Chapter 823: Human Limits

valuable?

The audience was very excited. They originally thought that this was just a piece of glass. Even though it was a bit rare, it was not very valuable. But now it seems that maybe this is not the case?

[I’m not tired if I want to talk about this]

[Excuse me, how valuable it is]

"Well, I actually don't know much about this. Is this piece worth a thousand or ten thousand pieces?"

Bi Fang's tone was uncertain.

If you point the glass meteorite in your hand towards the sun and observe it carefully, you can still see that it is of good quality.

The impact of meteorites on the desert is an extremely intense process, involving a series of complex activities such as high-intensity impact, high-temperature ablation, and environmental airflow surges.

After a violent meteorite impact, a large amount of flying sand was caused to impact each other. Under the ablation effect of high temperature, the prototype of the tektite was impacted many times and under the action of strong air flow, the meteorite impact, sand and other materials impacted again, and Complex textures caused by the combined action of airflow.

The impact of this airflow and blowing sand has acted on the ablated crystals more than once, thus forming this seemingly simple but multiple intersection texture from the inside out.

It is very difficult to counterfeit, which further increases the value of tektites.

The piece in Bi Fang's hand does not have many conspicuous bubbles and impurities inside. It is quite clear. It may be sold for tens of thousands of dollars in the market.

Of course, that's all. The value is not comparable to the giant jade that Bi Fang found last time.

[Inflation is really getting worse and worse. Now when I hear people talking about thousands of yuan or tens of thousands of yuan, it feels like it’s nothing (face covering)]

[When I bought breakfast this morning, I found that the potato pancakes downstairs had risen by two pieces, which made me heartbroken, woo woo woo]

[Look around again, maybe there is more. Since this thing is purely natural, shouldn’t there be just one piece? 】

Bi Fang was convinced by what the audience said and began to search nearby to see if there was any similar natural glass nearby.

Although the value of the glass itself is not high to Bifang now, there is a unique pleasure in finding them, like finding a treasure in the wilderness.

"In 1932, Patrick Clayton, the Chinese explorer who discovered glass meteorites, decided to go deep into the Sahara Desert to hunt for treasure."

Bi Fang stuffed the yellow meteorite glass into his backpack and started looking for gems near the oasis. He also did some simple historical science.

In the middle of the 19th century, with the completion of the Industrial Revolution, the world's major capitalist countries moved towards the stage of monopoly capitalism and foreign aggression and expansion. What followed was a mighty craze for exploration.

Perhaps to be precise, the craze for exploration has never stopped since the 16th century, and it has been intensifying until the 21st century.

People are eager for more wealth, and in order to obtain it, the rich and nobles are investing heavily, thus driving the emergence of batches of navigators.

Columbus and Magellan were the leaders of this period.

This is a relatively primitive and rough exploration, which has cost a lot of lives, and the value it brings is undoubtedly rich. For the first time, mankind knows the whole world.

By the 19th century, humans at that time had a specific and detailed understanding of the world, but it was only on the surface. They could clearly point out any position on the globe, but they still knew nothing about certain dangerous areas. Knowledge, and the completion of the industrial revolution, provided the basic conditions for exploring these dangerous areas.

Amundsen and Scott were outstanding figures of this time.

The polar regions, deserts, and rainforests became places that people expected during this period.

If the polar regions began to explore the extension of the earth in the 16th century, and people tried to know what the northern and southernmost scenes of the earth were like, then the Sahara and the rainforest were all about finding something different.

Ancient temples, magnificent pyramids, mysterious totems, and natural and beautiful mineral crystals.

"Ha, another piece, still yellow, but the texture is not as good as before."

Bi Fang dug out another piece of angular meteorite glass from the sand, wiped it briefly and put it away.

"There may be any danger in the depths of the vast desert, and few people try to enter it. What attracts Clayton and others to go straight to the hinterland is the temptation of treasure hunting."

"Clayton heard that there was an oasis city in the desert, which contained rich treasures. However, the expedition team did not find this oasis city that only existed in legends. Instead, they found something special."

"I have said it once just now, and you all know it now, it is Libyan meteorite glass."

"At first Clayton just thought the glass was novel and beautiful, so he collected them and brought them back to Europe."

