The Combat Ration Collectors Who Eat Decades-Old Military Meals
A G.I. eating a compressed dehydrated vegetable bar in 1971. (Photo: Natick Soldier Systems Center Photographic Collection/CC BY 3.0)Even if they’ve been baked to perfection and stored in an airtight...
View ArticleGet Hypnotized By This Interactive Map of the Winds
What a lovely map of all the particles in the air. (Photo: All images from the Earth wind map. Screenshots by Eric Grundhauser)While the elegance of hand-crafted old maps is self-evident, finding...
View ArticleEPIC Campus in Verona, Wisconsin
One in two Americans is covered by a hospital that uses Epic Systems to run their software - over 150 million people. Unsurprisingly, Epic Systems, the corporation that created the medical software,...
View ArticleBitcoin's Creator Unmasks Himself After Months of Suspicion
Craig Steven Wright, an Australian entrepreneur, publicly identified himself Monday as the creator of the digital currency Bitcoin, apparently ending months of speculation.Wright gave interviews to the...
View ArticleWatch This Sneaky Octopus Roll Around the Ocean Floor in a Coconut
Who would have thought a couple of coconut shells would be a smooth way to travel? Amphioctopus marginatus, commonly known as the coconut octopus, has cracked open the power of the coconut. As the...
View ArticleThe Unfathomable Collection of Lonnie Hammargren
(All photos: Dylan Thuras)Las Vegas, with its bright lights and constant whirl, can feel like another dimension. Visitors to the city can stay in an "ancient" castle, take an elevator to the top of a...
View ArticleThe Blue Room in Kilauea, Hawaii
The last of three caves on a short hike up from the road and down a steep rocky scramble, Waikapalae wet cave is also known as The Blue Room for its secret back grotto that once glowed an otherworldly...
View ArticleAmerican Cruise Ship Arrives in Cuba for the First Time Since 1978
Just in: For first time in nearly 40 years, a U.S. cruise ship has docked in Cuba https://t.co/0bT2fltneCpic.twitter.com/3Ja6tjQZ8b— CNN (@CNN) May 2, 2016An American cruise ship anchored in Havana...
View ArticleRowan Oak in Oxford, Mississippi
Built in Oxford by planter Colonel Robert Sheegog in the 1840s, this primitive two-story Greek Revival home is where William Faulkner wrote many of his most legendary Southern gothic tales.Faulkner and...
View ArticleDingolfing Ossuary in Dingolfing, Germany
In a small churchyard in Dingolfing, Germany you’ll find the Schusterkapelle (Schuster Chapel). Inside the chapel, you’ll find a decorated wooden display―and in that display, you’ll find a staggering...
View ArticleThe History of GeoWorks, Microsoft Windows' Upstart '90s Competitor
A Commodore 64 computer. (Photo: Luca Boldrini/CC BY 2.0)A version of this post originally appeared on Tedium, a twice-weekly newsletter that hunts for the end of the long tail. Back in the early '90s,...
View ArticleAtlantis Marine Park in Two Rocks, Australia
Located in the little town of Two Rocks, just north of Perth, the Roman god Neptune towers over his crumbled kingdom.Atlantis Marine Park was constructed in 1981 in the hopes that nearby Perth's...
View ArticleHorse Racing Rules Found on 2,000-Year-Old Tablet
Horseracing rules found on 2,000-year-old tablet in central Turkey https://t.co/6fw8YkkCYspic.twitter.com/eEZKinUBDM— Hürriyet Daily News (@HDNER) May 2, 2016Horse racing these days is a dying sport,...
View ArticleThe Capitol Stones in Washington, District of Columbia
If you live in Washington long enough, someone will tell you a ridiculous-sounding story about a secret place in Rock Creek Park where there are huge piles of historic stone torn off the Capitol and...
View Article5 Amazing LEGO Jobs Currently Open
Stop dreaming of working at LEGO and apply for these jobs! (Photo: Jay Reed/CC BY-SA 2.0)Welcome back to AO Jobs, the weekly column where we spotlight jobs and career opportunities that you can apply...
View ArticleAn Australian Island Paradise's Century-Long Rat War
A group of ratters on Lord Howe Island, holding their kill by the tail. (Photo: Courtesy of the Lord Howe Island Museum)When the Lord Howe stick insect limped back into the limelight from the brink of...
View ArticleFound: An Incredibly Rare and Giant Violet Diamond
That's a very large greyish bluish violet diamond. (Photo: Rio Tinto)Diamonds, most famously, are colorless and sparkly. But some diamonds, either because of chemical impurities or structural...
View ArticleThe Weird History Of The Space Blanket
The mysterious "Black Knight Satellite"—or, a space blanket that escaped from NASA and reinvigorated a decades-old conspiracy theory. (Photo: NASA/Public Domain)Over the past year, over a million...
View ArticleOlympic Flame Lands On Brazilian Runway
Picturing the Olympic torch conjures up grand images: a flame held aloft by sweaty runners, moving from city to city, cheered by uproarious crowds until it reaches its final destination. This year, in...
View ArticleA Mother's Day Gift Idea from Imperial Russia
(Photos: The Walters Art Museum/Creative Commons)When your mother's a dowager empress, it can be hard to find a gift for her that's impressive and original. Faced with this situation in 1901, Russian...
View Article