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paleontology

Half a Billion Years Ago, These ‘Terror Beasts’ Ruled the Seas

Spoiler alert: They’re giant worms.
January 4, 2024
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great lakes

The Year in Wrecks, Lost Ships, and Underwater Discoveries

From unexpected treasure in Ukraine to a unique relic of the American Revolution, Captain Santa’s lost ship to digital dugouts.
December 27, 2023
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universe

Bookish Gifts for Literature Lovers

A giving guide from the Atlas Obscura team.
November 27, 2023
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accessible travel

Accessible Independent Travel Is for All Ages and Abilities

See the world “any which way” you can, says a seasoned traveler in her 70s.
August 24, 2023
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accessible travel

Adventure Is Accessible When You Think Outside the Box

Meet the Wisconsin woman wheeling around the world.
July 25, 2023
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world's oldest

The World's Oldest Glaciers Are Buried Under South African Gold

2.9-billion-year-old evidence could be proof of a lost ice age—the first “Snowball Earth.”
July 12, 2023
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sun

Why Are There Three Twilights?

And we’re not talking about vampire books.
July 5, 2023
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wetlands

This Orlando Water Park Is Wild. No, Really.

At Orlando Wetlands Park, water goes for a ride—through a natural filtration process—and attracts birds, gators, and more.
May 9, 2023
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beltane

Beltane Is About More Than Fire and Fertility

The ancient “Celtic” start of summer is rooted in animal husbandry—and it’s not on May 1.
April 28, 2023
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antarctic

On Antarctica's Vega Island, a Grinning Skull Is the Face of Climate Change

Satellite imagery recently captured a dramatic view of shrinking glaciers and snow cover on the remote island.
April 12, 2023
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repatriation

Are the Benin Bronzes Made From German Brass—And Does It Matter?

The famous West African artworks, long at the center of repatriation debates, were made from materials sourced in Rhineland.
April 5, 2023
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ichthyosaurs

This Arctic Ichthyosaur Should Not Exist

A marine reptile fossil from Svalbard challenges ideas about evolution and Earth’s greatest mass extinction.
March 21, 2023
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clouds

Marine Stratocumulus Clouds May Be the Most Important Clouds on Earth

These common formations create abstract designs and reveal important patterns of environmental change, big and small.
March 14, 2023
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reproduction

Studying Australia's Feisty Northern Quolls Requires Beef Chum and Backpacks

Scientists fitted the famously bitey marsupials with tiny accelerometers to learn their secrets.
February 8, 2023
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drones

Can Loktak Lake's Wondrous Floating Islands Bounce Back?

A photographer's drone's-eye image of the famous phumdis of northeastern India shows a unique environment undergoing change.
January 31, 2023
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carnivorous plants

These Toilet-Shaped Carnivorous Plants Thrive By Eating Poop

Some of Borneo's pitcher plants took insects off the menu in favor of mammal droppings. It's an evolutionary triumph.
January 20, 2023
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year in wonder 2022

Revisiting the Weird and Wonderful Nature of 2022

This year, we met creatures (and other living things) great and small, from the world’s largest organism to microscopic parasites.
December 30, 2022
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year in wonder 2022

Our Favorite Science Stories of 2022

From engineering VR terror to tracking tipsy monkeys, we love watching researchers at work.
December 27, 2022
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auroras

Aurora Hunters Capture the Wonder of the Northern (and Southern) Lights

A curated collection of images shows why this natural phenomenon has fascinated and inspired humans for millennia.
December 21, 2022
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year in wonder 2022

Our Favorite Environment Stories of 2022

From a 'happiness farmer' to dauntless vets, we met people rekindling hope through perseverance and innovation.
December 20, 2022
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christmas monsters

Krampus Is the Christmas Icon We Need—And Maybe the One We Deserve

At Milwaukee’s Krampusnacht, we go in search of the essence of Santa’s unholy enforcer.
December 9, 2022
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secret lives of museums

Iowa’s Ancient Apex Predator Was the ‘T. rex’ of Its Day

The monstrous menace known as Whatcheeria hints that our distant ancestors may have been more like us than we thought.
December 2, 2022
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abbeys

From Space, Mont Saint-Michel Stars in a Wild Impressionist Painting

During the winter months, the iconic French site casts a perfect shadow on a bay full of history—and quicksand.
November 22, 2022
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microscopes

These Tiny Jewels Come From One of Alaska's Most Unusual Beaches

This microscopic treasure was collected from a remote site near the Arctic Circle.
November 15, 2022