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...

Inside an abandoned hotel located in the Pocono Mountains. (John Walker) Urban explorer and photographer John Walker captured what remains of an old resort that was a summer-haven for garment workers in the early 1900s in his photo series called “The White Pines.” Walker went to the resort, located on 750 acres of land at the base of the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania, after a fellow urban explorer disclosed the location. In order to keep it protected, Walker doesn’t use...

This Saturday, Nov. 30, 2013 photo, shows parts of a Mozambique Airlines plane which crashed in the Bwabwata National Park, Namibia, killing all 33 on board. Officials are investigating the cause of the crash. A new report says plane automation may contribute to some plane crashes.(AP Photo/NAMPA, Olavi Haikera) (AP Photo/NAMPA, Olavi Haikera) WASHINGTON -- Pilots are becoming so reliant on the computer systems that do most of the flying in today's airliners that on the rare occasions when something...

Jimmy Nelson has spent the past three years traveling to some of the most remote places on Earth capturing the lives of indigenous people, from the frigid mountains of Mongolia to the endless sandy deserts of Namibia. But the most extreme climates, Nelson said, are the ones that he prefers. "For the worse climatic conditions you gain on two points," Nelson said in an interview with Weather.com. "One, you yourself are focused. You're surviving. Secondly, the weather and the environment...

The jagged peaks of Torres del Paine in Patagonia, Chile have long been one of the most popular and beautiful destinations in the world. With 935 square miles of roaring rivers, crumbling glaciers, windswept steppes and dense forests, this national park attracts visitors from around the world who are eager to scale its peaks and experience the magnificent landscape. The park's splendor was recently confirmed when it was named the 8th Wonder of the world by the TripAdvisor-owned travel website,...

Deep below the surface of the Transylvanian countryside lies a vast network of caves. Illuminating the eerie darkness are hundreds of fluorescent lights and strange contraptions, a mixture of new and old technology that seems more suited to Batman's lair than to Dracula's mansion. Welcome to the Salina Turda Salt Mines, the hollowed out remnants of a mining operation that extends back to the 2nd century. First discovered and mined by the Romans, the salt mines were popular throughout the...