Obama Designates Underwater Monument Off the Coast of New England
Posted on 09/20/2016, 12:00 AM
Last week President Barack Obama designated 4,913 square miles off the coast of New England as a new marine national monument, creating the first fully protected area in the U.S. portion of the Atlantic Ocean. Located along the continental shelf about 130 miles southeast of Cape Cod, the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument encompasses huge underwater chasms and towering...
SpongeBob Pineapple Suite at Nickelodeon's New Beach Resort
Posted on 09/19/2016, 12:00 AM
The Pineapple villa at Nickelodeon Hotels & Resorts Punta Cana (photo: nickresortpuntacana/Instagram) It's not quite living in a pineapple under the sea, but it's as close as you're likely to get. At the new Nickelodeon-themed beach resort in the Dominican Republic—not to be confused with Orlando's old Nick hotel, which closed in February—you can stay in a two-bedroom, three-bathroo...
Bomb-Sniffing Dogs Failed Numerous Tests at U.S. Airports
Posted on 09/19/2016, 12:00 AM
The readiness of the Transportation Security Administration's bomb-sniffing dogs has been called into question by an investigation conducted by NBC News. Via a Freedom of Information Act request, the outlet found that between January 1, 2013, and June 15, 2015 (the most recent period for which records were provided), K-9 teams at 10 major U.S. airports—including those in Los Angeles, Washing...
Airlines Reaping Windfall from Checked-Baggage Fees
Posted on 09/19/2016, 12:00 AM
Your luggage is making the major airlines a fortune. According to data released by the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics, passengers have paid an estimated $26.2 billion in mandatory baggage fees since 2007, around the time when many carriers began charging extra to check your first bag. As the Daily Mail points out, that's enough money to buy United Airlines, currently valued at $1...
Video Suggests Not All Hotels Wash Sheets Between Guests
Posted on 09/16/2016, 12:00 AM
And now for something completely disgusting for you to carry with you into the weekend. Reporters from Inside Edition undertook an experiment recently at nine hotels to test whether sheets were being washed between guests. At each property, they sprayed bed sheets with a harmless invisible paint that can only be seen under a black light. Then they checked back in the next day under a differ...
Spirit Airlines Shrinking Size Allowed for Carry-On Personal Item
Posted on 09/16/2016, 12:00 AM
Air-travel horror-story generator Spirit Airlines has quietly reintroduced a policy it dropped last spring due to customer outrage. Starting on April 1, the one personal item you're allowed to bring onboard for free must be no larger than 18 inches by 14 inches by 8 inches—40 inches total—and that includes handle and wheels. Up to now, that item, such as a purse or backpack you can fit unde...
Brexit Could Soon Make It Harder on Brits to Travel Within Europe
Posted on 09/16/2016, 12:00 AM
Thanks to Brexit—Britain's decision in June to leave the European Union—people from the U.K. may soon encounter new headaches when they travel within Europe. At the moment, Brits can go anywhere in the E.U. as long as they've got valid passports. But Brexit puts Britain in the "third country" category referring to those who aren't from the place they're traveling to or passing through. An...
Interactive Underwater Artwork Off Southern California Coast
Posted on 09/15/2016, 12:00 AM
Artist's rendering of an underwater sculpture by Doug Aitken (image: lebasseprojects/Instagram) As part of "Electric Earth," Doug Aitken's exhibit this fall at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, the artist has built three enormous "Underwater Pavilions" off the coast of Southern California's Catalina Island. Made of mirror and stone, the kaleidoscopic structures are moored to...
In China, You Can Go to a Restaurant in a Retired Boeing 737
Posted on 09/15/2016, 12:00 AM
Lily Airways, a restaurant housed inside a retired Boeing 737 in Wuhan, China (photo: leo_lijie/Instagram) We recently told you about a dinner experience in Los Angeles that transports guests back to the golden age of air travel by serving them inside an old grounded Pan Am Airways craft, outfitted to look exactly as it did in 1973, right down to the perky stewardesses and ample legroom. ...
Huge New Sculpture Planned for New York City
Posted on 09/15/2016, 12:00 AM
Rendering for "Vessel," a monumental sculpture planned for New York City (image: designboom/Twitter) Yesterday the plans were unveiled for a new 150-foot, $150-million sculpture that will stand amid a cluster of skyscrapers being built near the Hudson River in Manhattan. Designed by British artist Thomas Heatherwick and dubbed "Vessel," the concrete and steel structure looks something...
