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THESE GIANT STATUES ‘WALKED’

Friday, March 15, 2024

In today’s newsletter, we settle a centuries-old question on Easter Island, explore why tiny arachnids like crawling (and having sex) all over your face ... and mark Caesar’s fatal back-turning moment. Plus, the disappearing dogs of the Pacific Northwest.

The centuries-old statues on Easter Island.

PHOTOGRAPH BY ONFOKUS, GETTY IMAGES

It’s the biggest mystery on this remote Pacific island: How did people stand up and move these gigantic faces of stone (above) great distances?

Inhabitants had carved the faces from volcanic tuff. Then the statues, islander lore has it, walked.

Walked? Researchers have determined that word, broadly interpreted, might be right.

CREEPY CRAWLERS

Intricate living quarters of weird creatures with all modern conveniences

ILLUSTRATION BY ARMANDO VEVE

What’s this gross stuff about arachnids? Maybe not spiders, but microscopic face mites (depicted above) are crawling on most adult faces. While scientists have a hard time observing them, the researchers have made breakthroughs in understanding their lives. What exactly are they—and why are they doing all sorts of things on us?

MICROSCOPIC MITES

STORIES WE’RE FOLLOWING

In this 18th-century engraving, a royal huntsman, François Antoine, kills the wolf believed to be the beast in 1765. Two months later, the beast returned to terrorize France again.

ILLUSTRATION FROM AKG/ ALBUM

The origins of vampires, werewolves, and the undead. Related: Did a ‘werewolf’ (depicted above) really terrorize France in the 1700s?

The weight loss drugs you’re getting may be fake

Fail, Caesar: How the deadly Ides of March changed history (Free article)

How heartbreak does a number on your body

How can you tell if a photo is real or AI? Related: Is this photo of a cheetah real?

Why did witch panics doom so many women?

What is ‘hangxiety’?

WHAT IN THE WORLD?

A reconstruction of Mutton, a Coast Salish woolly dog whose pelt was donated to the Smithsonian in 1859

ILLUSTRATION BY KAREN CARR

What happened to this breed of dog? Small, white, and incredibly fluffy, these dogs (above) were treasured for their unique wool and respected as though they were human for thousands of years. A fixture in communities across the Pacific Northwest, the canine looked a bit like the modern Samoyed and was carefully bred by Indigenous communities in the area. So where did they go?

DISAPPEARING DOGS

Today’s playlist: Sau Sau Rapa Nui (song from Easter Island), Nao Nao
Watch Your Step, Elvis Costello
Back Stabbers, The O'Jays
Vehicle, The Ides of March

Stay safe this weekend! This newsletter has been curated and edited by Nancy San Martín, Nishita Naga, and David Beard. Know someone who might want our newsletter? Here’s the signup.

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