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YOU KNOW HIS STORY.
NOW GET THEIRS.

Saturday, August 19, 2023

In today’s newsletter, we meet the women that Jack the Ripper killed, learn about the shipwreck that inspired ‘Dracula’ ... and follow this woman’s incredible face transplant journey. Plus, happy International Orangutan Day!

This image based on Leonardo Da Vinci's "Last Supper" shows Jesus Christ and the Twelve Apostles

ILLUSTRATION BY UNIVERSAL HISTORY ARCHIVE, UNIVERSAL IMAGES GROUP/GETTY IMAGES

An orphan. An immigrant entrepreneur. Two women on their own after leaving bad relationships.

They were more than victims of London’s deadly Jack the Ripper. Everybody knows the story of Jack the Ripper, but a historian now has a fuller picture of these women’s lives—and of a Darwinistic London that valued them more dead than alive.

No, because they were struggling doesn’t mean their lives didn’t matter And no, Jack the Ripper was no legend. (One of the women, Mary Jane Kelly, depicted above.)

BEHIND THE 135-YEAR-OLD MYSTERY

Unlock this article with Nat Geo Premium! Get access now to exclusive stories, plus a century of archives, photos, and videos. See subscription options starting at just $19/yr.

STORIES WE’RE FOLLOWING

Robb and Alesia embrace their daughter Katie

PHOTOGRAPH BY MAGGIE STEBER

How a transplanted face transformed this woman’s life (Above, Katie Stubblefield’s parents embrace her after her transplant)

For International Photography Day, meet the extraordinary people who make our photography happen

The little-known shipwreck that inspired ‘Dracula’

Our mental image of Earth is all wrong.

Reconstructing the face of a 700-year-old murder victim

The toll that sleep apnea takes on the body

How much protein do you really need?

The EG.5 COVID variant is spiking in the U.S. Is it time to mask up?

Pacific hurricanes, cyclones, typhoons: What's the difference?

This tiny nation feeds the world.

WHAT IN THE WORLD?

tomatoes wrapped in plastic wrap

PHOTOGRAPH BY ARNO BURGI, PICTURE ALLIANCE/GETTY IMAGES

Are we plastic now? Microplastics are in our food, air, and water, and even food packaging (above). How many micro- and nanoplastics do we inhale or ingest each year, on average? (And how do we reduce it?)

A. A million
B. 12 million
C. 22 million
D. A billion

CLICK FOR THE ANSWER

PHOTO OF THE DAY

Tempted by the fruit of a strangler fig, a Bornean orangutan climbs 100 feet into the canopy. With males weighing as much as 200 pounds, orangutans are the world’s largest tree-dwelling animals.

VIDEO BY TIM LAMAN

Must. Have. Fig. That’s the lure for this Bornean orangutan to climb a hundred feet into the tree’s canopy. With males weighing as much as 200 pounds, orangutans are the world’s largest tree-dwelling animals. This time-lapse, by Nat Geo Explorer Tim Laman, is part of a Nat Geo look at our simian cousins.

Related: Nice shot! An orangutan’s hairy climb

IT’S THE CLIMB

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

kids biking through a grassy field

PHOTOGRAPH BY IMGORTHAND/GETTY IMAGES

Ride the bicycle, ride the bicycle: Any form of exercise is good, of course. But biking can bring a sense of calm. Some experts call it “moving meditation.”

Shannon Brescher Shea, a family biking advocate and author, witnessed the transformation in her own child after he rode his bike. “We saw how incredibly helpful it was for his focus, emotional regulation, and ability to follow directions,” she says.

Learn why riding a bike can serve as a powerful mental health supercharge—and how to get your family to take advantage of it.

PEDALING THE BRAIN

Today’s soundtrack: La Bicicleta, Carlos Vives, Shakira

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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