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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.

 
Pimlico Priapus in London, England
When the area around an old police station in Pimlico was redeveloped into apartments in 2007, the developers commissioned a statue by the Scottish sculptor Alexander Stoddart for the site. He created a rather unusual and confusing depiction of the minor Greek god Priapus. Priapus was a fertility god associated with multiple agricultural activities, particularly gardens, so a statue of him might at first make sense for the proposed location, which is across the street from a large grassy...

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Dumfries Camera Obscura in Dumfries, Scotland
The oldest working camera obscura in the world is located on the grounds of the Dumfries Museum, a local history museum, in Dumfries, Scotland. The main part of the museum has large and varied collections relating to local history from the pre-historic era to recent times but the camera obscura is the star of the show. This device has been in continuous operation since 1836. Both the camera obscura and the museum at Dumfries are part of a closely linked...

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Janaki Mandir in Janakpur, Nepal
This enormous white temple in the center of Janakpur, Nepal, commemorates the spot where Sita (also known as Janaki or Maithili) was born. In 1657, a golden statue was miraculously found marking the location. According to ancient myth, King Janaka found the baby Sita alone in a field, presumably the daughter of the earth goddess Bhumi. Raised as his own, Sita later became the wife of Lord Rama (an avatar of Vishnu), and her story is chronicled in the...

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Church of Saint Andrew the Apostle in...
Along the road leading from Acqui Terme in the province of Alessandria to Sassello in the province of Savona, a detour into the surrounding countryside leads to Mioglia. It’s a place where time seems to have stopped that welcomes you with the silence of the centuries and is magic, in its wild simplicity.  Though there are other churches and chapels in this small municipality, the Church of Saint Andrew the Apostle (Chiesa di Sant’Andrea Apostolo) is the most evocative....

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49th Parallel North Monument in Prešov, Slovakia
Near the north end of Hlavná, the main street in Prešov, Slovakia, there is a monument to the 49th parallel north. The monument is inscribed in English (presumably the missing inscription on the other side was in Slovak): “The 49N parallel of latitude runs through the town of Prešov. It is known that this parallel—a unique animal kind—is spread from the Arctic pole to the equatorial primeval forests but to observe it in person… well, you are doing it right here, right...

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Bake 'Baby Bread' as a Celebration of...
In June 2020, when many Americans were coping with the COVID-19 pandemic by stress-baking sourdough, Bryan Ford challenged them to think differently about it. In his book New World Sourdough, the Bronx-born, New Orleans-raised baker with Afro-Honduran roots asked readers to go beyond the boules, baguettes, and other European iterations of naturally leavened bread. His second cookbook, Pan y Dulce, which comes out today, is an exhaustive, focused dive into the history of baking throughout Latin America. That means...

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10 Places With Kaleidoscope-Colored Nature
Welcome to Where to Wander, our selection of the best under-the-radar destinations in 2025. To see more surprising sites around the world that have fewer tourists and more locals, check out all of Atlas Obscura’s favorite places to travel this year. There are some places in the world where you expect to see multiple colors together. Fields of wildflowers, for example, or the early stages of autumn. Otherwise, many of us expect nature to play by certain rules, where...

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10 Extraordinary Sports Around the World
Welcome to Where to Wander, our selection of the best under-the-radar destinations in 2025. To see more surprising sites around the world that have fewer tourists and more locals, check out all of Atlas Obscura’s favorite places to travel this year. Popular sports may call to mind rackets, bats, and balls—but what about bathtubs, mashed potatoes, and mullets? In Scotland, Chile, and Florida, local communities are redefining sports. From the world’s most remote triathlon (involving bird eggs, a volcano,...

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10 Places That Smell Like Nowhere Else
Welcome to Where to Wander, our selection of the best under-the-radar destinations in 2025. To see more surprising sites around the world that have fewer tourists and more locals, check out all of Atlas Obscura’s favorite places to travel this year. All living things smell. From single-celled bacteria to tomato plants to great white sharks to people, we’re constantly detecting and reacting to chemical signals around us. Scents affect our perception of people and places, and they can evoke...

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10 Places That Feel Like Journeying Back...
Welcome to Where to Wander, our selection of the best under-the-radar destinations in 2025. To see more surprising sites around the world that have fewer tourists and more locals, check out all of Atlas Obscura’s favorite places to travel this year. Have you ever visited somewhere that felt untouched by time? Maybe it was a pristine nature preserve, or an immersive museum, or a business that’s been operating in the same place for centuries. At these magical sites across...

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10 Places That Glow
Welcome to Where to Wander, our selection of the best under-the-radar destinations in 2025. To see more surprising sites around the world that have fewer tourists and more locals, check out all of Atlas Obscura’s favorite places to travel this year. Much like moths, humans are attracted to things that glitter and glow. Sometimes, a shimmering show comes courtesy of nature, via underground caverns filled with fluorescent rocks and bioluminescent algae setting seawater alight. Humans are also no slouch...

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10 Bathrooms to Pee in Before You...
Welcome to Where to Wander, our selection of the best under-the-radar destinations in 2025. To see more surprising sites around the world that have fewer tourists and more locals, check out all of Atlas Obscura’s favorite places to travel this year. The vast majority of toilets around the globe are utilitarian at best—unadorned spaces to get in and out of as fast as possible. Yet some rare standouts go above and beyond answering Nature’s call. Imagine doing your business...

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10 Optical Illusion Destinations
Welcome to Where to Wander, our selection of the best under-the-radar destinations in 2025. To see more surprising sites around the world that have fewer tourists and more locals, check out all of Atlas Obscura’s favorite places to travel this year. Do mine eyes deceive me? In the 10 optical illusions below, the answer is a resounding yes. Several of these sites have been visited by curious onlookers for centuries, as they try to get to the bottom of...

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Corporate Hospitality: Successful Planning and Implementation
Corporate hospitality is sometimes described as rolling out the red carpet for guests or providing entertainment. This is part of hospitality, but it’s better to think of it as showing everything defining your individual brand. One of the reasons hospitality is important comes down to the basic need to ensure corporate customers feel valued. However, The post Corporate Hospitality: Successful Planning and Implementation appeared first on Revfine.com.

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Hotel Check-in Timing and Process Explained
Hotel check-in timing refers to when guests can check into a room or check out after their stay. It’s often best to consider it as a window where staff and guests can align their needs. The timing is important to guests because it can limit or control their schedule. At the same time, it’s important The post Hotel Check-in Timing and Process Explained appeared first on Revfine.com.

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