July 13, 2021

Rare Albino Redwoods For decades, Tom Stapleton has searched for and logged rare albino redwoods, their silver-white branches a stark contrast to the dark wood of the surrounding forest, and even less common wild chimera redwoods, which sport patchworks of green and white needle leaves. Collaborating with albino redwood researchers and enthusiasts, he has found more than 500 albino redwoods and 116 wild chimeras. Their locations are kept secret to protect them from souvenir hunters or other vandals. Stapleton is now working with researchers to understand why these unusual trees exist, and what their presence may mean for the health of surrounding trees and even entire ecosystems.  READ MORE → GASTRO OBSCURA Disappearing Coffee Roasters Kopi is a style of coffee unique to Southeast Asia, and has a rich history. To mimic the flavor of the more-expensive arabica beans, locals cooked the cheaper robusta beans with butter or margarine, as well as sugar. Robusta beans have around twice the amount of caffeine as arabica, more bitterness, and less acidity. As a result, kopi, which means “coffee” in Malay, became the regional favorite for its caffeine content, sweetness, and cheapness. In Singapore, there are still a handful of coffee roasters who adhere to the traditional ways of cooking these beans, but it’s quickly becoming a dying art. READ MORE → ATLAS OBSCURA EXPERIENCES Inside a Glass Museum Join The Corning Museum of Glass Live from the Hot Shop! In this hour-long experience, we’ll explore their new exhibition, “Fire and Vine: The Story of Glass and Wine,” where we’ll dive into more than 3,500 years of history, science, and wine. Then buckle in for a live look as master glassmaker, Chris Rochelle, takes glowing gobs of molten glass and turns them into beautiful, complex goblets. LEARN MORE → FAIRBANKS, ALASKA Chatanika Gold Dredge #3 This place was originally called the Fairbanks Exploration Company gold dredge #3. It was established in 1923 as a gold mining operation. Between 1926 and 1957, some $70 million worth of gold was extracted from this lake. At one time the population of the mining camp reached 10,000, making it bigger than Fairbanks, Alaska. READ MORE → FROM THE ARCHIVES Hot Medieval Shoe Trends In 1463, London outlawed the shoes of its fanciest men. These dapper lords had grown ridiculous in their dapperness, and had taken to ambling streets shod in long, carrot-shaped shoes that tapered to impish tips, some as long as five inches beyond the toe. These shoes were called “crakows” or “poulaines.” The lords and, to a lesser extent, ladies of 15th-century Europe wore these shoes almost exclusively for over a century; for the glitterati of medieval Europe, poulaines were less a fad than a symbol. READ MORE → THE ATLAS OBSCURA PODCAST The Baalbek Trilithon We’re virtually hopping over to Lebanon, where we’re paying a visit to the Baalbek Trilithon, an ancient temple complex in northern Lebanon that is not only one of the most well-preserved Roman ruins on Earth, but also one of the most overlooked architectural feats. It also features the largest stone ever hewn by man. Known as the “Stone of the Pregnant Woman,” it weighs an estimated 1,200 tons—equivalent to three Boeing 747s. LISTEN ON OUR SITE →    LISTEN ON APPLE PODCASTS →    LISTEN ON SPOTIFY →    LISTEN ON STITCHER → CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA, CALIFORNIA Carmelite Monastery The story of the Carmelite Monastery in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, actually begins about eight centuries before it was built. The Carmelite Order is a Roman Catholic religious order for men and women, and is thought to have been founded in the 12th-century at Mount Carmel in Israel. In 1602, three Carmelite friars came with Don Sebastian Vizcaino’s expedition to central California, and named this region Carmel. If you visit the chapel during the summer solstice in the evening, you’ll notice that the sun shines through the window over the entrance and illuminates the tabernacle on the altar. READ MORE → Wolfish Welcomes A new gray wolf pack has established itself in northern California, retaking a part of the vast territory that the species used to inhabit. The fledgling Beckwourth pack has set down roots in Plumas County, near the California-Nevada border. These wolves join two other groups of gray wolves in California, heartening biologists and environmental activists who have decried the rollback of state and federal protections for wolves across the western United States, undercutting their recovery after they were nearly hunted to extinction. READ MORE → ATLAS OBSCURA COURSES Exploring China's Regional Cuisines In this discussion-based, hands-on seminar, we’ll learn about various regions of China through their distinct cuisines, using food as a vehicle for deeper learning. Join Atlas Obscura trip leader and educator Dr. Xiaokun Song as she walks us through cuisines and cooking techniques from across the country, as well as the histories, narratives, politics, and culture they’re steeped in, before engaging in a full-session cooking workshop, weaving together techniques, discussions, and histories we’ve discussed along the way. LEARN MORE → DOVER, ENGLAND Bronze Age Boat In September 1992, construction workers made an intriguing discovery while building a road: a sizable, well-preserved prehistoric boat, which was determined to be about 3,500 years old. Nautical archaeologists estimated that the boat would have been in use around 1500 BC, and likely made trips across the Dover Straits to and from the European continent. Today, the boat lives in a special gallery in the Dover Museum. READ MORE → Making the Old New Again The world is filled with hollowed-out buildings longing for care, forlorn parks whose better days are distant memories, and subterranean haunts that have been abandoned. While restoration is always an option, there’s also the choice to turn them into something new. These 15 places have been repaired and repurposed far beyond their original designs, allowing them to live wondrous second lives that can be experienced in person, whether that means rocking out in an 18th-century cathedral, kayaking through a subterranean reservoir, or exploring an abandoned film set. READ MORE → ATLAS OBSCURA TRIPS Exploring Ancient Egypt Join us as we follow in the footsteps of explorers and royalty and experience the thrill of discovery while exploring the Great Pyramids of Giza, traversing the Avenue of the Sphinxes, and climbing into the Tomb of Tutankhamun. History may stand still in the ruins of temples and tombs, but our expert Egyptologist guide will bring it to life in the stories of gods, pharaohs, and legends from the great ancient civilizations that once walked these lands. LEARN MORE →