The Man Who Survived Doomsday
In 2009 an Airbus A130 went down near the Comoros Islands between Africa and Madagascar. 152 people were killed in the crash. A fourteen year old girl, Bahia Bakari, clung to a piece of aircraft...
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Spaceport America in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico
The dream of a functioning spaceport where spaceships take off and land like it's no big deal is closer than ever before, but if the barren, empty Spaceport America is an indication, we've still got a...
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Intermittent Spring in Afton, Wyoming
Located at the foot of a mountain just outside of Afton, Wyoming, Intermittent Spring (otherwise known as the Periodic Spring), is one of only three springs of its kind in the world that start and stop...
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The Australian School Where Students Live Hundreds of Miles From Their Teachers
A School of the Air student in regional Queensland takes class via two-way radio, circa 1960. (Photo: Queensland State Archives/Public Domain/WikiCommons)When you’re a kid living in Woop Woop, you...
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The Story Behind Bucket of Blood Street and Other Weird Road Names
Photo: Richard Masoner/ FlickrThe road you grew up on undoubtedly holds its own, personally meaningful mythology. But all of the meaningful adventures that took place on, say, McClelland Street...
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The Sad Sex Lives of Suburban Frogs
A green frog, in her pond (Image: Matt Reinbold/Wikimedia)For a species so dedicated to gender binaries, humans have been doing a lot to mess with the sexes of other living creatures. In lakes and...
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Monopoly in the Park in San Jose, California
Located in San Jose, California's Discovery Meadow, near a children's museum is the Monopoly in the Park board, the largest permanent version of the game in the world, which should be perfect for...
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FOUND: A Giant, Frozen Virus
A giant virus (Photo: PNAS)Deep in the Siberian permafrost, the giants have been frozen."Giant", though, being a relative term—these are viruses that measure more than half a micron, which, for this...
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How Two 18th-Century Lady Pirates Became BFFs on the High Seas
(Photo: Library of Congress)The fact that Anne Bonny and Mary Read ever crossed paths at all is almost unbelievable. Of the thousands of pirates active in the Caribbean during the 17th and 18th...
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The Lovable Syrian Brown Bear Who Fought For His (Adoptive) Country
A soldier, possibly Peter Prendys, lets Wojtek engage in his favorite activity—snacking. (Photo: Imperial War Museum/Public Domain)As the Syrian conflict escalates, millions of families have fled the...
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Fleeting Wonders: Mumbai's Works of Art on Wheels
"Ever since I’ve got the Taxi Fabric, all my friends want one and the passengers can’t stop asking me about it,” said driver Dashrath Sawant, pictured here with "City of Objects," designed by Sam...
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E.T. Wickham Sculpture Trail in Palmyra, Tennessee
Less a sculpture park than a collection of cement passion projects, the sculpture work of E.T. Wickham that still dot some of the roads in Palmyra, Tennessee are a haunting reminder of one man's...
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Vindicator Valley Trail in Victor, Colorado
Why visit an abandoned mine when you can visit a whole slew of them during one hike? Thanks to Colorado's Vindicator Valley Trail you can wind your way through a veritable gold mine of old gold...
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The Secret of German Education: Giant Cones of Treats
Schultüten ready for the first day of school. (Photo: ariesa66/Pixabay)For the last few days, your Facebook feed has probably been swamped with photos of your friends' kids looking excited (or sullen)...
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The Dunce Cap Wasn’t Always So Stupid
Sure, a dunce cap looks dumb now, but that wasn't always the case. (Photo: Alan Levine/Flickr)The dunce cap has long been a visual symbol of idiocy and punishment, but was once seen as something closer...
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America's Most Unusual Group Photos
'Ramona, Rebekah Lodge, No. 83, I. O.O.F.', late 19th–early 20th century. (Photo: Unidentified Photographer/Courtesy W. M. Hunt / Collection Blind Pirate, New York and International Center of...
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FOUND: A New Species of Hominin, Homo Naledi
H. naledi (Photo: John Hawks, Wits University)Two years ago, a paleontologist sent two cavers to explore the Rising Star cave system, not far from Johannesburg, South Africa, and they discovered what...
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Keith Haring's 'Once Upon a Time' Bathroom Mural in New York City, New York City
If you've lived long enough you've probably seen a simple line drawing of a penis scrawled somewhere on a bathroom wall, or a building, or a textbook, or well, you get the idea. This is not out of the...
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This Adorable Alabama Bookstore Only Sells Signed Copies
The sitting area at the front of the store. (Photo: Mike Persons/Courtesy Booksmith) The Alabama Booksmith is admittedly hard to find. It keeps few titles on its shelves. There is no coffee shop on the...
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100 Wonders: Last Tree of Ténéré
A recent study estimated that there are around 3 trillion trees currently on earth.This is down by about 46 percent over the last 12,000 years as human populations have expanded. Three trillion is...
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