Technology

LOWELL OBSERVATORY RECOGNIZED AS ONE OF THE WORLD’S 100 GREATEST PLACES BY TIME

Published

1 year ago

March 13, 2025

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz., March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Today, TIME recognized Lowell Observatory in its annual list of the World’s Greatest Places, which highlights 100 extraordinary destinations to visit and stay.

“Each year, TIME solicits nominations of places—including hotels, cruises, restaurants, attractions, museums, parks, and more—from its international network of correspondents and contributors, as well as through an application process, with an eye toward those offering new and exciting experiences,” describes the introduction to the list. “The result: 100 extraordinary destinations to stay and to visit this year.” Special consideration is given to new experiences.

Lowell Observatory, included in the “Places to Visit” section of the list, is highlighted in the introduction, “In Flagstaff, Ariz., The Lowell Observatory—famous as the site of Pluto’s discovery—now features an open-air planetarium, where visitors can get live commentary on that night’s sky from the comfort of heated seats.”

Lowell Observatory has been a leading center of astronomical research and education since its founding in 1894. The open-air planetarium is part of Lowell’s new public education facility, the Marley Foundation Astronomy Discovery Center, which opened this past November.

This recognition from TIME comes on the heels of Lowell Observatory also being voted as Newsweek’s Best Science Museum on March 6.

“Congratulations to Lowell Observatory for being named by TIME as one of the world’s 100 greatest places this year,” said Arizona Senator Mark Kelly. “For more than a century, Lowell Observatory has been at the forefront of space exploration and scientific discovery, inspiring generations of astronomers and deepening our understanding of the universe. This well-deserved honor reflects its lasting contributions to science and education. I am proud that Arizona is home to this world-class institution, and I look forward to seeing Lowell Observatory continue to push the boundaries of discovery.”

Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs said, “Congratulations to Lowell Observatory on this well-deserved recognition. For over 130 years, Lowell has led the way in astronomical research and education. It stands as a crown jewel of Arizona, yet its impact reaches far beyond, shaping science, education, the economy, and culture worldwide.”

Lowell Observatory was the first permanent scientific organization established in Flagstaff and laid the groundwork for the community to grow into a major center for astronomical research and education that now includes Northern Arizona University, the United States Geological Survey Flagstaff Science Campus, the Naval Observatory Flagstaff Station, and Coconino Community College, as well as the Flagstaff Dark Sky Coalition.

“The world will now know what Flagstaff has known for more than 100 years,” said Flagstaff Mayor Becky Daggett. “Planetary scientists and astronomers at Lowell Observatory are not only conducting innovative research, but the observatory’s education team is translating it into thrilling firsthand programming. The new Astronomy Discovery Center at Lowell Observatory guarantees that future planetary scientists and astronomers will be created right here in Flagstaff.”

TIME’s announcement comes on the 170th anniversary of the birth of Lowell Observatory founder Percival Lowell, who was born on March 13, 1855, and the announcement of Lowell Observatory’s discovery of Pluto on March 13, 1930.

“We are honored to be named as one of the world’s greatest places,” said Lowell Observatory Executive Director Dr. Amanda Bosh. “We think of Lowell Observatory as a portal between our world and other places in our solar system, galaxy, and universe. Our research brings space closer to us through our understanding of it, and we invite the public to join us in exploring the wonders of our universe as well.”

Links:
Lowell Observatory: lowell.edu
TIME Listing for Lowell Observatory: time.com/collections/worlds-greatest-places-2025/7263157/lowell-observatory
TIME World’s Greatest Places Full List: time.com/worldsgreatestplaces
Newsweek Announcement: newsweek.com/readerschoice/best-science-museum-2025
Flagstaff, Arizona: discoverflagstaff.com

About Lowell Observatory
Founded in 1894, Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, is a renowned nonprofit research institution. It is the site of historic and groundbreaking discoveries, including the first evidence of the expanding universe and the discovery of Pluto. Today, Lowell’s astronomers utilize global ground-based and space telescopes, along with NASA spacecraft, for diverse astronomical and planetary science research. The observatory hosts more than 100,000 visitors annually for educational tours, presentations, and telescope viewing through a suite of world-class public telescopes.

