Word: phenomenon
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...Locals know the phenomenon as bung fai paya nak (Naga fireballs), which have been bubbling up from the mighty river on the late autumn night of the full moon at the end of the Buddhist Lent for as long as anyone can remember. "I've seen them since I was a little girl," says Pang Butamee, 70, who lives in a flood-prone hut on the river's edge. Nearby is Wat Paa Luang?an elegant, 450-year-old temple and one of the most popular spots to watch the fireballs. "I've seen them come up from the river...
...prepared to take the fireballs on faith is Nong Khai doctor and self-taught cosmographer Manas Kanoksin, who has spent 11 years trying to prove his theory that the fireballs are a natural phenomenon caused by pockets of methane bubbling up from the riverbed...
...pair have engaged in a series of fiery debates on the topic, and their rivalry is a source of amusement for locals?most of whom are content to believe in the phenomenon's supernatural provenance. Next year, new combatants will enter the fray. Scientists from Bangkok's King Mongkut University of Technology Thonburi say they plan to settle the mystery once and for all. They have developed a submarine robot capable of probing the river's depths and reporting back to a land-based control center. But "some things are better left alone," warns Pang, the 70-year-old riverbank...
...irresistible charm; it’s a magnet for the dalliances of Bright Young Things and aged courtships alike. (How the latter is possible is beyond me, though, as the ambient volume is quite vexing to proper conversation.) But is this now really such an aberrant phenomenon? Voguish restaurants need to be this protean: People want old-fashioned quality and intimacy but also flash and flutter, a measured balance of familiarity and novelty, romantic hideaways secreted amidst convivial bustle. Sonsie is exactly that sprawling, radiant paradox. Who really gives a damn about the food anymore...
...what is a relatively recent phenomenon, fall has become the season in which most Harvard teams get considered for the back door of the NCAA tournament—the at-large selection...