Filed under: News

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Powerful storms showering baseball-size hail twice closed the Eppley Airfield in Omaha, Nebraska, and forced the cancellation of flights Thursday.

The first storms rolled through at 5:30 p.m. Tursday, forcing the temporary closure of the airport for an hour and a half. Thirty minutes after it was reopened, the second storm forced it to close again, reports CNN.

Winds of up to 100 mph were reported, as were hailstones of 2.75 inches in diameter.

The storms did damage to seven aircraft belonging to American, United, Delta, Southwest, USAir and Frontier. A jetway was blown into an aircraft, the south concourse sustained water damage and cars in the parking lot were shattered by hail.

The only human casualty was a pilot who was taken to the hospital after being stuck in the head with a large hailstone. No word on his status, but he was conscious when brought to the hospital.

In April, a tornado damaged and forced the closure of Lambert Field in St. Louis. Passengers inside the terminal filmed the tornado hitting the airport.

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Filed under: Adventure Travel, Beach, News, Weekend Getaways

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Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, a relatively unknown national treasure located on the northwest corner of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula, earned the title of “Most Beautiful Place in America,” according to Good Morning America.

What was once a heap of glaciers that melted over centuries to reveal 64 miles of blue beaches surrounded by colossal sand dunes, now draws visitors with its picturesque landscape and small town charm. The 26 inland lakes and two islands at Sleeping Bear are the cherry on top (and speaking of cherries, the area boasts the title of largest cherry growing region in the world).

GMA’s search, which began in June, called for their viewers to nominate the most beautiful places online. Also in the running were Cape Cod; Aspen; Lanikai Beach, Hawaii; Newport, R.I.; Point Reyes, Calif.; Sedona, Ariz.; Destin, Fla.; Asheville, N.C.; and Grand Teton National Park, Wyo. Tens of thousands of GMA viewers were seduced by photos and stories of Sleeping Bear’s beauty and took to the polls, voting it the clear winner.

Grand Rapids, Mich., resident Jim Madole nominated Sleeping Bear. In his GMA submission, he wrote: “It is peaceful and serene, a place for gazing out into the world, night or day, and realizing that the universe is truly a magical, majestic mystery, and humans are just a very small part of it all. Here at Sleeping Bear, I sit in awe and wonder at the perfection of Mother Nature.”

Even celebrity chef Mario Batali is a fan, spending his summers there to escape the New York hustle.

“I spend my entire summer here on Lake Michigan because it’s beautiful, because it has farmers, because it has great food artisans,” Batali tells ABC News. “It has great products. It has magnificent fresh water.”

All of that fresh water provides a plethora of activities for Lakeshore visitors to choose from, including paddle-boarding, fishing, or simply taking a swim at one of the many beaches. Those who opt to stay dry can climb the colossal sand dunes or hike through the forest.

It looks like Midwesterners finally have something on East Coast and West Coast dwellers.

WATCH GMA’s big reveal below:

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Filed under: Air Travel, News

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A British solar scientist is warning long haul fliers that they may be subjected to cancer causing cell damage on flights near the poles due to an increasing number of solar energetic particles and galactic cosmic rays.

The alert, which sounds like something out of an early James Bond film, is based on shifts in solar weather.

According to Mike Lockwood, a Professor of Space Environment Physics at the University of Reading, the sun has spent the last decade spitting out flares and superheated gas and is about to transition into a period of relative calm. That transition, according to Lockwood, will be marked by highly irregular behavior during which gas particles will shoot from the sun towards Earth.

These gas particles can be carcinogenic, so Lockwood is urging those who frequently fly the long routes over the North Pole region – Seoul to New York, London to San Francisco, Chicago to Moscow – to get regularly tested for cancer.

Writing in the Journal of Geophysical Research, Lockwood claimed: “The supersonic nature of the solar wind means open solar flux can only be removed by near-Sun magnetic reconnection between open solar magnetic field lines.”

Obviously.

Lockwood dumbed it down a bit for the Daily Mail, saying “Analysis shows that the risk of the space-weather effects is considerably enhanced over the next century compared with the space age thus far.”

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Filed under: News

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Segregation of the sexes is making a comeback in Seoul. The South Korean capitol plans to introduce female-only subway cars in response to sexual assault complaints.

The use of female-only subway cars went out of practice in South Korea 20 years ago, but an increasing number of sexual assaults during the commute – often called a “hell ride” – has females demanding the government do something.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the number of sexual assaults against females rose 80% from 2009 to 2010.

South Korea tried this tactic once before, in 1992, but ended it as males began flouting the rules. Another attempt in 2007 was abandoned when it was shown that more than half of riders were opposed. This time around, beginning in September, the No. 2 line will have a female-only section at night, and security guards will keep men in check.

But there are still some that oppose and doubt the effectiveness of this measure. Among their concerns is the thought that abusers might target women-only cars, or that they don’t address the real core of the problem.

“I don’t think gender segregation is the right direction to solve sexual harassment problems,” Lee Eun-sang, director of the Korea Sexual Violence Relief Center told The Korea Times. “It indicates sexual harassment can be prevented only when men and women are in separate spaces.”

Back in 2005, Japan also instituted female-only train cars to address the same issue, Good Morning America reported.

At that time, almost 64% of women in their 20s and 30s reported being groped on city transit.

In Japan commuters seemed to welcome the cars, which were introduced during the rush hour. Women embraced the safety, and men liked the idea that they wouldn’t be falsely accused of groping – an offense that, at the time, carried a hefty fine or up to seven years in jail.

However, according to the LA Times, Japanese officials say segregated cars running since 2000 have not led to a decrease in sexual offenses.

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Filed under: News

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A Ziploc bag full of fireworks was found on a Kansas City bound Southwest Airlines flight Tuesday, reports a local NBC affiliate.

The flight, which originated in Las Vegas, was delayed an hour when a flight attendant found the fireworks under a seat, airline spokesperson Ashley Dillon told CNN.

Passengers, none of whom claimed the explosives, were removed from the plane. The aircraft was inspected and baggage was re-searched. Once the TSA gave the all clear, the flight was re-boarded and set off for Missouri.

The TSA will investigate how the fireworks got on to the plane.

Now, the question is, how did those rats on a a plane and the bat on a plane get past the TSA too?

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