"But without two brushes, how can you become an explorer? This is not a profession that can be achieved by relying on courage and boldness. With his keen geological experience, Clayton felt something strange, that is, how could he become an explorer in the desolate desert? Such beautiful glass appears?”

"However, due to the development of the times, he was never able to find the answer. But in the next two years, he traveled back and forth between the Sahara Desert and Europe many times and collected many such glass samples."

"Two years later, Clayton carefully sealed the collected glass in a whiskey bottle. Put into the bottle with the glass, there was a small note recording the collection record of the glass."

"The bottle, containing Libyan desert glass, sat there for 50 years until it was discovered in 1984 by an Italian archaeologist, Giancarlo Canillo."

"He was also amazed by the beauty of the glass and the mystery of its unknown origin. The notes with detailed collection details gave him a bold idea."

"A year later, Canillo organized an expedition to retrace Clayton's path. He was not looking for the treasure that Clayton had not found, but specifically looking for desert glass."

"Then it was 1996. I just said that the gem on the head of the Pharaoh was also made of glass. About that time, Libyan meteorite glass began to become famous and gradually became valuable."

After searching around a lot, Bi Fang only found three pieces in total. Among them, the first piece was of the best quality, while the next two pieces were not that good.

Maybe it adds up to around 30,000 yuan?

"It's been so long since glass was formed. The sand dunes in the Sahara Desert are constantly moving, not to mention the meteorite glass hidden in the desert. I don't find it strange that they appear anywhere in this desert."

Bi Fang happily put the three pieces of glass into his backpack, and deliberately separated them to avoid friction and collision with each other, resulting in scratches or bumps.

Thirty thousand yuan was already a large amount of money to him in the past, and their commemorative significance was far greater than their actual value.

The last time the jadeite was in trouble, this time I finally brought back some valuable minerals, which fulfilled my treasure hunting dream.

After distilling some fresh water, Bifang continued moving forward with Alpha.

"After Libya, there is Chad. This is the trip I am most looking forward to, the heart of death in Africa."

Chad, a landlocked country in central Africa, has more than 200 ethnic groups, a staggering number.

Its territory is divided into three main geographical areas: the desert area in the north, the arid Sahel area in the center, and the Sudanese steppe area in the south.

Because most of it is a desert area far away from the ocean and has high temperatures all year round, it is also called the "Heart of Death in Africa".

In many places it is sparsely populated except for the daily camels and herders, and is one of the least visited countries in the world.

The Ennedi Plateau, located right in the middle of the Sahara Desert in northeastern Chad, is not only one of the most remote and beautiful deserts in the world, but also a hidden gem on Earth that has yet to be overrun by tourists and crowds, remaining virtually intact.

After taking a sip of water, Bi Fang re-judged the direction.

Before going to Chad, there was another place in Libya he wanted to "check in".

That is Lake Oummai in Libya.

Ummah, which means "Mother of Waters," is one of the largest oasis lakes embedded deep in the sand dunes of the Sahara.

But for those brave and adventurous travelers, these are not reasons to stop them. They can even be seen as prerequisites for getting rewards. The final reward is the oldest oasis in the Sahara Desert, a surreal landscape. .

"The Sahara has only two permanent rivers and a handful of lakes, but it has extensive underground reservoirs, or aquifers."

"Its permanent rivers are the Nile and Niger. The Nile rises in central Africa south of the Sahara and flows north through Sudan and Egypt before emptying into the Mediterranean Sea."

“The Niger River originates in West Africa, southwest of the Sahara Desert, flows northeast into Mali, then turns southeast through Nigeria and flows into the Gulf of Guinea.”

"It also doesn't have many permanent lakes. There are only about 20 lakes. Only one of them has drinking water, and that is the vast and shallow Lake Chad. As you can tell from the name, it is located in our next destination. Lakes that kept growing and shrinking, and others filled with undrinkable salt water.”

"Ummah is one of the best and it's on my route so I'd have to see it anyway."

[No, there are only about twenty people in the oasis that Fang Shen encountered before. What are they? That doesn’t seem to be a saltwater lake, right?]

