NOW YOU SEE IT … NOW YOU DON’T

April 10, 2023
by RJ Hamster

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Monday, April 10, 2023

In today’s newsletter, we enter the world of magicians, revisit the myth of Hercules, try to find the world’s biggest fish, move beyond Northern Ireland’s Troubles … and discover slime mold? Plus, happy National Farm Animals Day.

PHOTOGRAPHS BY DINA LITOVSKY

To become the best, you need to beat the best. Or in a magician’s case, trick the best.

Doing so involves underground meetings. $5,000. Decades of practice and sacrifice.

And these ‘magic Olympians’ are not your typical David Blaines. They’re nuclear physicists, flight attendants, chess players, parents. So what does it take to fool a room full of magicians? And is the victory, actually, a tragedy?

Read the full story here.

Please consider getting our digital report and magazine by subscribing here.

Abracadabra: At the World Championship of Magic, there’s little sign of old-fashioned magic props, like rabbits, top hats, and token female assistants. Instead, think rope escapes and levitation. (Top, founder of Magic & Mystery School; above, balls proliferating in magicians’ hands.) Read more.

STORIES WE’RE FOLLOWING

PHOTOGRAPH BY CARLTON WARD JR.

In Florida, the restored Kissimmee flows back to its natural state (Above, a conservationist boating on the river)

Your eyes may be a window into early Alzheimer’s detection. Here’s what we know.

Evidence of psychedelic drug use … 3,000 years ago

Eat these foods to keep your brain strong and healthy

6 Sir David Attenborough series to watch after Wild Isles

In Northern Ireland, peace anniversary highlights move for tourism away from conflict

Here’s why we still haven’t caught the world’s biggest fish

Must see: How amber creates exquisite fossils

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

ALBUM

Descend into and return from the underworld: The Velletri sarcophagus (pictured above) was was carved around A.D. 150—and stories the myth of Hercules. Created during the time when Romans were transitioning from cremation to burial, the “work expresses the deceased’s hope that his life, like Hercules’, will continue beyond the grave,” Nat Geo reports.

A HERCULES MASTERPIECE

PHOTO OF THE DAY

PHOTOGRAPH BY ANA PALACIOS

A second chance: Sick, neglected, abandoned—thousands of farm animals now have a second chance, thanks to about 40 sanctuaries throughout Spain. From cats to goats to cows, no animal is turned away: “For me, every animal has the right to be rescued,” Elena Tova tells Nat Geo. (Above, a volunteer at a sanctuary cradles a duck.)

LEARN MORE

WHAT IN THE WORLD?

PHOTOGRAPH BY ANDY SANDS

Neither plant nor animal: And no, it’s not another magic trick—although these organisms are shrouded in mystery. Behold: this one is beautiful, intelligent, otherworldly: “It’s painful how much we don’t know” about these organisms, Nat Geo reports. What are they? Click here to find out.

SEE FOR YOURSELF

Today’s soundtrack: Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around, Sweet Honey in the Rock

Correction: A promotional line in Friday’s newsletter mischaracterized the status of the tomb where Jesus is believed to have been buried. The area has not been shown conclusively to be the site where the biblical Jesus was buried.

Thanks for reading today’s newsletter! It was curated and edited by Jen Tse, Hannah Farrow, and David Beard. Want to let us know your thoughts? Send away: david.beard@natgeo.com. Happy trails!

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RJ Hamster

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NOW YOU SEE IT … NOW YOU DON’T

NOW YOU SEE IT … NOW YOU DON’T

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