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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.

 
Xwejni Salt Pans in Żebbuġ, Malta
As Malta is an island nation in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, it is a natural place for people to make salt from seawater. In fact, people have been manufacturing salt in Malta since the Phoenicians arrived on the islands. The most notable place in Maltese Archipelago where people have been making salt using traditional methods is a section of the north coast of the island of Gozo stretching from Reqqa Point (the northernmost point of Malta) to...

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Site of La Morgue de Paris in...
Square de l’Île-de-France, a small public park at the very end of Île de la Cité, might seem to be a peaceful green plot of land now, but it hides a much darker and morbid history. The site was home to one of the first Paris morgues, which not only served as the place to keep unidentified bodies but also as a peculiar exhibition open to the public. The original building, which opened in 1804, was situated a little...

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Landis Valley Museum in Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Several waves of German immigrants settled in Pennsylvania in the 17th and 18th centuries. The first wave, invited by William Penn himself, consisted largely of Anabaptists, including Amish, Mennonites, and Dunkers. These groups were seeking religious freedom after the chaos of the Thirty Years’ War, which had devastated much of Germany. After around 1720 they were joined by mainstream Protestant denominations such as Lutherans, Moravians, and members of the German Reformed church. On the eve of the American Revolution,...

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Trail of Two Forests in Cougar, Washington
Deep in the woods below Mount Saint Helens, a short boardwalk traverses a natural mosaic of green and black. As beautiful as it is, it might be hard at first glance to see both forests mentioned in the site’s name. The two forests of this trail are not separated by biome type or ecosystem, but instead by centuries of history. One is the forest you see today, verdant with Douglas fir and moss. The other is just a shadow...

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Up at Noon, Out All Night: This...
The clouds seemed to be conspiring against Jimo Pereira last summer. The university student from Buenos Aires spent much of her time curled up in a sleeping bag on the grounds of Eichsfelder Hütte, a hostel deep in Germany’s rugged Harz Mountains. Night after chilly night she’d be out in the open field with her project partner, trying to stay warm. Every so often one of them would get up to check their telescope, but the clouds stubbornly barred...

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The Four-Faced Liar in Cork, Ireland
The steeple of St. Anne’s Church in Cork is affectionately known as the “Four-Faced Liar.” That’s because it boasts a quirky feature: four clocks on its tower, each displaying a slightly different time. The church was originally built in 1722, but the clocks weren’t added until more than a century later in 1847. Depending on the angle from which you view the clocks, how strong the wind is, and a number of other factors that affect the clocks, the times...

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Annie the Railroad Dog in Fort Collins,...
From 1934 to 1948, Annie was the ambassador to Fort Collins as the unofficial welcome wagon to train passengers. She was found as a stray by railroad brakeman Chris Demuth. He brought the scrawny dog back to Fort Collins and called her Annie. She was raised at the train depot and beloved by all. When Annie passed away, she was buried in the rail yard. The crew who had looked after her during her greeting duties put up a headstone...

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Uncle Sam Plaza in Arlington, Massachusetts
The Samuel “Uncle Sam” statue in Arlington, Massachusetts, honors the man who may have inspired one of the most iconic American symbols. Sam Wilson was a meat packer who supplied the U.S. Army during the War of 1812, had his crates marked with the initials “U.S.” which soldiers jokingly called “Uncle Sam.” This association is said to have led to the bearded, top-hat-wearing figure of Uncle Sam a personification of the American spirit. (Whether this story is actually true...

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Silver Reef in Leeds, Utah
By the mid-19th century prospectors and geologists had a good idea of what rock types were most likely to host precious metal deposits, and sandstone was not one of them. So when John Kemple reported silver values in sandstone from the Silver Reef area in the late 1860s, his discovery was greeted with disbelief and derision. Even Kemple was unsure of his findings. Not until the mid-1870s did a mining rush get underway, when people finally got around to...

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‘Sir Guy and the Dun Cow’ in...
Coventry is famous for the legend of Lady Godiva, commemorated by an equestrian statue of her in the city square, but there is another folk story well-known in the area that is represented by a public artwork here. Hailing from the nearby town of Warwick, Sir Guy is a major figure of medieval English folklore, if not as popular as King Arthur or Robin Hood. The core of his story is that this humble cupbearer must prove his valor...

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Casa de Ferro in Maputo, Mozambique
The iron house was built in Belgium in 1892 and is said to have been designed by Gustave Eiffel or one of his associates. The house was built for the then-governor of Mozambique, but the politician never actually used it due to the hot climate. (Another iron house can be found in Iquitos, Peru, also supposedly designed by Eiffel.) Over the years, the iron house has been used for a number of different government offices. Currently, the Ministry of Culture and...

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Bhausaheb Rangari Bhavan Museum in Pune, India
In the center of Pune, there is an old mansion built by Shrimant Bhausaheb Lakshman Jawale. His family was in the profession of dyeing royal clothes, hence he was also known by his sobriquet: Bhausaheb Rangari (rang means “color”). Bhausaheb Rangari was a prominent personality in Pune in that era. When he built his wada (mansion) in 1883, he incorporated a number of secret rooms and mechanisms into his house.  There is a secret trap door once used to...

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How to Survive Without a Cell Phone...
Two paths diverged in yellow wood. Sorry she could not travel both, the hiker grabbed her phone to check the map—only to find zero bars of service. Now what? Well, if she properly anticipated this scenario, she’d just grab a paper map from her backpack and ponder it over a handful of trail mix. But if she didn’t plan for the possibility of getting lost without cell service, she could find herself in a life or death situation. If...

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Kinnarodden (Cape Nordkinn) in Norway
Deep into the Arctic Circle at a latitude of 71°8’2” north, Kinnarodden is the northernmost point of mainland Europe. Unlike the nearby and more celebrated Nordkapp (North Cape) on the island of Magerøya, no car park, famous monument, or expensive café awaits at Kinnarodden. Instead, after a demanding one- to two-day hike across rock fields and scree slopes, you arrive at the northern tip of the European continent, the same latitude as northern Alaska and Siberia, where you are...

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Dawes Arboretum Hedge Letters in Newark, Ohio
Where can you find something green, leafy, and over 2,040 feet long? Look no further than Dawes Arboretum. While there are over 2,000 acres and 15,000 plants to appreciate here, the highlight might just be the massive evergreen hedge that spells out the attraction’s name in 145-foot-tall letters. The eponymous hedge was conceived by the arboretum’s founder, Benam Dawes, and designed by Charles Jones. When the letters were first installed, only “DAWES” was spelled out in hedges. More were added later, leading...

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