What we are viewing here is obviously the pockmarked surface of a massive alien brain, mutated by radiation from a solar flare and sent screaming to Earth on the back of a meteor. It is slowly lurching its way toward those mountains in the distance to use its immeasurable psychic energy to construct a mind-rape antenna to enslave every living creature on the planet.

Luckily, that crimson field of fury is just an alkali salt crust lying on the top of Lake Natron, in Tanzania. Countless microorganisms are attracted to the heavy salt concentration, which gives the lake its odd color and texture.

Despite alkalinity levels that can reach a pH level of 10 (almost as high as pure ammonia) and temperatures that reach over 120 degrees Fahrenheit, the lake is one of the only breeding sites for the lesser flamingo, an animal that, ironically, also kind of looks like it’s from space.

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