About Flagstaff, Arizona
Flagstaff is a four-season destination that provides an ideal home base for visitors to explore some of the most spectacular scenery in the world, including the Grand Canyon and other national parks and monuments, Route 66, a charming historic downtown with trains, shopping, art galleries, events, music, restaurants and nightlife. This mountain town is the world’s first international dark-sky city and is also in the world’s largest ponderosa pine forest and surrounded by Native American culture. Please stay and play responsibly.

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SOURCE Lowell Observatory

Technology

Trip.com Group Sincerely Accepts Administrative Penalty Decision Issued by the State Administration for Market Regulation of the People’s Republic of China

Published

1 hour ago

July 25, 2026

SINGAPORE, July 25, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Trip.com Group Limited (Nasdaq: TCOM; HKEX: 9961) today announced that it has received the administrative penalty decision issued by the State Administration for Market Regulation of the People’s Republic of China.

Trip.com Group sincerely accepts the decision and will adopt rectification measures in accordance with applicable laws and regulations to implement the decision’s requirements. The Company will strengthen its long-term governance mechanisms and strive to contribute to the sustainable development of the travel industry.

Trip.com Group’s management team will host a conference call at 8:00 AM U.S. Eastern Time on July 27, 2026 (or 8:00 PM Hong Kong Time on July 27, 2026).

The conference call will be available on Webcast live at: http://investors.trip.com.

All participants must pre-register to join this conference call using the participant registration link below:
https://register-conf.media-server.com/register/BIb78e08d8f18340c4882a7e4ab961906b.

Upon registration, each participant will receive details for this conference call, including dial-in numbers and a unique access PIN. To join the conference, please dial the number provided, enter your PIN, and you will join the conference instantly.

For further information, please contact:
Investor Relations
Trip.com Group Limited
Email: iremail@trip.com

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SOURCE Trip.com Group Limited

Technology

NAVER Partners with Brookfield and NVIDIA to Expand Korea’s National AI Factory Infrastructure Buildout

Published

3 hours ago

July 25, 2026

SAN FRANCISCO, July 25, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — NAVER, Brookfield and NVIDIA announced an expansion of Korea’s sovereign AI factory infrastructure. New investments will increase the initial NVIDIA DSX™ AI factory deployment from 55 megawatts to 200 megawatts.

Announced during Korea President Jae Myung Lee’s AI Summit visit to San Francisco, the planned 200-megawatt expansion will be built with the NVIDIA DSX platform at NAVER’s GAK Sejong hyperscale data center in Sejong, South Korea. The expanded infrastructure will provide Korea- and U.S.- based AI innovators with access to production-scale AI compute for building next-generation models, agents and AI-powered services.

Under the terms of the agreements, Brookfield will fund up to $9 billion as the exclusive capital partner, NVIDIA will invest $1 billion and NAVER will fund the remaining amount to finance the $10 billion project.

This builds on NAVER’s June announcement to extend its GAK Sejong data center with NVIDIA DSX, with a long-term path to gigawatt-scale sovereign AI infrastructure serving Korea’s enterprises, industries, government organizations and global AI cloud customers. Combining Brookfield’s capital with NVIDIA’s computing platform, the investment supports NAVER’s AI factory deployment.

“NVIDIA’s strategic investment and our infrastructure supply agreement with Brookfield have propelled NAVER’s vision for the AI Factory business into a robust execution phase,” said Haejin Lee, Founder and Chairman of NAVER. “Leveraging the solid partnerships with our global partners, we will drive technological innovation, foster a sovereign AI ecosystem, and spearhead efforts to strengthen South Korea’s AI competitiveness.”

