This book tells about the most astonishing, thrilling riddles and mysteries of the non-living world, the plant world, and the animal kingdom—as well as about incredible but entirely real creatures that are even more like characters from myths and legends. The Tunguska “Hall of Sarcophagi” and the Baltic “geysers,” singing sand dunes and fire-breathing ghosts, giant grass and miracle cacti, relic reptiles and the marsupial devil, мокеле-мбембе and the Rukh bird… Everything unknown, poorly studied, and difficult to explain makes people think about the mysteries of our world. It provides plots for fantastic novels and films, pushes scientists toward scientific research and expeditions, and encourages enthusiasts to make bold guesses.
The future is increasingly asking the question: will people find ways to coexist with each other and with the natural world in a dignified manner, or will humanity plunge into the abyss of climate, genetic, and psychotronic wars?