garbage week
Cold War Spies Sifted Through Used Soviet Toilet Paper In Search of Clues
Operation Tamarisk has been called one of the most successful spy operations of the era.
All Stories
garbage week
The Voluminous Shell Heaps Hidden in Plain Sight All Over NYC
Oyster middens were everywhere for thousands of years, until suddenly they weren't.
mummies
Puppy Frozen for Millennia Emerges With Brain Mostly Intact
The puppy was found mummified in Siberia.
solar power
Airport Goes All-Solar After Getting Tired of Paying Electricity Bill
Cochin International Airport in southern India is now the world's first airport to be powered entirely by solar energy.
computers
Email is ‘Simple, Really,’ Explains 6-Minute Instructional Video From 1984
It was a different time.
garbage week
The Strange Loveliness of Europe's Recycling Plants
Beautiful photographs of waste being reused, repurposed and recycled.
libraries
British Library Recruiting Joke Detectives to Find Victorian Humor
It was known as a dour time, but puns were popular.
garbage week
The Linguistic Appeal Of 'Garbage Person,' The Internet's Favorite Insult
We trace the phrase's provenance from Charles Manson to Clickhole.
fleeting wonders
Punk's Fashion Heir May Burn $7 Million Collection To Spite A Library
No future / no future / no future for you!
egyptian revival
Oxyrhynchus, Ancient Egypt's Most Literate Trash Heap
An ancient Egyptian landfill of plays, gospels, and mash notes gives new meaning to trashy writing.
notes from the field
Found: A Creepy Note From a House's Former Inhabitant
"I WILL ALWAYS BE WATCHING YOU," the 15-year-old note read.
garbage week
The Surprisingly Deep Influence of Trashy TV Dance Parties
In the 20th century, teen cultural politics played out on sound stages around the country.
genetics
Found: Oldest Neanderthal DNA Ever
Scientists solved a case of missing identity: who were these 430,000-year-old hominins?
longreads
Against the Odds, A 40-Year Old West African Village in South Carolina Has Thrived
"This is very much an American story."
magic
Congressman Proposes Resolution to Recognize Magic as Rare and Valuable
"Magic is a unifying force across cultural, religious, ethnic, and age differences in our diverse Nation."
manhattan project
How a Midwestern Potato Farm Became the World's First Nuclear Waste Site
One company in St. Louis produced nearly all the uranium used in the Manhattan Project.
dinosaurs
Newly-Found Species Shows Tyrannosaurus Rex Had Brains Before Might
The newly-discovered ancestor had the smarts of T. rex but was the size of a horse.
shipwrecks
Shipwreck from Vasco da Gama's Armada Found off Arabian Peninsula
The ship is believed to be the Esmeralda, which sank in May 1503 after a tempest.
