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THESE BALLOONISTS DISAPPEARED
EN ROUTE TO THE NORTH POLE

Monday, January 22, 2024

In today’s newsletter, we unveil a decades-old mystery in the Arctic, learn about a lake in Africa that may explode, discover a massive undersea cliff created from a quake in Japan ... and see how ice stupas are saving mountain water.

Andrée and his crew were forced to crash-land the balloon on July 14, 1897, after less than three days in flight. Nils Strindberg’s haunting photograph of the wreckage reveals how large a threat the men were up against in the Arctic.

BETTMANN/GETTY IMAGES

The trip was audacious. Launch a balloon and fly it to the North Pole to learn the secrets of the Arctic.

The 1897 flight lasted only three days before the balloon and its crew disappeared. After the forced landing (shown above in film recovered decades later), the long mystery began. What happened to the explorers and their doomed balloon?

DISASTER IN THE ARCTIC

STORIES WE’RE FOLLOWING

Cracked rubble seen on the ocean floor in the Japan Trench.

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY NIIGATA UNIVERSITY

Found: A massive undersea cliff off Japan that was caused by historic quake (Above, cracked rubble on the ocean floor.)

Everything you need to know about vernal pools

Should we focus on ’health span’—the number of good years left—rather than life span?

When a dog may help you relax more than friends

What was the largest primate to ever exist?

Walking is the sixth vital sign—here's how to do it

Britain’s first Black queen? The real story of Queen Charlotte

When men's fashion was elaborate

Want to detox your body with a cleanse? Read this first.

PHOTO OF THE DAY

An ice stupa, or artificial ice tower, with a cafe built into its base

PHOTOGRAPH BY CIRIL JAZBEC

Make your own glacier: A town in northern India created this artificial glacier to save mountain water for spring planting. Water from a stream is piped in, and cold air freezes the falling spray, creating a cone of ice. Nat Geo Explorer Ciril Jazbec has been examining ways to slow effects of climate change.

WHAT IN THE WORLD?

A dark cylindrical item unearthed from a villa in the wealthy town of Herculaneum, on a white background.

PHOTOGRAPH BY EDUCELAB

Artificial intelligence helped identify this valuable remnant of the catastrophic 79 A.D. volcanic eruption in Pompeii. What was it?

A. Chunk of lava
B. Human finger
C. Scroll
D. Ancient pizza

CLICK HERE FOR THE ANSWER

LAST GLIMPSE

Lake Kivu sits between Rwanda and the Democratic Republican of Congo. It's unique geology naturally fills the lake with carbon dioxide and methane gasses that endanger the millions who live along the lake's shoreline.

PHOTOGRAPH BY ROBIN HAMMOND, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION

Will this lake explode? Lake Kivu (above)—one of the African Great Lakes between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo—is a geological anomaly. While the waters may look glassy from above, below hosts multiple layers that are saturated with trapped carbon dioxide and methane. What does this mean?

Today’s soundtrack: The Farmer, The Good Ones

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