Atlas Obscura

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Sculpture
There Is Just One Sculpture on the Moon - Atlas Obscura
Atlas Obscura
Across the many missions to the Moon over the years, countless bits of flotsam and jetsam have been deposited on the lunar surface. From Soviet …
Sheffield
Redditors Are Stapling Bread to Trees in Sheffield, England - Gastro Obscura
Atlas Obscura
Future historians will no doubt ponder the origins of the Sheffield Staplings of 2019. What motivated ordinary people to affix their hard-won bread …
Painting
Almost Every Bob Ross Painting in Existence Lives in a Virginia Office Park - Atlas Obscura
Atlas Obscura
Somewhere off Route 50 in Herndon, Virginia, next to a LabCorp and across the street from a dentist’s office, there is a warehouse that houses almost …
Artificial Insemination
A Breeding Breakthrough for New Zealand's Chubby Night Parrot - Atlas Obscura
Atlas Obscura
It’s hard out there for a kākāpō. These famously adorable and unusual parrots—chunky, flightless, nocturnal—are one of the many critically endangered …
Iceland
The Canadian Towns That Icelanders Visit for a Taste of Their Past - Gastro Obscura
Atlas Obscura
In a kitchen adjacent to her general store, Donna Austfjord mixes allspice, cloves, salt, pepper and tender quick meat cure, then spreads the mixture …
Iceland
Vínarterta
Atlas Obscura - k karenburshtein
Elusive in its country of origin, this multilayer cake has found a home in Manitoba's “New Iceland” region. Vínarterta is a traditional, multilayer …
Apollo Missions
The Apollo Astronauts Signed Memorabilia in Quarantine—as Life Insurance - Atlas Obscura
Atlas Obscura
Fifty years ago this week, three men stepped into a small capsule perched atop a nearly 400-foot-tall rocket. They were to travel 238,900 miles, …
Plastic
Texas's Gulf Coast Is Being Battered by 'Nurdle' Pollution - Atlas Obscura
Atlas Obscura
This story was originally published by Undark and appears here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Last September, Jace Tunnell discovered a …
Meteorites
How to Find a Meteorite - Atlas Obscura
Atlas Obscura
From Earth, space can seem vague and distant—endless specks of light, a planet or star or far-off galaxy, mostly static unless you’re watching for a …
Poland
For Sale: The First Telegram of World War II, Sent a Few Days Before World War II - Atlas Obscura
Atlas Obscura
When war breaks out, it doesn’t usually all break out at once. Widespread conflict is often preceded by scouting sorties and skirmishes, as both …
Algae
How Pink Slime Saved Sushi - Gastro Obscura
Atlas Obscura
Every year on April 14, the nori farmers of Japan travel to Uto City to celebrate the Mother of the Sea. They assemble by a memorial that overlooks …
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Come for the Controlled Flooding, Stay for the Gumbo - Atlas Obscura
Atlas Obscura
Read the words “Flooded Fries” on a restaurant menu, and what comes to mind? An image of soupy cheese drowning a plate of fried potatoes? Skinny …
Stonehenge
Does the Mystery of Stonehenge Involve Pig Fat? - Atlas Obscura
Atlas Obscura
If you had to lug huge slabs of rock—really, truly immense slabs of rock—across vast distances and stubborn slopes, you might take any help you could …
Worms
Meet the Noisy, Head-Butting Marine Worms That Live Near Japan - Atlas Obscura
Atlas Obscura
Somewhere off the coast of Japan, hundreds of feet underwater, a couple of flimsy, miniscule worms are butting heads and—somehow—making lots of …
China
The Canadian Town Where Chinese Food Comes With a Side of Curling - Gastro Obscura
Atlas Obscura
It was the early 1970s, and the board of directors of the Port Arthur Curling Club had a problem on their hands. Business at the rink in Thunder Bay, …
University of Wisconsin
Wisconsin and Minnesota Are Waging an Extremely Friendly War Over Who Has More Lakes - Atlas Obscura
Atlas Obscura
Deep within what is arguably the kindest region of America, a very polite rivalry between neighbors has reached a boiling point. But this is no …
The Okanagan
Okanagan Sockeye Salmon
Atlas Obscura - matthewtaub
Around British Columbia's Osoyoos Lake, community efforts have revived the population of a fluorescent fish. For thousands of years, the Sylix, or …
British Virgin Islands
There's a Massive Conch-Shell Graveyard in the Caribbean - Atlas Obscura
Atlas Obscura
Two fishermen from the coral island of Anegada sit in a metal boat. They divest conch of their shells, limb by limb, tentacle by tentacle, until at …
Culture
The Short Life and Strange Death of Maryland's Ghost Fleet - Atlas Obscura
Atlas Obscura
If you were to circle Mallows Bay from the air and capture a view of the water at low tide, you would see a battalion of almond-shaped silhouettes. …
Cheese
Torta del Casar
Atlas Obscura - Luis Morato
In Spain's Extremadura region, local sheep and a touch of thistle make for an ultra-creamy, slightly bitter cheese. Don’t be fooled by the firm crust …
Cathedrals
The Story Behind the 'Space Window' at D.C.'s National Cathedral - Atlas Obscura
Atlas Obscura
Vandals weren’t the only threat. The 2011 earthquake caused tens of millions of dollars in damage to the cathedral. Fortunately, the Space Window was …
Neil Armstrong
There's New Evidence in the Mystery of Neil Armstrong's Missing 'A'
Atlas Obscura
When Neil Armstrong walked on the moon in 1969, he uttered a series of words. “One small step”…but for whom? Most famously, the quote is “One small …
Moon Rock
The Bizarre Case of NASA's 'Stolen' Moon Rocks
Atlas Obscura
Through FOIA, Motherboard’s Jason Koebler managed to receive a handful of investigatory reports from NASA regarding missing property, covering cases …
Who Keeps Track of All the Craters on the Moon?
Atlas Obscura
As lunar craters go, it is a small one—a ding from some long-ago collision. At 3,000 feet deep and roughly three miles across, it sits on the Sinus …
Listen to the Mournful Wails of Planets and Moons - Atlas Obscura
Atlas Obscura
Before NASA’s Cassini spacecraft burned up in Saturn’s atmosphere in September 2017, it captured a massive trove of data, including striking close-ups …
Humanity Has Managed to Change Places We've Barely Even Visited - Atlas Obscura
Atlas Obscura
This planet existed for billions of years before we showed up. Earth froze and thawed; it was gashed by glaciers; it was trod by some giant, pretty …
Saunas
How to Dress Like an 18th-Century Astronomer
Atlas Obscura
In the 18th century, working at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, England, was a pretty good gig, particularly if you enjoyed long nights tinkering …
Neil Armstrong
When Neil Armstrong and Edmund Hillary Took a Trip to the North Pole
Atlas Obscura
Sir Edmund Hillary (second from left) with Neil Armstrong (far right) at the North Pole (via smh.com.au) It sounds like the plot of a comic book — Sir …
How to Find the Best Stuff in the Night Sky From Absolutely Anywhere
Atlas Obscura
The first time I saw Saturn’s rings, I was up on the High Line, a pedestrian greenway built atop an old train track just west of 10th Avenue in New …
Neil Armstrong
Neil Armstrong First Flight Memorial
Atlas Obscura - P Pete WIldman
The site of Neil Armstrong's first flight is marked by a full on replica of the moon landers. Considering that Neil Armstrong was born in Wapakoneta, …

Atlas Obscura

The definitive guide to the world's hidden wonders.