Recent Activity

• July 4, 2009 ack sed updated the Another Place description
  

  Liverpool, United Kingdom

  Another Place

  A hundred copies of Antony Gormley's naked body stare out across the water

  Another Place consists of one hundred cast-iron, life-size figures (cast from artist Antony Gormley's naked body), spread out along three kilometers of the Mersey river shore, stretching almost... »

  Outsider Art | Edited by lercio, ack sed and others

• July 4, 2009 ack sed updated the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory subtitle and description
  

  Sudbury Neutrino Observatory

  A neutrino detector built into the largest man-made underground cavity in the world

  More than a mile underground in an Ontario mine is the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory. The detector is located in the largest man made underground cavity in the world: a barrel 108 feet deep and 72... »

  Strange Science, Instruments of Science, Subterranean Sites | Edited by Dylan and ack sed

• July 4, 2009 ack sed updated the Ed Leedskalnin's Coral Castle description
  

  Ed Leedskalnin's Coral Castle

  A mysterious castle built as a monument to lost love

  There are many motivations to create one's own castle. Divine inspiration, as a way of cheating death, as a monument to human ability, or simply a compulsive inability to stop building. However... »

  Architectural Oddities, Outsider Architecture, Obscura Day Location | Edited by Dylan, ack sed and 2 others

• July 4, 2009 ack sed updated the Grip the Raven description
  

  Grip the Raven

  The taxidermied raven that inspired the poem of the same name

  Perched on a log, in the Rare Books department of the Philadelphia Free Library stands a strange piece of history. Dead since 1841 but preserved with arsenic, and frozen inside a shadow box this... »

  Hunting and Taxidermy | Edited by Dylan, Maeveish and others

• July 4, 2009 ack sed updated the The Garret subtitle
  

  The Garret

  Ornate limestone building now filled with taxidermy, geologic specimens, and more

  The Garret is one of the oldest and most ornate limestone buildings in Bloomington. It was originally a limestone headquarters for BG Hoadley Quarries. The building was occupied by the Garret... »

  Geological Oddities, Wonder Cabinets, Unique Collections, Mummies, Lost Tribes, Purveyors of Curiosities | Edited by michelle, ack sed and 2 others

• July 4, 2009 ack sed updated the Nantes' Natural History Museum subtitle and description
  

  Region Pays de la Loire, France

  Nantes' Natural History Museum

  When science meets myth: The 'Rat King' of Nantes

  Created at the end of 1800s, this beautiful museum has a rich collection of both minerals and animals (skeletons and taxidermy) and a nice vivarium. The collection of bird taxidermy is especially... »

  Fascinating Fauna, Natural History | Edited by Quentin and ack sed

• July 4, 2009 ack sed updated the Fiji Museum title, subtitle, description, hours, cost and coordinates
  

  Suva, Fiji

  Fiji Museum

  Museum of Fijian history, including its former tradition of cannabilism

  Wonderful museum of artefacts from throughout Fijian history, with, among others, wooden forks used in traditional cannibalism. Also on show are traditional canoes (one made entirely out of... »

  Museums and Collections, Rites and Rituals | Edited by ack sed and Seth Teicher

• July 4, 2009 ack sed updated the Collection de l'Art Brut description
  

  Lausanne, Switzerland

  Collection de l'Art Brut

  Artworks by loners, prisoners and the criminally insane

  Some would say that the definition of true art is its ability to provoke a response in the observer, be it positive or negative, emotional or rational. Art Brut--"brut" in the sense of raw--is a... »

  Outsider Art | Edited by stanestane, ack sed and others

• July 4, 2009 ack sed updated the externsteine subtitle and description
  

  Horn-Bad Meinberg, Germany

  externsteine

  Between Neo-Pagans and Neo-Nazis these strange rock formations have a curious cult following, and a very strange history

  Externsteine, translated variously as "stones of the Egge" or, less convincingly, the "Star Stones", is a series of pillar-like rock formations that jut up from the surrounding German forest. No... »

  Natural Wonders, Geological Oddities, Strange Science, Hoaxes and Pseudoscience, Lost Tribes, Curious Places of Worship, Incredible Ruins, Outsider Architecture | Edited by ack sed, Karen and others

• June 30, 2009 ack sed updated the The Spotted Lake (Kliluk) subtitle, description and coordinates
  

  The Spotted Lake (Kliluk)

  A lake sacred to the Native Americans, composed of 365 separate pools of highly concentrated minerals

  This strangely-patterned body of water is located between the Okanagan and Similkameen Valleys in British Columbia's desert. It contains large amounts of magnesium sulfate, calcium and sodium... »

  Watery Wonders, Wonders of Salt, Rites and Rituals | Edited by annie aronburg, Dylan and 2 others

• June 29, 2009 ack sed updated the Boston Athenaeum description
  

  Boston Athenaeum

  A morbid secret lies hidden within the beautiful walls of the Boston Athenaeum

  Tucked into a wooden box in the Boston Athenaeum library is a curious book. The book has "a slightly bumpy texture, like soft sandpaper" and bears the title "Hic Liber Waltonis Cute Compactus... »

  Unique Collections, Memento Mori, Relics and Reliquaries | Edited by Dylan, ack sed and 3 others

• June 29, 2009 ack sed added Loughareema
  

  Northern Ireland, United Kingdom

  Loughareema

  The lake that fills and empties itself at random

  Situated on the coast road, just a few miles from the seaside town of Ballycastle, "The Vanishing Lake" is a chalk sinkhole that occasionally gets blocked up when peat washes into it. Water... »

  Natural Wonders, Watery Wonders, Geological Oddities | Edited by ack sed, Annetta and others

