Articles by Dania Rodrigues

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Stories

Stories shared by this traveler.

The neuroscientist’s brain is brownish and small, but is otherwise virtually unchanged from the 1800s.

anatomy museums

A Man in 19th-Century Italy Preserved His Own Brain to Fight Eugenics

Visit Turin to see the organ—and learn how to preserve your own.

Hally War, a 68-year-old farmer from Siej village, learned the art of creating a jingkieng jri—as the living root bridges are locally known—from his grandfather.

bridges

The Artisans Behind India's Living Root Bridges

For half a century, Hally War has been growing a bridge across a local river—and between past and present.

Cesare Lombroso, a prominent 19th-century Italian scientist, based his life's work on the skull of a man he called "brigand Villella"—but little was known about Giuseppe Villella until recently.

skulls

Why is Everyone Fighting Over the Skull of 'Brigand Villella'?

The answer involves pseudoscience, politics, and a burglary at a windmill.

Dom Pedro's 224-year-old, 20-pound heart was sent from Portugal to Brazil for the 200th anniversary of the country's independence.

preserved specimens

Why a 224-Year-Old Human Heart Is Touring Brazil

This piece of Dom Pedro I, who declared Brazil's independence, is causing controversy in two countries.

So sweet and adorable, you almost forget it's based on an ancient bloodsucking sea creature.

food

Meet the Sweet Sea Monster of Portuguese Christmas

Lampreia de ovos comes loaded with sugar, eggs, and the long history of glorifying a most peculiar parasite.

The bakers use copper pots and antique instruments used specifically by nuns for convent sweets.

food

At This Portuguese Bakery, the Recipes Were Written by Nuns Centuries Ago

The owner of Alcôa has devoted decades to recovering lost pastries.

An 1864 painting of the Acropolis in Athens, where the pharmakos ritual became an annual event.

ancient

The Ancient Greeks Sacrificed Ugly People