Dubai is already known as a hub for glamorous hotels and over-the-top architecture, and it's not stopping now. With hopes to build the emirate's reputation as a wedding destination, a replica of India's beloved Taj Mahal is now being built.

Called the "Taj Arabia," the new property will feature a 300-room, five-star hotel, along with apartments, offices, shops and restaurants.

"The Taj is made as a monument of love and we hope to promote this in Dubai as a major wedding destination," developer Arun Mehra told news.com.au.

Taj Arabia will be part of the massive Dubailand, which the city hopes will be the "world's greatest theme park." With the upcoming expansion, it will be double the size of all the Disneyland and Disney World resorts combined.

Developers are estimating the hotel project will cost $1 billion. Completion is estimated for 2014.

[Image via Shutterstock]

Thanks to a new piece of technology created by Japanese firm Hitachi, airline passengers may soon by scanned for bombs as they swipe their boarding pass.

It is the world's first explosive detecting departure gate, and works by blowing a puff of air on each passenger's hand as they swipe their ticket. The air is then sucked back inside the machine along with any small particles from the person's hand. In one to two seconds, the machine is able to read if the person has recently been in contact with any explosives.

"This allows screening of all passengers and can make air travel safer," Mr. Minoru Sakairi told news.com.au.

The invention works well for detecting people who have non-metal-based bombs hidden on them. If it passes further testing, the machine will be used in addition to already in-place safety measures.

[Image via Hitachi]

This kid sure is excited, and for good reason. When I first started watching this video I thought it would be a cute clip of a small child falling off his bike; however, it turned out to an impressive short film documenting four-year-old Malcolm's first descent biking down Hellion, Highland Mountain Bike Park's longest trail filled with challenges.

After watching this, I'm embarrassed about the many times I turned down mountain biking because I thought it looked too dangerous. Nothing seems to scare this kid, as he speeds over rocks and down hills, begging his dad to do the big drops, shouting, "It's fun Dad, trust me. It's fun! Look!"

Not only is this video impressive but judging by the over 600 comments on YouTube, it's evoked many emotions in people concerning how great it is for a father and a son to have an adventure together. We're just glad they had the GoPro Camera with them to capture it on video.

To see one of the world's most extreme four-year-olds mountain bike like a professional, check out the video above.

It's been more than a year since the launch of the pilot project that expanded Vancouver's street food from hotdogs and chestnuts to fresh international fare and local cuisine. Because of the project's success, the number of mobile eateries has expanded, meaning it's harder to find the really worthwhile carts and trucks. To help guide you, here are five must-try mobile eateries in Vancouver.

1. Fresh Local Wild

You'll find this truck in the downtown core on the south side of West Hastings, just east of Burrard. The menu offers West Coast staples like the Chicken Fried Oyster 'Po-Boy' and Tuna Melt, as well as seasonal seafood sourced from local fishermen and ethical farms. Personally, I love eating poutine in Canada, and they serve their own spin on the fries and gravy meal with the "Local Seafood Chowder Poutine," a mix of clams, mussels, salmon, cod and double-smoked bacon, and their "Chanterelle Mushroom Poutine" with Quadra Island chanterelles, cheese curds and green onions. Their focus is on being part of the change concerning unstable food sources, over-consumption of fossil fuels and over-harvesting of natural food resources. For example, they've created the industry's first carbon-negative food truck. What's also interesting is the moving eatery boasts having the city's "only mobile dining patio," making the vehicle even more like a typical restaurant.

You know the feeling. There are only two days left of your vacation, and you still haven't gone souvenir shopping. It's not that you don't want to get a special memento from the trip; it's that you have no idea what to get. Use this guide on your next trip to help you choose the perfect travel souvenir for absolutely anyone.

Research The Culture Beforehand

Before leaving home, do some research to find out what types of handicrafts and items you can expect to find. Some cultural souvenirs I've purchased on my travels include wooden masks and indigenous artwork in Ghana, alpaca hats in Peru, masapan dolls in Calderon, Ecuador (shown right), a Panama hat in Sig Sig, Ecuador, and hand-sewn bags in Chiang Rai, Thailand, made by at-risk women. I try to buy souvenirs that I know are also helping the locals who make them instead of large corporations. Additionally, you'll want to look up if there are any scams you'll need to be careful of, like locals commonly lying about the authenticity of a certain product, so you can be savvy about your purchases.

When traveling, interacting with locals can really enhance your trip. From showing you lesser-known sights to teaching you about local culture and giving you offbeat tips you wouldn't find in a guidebook, residents in the city you visit are worth getting to know. To help give you some travel insight, here are 10 locals to befriend on your next trip.

