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Suborbital space tourism finally arrives | FCC prepares to run public C-band auction | The big four in the U.S. launch industry — United Launch Alliance, SpaceX, Blue Origin and Northrop Grumman — hope to be one of two providers that will receive five-year contracts later this year to launch national security payloads starting in 2022. | China’s launch rate stays high | The International Space Station is the largest ever crewed object in space.

 
Gonokami Maimaizu Well in Hamura, Japan
The Tama area, which consists of 30 cities and towns west of the 23 special wards of Tokyo, lies in the Musashino Plateau region overlooked by mountains, a stark contrast to the metropolitan capital despite the mere one-hour distance from Shinjuku. Historically, villages in the Musashino Plateau had a lot of trouble getting water from underground, as much of the region’s soil was loam and too fragile to dig down while the veins of groundwater were particularly deep in...

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'Dreadnowt' in Manchester, England
The Irk River immediately north of Manchester traverses through a broad swath of unkempt woodlands and small industrial areas left over from when Manchester was a major manufacturing center. It therefore seems like the least likely place to find a submarine partially buried in the ground with its prow pointed upwards. The submarine is actually a sculpture called the Dreadnowt. It was created by Manchester artist Jonathan Woolfenden and was paid for and installed outside HMG Paints. The statue...

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Museu do Seringal in Tarumã, Brazil
The Museu do Seringal is located a 30-minute boat ride out of Manaus up the Rio Negro. This outdoor museum In the Amazon showcases how the rubber boom of the late 19th and early 20th centuries impacted the lives of the workers as well as those who were making money off of them.    While today it is a serene “jungle camp” as a working plantation, it would have been a working hell for the rubber workers. This museum, was...

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Could This Be the Most Midwestern Competition...
A dog is sitting in a vintage carriage being pulled by a horse across a field in Wisconsin. The dalmatian is sitting next to its owner, Susan Keating, who maintains her hold on the brown reins. Keating is a multiple-title winner in the world of competitive carriage racing, and God willing, her dog will be too. The dalmatian has a single job: sit next to her and be well-behaved. In this competition, the pair will be judged, essentially, on...

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Professor Labris Plads (Professor Labri Square) in...
Johannes Marius Dines Petersen (1863-1935), better known as Professor Labri, was an eccentric legendary carnival barker and magician. Despite his title, he didn’t possess any formal academic credentials but proudly dubbed himself the “Professor of Modern Salon Magic.” In an era before television and radio, Labri spent years touring rural Denmark, entertaining with his unique shows. He always wore a black tailcoat suit and a silk top hat, rumored to be made from his former black cat’s skin. Labri’s impeccable...

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The ‘Crispy R’ and Why R Is...
In November 2021, linguists from around the world met in Lausanne, Switzerland, for the seventh edition of a conference focusing specifically on the “R” sound. The conference, called ‘R-Atics, included a presentation on the intrusive R used in the Falkland Islands, a reconstruction of what R sounded like in historical Armenian, and a discussion of the R sounds in Shiwiar, an indigenous Ecuadorian language spoken by well under 10,000 people, among other events and talks. Don’t be too surprised...

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The Mural Mile (Floodwall) in St. Louis,...
About a half a mile south of the Gateway Arch in downtown St. Louis, lies a two-mile long flood-wall, covered in the combined efforts of more than 250 of graffiti artists. Construction of the wall began in 1956 and took until 1964. During the Great Flood of 1993, the river reached to two feet below the top of the flood-wall, but the wall in its entirety held up to the raging Mississippi.   After the flood, the large concrete wall...

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Kuragari Pass in Ikoma, Japan
The Kuragari Pass is a historic road that cuts through the mountains of Ikoma, crossing the border between Nara and Osaka. It’s quite quaint, with a number of temples, stone Buddhas, and teahouses dotting the cobbled passage, but you must expect a tough hike to complete the trek. It is, after all, the steepest slope in Japan. In everyday Japanese, kuragari is a word meaning “shade” or “darkness.” In the case of this pass, it seems to have been...

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No Name Street in Sandwich, England
England has its fair share of streets with peculiar names, such as Needless Alley in Birmingham. Sandwich is a historic town in Kent, England, known for its medieval architecture and charming streets. One that’s as charming as any other is No Name Street. Maybe the street is too short to even deserve a name, yet this is by far one of the most popular streets in the lovely town of Sandwich, which is just a short drive from the...

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'Four Horsemen of the Lines' Monument in...
“Everything’s up to date in Kansas City,” goes the Rodgers and Hammerstein song written about life on the prairie in the 1930s. While electricity and cable cars had come to the cities, in rural areas such as Horton, Kansas, people were still reliant on burning wood, coal, or kerosene for energy and heat.  The Rural Electrification Act was signed into law on May 20, 1936, formalizing one of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal programs. The act led to...

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Avant Mining at Fisher Mountain in Mount...
Sure, you could luxuriate in a spa to soak up the healing powers of 4,000-year-old thermal spring water… but wouldn’t you rather scramble around like a prospector in red clay dirt with a pickaxe? For 25 bucks, you can spend an afternoon mining for quartz crystals at Avant Mining. For $1,000, the crew will escort you to a private dig location where the earth is so lousy with crystals that you hardly need tools, and the retail value of...

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Doboj Fortress in Doboj, Bosnia and Herzegovina
The old town of Doboj is located in northern Bosnia, in an area with wide geographical foothills. The significant geostrategic position around the mouths of the rivers Usora and Spreča was a decisive factor in the formation of the fortress from which today’s Doboj developed. Throughout this region’s conflict-riddled history, the fortress has been ransacked no fewer than 18 times. It also suffered substantial damage during the Bosnian War.  

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Sonny Bono Statue in Palm Springs, California
In an alcove next to the steps to the elevated concourse of Palm Springs Airport is a bust of singer, songwriter, Congressman, and Mayor Salvatore Phillip “Sonny” Bono. After a successful music career with ex-wife Cher, Bono faded from the public eye, with only sporadic appearances in television and movies. He decided to enter politics, after experiencing firsthand frustration with the local bureaucracy. In 1988, Bono ran as a Republican for Mayor of Palm Springs, California, winning easily with...

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Falcon Rest Mansion in McMinnville, Tennessee
Clay Faulkner, who founded Mountain City Woolen Mills in 1873, built his fortune on “Gorilla Pants,” a garment so durable he claimed even a great ape couldn’t tear them. In 1896, after the popularity of his trousers rose, Faulkner declared that he would build “the grandest mansion in Tennessee” for Mary, his wife, as a gift.  For the time period, Falcon Rest was considered especially lavish, complete with central steam heating, a telephone, state-of-the-art electrical fixtures, and indoor plumbing. After Clay’s...

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Hotel Energy Solution: Save Money and The...
The right hotel energy solution is a major concern for any hotel business. Rising energy costs can dramatically affect your bottom line. In addition, today’s eco-minded travelers are increasingly concerned with the impact of their stay on the environment. In this article, you’ll learn how your hotel business can reduce costs, attract more guests, and The post Hotel Energy Solution: Save Money and The Planet appeared first on Revfine.com.

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