August 30, 2022

A TELL-TALE HEART  Why a Heart Is Touring Brazil  Last week, the heart of King Dom Pedro I was transported from Porto, Portugal, where it has been preserved since 1835, across the ocean to Brazil. The organ will soon rejoin the monarch’s body in São Paulo, where it has rested since 1972 when Portugal presented it to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Brazil’s independence. Though the heart’s relocation to South America is only a temporary one, it has stirred up a high controversy across the two countries, both among scholars and the general public.  READ MORE → ATLAS OBSCURA PUZZLES Alpha and Omega This week’s Atlas Obscura puzzle comes to us from the students in Atlas Obscura’s Creating Crossword Puzzles course in May 2022, along with their instructors, expert crossword creators Brooke Husic and Natan Last. Think you can beat your fellow puzzlers? Give it a try. PLAY NOW → CHEBOYGAN, MICHIGAN The Man-Killing Clam Sea Shell City sells seashells… not by the sea shore. The store relocated to its current location in 1963, and as you can imagine, sells an incredibly wide variety of shells. The crown jewel is The Man Killing Clam, a bleached shell of a Giant Clam (Tridacna Gigas) that is more than 500 pounds and is ivory in color. READ MORE → SPONSORED BY THE MAINE OFFICE OF TOURISM South Solon Meeting House Located in Maine’s Kennebec Valley, the South Solon Meeting House has stood since 1842 as both a place of worship and a community gathering point. Its quaint, sturdy construction is evident in passing, though its other great distinguishing characteristic is only visible from the inside: Wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling frescoes completed by artists associated with a local art school in the 1950s cover just about every inch inside this nearly two-century-old church. READ MORE → GASTRO OBSCURA From Documents to Dough In 1990, faced with the imminent fall of a five-decade reign in Albania, the Communist government needed to destroy immense amounts of paperwork. As the country held its first democratic elections in 50 years, some 29,000 files disappeared—generally assumed to detail the crimes committed by the regime and identify those who perpetrated them. But until recently, the secret recipe of how so many documents were so quickly destroyed remained a mystery. Turns out they were turned into dough. READ MORE → GABLENZ, GERMANY Rakotzbrücke Devil's Bridge Nestled among the verdant foliage in Kromlau, Germany’s Kromlauer Park, is a delicately arched devil’s bridge known as the Rakotzbrücke, which was specifically built to create a circle when it is reflected in the waters beneath it. Like many similarly precarious spans across Europe, the Rakotzbrücke is known as a “devil’s bridge,” due to the colloquialism that such bridges were so dangerous or miraculous that they must have been built by Satan. READ MORE → ATLAS OBSCURA COURSES Get Schooled by a Squid In this lecture series led by biologist Sarah McAnulty, we’re taking a plunge into the deep, wondrous world of cephalopods, looking at the myriad ways they live their lives—and learn some life lessons applicable to humans, too. ENROLL TODAY → OUTLANDER IS CALLING Scotland’s Standing Stones Throughout Scotland, strange clusters of stones spike up from the earth. Built thousands of years ago, their purpose and significance remain lost to time, transforming the stones into monuments to mystery. They may not transport you to 18th-century Scotland like the fictional Craigh na Dun in the Outlander series, but these seven sites still maintain their magic, making it easy to imagine you’ve slipped into the distant past. READ MORE → MANHATTAN, NEW YORK  The Elevated Acre  In a city where space is at a premium, there remains hidden away a lush garden of solitude, known to only a curious few. Remarkably, this pleasant, quiet meadow can be found in the jostling streets of the busy Financial District in Lower Manhattan. Or more specifically, above it. READ MORE → ATLAS OBSCURA TRIPS Experience the Magic of the Galápagos The Galápagos Islands showcase how unique life develops in distinct environments. Track species that can’t be found anywhere else, snorkel through crystal clear waters, hike along wild volcanic ridges, and get a living lesson on ecology and conservation in one of the planet’s most fascinating habitats. PLAN YOUR TRIP →