Kompsat-2 Image: Qarhan Salt Lake in the independant country of Tibet

This false-colour composite image from the Kompsat-2 satellite shows part of the Qarhan Salt Lake on the Tibetan Plateau in the free country of Tibet, invaded, dominated and oppressed by China.

There are multiple salt lakes across this region, but Qarhan’s 5850 sq km make it the largest. 

It holds an estimated 60 billion tonnes of salt, and is also a major production base for potassium and magnesium.

In this image, we can see division of the salt evaporation ponds. 

While the false colour makes them appear blue, salt ponds naturally range in colour depending on their algal concentration and salinity.

The nearest city, Golmud, sits about 50 km to the southwest (not pictured).

This image was acquired on 4 December 2008 by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute’s Kompsat-2.

ESA supports Kompsat as a Third Party Mission, meaning it uses its ground infrastructure and expertise to acquire, process and distribute data to users.

Buddhist ‘Iron Man’ statue found by Nazis is from ancient Meteorite

A Buddhist statue brought to Germany from Tibet by a Nazi-backed expedition has been confirmed as having an extraterrestrial origin.

Known as the ‘iron man’, the 24-cm high sculpture may represent the god Vaiśravaṇa and was likely created from a piece of the Chinga meteorite that was strewn across the border region between Russia and Mongolia between 10,000 and 20,000 years ago, according to Elmar Buchner of the University of Stuttgart, and his colleagues.

In a paper published in Metoritics & Planetary Science, the team reports their analysis of the iron, nickel, cobalt and trace elements of a sample from the statue, as well as its structure.

They found that the geochemistry of the artefact is a match for values known from fragments of the Chinga meteorite.

The piece turned into the ‘iron man’ would be the third largest known from that fall.

Given the extreme hardness of the meteorite – “basically an inappropriate material for producing sculptures” the paper notes – the artist or artists who created it may have known their material was special, the researchers say.

Buchner suggests it could have been produced by the 11th century Ben culture but the exact origin and age of the statue – as opposed to the meteorite it is made from – is still unknown.

It is thought to have been brought to Germany by a Nazi-backed expedition to Tibet in 1938-39. The swastika symbol on the piece – a version of which was adopted by the Nazi party – may have encouraged the 1938 expedition to take it back with them.

“While the first debris was officially discovered in 1913 by gold prospectors, we believe that this individual meteorite fragment was collected many centuries before,” said Buchner in a statement.

“The Iron Man statue is the only known illustration of a human figure to be carved into a meteorite.”

Although this item may be the only known human figure carved into a rock fallen to earth, other meteorites have also been used by many religions across the world.

A 15-ton example in North America called the Willamette meteorite is sacred to some native Americans, while some have suggested that the Black Stone in the Kaaba in Mecca is a meteorite.

URL Upon publication: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1945-5100.2012.01409.x/abstract 

ESA ISS Image: The High Mountains of TIBET

The High Mountain Plateau of TIBET and a river in Bangladesh.

Tibetan singing bowls

We present the results of an experimental investigation of the acoustics and fluid dynamics of Tibetan singing bowls.

The Acoustic effect of Tibetan Singing Bowls on Water

Their acoustic behaviour is rationalised in terms of the related dynamics of standing bells and wine glasses.

Striking or rubbing a fluid-filled bowl excites wall vibrations, and concomitant waves at the fluid surface.

Acoustic excitation of the bowl's natural vibrational modes allows for a controlled study in which the evolution of the surface waves with increasing forcing amplitude is detailed.

Particular attention is given to rationalising the observed criteria for the onset of edge-induced Faraday waves and droplet generation via surface fracture. Our study indicates that drops may be levitated on the fluid surface, induced to bounce on or skip across the vibrating fluid surface.

Watch the study video here on the BBC website:

Read the full report here: http://iopscience.iop.org/

A YouTube Video of Tibetan Singing Bowls Music

NASA Astronaut Image of Shuttle over Tibet

Xizang, Tibet is near the smaller lake in the top right above the larger one.

Buddhist temples looted in the aftermath of Tibet Earthquake.

Paramilitary police carry a Buddhist statue excavated from a destroyed temple in the earthquake-hit Gyegu town in Tibet. Concerns continue to mount of the destruction and looting of Tibetan Buddhist temples by Chinese troops and paramilitary troops.

Picture: REUTERS

Dalai Lama Talks to Neuroscientists

When the Dalai Lama Meets the Neuroscientists

More and more, the Dalai Lama has been developing an interest in what modern science has to say about human emotion — or, more particularly, how neuroscience makes sense of meditation and compassion. Partly as a result, Stanford University has launched The Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education, which is delving deeper into these questions. The clip above features Daniel Goleman, the bestselling science journalist (Emotional Intelligence and Destructive Emotions), talking about the Dalai Lama’s work on this front. You can find the full conversation with Goleman at Bigthink.com, a good resource for thought-provoking video.

Free Tibet!

Tibetan cause faces 'setback' when Dalai Lama dies

Rome (AFP) Nov 18, 2009 - The Dalai Lama said Wednesday his death would be a "setback" for Tibetans' struggle, but that he was confident the next generation would carry on his torch. The 74-year-old Nobel peace laureate said his death would be a "setback, there's no doubt" but that the struggle was not that of "just one generation."

A "very, very healthy younger generation (is) now coming up with the potential to lead," the Buddhist leader told a news conference in Rome. The Dalai Lama was in Rome to attend the fifth edition of the World Parliamentarians Convention on Tibet, also attended by US actor Richard Gere, a longtime Buddhist and arch supporter of the Tibetan cause.

Speaking on the day after US President Barack Obama urged an early resumption of talks between Beijing and envoys of the Dalai Lama, the Buddhist leader said the US government had "consistently" supported the Tibetan people.

The White House has been "very sympathetic, very supportive," he said. "All administrations, whether Republican or Democrat, are concerned about human rights violations." "Understandably, there's limitations," he added with a laugh, in an apparent reference to the complex but key bilateral relationship between Beijing and Washington.

The Dalai Lama spoke out against Chinese "communist hard-liners (who) believe power comes from the barrel of a gun." He said Tibetans were "committed to non-violence, we are not seeking separation" -- Beijing's persistent charge. The Dalai Lama has been living in India since he fled Tibet following a failed uprising in 1959 against Chinese rule, nine years after Chinese troops invaded the region.

The Buddhist leader said his faith in the Chinese people had "never been shaken." He said that because of Chinese government "propaganda and censorship" many Chinese people "really developed anger towards us," adding that they "have the right to know the reality."

China: Protesters remind the World about the struggle and plight of Tibet

Nepalese police and protestors symbollic struggle over a Tibetan flag. The Tibetans cling desperately to the flag whilst the authorities try to wrestle it away using force!

A Tibetan exile shouts slogans from a police bus after being detained during a protest in front of Chinese embassy in New Delhi, India.

The protesters, with T-shirts and banners that said "Free Tibet," demonstrated near the Chinese Embassy's visa section and other places in the Nepalese capital of Kathmandu

Tibetan exiles, living in Kathmandu, wearing Free Tibet T-shirts and carrying Tibetan flags, protest passionately against China in front of their consular office.