013 will cut NASA's budget by 20 percent and eliminate a major partnership with Europe on Mars exploration, scientists said Thursday.
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Feb 10, 2012 |
5 / 5 (4) |
59
Humans may have helped the decline of African rainforests 3000 years ago
(PhysOrg.com) -- Large areas of rainforests in Central Africa mysteriously disappeared over three thousand years ago, to be replaced by savannas. The prevailing theory has been that the cause was a change ...
Feb 10, 2012 |
4.1 / 5 (15) |
21
|
New molecule has potential to help treat genetic diseases and HIV
(PhysOrg.com) -- Chemists at The University of Texas at Austin have created a molecule that's so good at tangling itself inside the double helix of a DNA sequence that it can stay there for up to 16 days before ...
Social psychologist: Lust makes you smarter and evidence that seven deadly sins are good for you
(Medical Xpress) -- Good news for lovers on Valentine’s Day - the seven deadly sins, including Lust, are good for you. University of Melbourne social psychologist Dr Simon Laham uses modern research to make a compelling ...
The joy of cheques
An electronic cheque which eliminates the need for costly processing by banks but preserves the simplicity and ease of a traditional cheque book has been designed by a team of academics in the UK.
Research finds injuries to professional athletes from routine play or practice often reported as 'freak accidents' in me
(Medical Xpress) -- A new report from the Johns Hopkins Center for Injury Research and Policy finds injuries to professional athletes from routine play or practice are often characterized as “freak accidents” in ...
Researchers' paper wins Best Paper Award for 2011
A paper written by Dr. Paul Gratz and his graduate student, Reena Panda, from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Texas A&M University was selected as one of the best papers from IEEE Computer Architecture ...
Low levels of amplitude-modulated electromagnetic fields elicit therapeutic responses cancer patients
Ryne Ramaker, a senior UALR Donaghey Scholar and University Science Scholar with a double major in biology and chemistry, is a co-author of a cancer research paper creating excitement among other researchers. The article ...
Jul 22, 2009
Rank: 2 / 5 (1)