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IS THE ILLUMINATI STILL WITH US?

Saturday, June 17, 2023

In today’s newsletter, we learn about a once-powerful secret society, examine if ‘mosquito magnets’ can be helped ... and remember Dad.

a dollar bill

PHOTOGRAPH BY JURGIS MANKAUSKAS/ALAMY

Just the name of the secret society, the heavy in a Dan Brown best-seller, gets hearts pumping.

The Illuminati.

Who was the person who organized these plotters? How did they rise so rapidly? Have they managed to survive and change our world?

BEHIND THE MYSTERY

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Adam Weishaupt

He seemed so soft spoken: Here’s Adam Weishaupt, who founded the secret Illluminati group, which rose to great influence. At top, the pyramid and the all-seeing eye, Illuminati symbols, also used in the Great Seal of the United States. Read more.

STORIES WE’RE FOLLOWING

a mosquito

MICROGRAPH BY DR TONY BRIAN, SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

You really are a mosquito magnet. Here’s what you can do about it. (Above, a micrograph shows a mosquito's abdomen swollen after a meal of human blood)

American crocodiles can have 'virgin births'—here’s what that means

What you need to know about the electric vehicle revolution

A major risk factor for 'Viking Disease'? Neanderthal genes

He was the first pharaoh found intact in his tomb—but he wasn't alone

Where will the world’s next great ocean be?

How heat can make you sick—and kill you

Who took half of the surrender flag that ended the U.S. Civil War?

This writer just traced his ancestors all the way back to Africa. Here’s how.

Who rules the high seas? Outlaws and unknown sea creatures

You may be overlooking this nutritional powerhouse. You shouldn’t.

WHAT IN THE WORLD?

a photographer records how mine waste has ruined a valley near his Romanian hometown.

PHOTOGRAPH BY GHEORGHE POPA

Not a painting: It looks beautiful from above, but it shows how mine waste has ruined a valley. Each year, the water level rises, and homes, roads, and trees are sinking beneath the slurry. Where is it?

A. California
B. Romania
C. Spain
D. Ukraine

CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Buddhist monks do pull-ups

PHOTOGRAPH BY GILLES SABRIÉ

Amid a machine-powered society, peace: China is one of the most hyper-industrialized societies on Earth. But along his 12,000-mile walking journey, Nat Geo Explorer Paul Salopek found a fading corner where ancient ways remain the every day practice. Like the picture above, where young Buddhist monks use muscles and meditation in the mountainous northwest of Yunnan.

WHAT SALOPEK SEES

GIRL DADS

A father stands with his fraternal twin daughters in Birmingham, England

PHOTOGRAPH BY ROBIN HAMMOND, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION

The mother of Father’s Day: Behind every good man is a great woman, or so the saying goes. And it rings true for this holiday: Sonora Louise Smart Dodd was 16-years-old when her father became a widower and was left to raise Dodd and her five younger brothers alone. She was listening to a Mother’s Day sermon when she realized the need for a day to celebrate dads—especially her own. (Above, a father stands with his fraternal twin daughters.)

FATHER’S DAY HISTORY

Today’s soundtrack: Daddy, Beyoncé

This newsletter has been curated and edited by David Beard, Hannah Farrow, Nancy San Martín, and Jen Tse. Amanda Williams-Bryant, Alisher Egamov, Rita Spinks, and Jeremy Brandt-Vorel also contributed this week. Thanks for reading!

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