Sarah Laskow's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
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language

Found: Hidden Examples of Long-Lost Languages in Centuries-Old Palimpsests

New imaging techniques are revealing texts that were erased hundreds of years ago.
August 29, 2017
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submarines

Did German U-Boats Smuggle Alcohol Into the U.S. During Prohibition?

One photo suggests that rampant rumors of submarine smuggling were true.
August 29, 2017
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fossils

Found: The Largest Fossil Ever of an Ancient 'Sea Dragon'

It was pregnant, too.
August 28, 2017
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storms

How a Devastating 1919 Hurricane Inspired Corpus Christi to Build a Seawall

One early design, by the man who built Mount Rushmore, included a giant statue of Christ.
August 25, 2017
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labor

Found: The Remains of Chinese Laborers Interred on a Peruvian Pyramid

In the 19th century, 100,000 indentured laborers came to Peru from China.
August 25, 2017
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glaciers

The Remains of 3 More Long-Missing Hikers Have Been Found in the Alps

For the third time this summer, melting Alpine glaciers have revealed the fate of missing hikers.
August 24, 2017
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disease

Found: A Perfectly Preserved Sac of Fluke Eggs on a 400-Year-Old Mummy’s Liver

In the 17th century, delicious fresh crab dishes had certain dangers.
August 24, 2017
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boats

Found: A Fluffy Monkey Scientists Last Observed in the 1930s

A team on a houseboat found the Vanzolini’s bald-faced saki in a Brazilian forest.
August 23, 2017
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eclipse madness

Simple Rules for Making Giant Geometrical Stars

The math behind the magic.
August 22, 2017
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eclipse madness

What Makes Helado Negro's Tinsel Mammals So Mezmerizing

The musician performs with shimmery beings of a species not quite our own.
August 22, 2017
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events

On Seeing the Eclipse With a Crowd

What I learned while camping out with hundreds of people in the middle of the Oregon desert.
August 21, 2017
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eclipse madness

Contemplating the Eclipse With Sun Ra Arkestra

"We’re going to bring the sun back."
August 21, 2017
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cosmos

The Camera That Will Transform Our Understanding of the Universe

Brookhaven National Laboratory's Paul O'Connor explains the mind-boggling promise of the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope.
August 21, 2017
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jewels

Found: A Diamond, Where Gold Was Supposed to Be

Since the 1850s, gold miners have found about 600 diamonds in California.
August 18, 2017
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ice

Found: Ice From 2.7 Million Years Ago

That's 1.7 million years older than the previous oldest ice ever found.
August 17, 2017
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eclipse madness

An Oregon Couple Has Built the Perfect House for Observing the Total Eclipse

And looking far across the universe.
August 16, 2017
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shopping

Found: Authentic NASA Spacesuits in the Corner of a Thrift Store

Two college students bought six of them for $1.20.
August 16, 2017
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national parks

Found: Tiny Shrimp Hiding in Hot Springs

Also, snails smaller than a grain of sand.
August 15, 2017
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time-capsule

Found: A Very Unusual Time Capsule

Usually you'd expect pictures or a note. Not morphine.
August 14, 2017
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protest

Mapping the Sounds of Political Protest Around the World

A new project is collecting recordings of public activism going back to 1991.
August 7, 2017
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dinosaurs

Found: The Best-Preserved Armored Dinosaur Ever Discovered

You can look into the face of a dinosaur.
August 4, 2017
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eclipse madness

Your Guide to the Perfect Eclipse-Themed Karaoke Night

Don't be afraid to belt out "Total Eclipse of the Heart."
August 3, 2017
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glaciers

Found: The Body of a Hiker Missing for Thirty Years

A melting glacier revealed the frozen hands and feet of a man who disappeared in 1987.
August 3, 2017
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bog bodies

Save the Bogs, for Peat's Sake

These little-loved wetlands are a crucial front in the fight against climate change.
August 2, 2017