Trapped in Museums for Centuries, Maori Ancestors Are Coming Home

New Zealand’s repatriation program brings human remains back and lays them to rest. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 3 years ago

Castoreum: Chefs used beaver musk to give sweets a vanilla-raspberry flavor

Castoreum is a territory-marking secretion that happens to smell like vanilla. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 3 years ago

The Microphotographic Wonders of Vermont’s ‘Snowflake Man’

Wilson Bentley was the first to claim that each snowflake is unique—and provided evidence. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 3 years ago

At This Banana Farm, the Bunches Grow in 430 Shapes and Sizes

India's "plantain man" has traveled widely to build a collection of unusual varieties. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 3 years ago

Coded Wine Glasses Were Used for Treasonous Toasts

The Jacobites slyly drank to a deposed king. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 3 years ago

The Food Stylist Who Creates Hollywood's Unreal Dishes and Drinks

Hearts made out of brioche and braised human legs are on the menu. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 3 years ago

Solving the Mysterious Disappearance of Two 18th-Century French Frigates

A lost 1818 newspaper article may be a critical clue. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 3 years ago

Hygieostatic Bat Roost

This unique tower has been home to malaria-fighting bats for 100 years. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 3 years ago

When Usually Solitary Octopuses Get Together, Odd Things Happen

Observations from Octopolis and Octlantis. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 3 years ago

When Squirrels Were One of America’s Most Popular Pets (2017)

Benjamin Franklin even wrote an ode to a fallen one. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 3 years ago

How Do Stressed-Out Corals Smell?

The answer could help researchers detect bleaching events before they happen. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 3 years ago

In Search of Opium, Parrots Are Wreaking Havoc on India’s Poppy Fields (2019)

Farmers in Madhya Pradesh are struggling to combat the avian theft. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 3 years ago

Encryption Lava Lamps

There couldn’t be a groovier way to keep the web secure. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 3 years ago

Tracking Down the Long-Lost Orchards of the California Gold Rush

Amigo Bob Cantisano and his team are on the hunt for "green gold." | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 3 years ago

Pillsbury: Space Food for astronauts before launched in grocery stores (2019)

Pillsbury designed Space Food Sticks for astronauts before launching them in grocery stores. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 3 years ago

Famine Under the Nazis Revealed the Cause of Celiac Disease (2018)

A food shortage helped one doctor prove his theory. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 3 years ago

The Strangely Perplexing Problem of Communicating Numbers Out Loud

Eight-six-seven-five-three-oh...something. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 3 years ago

‘Ninja Diet’ Prioritized Fortitude, Stealth, and Eliminating Body Odor (2018)

Understanding what shinobi ate, amid a stew of myths and misconceptions. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 3 years ago

Around the World in 130 Chicken-Soup Recipes

A new cookbook is devoted entirely to the soothing, healing meal. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 3 years ago

The Great Lengths Taken to Make Abraham Lincoln Look Good in Portraits

One famous image of the president features a body that isn't his. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 3 years ago

My Hunt for the Original McDonald’s French-Fry Recipe

Veteran line-cooks, experts, and die-hard fans tell the story of the fries that birthed an empire, then disappeared—until now. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 3 years ago

I Tried a Medieval Diet, and I Didn’t Even Get That Drunk (2016)

The Regimen Sanitatus Salernum was the Middle Ages' most famous health manual. How does it hold up? | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

Cranberries Are the Only Thanksgiving Food That Came from the United States

Anyone up for some mashed sunchokes? | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

Leather Balls and 3k-Year-Old Pants Hint at an Ancient Asian Sport

They were found in the Yanghai Tombs in modern-day Northern China. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

Wheat’s Evil Twin Has Been Intoxicating Humans for Centuries (2016)

Darnel is poisonous, but in small enough doses can give food a special kick. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

Eating Meat Was Banned in Japan for Centuries

The reasons were both religious and practical. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

When Ships Are Abandoned, Stuck Sailors Struggle to Get By–and Get Paid

“We are satisfied with little, but even that little is impossible today.” | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

The Power of a South Pole Sunrise After Six Months of Darkness

Astrophysicist Robert Schwarz has spent more winters at the southern tip of the world than any human in history. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

California Is Named for a Griffin-Riding Black Warrior Queen

The story of Calafia reveals the surprising complexity of medieval attitudes about race. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

The CD-ROM Magazine (2016)

For a time in the 1990s, some publishers thought they were the future. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

Finally, a Theremin for Rats

With the help of human musician Dan Deacon, some rats have made a film soundtrack with it. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

The New York Public Library’s Last, Secret Apartments

There are just 13 left. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

Japan’s Onryō Spirits Inhabit a Purgatory of Revenge and Cosmic Rage

Their supernatural historical tales reflect perceived wrongs, royal machinations, and intense jealousies. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

What It Takes to Dismantle and Move a 40-Foot Whale Skeleton

Including welding skills, knowledge of anatomy, and infinite patience. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

The Lost, Macabre Art of Swedish Funeral Confectionery

These beautiful mementos of mourning have all but disappeared. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

How to Count Every Language in India: There Are at Least 780

There are at least 780. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

Decoding the Design of In-Flight Seat Belts

Why we buckle up differently in cars and planes. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

How the Man Who Invented Xbox Baked a 4,500-Year-Old Egyptian Sourdough

It took three experts, two museums, and one clay pot to bake a truly ancient loaf. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

Washington, D.C., and the Quest for a Perfectly Square City

It all goes back to a rather literal reading of some rather vague instructions in the Constitution. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

One man's quest to taste every fruit on Earth

Around the world in 300 fruits and counting. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

The Spectacular Science of the Great Lakes’ Glowing Rocks

Under UV light, some of them look downright magical. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

The Artist Who Does Extreme Close-UPS of Utility Poles

Rosamond Purcell finds stories, landscapes, and more on their mottled surfaces. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

Sold: Letters Deciphered by a Groundbreaking English Codebreaker

Cagey about his methods, John Wallis was a bit of a cipher himself. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

Grapefruit Is One of the Weirdest Fruits on the Planet

From its name, to its hazy origins, to its drug interactions, there's a lot going on beneath that thick rind. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

Grapefruit Is One of the Weirdest Fruits on the Planet

From its name, to its hazy origins, to its drug interactions, there's a lot going on beneath that thick rind. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

Roadside stand in rural SE Pennsylvania offers 320 varieties of tomatoes

This roadside stand packs 300-plus varieties of tomatoes, from "Maiden's Fire" to "Kaleidoscopic Jewel." | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

What Will Mexico City Do with 2k Mammoth Bones?

What is Mexico City going to do with 2,000 mammoth bones? | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

The Cider Makers Who Bury Their Booze

A Virginia cidery has adapted an 8,000-year-old winemaking method. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago