13 Items Tagged

Shapes

Lava from Mount Etna could hit 10 different municipalities.

Europe’s Most Active Volcano Is Also the World’s Only Decipoint

The many eruptions isn't the only reason Mount Etna is unique.

Frank Jacobs February 2, 2024

All illustrations: John Mata for Atlas Obscura

The Atlas Obscura Crossword: Twelve Faces

AO Puzzles November 27, 2023

A map of West Africa features the world's roundest country (which is also the 14th most rectangular). Can you spot it? What about the eighth most rectangular?

What Are the World’s Roundest and Most Rectangular Countries?

Mind-boggling as it is, they're often one and the same.

Frank Jacobs June 30, 2023

This ancient dodecahedron found in Avenches, Switzerland, once the Roman city of Aventicum.

objects of intrigue

The Mysterious Dodecahedrons of the Roman Empire

The first of many of these puzzling objects was unearthed almost three centuries ago, and we still don't know what they were for.

Frank Jacobs May 12, 2023

The so-called Edith Deviation follows a natural valley.

Colorado Is Not a Rectangle—It Has 697 Sides

The Centennial State is technically a hexahectaenneacontakaiheptagon.

Frank Jacobs April 14, 2023

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

The Mystery Beneath the 'Honeycomb' Patterns of Salt Deserts

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

Line Sidonie Talla Mafotsing March 9, 2023

Gömböc statue

Budapest, Hungary

Gömböc

The largest statue of this convex, homogeneous object with just one stable and one unstable equilibrium point.

Aerial view of Palmanova.

Palmanova, Italy

Palmanova Star Fort

A star-shaped fortress town fort built in the geometric model of the Renaissance utopian city.

All the Rectangles in Grand Central Station

Restormel Castle viewed from above.

Lostwithiel, England

Restormel Castle

The ruins of an 11th-century Norman castle with a rare, perfectly circular shape.

The forced rhubarb grows in complete darkness, aside from the occasional glow of a candle.

Rothwell, England

Rhubarb Triangle

A stretch of land where the sour-sweet vegetable is cloaked in darkness and grows so fast you can hear it crack, squeak, and pop.

Suite de triangles.

Saint-Nazaire, France

Suite de Triangles

These red marks, seemingly placed at random, are in fact not.

An apple pictured on a round plate at the Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore.

The Power of Circles in Food and Drink

Humans consistently associate roundness with sweetness.

Paula Mejia January 18, 2018