Sarah Laskow's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
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vikings

Found: Viking Clothes With 'Allah' Embroidered in Silk

The designs were overlooked by researchers in the 1940s.
October 13, 2017
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jewels

Found: The Elaborate Coal Belt Buckles of First-Century Women Warriors

Only 10 examples of these type of accessories are known in the world.
October 12, 2017
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garbage

There's Gold in Switzerland's Sewage

Also, a whole lot of silver.
October 11, 2017
Gastro Obscura
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smells

Found: The Cause of Durian’s Oh-So-Unique Smell

The fruit's genes work overtime to pump out sulphuric compounds.
October 10, 2017
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moon

Found: Evidence the Moon Had an Atmosphere for 70 Million Years

It would have been at its thickest about 3.5 billon years ago.
October 9, 2017
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map monday

Help Puerto Rico Recover by Mapping Damaged Areas

Response workers need the best possible information to direct aid.
October 9, 2017
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floods

New Orleans Has Been Using the Same Technology to Drain the City Since the 1910s

The Wood screw pumps are mechanical marvels, but the turbines that power them are another story.
October 6, 2017
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television

Found: Long-Lost Footage of Selena, the Pioneering Tejano Singer

A project documenting the overlooked history of Spanish-language TV turned up this haunting tape.
October 6, 2017
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boats

Florida Has More Archaeological Canoes Than Anywhere Else in the World

The oldest dugout ever found there is almost 7,000 years old.
October 5, 2017
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shipwrecks

Found: The Wreck of the Very First Ship Sunk in World War II

The Athenia was torpedoed the day England and Germany went to war.
October 5, 2017
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shipwrecks

Found: A Giant Bronze Arm From the Antikythera Shipwreck

The world's most intriguing shipwreck keeps giving up more secrets.
October 4, 2017
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flowers

Found: An Orchid With Large Flowers and a Scent Like Champagne

What a beaut!
October 4, 2017
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body snatching

The Gruesome History of Making Human Skeletons

From quicklime to boiling to bugs.
October 3, 2017
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monsters

A Legendary Fish Named ‘Pig Nose’ Was Caught for the Second Year in a Row

He had gained about 50 pounds.
October 3, 2017
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travel writing

Found: The Earliest Known Work of Fiction by Ernest Hemingway

Two researchers discovered a story written by the author when he was just 10 years old.
October 2, 2017
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space

Found: The Last, Hidden Image That Rosetta Sent Back From a Comet's Surface

The data was waiting on the server, unnoticed.
September 29, 2017
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archive

Forgotten Notebooks Chronicled the Lives of Congolese Trees for 20 Years

The data could help biologists understand how climate change is affecting forests.
September 28, 2017
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found

Found: Oldest Evidence of Life on Earth, Dating Back 3.95 Billion Years

The planet itself is 4.5 billion years old.
September 28, 2017
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coral reefs

Found: A Vivid Blue Hole in the Great Barrier Reef

Look what Google Maps can reveal.
September 27, 2017
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wolves

Found: Wolf Puppies Born Outside of Rome for the First Time in Decades

The animals are part of the city's founding mythology.
September 26, 2017
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pregnancy

What Planned Parenthood Taught WWII Veterans About Birth Control

“The step-up in your pulse when a nifty number looks your way isn’t love. That’s sex, mister.”
September 26, 2017
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cities

Found: An Iraqi City, Established by Alexander the Great and Forgotten for Millennia

Satellite and drone photos clued archaeologists to its existence.
September 25, 2017
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frog

See the World’s Most Ordinary Animals as You Never Have Before

Inside a new exhibit that gives dogs, cats, and chickens the full-on natural history museum treatment.
September 25, 2017
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shipwrecks

Found: An Incredibly Well-Preserved Medieval Shipwreck, Among Many More

The Black Sea wreck is the first of its kind ever discovered.
September 22, 2017