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Travel

Over the course of more than 2,000 years, countless travel books have transformed little known places into popular destinations.

The Top Ten Most Influential Travel Books

Even before there were armchairs, voracious bookworms traveled the world just by reading

Travelers must be accepting of all tastes and flavors encountered along the way—but it may be difficult to argue that Italian espresso is anything but superior to all other manifestations of coffee.

Coffee Here, and Coffee There: How Different People Serve the World’s Favorite Hot Drink

Coffee is black and bitter—but global travelers find a surprisingly wide range of forms of the world’s favorite hot beverage

Albania Has No Idea What to Do With All of These Leftover War Bunkers

Albania’s 700,000 war bunkers aren’t going anywhere soon, so locals are turning them into hostels, animal sheds and make-out spots

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Whose Idea Were Cruises, Anyway?

By the 1960s, the cruise ship heyday had come and gone

Space suits might not be this sexy, but sex is space is bound to happen.

Are We Ready to Have Babies in Space?

As technology progresses, and people talk seriously about trips to Mars or other planets, the questions of love and sex in space become more pressing

Since the mid to late 19th century, isinglass, a fish by-product has been used as a clarification agent in Guinness beer.

Hey Vegans! There May Be Fish Bladder in Your Guinness

Isinglass, a gelatine collected from the air-bladders of freshwater fish like the sturgeon, is used in the clarification process of some stouts

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This Giant Snail Is Giving Australia Terrible Flashbacks to the Last Giant Snail Takeover

The giant African snail is a true nightmare. So when Australian officials found one in a shipping container yard in Brisbane, they destroyed it as quickly as possible

American Carl Nordeng relocated several years ago to Vilcabamba, Ecuador, where he is now making his own coconut oil.

Faces From Afar: One American’s Endeavor to Kick Ecuador’s Vegetable Oil Habit

Coconut oil is healthy. It smells and tastes like sweet tropical butter. Yet almost nobody in Ecuador uses it

Being a Naturalist Is Way More Dangerous Than You Think

Some of these naturalists were murdered by people in the regions they were working. Others died of diseases or lost their lives to their research subjects

Lake Quilotoa is gaining a reputation as one of the most attractive destinations in Ecuador. The surrounding area, of rugged mountains and dirt roads, offers some of the most rewarding cycle touring in the Andes.

Biking Ecuador’s Spectacular Avenue of the Volcanoes

Home to a string of high peaks, including 20,564-foot Chimborazo, the area offers some of the finest cycling, hiking and adventuring country anywhere

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The Fishy History of the McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish Sandwich

How a struggling entrepreneur in Ohio saved his burger business during Lent and changed the McDonald’s menu for good.

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What Makes These Avocados Different From All Others?

The spectrum of the fruit here is almost as varied as the people who grow them, and for avo advocates, Ecuador is an excellent place to go tasting

From a chain of Los Angeles drive-ins in the 1940s, “good food is good health.”

10 Vintage Menus That Are a Feast for the Eyes, If Not the Stomach

From the late-19th century to the 1970s, restaurants had one surefire way of standing out

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The Best Reasons to Go to Norway in February

It may get cold, but the trolls, bobsleds, skiing, Scandinavian delicacies and (heated) art museums make it all worthwhile

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Vilcabamba: Paradise Going Bad?

Life in this legendary town in Ecuador’s Valley of Longevity may be too good—and too long—to be true

Black rum, charred orange and allspice.

How Does McCormick Pick the Top Flavors of the Year?

Ten years ago, the spice company identified chipotle as a taste on the rise. They’re back at it again with new predictions for 2013

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When Cane Juice Meets Yeast: Brewing in Ecuador

The sugarcane trail takes the author across the Andes, into liquor distilleries and from juice shack to juice shack as he pursues fermented sugarcane wine

On Black Day, single Koreans drown their sorrows in a bowl of jjajang myeon noodles.

Korea’s Black Day: When Sad, Single People Get Together And Eat Black Food

Each year on April 14, singles in South Korea drown their sorrows in a bowl of black noodles

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What Makes the Trout in Ecuador Look Like Salmon?

Aiming to catch a few trout for dinner, the author decides to try his luck at one of the region’s many “sport fishing” sites

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Tourists’ Photos Could Help Scientists Understand Whale Sharks

Every year, tourists take approximately a bazillion pictures. Most of them never wind up anywhere but someone’s hard drive, never seen again, but some of those pictures might actually be useful. Especially if they’re of whale sharks

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