Croham Hurst Woods is an ancient woodland in the middle of suburban South Croydon, Surrey, that is considered a nationally important archaeological site. The entire woodland covers quite a steep hill, where evidence of late Mesolithic settlements has been found. Neolithic flint tools have also been found, showing that settlement continued into the...

At age 17, chef and video creator George Lee gave up eating meat for 100 days. His A-gong, or grandfather, had passed away, and in Lee’s native Taiwan, traditional Buddhist mourning rituals require the family to abstain from meat after the death of a relative, to accumulate good karma for the deceased. During that period, Lee and his family ate special...

Even people who have grown up in the Portland metro area are often surprised to learn that there is a botanical garden in this outer southeast Portland neighborhood, and it's been open to the public for 40 years. There are magical trails, meadows for picnics, summer events like nature fairs, educational tours, and more. Often the first time someone...

Fetislam is an Ottoman stronghold in ruins, situated near the city of Kladovo. Constructed during the Ottoman Empire's reign in present-day Serbia, it served as a military outpost for Ottoman campaigns against Hungary. Built in 1524 under the directive of Suleiman the Magnificent, the fortress comprises of two sections, namely the "small city" and...

Reprinted with permission from Otherworldly Antarctica: Ice, Rock, and Wind at the Polar Extreme by Edmund Stump, published by The University of Chicago Press. © 2024 by Edmund Stump. All rights reserved. Fortune smiled in 1970 when I landed a position on a research project bound for the Transantarctic Mountains of Antarctica. As an undergraduate...

The Mackinac Bridge, also known as "Mighy Mac" or "Big Mac," stretches some five miles long and connects  Michigan’s upper and lower peninsulas.  Outside a storage facility in St. Louis, Michigan, you can find a miniature replica of the Mackinac Bridge. Though it's more than 200 times smaller than its larger cousin up north. The Mini Mac Bridge stands...