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Going the distance: Evolution mavens in the Quantock Hills of England walked for some 3.5 billion years.

Evotourism ®

Take a Hike on Britain’s Ancestor’s Trail and Travel Back 10,000 Years

On a wild hike inspired by famed evolutionist Richard Dawkins, every step promises a strange encounter with the origins of species

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London-to-New York Passenger Captures Spectacular Northern Lights Timelapse Out Airplane Window

Being unable to sleep on a red-eye can have occasional advantages

Vying for tamale-downing dominance, Carter demolished 16 of the Delta delicacies. A key part of his strategy: swigging from his opponent’s water bottle.

How the Hot Tamale Conquered the American South

Our intrepid reporter heads back to the Mississippi Delta in search of his favorite food—and the title of tamale-eating champ

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Is the World Empty? Or Overcrowded? It’s Both

This interactive map takes you to the world’s densest and most remote locales

Watchtower Near Desert View Point on the South Rim.

Rare Look: Spectacular Photos Capture the Grand Canyon Filled With Fog

Weekend visitors witnessed a “once in a decade” weather event

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Step Inside Yayoi Kusama’s Dazzling “Infinity Rooms”

The artist’s New York exhibition, “I Who Have Arrived In Heaven,” invites viewers to get lost in new mirror-lined installations

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This Thanksgiving, Step Back in Time and into 17th-Century Plymouth Colony

Reenactors in this “living museum” bring the Pilgrim’s homestead back to life

Sleeping in This Underwater Hotel Room Is Like Staying in an Artificial Reef

Swedish artist Mikael Genberg explains how his underwater room off the coast of Tanzania can actually be good for the environment

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The World’s Tallest Water Slide Is More Than 134 Feet Tall

Riders—who will descend in inflatable rafts of four rather than alone—will reach speeds of more than 65 miles per hour

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This New Plane Seat Morphs to Make You and Your Seatmate More Comfortable

Shape-shifting seats with adjustable widths promise more choice for passengers, but aren’t they really a sneaky way to discriminate?

The Bird in the World’s Largest Cuckoo Clock Weighs 330 Pounds

The clock is based on a much smaller cuckoo clock that is about 100 years old - scaled up sixty times

A páramo ecosystem in the Andes.

This Spot in the Andes May Be the Fastest-Evolving Place on Earth

Like isolated islands, evolution in these mountainous, unique environments seems to be ticking away at a faster beat than run-of-the-mill habitats

Before the World Cup, Brazilians Are Trying to Learn English

Brazilians have 211 days left to prepare for the World Cup one of the things many of them are doing to get ready is to try and learn English

Moscow Will Give You a Free Subway Ticket If You Do 30 Squats

The Moscow subway system will now reward riders with a free trip in exchange for 30 squats

Washington Monument Scaffolding Is Coming Down Today

Two years later, the scaffolding around the Washington Monument is ready to come down

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Welcome to the World’s Only Museum Devoted to Penises

In Iceland, a man has collected 283 preserved penises from 93 species of animals—including Homo sapiens

Okeanos: A Performance Where Dancers Move Like Octopuses and Seahorses

Jodi Lomask, director of the dance company Capacitor, has choreographed an ocean-inspired show, now at San Francisco’s Aquarium of the Bay

A portrait of Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin Clicquot and her granddaughter

The Widow Who Created the Champagne Industry

Love champagne? Thank a French widow

Rendering of the scaffolding that will surround the dome during its restoration.

Scaffolding is All Over D.C. Here’s Why the Monuments Still Look Majestic

When the beautiful historic buildings of our nation’s capital need repair, architects get creative with the exterior work

From the road, it would be easy to overlook this small, unassuming chapel located in one of the oldest towns in southwestern Poland. But the wooden doors hide a spectacular, macabre interior. The skulls and leg bones of over 3,000 victims of wars and plagues cover the walls and ceiling, and a crypt below, accessible through a trapdoor, houses over 21,000 additional remains. Between 1776 and 1804, the local priest, Vaclav Tomasek, painstakingly gathered, cleaned and carefully arranged skeletons recovered from numerous, shallow mass graves left by the Thirty Years’ War, Silesian Wars and cholera outbreaks. Modeled off of similar ossuaries and catacombs in Rome, the chapel was intended as a shrine for the dead, as well as a “memento mori” for the living. On the church’s altar, Tomasek placed the bones of important figures and curiosities, including the skull of the local mayor, skulls with bullet holes, a skull deformed by syphilis and the bones of a supposed giant. When the chapel's creator passed away in 1804, his skull was placed on the altar as well. View the photos above or explore the 360° interactive panorama on Kaplica Czaszek’s official site (in Polish).

This Beautiful Chapel in Czermna, Poland, Is Constructed Out of Thousands of Human Bones

Shin bones decorate the ceiling, skulls line the walls and over 21,000 bodies are buried in the basement

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