shoshiparks's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
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great lakes

'Loopers' Say the Great Loop Is Their Appalachian Trail

Every year, scores of boaters travel the 6,000-mile route around the Eastern United States. Why do they do it?
July 18, 2024
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chapel

How Elvis Became the King of Las Vegas Weddings

Overcoming threats to cease-and-desist, Las Vegas’s iconic Elvis weddings live on.
July 17, 2024
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newfoundland

The Phantom Island That Haunted 16th-Century Newfoundland

The ‘Isle of Demons' was said to be overrun with ghosts and ghouls.
December 7, 2023
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ants

All Winter, These Ants Make the Ultimate Sweet Sacrifice to Their Colony

Their syrupy death is medicinal for humans, too.
December 5, 2023
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chinatown

Honoring the Thousands of Forgotten Souls Buried Beneath San Francisco

Experts estimate some 50,000 people are buried beneath the sprawling metropolis.
September 28, 2023
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black composers

The Black Composers of New Orleans Opera Are Finally Getting Their Due

And it's all thanks to this mother-daughter dream team.
September 13, 2023
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firefly

How A ‘Firefly Course’ Is Saving Japan’s Favorite Glowing Insect

At the Moriyama City Firefly Forest Museum, nurturing Genji fireflies comes with homework.
July 25, 2023
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language

Saving the Mystery Symbols Carved into Australia's Boab Trees

Researchers are rushing to document the Indigenous art before it is lost to time and climate change.
April 7, 2023
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beetle

Were These Beetles Once as Valuable as Gemstones?

Archaeologists believe jewelry made from the bugs was a coveted status symbol 2,000 years ago.
March 23, 2023
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extinction

The Last Days of the Bahama Nuthatch

What's it like to "very probably" witness extinction?
March 15, 2023
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masks

These Masks Brought Shame to Gossips, Drunks, and Narcissists

In 17th-century Germany, a "schandmaske" was the prescribed punishment for social transgression.
February 17, 2023
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floods

Does This Silly-Looking Animal Have a Solution to Climate Change?

Beavers can reshape the North American ecosystem—if we let them.
January 31, 2023
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pigeons

Did Ancient Egypt Have a Pigeon Problem?

More than 3,000 years ago, the birds appeared in unexpected places.
January 25, 2023
Gastro Obscura
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moveable feasts

Inside the Diet That Fueled Chinese Transcontinental Railroad Workers

Denied the free meals of their Irish counterparts, Chinese laborers learned to thrive on their own.
November 30, 2022
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trends

How Young Killer Whales Became Hooligans

Yes, orcas have viral cultural trends, too.
September 29, 2022
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pandemic

Why Birds Changed Their Tune During the Pandemic

We don't know if they'll ever sing their old songs again.
September 2, 2022
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telephones

The Last Public Payphone Kiosk on the Streets of New York

How the once-ubiquitous convenience became a rare museum piece.
July 26, 2022
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secret society

The 19th-Century Secret Society Preserving the History of the West

The irreverent, all-male E Clampus Vitus commemorates overlooked people and events.
June 29, 2022
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falconry

The Birds of Prey That Stand Guard Over California's Vineyards

Without them, the state's lucrative wine grape crop could be gobbled up by smaller birds.
June 23, 2022
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seaweed

How the 'First Lady of Seaweed' Changed Science

Isabella Abbott, the first native Hawaiian woman to earn a doctorate in science, rewrote the book on her beloved limu.
March 11, 2022
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citizen science

Can Citizen Scientists Prevent Another Pacific Newt Massacre?

Cars are annihilating the tiny amphibians.
January 11, 2022
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livestock

Can the Mighty Bankhar Dogs of Mongolia Save the Steppe?

These ancient guardians of the traditional nomadic way of life are making a comeback.
February 23, 2021
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hygiene

A Brief History of TP, From Silk Road Hygiene to Pandemic Hoarding

An author's end-game expertise has never been more timely.
May 8, 2020
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blue

What the Color 'Haint Blue' Means to the Descendants of Enslaved Africans

In the Lowcountry, the unique shade is both protective talisman and source of unspeakable suffering.
January 14, 2020