… and under certain circumstances, it not only can go wrong, but then keep the disaster going for years–and sometimes for centuries.

This week, while reading something on a completely different topic, I discovered a couple of natural phenomena that I didn’t expect. In this week’s Challenge, let me describe them to you, and see if you can find them as well. (This week is a fun Challenge, not a difficult one. We need a bit of a break from the past few weeks. But this is definitely interesting!)

1. I found out, much to my surprise, that there are several places where fires have been going on for years and years. How is this possible? Can you find THREE such places on Earth? How long has the oldest fire been a-flame? (No, none of these are volcanoes…)

2. A related kind of surprising on-going process is the recent discovery of a natural atomic fission reactor! Apparently, there is at least one place in the world where fission has been taking place without the use of any technology. Where is this place, and how is such a thing even possible? (Don’t you need complex reactor buildings, control rooms, and trained operators?) What’s the story here?

3. Can you find any other related on-going natural disasters like this? To qualify, they should be processes that run for many years at a time (not just single eruptions or earthquakes).

When you find the answer, let us know. I suspect there are multiple kinds of disasters at work in the world, and I’m curious what you discover.

Search on!