The First Man to Descend into Turkmenistan’s Door to Hell

The Darvaza Crater in Ahal Province, Turkmenistan, is known as the “Door to Hell.” The story goes that Soviet petroleum engineers created the hole in 1971 while looking for gas. The collapsed crater spewed dangerous gas, so they ignited it, thinking the gas would soon burn off. Over forty years later, the crater is still burning.

In 2014, explorer George Kourounis descended to the bottom of the crater, protected by a fireproof suit. Even he was surprised by the heat of the crater. Kourounis didn’t stay long, but he brought back biological samples from the bottom. Kourounis talked to Scribol about the adventure, and shared dozen of pictures from the expedition.


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Reminds me much of the "computing center" at my alma mater:
http://www.rpi.edu/about/campustour/vcc/index.html

It had formerly been a large stone chapel when that part of the campus was part of an adjacent seminary. It always struck me a bit ironic that the geeks at a technical school now "pay worship" to the computer housed therein.
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Mare Nostrum is indeed "our sea", and it was the name given to the Mediterranean sea during the roman and bizantine periods. Therefore, it was considered appropriate for a supercomputer in a city on the Mediterranean coast.
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