extinct animals
How to Write an Opera About Locusts
In Wyoming, a buzzworthy bug mystery hits the stage.
All Stories
seed banks
This Seed Bank Preserves Biodiversity by Opening Its Doors to Farmers
The Ethiopian institution pioneered a new model.
cookbooks
The 10th-Century Baghdad Cookbook That’s a Poetic Tome to Food
The text features exhaustive directions for cooking, eating, and being.
turtles
96 Rare Baby Sea Turtles Just Hatched in Queens, New York
If they can make it there, they'll make it anywhere.
food art
The Life and Times of a Japanese Candy Artist
She brought the rare, age-old art to Epcot and a Yayoi Kusama exhibition.
greenhouses
The Century-Long Scientific Journey of the Affordable Grocery Store Orchid
Orchids were once considered the world’s most difficult and exotic flowers. So why can you buy one for $12.99 at Trader Joe’s?
show & tell
Inspiration for Your Next Food-Related Adventure
Atlas Obscura readers share their most memorable experiences of traveling for the sake of eating.
physics
The Last Woman to Win a Nobel Prize in Physics Did the Work Without Being Paid
Maria Goeppert Mayer was relegated to unpaid and "volunteer" positions for most of her academic career.
pop culture
Inside the World's Best Collection of Unintentionally Funny VHS Tapes
Joe Pickett and Nick Prueher have made a career of their never-ending hunt for oddball footage.
swarms
Billions of Mosquitoes Are Having a Post-Hurricane Field Day in North Carolina
One resident compared the swarms to snow flurries.
war fare
How a Uruguayan Meat Factory Became Iconic Worldwide
The former factory is now a UNESCO world heritage site.
underground
A New Purpose for Sydney's Unfinished Train Tunnels
They will be transformed into an underground entertainment space.
milk
The 'Father of American Neurology' Prescribed Women Months of Motionless Milk-Drinking
Virginia Woolf and Charlotte Perkins Gilman were both patients of his infamous rest cure.
linguistics
How the English Failed to Stamp Out the Scots Language
Against all odds, 28 percent of Scottish people still use it.
how to
The Results Are In for Gastro Obscura's Black Sesame Sweet Soup Cook-Off!
Readers share how they tackled this singular recipe.
comic books
Found: An Ancient Roman Comic Strip With Speech Bubbles
“Alas for me! I am dead!”
war fare
How Salt Helped Win the Civil War
Southern salt-making operations became prime military targets.
prank
For Sale: Legendary Photographic 'Proof' of Fairies and Gnomes
In 1917, two young girls with a camera pranked the world.
