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A BETTER WAY TO GET TO SLEEP?

Tuesday, January 23, 2024

In today’s newsletter, we question the effectiveness of natural sleep aids, explore the real secret life of bugs, hear from Oscar-nominated musician-turned-presidential candidate Bobi Wine and ‘Oppenheimer’ director Christopher Nolan ... and learn what made Catherine great.

Wild chamomile flowers.

PHOTOGRAPH BY ANDREA KUENZIG/LAIF/REDUX

Can't sleep? Tried melatonin and magnesium, valerian root and lavender, or drinks like tart cherry juice and chamomile tea (pictured above, chamomile flowers)?

The first thing to remember is that serious, anxiety-caused insomnia is a medical condition—and easy remedies may not cure what ails you. Here’s what we know.

ABOUT THOSE SLEEP AIDS

STORIES WE’RE FOLLOWING

A shy salamander hides under the leaf litter at night, but seen with red light.

PHOTOGRAPH BY TRISTAN SPINSKI

What lurks beneath the surface of these forest pools? More than you can imagine. (Above, a salamander beneath leaf litter at a partially-frozen vernal pool.)

The story of a pop star's struggle for democracy is his homeland gains Oscar nomination. Related: Watch ‘Bobi Wine: The People's President’

These haunting photographs reveal the fate of three explorers who disappeared journeying to the North Pole

‘Oppenheimer’ gets 13 Oscar nominations; director Christopher Nolan talks about how it came to be

Are detoxes and cleanses actually good for you?

Here's how inflammation affects you differently as you age

What happened to the largest primate to ever exist?

The Japanese Buddhist monks that test the limits of meditation

The 85-foot undersea cliff in Japan

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

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Encrusted with some 5,000 diamonds and a 398-carat red spinel, defined imperial power for 155 years—until tsarist rule ended in 1917.

PHOTOGRAPH BY ALBUM/FINE ART IMAGES

What made her ‘The Great’? She was a foreigner, a teenage bride who became ruler of all Russia after the mysterious death of her husband. Against all odds, Catherine held onto her crown (pictured above) for 34 years. Her domestic reforms transformed Russia, but she also engaged in the brutal imperialism that Vladimir Putin aped centuries later—annexing Crimea and invading Ukraine.

HOW DID SHE DO IT?

PHOTO OF THE DAY

Mantis under large mushroom umbrella.

PHOTOGRAPH BY GEORGI GEORGIEV

The secret lives of bugs: Photographer Georgi Georgiev is showing people the extraordinary lives of seemingly ordinary bugs. Focusing his lens on some of the smallest creatures, he documents their everyday movements from a praying mantis stretching her forelegs (pictured above) to a bog beetle crouching in a rainwater puddle.

Related: See these national parks from a bug's eye view

Tune In: National Geographic’s A Real Bug’s Life premieres Wednesday on Disney+. Here's the trailer.

LAST GLIMPSE

Workers, wearing red, one piece suits, at the lithium pilot plant use hammers to break up a layer of salt that periodically clogs the pipes transporting brine with lithium into large, turquoise blue evaporation pools.

PHOTOGRAPH BY CEDRIC GERBEHAYE, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC IMAGE COLLECTION

The most precious metal of the modern world … is lithium? The high-tech and highly efficient source that powers the devices we use every day are rechargeable lithium-ion batteries. From smartphones to electric toothbrushes, the advantageous batteries live in households worldwide, but how much do we know about the metal that powers our world? (Pictured above, workers at a lithium plant in Bolivia)

HELPFUL OR HARMFUL?

Today’s soundtrack: You Can’t Walk In Your Sleep (If You Can’t Sleep),
The Go-Go’s

We hope this newsletter helped you get in the swing of a new year. It was curated and edited by David Beard, Nancy San Martín, Jen Tse, and Nishita Naga. Were you forwarded this email or know someone who might want our newsletter? Here’s the signup. See you tomorrow!

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