The oil-rich kingdom is plowing money into glitzy events, computing power and artificial intelligence research, putting it in the middle of an escalating U.S.-China struggle for technological influence.
Category: Deserts
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Read Your Way Through Utah
Utah is a place of paradoxes, full of terrible beauty and complicated history. The writer Terry Tempest Williams recommends books to help you explore the state’s many facets.
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Salvation Mountain in California Searches for How to Save Itself
The folk art monument in the desert near the Salton Sea grapples with extreme weather, social-media-fueled tourism and its own tattering beauty.
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Burning Man: What to Know About the Mud and Flooding
Thousands of people were stuck at the Burning Man festival in Nevada this weekend because of rain and mud. It was not clear when, or how, attendees would get out.
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In the Heart of the Australian Outback, Safeguarding a Sacred Land
On a road trip in central Australia, a visitor learns how Indigenous custodians and conservationists are working to protect an ancient land and its animal denizens.
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From Below Canyon’s Rim, Finding a New Perspective
A travel writer and experienced hiker picked up some new tricks while reporting on search-and-rescue operations in Grand Canyon National Park.
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Read Your Way Through the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands
The poet and novelist Luis Alberto Urrea thinks the borderlands are the most interesting book in the world, being rewritten every day. These are his recommendations.
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Perfumes That Conjure the American Desert
For today’s fragrance makers, the arid landscapes of the Southwest are fertile ground.
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What Survives in the Atacama Desert?
In Chile, a writer takes a road trip through one of the world’s driest places — a landscape that preserves remnants of the dead.
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How Much Did You Spend on Your Solo Vacation?
We spoke to readers about their recent solo travels, including their motivations to travel alone and what they chose to spend on.
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10 Places to See Wildflowers in the West
The New York Times – Travel:A ‘super bloom’ may be in the eye of the beholder, but the winter’s rain and snow promises a bumper crop of spring blooms in Southern California and Arizona.