Mount Fuji

Mount Fuji   One of the world’s most recognizable mountains, Mount Fuji is nearly synonymous with Japan. Rising 12,389 feet above sea level, Fuji is also the High Point of the nation. Situated on the island of Honshu, the peak is a mere 62 miles southwest of Tokyo. On clear days, the mountain starkly dominates the capital and largest […]

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National Parks vs. National Monuments

National Parks vs. National Monuments I think the question I’ve been asked the most when discussing National Parks in the United States relates to today’s article title. What’s the difference between a National Park and a National Monument? The National Parks Service – the agency that oversees the National Parks System – doesn’t exactly make it easy on us (although, it’s also

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Roy G. Biv

Roy G. Biv   Many students learn the mnemonic Roy G. Biv to recall the visible colors: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet. It’s a handy way to quickly remember the order of a rainbow spectrum. Have you ever asked yourself, “what exactly is indigo?” Is it near blue? Near violet? A mixture of the two? If

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Gustave

Gustave Setting: Burundi. Plot: Serial killer on the loose. Burundi, in the heart of Africa Specific setting: Ruzizi River (great name), Lake Tanganyika, the second largest lake in Africa. The Ruzizi River flowing toward Lake Tanganyika Lake Tanganyika from space – NASA In the 1990s and early 2000s, a predatory stalker killed as many as 300 humans in the middle

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The Decade Volcanoes

The Decade Volcanoes   On 22 December 1989, the United Nations General Assembly designated the oncoming decade – the 1990s – as the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction.  The gist was to reduce the loss of life and property due to tsunamis, earthquakes, floods, storms, droughts, landslides, and volcanoes. The resolution intended to identify and study

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Reschensee

Reschensee As World War II raged, an Italian energy company planned the creation of an artificial lake near the borders of Austria and Switzerland. The project would create a dam that would unify two natural lakes, providing hydroelectric power for the region. But there was a problem: people lived there. The formation of the new

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