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Your Weekly Escape

Extraordinary people, discoveries, and places

PHOTOGRAPH BY PAUL NICKLEN, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION

The Earth is humming. Here's what it means.

The ceaseless rumble has fascinated scientists for decades. But while science hasn't reached a consensus on where the signal is coming from, recent research could provide more answers—and help us better understand our planet's interior.

PHOTOGRAPH BY TSAFRIR ABAYOV, LEON LEVY EXPEDITION

The Philistines are known as biblical villains. Ancient DNA reveals who they really were.

Historical accounts and modern archaeology agree that these outsiders—the notorious troublemakers of the Old Testament—were not like their neighbors. Now, DNA is providing an intriguing look at just how "different" they actually were.

WHO WHERE THEY?

PHOTOGRAPH BY PAUL NICKLEN, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION

Most marine mammals are missing one mysterious gene

Somewhere during the evolutionary process—while ancient land-dwelling mammals were returning to the sea—the gene called Paraoxonase 1 ceased to function. "It seems like this gene has a story to tell."

OLEKSIY MAKSYMENKO/ALAMY/CORDON PRESS

How were China's terra-cotta warriors made? Archaeologists have pieced it together.

Creating thousands of life-size warriors to protect the mausoleum of China's first emperor was a marvel of both logistics and artistry. The feat is even more impressive when you consider what China was like in the third century B.C.

SUBSCRIBER EXCLUSIVE

BANI LOGROÑO, PETER_ELVIN VIA POND5, CATERS NEWS

This island is overrun with rabbits—and that's not a good thing

Erratic feeding by tourists has led to a bunny blight on a small Japanese island with such a dark and mysterious past, it was once erased from Japanese maps. But how the rabbits got there in the first place is a different mystery altogether.

QUOTE

I was searching for the universal, for everyday life, for real people with real lives worthy of understanding.

David Guttenfelder

Photographer

From: Finding the ordinary amid North Korea's extravagant propaganda

PHOTOGRAPH BY DAVID GUTTENFELDER

Finding the ordinary amid North Korea's extravagant propaganda

While working under constant supervision, photographer David Guttenfelder learned how to spot everyday life inside the isolated country. "I believe that over time the guides I worked with began to understand what I was trying to do: give a fair and honest look at their country."

SUBSCRIBER EXCLUSIVE

PHOTOGRAPH BY NOAH FIERER

Soils from Antarctica seem to contain no life—something that's never been found

Microbial life has been found in some of the most inhospitable places on Earth, yet a team of researchers hasn't been able to find a single sign of it in samples from the center of Antarctica. Whether these soils are truly devoid of life, though, could depend on how you define it.

MORE GREAT READS

We don't know how to get dressed anymore (Washington Post) ››

The plot to kill the Olympics (Outside) ››

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