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Extraordinary people, discoveries, and places

PHOTOGRAPH BY DIANA MARKOSIAN

How the Virgin Mary became the world's most powerful woman

She barely speaks in the New Testament, and clues about her life remain elusive. Because so little is known of Mary from Scripture, say scholars, "you can project on her whatever cultural values you have." Today, she is celebrated around the world as a universal symbol of maternal love, as well as of suffering and sacrifice. But over the centuries, her image has undergone dramatic shifts.

SUBSCRIBER EXCLUSIVE

PHOTOGRAPH BY ROBERT HARDING PICTURE LIBRARY, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION

Could a serendipitous discovery reveal the origins of life on Earth?

Experiments suggest that metabolism could have begun spontaneously on our primordial planet. That has scientists rethinking the steps that could have led to the first living organism—and it has forced them to once again confront a longstanding question: How do we define life in the first place?

CHICKEN-OR-EGG DILEMMA

FERNANDO G. BAPTISTA, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CREATIVE

An intact tomb is shedding light on a mysterious civilization that ruled Peru

Around the seventh century A.D., the Wari emerged from obscurity in Peru, rising to glory long before the Inca. They became master engineers and founded a sprawling capital. But unlike other imperial powers they had no system of writing, and many of their sites had been looted over the centuries. The discovery of a rare royal tomb is filling in many of the blanks.

SUBSCRIBER EXCLUSIVE

PHOTOGRAPH BY OSCAR NILSSON

This man's 8,000-year-old skull was found at a perplexing ritual site

The Scandinavian man dubbed Ludvig lived a long life before his skull was selected for a still-inscrutable ceremony sometime around 6,000 B.C. His facial reconstruction is the first from human remains excavated from the curious archaeological site.

WHAT SCIENTISTS FOUND

COURTESY CHATEAU VERSAILLES

Marie-Antoinette's secret garden was a stunning showcase of global biodiversity

The ill-fated queen's landscaping dream team corresponded with the world's best botanists to fill her Versailles garden with trees and plants from the Middle East, Japan, and the Americas. To restore it, palace historians had to dig deep into the archives.

EXPLORE THE QUEEN'S GROVE

QUOTE

Although the grove provided a source of peace for Marie-Antoinette, it would also help lead to her demise with the so-called Affair of the Diamond Necklace.

Mary Winston Nicklin, writer

From: The global roots of Marie-Antoinette’s secret garden

PHOTOGRAPH BY TODD GIPSTEIN, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION

Now we know how tabby cats get their stripes

Of the nearly 60 million pet cats in the United States, one of the most common is the classic tabby—a coat pattern that features stripes, dots, and swirls, and what looks like an M imprinted on the cat's forehead. Yet as popular as tabbies are, scientists have known little about how they get this distinctive appearance—until now.

A GENETIC SURPRISE

PHOTOGRAPH BY CHRISTIE HEMM KLOK

People are (literally) losing their marbles as an old pastime rises again

Here's how it works: The marbles must be handmade by glass artists. The artists sell the marbles to enthusiasts who then hide them in public spaces, snapping photos to post as clues within Facebook groups. Once the posts go up, marble hunters venture out to find the treasure, facing untold obstacles and fierce competition.

THE THRILL OF THE HUNT

MORE GREAT READS

The Shakespearean tall tale that shaped how we see starlings (NYT) ››

The French town where the lighting is alive (BBC) ››

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