It's the question rail enthusiasts have posed for years: When might U.S. train travel start to more closely resemble that of Europe and Asia?
06.12.2023 - 23:13 / atlasobscura.com
Just off of East Highway 246 in the town of Solvang, California, an eye-catching sign depicts an adult male ostrich, its black and white feathers spread like the fans of a performer in a Vegas show. Just beneath the display, in big block letters: “OSTRICHLAND USA,” and “FEED THIS BAD BOY!”
Visitors who pull into the dusty parking lot and pay admission receive a dog-food bowl bolted to a metal dustpan, filled with a pellet feed. Strategically placed gaps in the fences let visitors hold up their provisions to curious ostriches and emus. The instructions are clear: Meet the birds halfway so they don’t have to strain their necks. Hold the dustpan with two hands. And don’t touch: The residents of Ostrichland USA are strong, and they bite.
I recently visited Ostrichland USA on a fall afternoon to kill time ahead of a friend’s wedding with some of the other guests. As the birds pecked at the bowls (and occasionally tried to tug them away), someone pulled up Wikipedia and began to rattle off ostrich facts. (Ostriches have only two toes on each foot! They lay the largest eggs among living land animals! They are among the small minority of bird species with penises!) Scrolling down that page also revealed a new feature for one of the world’s biggest websites, one that put the visit to Ostrichland USA—and indeed, a simple walk in the woods—in a whole new light.
In July 2023, a group of volunteer Wikipedia editors and vertebrate paleontologists began a multi-month discussion over what might seem like a small change. Every species on the website has what’s known as a “taxonomy box” that summarizes its location on the tree of life. For a blissful month, from mid-October to mid-November 2023, every single bird on Wikipedia, from the ostrich to the bee hummingbird to the gentoo penguin, was, technically, a dinosaur. Between “Phylum: Chordata” and “Class: Aves,” each bird taxonomy box included “Clade: Dinosauria.”
It was a small tweak, one that the average person who wants to learn more about the turkey vulture might not even have noticed. However, the implications for public understanding of evolution might have been surprisingly large. Wikipedia is one of the world’s most popular websites, and in making this change, it made it clearer than ever that birds are straight-up dinosaurs. Vertebrate paleontologist James Napoli, a postdoctoral researcher at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, participated in the Wikipedia discussion and saw the change as “a huge win.”
In just the past couple of weeks, however, Wikipedia seems to have gotten cold feet, and removed the “Clade: Dinosauria” labels amid a protracted debate among the site’s editors. So if I may be so bold: Wikipedia, put the labels back. Please.*
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It's the question rail enthusiasts have posed for years: When might U.S. train travel start to more closely resemble that of Europe and Asia?
The Airbus A380 may be the largest commercial jet, but something far larger took to the skies in recent months.
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If, somehow, you’re still looking for a spot to spend Christmas or the final week of 2023, the personal-finance website WalletHub’s latest report has some important insights for you. It reviewed data on the nation’s 100 largest cities to find out which are simultaneously the most festive and affordable for celebratory getaways this Christmas season.
Margaritaville Resort Lake Tahoe, Margaritaville’s first property in a ski destination is welcoming guests just in time for the 2024 ski season.
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As I sipped my coffee while watching the sunrise, painted with deep hues of pink and orange, I saw something out of the corner of my eye. I glanced over just in time to catch a majestic gray whale breaching in the subdued morning waves of the Pacific Ocean, leaving nothing but white foam in its wake. At that moment, as the birds chirped and neighborhood dogs played below, I felt more at peace than ever before.
Set in the upscale Bunker Hill neighborhood in downtown Los Angeles and walkable to iconic landmarks like the Walt Disney Concert Hall, Grand Park, The Broad, and The Music Center, the Conrad Los Angeles seamlessly blends with the city’s high-class cultural atmosphere. The legendary architect Frank Gehry designed the property, drawing inspiration from the neighborhood’s impressive surroundings.
Just 75 miles north of bustling San Francisco, and surrounded by Napa Valley and Sonoma County’s world-class vineyards, Calistoga is home to geothermal hot springs, wellness resorts, and mud baths featuring volcanic ash and natural peat. There’s hiking that ends at a mineral pool at Bothe-Napa Valley State Park, and, of course, incredible dining and drinking experiences with a local focus. An escape for a weekend getaway or longer to one of the many wellness resorts here is the perfect way to return home completely refreshed. It’s no wonder Calistoga is Matador’s Wellness Award winner.
“Adventurous” is a key adjective to describe the vibes inside the historic but revitalized El Capitan Hotel, located in the heart of downtown Merced, California. This hotel features 114 guestrooms — including three one-bedroom suites and nine junior suites set amongst a restored “Arbor Lane” Wing and a brand new “Main Street” Wing.