The Panama Canal

The Panama Canal

Timbuktu mosques, Mali

Timbuktu mosques, Mali

                                        Petra, Jordan

Cambodia's temples of Angkor Wat

Cambodia's temples of Angkor is the largest religious monument in the world, but the groundwater pumping in the nearby Siem Reap is causing some of the temples to sink. It was just named the best tourist site in the world by Lonely Planet.

            Check Out This Yoga Studio Made Entirely of Salt

There’s Bikram yoga, power yoga, aerial yoga, beach yoga….you may have think you’ve heard it all, but wait until you get a whiff of this.

To kick off the first day of National Yoga Month, I went to the Breathe Easy Spa in New York City, which has created a room made of salt to help you inhale and exhale through your Down Dog like never before.

The entire floor, like sand on the beach, is made of pink Himalayan rock salt. The walls, too, are covered with the micron-sized particles which emit naturally occurring negative ions through a process called halogenation. Touted benefits include reducing inflammation and detoxifying the lungs and sinuses. The small particles are supposed to embed deep into the lungs and once there, absorb bacteria, fight infection and help with mucus, which would otherwise block the airways. Just thirty minutes in the salt room can improve symptoms of allergies, asthma, snoring and sleep apnea, say the owners.The teacher, Ellen Patrick, is a yoga therapist with over 1,200 hours of certified training under her belt. She helped me adjust my poses to do what works for my body and help me benefit the most. It’s a luxury not afforded in a normal yoga studio, where each person is worth a certain amount, monetarily, in square feet.

But, for the same price as a class anywhere else in New York City, I got personalized attention. In any given class, there are only four mats, total.

                           Paris Without Cars? Oui Oui! Next Month, Walkers Will Rule for a Day

If you’ve been planning a trip to Paris, you will want to be there on September 27—just don’t arrive that day, cause you’ll be walking to the hotel from the airport.

Thanks to a movement called “Paris Sans Voiture,” or “Paris Without A Car,” vehicles will not be permitted on the streets of Paris for twenty-four hours. Instead, people will be encouraged to roam free and check out music festivals and other events planned throughout the day.

“Teach your children to ride a bike, and let go of their hands safely, if they want to draw a giant hopscotch,” the website reads (translated from French into English).

Couple’s Proposal Goes Awry, Strangers Jump in (the Water) to Help

Couple’s Proposal Goes Awry, Strangers Jump in (the Water) to Help

As he was attempting to propose to his girlfriend while on vacation at the beach, Matthew Picca made one miscalculation–and it turned into a memory to last a lifetime. He was down on one leg on the dock of the Old American Fish restaurant asking Kayla Harrity to marry him and the ring slipped out of box, through the crack in the boardwalk, and into the sea water.

The Couple From Woodstock LP Cover is Still Married 46 Years After Concert

After the initial shock, people watching from the patio in the Southport, North Carolina bar came down and jumped into the water fully clothed to help fish the ring out of the Intracoastal Waterway.

A local ran home to get some goggles and several flashlights were donated to the search crew“After one-and-a-half hours of searching in the water…the ring was found!” Kayla said.

Everyone at the bar cheered, and began chanting ‘Propose again!’

The Aussies Are Coming!” Overseas Firefighters Arrive in WA

The Aussies Are Coming!” Overseas Firefighters Arrive in WA

Seventy Australian and New Zealand firefighters arrived in the United States last week, ready to go wherever wildfires were burning, reports the Associated Press.

Grateful Firefighters in Washington state welcomed the reinforcements from Down Under, as they battled the largest wildfire in the state’s history.

