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HEARTENING AND ASTONISHING

Tuesday, October 11, 2022

In today’s newsletter, we dive into a stunning coral reef rebirth, capture the world’s tiny wonders with the year’s best microscopic images, explore the Tower of London’s nearly 1,000 years of terror … and leave this to you: which fat bear is the fairest of them all?

A photo of a mesmerizing blue coral

PHOTOGRAPHS BY ENRIC SALA

After El Niño-inspired ocean warming, a calamity appeared to have struck the pristine coral beds of a string of islands along the Equator.

Within five years though, in a surprise to scientists, the stunning coral was back. It is “the most astonishing and heartening coral rebirth the world has ever seen,” writes Nat Geo Explorer in Residence Enric Sala. But how did the rebound happen? And can scientists use that knowledge to save coral reefs elsewhere?

Read the full story.

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A diptych of small pink fish and bright yellow coral

Rescued: Pictured at top, this reef off the central Pacific’s Vostok Island was mauled by heat, but made a stunning recovery. Above left, a school of small reef fish; and right, a close-up of the heat-tolerant Montipora corals, with their purple polyps, which led the reef’s road to recovery. Read more.

STORIES WE’RE FOLLOWING

A picture of a grizzly bear

PHOTOGRAPH BY ROBERT HUBNER, WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY

Proteins that allow grizzly bears (pictured above) to hibernate may help us treat diabetes. Related: Vote for this year’s fat bear.

Face of ancient queen revealed for the first time

The Tower of London: A nearly 1,000-year-old terror

A photographer follows miners into the heart of an active volcano

Ancient Egypt gave rise to one of the world's oldest Christian faiths

Who really was the Queen of Sheba?

The hunt for valuable mammoth tusks in Siberia

A gun destroyed a 21-year-old's face. A face transplant changed her life.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

A microscopic picture of a gecko hand

GRIGORII TIMIN AND MICHEL MILINKOVITCH

Tiny worlds: You can’t see these beauties with the naked eye, but an annual contest showcases the best in microscopic photography. What do you think this winning image is? A flower? No, it’s the microcosmos within the hand of an embryonic Madagascar giant day gecko. Ah, of course. It was magnified 63 times for this image. Other winners are here.

SEE MICROSCOPIC WONDERS

FUTURE FORWARD

A dam in the mountains

PHOTOGRAPH BY FABRICE COFFRINI, AFP, GETTY IMAGES

What, more dams? Climate change is intensifying droughts and floods, wreaking havoc on rivers around the world. Nat Geo considers if dams are the answer to regulating rivers, while creating more sustainable energy (like the two hydropower dams, pictured above, in Switzerland). Opponents say dams emit more greenhouse gases than previously thought—and are hard to future-proof.

CAN DAMS SAVE RIVERS?

PHOTO OF THE DAY

A man holds a crate of lychees on his shoulder underneath a lychee tree

PHOTOGRAPH BY NAVIN KUMAR, @NAVINVATSA

Lychee season: Lychees are a way of life for millions of people in Bihar, a state that produces almost 75 percent of the fruit in India. Navin Kumar photographed people in Muzaffarpur, his hometown in Bihar, harvesting shahi lychee in his latest post on Nat Geo’s Your Shot Instagram. The harvesting window for the fruit, with a taste similar to a strawberry or pear with a hint of citrus, is open for only three to four weeks a year.

CLEANING INDIA’S HOLIEST RIVER

Note: If our story on preserving coral reefs interested you, check out more on Enric Sala and the National Geographic Society’s Pristine Seas effort.

We hope you liked today’s newsletter. This was edited and curated by Sydney Combs, Jen Tse, Heather Kim, and David Beard. Have an idea or a link for us? Write [email protected]. Happy trails!

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