• June 27, 2009 ack sed updated the Schokland description
  

  Schokland

  The struggle of a small Dutch island against the sea

  Schokland wasn't always an island. The oldest evidence of human settlements on Schokland dates back to 4500 BC when it was still part of the mainland. As time went by, the sea level raised, the... »

  Anomalous Islands | Edited by curiosity_nl and ack sed

• June 27, 2009 ack sed updated the City Museum description
  

  City Museum

  Less a museum than a bizarre fantasy world created by artists and engineers

  Housed in the former International Shoe building, the enormous 600,000 square-foot St. Louis City Museum is more adult sized playground and funhouse than standard museum. Visitors are encouraged... »

  Strange Science, Outsider Art, Unique Collections, Intriguing Environs, Purveyors of Curiosities, Outsider Architecture | Edited by kosack, Dylan and 3 others

• June 22, 2009 ack sed updated the Baalbek Trilithon description
  

  Baalbek, Lebanon

  Baalbek Trilithon

  The largest hewn stone in history

  There were many stone movers in the ancient world. From Stonehenge to Macchu Piccu, ancient peoples found a way to move stones of massive proportions. The Olmec of Central America moved enormous... »

  Long Now Locations, Incredible Ruins | Edited by Dylan, ack sed and 3 others

• June 22, 2009 ack sed updated the The Pyramid of North Dakota description
  

  The Pyramid of North Dakota

  The remnants of an early American attempt at missile defense

  The Safeguard Program was developed in the 1960s to shoot down incoming Russian intercontinental ballistic missiles. Built at a cost of 6 billion dollars in Nekoma, North Dakota, the site was a... »

  Incredible Ruins | Edited by Kaluz, Dylan and others

• June 18, 2009 ack sed updated the Catacombes de Paris subtitle
  

  Paris, France

  Catacombes de Paris

  The Catacombs hold secrets much stranger than the bones stacked within them

  In 2004, Parisian police were assigned to do a training exercise in a previously uncharted part of the Catacombs of Paris beneath the Palais de Chaillot. Entering the catacombs through a drain,... »

  Memento Mori, Ossuaries, Catacombs, Crypts, & Cemeteries, Subterranean Sites | Edited by CPilgrim, Dylan and 6 others

• June 18, 2009 ack sed commented on The Mummy of Knight Kahlbutz

  The introductory sentence should read "less than chivalrous" not "less <strong>then</strong> chivalrous".

• June 18, 2009 ack sed updated the The Diefenbunker description
  

  The Diefenbunker

  Canada's Subterranean Cold War Museum

  When one thinks of Canada they rarely think of nuclear annihilation, but the Canucks were ready for one. The Diefenbunker was built in the late 50's to protect the Canadian Government from... »

  Subterranean Sites | Edited by Luficer, Dylan and 2 others

• June 18, 2009 ack sed updated the Periodic Table Display description
  

  Periodic Table Display

  Display that gathers the basic elements of the universe in one convenient location

  There is something very appealing about the idea of having all of the building blocks of the universe gathered together in one small box. DePauw University has done just that with this periodic... »

  Inspired Inventions, Instruments of Science | Edited by Dylan, ack sed and 2 others

• June 18, 2009 ack sed updated the American Shakespeare Center's Blackfriars Playhouse description
  

  American Shakespeare Center's Blackfriars Playhouse

  The Only Recreation of William Shakespeare's Indoor Playhouse

  In the middle of Staunton, Virginia stands a sight in which William Shakespeare himself would feel comfortable. In fact he would feel more than comfortable; he might not realize that he wasn't in... »

  Wondrous Performances | Edited by Dylan and ack sed

• June 18, 2009 ack sed updated the Elektotechnikai Múzeum subtitle and description
  

  Budapest, Hungary

  Elektotechnikai Múzeum

  Electrical curiosity museum housed in an old transformer station

  A fascinating– if popularly neglected museum–the Elektotechnikai Múzeum features Wimshurst Electrostatic Generators, a Van De Graff generator, Tesla Coils, a model of a nineteenth-century electric... »

  Museums and Collections, Unique Collections, Electrical Oddities | Edited by Dylan, Josh and 3 others

• June 18, 2009 ack sed updated the Glass Flowers at Harvard Museum of Natural History description
  

  Massachusetts, US

  Glass Flowers at Harvard Museum of Natural History

  Impossibly life-like natural history models created out of glass by a German father and son

  Natural history museums opening in the mid 1800s had a problem. While dioramas could depict the mammals of the world, the marine and botanical were difficult to preserve and the papier-maché or... »

  Natural Wonders, Extraordinary Flora, Wonder Cabinets, Natural History, Unique Collections | Edited by Dylan, ack sed and others

• June 18, 2009 ack sed updated the The Kansas Underground Salt Museum description
  

  The Kansas Underground Salt Museum

  The worlds oldest organism was reanimated within the salty walls of this mine

  The Kansas Underground Salt Museum would be a curious site all on its own. Sixty five stories below the ground of Hutchinson, Kansas sits a massive salt mine with salt veins stretching from Kansas... »

  Fascinating Fauna, Wonders of Salt, Unique Collections, Long Now Locations, Subterranean Sites | Edited by Dylan, ack sed and others

• June 18, 2009 ack sed added Ghibli Museum
  

  Kami-renjaku, Japan

  Ghibli Museum

  A magical place that lets you play in and explore the world of Studio Ghibli

  Situated in the suburbs of Mitaka,the Ghibli Museum is both a showcase for the famed animation studio and a playground for children of any age. Known in the west for its films such as Spirited... »

  Museums and Collections | Edited by ack sed and Dylan