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INDIANA JONES WAS ONTO SOMETHING

Friday, July 7, 2023

In today’s newsletter, we find the unassuming prize of a sunken treasure ship, rethink ancient gender roles, gather our friends for a game of mahjong ... and explore decades of government UFO investigations.

fragments of the Antikythera Mexhanism

BRIDGEMAN/ALAMY

Said by some to the world’s first computer, the centerpiece of the new Indiana Jones movie rested by a sunken treasure ship at the bottom of the Mediterranean for more than 2,000 years.

Serendipity brought the strange mechanism to the world’s attention. The size of a shoebox, it could predict the positions of the sun, moon, and planets. What else could it do?

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a reconstruction of the Antikythera Mechanism

TONY FREETH

What’s in the box? Only fragments (at top) survive of the tantalizing contraption, formally known as the Antikythera Mechanism for the Greek island near where it was found. However, a reconstruction (above) has been made, based on what was known of astronomy at the time as well as the inscriptions on the mechanism. Originally an afterthought to other treasures discovered in the shipwreck, the Dial of Destiny is having its moment now in cinemas worldwide. Read more.

STORIES WE’RE FOLLOWING

a man feeds a tortoise

PHOTOGRAPH BY MUHAMMED MUHEISEN

Animals trapped in war zones (like Scooter the tortoise above) find a second chance in this Jordan sanctuary

Cape Cod may have the highest density of great white sharks in the world

This scientific tool may upend everything we assumed about ancient gender roles

Want to keep your memory sharp? Here’s what science recommends.

Nature really is good medicine. Science can explain why.

How extreme heat affects our pets—and how to help them

What is your 'food clock'? These 4 tips can improve how you eat

Redheads aren’t going extinct. Here’s why.

What we know from decades of UFO investigations

These bug repellents actually work—if you use them correctly

WHAT IN THE WORLD?

a whale shark

PHOTOGRAPH BY JENNIFER HAYES

Would you dive in? They’re marketed as animals to fear, but sharks can live up to a century—if they can survive humans. Living off a diet that includes plants and algae, how much can whale sharks, like the one above, weigh?

A. 25,000 pounds
B. 10,000 pounds
C. A ton
D. 50,000 pounds

CLICK FOR THE ANSWER

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

women play mahjong

PHOTOGRAPH BY GEORGE ETHEREDGE/THE NEW YORK TIMES/REDUX

Lasting popularity, global imprint: Mahjong may seem a venerable game, but its Chinese and American roots are not as old as you think. The four-player game of chance and skill encourages conversation and community building—and the longest one ever played is 33 hours long. (Above, women play mahjong at a beach club in Queens.)

LAST GLIMPSE

a rendition of the decapitation of Tanystropheus hydroides

ILLUSTRATION BY ROC OLIVÉ (INSTITUT CATALÀ DE PALEONTOLOGIA MIQUEL CRUSAFONT)/FECYT

Its greatest advantage was its curse: A 240-million-year-old marine reptile used its long neck to sneakily capture prey—exposing a prime spot for its predators to latch on and capture it. (Above, a rendition of the decapitation of Tanystropheus hydroides.)

THAT DIDN’T GO AS PLANNED...

Today’s soundtrack: Bills, Bills, Bills, Destiny’s Child

Happy Friday! This newsletter has been curated and edited by Jen Tse, Hannah Farrow, and David Beard. What's on your travel bucket list? Email [email protected] to let us know. Thanks for reading!

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