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Your Weekly Escape

This week: An extraordinary fossil found by accident; clues to the fate of ancient "hobbit" humans; a royal wedding in ancient Egypt; how National Geographic mapped hurricanes; people who live in haunted houses; Guatemala's chain-smoking saint.

PHOTOGRAPH BY ROBERT CLARK

The amazing dinosaur found (accidentally) by miners in Canada

This 110 million-year-old, armored plant-eater, known as a nodosaur, is the best preserved fossil of its kind ever found. For paleontologists the dinosaur’s amazing level of fossilization—caused by its rapid undersea burial—is as rare as winning the lottery.

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GO DEEPER: The making of a most extraordinary fossil +

COURTESY LIANG BUA TEAM

What happened to the ancient 'hobbits'?

When Homo floresiensis burst onto the scene in 2003, its strange, primitive traits sparked debates about where it fit within the human family tree. As scientists hunted for clues, the hobbit's environment began to come into focus, with a cast of prehistoric creatures almost as bizarre as the hobbit itself. Now, an abundance of rodent remains has added clues to the fate of this tiny human relative.

CLUES IN THE RAT CAVE

PHOTOGRAPH BY PRISMA/ALBUM

Inside one of ancient Egypt's biggest royal weddings

When Ramses II married a Hittite princess, it strengthened the political alliance between the two former enemies. But the lengthy negotiations, documented on clay tablets preserved in modern Turkey, were filled with twists and turns—including disagreements over the dowry and the princess's rank within the royal harem.

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COURTESY NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAPS

The story of cartography at National Geographic began with a storm

In the spring of 1888, a blizzard nicknamed "the Great White Hurricane" shut down cities along the Atlantic coastline for four days. That October, National Geographic magazine launched with its first issue and its first map: a footprint-shaped outline of the snowstorm wrapping from New York to Bermuda and wandering in wavy lines up to Canada.

SEE OUR EARLY MAPS

PHOTOGRAPH BY JESSICA CHRISTIAN, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE/GETTY IMAGES

These brave souls live in haunted houses—and they love it

While lawyers refer to haunted houses as "psychologically impacted" or "stigmatized" properties, a surprising number of people just call them "home." A writer crossed the country looking for folks who consider ghosts to be part of the family. Surprisingly, they weren't hard to find.

THE GHOST WITH OCD

QUOTE

By that time they've been through a bidding process and they're already emotionally invested. They're not going to walk away because of a spirit.

Cindi Hagley, real estate agent

FROM: These brave souls live in haunted houses—and they love it

VIDEO BY BETHANY JONES

Meet Maximón, the liquor-drinking, chain-smoking saint

Also known as San Simón, the mischievous folk saint with origins in indigenous Maya and Spanish Catholic beliefs represents light and dark, and is said to answer prayers that might be too taboo for Catholic saints.

OTHER GREAT READS

The animals with an eye for art (BBC) ››

Hollywood's last real movie star (New York Times) ››

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