August 31, 2021

The Unusually Long Life of the Greenland Shark At first glance, Greenland sharks are strange, but perhaps unremarkable. They’re sluggish, awkwardly proportioned, and often have long, pinkish parasites dangling from their eyes. But a recent study of these sharks produced astounding results, indicating that Greenland sharks could live anywhere between 272 and 512 years. There could be Greenland sharks alive today, the results suggest, that were born during the Renaissance.  READ MORE → GASTRO OBSCURA The Blue Moon Mystery Ask six different people what the flavor of Blue Moon ice cream is and you’ll get six different answers, at least. It’s almond, it’s raspberry, it’s lemon, it’s Froot Loops, it’s cotton candy, it’s beaver musk additive. It is, perhaps, one or more of these flavors, but that’s not for us civilians to know. An alluring hue of cosmic blue, this ice cream has secrets, including one theory so preposterous in nature, it would seem to be trolling were it not so genuinely investigated.  READ MORE → ATLAS OBSCURA EXPERIENCES  Curios of the New York Public Library  Curious about what mysterious artifacts live within the walls of The New York Public Library? Join us for the first episode of this new bi-monthly collaboration and get a rare look at the stranger-than-fiction items of the Pforzheimer collection. This unique collection centers around the works and times of Frankenstein author Mary Shelley and her husband, poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. If you wonder what fragments of a skull and a lock of hair are doing in a library, then join us to find out!  GET TICKETS → TOKYO, JAPAN Book and Bed Hostel Japan is a country that has mastered the art of the capsule hotel. If you don’t mind sharing a shower, toilet, and basic standing room with other travelers, you can usually find a place to stay for cheap. One Shinjuku hostel has made this concept a little more interesting—instead of simply building beds into the wall, why not file them into bookcases? READ MORE → Ultimate Guide to Bird Monuments History is filled with evidence of our avian fascination: cave paintings often feature bird imagery, and the oldest piece of art from China is a tiny passerine carved from a bit of bone 13,000 years ago. These are some of the best monuments, memorials, and taxidermy that celebrate birds around the world—and unlike their living counterparts, none of these will fly away before you have a chance to see them. READ MORE → FROM THE ARCHIVES Tainted Treasures At the edge of Trastevere, a district of central Rome, sits an unremarkable orange, three-story building. But its unassuming appearance belies the treasures concealed inside: under the 24/7 gaze of carabinieri surveillance, priceless artworks sit among hundreds of Roman sarcophagi, Renaissance paintings, and legendary violins. Every item that finds itself in the vault has one thing in common: a brush with crime. READ MORE → TUBA CITY, ARIZONA Moenave Dinosaur Tracks  Today the area around Moenave, Arizona in the Navajo Nation is a dusty, windswept expanse with breathtaking desert landscapes but not a tree or drop of water in sight. About 200 million years ago, however, the area was a marshy riverbed that preserved hundreds of footprints from the dinosaurs that trod across it. READ MORE → ATLAS OBSCURA COURSES Beyond Tree Identification In this four-part course, get to know the trees around you—from learning basic botany and tree identification to performing self-led fieldwork. You’ll learn the fundamentals of how to practice local phenology by developing observation skills that go beyond leaf identification to a closer look at the characteristics of trees. ENROLL NOW →