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21 SEVERED FEET.
20 SNEAKERS.
1 BIG MYSTERY.

Thursday, June 29, 2023

In today’s newsletter, we find a partial solution to migraines and PTSD, solve a gruesome mystery in the Pacific Northwest, praise curly hair for helping humanity, shake at the most intense lightning ... and learn surprising ways to keep cut hair out of landfills.

illustration of a sneaker floating

PHOTOGRAPH BY REBECCA HALE AND MARK THIESSEN/NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC IMAGE COLLECTION

First one foot, severed, washed up on shore. Then another. In the next few years, 21 feet—all but one in sneakers (as illustrated above)—floated to the Pacific Northwest shoreline.

A panicked populace wondered: Who were the killers? Were aliens involved? The truth was even more unexpected.

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STORIES WE’RE FOLLOWING

two dogs in a car

PHOTOGRAPH BY SIGURDUR STEFNISSON

A volcanic eruption spurred the most intense lighting ever recorded (above, lightning from another eruption, in Iceland.)

A partial solution for migraines, PTSD

Colossal gravitational waves—trillions of miles long—found for the first time

Will it get too hot for us to live?

What really attracts mosquitoes—and how to repel them

Arise, curly-haired people! Those curls were a powerful evolutionary advantage for our ancestors

Who is Oppenheimer?

The unlikely king who rose to Holy Roman emperor

They’re a nutritional powerhouse. Do you get enough of them to eat?

How to protect yourself from ticks—and what to do if you are bitten

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

a device delivering stimulation to nerves in the neck

PHOTOGRAPH BY LINDSEY K. MCINTIRE

Stimulating the vagus: Can massaging this section of your neck help alleviate conditions such as migraines or PTSD? A device is simply held against the side of your neck, or the ear. (An airman demonstrating the use of one device.)

PHOTO OF THE DAY

PHOTOGRAPH BY MARK THIESSEN

The tiger finder: For National Camera Day, here’s a look at the custom-made camera car that Nat Geo Explorer Steve Winter took to document tigers in a new way. His dream shot was a tiger’s face seen from below. The challenge was getting that perspective in a way that didn’t end with his own face inside the animal’s mouth.

LAST GLIMPSE

Mats made of woven hair keep water into soil

PHOTOGRAPH BY MATTEROFTRUST.ORG

That's my hair! That's right—cut hair is being used as a fertilizer, to soak up oil spills, or even woven into mats above soil to prevent water from evaporating. Can we keep more of the hundreds of tons of hair tossed each day out of landfills?

SURPRISING HAIR USES

Today’s soundtrack: In a Big Country, moe.

We hope this newsletter brightened your Thursday! It was curated and edited by David Beard, Hannah Farrow, Nancy San Martín, and Jen Tse. Have a story idea? Let us know here. Know a friend who might want our newsletter in their inbox? Here’s the signup. See you tomorrow!

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