The Taxi Driver

Many travelers don't realize when they get into a cab they are actually stepping through a portal of information. They spend their days driving people all over the city, so they know the best places to go for just about anything you're looking for. Ask them for dining information, where to get a great view of the city, the best markets for getting a deal and what some of the more offbeat sites are. I'll usually even ask them to put together an itinerary for me with the question: "If you had friends visiting, how would you spend a day with them?"

Additionally, taxi drivers can tell you more than just where to go and what to see. These people have seen it all, and in my experience, are usually extremely open, fun and talkative. Even when I'm home in New York, my friends and I will often get into taxis and ask the driver to pretend we're in the Cash Cab and ask us trivia questions. I can't think of a driver who has ever declined. When I travel I always have about 10 million questions about everything from food to dating and fashion, and my cab drivers are the ones who get bombarded with them. And unless you ask something extremely inappropriate, they're usually happy to answer.

In possibly the slowest form of transportation known to man, backpackers Rich Sears and Nick Gough have recently set out on an interesting journey. Their goal is to break the world record for longest ride in a tuk tuk (shown above).

Beginning in France, they're making their way to Rio de Janeiro. According to news.com.au, the men will be catching a ferry from Turkey to Egypt then traveling across India and Singapore, to the west coast of the United States. They'll also be going through Central and South America.

The challenge isn't so much the distance, but the speed. With a top velocity of 34 miles per hour going downhill with a breeze, they aren't able to move very fast.

"It's slow. Again something you think might be obvious but the average speed is a lot slower than the speedometer has been pumping our egos with," it says on their blog. "Uphill and it starts to get embarrassing. The dizzy heights of 5-6 mph have been hit on some of the steeper hills."

Other concerns are extreme noise, disease and weather conditions. We wish them luck, as the journey is raising money for The Tuk Tuk Educational Trust, a registered UK charity that aims to "promote and advance education worldwide."

Sears and Gough hope to complete the journey by the end of next year. You can check out their website or follow them on Twitter to keep up with their travels or get involved.

If you're planning a trip to Australia and were recently on either the Tourism Industry Council of New South Wales website or the New South Wales Tourism Awards website you may have been a bit confused, and even somewhat disturbed, at what you saw.

Earlier this week, the two NSW websites were hacked and defaced with unsettling photographs. For example, instead of pictures of Sydney Harbour and the Outback, visitors were greeted by a young woman with a gag over her face. Other images included Batman's archenemy, the Joker, and the "V For Vendetta" Guy Fawkes mask, an iconic symbol of the Occupy Movement.

Andrew Jefferies, Tourism Industry Council NSW's general manager, has stated the hackers have been traced to Iraq.

"I still don't know why someone would want to hack into our two sites,'' he told news.com.au. "It's forced us to increase our security and change our passwords and back up processes to ensure that we don't have any of these problems again."

After being hacked on Monday and again Tuesday, the sites are now back up and running. Unfortunately, since it was traced overseas, the company doesn't believe there is much they can do aside for keeping their guard up and working to ensure it doesn't happen again.

[Image via edans]

While Google Street View usually sticks to helping you explore land, users can now navigate Australia's Great Barrier Reef, right from their desks. Just launched, Google makes use of an innovative underwater camera that can record 360-degree images of the marine park.

The project is part of the Catlin Seaview Survey, which was launched today at Monterey, California. For the next three years, scientists will collect visual information on the world's reefs to be shared on Google Maps, allowing people all over the world to dive without leaving home.

In a story at news.com.au, project founder and director Richard Vevers explains, "99.95 per cent of people can't scuba dive, it allows so many people to access the oceans for the very first time.''

While at the moment only three sections have been mapped, by December it is expected there will be 20. Additionally, diving robots will be used to examine never before seen areas 328 feet below the surface. Along with broadening scopes of the world, scientists hope to discover new species and track changes in the reef related to climate change.

Next year, the project will expand to map reefs in Hawaii and the Philippines.

After seeing a 250% increase in people puking on rides, the staff at Thorpe Park in Surrey decided to do something about it. And with the help of science, they've created the United Kingdom's first winged roller coaster, the Swarm. Not only that, but it's designed to cure hangovers.

First, riders are shot through head first down a 128-foot drop. While this may sound counterintuitive, neuropsychologist Dr. David Lewis explains the blast of oxygen on the high-speed ride actually speeds the metabolic rate of a drunk person, helping to break toxins down more quickly.

There is also a breathalyzer next to the height bar. If you fail, you're sent to The Swarm and not allowed on any other rides until you've sobered up. While Thorpe Park doesn't condone drinking and riding, they understood many freshman just starting college probably don't realize they're still suffering from the previous night's partying.

"We felt it was our duty to ensure that all of our guests enjoy the extreme nature of our rides and by putting them on the Swarm, which is proven to be the ultimate hangover cure," Mike Vallis, divisional director of Thorpe Park, told news.com.au.

For a visual idea of the ride, check out the video above.