While few would go to the lengths of the ancient Egyptians, whose desert cemeteries include several thousand animals and at least 2m mummified birds in the catacombs of the sacred ibises, the modern burial ritual is still an elaborate affair.

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The vehicle was dropped from a carrier aircraft high above California's Mojave Desert and ignited its rocket engine to go supersonic for a few seconds.

BBC: Science correspondent, BBC News

Just as iconic a symbol of the area is the hardy population of 150 or so wild horses, who have adapted to be able to go without water for longer periods than domestic horses, surviving for generations on the desert's fringe.

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These are some of the other things that go sailing through my head as I strain to keep the car between the lines: Leaving the desert on a clear day.

NEWYORKER: Indianapolis (Highway 74)

"The saltwater going out of the greenhouses will go to the CSP to cool it -- which makes it more efficient -- and then it will go to the evaporator 'hedges' which create good growing conditions for crops outside and revegetate areas of desert, " he said.

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