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Oarfish sport red spine-like fins on their head and a long dorsal fin running the length of their body, as well as two oar-like pelvic fins, giving them their name.
disasters

The Legend of Japan's 'Earthquake Fish'

The serpent-like oarfish has long been considered an omen of natural disaster. Scientists are shaking up that old superstition.
Roxanne Hoorn October 3, 2023
The Great Boston Molasses Flood, 1919.
disasters

Podcast: We Heart Disasters … With John Marr

A visit with the author of a classic zine about unusual deaths.
The Podcast Team June 28, 2023
By 1994, the seaweed had died back on Mearns Rock and mussels were elbowing in.
disasters

Alaskans Have Photographed This Boulder for 33 Years

In 1990, a scientist began visually documenting Prince William Sound’s recovery from the Exxon Valdez oil spill. When funding ran out, volunteers took over.
J. Besl June 12, 2023
Great Yarmouth, England

Suspension Bridge Disaster Memorial

On May 2, 1845, crowds gathered to watch a clown and four geese sail upstream in a bathtub. Then disaster struck.
Peaches and Chartreuse jelly, from Rayanne House.
disasters

Make the Jellied Delicacy Served Aboard the Titanic

For their last meal, first-class passengers dined on 11 courses, including Chartreuse jelly and peaches.
Diana Hubbell April 27, 2023
In 2011, a slow-moving tropical cyclone called Vania caused flooding and wind damage in parts of Vanuatu.
disasters

The Ni-Vanuatu Way To Prepare for a Storm

In Vanuatu, traditional knowledge provides resilience as tropical cyclones grow more intense.
Monica Evans April 3, 2023
John Brown's Headstone
Dailly, Scotland

John Brown Memorial

The grave of a man who spent 23 days trapped underground after a mine collapse.
In the aftermath of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, the government built 5,610 "earthquake shacks" to help resident weather the winter months.
disasters

The Earthshaking History of San Francisco's Quake Shacks

You can still spot these tiny reminders of the 1906 earthquake in the city today.
Laura Kiniry February 23, 2023
The ship first known as the <em>Viking Sally</em> was once a floating pleasure palace, part of the Baltic's "cruiseferry culture."
disasters

The Curse of the Viking Sally, the Baltic’s Most Ill-Starred Ship

The one-time floating pleasure palace left a legacy of murder and maritime disaster in its wake.
Michael Hunt October 6, 2022
A debilitated caiman is carried by GRAD leader Carla Sassi, on a bridge in Poconé, State of Mato Grosso, Brazil.
disasters

When Disaster Strikes in Brazil, This Pioneering Veterinarian Jumps Into Action

Carla Sassi is helping to develop new ways to save the country's animals from peril.
João Velozo July 7, 2022
disasters

Podcast: National Corvette Museum Sinkhole

Join us for a daily celebration of the world’s most wondrous, unexpected, even strange places.
The Podcast Team June 22, 2022
Cameroon's Lake Nyos, photographed shortly after its 1986 release of a massive cloud of carbon dioxide gas, which killed more than 1,700 people.
disasters

The Invisible Threat Beneath Cameroon's Deadly Lake Nyos

Thousands died in 1986 when the crater lake unleashed a cloud of toxic gas. Could it happen again?
John Richard Saylor June 9, 2022
A block carrying an ancient Roman inscription was reused in a medieval wall in Conza. On the left, the remains of the Roman forum can be seen below street-level buildings that survived a 1980 earthquake.
disasters

In 1980, an Earthquake Destroyed an Italian Town—and Revealed Another

In Conza today, millennia of history seem to exist all at the same time.
Federico Formica April 6, 2022
The "sarcophagus" covering the fourth block of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, 2018.
disasters

Chernobyl's Strange Black Fungi Have a Superpower

The organisms, growing at the Ukrainian site amid invasion and occupation, may one day help keep space travelers safe.
Eden Arielle Gordon April 1, 2022
Lava flows surround the town of El Paraíso on La Palma in the Canary Islands.
disasters

How Volcanologists Tracked a Violent, Months-Long Eruption

Though the damage on La Palma in the Canary Islands is extensive, no lives were lost.
Robin George Andrews January 14, 2022
curious denizens
Nashville, Tennessee

8th Avenue Reservoir

In 1912, a broken section of the reservoir wall released millions of gallons of water and destroyed many homes downhill.
disasters

Podcast: The Deadliest Lake

Join us for a daily celebration of the world’s most wondrous, unexpected, even strange places.
The Podcast Team December 6, 2021
A multidisciplinary research team believes a catastrophic impact event may have inspired the Biblical story of the destruction of Sodom.
disasters

Is an Asteroid to Blame for the Biblical Story of Sodom?

A massive space rock impact event may have inspired the tale of godly wrath.
Christopher R. Moore November 1, 2021