If you were wowed by those glow-in-the-dark stars on your bedroom ceiling as a kid, you may need to book a trip to the Maldives.
The small nation of more than 1,000 islands in the Indian Ocean is home to at least one beach, on Mudhdhoo Island, that often glows in the dark and it’s a completely natural phenomenon.
Despite being surrounded by an endless supply of frozen water, the coldest continent on Earth is also one of the driest — so dry, in fact, it’s technically considered a desert.
Although the parched landscapes of Death Valley or the Sahara may spring to mind when we visualize a desert, the ecosystem classification has more to do with precipitation than temperature.
What do you call someone who’s fallen for a prank? There’s no punchline here — in most English-speaking places, you’d probably just call them gullible.
But in France, you might use the term poisson d’avril, aka “April fish.”
The centuries-old name is linked to a 1508 poem by Renaissance composer and writer Eloy d’Amerval, who used the phrase to describe the springtime spawn of fish as the easiest to catch.
Young and hungry April fish were considered more susceptible to hooks than older fish swimming around at other times of year. Today, celebrating “April fish” in France — as well as Belgium, Canada, and Italy — is akin to April Fools’ Day elsewhere, complete with pranks; one popular form of foolery includes taping paper fish on the backs of the unsuspecting.
Aesthetically pleasing book depositories are dotted all over Europe and the Americas. From a Brazilian library built by the Portuguese to European monastery libraries, there are some lovely libraries to see.
