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Suborbital space tourism finally arrives | FCC prepares to run public C-band auction | The big four in the U.S. launch industry — United Launch Alliance, SpaceX, Blue Origin and Northrop Grumman — hope to be one of two providers that will receive five-year contracts later this year to launch national security payloads starting in 2022. | China’s launch rate stays high | The International Space Station is the largest ever crewed object in space.

Maryland football gets commitment from five-star linebacker...

Maryland football signs five-star linebacker Terrence Lewis originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington   Crab cakes and five-star football recruits. That’s what Maryland does. Head coach Mike Locksley and the Terrapins program received exciting news Saturday afternoon, when Miami-area five-star linebacker Terrence Lewis announced his commitment to Maryland. Lewis is the 10th-ranked player in the entire country, and the third-highest ranked signee in program history, according to a statement released by the team. Lewis is a consensus five-star recruit…

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Young rising star Garcia stops Campbell in...

DALLAS (AP) — Ryan Garcia says he had never been knocked down before when an early blow sent the rising star to the canvas in his biggest test yet against Luke Campbell. The 22-year-old Californian had an impressive response, staggering Campbell with a body blow to win a WBC lightweight title fight on a seventh-round knockout Saturday night. Garcia was in control when his left hand crushed Campbell’s right side and sent the English fighter to one knee at…

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Orange and Alexandria Railroad Culvert in Springfield,...

Tucked away in the woods of this small, but popular, family-friendly park is a hidden passage that few people know of and few manage to find. This Civil War-era culvert served as a hiding place for Confederates prior to raids on the Orange & Alexandria Railroad, which once passed directly over the culvert.  The railroad, which ran between Gordonsville in central Virginia provided a strategic mechanism for the movement of troops and supplies for the Union army. Numerous accounts exist……

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Farr Cemetery in Pullman, Washington

This gorgeous, little cemetery is steeped in pioneer history. Reached by walking up a narrow path, the hillside harbors marble gravestones from the 1800s, including the first doctor of Whitman County, who also served as president of the local bank and lobbied for the railroad to pass through town, and many children who fell victim to measles and typhoid. It is often overgrown, but offers a pretty view and is a local gem. The cemetery existed before the streets. Its……

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Terreti Bazaar in Kolkata, India

Terreti Bazaar is a street market so tiny that you could easily walk right by without noticing. But for a few hours each morning, a handful of food vendors fire up steamers and serve a wide selection of Chinese and Indo-Chinese foods. Early risers will be rewarded with classics like steamed buns, lap cheong, and dumplings or fusion items, such as fish momos, fritters, and spicy, herb-crusted chicken kabobs. Vendors set up as early as 5:00 a.m. Over the……

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RAF Tempsford Memorial Barn in Everton, England

One of the hundreds of airfields set up by the British Royal Air Force (RAF) during WWII, RAF Tempsford was established in 1940. Placed between an old Roman road and the railway to Peterborough, it was an unique facility: Named Gibraltar Farm and designed to resemble a working farm, it was set up to help facilitate infiltrations by Allied special agents into Nazi-occupied Europe. From RAF Tempsford, aircraft flew across the Channel to drop supplies to resistance movements, while Westland Lysander planes……

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Meet the World's Least-Charismatic Orchid

The year 2020 hasn’t been gentle on anyone, and that includes Gastrodia agnicellus. For years, the orchid was simply minding its business, living and dying in the shade of Madagascar’s evergreens, with bamboo and ficus for neighbors. Flanked by moss and tucked under a damp blanket of leaf litter, its days are subdued until a flower opens beneath the rustling comforter. Platoons of ants clamber around, some to steal G. agnicellus’s nectar before continuing on their way. Scientists from……

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Extra Crunch’s top 10 stories of 2020

I edited hundreds of stories in 2020, so choosing my favorites would be an exercise in futility. Instead, I’ve tried to gather a sample of Extra Crunch stories that taught me something new. (Which means this top 10 list betrays my ignorance, a humbling admission for a know-it-all like myself.) While narrowing down the field of candidates, I realized that we’re covering each of the topics on this list in greater depth next year. We already have stories in……

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Dawson City Museum in Dawson City, Yukon

Nestled along the banks of the Yukon River Dawson City stands as if frozen in time, preserving for the world the colorful legacy of the Klondike Gold Rush of the late 19th-century. This history is chronicled in the Dawson City Museum, a testament to life in Dawson and the rush to strike it big in the adjacent goldfields. The museum also doubles as the local courthouse, signage inside politely asks all those awaiting trial to not stray into the museum……

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Mount Strachan Crash Site and Memorial ...

It’s truly remarkable that for over half a century, the remains of a tragic military jet crash still resides at this location despite the many visitors. Out of respect for the pilots that perished, the memorial reminds hikers “do not take anything.” The humid, short summers in Canada’s coastal rain forest, combined with the copious amounts of winter snow in the region are the perfect recipe for corrosion. The debris stands as a true testament to the resiliency of……

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Eric's Farewell | Off to Find a...

There are few things as rewarding in work as doing it alongside the best. There’s a lot of pride to be had in personal victories, but when a team wins, a team celebrates together; when a team loses, they can soften the blow for each other. I may not have been here at USgamer long, but it took very little time for this place to feel like a natural office to me. We logged in remotely, across the continent……

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Mat's Farewell | The Truth Has Not...

Damn. I ran out of time there. What went wrong? Should I have gone for the Xbox Series X instead of the PS5? Maybe there was some angle on The Last of Us Part 2 that I missed? Did I path PAX East 2020 incorrectly? Where’d the run fall apart? I kid, of course. Sad as it is, I know full-well why our time at USgamer is coming to an end, and I know it doesn’t have a thing……

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Press Start to Continue

USgamer will cease publication today, roughly seven years after it was founded with the intention of establishing a foothold for Gamer Network in North America. By the time you read this, Eric Van Allen, Mathew Olson, and I will be gone. The site itself will remain, but it will no longer be updated. It is sadly, frustratingly, one more victim of the global pandemic that has shut down much of the world, killing nearly 2 million people in the……

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Cornelius Low House in Piscataway, New Jersey

Cornelius Low was a wealthy local merchant of Dutch descent. Around 1730, Low settled in the burgeoning port community of Raritan Landing, made up of roughly 100 residents and located across the Raritan River from New Brunswick. Goods from “The Landing,” flowed to New York City and New Brunswick.  However, as much as the residents benefited from being so close to the Raritan River, they also suffered. In 1738, Cornelius Low’s home sustained severe flood damage. Low was through……

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USgamer Staff Past and Present Say Goodbye

With USgamer ceasing publication today, we invited team members past and present to say a few final words about the site they helped to build over the course of seven years. Here’s what they had to say. I remember lobbying hard to work at USgamer. I also remember the fear and trepidation talking to site founder Jaz Rignall about the potential job offer. That was the moment where writing about games went from a part-time job to a full-time……

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