All Stories

This photo, captured by researchers Matthew Gardner and David Pereira on Grand Bahama in 2018, is one of the last-known sightings of the Bahama nuthatch. It is believed the bird was wiped out by Hurricane Dorian in 2019.

extinction

The Last Days of the Bahama Nuthatch

What's it like to "very probably" witness extinction?

Podcast: Manuscript Writing Cafe

cafe

Podcast: Manuscript Writing Cafe

Calling all procrastinators.

True Treats’ Yesterday’s Medicine sampler has healing sweets, each formed in a candy mold from the 1920's.

candy

This Sweet Shop in West Virginia Traces the Healing History of Candy

Susan Benjamin sells treats that were once considered medicine.

Treasure hunter Tom Klein believes the statue of John Plankinton in Milwaukee's Plankinton Arcade is one of the clues to The Secret's buried treasure.

byron preiss

Hunting for 'The Secret' Treasure Buried in Milwaukee

Has this couple finally found fantasy author Byron Preiss’s hidden treasure?

NASA satellites captured this ephemeral moment as open- and closed-cell marine stratocumulus clouds formed and dispersed over the Pacific Ocean, 1,000 miles west of Chile, in August 2022.

clouds

Marine Stratocumulus Clouds May Be the Most Important Clouds on Earth

These common formations create abstract designs and reveal important patterns of environmental change, big and small.

Podcast: NYC’s Most Beautiful Public Bathroom

beaux-arts

Podcast: NYC’s Most Beautiful Public Bathroom

You've gotta go.

A bar in Philadelphia that still keeps its “Ladies Entrance” sign.

saloons

The Feminist History Behind the Ladies' Entrance

There's a story behind these hidden pub snugs and saloon doors.

After nearly 40 years, desert lions are once again hunting marine prey along Namibia’s Skeleton Coast, where scientists believed the knowledge had been lost.

seals

In Namibia, Lions Are Returning to Feed on the Skeleton Coast

As the predators hunt fur seals, a new geofencing project tries to keep people out of the way.

What the Heck is a Fatberg?

fatberg

What the Heck is a Fatberg?

Jessica Leigh Hester takes us into the sewers to learn about her favorite slimy topic: fatbergs.

All illustrations: John Mata for Atlas Obscura

alphabets

Puzzle Monday: Does English Need a New Alphabet?

Cordyceps add a pop of color and umami to ramen.

fascinating fungi

How to Cook a Delicious Meal With Zombie Fungus

Conquer your "Last of Us" fears by consuming Cordyceps.

Century-appropriate Fox, with a throng surrounding a movie star, perhaps?

hollywood

‘Cockeyed’ Map Shows Both Glamour and Margins of 1930s Hollywood

Legendary cartoonist John Groth's pictorial map captures L.A.'s film factories in their Golden Age.

Vidar Haslum (center) has been collecting place names in southeastern Norway for decades. He is shown here in the 1980s with farmer Nils Vinsland (left), who was born 1904. He was "one of many good informants," Haslum says.

linguistics

Meet the Man Collecting Fading Place Names

What do we lose when we forget about locations like "Troll's Cave" and "Window Claw"?

Dontavius Williams thanks Caesar, the 18th-century enslaved chef who managed Stratford Hall, before beginning a demonstration in the historic hearth where Caesar once cooked.

a seat at the table

Remembering Caesar, Colonial Virginia’s Enslaved Chocolatier

In Robert E. Lee's birthplace, Dontavius Williams honors an unsung chef.

For years, scientists couldn't figure out the mechanism behind these mysterious polygons, seen here at the Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia.

shapes

The Mystery Beneath the 'Honeycomb' Patterns of Salt Deserts

After years of hypotheses that came up short, a physicist has finally found a solution.

Before artist Courtney Senior launched International Art and Found Day in 2020, she would regularly leave packages with this message around Toronto.

lost

Inside the World of 'Art Dropping'

Why you should be on the lookout for free paintings this March 12th.

This colossal freedom statue stands in front of Nigeria's Badagry Heritage Museum in Lagos State. Badgery, a small town near Nigeria's border with Benin, was the site of a large slave port.

she was there

The Untold Stories of the Women Who Led Slave Revolts

Their inspiring acts of resistance were ignored or erased for centuries—until now.

Podcast: More Wonders in Your Backyard

everyday wonder

Podcast: More Wonders in Your Backyard

Our team tells tales of everyday awe.