Tropical storm weakens, but leaves 20 dead in Caribbean

Tropical storm weakens, but leaves 20 dead in Caribbean

 A boat sits in shallow water as Tropical Storm Erika passes through New Town, Dominica, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2015. Erika was expected to move near Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands on Thursday and be near or just north of the Dominican Republic on Friday as it heads toward Florida early next week, possibly as a hurricane.
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — Tropical Storm Erika was losing its punch as it drenched Haiti and the Dominican Republic early Saturday, but it left devastation in its path, killing at least 20 people and leaving another 31 missing on the small eastern Caribbean island of Dominica, authorities said.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said that mountains and an unfavorable environment would likely knock Erika below tropical storm force, though there's a small chance it could recover as it moves along Cuba and then approaches Florida late Sunday.
Dominica Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit said in a televised address late Friday that damage inflicted by the storm set the island back 20 years. Some 15 inches (38 centimeters) of rain fell on the mountainous island.
 

Study Shines New Light on Preventing Multiple Sclerosis

Study Shines New Light on Preventing Multiple Sclerosis

A ray of hope in preventing multiple sclerosis (MS) may come in the form of actual rays of sunshine.

Canadian researchers have found that a lack of vitamin D may be a direct cause for the disease — and most vitamin D comes from a chemical reaction caused when sunlight falls on the skin.

Researchers at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, studied DNA samples of 33,996 people, and found those with MS showed common characteristics of vitamin D deficiency.

CEO Helps 3 Moms See Hero Sons Honored in Paris, Lends His Jet

Three American heroes were scheduled to receive the Legion of Honor, France’s highest award, last Monday. Their moms were invited to the ceremony, but had no way to get to Paris on time.

When a corporate pilot heard about the women’s plight, he called his boss and asked to borrow the company plane.

The heroes, Spencer Stone, Alek Skarlatos, and Anthony Sadler, along with two other men, took down a heavily armed gunman on a high-speed train in France on August 21.

Pilot Doug Perrill called Tim Boyle, CEO of Columbia Sportswear, to see if they could give the mothers a lift.

Canadians Can Now Use Frequent Flyer Miles To Pay For College

If you happen to live in Canada, you can take a year off to travel the world before college and use those frequent flyer miles to pay your tuition.

Thanks to a team effort by Air Canada’s frequent flyer program, Aeroplan, and HigherEdPoints, miles can now be converted into education dollars.

Rare Sumatran Rhino From US Zoo Moves to Asia to Save His Species

A rhino from the Cincinnati Zoo is officially on a mission to Southeast Asia to save his entire species.

A rhino from the Cincinnati Zoo is officially on a mission to Southeast Asia to save his entire species.

Harapan, an 1,800 pound Sumatran Rhino, will leave Harapan, an 1,800 pound Sumatran Rhino, will leave sometime this fall for a sanctuary in Indonesia dedicated to saving the Sumatrans, a species declared extinct in Malaysia just this month. Currently, only 100 Sumatran Rhinos remain in the world.

Harapan, an 1,800 pound Sumatran Rhino, will leave sometime this fall for a sanctuary in Indonesia dedicated to saving the Sumatrans, a species declared extinct in Malaysia just this month. Currently, only 100 Sumatran 

Rhinos remain in the worl

sometime this fall for a sanctuary in Indonesia dedicated to saving the Sumatrans, a species declared extinct in Malaysia just this month. Currently, only 100 Sumatran Rhinos remain in the world.

Harapan, an 1,800 pound Sumatran Rhino, will leave sometime this fall for a sanctuary in Indonesia dedicated to saving the Sumatrans, a species declared extinct in Malaysia just this month. Currently, only 100 Sumatran 

Rhinos remain in the world.

Solar-Powered ‘Mayflower’ to Cross Ocean 400 Years After Pilgrim Voyage

 

If all goes as planned, this high-tech, solar-and-wind-powered ship will follow the same route its pioneering namesake took, ‘from Plymouth to Plymouth,’ exactly 400 years earlier.

But instead of Pilgrims—or passengers of any kind— a small fleet of passenger drones will be the ones “steering” the ship in the year 2020.

The vessel, nicknamed MARS—the Mayflower Autonomous Research Ship—is a joint venture of engineers at three UK entities: Plymouth University, autonomous-craft specialists MSubs, and yacht designers Shuttleworth Design.

If they succeed—and if nobody beats them to it—MARS will become the first surface vessel to complete an unmanned transatlantic voyage.