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Watch this Stunning Timelapse of a Double Rainbow Forming

This time-lapse video of a rainbow forming over the island of O'ahu in Hawaii expertly captures one of Mother Nature’s most uplifting feats. In a true display of companionship, the first rainbow is...

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Exploring the Painted Mansions of the Rajasthani Desert

A double haveli in Nawalgarh, Shekhawati. (All photos: Eloise Stark)Shekhawati is a slow-paced region in the Indian state of Rajasthan. To reach it you have to drive several hours through the Thar...

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India's Trying to Predict Monsoons with a $60 Million Supercomputer

Monsoon clouds in Aralvaimozhy in southern India. (Photo: w:user:PlaneMad/GNU)The yearly monsoon in India is currently advancing up the massive subcontinent, bringing with it the essential rains that...

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National Parks in South Africa May Ban Wildlife Apps

A giraffe surprises some tourists at South Africa's Kruger National Park. (Photo: Nithin bolar k/CC BY-SA 3.0)These days, some national park visitors spot more wildlife with their phones than with...

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The Weird Logic Behind Yard Signs in Politics

Political signs in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo: Tim Evanson/CC BY-SA 2.0)A version of this post originally appeared on Tedium, a twice-weekly newsletter that hunts for the end of the long tail. In this age...

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How Massachusetts Came to Have Its Own Bermuda Triangle

The Hockomock swamp, or "place where spirits dwell" was the final holdout for the Wampanoags during King Philip's War. . (Photo: Jake Robertson)The spot isn't easy to find. It's only by crabwalking...

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Why Grooms Get Their Own Manly Cakes at Southern Weddings

A buck groom's cake. (Photo: Laura Sheik/CC BY-ND 2.0)When Jonathan Walker got married to his wife Megan in a historic dancing pavilion in New Orleans, they didn’t skimp on the cake. In fact, they...

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Can Science Ever Make A Real Diamond?

This machine that analyses and measures the spatial, 3-dimensional properties of the diamond and then drops them into a program akin to CAAD, which determines the design the cutters can cut on it....

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In the Early 1940s, the Red Cross Banned Black Blood Donors

Members of World War II's 33nd Fighter Group attend a briefing in Ramitelli, Italy. (Photo: Toni Frissell/Library of Congress/LC-DIG-ppmsca-13245)Over the past few days, as the country reels in the...

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Ian McKellen Spotted at Shanghai's Marriage Market

Gandalf at the marriage market in Shanghai. Where in China is Gandalf could be fun game pic.twitter.com/TP2JlficYU— Damien Ma (@damienics) June 11, 2016Dammit, Gandalf. In the midst of his quest to...

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The Secret Messages Hiding Inside 17th Century Engagement Rings

A gimmel ring at the British Museum. (Photo: Geni/GFDL CC-BY-SA)When shopping for an engagement ring, the standard advice is to consider the four C’s: cut, color, clarity, and carat. In 17th-century...

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Found: One of Toronto’s Two Giant, Fugitive Rodents

Capybara does its thing. (Photo: Charlesjsharp/CC BY-SA 4.0)Have you ever seen a capybara? In some photos, they look cute enough...Capybara, kind of cute? (Photo: Karoly Lorentey/CC BY 2.0)But let us...

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Russia’s Centuries-Old Bride-Shows Were the Original Version of ‘The Bachelor'

Tsar Alexis of Russia chooses his bride, c. 1882. (Photo: Public Domain)For the past 14 years, millions of hopeful romantics and cynical snarks have watched matchmaking TV show The Bachelor and its...

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Happy 48th Anniversary, Here's A Microscope!

Or you could always get your wife a dead chicken. (Image: Gabriël Metsu/Public Domain)This past December, Ellen Degeneres asked comedian Andy Samberg how he and his wife, harpist Joanna Newsom,...

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The Ultimate Crowdsourced Map of Long Distance Relationships

Around Valentine's Day this year, we got the idea of asking Atlas Obscura readers about one of the most fraught kind of relationships—the long distance kind, or LDRs. We assumed we'd get 50 or so...

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Watch Estonian Brides Race Each Other in Their Wedding Dresses

It's the ultimate battle of the brides. Every June, at the height of the wedding season in Estonia, women dressed in bridal gowns hike up their skirts, lace up their tennis shoes, and compete for the...

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Bride Resuscitates Unconscious Woman An Hour After Her Wedding

Julie Stroyne Nixon was walking out of her own wedding reception in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, still in her dress and heels, when she heard someone cry out for help. "Does anybody know CPR?" the voice...

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The First Mammal to Ever Go Extinct from Climate Change

(Photo: The University of Queensland)Off the northern coast of Australia lies Bramble Cay, a lonely, tiny island that just pokes out of the ocean. It is only around nine acres, and, for years, was the...

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Wedding Night Games Are Awkward All Around the World

A comical portrayal of all of the people involved in an 18th-century wedding night. (Photo: Isaac Cruikshank/Public Domain)While weddings are full of happenings and rituals, a wedding night usually...

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New 200-Million-Year-Old Species of Marine Reptile Found From Dinosaur Era

(Photo: James McKay)For 65 years, a museum in Leicester, England, was in possession of a bunch of unidentified dinosaur bones. They appeared to be a reptile of some sort, perhaps related to...

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