WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.880 --> 00:00:04.519 Welcome. This is Marsha for RADIOI and today I will 2 00:00:04.559 --> 00:00:09.560 be reading National Geographic Magazine dated December twenty twenty four. 3 00:00:10.240 --> 00:00:13.119 As a reminder, RADIOIE is a reading service intended for 4 00:00:13.199 --> 00:00:16.440 people who are blind or have other disabilities that make 5 00:00:16.480 --> 00:00:20.120 it difficult to read printed material. Please join me now 6 00:00:20.160 --> 00:00:27.000 for the first article titled an Imperiled Haven Seewa Oasis, Egypt. 7 00:00:28.359 --> 00:00:32.679 In Egypt's vast desert, Seewa Oasis supports a town of 8 00:00:32.719 --> 00:00:36.159 thirty five thousand people. It also attracts tourists who come 9 00:00:36.200 --> 00:00:40.759 for camel rides, sandboarding, ancient ruins, and salty lakes. But 10 00:00:41.000 --> 00:00:43.799 these bodies of water are a sign of trouble in paradise. 11 00:00:44.479 --> 00:00:47.799 Before the nineteen eighties, Sewa's only source of water was 12 00:00:47.840 --> 00:00:52.399 two hundred natural flowing springs. To expand agriculture in the region, 13 00:00:52.560 --> 00:00:55.759 farmers drilled thousands of wells to access groundwater in the 14 00:00:55.799 --> 00:01:00.320 aquifers below. The wells supplied more water for irrigation, but 15 00:01:00.399 --> 00:01:04.159 without a well planned drainage system in place, excess water 16 00:01:04.319 --> 00:01:08.920 produced salty drainage lakes and caused water logging and salinization 17 00:01:09.000 --> 00:01:12.359 of the soil. Ironically, too much water in this desert 18 00:01:12.359 --> 00:01:17.040 attraction is leading to the deterioration of agriculture, killing cash 19 00:01:17.040 --> 00:01:20.439 crops like date palms, which are crucial to creating the 20 00:01:20.519 --> 00:01:25.239 humid microclimate of the oasis. Siwa is not alone. More 21 00:01:25.239 --> 00:01:28.319 than thirty three million acres of oases around the globe 22 00:01:28.599 --> 00:01:33.040 degraded into deserts from nineteen ninety five to twenty twenty. 23 00:01:33.480 --> 00:01:38.879 Next new hope for rhinos nan Yuki, Kenya. Only two 24 00:01:39.040 --> 00:01:43.519 Northern white rhinoceroses remain on the planet, both females protected 25 00:01:43.519 --> 00:01:47.799 by armed guards around the clock at Old Pajita con 26 00:01:48.200 --> 00:01:52.359 Conservancy in Kenya. The subspecies of white rhino has been 27 00:01:52.439 --> 00:01:56.560 hunted to functional extinction for its horn, coveted for carvings 28 00:01:56.599 --> 00:02:02.040 and unproven medical uses, but a solution had emerged. In January, 29 00:02:02.159 --> 00:02:06.760 scientists from an international project called bio Rescue announced that 30 00:02:06.840 --> 00:02:09.960 they had for the first time, achieved a pregnancy after 31 00:02:10.360 --> 00:02:16.000 using in vitro fertilization fertilization IVF to transfer a Southern 32 00:02:16.039 --> 00:02:20.879 white rhino embryo into a Southern white rhino surrogate. Southern 33 00:02:20.879 --> 00:02:24.560 white rhinos, once near extinction themselves, are now the most 34 00:02:24.639 --> 00:02:27.840 popular species of rhino thanks to over a century of 35 00:02:27.879 --> 00:02:32.960 conservation efforts. The success was bittersweet. Before scientists could confirm 36 00:02:33.000 --> 00:02:37.560 the pregnancy, the surrogate mother died from an unrelated bacterial infection. 37 00:02:38.360 --> 00:02:43.759 A necro necropsy revealed that she was pregnant. While the 38 00:02:43.840 --> 00:02:48.360 moment was heartbreaking, Ami Vitelli says it proved that IVF 39 00:02:48.560 --> 00:02:52.439 is viable in rhinos. The bio Rescue Team plans to 40 00:02:52.479 --> 00:02:56.520 transfer a Northern white rhino embryo into a Southern white 41 00:02:56.639 --> 00:03:00.840 rhino surrogate in early twenty twenty five. The procedure may 42 00:03:00.879 --> 00:03:04.879 save other rhinos. Three of the five species are critically endangered. 43 00:03:05.360 --> 00:03:09.400 For Vitale, whose work documenting steps to save these rhinos 44 00:03:09.400 --> 00:03:12.439 over the past fifteen years will be included in a 45 00:03:12.479 --> 00:03:16.280 forthcoming national geographic film, the fetus is a symbol of 46 00:03:16.319 --> 00:03:19.479 the group's determination. The thing that drives this team is 47 00:03:19.479 --> 00:03:24.800 their optimism, she says. They just are not giving up. Next, 48 00:03:25.039 --> 00:03:33.520 tracking the elusive black tiger Odisha State, India, The Similipal 49 00:03:33.719 --> 00:03:37.120 Tiger Reserve covers more than a thousand square miles in 50 00:03:37.199 --> 00:03:39.800 eastern India and is home to the world's only wild 51 00:03:39.879 --> 00:03:45.719 population of pseudo melanistic tigers, also called black tigers for 52 00:03:45.759 --> 00:03:49.680 their extra wide stripes. The unique colour pattern results from 53 00:03:49.719 --> 00:03:54.879 a genetic mutation found solely in the Similipal population. About 54 00:03:54.879 --> 00:03:57.400 half of the twenty seven tigers living here are black. 