Author: Ms. R.

Did you know that some species of caterpillar can launch their poo up to four feet away from themselves? That fun fact is what inspired Karin Koch to open the Pooseum, a small science museum in Australia dedicated to animal droppings. Stool samples aplenty are seen—not smelled—including the bizarre square-shaped droppings of wombats, the fur- and bone-riddled scat of a lion, and the petrified mass of a dinosaur turd. Information panels provide everything you have ever wanted to know about……

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The Footlight Club has been entertaining the Boston area since 1877. According to the American Association of Community Theatre, it is the oldest, continuously producing community theater in the United States. The idea for this theater started in December 1876, at the home of 19-year-old Caroline Morse. During a local meeting she “proposed starting a theater club of serious intent.” At a meeting the following January, the committee considered organizing a dramatic club. There were 25 founding members who……

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It is hard to think of Kyoto without associating it with the green lushness of Arashiyama Bamboo Forest. Yet, the Sagano Scenic Train, also known as Sagano Romantic Train, is often overlooked by visitors who disembark at the same station for a day trip to the bamboo forest. For those unaware, the train seems to be bound for residential towns beyond a small forest—and yet, this is exactly where its modest beauty lies. Trace the route of the Sagano……

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On the surface of Lago Superiore (Lake Superior), one of the three lakes surrounding the city of Mantua, lies the largest expanse of lotus flowers outside of Asia. Known as Isola dei Fiori di Loto, or Lotus Island, it is a floating island split by small waterway that allows boats to cross. The lotus, Nelumbium nucifera, rise up from the water with large leaves and stunning flowers in shades of pale pink and white. These unique plants have adapted to……

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What would you say if going up the ridge of a hill, 80 kilometers from the sea, you encountered a giant whale? It’s less unlikely than you think, and a nine-meter sculpture of a whale is exactly what hikers can encounter in the vicinity of Gorgognano, in the Zena Valley, about 30 kilometers from Bologna. The sculpture is a monument to an ancient whale whose remains were discovered in this unlikely spot. Between three and five million years ago,……

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Landscape shaped by rice paddy farming is often associated or even equated with idyllic rural beauty. There are times when the rice paddies are truly a mesmerizing sight, and those found in Batad belong to this category. These paddies form a majestic amphitheater, with the Batad village at the base. The first terraces in Batad were carved out of the surrounding hills by the Ifugao people at least 2,000 years ago. These were eventually built upon and expanded generation……

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This unassuming statue depicts a she-wolf nursing two babies—a sight that may be familiar to anyone who has been to Rome. That’s because the statue depicts the famous story of Romulus and Remus, the legendary founders of Rome who were cared for by a wolf after being abandoned by the Tiber River. It’s a scene that is common in Rome and can be found on murals, statues, tourist shops, and football clubs. So what is it doing in this……

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Rising up just inland from Turkey’s southern coast, the Taurus Mountains are as beautiful as they are rugged. Even Alexander the Great found the range formidable: He famously failed to conquer Termessos, a city nestled in the range at more than 3,000 feet above sea level. Researchers have designated much of the region as “marginal” landscape for human habitation and productivity. So it might be surprising to learn the mountainous area is one of the country’s agricultural strongholds. Small,……

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This story was originally published in Undark and appears here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. About 18 years ago, Andrea Colla got an unusual request. Would he come survey the fauna of a Nazi air-raid shelter? Even by entomologists’ standards, the task was weird. This warren lay under the Italian city of Trieste, and it was built in secret between 1943 and 1944 at the orders of a war criminal who wanted a subterranean escape route from……

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