Who can you count on when the chips are down? For one rural city in Kansas, the answer is easy. In the town square of Great Bend, visitors can find a bronze statue dedicated to Jack Kilby, the inventor of the microchip, who once called Great Bend home. Jack St. Clair Kilby was born in 1923 in Jefferson City, Missouri. His father, Hubert, became president of the Kansas Power Company, a rural utility company in Great Bend, and moved……
Just outside of Hot Springs, Arkansas, lies an extraordinary botanical garden. Built on a peninsula on Lake Hamilton, it has everything one expects in a garden of its size—large rose bushes, perfectly manicured tulip beds, a Japanese koi pond, an area dedicated to local flora, and so on. What sets this garden apart is that a large section is left in its natural state. As it is a “woodland garden,” much of the peninsula has been set aside as……
Churches around the world are often adorned with representations of fish, owing to the Greek ikhthū́s (ichthys), appearing in the acrostic phrase ‘Iēsous CHristos THeou HYios Sōtēr’ meaning ‘Jesus Christ Son of God Savior’. But one church in Lewes, England, features a far larger sea creature. The tower of Trinity Church in Southover boasts a unique weather vane in the form of a large shark. Detailed with gills and a row of sharp teeth, the slightest change in wind direction……
The allure of whales has stoked human consciousness for millennia, casting these ocean giants as enigmatic residents of the deep seas. From the biblical Leviathan to Herman Melville’s formidable Moby Dick, whales have been central to mythologies and folklore. And while cetology, or whale science, has improved our knowledge of these marine mammals in the past century in particular, studying whales has remained a formidable a challenge. Now, thanks to machine learning, we’re a little closer to understanding these……
The Dilmun Burial Mounds in Bahrain stand as poignant testaments to ancient civilizations and their reverence for the afterlife. Built between 2200 and 1750 B.C., these burial sites offer a glimpse into the beliefs and customs of the Dilmun civilization, which flourished in the region during the Bronze Age. In total, there are 11,774 burial mounds clustered in 21 locations across the island. These structures were built using layers of limestone and earth, creating durable tombs that have withstood……
The Lemelson-MIT Program has announced the national debut of an award-winning documentary that celebrates invention: American Public Television (APT) presents “Pathways to Invention,” a film that follows modern inventors of diverse backgrounds as they develop life-changing innovations. Produced by Maaia Mark Productions in association with the Lemelson-MIT Program with funding from The Lemelson Foundation, MIT’s School of Engineering, and the University of California at Berkeley, the 60-minute special explores whether inventors are born or made through a series of engaging, up-close……
In the serene churchyard of St Mary the Virgin Parish Church, in the village of Friston on England’s south coast is a small but poignant wooden cross. Its unpretentious, unadorned, design is simple yet striking, for it’s boldly inscribed with the phrase “Washed Ashore,” an indicator of the tragic story of the grave’s occupant. The story behind the cross is as heartbreaking as it is mysterious. A product of the church’s proximity to the sea, it’s said that the……
Listen and subscribe on Stitcher, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and all major podcast apps. In this episode of The Atlas Obscura Podcast, we learn about the Beauly Elm, a gnarly looking elm tree rumored to be older than Britain itself. The tree was the anchor in a community—until beetles got to it, and it was suddenly gone one day. Thanks to the magic of technology, you can see a 3D scan of the Beauly Elm here. Our podcast is an……
As a revenue manager, you’re undoubtedly aware of the importance of gauging your hotel’s performance to maintain a competitive edge in your market. Yet, how can you be certain that you’re genuinely on par with, or preferably ahead of, your competitors? Enter benchmarking for hotel revenue management.Benchmarking for Hotel Revenue Management: 3 Cardinal ErrorsBenchmarking offers The post Avoid These 3 Benchmarking Errors for Hotel Revenue Success appeared first on Revfine.com….
FILE – Zendaya attends The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute benefit gala celebrating the opening of the “Camp: Notes on Fashion” exhibition on May 6, 2019, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File) FILE – Zendaya attends The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute benefit gala celebrating the opening of the “Camp: Notes on Fashion” exhibition on May 6, 2019, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File) NEW YORK (AP) — The Met Gala and its…
MIT professor William H. Green has been named director of the MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI). In appointing Green, then-MIT Vice President for Research Maria Zuber highlighted his expertise in chemical kinetics — the understanding of the rates of chemical reactions — and the work of his research team in reaction kinetics, quantum chemistry, numerical methods, and fuel chemistry, as well as his work performing techno-economic assessments of proposed fuel and vehicle changes and biofuel production options. “Bill has been……
Consider the dizzying ascent of solar energy in the United States: In the past decade, solar capacity increased nearly 900 percent, with electricity production eight times greater in 2023 than in 2014. The jump from 2022 to 2023 alone was 51 percent, with a record 32 gigawatts (GW) of solar installations coming online. In the past four years, more solar has been added to the grid than any other form of generation. Installed solar now tops 179 GW, enough……
THIS ARTICLE IS ADAPTED FROM THE MAY 4, 2024, EDITION OF GASTRO OBSCURA’S FAVORITE THINGS NEWSLETTER. YOU CAN SIGN UP HERE. I’ve had strawberries on my mind lately. We just wrapped up “Rites of Spring,” a week where Atlas Obscura explores how people around the world celebrate the end of winter. I wrote about the custom of strawberry parties, a 19th-century festivity where people danced, played games, and gorged themselves on the fresh fruit before it could go out……
With the NBA and NHL playoffs in full swing, betting the under in hockey paid off this weekend at BetMGM Sportsbook while most of the money in basketball was on the over in the final game of the first round. Both sports are now headed to the second round with eight teams remaining in each. In the NBA, the Eastern Conference semifinal matchups are the Boston Celtics vs. Cleveland Cavaliers, and the New York Knicks vs. Indiana Pacers. In…
NEW YORK (AP) — Sure, she was a royal princess and all. But there’s no way Sleeping Beauty — either before or after her nap — ever had quite the fabulous wardrobe that’s been assembled at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion,” the spring Costume Institute exhibit that debuts at Monday’s Met Gala, is not technically about THAT Sleeping Beauty. The title’s nod to the fairytale is actually a reference to the glass coffins — “let’s…
