A wild elephant eats garbage containing plastic waste at a dump in Sri Lanka's eastern district of Ampara on June 3, 2023. Sri Lanka is set to launch a nation-wide clean up of plastic waste ahead of new laws banning the sale of single use plastics, the Environmental ministry said, after a spate of deaths of elephants and deer in the island's northeast after foraging at open garbage tips filled with plastic waste, whilst shrinking habitat has led to jumbos raiding villages looking for food. (Photo by Ishara S. Kodikara/AFP Photo)

In this September 1, 2014 photo released by the U.S. Geological Survey, fluid lava streams from the June 27 lava flow from the Kilauea volcano in Pahoa, Hawaii. The June 27 lava flow is named for the date it began erupting from a new vent. The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory issued a warning Thursday, September 4, 2014 to a rural community in the path of a lava flow on Hawaii's Big Island, as the molten rock moved to within a mile of homes. Observatory scientists said lava from the Kilauea volcano could reach the Kaohe Homesteads in five to seven days if it continues advancing through cracks in the earth. (Photo by AP Photo/U.S. Geological Survey)

In this undated handout photo taken by mrwed54, a woman poses for a photo by a lake in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, about 2,800 kilometers (1,750 miles) east of Moscow, Russia. Thousands of Novosibirsk residents, from scantily clad women to newlyweds have been instagramming selfies near the lake nicknamed the “Siberian Malvides” after the far-flung tropical islands in the Indian Ocean. This is in fact is a man-made dumb of coal from a nearby power station that provides for most of Novosibirsk’s energy needs. Environmentalists are warning people against coming into contact with the water. (Photo by mrwed54 via AP Photo)

Galapagos – Rocking the Cradle: Four major ocean currents converge along the Galapagos archipelago, creating the conditions for an extraordinary diversity of animal life, April 25, 2016. The islands are home to at least 7,000 flora and fauna species, of which 97 percent of the reptiles, 80 percent of the land birds, 50 percent of the insects and 30 percent of the plants are endemic. (Photo by Thomas P. Peschak for National Geographic/World Press Photo)

A couple kiss as strong waves hit the coast in Saint-Benoit, on the east of the French Indian Ocean island of La Reunion, on February 2, 2022, ahead of the passage of tropical cyclone Batsirai. La Reunion goes on red alert at 7 pm on February 2, to prepare for the likely passage of cyclone Batsirai overnight. The cyclone already left at least 7,500 homes in nearby Mauritius without power, after it brought heavy downpours and winds of around 120 kilometres per hour, knocking down trees onto electricity lines, according to the local electricity board. (Photo by Richard Bouhet/AFP Photo)

The Haʻikū Stairs, also known as the Stairway to Heaven or Haʻikū Ladder, is a steep hiking trail on the island of Oʻahu. The trail began as a wooden ladder spiked to the cliff on the south side of the Haʻikū Valley. It was installed in 1942 to enable antenna cables to be strung from one side of the cliffs above Haʻikū Valley to the other. A building to provide a continuous communication link between Wahiawā and Haʻikū Valley Naval Radio Station was constructed at the peak of Puʻukeahiakahoe, elevation about 2,800 feet (850 m). The antennae transmitted very low frequency radio signals from a 200,000-watt Alexanderson alternator in the center of Haʻikū valley. The signals could reach US Navy submarines as far away as Tokyo Bay while the submarines were submerged.

“The Ainu (アイヌ?), also called Aynu, Aino (アイノ), and in historical texts Ezo (蝦夷), are indigenous people or groups in Japan and Russia. Historically they spoke the Ainu language and related varieties and lived in Hokkaidō, the Kuril Islands, and much of Sakhalin. Most of those who identify themselves as Ainu still live in this same region, though the exact number of living Ainu is unknown. This is due to ethnic issues in Japan resulting in those with Ainu backgrounds hiding their identities and confusion over mixed heritages. In Japan, because of intermarriage over many years with Japanese, the concept of a 'pure Ainu' ethnic group is no longer feasible. Official estimates of the population are of around 25,000, while the unofficial number is upwards of 200,000 people”. – Wkipedia

Photo: A captive bear drinking from a large bottle held by an Ainu tribeswoman. (Photo by Evans/Three Lions/Getty Images). Circa 1955

Fireworks light the morning sky March 6, 2012 as the Disney Fantasy, the newest Disney Cruise Line ship, arrives in her home port of Port Canaveral, Florida after traveling nearly 4,700 miles across the Atlantic Ocean from Bremerhaven, Germany. The 4,000-passenger Disney Fantasy will welcome guests on her maiden voyage on March 31, 2012, sailing seven-night cruises to the Caribbean and Disney's private island Castaway Cay, from Port Canaveral. (Photo by Todd Anderson/Disney Parks via Getty Images)