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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.

 
Hidden Forest Trail in Las Vegas, Nevada
One of the few “official” trails in the Desert National Wildlife Refuge, this path follows an old Jeep road some 5.5 miles up into the Sheep Range. It goes all the way from the low-desert Joshua tree-creosote bush biome in the valley beyond the range front to a ponderosa pine forest, the “Hidden Forest.” The route follows a rugged, scenic canyon flanked by limestone spires and cliffs.  An old cabin sits at the end of the trail, as well...

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Sveta Srca in Pula, Croatia
Founded by nuns of the Order of the Sacred Hearts, this church opened in 1908 and took the same name: Sveta Srca means “Sacred Hearts.” Following World War II, the order abandoned the church and adjoining convent, both being given over to the Archaeological Museum of Istria instead. The association used it as a warehouse and depot starting in 1958. This use, and deficient building techniques, required major repairs and renovations after the Archaeological Museum vacated the building. Work...

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Secret Spitfires Memorial in Salisbury, England
The Secret Spitfires memorial is a poignant tribute to the remarkable and pivotal efforts of the people of Salisbury, Trowbridge, Reading, and Southampton during World War II. Inaugurated in July 2021, an esoteric operation that remained in mystery for 75 years, these heroes contributed to building these remarkable fighter aircraft. These critically vital acts of collective valor were brought to light by the acclaimed 2016 film The Secret Spitfires.  When the Germans attacked Southampton’s production facilities, these neighboring towns...

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Have You Seen a Dark Watcher?
As golden hour settles in around a hiker in the Santa Lucia Mountains of the Central California Coast, what should be a peaceful moment in nature turns to one of panic. The solo traveler can’t shake the feeling they’re being watched. Looking around wildly, their gaze settles on an eerie figure surrounded by swirling mist on a peak ahead. It looks like a very tall human with a walking stick and hat, just watching. Mustering the courage, the hiker...

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Saad Zaghloul Pasha Monument in Cairo, Egypt
On the promenade by the Mediterranean beach in Alexandria stands a tall column topped with a statue of Saad Zaghloul. A revolutionary who played a key role in the Egyptian Revolution of 1919, Zaghloul served as Prime Minister of Egypt from January to November 1924 after the country gained independence from British rule. While nothing from antiquity remains today, unlike such other places in the city as the Serapeum and the Roman Theater of Kom el-Dikka, the location of the...

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Podcast: Checking Into Hotel Imperial With Deborah...
Listen and subscribe on Stitcher, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and all major podcast apps. In this episode of The Atlas Obscura Podcast, we travel back to the eve of World War II, when there was one place that was the source for all good stories: the Hotel Imperial in Vienna. It exuded luxury and power, and in the 1920s and ‘30s it was also the converging spot for foreign correspondents who were warning the world about the rise of dictatorship....

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5 Hot Digital Trends in the Tourism...
Digital Trends in the Tourism Industry Digital tourism trends encompass the growing integration of digital technologies in the tourism industry. These trends include virtual reality experiences, online booking and planning tools, personalized travel recommendations through AI, and the use of social media for destination marketing. They are important for enhancing the travel experience, making trip The post 5 Hot Digital Trends in the Tourism Industry appeared first on Revfine.com.

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The Child-Eating Bloodsucker of Aboriginal Australian Nightmares
The children all knew the story of the Yara ma tha who. In the Aboriginal communities of the southeastern Australian coast, parents warned their sons and daughters about the little red men who hid in the boughs of the wild fig trees. Wayward boys and girls who wandered alone through the dense forests were the favored prey of these spirit men, who had lived alongside Aboriginal people since the Dreaming, when the land and its creatures were created. The...

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How the World’s Largest Octopus Went From...
Sitting on the Pacific coast in northwest Washington State, Tacoma is no stranger to high winds and stormy waters. But in November 1940, the strongest gusts in years twisted the massive Tacoma Narrows Bridge. Steel beams gyrated, the road warped, and, after a final creak, the whole structure collapsed. More eerie than the spontaneous failure was the myth that bubbled up around the disaster—that it was caused not by 40 mph winds but by the meaty arms of a...

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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Sculpture in...
A seemingly out-of-place comic book surprise sits on the 21st floor of the tallest university library in the world.  When. Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman created the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turt, it was an unserious and unambitious personal project that quickly spiraled their lives into unexpected stardom. Laird was born in North Adams, Massachusetts in 1954 where he then went on to study fine arts at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1970. Turtlemania, as it began to be...

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Guanyin Cave in Green Island, Taiwan
Guanyin, a bodhisattva sometimes called the “Goddess of Mercy,” is revered by Chinese practitioners of Buddhism, Daoism, and folk religion alike as a savior of fishermen and sailors. Appropriate, then, that a small island off the coast of Taiwan would have a pilgrimage site dedicated to her.   In a sacred cave hidden in the hills of Green Island, the slow process of erosion by dripping water has, over the course of tens of thousands of years, created a stalagmite...

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Magdalen College Gargoyles in Oxford, England
Oxford is not only a city of dreaming spires, but also of gargoyles and grotesques, often silly and strange. The best examples of those may be found on the outer walls of Magdalen College, which are adorned by a cornucopia of creepy creatures, cartoonish chimeras, and humorous human heads. The bizarre menagerie consists of miserable-looking dragons, ugly goblins and feeble fiends, many of them screaming, while the humans go wild and unhinged in their nonsensical mania. Some taunt the...

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Rabbits Are Creatures of the Underworld According...
Fuzzy tails, wide eyes, long and distinguishable ears, and an ever-twitching nose—the rabbit seems fairly unassuming at first glance. Yet ancient beliefs about the Leporidae family refer to the creature as something crafty, otherworldly, and a bit spooky. It turns out rabbits provoke an ancient fear, one that has rippled in civilizations across the globe, from ancient Egyptians to Celtic peoples. For many, it’s okay, maybe even wise, to be afraid of bunnies. For the Irish in particular, hares...

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Meet the Creatures and Creators Behind Bali’s...
On the eve of March 11, the streets of the traditional village of Mengwi, Bali, flooded with monsters. The giant figures loomed over villagers’ heads, with grotesque smiles, protruding fangs, and extra arms and eyes. They danced in the night, each one brought to life by dozens of locals who moved as one, lifting, spinning, and shaking the monstrous creations. The spectacle, known as the Ngrupuk parade, is one of several rituals meant to banish evil ahead of Nyepi...

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Podcast: Exotic Feline Rescue Center
Listen and subscribe on Stitcher, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and all major podcast apps. In this episode of The Atlas Obscura Podcast, we visit the Exotic Feline Rescue Center. Long before Joe Exotic got the country talking about big cats, there was Joe Taft, a regular guy, who began raising and rescuing these types of felines in Indiana. Our podcast is an audio guide to the world’s wondrous, awe-inspiring, strange places. In under 15 minutes, we’ll take you to an...

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