Continents
The Hunt for a Bottle of Asturias Cider and the Stories of More Drinks From Northern Spain
In this part of Europe, a glass of rioja is nice, but nothing beats apple cider, a way of life
June 27, 2012 |
By Alastair Bland
Things That Are Surprisingly New: Forks, Lunch, Huge Drinks
Who knew that there existed a time when some of our staples of modern eating habits — the use of forks, the existence of lunch, and, unfortunately, the ubiquitous super-sized drinks found at every fast food chain around the U.S — did not exist. Forks are taken for granted in modern western eating, yet relatively [...]
June 27, 2012 |
By Rachel Nuwer
The Real Scottish Landscapes That Inspired Pixar’s “Brave”
Disney/Pixar's "Brave" is based on real places in Scotland. Now, "Brave"-centric vacations lets families experience the adventure first hand.
June 26, 2012 |
By Rachel Nuwer
Scientists Confirm that Somali Pirates Are On Holiday Now, Too
Danger Room journalist Richard Wheeler reports that the world may see a brief respite from costly, often lethal Somali piracy as we head into the summer months. The evidence is in a joint New Zealand–Australian study, Climatic controls on piracy in the Horn of Africa Region, 2010—2011. Unlike previous reporting, which proposed that both summer [...]
June 26, 2012 |
By Colin Schultz
Adorable, Critically Endangered Baby Sumatran Rhino Born
As the planet bids goodbye to Lonesome George, the last of a subspecies of Galapagos tortoises, the world welcomes a new conservation-hope poster child. After a 15-month pregnancy, Ratu, a captive endangered Sumatran rhino, gave birth to a healthy male calf late Sunday night in Sumatra, Indonesia. Fewer than 275 of the critically endangered animals [...]
June 26, 2012 |
By Rachel Nuwer
Saudis to Send Women to London Olympics After All
The 2012 London summer Olympics will be the first time Saudi women athletes will be able to compete. According to the Associated Press, The discussions on sending women to the games have been wrapped in secrecy for fear of a backlash from the powerful religious establishment and deeply traditional society in which women are severely [...]
June 26, 2012 |
By Colin Schultz
High-Tech’s Crucial Rare Earth Elements Are Already Running Low
Rare earth minerals are used to make smartphones, flat-screen televisions, drills, electric vehicles, compact florescent bulbs, wind turbines, and military equipment. But now China, the world’s nearly-sole provider of rare earth elements, is warning that modern lust for high-tech toys and tools has caused the supply of these materials to plummet. According the a recent official [...]
June 22, 2012 |
By Colin Schultz
‘World’s Rarest Toad’ Not Extinct After All
A toad that pulled a disappearing act back in 1876 has miraculously reappeared in Sri Lanka. The Kandyan dwarf toad was discovered in a Sri Lankan stream in 1872, but almost as soon as the warty little guy turned up in the annals of biology, it was written off as a lost cause. Exhaustive surveys turned [...]
June 22, 2012 |
By Rachel Nuwer
Spain: Of Sun, Siestas — and Salmon?
About a dozen Spanish streams support native runs of Atlantic salmon, but anglers are deeply divided about how to fish for them
June 21, 2012 |
By Alastair Bland
Pirate Vampire Dug Up in Bulgaria
Sorry, Dracula, Bill Compton and Team-Edward. An older vampire is in town, at least in Bulgaria. In the Black Sea town of Sozopol, a 700-year-old skeleton was found with metal stakes where the man’s heart had been, attracting flocks of onlookers to the church graveyard where the remains were discovered. Visitors also crowded to see [...]
June 21, 2012 |
By Rachel Nuwer
The Arc of History is Long, But it Bends Toward Asian Economic Dominance
Derek Thompson from The Atlantic manages to present 2,000 years of economic history in 5 paragraphs plus a colorful little graph by Michael Cembalest, an analyst at JP Morgan. In Year 1, India and China were home to one-third and one-quarter of the world’s population, respectively. It’s hardly surprising, then, that they also commanded one-third and [...]
June 21, 2012 |
By Rachel Nuwer
What’s the Difference Between Clinically Dead, Figuratively Dead and Just Plain Dead?
Hosni Mubarak’s heart has stopped beating and he’s not responding to defibrillation. Mubarak is clinically dead. Wait, no—Mubarak is in a coma and now he’s on life support. Just kidding, Mubarak is almost stable. Uncertainty shrouds the 84-year-old former Egyptian president’s condition like smoke from so many hookahs. But confusion also accompanies the various medical [...]
June 20, 2012 |
By Rachel Nuwer
Six Ways to Celebrate the Summer Solstice Around the World
From Eagle Summit in Alaska's White Mountains, watch as the sun dips, dips, dips---but remains just above the horizon
June 19, 2012 |
By Alastair Bland
China’s First Woman Astronaut: Progress or Propaganda?
At 2:30 am GMT on Monday, June 18, the Chinese spaceship Shenzhou-9 docked with the Tiangong-1 orbital space lab, the first time ever with a crew. Aboard the spacecraft was 33-year-old Liu Yang, the first female Chinese astronaut—or taikonaut—in space. The mission was only China’s fourth manned flight. The country’s space program got off to a [...]
June 18, 2012 |
By Colin Schultz
What the Taliban and Jenny McCarthy Have in Common
Jenny McCarthy and Hafiz Gul Bahadur, a Taliban commander in Pakistan, have at least one thing in common: they are both paranoid about vaccination. Bahadur blocked a vaccination campaign, scheduled to start in a few days, that would have reached 161,000 children in North Waziristan. Unlike McCarthy, the Taliban commander is not worried that vaccinations [...]
June 18, 2012 |
By Sarah Laskow
A Toast to the Astoria Hotel in St. Petersburg, Russia
A Russian icon in the Art Nouveau style on St. Isaac‘s Square near the Neva River, the Astoria evokes a Belle Époque world gone by
June 13, 2012 |
By Susan Spano
Can Brown Bears Survive in the Pyrenees?
The keepers of sheep and cows helped eliminate the Pyrenean brown bear in the first place, and shepherds are not thrilled to see France's largest predator return
June 12, 2012 |
By Alastair Bland
Prospero’s Island in the South Pacific
Was it Bermuda—or the dreamy French Polynesian island of Huahine—that inspired the setting for Shakespeare's The Tempest?
June 11, 2012 |
By Susan Spano
Jaipur via The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
A delightful new film takes viewers to India’s picturesque western state of Rajasthan
June 07, 2012 |
By Susan Spano
On the Cheese Trail in the Pyrenees
Make a fuss in the road and stomp your feet, and someone will appear. Spit out some gibberish about “fromage a vendre,” and that should do it. You'll get your cheese
June 07, 2012 |
By Alastair Bland
