sabrinaimbler's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
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female scammers

The Parisian Fraudster With Complicated Tales of Imaginary Millionaires

Thérèse Humbert played French bankers like fiddles to live in the lap of luxury.
May 8, 2019
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female scammers

The Victorian Influencer Who Peddled Poisonous Beauty Elixirs

Sarah Rachel Russell sold exotic makeup that turned out to be mostly arsenic.
May 7, 2019
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races

For Sale: Preserved Manure From a Kentucky Derby Winner

Just $200 can get you a resin-encased chunk of horse racing history.
May 6, 2019
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female scammers

The Liechtensteinian Lady Burglar and Her Mysterious Trunk

Barbara Erni stole from countless inns thanks to a chest with a secret hidden within.
May 6, 2019
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nature preserves

Mexico’s Newest Nature Reserve Will Be a Former Prison

Octavio Aburto and other Mexican ecologists want to preserve the pristine reefs of the Isla Marías penal colony.
May 3, 2019
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3d

Found: A 99-Million-Year-Old Millipede, Perfectly Preserved in Amber

The newly described species has a five-unit compound eye and an unbristled butt.
May 2, 2019
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auroras

Scientists Demystify the Celestial Phenomenon Known as STEVE

It's way cooler than an aurora.
April 30, 2019
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plankton

How a 90-Year-Old Quest for Plankton Uncovered Early Plastic Pollution

All praise to the tireless continuous plankton recorder.
April 30, 2019
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crustaceans

Found: The Goofiest Crab That Ever Lived

It has the legs of a sea scorpion, the body of a lobster, and the eyes of an enormous larva.
April 26, 2019
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reefs

Scientists Come Closer to Solving the Mystery of Coral Reef Halos

These light blue rings can be seen from space.
April 24, 2019
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deserts & desserts

The Most Interesting, Spectacular Mirages Aren’t in the Desert

Spoiler alert: Try the Arctic or Sicily instead.
April 22, 2019
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lasers

Meet the Mother-Son Duo Translating Astrophysics Into Blackfoot

Corey Gray and Sharon Yellowfly want to bring gravitational wave astronomy to speakers of the language.
April 19, 2019
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bunnies

Found: Britain's First Pet Bunny

The rabbit was pampered and definitely not butchered.
April 18, 2019
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forensics

Researchers Have Recreated the Face of an Ancient Dog

The canine remains were buried in a tomb in Orkney, Scotland, over 4,000 years ago.
April 16, 2019
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epidemics

When Doctors Thought ‘Wanderlust’ Was a Psychological Condition

For decades, "pathological tourists" ended up in asylums or worse.
April 15, 2019
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blood food

The Weirdly Ornate Jars Designed Just for Precious Leeches

Victorian leech jars were beautiful—if somewhat ineffective—vessels for keeping the worms alive and out of sight.
April 11, 2019
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repatriation

Norway Will Finally Return Thousands of Artifacts to Easter Island

Sculptures, weapons, and human skulls will soon go back to the South Pacific.
April 8, 2019
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ocean

Found: Hot Pink ‘Pagodas’ at the Bottom of the Sea

A deep-sea expedition uncovers a candy-colored oasis off the Gulf of California.
April 5, 2019
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teens

The Beloved Japanese Novelist Who Became a Queer Manga Icon

Nobuko Yoshiya’s stories of frustrated, forbidden love helped establish a genre read by millions.
April 4, 2019
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sleep

Wanted: Women Who Will Spend 60 Days in Bed, for Science

Space agencies are looking for 12 female participants for a microgravity study that’s every couch potato’s dream.
April 3, 2019
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shoes

Found: A Fancy Baby Boot From the 14th Century

Archaeologists in Switzerland unearthed a fragment of a very small shoe.
April 1, 2019
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balloons

This Erupting Italian Peak Is a Hotspot for Studying Volcanic Lightning

Though not much to see, Mount Stromboli is a scientist’s dream.
March 29, 2019
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alligator

Scientists Dropped Dead Gators to the Seafloor to See What Bites

It takes a lot to go from the bayou to the deep sea.
March 28, 2019
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dolls

Chinese Women Once Had to Point Out Their Medical Troubles on Ivory Dolls

For centuries, miniature ivory women helped real women seek medical help.
March 27, 2019