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CURE-ALL IS BACK

Monday, September 26, 2022

In today’s newsletter, we have the scoop on the Chesapeake’s oyster renaissance, uncover a ‘miracle plant’ thought extinct 2,000 years ago, find three new snake species in a graveyard … and learn the best way to deal with that crippling COVID headache.

A person cups a handful of yellow blooms

PHOTOGRAPH BY ALICE ZOO

Once the plant was stockpiled alongside gold, and its saplings carried the value of silver. It was said to cure everything from abdominal pain to warts—and spice up a Roman lentil dish.

But nearly 2,000 years ago, the miraculous silphion was the first-ever plant reported to have gone extinct. In central Turkey, however, researchers believe they have stumbled upon the ancient silphion in the wild (pictured above)—its grooved, buff-colored stalks giving off a pleasant scent between eucalyptus and pine sap. “You can see why everybody who encounters this plant becomes attached to it,” says professor Mahmut Miski.

If the researchers are right, the plant could—once again—become a chemical goldmine.

Read the full story here.

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Insects investigate yellow blossoms

VIDEO BY GEORGE SELLEY

Testing ancient recipes: Food historian Sally Grainger cooks Roman recipes with silphion in Istanbul’s Nezahat Gökyiğit Botanical Garden. Read more.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

LIght shines through a thin slice of a brain

PHOTOGRAPH BY JOE MCNALLY, GETTY IMAGES

Stopping a ‘living hell’: That’s how some people describe the pain of a COVID headache. There are three types of headaches that often come with the pandemic. This Nat Geo story breaks them down and gives tips to help you or a loved one manage.

Related: Is the pandemic part of COVID-19 ‘over’?

STORIES WE’RE FOLLOWING

A person cuts and prepares oysters to eat

PHOTOGRAPH BY GREG KAHN

This region is having an oyster renaissance. Will climate change cut it short? (Above, oysters are prepared for diners in Maryland.)

A NASA spacecraft will smash into an asteroid tonight—to practice saving Earth

Pinocchio couldn’t help himself but neither can we: Why humans lie

See the shockingly vibrant world under the ice of Antarctica

Discovered: The Ice Age treasures hidden in a cave

A graveyard hunt yielded three new snake species

QUOTE

People talk about children as the next generation of conservationists. I like to call them a ‘new’ generation because children can be conservationists today.

Conservation biologist and Nat Geo Explorer

PHOTO OF THE DAY

A man and a woman in Mexican dress dance

PHOTOGRAPH BY VOLKMAR WENTZEL, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION

Dancing the jarabe: That’s the proper term for what was popularized as the Mexican hat dance. Here, two dancers perform the dance in Guadalajara. The image, recently featured in our Photo of the Day archival collection, was a part of a 1967 story on the Mexican city.

SEE VINTAGE PHOTOS

Today's newsletter was curated and edited by Sydney Combs, Heather Kim, Jen Tse, and David Beard. Have an idea or link to a story you think is right down our alley? Let us know at [email protected]. Happy trails!

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