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A CONTROVERSIAL FINDING

Wednesday, May 15, 2024

In today’s newsletter, we cover a new study on women’s sports injuries, use new tools to ward off mosquitoes, chug along the Orient Express ... and immerse ourselves in the warming Gulf of Maine. Plus, check your stress level in seconds.

The legs of ballerina dancers during practice; one ballerina's knee is visibly scuffed

PHOTOGRAPH BY JODI COBB, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION

Sometimes science finds out things that many people don’t want to hear.

A study looking at rising sports injuries among teens (pictured above) found that oral contraceptives may help lower the risk. Yes, female athletes taking birth control pills were five times less likely to develop muscle or tendon injuries.

But that finding poses new challenges. Are the benefits worth it?

HERE’S WHAT WE KNOW

STORIES WE’RE FOLLOWING

Under the dark of the night, the Orient Express chugs through Switzerland in this oil painting by Terence Cuneo

BRIDGEMAN/ACI

The real Orient Express (depicted above): It was more than the setting of the namesake novel

Does meditation really help you? Here’s the science.

Take the test: How stressed are you? We can help you figure it out.

You really are a mosquito magnet. Here’s what you can do about it.

10 travel destinations where you can ditch your car this summer

Who was the legendary ‘Griffin Warrior’?

Why painful bunions develop in human feet

‘Forever chemicals’ are hiding in your kitchen. Here’s where—and what you can do.

Meet Nat Geo's 2024 Young Explorers

Have a frazzled friend? Here are gift ideas to relieve stress.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Heavy fog is seen over the ocean, it covers a portion of a lighthouse on the horizon.

PHOTOGRAPH BY BRIAN SKERRY

Extending 36,000 square miles, the Gulf of Maine is often referred to as a ‘sea within the sea.’ Nat Geo Explorer and photographer Brian Skerry has spent 40 years diving into the Gulf’s abundant waters (above) and now is documenting its rapid shift because of warming waters. What is happening?

LAST GLIMPSE

A box of oak moss through a cloud of moss-scented steam on a dining table

PHOTOGRAPH BY BRIAN FINKE, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION

Is flavor even real? From salty (pictured above, caviar sorbet with truffle toast in a box of oak moss) and sweet to sour and umami, there is no end to flavors we can experience … or is there? What exactly makes a berry taste tart? Here’s what flavor really is—and it’s nothing like taste.

Today’s soundtrack: Soporific Cell, of Montreal

Tomorrow: We were deluged with reader comments yesterday on stress and meditation. Thank you—we’ll feature a few on Thursday.

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

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