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places you can no longer go

Places You Can No Longer Go: HMS Diamond Rock

How the British Navy turned an island into a ship.
Lucas Adams March 31, 2016
crime

The Story Behind the Bulletproof Photo Craze

Men shot each other all the time, it seems, for publicity photos in the 1920s.
David Goldenberg March 31, 2016
mathematics

Stupid Calculations: What if Instagram Pictures Were on Film?

An absurdist new column that pairs the ridiculous with math.
Josh Orter March 29, 2016
places you can no longer go

Places You Can No Longer Go: New Australia

In the 1890s, a group of disaffected Australians tried to create a South American utopia.
Lucas Adams March 24, 2016
video

The Brainless Life of the Sea Squirt

A sea zombie, in video form.
Dylan Thuras March 17, 2016
garbage

Places You Can No Longer Go: Barren Island

The small slip of land near Brooklyn used to be a moldering cesspool—before Robert Moses stepped in.
Lucas Adams March 17, 2016
objects of intrigue

Object of Intrigue: Disneyland's Flirty, Talking Trash Can

An animatronic trash can named PUSH eventually got the shove.
Tao Tao Holmes March 15, 2016
Medici Column
Paris, France

Medici Column

The spiral staircase hidden inside this giant Parisian column was likely built for Catherine de Medici's astrologer.
places you can no longer go

Places You Can No Longer Go: UpStairs Lounge

An arson at a New Orleans gay bar is one of the worst LGBT mass murders in American history.
Lucas Adams March 11, 2016
A respectable Neanderthal looks out over the crowd at the Neandertal-Menschen in Germany.
prehistoric

Please Stop Using 'Neanderthal' As An Insult, Say Neanderthal Experts

How a whole prehistoric subspecies came to stand in for an extremely modern type of backwardness.
Cara Giaimo March 9, 2016
objects of intrigue

Object of Intrigue: Moche Sex Pots

Erotic pottery from the ancient Andean Moche civilization is the world’s most renowned...and explicit.
Ann Babe March 8, 2016
film

The Secrets of Set Decoration from 'Working Girl'

Staten Island, Wall Street and the story behind Joan Cusack's hair.
Andy Wright March 7, 2016
maps

When American Voters Had 2 Choices: Whig or Loco Foco

This fascinating electoral map from 1840 documents a chaotic time in American politics.
Ella Morton March 7, 2016
castles

Places You Can No Longer Go: Dunwich

This important castle wasn't pushed into the sea by an invading army—it was the weather.
Lucas Adams March 3, 2016
Two spider monkeys at ARCAS Peten. After months of learning how to be monkeys together, they're almost ready for re-release.
wildlife sanctuaries

In This Rainforest, Trafficked Animals Teach Each Other How To Be Wild

Animal specialists have to ignore crying babies, for their own good.
Cara Giaimo March 2, 2016
objects of intrigue

Object of Intrigue: Confederate Currency

In 1861, imagery on American banknotes included railroads, Greek goddesses, and slavery.
Ella Morton March 1, 2016
extra mile

The Obsessive Treasure Hunters Who Travel the World with Metal Detectors

Are you a 'coinshooter' or a 'dirt fisher'?
Andy Wright February 29, 2016
maps

Maps of the Moon Mountains Once Thought to be the Source of the Nile

For centuries, mapmakers thought that the source of the Nile came from these mysterious mountains.
Eric Grundhauser February 29, 2016