Did Early Humans Invent Hot Pot in Geothermal Pools?

A mystery microbe found at Olduvai Gorge inspired scientists to speculate about the origins of cooking. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

The bridges portrayed on Euro banknotes aren't fictional anymore

The bridges portrayed on EU currency aren't fictional anymore. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

Body parts of atomic bomb victims spent decades abroad before being returned

How and why the harvested body parts of atomic bomb victims spent decades abroad before being returned to Hiroshima. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

Acorn Woodpeckers Have Multi-Day Wars, and Birds Come from All Around to Watch

A window into complex avian sociopolitical lives. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

A ‘Forgotten Holocaust’ Is Missing from Indian Food Stories

One of Bengal’s greatest tragedies is overlooked in the West. It’s missing from cookbooks and food writing, too. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

What Wildfire Archaeology Tells Us About the Burning American West

Archaeologists in New Mexico are studying past wildfires through tree rings and pottery sherds. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

The End of Centralia’s Abandoned, Colorful, Anarchic ‘Graffiti Highway’

First the fractured stretch of road became a canvas, then a gathering place. Now it will become forest. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

Why the Nazi Party Loved Decaf Coffee

The Third Reich pushed decaffeinated drinks as official state policy. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

Can America’s Premier Lightning Lab Revive Its Renegade Spirit?

“We want to continue triggering lightning. We’re in no way done with that.” | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

The mystery of tree 'crown shyness'

A treetop expert explains the mystery of "crown shyness." | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

When Botswana Farmers Paint Eyes on Their Cattle’s Butts, Everyone Wins

The unlikely method may reshape an unhealthy relationship between farmers and lions. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

Buccaneers were Named after their Culinary Pursuits

Buccaneers were named after the boucan, where they roasted their pigs. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

Manhattan skyscraper is reminder of brief but glorious age of urban air taxis

The Pan Am helipad was closed after a rotor blade mauled several passengers. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

The History and Mystery of Russia’s ‘Valley of Death’(2019)

A volcanic gorge in remote Kamchatka has given up some of its secrets—but not all of them. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

The Oldest Cookbook in Korean

A poet and artist, she penned the recipes in her old age. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

Immovable Ladder on the Church of the Holy Sepulchre

A "miracle" that seems to produce more holy fistfights than holy revelations. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

The Unexpected Elegance of Irrigation Systems from Above

Architect Ronald Rael is documenting this aerial perspective. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

The story behind the strange way Katharine Hepburn (and others) spoke. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

Why American Kids Have Been Going to Soviet Sleepaway Camp

Camp Artek is known for its sun, fun, and socialism. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

Recreate the Ancient Egyptian Recipes Painted on Tomb Walls

Make bread fit for a pharaoh and a sweet treat out of tiger nuts. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

How to Clear a Path Through 60 Feet of Snow, Japanese Style

Snow Canyon in Toyama is both visually stunning and quite the technical feat. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

Wax Bullet Duels Were the Paintball Fights of 1909 (2016)

Prideful men could fluff their feathers without anyone ending up dead. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

New York’s Favorite Trash-Strewn Beach Is a Wee Bit Radioactive

The National Park Service has closed a portion of Dead Horse Bay. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

Astrologers Were the Quants of the Ancient World

Coincidence and correlation in the stars, from the founding of Baghdad to the New York Yankees to COVID-19. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

Former Samurai and Farmers Cultivated the First Japanese Apples

Famous fruits, including the Fuji apple, were the result of decades of effort. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

A Database of 5k Historical Cookbooks Is Online, and You Can Help Improve It

It took Barbara Ketcham Wheaton more than 50 years to compile The Sifter. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

Found: A Miniature Incan Llama at the Bottom of Lake Titicaca

The centuries-old offering was nestled inside an underwater stone box. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

Why Do Tennis Crowds Have to Be So Quiet?

The game's long, weird, elitist history provides some clues. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

The Mesmerizing Geometry of Malaysia’s Most Complex Cakes

Bold colors and designs set kek lapis Sarawak apart. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

The Mesmerizing Geometry of Malaysia's Most Complex Cakes

Bold colors and designs set kek lapis Sarawak apart. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

Native-American Origins of Gumbo

While credit for the dish is widely shared, here’s how to choose ingredients that celebrate its Indigenous roots. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

The Challenges and Delights of Photographing the Night Sky

It can take years to get the perfect shot. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

For Sale: Dozens and Dozens of Enormous Animatronic Dinosaurs

Nothing adds prehistoric flair to a decorating scheme quite like a moving T. rex. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

The World’s Smallest Violin and the Tiny Musicians Who Play It (2017)

These mini musical instruments are very carefully crafted. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

The Battle to Invent the Automatic Rice Cooker

The biggest names in Japanese technology vied to bring them to market. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

Birth of Radar Memorial – Northamptonshire, England

The first place where the scientific innovation known as radar was first demonstrated in Britain. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

IBM Building 025

A lonely monument to the original Silicon Valley tech campus. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

The 19th-Century Swill Milk Scandal That Poisoned Infants with Whiskey Runoff

One relentless journalist exposed how whiskey distillers used leftover grain to make disgusting milk. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

Why America’s Craft Brewers All Love a Vintage Candy

The sweet fuels the country's breweries. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

India’s Ancient Sites Are Under Threat from Development

India is key to the story of early human migration. But its archaeological sites are rapidly disappearing. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

One of the Earliest Science Fiction Books Was Written by a 1660s Duchess (2016)

Meet Lady Margaret Cavendish. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

Potato Doughnuts the Next Trend?

There are still a few Spudnuts locations scattered around the country. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

“Ghost Houses” Haunt a Rapidly Aging Japan

Young heirs are abandoning the family homes of their forebears. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

The Lost Art of Growing Blueberries with Fire

Using all four elements to grow the perfect berry. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

The College Student Who Decoded the Data Hidden in Inca Knots

Manny Medrano cut loose on spring break by analyzing a set of khipus. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

A Long-Lost Perfume Got a Second Life After 150 Years Underwater

A team of divers and archaeologists discovered the 19th-century fragrance in a shipwreck off the coast of Bermuda. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

Hayao Miyazaki's Giant Ghibli Clock

Tokyo’s only Vaudeville-cuckoo clock–steampunk-Victorian curio cabinet time piece. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago

When India Kicked Out Coca-Cola, Local Sodas Thrived – Gastro Obscura

Some still reign today. | Continue reading


@atlasobscura.com | 4 years ago