Travel
Discover facts about travel. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Travel
A jet engine is more like a maintained asset than a replaceable motor.
A jet engine is more like a maintained asset than a replaceable motor. Its hot, fast-moving components need inspections, repairs, and life-limited parts…
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Disneyland Paris originally opened under the name Euro Disney and was such an unmitigated financial and cultural disaster that the executives genuinely feared the entire theme park would be forced into bankruptcy.
Disneyland Paris originally opened under the name Euro Disney and was such an unmitigated financial and cultural disaster that the executives genuinely feared…
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Mount Rushmore stands on land promised to the Lakota.
Mount Rushmore stands on land promised to the Lakota. The 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty recognized the Black Hills as Lakota territory before the United States…
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Dubai's palm island needs gaps in its protective crescent.
Dubai's palm island needs gaps in its protective crescent. The surrounding breakwater shields Palm Jumeirah from waves, but water still needs a route in and…
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Japan features an entire remote island called Okunoshima that is completely overrun by thousands of feral but friendly rabbits roaming the streets and aggressively demanding snacks from tourists.
Japan features an entire remote island called Okunoshima that is completely overrun by thousands of feral but friendly rabbits roaming the streets and…
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Buñol turns a tomato delivery into an hour-long public battle.
Buñol turns a tomato delivery into an hour-long public battle. La Tomatina brings truckloads of tomatoes into the Spanish town for thousands of participants…
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Peru's famous desert oasis gets a modern refill.
Peru's famous desert oasis gets a modern refill. Huacachina's lagoon sits among dunes near Ica, but its water level is supported by artificial replenishment.…
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Colombia's red river gets its color from a living carpet.
Colombia's red river gets its color from a living carpet. At Caño Cristales, aquatic plants attached to the riverbed produce the striking reds visible under…
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Egypt built a new government city in the desert.
Egypt built a new government city in the desert. The New Administrative Capital was planned east of Cairo to move ministries and create a new urban center.…
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Thailand is home to a chaotic railway market in Maeklong where hundreds of vendors set up their fresh produce and fish stalls directly on top of an active, functioning train track.
Thailand is home to a chaotic railway market in Maeklong where hundreds of vendors set up their fresh produce and fish stalls directly on top of an active,…
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Oymyakon's average January is colder than most freezers.
Oymyakon's average January is colder than most freezers. The Siberian settlement has a January mean around −46°C, and a recorded low of −67.7°C in 1933. An…
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Hashima went from crowded mining island to a model for a Bond villain's hideout.
Hashima went from crowded mining island to a model for a Bond villain's hideout. Coal mining supported a tightly packed community in concrete apartment blocks…
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An Icelandic road dispute ended with an elf-associated rock being moved.
An Icelandic road dispute ended with an elf-associated rock being moved. In 2015, a large outcrop known in local belief as Ófeigskirkja was relocated during a…
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Coober Pedy moved homes and churches underground.
Coober Pedy moved homes and churches underground. Residents adapted dugouts to escape the harsh heat of the South Australian opal fields. Earth around the…
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Erika Eiffel held a commitment ceremony with the Eiffel Tower.
Erika Eiffel held a commitment ceremony with the Eiffel Tower. In 2007, she gathered with friends at the monument and declared her attachment to it. It was a…
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Mexico's doll island gives a ghost story a physical address.
Mexico's doll island gives a ghost story a physical address. On a chinampa in Xochimilco, Julián Santana hung dolls that became the setting for a legend about…
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Tashirojima's cats became one of the island's main attractions.
Tashirojima's cats became one of the island's main attractions. Cats have a long local association with good fortune, and the Japanese island even has a cat…
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A Chinese theme park built its shows around performers with dwarfism.
A Chinese theme park built its shows around performers with dwarfism. Kingdom of the Little People near Kunming presents singing and dancing in a…
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Passport stamps are slowly becoming obsolete because countries are rapidly transitioning to biometric facial recognition gates and electronic visas to speed up the notoriously sluggish border control processes.
Passport stamps are slowly becoming obsolete because countries are rapidly transitioning to biometric facial recognition gates and electronic visas to speed…
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Germany's famous unrestricted autobahns still come with a recommended speed.
Germany's famous unrestricted autobahns still come with a recommended speed. For cars, the advisory speed is 130 km/h, about 81 mph, where no lower limit…
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Hawaii's green beach is made partly from a gemstone mineral.
Hawaii's green beach is made partly from a gemstone mineral. At Papakolea, eroding volcanic material releases olivine crystals into the sand. Waves carry away…
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Standard world maps utilizing the Mercator projection aggressively distort the physical size of landmasses near the poles, making countries like Greenland and Russia appear…
Standard world maps utilizing the Mercator projection aggressively distort the physical size of landmasses near the poles, making countries like Greenland and…
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Peanut butter meets the airport rule for spreads.
Peanut butter meets the airport rule for spreads. TSA treats peanut butter as a spread subject to the carry-on liquids limit. A large jar can therefore fail…
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Two islands a few miles apart sit on opposite sides of the date line.
Two islands a few miles apart sit on opposite sides of the date line. Russia's Big Diomede and Alaska's Little Diomede are separated by about 2.4 miles, yet…
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