AI Factory Expansion and Open Model Collaboration to Fuel AI Innovators

NAVER, as an NVIDIA Cloud Partner, provides deep expertise in operating hyperscale infrastructure powered by the full-stack NVIDIA AI platform. The 200-megawatt AI factory, featuring NVIDIA Vera Rubin and Blackwell platforms, will establish a dedicated resource pool for emerging AI companies, providing the compute, software and support needed to develop and deploy competitive AI models and applications at scale.

This expanded infrastructure also builds on NAVER and NVIDIA’s collaboration on open model development for agentic and physical AI. NAVER is advancing its HyperCLOVA X models to be based on NVIDIA Nemotron™ 3 Ultra open models with its proprietary data and training expertise. NAVER is also the first Korean company to join the NVIDIA Nemotron Coalition, contributing to open model development across pretraining, post-training and reinforcement learning.

NAVER plans to launch an AI agent platform in Korea in the second half of the year, powered by NVIDIA Agent Toolkit software including NVIDIA NemoClaw™ blueprints. NAVER is also developing a Seoul World Model using proprietary urban street-view and spatial modeling data, built on NVIDIA Cosmos™ world foundation models.

About NAVER

Founded in 1999, NAVER is Korea’s largest Internet company and one of the world’s top tech companies. Leading cutting-edge technologies, NAVER operates the No.1 search engine in Korea and holds various business portfolios encompassing commerce, fintech, cloud, AI and robotics.

NAVER recorded sales of KRW 12.04 trillion (USD 8.18 billion) in 2025. TEAM NAVER continues to enhance its business portfolio and expand its global presence across Japan, North America, and Europe, while pursuing innovation through continuous research and development in future technologies.

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SOURCE NAVER

Technology

Beijing Review: Walking Through Time: China and U.S. Youths Explore Dali’s Past and Future

Published

3 hours ago

July 25, 2026

BEIJING, July 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — On July 17, a China-U.S. youth delegation came to Dali of Yunnan Province. By examining how Dali’s rich history intersects with modern development, the delegates explored new pathways for rural development.

They visited Dali Old Town, tried their hand at making the Bai people’s Three-Course Tea and also explored the ancient town of Xizhou, where they learned how modern tourism and indigenous life coexist.

In Yunnanyi Village, they explored its history as a stop along the Tea Horse Road and learned about the role it played during the Second World War (WWII).

Tyler James Smith

“I think it’s a very underappreciated part of World War II history. Hearing these stories of different countries working together despite cultural differences is incredibly inspiring.

I also think there are many stories like these that haven’t been widely told, simply because World War II is such a complex period in history. That’s why I think it’s so meaningful to visit museums like this and experience these stories firsthand.”

At Xiangyun Economic and Technological Development Zone, they visited a local new energy company to see how green, low-carbon development is driving regional growth.

Valerie Marie

“I recently started studying energy transitions. I know China has been really big in the renewable energy sector. So actually getting to hear more about [China’s] 2060 [pledge], learning more about carbon neutrality [goals], as well as other zero-carbon goals, was cool.”

During their stay in Dali, they also strolled along the Erhai Lake Ecological Corridor.

Bai Yiwen

“I’d describe this journey as “to be continued,” because my own connection with Yunnan is far from over. For the U.S. delegates, this was only their first visit, so they’ve only had a glimpse of what Yunnan has to offer. I hope they will have more opportunities to come back to China, explore other cities in Yunnan, and discover even more of its people, culture and traditions.”

After Dali, the delegates will visit Beijing for more tours and exchanges. The event was co-hosted by China International Communications Group (CICG) Center for the Americas and the U.S.-based International Student Conferences.

https://x.com/beijingreview/status/2080104404552663067?s=46&t=yfVMVdMyE2zKAFrYaLoV-g

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1EtGCCKzy4/?mibextid=wwXIfr

https://www.tiktok.com/@cachinachic/video/7665536913532587294?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7227134149436605995

https://youtu.be/jGONWTqwduc?is=KfL-Zn3HyVYE-KEm

Contact: Jiaweibellapeng@163.com

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/beijing-review-walking-through-time-china-and-us-youths-explore-dalis-past-and-future-302834587.html

SOURCE Beijing Review