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Your Weekly Escape

Extraordinary people, discoveries, and places

PHOTOGRAPH BY LAURENT BALLESTA

They spent 28 days under the sea—and found another Earth

Four explorers lived in a cramped, pressurized habitat on a barge in the Mediterranean, breathing a high-pressure mix of helium and oxygen, descending to the seafloor each day in a diving bell. These photos show what they found.

SUBSCRIBER EXCLUSIVE

PHOTOGRAPH BY D. PARDO, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC YOUR SHOT

A previously unknown species of ancient human was discovered in this cave

The small-bodied hominin, named Homo luzonensis, lived on the island of Luzon, Philippines, at least 50,000 to 67,000 years ago. Its fossils reveal an unexpected mix of both ancient and more modern traits.

ILLUSTRATION BY STOCKTREK IMAGES, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION

Billions of T. rex likely roamed the Earth

If you lived in ancient Montana 67 million years ago, the nearest T. rex would be within about 15 miles of you, if not much closer, according to a new estimate of the predator's population density.

PHOTOGRAPH BY STEPHANIE GRELLA

Memories can be altered in mice. Are we next?

Various groups of neuroscientists are inching closer to techniques that manipulate memory to treat conditions such as PTSD or Alzheimer's—all while grappling with the ethical implications of what it means to change a fundamental piece of someone's identity.

THE EXPERIMENTS

PHOTOGRAPH BY ANDREAS STRAUSS, ALAMY

Why do people stack stones in the wild?

Call them cairns, piled up rocks, or stone johnnies—stacked stones turn up in national parks, balanced on graveyard tombstones, and heaped at the feet of statues at religious sites.

IT'S COMPLICATED

QUOTE

Humans have crisscrossed the Mediterranean for millennia, but the bottom is a world even less known than our well-mapped moon—and unlike the moon, it's full of life.

Laurent Ballesta

Photographer and biologist

From: They spent 28 days under the sea—and found another Earth

PHOTOGRAPH BY PAUL WILLIAMS/GETTY IMAGES

The hellish history of the devil

In the Middle Ages, European artists and theologians began shaping a new vision of Satan—and the punishments awaiting sinners in his realm.

SUBSCRIBER EXCLUSIVE

TUNE IN TONIGHT

PHOTOGRAPH BY BIOSPHOTO, ALAMY

The chicken that has black bones, organs, and meat

The Ayam cemani chicken may be the most deeply pigmented creature on Earth. It's one of four breeds of chicken that possess the same genetic mutation—and can be traced back to a single bird.

THE ORIGIN STORY

Need a distraction?

The woman who made van Gogh (New York Times) ››

Cosmism: Russia's religion for the rocket age (BBC Future) ››

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