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Your Weekly Escape

Extraordinary people, discoveries, and places

PHOTOGRAPH BY BRIAN SKERRY

Why we still know so little about the ocean's most iconic fish

Thanks to Jaws, the great white shark is the ocean's most famous and most feared fish—yet much of what we think we know simply isn't true. They aren't merciless hunters, they aren't always loners, and they may be much smarter than we thought.

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WATCH SHARKFEST: 6 weeks of captivating science and stunning visuals +

COMPOSITE IMAGE BY ATISH WAGHWASE

DNA was supposed to solve the mystery of 'Skeleton Lake.' It only deepened it.

Roopkund Lake, high in the Himalaya, is home to one of archaeology's spookiest mysteries: the skeletons of as many as 800 people. A recent study attempted to unravel what happened there—but the results raised more questions than answers.

UNRAVELING CLUES

THE HUNTINGTON LIBRARY

These 15th-century maps show how the apocalypse will go down

The geography is sketchy by modern standards, but this long-forgotten manuscript makes one thing perfectly clear: If you're a sinner, you've got nowhere to hide.

PHOTOGRAPH BY AART WALEN, CREATURES & FEATURES

An ancient flying predator once stalked Transylvania

The giant pterosaur, with a wingspan of 29 feet, lived during the late Cretaceous, picking off dinosaur eggs and small crocodiles. But it wasn't the only gigantic flying reptile to call this region home.

PHOTOGRAPH BY LAETITIA VANCON

On the Scottish isles, a generation is caught between past and future

The region has been described both as an otherworldly paradise and as an isolated place where people struggle with alcoholism and entropy. Photographer Laetitia Vancon set out to "get the right sense of the community."

PHOTOGRAPH BY CHRISTOPHEL FINE ART/GETTY IMAGES

The Colossus of Rhodes was an ancient wonder. But what did it really look like?

Toppled by an earthquake around 225 B.C., the massive statue of Helios stood for a little more than 50 years. Historians know very little about what it looked like, where it stood, or how it was built—but certain clues have helped researchers piece together some credible theories.

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QUOTE

Transylvania can now boast the world's largest known concentration of epically proportioned flying reptiles.

John Pickrell

Writer

From: Ancient flying predator found in Transylvania

SCIENCE HISTORY IMAGES/ALAMY

How to see millions of years of history on a day at the beach

Sand dollars are striking—delicate in a way that the wayward rocks and driftwood are not—and so ubiquitous that it's easy to overlook the obvious question: What exactly are they?

MORE GREAT READS

A story of war, theft and a beautiful woman (NPR) ››

Why 'slasher' films just won't die (BBC) ››

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