Sarah Laskow's User Profile - Atlas Obscura

Sarah Laskow

Former Atlas Obscura staff writer

2015
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Found: Tens of Thousands of Previously Unknown Nazi Persecution Sites

Expecting to find 5,000 camps and other sites, researchers have documented 42,500.

January 26, 2017

Found: A Giant Crack in the Arizona Desert

Fissures appear when groundwater is sucked away.

January 25, 2017

The Criminal History of Fantômas, France's Favorite Fictional Villain

He influenced everything from Surrealism to the X-Men.

January 25, 2017

The True History of the Umbrella Gun, a Surprisingly Serious Weapon

Once used to assassinate a Bulgarian dissident, the disguised firearm eventually became a trope of spy films.

January 24, 2017

Found: A Man Buried With a Stone in Place of His Tongue

It's the only such burial ever found in Roman Britain.

January 24, 2017

Found: The Bones of a Giant Otter

This 110-pound otter also had the teeth of a badger.

January 23, 2017

The True Origin of The Gambia's Bizarre Borders

According to an apocryphal story, British ships defined the country by shooting cannonballs off the sides of their ships.

January 20, 2017

Found: The Owner of a Message-in-a-Bottle Sent in 1983

It took 34 years for the finder to track down the sender.

January 20, 2017

The First Observations of Sea Ice Came From 8th-Century Irish Monks in Iceland

They were actually searching for God.

January 20, 2017

Found: A Medieval Horse Head Hidden in the Colosseum

The skull dates back to the 12th or 13th century.

January 19, 2017

Scientists Have a New Idea About the Origins of Namibia's Fairy Circles

Two competing theories could both be true: Termites and plants both contribute to the circles' creation.

January 18, 2017

Found: A Not-So-Great Report Card From 1957, Hidden in the Floor

A home renovation uncovered a schoolgirl's bad grades from decades ago.

January 18, 2017

The Park Service Just Spent $40 Million on Grass and Will Not Let Inauguration Ruin It

The National Mall must be protected.

January 18, 2017

Found: Enormous Alligator Going for a Stroll

Florida locals captured footage of a very large alligator at a local nature preserve.

January 17, 2017

A Scientist Invented the Cyanometer Just to Measure the Blueness of the Sky

Horace-Bénédict de Saussure wanted to climb a mountain and mark the sky's hue accurately.

January 17, 2017

martin luther king

Found: A Recording of a Martin Luther King, Jr., Speech from 1964

The archivist at Pacifica Radio rediscovered a recording of MLK giving a speech in London.

January 16, 2017

Found: A Hoard of Gold Hidden Inside a Piano

It is, apparently, a substantial and unusual collection.

January 13, 2017

bioluminescence

How the Navy Tried to Turn Bioluminescence Against the Soviets

They spent decades on it.

January 13, 2017

Found: A 400-Year-Old Buddha Statue, Hidden Under a Manmade Lake

Work on a hydropower gate revealed the statue's head.

January 12, 2017

That's No Alien Megastructure, It's a Star Consuming a Planet

A new paper details a natural explanation for a star's strange behavior.

January 12, 2017

Found: The Tiny, Century-Old Headstone of a Pet Bunny

Here lies Duchie, a good rabbit.

January 12, 2017

Found: A Man Stuck in the Walls of an Apartment Kitchen

He scared his neighbor.

January 11, 2017

In the 1960s, Telegraph Poles Were Equipped With Nuclear Bomb Alarms

They were simple-looking white canisters.

January 11, 2017

Found: Historic Ketchup, Buried Under a Music Venue for More Than a Century

Also, marmalade, pickle, and mustard jars.

January 10, 2017