Lava Lakes On December 20, 2020, at 9:36 p.m. local time, Kīlauea—the crowning volcanic jewel of the Hawaiian archipelago—woke up from a surprisingly brief slumber and began gushing again. Waterfalls of lava began pouring into Halemaʻumaʻu, the pit crater within the mountain’s cauldron-shaped summit. As of the morning of December 23, lava from two fissures continued to feed a growing lava lake—already more than 500 feet deep. Safe to say, volcanologists are bubbling with excitement. READ MORE →

GASTRO OBSCURA Purple Rice The Simbang Gabi is a devotional nine-day mass practiced by many Christians in the Philippines. Masses start before dawn (usually around 4:00 a.m.) and are held daily from December 16 through Christmas Eve. Early as that may seem, the post-mass reward is often delicious, taking the form of puto bumbong, a purple-hued rice cake (puto) made with glutinous rice and often cooked inside bamboo tubes (bumbong). Its color traditionally comes from a local dark-purple rice variety called pirurutong, which gets soaked overnight, then ground. But many cooks opt for the more easily-accessible purple tinge obtained from ube (purple yam) flavoring added to glutinous rice flour. READ MORE →

TAUPO, NEW ZEALAND Taupo McDonald's Airplane Take your McDonald’s eating experience to the next level in the city of Taupo, where the local McD eatery is located in a 20-seater airplane, decorated in the company’s signature red. The plane in question is a Douglas DC-3, constructed in 1943 and serving as a passenger plane before being decommissioned in 1984. READ MORE →

ATLAS OBSCURA EXPERIENCES Tales from the Museum We’re going back to the Wild West with our first 2021 episode of Tales from the Museum! We're featuring the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, America’s premier institution of Western history, art and culture. We’ll meet Eric D. Singleton, a Curator of Ethnology with a research focus on Native American history both ancient and historic, and learn about the museum's internationally renowned collection of Western art and artifacts, and discuss the enduring legacy of the American West. GET TICKETS →

FROM THE ARCHIVES Earth’s Most Spectacular Image As 2020 wraps up, it’s easy to get lost looking back at all the tiny details that made up this year. But let’s zoom out a little and look at the big picture—specifically our planet, in all its grandeur and glory. In spring, NASA crowned this serene photo as the winner in its annual Tournament Earth contest‚ the ideal springtime bracket challenge for science and photography aficionados. Soothing as this image of ocean sand and seaweed in the Bahamas is, though, the other candidates are equally compelling.  READ MORE →

COOLAH, AUSTRALIA The Black Stump Many Australians have uttered the phrase “Beyond the Black Stump,” but few know where it started. The exact origin of the expression meaning “the middle of nowhere” or “beyond civilization,” is hotly debated, though the New South Wales town of Coolah has a pretty convincing backstory to their claim on the original charcoal tree remains. READ MORE →

JÖNKÖPING N, SWEDEN Visingsö Oak Forest Going back to the Vikings, oak trees have been used in Sweden for vessels of all kinds, including naval ships. With this in mind, in the early 19th century, the Swedish Crown sent out a delegation to search for ideal spots to plant for future ship production. Visingsö, a narrow island in the middle of Vättern (Sweden’s second largest lake), was selected for its nearly perfect conditions for lumber production, but unfortunately, by the time the trees were ready almost 150 years later, ships had long been converted to steel. READ MORE →

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA Lonnie Hammargren's House Lonnie Hammargren is a bit of a local legend—a retired neurosurgeon and former lieutenant governor, Hammargren’s home also happens to be a veritable wunderkammer. On the state’s annual Nevada Day, which celebrates the state’s admission to statehood in 1864, he opens his Las Vegas abode to visitors for an open house, drawing thousands of visitors each year. His collection includes an underground mine, a mini Taj Mahal, a T-rex replica, and an animatronic tiger, to name just a few things you might find. READ MORE →

SPONSORED BY VOICE Ignite the Movement Let’s get real: social media these days is anything but, thanks to bots, fake accounts and shady algorithms. Voice is building an alternative -- an authentic, engaging experience where curation is led by the community and thoughtful creators always have a Voice. Voice is currently invite-only, but Atlas Obscura subscribers can get early access now. LEARN MORE →