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INFLAMMATION GETS A BAD RAP.
HERE’S THE GOOD PART.

Thursday, January 25, 2024

In today’s newsletter, we discover the good side of a usual medical villain, learn whether taking shoes off in the home is actually better for health ... and suffer through the most treacherous waters on Earth. Plus, who killed these two young English princes?

PHOTOGRAPH BY AMY TOENSING, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC IMAGE COLLECTION

We’re accustomed to seeing inflammation as the villain for all sorts of diseases, and people are trying trendy ice plunges (above) and cold showers to ease it. But inflammation is actually a necessary step to rebuilding damaged tendons, ligaments, and other tissues.

Surgeons often intentionally scrape tissue to cause bleeding—which accelerates inflammation to repair the damage. Only now are scientists examining more broadly how to use inflammation to heal, and they’ve found some surprises.

HERE'S WHAT WE KNOW

Related: Are ice plunges good for you?
Also: What foods should you eat to reduce inflammation?
And: Inflammation affects you differently as you age. Scientists call it ’inflammaging’.

STORIES WE’RE FOLLOWING

Waves crash against a cruise ship maneuvering through the Drake Passage.

PHOTOGRAPH BY MICHAEL MELFORD, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION

These are the most treacherous waters on Earth (Pictured above, waves pounding a cruise ship.)

A lost continent has been mapped for the first time

Is a shoe-free home really better? Scientists may have an answer.

A rhino that can fit in your hand, a historic surrogacy that may save a species

Will one of the largest African Great Lakes explode?

What happened to the three balloonists who disappeared en route to the North Pole?

How AI deciphered part of the Herculaneum Scrolls

Can the ‘Gate to Hell’ be closed?

How a high school teacher solved a geological mystery

Prostate problems are incredibly common. Here's what you need to know

WHAT IN THE WORLD?

A NASA Mars Exploration Rover sits on the surface of Mars in an illustration.

ILLUSTRATION BY NASA, JPL/CORNELL UNIVERSITY

On this date 20 years ago … the NASA rover Opportunity landed on Mars. The workhorse rover (a twin version is illustrated, above) was only supposed to last 90-100 days. How long was it driving over Mars?

A. A year
B. Five years
C. 14 years
D. It's still running

CLICK FOR THE ANSWER

LAST GLIMPSE

Philip the Good, a Burgundian duke famous for his fashion sense, and his court are depicted in a miniature from the mid-15th-century manuscript Chronicles of Hainaut, illustrated by Rogier van der Weyden.

BRIDGEMAN/ACI

What happened to Prince Edward V and his brother? In the summer of 1483, two princes (pictured above, in a painting) entered the Tower of London … and never returned. For centuries, their uncle, Richard III, has been blamed for their disappearance and presumed murder. More than 540 years later, writer Philippa Langley is determined to find out who might really be responsible.

UNCOVERING A MYSTERY

Today’s soundtrack: Two Princes, Spin Doctors

We hope this newsletter brightened your Thursday! It was curated and edited by David Beard, Nancy San Martín, Jen Tse, and Nishita Naga. Know someone who might want our newsletter in their inbox? Here’s the signup. See you tomorrow!

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