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Your Weekly Escape

Extraordinary people, discoveries, and places

ART BY FERNANDO G. BAPTISTA

Two gladiators enter—only one leaves alive, right? Think again.

Archaeologists are sifting facts from many fictions about ancient Rome's favorite blood sport. Perhaps most surprising: While a few gladiators were criminals or prisoners of war, most were professional fighters who had families waiting for them outside the ring.

SUBSCRIBER EXCLUSIVE

ILLUSTRATION BY ADAM MAKARENKO, W. M. KECK OBSERVATORY

What will happen to Earth when the sun dies? This planet could offer clues.

The recently discovered, Jupiter-size world narrowly avoided destruction as its star ballooned during its death throes—just as our sun is expected to do in about five billion years. And when it does, Earth is in trouble.

WHAT CAN IT TELL US?

PHOTOGRAPH BY ED MARSHALL, REDONDA RESTORATION PROGRAMME

Ravenous wild goats ruled this island for over a century. Now, it's being reborn.

The rocky island of Redonda, once stripped of its flora and fauna by invasive species, makes an astonishingly quick comeback. What’s the secret to its recovery?

PHOTOGRAPH BY JOSSE/SCALA, FLORENCE

Was this hypnotic health craze an elaborate hoax or a medical breakthrough?

In 18th-century Vienna and Paris, mesmerism was all the rage —with Marie Antoinette among its followers. But its success aroused skeptics, including Benjamin Franklin.

SUBSCRIBER EXCLUSIVE

PHOTOGRAPH BY BRIAN SKERRY, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

Finally, an answer to a long-sought question: How do dolphins have sex?

It may surprise you to know that in the field of sexual anatomy, there's a lot left to discover. A recent study—the first of its kind in centuries—sheds light on how mammals evolved to reproduce in water.

PHOTOGRAPH BY ARCHAEOLOGICAL SERVICE OF THE CANTON OF BERN

What we can learn from this ancient 'lunchbox'

A few thousand years ago, someone lost a lunchbox in the Alps. The contents of the small wooden container could help scientists piece together the evolution of early Europeans.

WHAT'S IN THE BOX?

QUOTE

It takes four hours to sail to Redonda, but only two minutes of wandering around here before the first dragon appears.

Michael Hingston, writer

From: Ravenous wild goats ruled this island for over a century. Now, it's being reborn.

PHOTOGRAPH BY TOMMY TRENCHARD, PANOS PICTURES/REDUX

The forgotten fossil hunter who transformed Britain's Jurassic Coast

One contemporary called Mary Anning "the princess of paleontology." Yet for decades, her most important dinosaur finds went unsung. Finally, the legacy of one of the greatest fossil hunters of all time is drawing travelers to southwest England.

MORE GREAT READS

The race to save New York's shipwrecks (BBC) ››

Can skeletons have a racial identity? (New York Times) ››

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