jessicahester1's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
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disappearing world

The Bittersweet Thrill of Iceboating in a Warming World

For hundreds of years, sailors have zipped across frozen lakes and rivers—but now chances are fewer and farther between.
February 27, 2020
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winter

Lake Michigan's 'Ice Volcanoes' Are Extremely Cool, Definitely Not Volcanoes

“It sounds like if you got a big Slurpee, and then dumped it on the ground.”
February 25, 2020
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automotive history

For Sale: A Sprawling Carriage Factory and the House on Its Roof

A Syracuse rooftop still holds some pretty puzzling real estate.
February 19, 2020
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manuscripts

How a Trashed Italian Manuscript Got Sewn Into a Sweet Silk Purse

Book waste can be beautiful.
February 14, 2020
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poop

Pablo Escobar’s Hippo Herd Is Treating Colombia's Lakes Like One Big Toilet

They're thriving, pooping, and fouling up the water around the drug lord's former estate.
February 12, 2020
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seed banks

The Unexpected Elegance of Apocalyptic Seed Vaults, In Photos

The images, by artist and professor Dornith Doherty, are ethereal and oddly comforting.
February 11, 2020
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minerals

This Mexican Mineral Looks Like a Shimmering Serpent

Gypsum is common, but this specimen is remarkable.
February 7, 2020
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secret lives of museums

Centuries of Crap and Some Historical Treasures in an Old London Cesspit

An art museum found a very old toilet—right under where its new bathroom was being built.
February 6, 2020
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firefly

The 21st Century Might Not Be So Magical for Fireflies

Experts are flashing a warning for the future.
February 4, 2020
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invertebrates

An Ancient Australian Volcano Is a Haven for Giant Pink Slugs

Just because they're huge and garish doesn't mean they're easy to find.
January 31, 2020
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oceans

At 'Soda Springs' in the Philippines, the Seafloor Bubbles Like Champagne

The bubbles are mostly carbon dioxide, and gurgle up from the ground in streamers or curtains.
January 30, 2020
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freemasons

The Monumental Undertaking of Moving Into an Old Masonic Temple

The 20,000-square-foot house requires endless renovations, but the ceiling is high enough to fly a drone inside.
January 28, 2020
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storms

Australia Needs Slow and Steady Rain—Not Golf Ball-Sized Hail

The fire-scorched landscape needs water. But not the kind that recently fell on Canberra.
January 24, 2020
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fatberg

How a Massive Fatberg Went From Sewer to Science Museum

The underground menace is now a reminder that people should be kinder to their pipes.
January 24, 2020
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destination southern africa

The Transformation of Namibia's Etosha Pan, From Parched to Soaked

Satellite images track the shift from dry to wet at a vast, prehistoric lake bed in southern Africa.
January 22, 2020
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microscopes

If You Look Very, Very Close, Antarctica Is Teeming With Life

Meet the icy continent's menagerie of microbes.
January 17, 2020
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endangered animals

Air-Dropped Carrots Might Be a Temporary Answer to a Threatened Wallaby's Prayers

After devastating Australian bushfires, root vegetables could help the brush-tailed rock-wallaby hang on.
January 16, 2020
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smells

Some Space Rocks Are Notorious for Being Stinky

What they actually smell like seems to be in the nose of the beholder.
January 16, 2020
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ash

Ash From the Taal Eruption Will Stick Around ‘Pretty Much Forever’

Some ash particles will blow or wash away, but others will get sealed into the sedimentary record.
January 15, 2020
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planetariums

When Trippy Black-Light Murals Brought the Cosmos Down to Earth

The paintings once dazzled and enlightened mid-century planetarium-goers.
January 10, 2020
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bathrooms

The Best 18th-Century Toilets Were Designed to Look Like Books

This shit is lit.
January 9, 2020
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queer history

The Queer History of a 1937 Guide to London's Public Loos

The slim volume on city toilets directed in-the-know readers to discreet hookup spots.
January 7, 2020
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highways

A Blizzard of Tumbleweeds Caused a 10-Hour Traffic Jam in Washington State

Cars slowed to a halt on State Route 240, but the plants just kept bounding along.
January 3, 2020
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arctic

The Canadian Arctic Probably Once Looked Like Present-Day Florida

Fossil plants millions of years old are helping scientists imagine an ancient Arctic forest.
January 2, 2020