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If you've ever visited California's Yosemite National Park, then you have an appreciation for how absurdly majestic its scenery is. You also know how difficult it can be to encapsulate that majesty when describing it to others; somehow, adjectives like "breathtaking" don't even begin to describe it. More »
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The dry climate of the southwest United States is a popular spot for airplane boneyards. When airlines need to stow away planes or lay them to rest, they will ship planes out to aviation boneyards in states like California and Arizona. And sometimes, photographers brave security patrols and barbed-wire fences to photograph these slumbering hulks. More »
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On the beaches of Southern California, a phytoplankton called Lingulodinium polyedrum is responsible for a spate of red tide. Massive algal blooms like this make the water ruddy during the day, but disrupting the microorganisms at night results in bursts of electric blue bioluminescence. Says Scripps Institution of Oceanography Professor Dr. Peter Franks of this phenomenon: More »
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Now that J.J. Abrams' time-traveling prisoner series Alcatraz is locked in for Fridays next fall, let's take a look at the show's abandoned penitentiary setting, which has since been turned into a tourist attraction after closing in 1963. More »
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We recently took a video tour of southern California's Salvation Mountain. Now Ransom Riggs has created a short film about the nearby Salton Sea, a one-time vacation hotspot that's fallen on hard environmental and financial times. More »
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Outside of Slab City, California lies Leonard Knight's Salvation Mountain, a 150-foot-wide, 50-foot-tall variegated monument dedicated to God. It's like Uncle Owen's home times Pee Wee's Playhouse, with that John 3:16 guy from baseball games* serving as an interior decorator. More »
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National Geographic has given us an exclusive preview of tonight's episode of Shark Men. In the episode "Surfing with Sharks," the research team attempts to tag a youthful and rowdy great white shark, who isn't going in without a fight. More »
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California has always been a little different from the rest of the US, but this is just ridiculous. Its outline is etched into the cosmic dust in the California Nebula, while Nevada has apparently collapsed into a single bright star. More »
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One thing everyone should aspire to own is a 70-ton topographical map of the Golden State the length of two football fields. It can be yours for $500,000. More »
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On July 2, a Clovis, CA family was terrorized by mysterious lights. These lights weren't from juvenile delinquents setting off M-80s, but rather a nosy UFO. The family didn't talk to local news, but reporters were on the case anyway. More »
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At one point, California's inland Salton Sea was a thriving tourist destination and fishing spot. Nowadays, it's a toxic, hyper-salinated cesspool gone stagnant due to pollution and lack of sufficient drainage. Here are snapshots of the Sea's eerie lakeside towns. More »
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If you were getting excited about having a company like 23andme sequence your genome for you, it's time to put a lid on it. Apparently the State of California has decided that people should not be allowed to sequence their own genomes without supervision from a medical professional (despite the fact that many medical professionals are not trained to understand genomic data). The state sent out 13 cease-and-desist letters to companies offering genome sequencing to consumers last week. New York has sent similar letters to companies, including 23andme and Navigenics. The idea that the state should regulate your access to your own genetic data is bizarre at best, and proto-authoritarian at worst. More »
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Nothing says "massive destructive force" like the rocks exhumed from two kilometers down in the earthquake-causing San Andreas Fault. Mangled and twisted by the fault's awesome power, these rocks help you understand why a flick of this fault's little finger is enough to flatten entire cities. And now you can see them up close, with a new Google Earth mashup that lets you get personal with boulders that were drilled as part of the San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth (SAFOD) project. More »
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