“ Hardly anyone lives in a big chunk of the United States, and that pattern is true for most countries. Where cities historically started and thrived comes down to geography and water. ”
“ The title gets fact-checked, but is mostly true: the vast majority of the population of the world will experience sunlight at the same time during a 1-minute period every July 8. ”
“ A remote town in Alaska is only accessible via a single tunnel, and the entire population lives, learns, worships, and socializes in a single high-rise apartment building. ”
“ A vehicle was designed to move scientists around Antarctica in the 1930s. It performed poorly, was abandoned, re-discovered in the 50s, re-abandoned, and might now be floating around the South Pacific, encased in an iceberg. ”
“ In 1977, a German tourist accidentally de-planed in Bangor, Maine, and spent three days thinking he was in San Francisco. When the truth was discovered, he become a brief sensation. ”
“ The story behind a viral photo of climbers waiting to summit Everest earlier this year. Multiple people died, and questions are being asked about the future of climbing the mountain. ”
“ This short video of a landing at Gibraltar International Airport shows the only way a tiny, narrow country can fit an airport runway – by bisecting an active city street, at which cars have to wait for the landing plane to cross (at 0:43 in the video). ”
“ Of the coast of Brazil is a small island which has evolved to become the home of one the most venomous snakes in the world. One bite will cause you to ‘die screaming,’ and there are thousands of them on the island, preying on migrating birds. ”
“ Ultimately, climate change is a migration problem. Humanity can survive it, but lots of people are going to have to move, and that causes other problems. ”
“ If climate change continues as projected, humanity can survive, but most of the world will have to move. Also, Russia and Canada will be in charge. ”
“ A settlement in Antarctica is so remote and isolated, that you can’t still have your appendix and live there because the nearest hospital is so hard to get to that a burst appendix will kill you. ”
“ The longest contiguous train ride in the world is from Porto, Portugal to Saigon, Vietnam. Unsurprisingly, it takes a long time, and costs a lot of money. ”
“ When geographic coordinates are empty – ‘0,0’ or ‘null’ – mapping databases use a fake placename called ‘Null Island’ to represent the thing that is not there. ”
“ A group of Wikipedia editors broke off, and the reasons why give an interesting look into how Wikipedia works, and how different people and subjects can come into conflict. ”
“ There is an area of the Sahara desert that no country will claim because it would require affirming a border which would exclude more valuable land. So it belongs to no one. ”
“ A 2013 story about poverty in Appalachia. The author is a conservative, but he concedes that there are no easy solutions to what happens in the back woods. Hauntingly well-written. ”
“ A journalist finds some strange circles on Google Maps. He goes down a research rabbit hole which culminates with adventurers driving out into the middle of nowhere, digging up dynamite, and bringing home sardine cans. ”
“ Russia would absolutely love an independent Scotland, because its withdrawal from the NATO has a shockingly large impact on world security and the world’s economy. ”
“ Climate change has opened year-round shipping lanes along Russia’s northern coast. This will dramatically affect both Russia’s and the world’s economy and geopolitical balance. ”
“ There’s a ‘wet spot’ in the California desert that started slowly moving in 2016, and no one knows why. It’s wiggling under highways, train tracks, and other infrastructure, which causes problems. ”