pests
Solved: The Mysterious Origins of Your Coffee's Worst Nightmare
Researchers inspected 18,667 plant specimens to track down a caffeine-eating beetle.
All Stories
towboats
The Triumphs and Tribulations of Towboats on the Mississippi River
“You ride the river and just hope you’re in the right spot when you need to be.”
first journey
On the Road in India With Atlas Obscura's First Journey Winner
Jenn Smith shares what it's been like so far to finally visit the country where she was born.
secret lives of museums
In London, Natural History Museums Confront Their Colonial Histories
It's not as easy as returning stolen statues.
churchill
For Sale: A Cigar Puffed by Winston Churchill in 1953
When the politician dropped it in a London theater, an usher swooped in to save it.
mardi gras
The Forgotten Female Artist Whose Mardi Gras Fantasias Warped Reality
If only Jennie Wilde could have transformed society too.
evolution
Indonesia's Ancient 'Hobbits' May Have Evolved Really, Really Quickly
Another example of how, biologically, islands are deeply weird.
destination southern africa
Are These Markings in South Africa the World's Earliest Sand Sculptures?
It depends on whether a natural process could explain them.
cookies
The Free Cookie in Your Chinese Takeout Is Actually Japanese
Fortune cookies emerged from one of America’s darkest moments.
secret lives of museums
How Scientists Are Recreating Dinosaur Breath
At the Field Museum, visitors can now get a whiff of the Cretaceous.
united states
America's 'Diner Man' Is Donating His Life’s Work to the Henry Ford Museum
Half a century of menus, matchboxes, and postcards finds a home.
renaissance
Why Renaissance Paintings Aren't as Green as They Used to Be
Once a brilliant hue, the pigment verdigris is now mostly brown.
prohibition
For Sale: A Pink Temple to Temperance With a Dubious History of Debauchery
The rosy-hued house in Louisville, Kentucky, could be yours.
sound
Biologists in Panama Eavesdrop on Manatees for Their Own Good
In the murky waters of Bocas del Toro, you can't see the manatees, but you can hear them.
silk road
The Gobi Desert Is a Red Sea of Chili Peppers
They dry in the sun every autumn in China's Uyghur Autonomous Region.
anatomy
The Many Pleasures of Sardinian Throat Singing
A fiercely unusual musical style from a fiercely independent island.
botanical illustration
These Stunning Botanical Images Are Blueprints of the Past
Two 90-year-old albums document what a 12-year-old photographer did on her summer vacation.
mayan
Belize's Maya Drained Their Swamps to Make Farmland
Their wide-reaching wetland agriculture helped support the civilization.
