Michael Waters's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
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video wonders

This Moving Light Fixture Mimics a Blooming Flower

Its actions parallel the process of "nyctinasty."
July 18, 2017
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printing

This Japanese Scroll Was Re-Printed a Million Times—700 Years Before Gutenberg

The eighth-century documents were stored in tiny pagodas.
July 18, 2017
Gastro Obscura
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pie

They're In: Your Stories About Cheese on Apple Pie

The mention of cheddar-topped desserts brought back fond memories—and some outrage.
July 18, 2017
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spain

This Spanish Artist Built Himself a Secret Studio Under a Freeway

It allows him to work in solitude as cars zoom overhead.
July 17, 2017
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astrology

What Your Zodiac Sign Says About You, According to a 1930s Astrologer

Hey Geminis: Stop using the phone so volubly.
July 14, 2017
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video wonders

Video Captures a Gorgeous Chinese Lavender Bloom

Huocheng County celebrates the blossoms with an annual festival.
July 13, 2017
Gastro Obscura
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sin week

The Long, Storied Controversy Over Cheese on Apple Pie

Some love it. Some hate it. Some have no idea what it is.
July 13, 2017
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crime

A Tiny House in Missouri Was Inexplicably Stolen and Driven to Kansas

It was found over 90 miles away from its original location.
July 12, 2017
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civil war

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.
July 12, 2017
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moonshine

The Secret Engravings Found on a Neolithic Rock Formation

They may have been part of a long-running moonlit ritual.
July 11, 2017
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mail

When the U.S. Postal Service Used Gyrocopters to Deliver the Mail

The flying machines hopped from roof to roof of post offices.
July 10, 2017
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sin week

A Violent 15th-Century Freshman Hazing Ritual Involving Boar Tusks and Razors

The Deposition ritual, inflicted on Swedish and German students by faculty, was not for the faint of heart.
July 10, 2017
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russia

This Russian Castle Is Actually a Kindergarten

Every enrolled kid can be a petite prince or princess.
July 7, 2017
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recursive places

The Yucatán's Hidden 'Underwater River'

There's something fascinating happening at Angelita Cenote.
July 6, 2017
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jewels

The Glamorous Pearl Earring King Charles I Wore to His Execution

Since childhood, he refused to part with it.
July 6, 2017
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inventions

This 1959 'Anti-Bandit Bag' Promised to Scare Off Thieves—With Smoke

The design was not subtle.
July 5, 2017
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video wonders

There's a Secret Spanish Beach in the Middle of a Field

And sometimes it disappears.
July 3, 2017
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animation

Fall in Love With the World’s First Animated Dinosaur

Gertie the Dino could hurl a mammoth into the air.
June 30, 2017
Gastro Obscura
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dogs

How an Organic Chemist Invented the Bone-Shaped Dog Treat

The birth of the Milk-Bone happened pretty much on a whim.
June 30, 2017
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disease

The Early 1900s Movement to Build Schools Without Walls

Take that, tuberculosis!
June 29, 2017
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video wonders

This Artist's Deceptive Drawings Seem to Move Between Dimensions

It's 3D, it's 3D, it's 3D—no, wait, 2D!
June 28, 2017
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hoaxes

The Hoax Poetry Movement That Accidentally Became Legitimate

How Spectra went mainstream.
June 28, 2017
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video wonders

Local Condor Embraces the Argentinian Farmer Who Rescued It

The condor's name? Condorito.
June 27, 2017
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technology

The 1929 Plane-Train Hybrid That Almost Was

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a... railplane?
June 26, 2017