This article was produced by National Geographic Traveller (UK). Greece is home to some of the world’s most extraordinary heritage sites. These range from ancient buildings — such as the extraordinary monasteries of Meteora, perched high on sandstone pinnacles, and the Parthenon temple in Athens — to the pretty, pastel-hued villages that line the coast….
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In Japan, a combination of lifestyle changes, urbanization, and a shrinking population is threatening the preservation of many of the traditional crafts for which the country is known. But over recent years, craft-focused hotels have emerged as tools to support artisans’ livelihoods while providing travelers with one-of-a-kind experiences. “The sales of traditional Japanese crafts peaked…
Two summers ago, in the turquoise waters off the coast of a small Caribbean island called Dominica, a sperm whale named Rounder began to give birth. Eleven members of her clan slowly gathered around to support her, converging from miles away in their home waters. They called to one another in choruses of Morse code-like…
This article was produced by National Geographic Traveller (UK). A slow road trip along mainland Greece’s coastline takes you from one idyllic site to another, from whitewashed villages tucked alongside sea fortresses to quiet beaches just a short drive from ancient temples. There are plenty of opportunities to stop off for a seafood lunch and…
The aquamarine water is so clear and warm it could be in the Caribbean, and the white silica beaches framed by granite boulders are reminiscent of the Seychelles. The giveaway is the tangerine lichen spattered on the rocks—a clear sign that this is the Australian island state of Tasmania (Lutruwita). But this isn’t the Bay of Fires…
It’s Halloween every day for the bone collector caterpillar. The moth larva decorates its drag-along dwelling with scavenged body parts from dead insects. This ghastly getup may allow the creatures to live alongside spiders without being detected. These pill-sized caterpillars look like piles of parts—an ant head here, fly legs and wings there, a stuck-on…
Paleontologists have described the oldest known member of Haidomyrmecinae — an extinct subfamily of ants that only lived during the Cretaceous period — preserved as a rock impression in the limestone of the Crato Formation in northeastern Brazil. Vulcanidris cratensis, holotype. Scale bar – 2 mm. Image credit: Lepeco et al., doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2025.03.023. Named Vulcanidris…
Buried in the Mesopotamian desert, undisturbed for over two millennia lay a hidden key to understanding one of the world’s oldest known civilizations. In 1854 British official John George Taylor was sent on an excavation mission to the desert of southern Iraq by the British consul general in Baghdad. Taylor, an agent of the East…
Malus is a genus with over 35 species naturally distributed across the temperate northern hemisphere, from East Asia and Europe to North America. This genus includes the domesticated apple (Malus domestica) and its wild relatives. New research reveals the evolutionary relationships among Malus species and how their genomes have evolved over the past nearly 60…
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