Author: Ms. R.

“I love talking about this!” Serra Hoagland declares, interrupting herself as she explains the purpose of the small box she’s holding. At first glance, the featureless, matte black device, about the size of a takeout container, doesn’t seem like it could inspire such delight. But Hoagland and her team will soon be carrying several of these acoustic monitors—think of them as trailcams, but for sound—into the wilderness, hoping they record the calls and responses of Mexican spotted owls. Deploying……

Read More

In Ecuador, people spin tales of the one-legged protector of the Andes, La Patasola, a beautiful woman who leads unsuspecting men to their doom for damaging the environment. In Mexico, there is La Llorona, a grieving specter ready to steal your children out of grief at losing her own. In the mountains of Germany, witches still maintain a presence—except it’s more kitschy than scary. What these “monsters” have in common is that they are all female, and they all……

Read More

Walking down Grant Ave towards Francisco Street, it’s easy to miss on your right the stairs going up to this two-person park. This land was owned by the city until 1962, when Jack Early decided to plant eucalyptus and Monterey cypress to turn this undeveloped rocky slope into his own personal park.  He added steps (using donated railroad ties) and put a bench (maximum occupancy: two) on top of the hill where you get get a great Bay Area view,……

Read More

Just over an hour’s drive southeast from Melbourne is an eclectic shop at the end of a dirt road. It’s home to countless fossils, crystals, and gems, complete with a dinosaur garden, a meteorite gallery, and a famous and perfectly preserved great white shark—affectionately named Rosie. Crystal World is not your average crystal shop, though it does have a wide array of geologic marvels for sale. The shop’s proprietor is Tom Kapitany, a degreed botanist and geologist who—if he’s……

Read More

Tucked behind a high wall in the neighborhood of Fener, St. Mary of the Mongols is a small Byzantine Orthodox church that has been a continuous place of Christian worship prior to the conquest of Istanbul. Unlike other Byzantine churches in Istanbul, it was never converted into a mosque or a museum. It is said the church was once been connected to the Hagia Sophia through a secret underground passageway.  Today, although it is open to visitors, the site……

Read More

This steeple was once the crowning glory of a church in London along Budge Row, now known as Watling Street. It’s not far from St Pauls’s Cathedral and was based on designs by Sir Christopher Wren. The spire is unusual as it is made entirely of stone. Most church steeples at the time were made from wooden frames with stone cladding. It soon became apparent that the main structure of the church was unable to support the weight of……

Read More

Despite the fact that Abraham Lincoln never set foot in California, there exists, just 60 miles east of Los Angeles, a small museum focused on America’s 16th president and the war waged under his tenure to preserve our Union. The original building was a one-room octagon with a limestone exterior inscribed with quotes from Lincoln. It was gifted to the city in 1932 by Robert and Alma Watchorn, whose own story—and that of the shrine itself—is rather remarkable. Robert……

Read More

Listen and subscribe on Stitcher, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and all major podcast apps. In this episode of The Atlas Obscura Podcast, we visit the world’s oldest intact pyramid in Egypt—and learn about the genius who also influenced the fields of architecture, astronomy, and medicine. Our podcast is an audio guide to the world’s wondrous, awe-inspiring, strange places. In under 15 minutes, we’ll take you to an incredible site, and along the way you’ll meet some fascinating people and hear……

Read More