Author: Ms. R.

Jutting out about 115 feet (35 meters) from a cliff face, with a thick glass bottom, the Columbia Icefield Skywalk offers a clear view of Jasper National Park’s Sunwapta Valley 918 feet (280 meters) below. As one of the project’s engineers put it, “It’s surreal to be projected off a sheer cliff face with nothing but glass under your feet.” And, yeah, probably so. But the Skywalk also offers a chance to see the park from a whole new……

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Tucked away in the historic district of downtown Ashland, near the old railroad tracks, is a two-story red building.  A portrait of a man is prominently displayed on the sign, hanging above the main entrance. This is Stone’s Public House. Massachusetts and the New England area are home to many historical pubs. However, the story of Stone’s and its alleged ghosts is what draws many visitors through its doors. In 1832, John Stone, a captain in the local militia and……

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Skyscraper cabbages: That’s how botanist Edgar Anderson described the massive kale endemic to Jersey, the little island off the coast of France. You can almost hear the wonder in his voice as he recalls his visit: “The lower leaves had all been harvested from time to time, as green food for cattle, and the plants had kept on growing until they were well over my head; I really walked in their shade.” Up until recently, 12-foot kale was a……

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Giant kettles are round holes that date back to the ice age, created by melting glacier water pushing rocks against the bedrock. The distribution of these kettles varies heavily from place to place, as the right conditions are needed with both glacier size, available rocks, and proper bedrock beneath. Stockholm has a hand full of these kettles (including one located in the basement of a courthouse), but this one is the largest and best-preserved. This specific kettle was discovered……

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Dario D’Emanuele stretches out on his side among black and brittle volcanic rocks. He reaches into the narrow burrow with both arms. In one hand, he holds a small flashlight that catches a glint in the eyes of the seabird watching him warily. In the other hand, he holds a homemade tool called a corco: a stick with the bowl of a spoon, bent at 90 degrees, at one end. It resembles a ladle, and with a deft movement,……

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This cheerful and rather fully-featured treehouse slightly overhangs a pedestrian pathway known as Archibald Walk in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Washington, D.C., but an ongoing legal battle could determine its fate Some neighbors have objected to the treehouse’s existence, since it overhangs a public right of way (by about 20 inches), and have lobbied for its removal. The owners thought they had gotten all the correct permits before building it, but things got complicated after the neighbors pushed……

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Determining the true center of a country or any geopolitical entity always comes with its problems and difficulties. If extreme points are located in faraway islands (like Hawai’i would be to the United States and, to a lesser degree, Isla de Guadalupe and Isla Mujeres are to Mexico), should these be taken into account when calculating the center? How about the territories of associated states? What happens when territory is lost to conflict? If the official center remains unchanged,……

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The early exploration and settlement of northern Arizona was dominated by thousands of miles of cliffs and canyons cut by the Colorado River and its tributaries. The Little Colorado River’s name is misleading. It is one of the Colorado River’s largest tributaries and forms impassable canyons for miles across the Navajo Nation before becoming shallower as it approaches what is now Cameron, Arizona. When a bridge was built there in 1911, it created the first easy access over the……

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