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Source: Freepik Finnish queueing behavior involves substantial personal space maintenance — typically 1 meter or more between individuals waiting in lines for transit, services, and various other situations. The cumulative behavior…

Food

Why every American diner has essentially the same menu — and the actual reason it works

1 day agoByMaya Linton

Source: Freepik Walk into any traditional American diner from Maine to California and you'll find essentially the same menu. Disco fries. Two eggs any style with home fries and toast. Patty…

Destinations

The Japanese island where 5,259 people once lived shoulder-to-shoulder — and the wartime atrocity buried beneath its ruins

2 days agoByMaya Linton

Source: Wikipedia Hashima Island held the highest population density in human history, the place that inspired the villain's lair in Skyfall, and the site where hundreds of forced laborers died in…

Destinations

The Soviet ecological disaster that erased the world’s fourth-largest lake — and the cities now stranded 90 miles from the water

2 days agoByMaya Linton

Source: Wikimedia Commons The Aral Sea covered 26,000 square miles in 1960. Today, more than 90% of it is gone. The fishing port of Moynaq, Uzbekistan now sits over 90 miles…

Destinations

The Chinese fishing village where 2,000 people lived in 1980 — and the vines that have completely consumed it since

2 days agoByMaya Linton

Source: Wikipedia Houtouwan, on Shengshan Island 40 miles from Shanghai, was a thriving fishing port until its harbor became too shallow for modern boats. The last residents left in 2002. Two…

Destinations

The Romanian rock formation that locals visit on November 28 each year for the “energy pyramid” — and the actual geology behind it

2 days agoByMaya Linton

Source: Wikipedia High in Romania's Bucegi Mountains, at 2,216 meters elevation, sits an 8-meter-tall sandstone formation that — viewed from a specific angle — resembles a human face. Romanians named it…

Why Finnish people stand 1 meter apart in queues — and the substantial cultural reasoning behind it

Why every American diner has essentially the same menu — and the actual reason it works

The Japanese island where 5,259 people once lived shoulder-to-shoulder — and the wartime atrocity buried beneath its ruins

The Soviet ecological disaster that erased the world’s fourth-largest lake — and the cities now stranded 90 miles from the water

The Chinese fishing village where 2,000 people lived in 1980 — and the vines that have completely consumed it since

The Romanian rock formation that locals visit on November 28 each year for the “energy pyramid” — and the actual geology behind it

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