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Your Weekly Escape

Extraordinary people, discoveries, and places

PHOTOGRAPH BY NASA/JSC

Magnetic north isn't where it used to be. Here's why that matters.

The direction in which our compasses point has never sat still, driven ever northward by Earth's churning liquid outer core. Yet in recent years, its routine plod had shifted into high gear—and no one can entirely explain why.

PHOTOGRAPH BY ROBBIE SHONE, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION

The most stunning archaeological site you've never heard of

Nuri in northern Sudan is the burial site of the "black pharaohs" who ruled all of Egypt from Nubia to the Mediterranean. Tantalizingly, the groundwater that submerged many of these tombs may have also kept grave robbers from looting them.

PHOTOGRAPH BY RAUL TOUZON, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

These are the planet's last few 'naturally quiet' places

Human-made noise (usually in the form of transportation by highway, rail, air, and boat) pervades every corner of the planet. But by using varying standards of stillness, one group is finding the few remaining peaceful places on Earth.

SEE WHERE THEY ARE

ILLUSTRATION COURTESY DINO PULERÀ

This is our best look yet at a tyrannosaur's face

The cutting-edge reconstruction, crafted using an exquisite 75-million-year-old fossil, suggests that these "tyrant lizards" had a keen sense of touch on much of their snouts.

PHOTOGRAPH BY TOM RICHARDSON

The real story behind the world's 'wandering rocks'

If you've ever come across a rock that looks strangely out of place, odds are it's a glacial erratic. They've become draws for travelers and the focus of local legends—but these rocks have stories of their own to tell.

SUBSCRIBER EXCLUSIVE

QUOTE

It's a remarkable point in history that so few know about. It's a story that deserves to be told.

Pearce Paul Creasman

Archaeologist and National Geographic grantee

From: The most stunning archaeological site you've never heard of

PHOTOGRAPH BY PAOLO WOODS, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

Does this secret room hold the lost drawings of Michelangelo?

The artist is believed to have taken refuge inside this hidden chamber for two months in 1530 to escape the Medici family, whom he had betrayed. Our photographer was granted rare access to the charcoal and chalk drawings he may have left behind.

SEE THE DRAWINGS

PHOTOGRAPH BY THOMAS P. PESCHAK

The isolated island where tortoises rule

Our photographer discovers a primordial paradise where he's just part of the ecosystem. "Every morning when I woke up and walked outside the hut, I had to remind myself that I hadn’t traveled back in time."

SUBSCRIBER EXCLUSIVE

Need a distraction?

A French engineer says he cracked the Zodiac ciphers. Online sleuths are skeptical. (NY Times) ››

The treasure inside beer lost in a shipwreck 120 years ago (BBC Future) ››

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