Sam Anderson

Sam Anderson

Sam Anderson takes any writing assignments he can talk his way into while intermittently traveling the American West and Mexico in search of margaritas — er, adventure. He parlayed a decade of roving trade work into a life of fair-weather rock climbing and truck dwelling before (to his parents' evident relief) finding a way to put his BA in English to use. Sam loves animals, sleeping outdoors, campfire refreshments and a good story.
a shipwreck covered with marine life

All Sides Battle Over $17 Billion Shipwreck

There might not exist a more highly coveted shipwreck...
Astronaut Don Pettit in a spacesuit test in 2002.

Weekend Warm-Up: Yo-Yo Tricks in Space and Other Highlights From Astronaut Don Pettit

Leave it to an astronaut to start playing with...
robots dancing

We’re Doomed: Watch These Robots Dance to Pop Music

In a terrifying development, a Chinese company has unveiled...
headshot of a middle aged white man

Famed Everest Documentarian David Breashears Dies at 68

The mountaineering community has lost a luminary. David Breashears died...
mapped glacier on mars

Hidden Martian Volcano Taller Than Everest Could Hold Glacier

Astronomers in Houston announced a Texas-sized discovery on the...
Fish swim among pink coral in the Lophelia Reef.

Canada’s First Known Coral Reef Found

No Canadian coral reef had ever graced the radar...
a man aboard a row boat

Diabetic Rower Dies on Trans-Atlantic Voyage

One long-distance rower set out across the Atlantic Ocean,...
gold artifacts

Inside a Powerful Ancient Man’s Tomb: Dozens of Human Sacrifices

A newly discovered tomb in Panama contains a fortune...
A nomad's ger in deep snow, left, and a sheep pen with the dead sheep piled outside.

Herders Struggle to Survive Deadly Mongolian ‘Dzud’ Winter

Herders in Mongolia are undergoing an unusually harsh winter...
old man standing with solar panels

Weekend Warm-Up: Modern-Day Gaucho Bucks Cowboy Tropes

The trope of the solitary man covers almost all...
A rusty sword

Magnet Fisherman Hauls Rare Viking Sword From English River

Any angler will tell you, you never know what...
drawing of plants with shrubby tops and narrow, twiggy trunks

Found: World’s Oldest Forest, Which Changed Life Forever

If you were hiking through the world’s oldest forest,...
A wooly mammoth recreation at the Shanghai Natural History Museum

Breakthrough Draws ‘De-Extinction’ of Mammoth Nearer

Colossal Biosciences announced yesterday that it has created cells...
A platypus preying on a worm

Platypus Stings Woman in Rare Event

Platypus survival may be jeopardized — but don’t tell...
a blackened loaf of bread

Slightly Stale: Turkish Loaf Ranks Among World’s Oldest Bread

Ever eat day-old bread? Try 3,147,760-day-old bread. That's what food...

Our Lost Human Ancestors, Closer to Us Than Neanderthals

When archaeologists recovered a human finger bone fragment from...
killer whales just below the ocean surface

Shark-Eating Orcas Strike Again in First Confirmed Solo Kill

If you’re a shark in Indian Ocean coastal waters...
illustration of a human-like figure among ruins, with a large lava-encrusted planet in the sky

Aliens Could Be Trapped On Their Own Planets

How come we still don’t know whether or not...
men holding a banner on a mountain summit

Weekend Warm-Up: Social Ignorance, Super 8 Mastery in ‘Mountain of Storms’

If you’re hooked from the tight 15-second intro to...
blue whale

Blue Whale Back on Top as Heaviest Animal Ever

Last year, the Blue Planet’s heaviest ever animal lost...
a man wearing a stone age outfit

Paleo Cosplay? Archaeologist Tests Homemade Neolithic Gear in Scandinavia

Experimental archaeologist Markus Klek is having a blast walking...
a skier pulling a sled into a sunset

Resourceful Solo Skier Aces Iceland Winter Crossing

Along with one distinctive Led Zeppelin song, the ravaging...
exterior of a telescope against a starry night sky

Miracle Discovery: Three Tiny New Moons Found Orbiting Uranus, Neptune

How hard would it be to spot an object...
Galen portrait

1,800 Years Later, Ancient Greek Druggist’s Pharmacopoeia Won’t Die

There’s something to be said for traditional medicine. And...

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