Antarctica Promotes Tourists to Scientific Ambassadors for “Immersive Experience”

Antarctica is the continent least visited by world travelers, and its frigid temperatures — with a daily interior average of minus 71 degrees Fahrenheit — make it uninhabitable for people long-term. Although the terrain isn’t suitable for humans, a delicate and complex ecosystem exists amid the ice, and now tourists who do make it to […]

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Read more about the article Constellations, Planets, and Other Celestial Events: Your Guide to the October 2022 Night Sky
A photographer taking a photo of an moon from the top of a mountain.

Constellations, Planets, and Other Celestial Events: Your Guide to the October 2022 Night Sky

With the fall equinox newly behind us, and as the evenings begin to grow longer, it’s an especially exciting time to turn your gaze toward the heavens. We’ve compiled a list of constellations, planets, and other celestial events to keep an eye out for in the October 2022 night sky, preferably while you’re wrapped up […]

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Artist Creates Stunning Charcoal Portraits on Ice Floes in Finland’s Freezing Ocean: See Photos

American artist David Popa is committed to his craft — so much so that when the 29-year-old became intrigued by the idea of what it would look like to paint on ice, he dove into the freezing ocean off the coast of Finland to find out. Alone with his supplies, he spent hours in the […]

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Jim Metzner Collected the World’s Sounds for Over 50 Years. Now They’ll Be Preserved at the Library of Congress

For the last five decades, recordist Jim Metzner has dedicated his life to sound. Everywhere from the bottom of the ocean off the coast of New York to panda habitats in Tibet and Jupiter’s intense radio storms, he leaned in to listen, sharing much of what he heard on his long-running radio series, Pulse of […]

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Read more about the article This Tiny German Town Is Entirely off the (Energy) Grid
Beautiful summer landscape in Östergötland Sweden Nature with cow and wind turbine

This Tiny German Town Is Entirely off the (Energy) Grid

Germany adopted its Energiewende (energy transition) approach, based on the Energiekonzept (“energy concept”) policy published in 2010, to increase its use of renewable energies and end reliance on nuclear power altogether. Despite the government’s acknowledgement that it would be a costly endeavor, it was highly supported by Germans — and it’s been successful. The town of […]

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Read more about the article October Is National Pizza Month! Celebrate With These Delicious Deals
Close up of a young group of friends passing and serving food while enjoying together. They are having fun, chatting and feasting on food and drinks at dinner party

October Is National Pizza Month! Celebrate With These Delicious Deals

Whether you prefer Chicago or New York-style, pineapple or pepperoni, stuffed crust or cauliflower, there’s one thing the majority can agree on: Pizza is simply the best. In celebration of National Pizza Month this October, pie makers nationwide are serving up delectable deals and cooking up cool contests. Read on to find out about events […]

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Read more about the article How Mexico’s Locals Are Trying to Save Its Historic “Mexican Caviar”
Chocolate with Ahuautle, mosquito egg and Chapulines (grasshoppers) ​Ahuautle or Axayacatl, aquatic insects in the family Corixidae, the eggs of which ahuauhtli, deposited abundantly on brushes in lakes and ponds and are collected and sold as a sort of Mexican caviar, as part of the ​Aztec food. After being thoroughly cleaned and washed, they are toasted on a comal clay pan and they are prepared with garlic, lime juice and salt containing extract of agave worms, lending a sour spicy salty taste to the finished product. You can find snacks of grasshoppers all over Mexico This is a close-up​ photo of the Mexican dish, ready to be eaten.

How Mexico’s Locals Are Trying to Save Its Historic “Mexican Caviar”

Eggs have been a healthy breakfast staple for thousands of years. Even the Aztec emperor Montezuma is said to have eaten them with his morning summer meals, according to the BBC — though his weren’t from a chicken, but an insect, the Axayácatl fly. Ahuautle, also known as “Mexican caviar,” was considered a food of […]

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Pilots Discover They’re Long-Lost Sisters — And Had Likely Crossed Paths Before

Tammy Holloway-Servedio, a private pilot and senior manager for United Airlines, grew up as an only child. So when her mother passed away a few months before Christmas in 2019, almost 20 years after her father’s death, she found herself feeling alone as the holidays approached. But in a miraculous twist of fate, she was […]

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Read more about the article “Ultra-Rare” 1913 Liberty Head Nickel Sells for Whopping $4.2M — One of Only Five in Existence
SCHAUMBURG, IL - APRIL 25: The George O. Walton Specimen 1913 Liberty Head Nickel is offered for auction by Heritage Auctions on April 25, 2013 in Schaumburg, Illinois. Bidding for the nickel, one of only five 1913 Liberty nickels known to exist, has already exceeded the original auction estimate of $2.5 million. The nickel is being offered for sale by the heirs of George Walton who acquired the coin in the mid-1940s for a reported $3,750. Walton was killed in a 1962 car crash with the coin in his possession. Unaware of the coin's value, one of Walton's heirs kept the coin tucked away in her closet for the next 40 years. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

“Ultra-Rare” 1913 Liberty Head Nickel Sells for Whopping $4.2M — One of Only Five in Existence

Sometimes a nickel isn’t worth just 5 cents. Last week, one from 1913 sold for a whopping $4.2 million dollars. The nickel in question, called the Walton 1913 Liberty Head Nickel, was acquired by GreatCollections auction house and boasts “one of the greatest stories to ever be told in U.S. numismatics,” per a press release. […]

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Queen Victoria Was a Fan of “Textspeak” — and Scotch Whiskey, According to a New Discovery

Here’s something Queen Victoria unexpectedly had in common with many of today’s smartphone users: the propensity to shorten words. The queen was an avid diarist and kept a regular journal throughout her reign (1837-1901), so historians have ample evidence to back up this claim. But there’s been a new discovery that has provided further insight […]

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Crime Ledger With 500 Victorian-Era Mug Shots Saved From Landfill, Sells at Auction for $11,800

A book of Victorian mug shots is now on the third leg of its long life, though it doesn’t possess a history quite as storied as the people whose photographs plaster its 500 pages. Saved from being tossed in a dumpster four decades ago, the ledger covers criminal records from all over England during the […]

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Happy Feet: Injured African Penguin Gets New Lease on Life With Custom Sandals

A plucky penguin at the New England Aquarium has a new bounce in her step — or should we say her waddle — after being fitted with a pair of custom orthopedic sandals. In 2020, a 24-year-old African penguin named Beach Donkey was diagnosed with pododermatitis, a debilitating and chronic condition common among avian species. Also referred […]

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