Aurora Borealis

Postcard FI-2125042 from Finland shows a spectacular view of  the northern lights or aurora borealis, a natural light display in the sky usually seen in the high latitude area near Arctic, caused by charged particles from a solar storm entering Earth's magnetic field and causing the excitation of the neutral particles and consequent optical emissions.

Last Tuesday on March 17, 2015, a much stronger than usual solar storm hit Earth and created massive colorful northern lights. As a result, the auroral zones expanded southward, pushing auroral displays as far south as Kansas and Virginia in the United States.

Mont Saint-Michel, France

Postcard US-3133043 from Texas was a French postcard the sender collected during a trip to
Mont Saint-Michel in Normandy, France. Located 1 kilometer  or 0.6 miles off shore at the mouth of the Couesnon River, the tidal island is 100 hectares or 247 acres in size with only 44 official residents in 2009. However, as part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, it has more than 3 million visitors each year.

Ten thousand visitors to the island got to see a supertide this Saturday on March 21, 2015, caused by the so-called supermoon effect coinciding with Friday’s total solar eclipse on March 20, 2015. Said to rise at the pace of a horse’s gallop, the unusual high tide turned the Mont briefly into an island fully surrounded by the English Channel Saturday. Normally, at a low tide visitors could walk on the vast flat seabed, while at high tide visitors could still travel to/from the mainland by a narrow causeway. The rare phenomenon supertide occurs every 18 years.

In Mount's Bay, Cornwall, United Kingdom, St Michael's Mount was a Cornish counterpart of Mont Saint-Michel in France, with the same tidal island characteristics and a similar conical shape,

Supertrees at Gardens by the Bay

Postcard SG-154122 from Singapore shows the Supertrees, 25-50 meter (82-160 feet) tall tree-like structures that serve as vertical gardens at Gardens by the Bay (滨海湾花园) in Singapore. Built on 101 hectares or 1,010,000 square miles of reclaimed land adjacent to the Marina Reservoir, Garden by the Bay is an urban park consisting of three waterfront gardens as a part of the strategy by the Singapore government to transform Singapore from a "Garden City" to a "City in a Garden".

According to Wikepedia, "the Supertrees are home to enclaves of unique and exotic ferns, vines, orchids and also a vast collection of bromeliads such as Tillandsia, amongst other plants. They are fitted with environmental technologies that mimic the ecological function of trees – photovoltaic cells that harness solar energy which can be used for some of the functions of the Supertrees, such as lighting, just like how trees photosynthesize; and collection of rainwater for use in irrigation and fountain displays, exactly like how trees absorb rainwater for growth. The Supertrees also serve air intake and exhaust functions as part of the conservatories' cooling systems."

Welcome to Las Vegas, Powered by Solar Energy

As seen in the postcard US-1728444, the "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign has been an icon at the south end of the Las Vegas Strip since 1959. It has witnessed the evolution of the Strip throughout the history. Soon, it may undergo changes itself by switching to solar power, stepping into the future.

 

According to a Las Vegas Sun article, several non-profit environmental organizations including the Clean Energy Project and Green Chips, and Bombard Electric company are proposing to install solar panels for the sign.

The Clark County commissioners will hear the proposal in their next meeting Tuesday on July 2, 2013. If approved in a subsequent meeting, solar panels will be installed to power the neon lights of the sign and the 89 light bulbs around the sign's edge.

Welcome to Las Vegas, and welcome to the future.