[That’s not a lake, right? 】

[Can only be considered a water pool]

"The definition of a lake is a body of water surrounded by land. Although no one has ever defined how big a lake is, the small oases we have experienced obviously cannot be counted."

Bi Fang explained with a smile.

It's the end of July now, and the temperature of the sand in the Sahara Desert can reach over 70 degrees Celsius. There are no traces of water on the surface of the sand.

Just thinking about seeing a big lake makes people excited.

That night, Bi Fang had the rare choice of traveling all night.

Under the starry night, billions of tons of sand grains slide, accompanied by a buzzing sound that can echo several kilometers away.

The Singing Sand Dunes, one of the characteristics of the Sahara, suffer from constant sand avalanches over the years.

Accompanied by some scary "background music", Bi Fang saw his destination in sight early the next morning.

It was indeed big, and it was completely dwarfed by what Bi Fang had encountered before.

Contrary to imagination, although there are also green grasslands around Ummai Lake, there are not many animals here. It is not a vibrant scene at all, and some only have endless flies.

【Depend on. . . What's so cool about this thing? . . 】

[I vomited and felt a little nauseous]

[There are too many flies here]

[Is this thing the mother of water? I'm a little doubtful about life]

"Hahaha, I have never said that Ummai is full of life. Maybe it was a long time ago, but it is not now."

Bi Fang rode a camel and looked at this huge lake. He couldn't tell if he was feeling emotional or something.

"Ummah is a very special lake of death. The water here has been evaporated by high temperatures for tens of thousands of years and contains a lot of salt. Coupled with the rotting corpses of various animals, the lake water contains a lot of toxins and is impossible to drink. "

"Most of the animals that died near this lake died of thirst or were poisoned by drinking the lake water by mistake. Their deaths further enhanced the toxicity of the lake water."

"It is also surrounded by 16 lakes, some of which dry up and disappear from time to time, while others continue to exist in the embrace of the desert. This saltwater lake was formerly a famous trading center for the local residents."

"But as the lake gradually became dirty, it gradually became abandoned."

"One interesting thing is that the salt concentration of the lake here is very high, even the same as that of the Dead Sea, so swimming in it is very easy."

[I vomited, who would swim in this?]

[Are you going down to eat flies? 】

【When did Fang Shen become so disgusting】

The audience couldn't accept Bifang's heavy taste.

"Just kidding, I don't want to eat a fly either."

Bi Fang shrugged and pointed to the lake.

"It's a pity that it's not October, otherwise we would see a lot of swallows here."

【swallow? 】

[I remembered, there seemed to be birds in the oasis that Fang Shen just said]

"Yes."

"All migratory birds in the world migrate at specific times every year, and their migration routes remain unchanged for thousands of years."

"Just like some fish migrate to their birthplace to lay eggs every year, they will still persist in migrating even if the journey is far away and extremely dangerous."

"Swallows are one of these migratory armies, and European swallows fly thousands of miles south every winter, crossing the Sahara Desert and entering Africa, where they spend the cold winter."

"The most difficult thing to solve when crossing thousands of miles of desert is the supply problem along the way. Although they have strong endurance and light body, the cost of traveling thousands of miles is also huge, and they also need sufficient food and water to replenish their physical energy in order to go smoothly. Complete the migration."

"Although there is not much water in the desert, as I said, birds will not easily change their migration routes. There is only one water source on their migration routes, and that is Lake Ummai."

"It is obviously impossible to drink it directly. It will be poisoned to death in minutes, and it will end up like the corpse of nearby animals."

【Damn, I already know】

[Stop talking and save some face for Yanzi]

[I have tasted enough. 】

"But we can't ignore one important creature, and that's the ubiquitous fly."

The buzzing of flies constantly flying on the water seemed to respond.

"As nature's decomposers, flies will filter toxins contained in the lake water. Therefore, flies can replenish water and physical energy for swallows. No matter how small a fly's legs are, they are still meat."

"With hundreds of flies in their stomachs, the swallows' bodies are full of energy. They flutter their wings and continue southward to their migration destination."

The audience in the live broadcast room felt nauseated, and Bi Fang laughed.

"If you really can't hold on in the desert and can't drink salt water, can you challenge the limits of human beings?"