Author: Ms. R.

You’ve probably never seen a sea urchin like this. This cross-section of a juvenile purple sea urchin may resemble a drone’s-eye view of a Blade Runner cityscape, but it’s actually a microscopic image created through a method called immunofluorescence. This technique allows researchers to stain molecules with fluorescent dyes, illuminating and differentiating the various networks within an animal. (Here, for example, muscle fibers appear in cyan, or bright blue, while the nerves are yellow.) And then they’re able to……

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Perhaps the best-kept secret of Bohemian Switzerland, the small village of Doubice attracts an eclectic crowd of hikers, climbers, musicians, and artists. Visitors are drawn in by its idyllic natural surroundings, laid-back nightlife and active cultural scene centred around a repurposed textile factory (now a combination bar, art gallery, and hikers’ hostel) called “Fabrika.” Across the street, Doubice shows off a lesser-known yet more puzzling attraction: a collection of more than 300 wooden sculptures clustered around the Stará hospoda (“Old……

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Move over cat temple, there’s a new animal in town. From the outside, this little shrine in Tosa City, Kochi Prefecture does not appear particularly special, resembling thousands of similar local shrines around Japan. However, once you pass under the low torii gates, you are thrown into a  world of green… as in, “it’s not easy being green.” The shrine is thought to date back to 1899, when a local farmer came across a tiny shrine in his field……

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Comanche Lookout Park, the fourth-highest point in Bexar county offers sweeping vista views of the area. The park underwent a massive improvement project in the early 2000s, when it received walking paths, fountains, and other amenities that make it a great place for exercise. You can see for miles from the top of the hill. The Indigenous people of this area likely made use of this hilltop as a strategic vantage point. A number of tribes have inhabited this……

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When legend blends with history, facts and fiction become difficult to untangle. In this regard, few figures have achieved the legendary stature of Santa Claus. It is widely accepted that St Nicholas must have been the progenitor of the character who came to be known as Santa Claus. Though St. Nicholas likely looked nothing like the white-bearded, big-bellied man that is most common today, his propensity for giving away his wealth to people in need makes for a credible……

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A kind-hearted spinster, passed over in her youth by a potential suitor, spends her life faithfully tending the hearth and home of her dear family and friends. She is content to toil as a housekeeper, unrecognized but for the praise of beloved companions. All the while, she keeps a detailed household book of handwritten recipes, from carraway cake to currant wine, that her family loves. Virtue is rewarded when, at 63 years of age, the loyal spinster weds the……

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Dunmore Park house sits within Dunmore Park. The once-majestic mansion was built in 1820 alongside a large stable opposite the house. Unfortunately, what once would have been the grandest site in the area has now been reduced to ruin. For suspected tax reasons, the property was partially demolished in 1972, with the roof removed. As a result, the house is filled and surrounded by large piles of rubble. Despite this, it is possible to walk around the remaining structure,……

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This story was originally published in Undark and appears here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. On a windy morning in March, two older surfers at LeCount Hollow Beach, on Cape Cod, look out at the gray Atlantic. They are scanning the water closest to shore for seals, with whom they increasingly have to share the frigid water, which can dip as low as 37 degrees Fahrenheit in winter. The seals are a growing demographic. They have been……

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The Museum of the Slovak National Uprising (Múzeum SNP) is located near the main square of Banská Bystrica in central Slovakia. The mountainous terrain of Banská Bystrica and the surrounding villages was the epicenter for the Slovak National Uprising against fascism during World War II. The museum is dedicated to the history of this uprising against the Nazis and the Slovak fascist government. This unusually-shaped museum was designed as both a monument and a museum by architect Dušan Kuzma…….

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Pozzo della Cava is a well excavated entirely from the rock upon which Orvieto sits; it consists of two unified sections 36 meters deep: two different wells, a small rectangular Etruscan shaft and a round Renaissance one for spring water.  In 1527, in fact, Pope Clement VII, fleeing from the Sack of Rome, took refuge at Orvieto and ordered the excavation of two public cisterns and the Pozzo della Cava, readapting the Etruscan structure. He wanted to reach the……

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