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BEYOND THE HEADLINES

Tuesday, July 16, 2024

Exhausted from the news cycle? Escape with these stories and images of extraordinary people, places, and discoveries.

fossil jawbone from an adult hominin

PHOTOGRAPH BY JEAN-JACQUES HUBLIN, MPI-EVA, LEIPZIG

These early humans lived 300,000 years ago—but had modern faces

Why is this so extraordinary? These people bore striking similarities to modern humans even though they lived well before what may be the oldest fossil evidence of Homo sapiens, dated to about 195,000 years ago.

SEE THE EVIDENCE

A sketch showing what the Ark of the Covenant might have looked like.

PHOTOGRAPH BY HULTON ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAGES

Why the Ark of the Covenant is one of history’s enduring mysteries

The legendary artifact is said to have been built some 3,000 years ago by the Israelites to house the stone tablets on which the Ten Commandments were written. Archaeologists are skeptical.

The trademark of moorland is heather, a perennial that blooms in shades of pink and white as well as purple.

PHOTOGRAPH BY JIM RICHARDSON

What will become of Scotland’s moors?

Scotland has lost more than 25 percent of its heathland since World War II—but whether that loss is cause for concern depends on your point of view. To step onto a moor is to sink into a bog of contention, resentment, and righteousness.

LONELY AND LOVELY

QUOTE

Discovering the truth about ourselves is a lifetime’s work, but it’s worth the effort.

Fred Rogers

Host, “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.” 45 quotes from Mr. Rogers that we all need today

The volcano in the background

PHOTOGRAPH BY ANDREA FRAZZETTA, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

What it’s like to live in the shadow of an active volcano

Beautiful but deadly, Italy’s Stromboli offers more than just a fiery peak.

WATCH THE TRAILER

OF NOTE

Why your next wellness trip might lead you into a cave

Here are 6 of the coolest dragon myths

The scientific reason why men and women fight over the thermostat

Kate Middleton and preventative chemotherapy

The world’s happiest places

Santi di Tito’s portrait of Machiavelli was painted after the author’s death and hangs in the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence.

SCALA, FLORENCE

Machiavelli exposed the brutal truth about politics in a ‘tell-all’ treatise

With its most famous maxim, “It is better to be feared than loved,” The Prince is widely regarded as the first modern work of political science. It was written by a man who once found himself in mortal danger, on the sharp end of the power he so brilliantly analyzed.

EXPLAINING (AND FLEEING) POWER

Today’s soundtrack: Escape (The Piña Colada Song), Rupert Holmes

Today’s newsletter was curated by Nancy San Martín, David Beard, Nishita Naga, Amanda Williams, and Rita Spinks.

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