Sarah Laskow's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
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anthropocene

Found: Hundreds of Minerals That Only Exist Because of Humans

Minerals are supposed to be "naturally occurring."
March 2, 2017
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espionage

The Tragedy of Newcomb Mott, Who Thought He Could Walk Into Soviet Russia

Young and naive, he just wanted his passport stamped.
March 1, 2017
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microbes

Found: Fossil Evidence of the Oldest Life on Earth

It is 3.7 BILLION years old.
March 1, 2017
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treasure

Found: 47 Lumps of Orichalcum, an Ancient Alloy Attributed to Atlantis

Orichalcum!
March 1, 2017
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secret

Uncovering the Hidden Books Tucked Inside Every Single Library

There's no standard way to catalog anonymous texts, which makes them incredibly hard to find.
February 28, 2017
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treasure

Metal Detector Hobbyists Find Gold in a Field They Got Bored of 20 Years Earlier

The four pieces of jewelry date back to the Iron Age.
February 28, 2017
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lightning

Humans Are Responsible for 84 Percent of Wildfires in the U.S.

Only in the mountainous west was lightning a more common cause, a new paper reports.
February 27, 2017
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fences

Found: Mysterious, Maze-Like Neolithic Fences

They enclosed a huge area, but for what purpose?
February 27, 2017
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security

Found: Internal Apple Computer Memos From 1979, Left at a Seattle Goodwill

A local discovered them by chance.
February 24, 2017
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magic

Australian Settlers Used Magic Signs to Keep Evil Away

New efforts to collect evil-averting marks show they were used well into the 19th century.
February 24, 2017
Gastro Obscura
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chickens

Found: A Stray Chicken in a McDonald's Bathroom

A 5-year-old made the discovery.
February 23, 2017
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feminism

In 1914, Feminists Fought for the Right to Forget Childbirth

They had associations and rallies advocating for "twilight sleep."
February 23, 2017
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mosques

Found: The Location of London’s Oldest Mosque

It opened in 1895.
February 23, 2017
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mosques

Listen to the Call to Prayer in Countries Around the World

A new project collects sounds from sacred places in 34 countries.
February 22, 2017
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conspiracy theories

Found: Strange Graffiti on 4 of Washington's Most Famous Monuments

It referenced the JFK assassination and the 9/11 attacks.
February 22, 2017
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minor threats

There's Another Orange Alligator Roaming the Carolinas

North Carolina would not be outdone.
February 21, 2017
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lgbtq

Found: Love Letters a WWII Soldier Wrote to His Boyfriend

Homosexuality was illegal at the time.
February 21, 2017
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atlas job board

The Mall of America Is Looking for a Writer-in-Residence

Must be willing to deeply immerse in the Mall's atmosphere.
February 20, 2017
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microbes

Found: 50,000-Year-Old Microbes Hiding in the Cave of the Crystals

They are a kind of "super life."
February 20, 2017
Gastro Obscura
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hearts week

I Heart New York

My quest to buy (and eat) as many different hearts as I could in a single day in the city.
February 17, 2017
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found

Found: A Possible Eighth Continent

Zealandia!
February 17, 2017
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weddings

Found: A Glimpse of Marcel Proust, Caught on Film

This is the first known footage of the famous author.
February 16, 2017
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aliens

Found: An Essay Winston Churchill Wrote About Alien Life

"Are we alone in the universe?" he asked.
February 15, 2017
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hearts week

The True Origins of the Phrase 'Bleeding-Heart Liberal'

Thank Westbrook Pegler, Joe McCarthy, and Ronald Reagan.
February 15, 2017