A rendering of how San Biagio island in Venice will look like as a theme park. The $110 million project, planned by Alberto Zamperla of Zamperla, will transform this abandoned island that once housed an incinerator. (AP Photo/Zamperla Press Office, HO) VENICE, Italy — An Italian company that built Coney Island's latest attractions and an amusement park in a never-activated nuclear plant in Germany on Wednesday unveiled plans to invest 80 million euros ($110 million) for a theme park in...

With 16 linked lakes, dozens of waterfalls, brilliantly green forests and dark caves, the Plitvice Lakes National Park in Croatia is one of the most breathtaking destinations in the world. Named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1979, the park attracts naturalists and hikers from across the globe. According to the park's website, the lakes have been attracting people to their shores since prehistoric times. The land has been admired and built on by Romans, Turks, and eventually Croatian farmers....

The 54-story Ponte City Apartments in Johannesburg, South Africa is one of the country's most iconic skyscrapers. Once known as one of the poshest addresses in the country, the cylindrical tower has been in a state of disrepair and decay due to years of neglect. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) With its 54-story cylindrical tower dominating the Johannesburg skyline, the Ponte City Apartments (or Ponte Tower) is the tallest residential building in Africa. It is also crowned by the largest sign in...

Transportation Security Administration personal checks traveler's identification at Chicago O'Hare International Airport on Friday, Nov. 1, 2013. A gunman armed opened fire at Los Angeles International Airport on Friday, killing a TSA employee. Flights were disrupted nationwide. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh) Thousands of fliers across the U.S. were delayed Friday after a shooting at Los Angeles International Airport closed parts of the airport. A prolonged shutdown at the nation's third largest airport will be particularly troublesome for those hoping to...

Hidden away in rural Poland is a small village with a dark secret. Czermna is home to the Kaplica Czaszek, also known as the Skull Chapel. Built in 1776 by local priest Father Waclaw Tomaszek, the chapel is decorated with 3,000 human bones and skulls, while another 20,000 bone fragments lie below the chapel in a crypt. Father Tomaszek was inspired by the Capuchin cemetery while on a pilgrimage to Rome, says the Polish National Tourist Office. With the assistance...

The giant Rubber Duck by artist Florentijin Hofman in Kaohsiung, Taiwan on Sept. 19, 2013. The duck on display in Taoyuan started to deflate after a power outage caused by the 6.3 earthquake that struck Taiwan. It later exploded after workers attempted to re-inflate it. (Ashley Pon/Getty Images) Artist Florentijn Hofman's giant rubber duck, which has attracted millions of visitors on previous, met an untimely end after sustaining damage caused by the on Thursday. The 59ft duck began to deflate...

Guests of the Attrap'Reves Bubble Hotel in France sleep in transparent pods that provide amazing views of their surroundings and the open night sky. (Photo: Attrap'Reves/ www.attrap-reves.com) An innovative hotel chain in France knows there's nothing like sleeping under the stars to feel really close to nature. The , with locations in Allauch, La Boulladisse, Montagnac, Puget Ville and Saint Maime, features fully-furnished, transparent pods that offer views of the open night sky and the forested surroundings while protecting guests...

Intangible Cultural Heritage Rodney Stott brings James, a Lanner Falcon, to his hand during a training session at a bird sanctuary in Laurel, Maryland on June 14, 2012. Falconry was named a 'living human heritage' by UNESCO in 2012. (KAREN BLEIER/AFP/Getty Images) UNESCO, the branch of the United Nations charged with promoting international collaboration in science, education and culture, has spent years protecting various historical and natural sites as part of its mission. To date, the organization has given 981...

Dubbed "Monkey City," the province of Lopburi in Thailand is known for its population of long-tailed macaques that guard its ancient ruins and temples. Thousands of tourists flock to the province, located about 93 miles northeast of Bangkok, to see these urban-adapted monkeys, which some , according to CNN. To give thanks to the monkeys, which help boost tourism in the area, the city holds an annual "monkey buffet" feast at the ancient Khmer temple,Prang Sam Yot,every last week of...

Elsa Bailey, 100, pictured with Natural Habitat Adventures staff member Andrea Reynolds. The adventurous centenarian was able to cross 'seeing wild polar bears' off her bucket list after going on the Tundra Lodge and Town Adventure tour. (Credit: Natural Habitat Adventures) It took 100 years to make her dreams a reality, but centenarian Elsa Bailey was finally able to see polar bears in the wild and the experience was just as exciting as she'd hoped it would be. Bailey is...

Off the shores of a tiny island in the middle of the vast Pacific Ocean are the ruins of an ancient civilization. The remains of Nan Madol are the only standing monument of a civilization built entirely over open water, on a coral reef. The eerie abandoned stone structures are said to have inspired science-fiction writer H. P. Lovecraft to create a similar sunken city that was home to the monster Cthulhu, says Atlas Obscura. In reality, Nan Madol was...

More than 3,000 housewives make kimchi for the poor in preparation for winter at the City Hall of Seoul on Nov. 13, 2013 in Seoul, South Korea. Kimchi is a traditional dish of fermented vegetables mixed with chili and eaten with rice or served as a side dish. (Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images) Dressed in surgical masks and rubber gloves and armed with 61,700 cabbages, 3,000 South Korean women recently gathered in Seoul to make the traditional staple dish of Korea —...

NEW YORK -- Rules against making cellphone calls during airline flights are "outdated," and it's time to change them, federal regulators said Thursday, drawing immediate howls of protest from flight attendants, airline officials and others. Tom Wheeler, the new chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, said in a statement that the commission was proposing greater in-flight access to mobile broadband. The proposal will be considered at the commission's Dec. 12 meeting. "The time is right to review our outdated and...