This is how ‘Atlantis’ emerged
In today’s newsletter, we explore a fabled sunken kingdom, unearth Viking treasure, learn the power of hemp, discover the ‘wicked’ Caribbean port destroyed in three minutes … and hail a pioneer in the search for alien life.
Myth, legend, dream. 1960s hippie hit song.
Is any part of the Atlantis tale, spread by Plato, true? The philosopher said “Atlantean kings ruled from a palace guarded by a wall of brass, a wall of tin, and a wall of copper.” Was it beyond Gibraltar in the Atlantic, or perhaps the Greek island of Santorini? Nat Geo’s History Magazine writes about the rise and tragic ending of this fabled island empire of the sea (depicted above).
Read the full story here.
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SMARTER PLANET
Beyond hype: It’s a microbe killer. A thirst quencher. A textile that uses a fifth the water of cotton. Hemp also helps build cars and brew beer. And it’s a protein bomb, Nat Geo writes, with pasta, tofu, and various meat substitutes being developed from hemp. (Pictured above, Cannabis plants grow at a CBD oil hemp marijuana farm in Colorado.)
STORIES WE’RE FOLLOWING
• An appreciation: Frank Drake pioneered the search for alien life
• The farm that hid one of the greatest Viking treasures
• The sinful Caribbean port that was destroyed in three minutes
• See the ocean’s glow-in-the-dark world
• Why bicycling may help kids beyond physical health
PHOTO OF THE DAY
From the archives: A diver helps launch the Alvin deep-sea submersible in the Cayman Trench for an expedition researching oceanic crust, led by National Geographic Explorer at Large Robert Ballard. The image above, recently chosen for our Photo of the Day feature, came from a story in the August 1976 issue. Ballard, best known for his work on the Titanic, has been working to solve the Earth’s great undersea mysteries for more than four decades.
FUTURE FORWARD
More land, fewer fish? Bahrain is a Persian Gulf nation of 1.8 million that is building artificial islands with a goal of expanding its land mass 60 percent. But what is that doing to marine life? Nat Geo has the answers here. (Pictured above in 2021, Durrat Al Bahrain, an artificial archipelago off the southern tip of Bahrain.)