55 00:03:58.599 --> 00:04:02.439 Similipol tigers are skittish and shy. Even longtime residents of 56 00:04:02.479 --> 00:04:08.199 the villages within the reserve told Pressinjeet yadd Yadev they 57 00:04:08.240 --> 00:04:12.080 had never seen one. To photograph the tigers, Yadev set 58 00:04:12.240 --> 00:04:16.040 up camera traps with infrared triggers on twenty four trails, 59 00:04:16.439 --> 00:04:20.319 three of which ultimately saw regular tiger activity. However, the 60 00:04:20.360 --> 00:04:22.920 tigers often seemed to sense a change on the path 61 00:04:23.279 --> 00:04:26.759 and headed off trail out of the camera's range. Even 62 00:04:26.800 --> 00:04:30.199 if my camera was camouflaged, he explains, they'd say, this 63 00:04:30.360 --> 00:04:33.600 is something new, I want to avoid it. Other wildlife 64 00:04:33.639 --> 00:04:36.759 like monkeys and elephants, played with and broke his cameras. 65 00:04:37.319 --> 00:04:41.240 Yadov kept fourteen to sixteen hour days managing his equipment 66 00:04:41.560 --> 00:04:45.439 and improving his techniques to avoid detection. He eventually got 67 00:04:45.480 --> 00:04:48.600 this image of a young female tiger, one of just 68 00:04:48.639 --> 00:04:51.800 a few photos captured of the black tigers over sixty 69 00:04:51.920 --> 00:04:59.399 days inside the reserve. Next Dangerous Crossroads Siloama Zombia Jasper 70 00:04:59.639 --> 00:05:04.720 Doze was documenting an international effort to protect transporter wildlife 71 00:05:04.759 --> 00:05:07.519 corridors when he heard that an elephant had been killed 72 00:05:07.519 --> 00:05:10.160 the night before by a car on the M ten 73 00:05:11.000 --> 00:05:16.560 Highway outside of Tioma Niguezi National Park. A passenger the 74 00:05:16.639 --> 00:05:19.959 vehicle also died. Elephants must cross the M ten to 75 00:05:20.040 --> 00:05:23.680 reach the Zambezi River, their only water source during hot, 76 00:05:23.759 --> 00:05:28.639 dry months. Human animal interactions are increasing as roads, villages, 77 00:05:28.959 --> 00:05:33.199 and farms encroach upon habitat for elephants and other wildlife. 78 00:05:33.560 --> 00:05:38.079 In addition, climate change raises temperatures and altars rainfall patterns, 79 00:05:38.319 --> 00:05:42.680 forcing animals and humans into more frequent competition for resources 80 00:05:42.720 --> 00:05:47.000 like water. In the past, locals saw only the occasional elephant, 81 00:05:47.319 --> 00:05:50.759 But now, they told Dost, the animals raided their crops 82 00:05:50.839 --> 00:05:54.279 and leave paths of destruction as they moved through villages 83 00:05:54.279 --> 00:05:57.839 in larger numbers. You could feel the tension. Dost says 84 00:05:57.839 --> 00:06:01.560 of the conflicts at the exodents seen bystanders gathered and 85 00:06:02.000 --> 00:06:06.800 buses arrived with school children. Despite their generally adversarial relationship 86 00:06:06.839 --> 00:06:10.160 with elephants, many villagers had not seen one up close. 87 00:06:10.639 --> 00:06:13.399 People approached to touch the animal and stroke his trunk 88 00:06:13.480 --> 00:06:17.959 in Awe. Conservation measures like the wildlife corridors that Dosts 89 00:06:17.959 --> 00:06:21.879 had been photographing, address the needs of both animals and 90 00:06:21.959 --> 00:06:26.399 humans for water and land resources, and are ever more important. 91 00:06:26.759 --> 00:06:31.639 It's about creating the infrastructure for coexistence, he says. Next, 92 00:06:31.879 --> 00:06:37.360 will travelers find a lost incast city by Lucian Chalvain 93 00:06:38.240 --> 00:06:41.199 High in the Peruvian clouds. The hard to reach ruins 94 00:06:41.240 --> 00:06:45.360 of Chaqua karl are spared the crowds that flock to 95 00:06:45.399 --> 00:06:50.439 Machipichu that could soon change. Lamas seem to graze everywhere 96 00:06:50.480 --> 00:06:53.560 in Peru's mountains, but none are quite as memorable as 97 00:06:53.600 --> 00:06:57.319 the herd at chau Qua Quarol. Fashioned that of white 98 00:06:57.399 --> 00:07:01.160 rocks and embedded in gray schist walls, two dozen beguiling 99 00:07:01.240 --> 00:07:04.680 lamas have stood fixed in stone for centuries. There is 100 00:07:04.720 --> 00:07:09.319 nothing else like this in the Andes, says Gorri Tumi Echivaria, 101 00:07:09.759 --> 00:07:12.959 who specializes in prehistoric rock art and has worked at 102 00:07:13.000 --> 00:07:17.279 the sprawling Pre Columbian Archaeological Complex since two thousand five, 103 00:07:17.759 --> 00:07:20.600 a year after the lamas were discovered. It was an 104 00:07:20.720 --> 00:07:24.480 artistic innovation that occurred prior to the sixteenth century and 105 00:07:24.639 --> 00:07:28.560 was never repeated in the andes of southern Peru. Cha 106 00:07:28.680 --> 00:07:32.560 Quako is a cousin to the more frequently visited Machupicho, 107 00:07:32.959 --> 00:07:36.959 just twenty seven miles northeast. The complex of structures was 108 00:07:37.000 --> 00:07:41.639 created by Inca architects. It includes ceremonial halls, chambers that 109 00:07:41.720 --> 00:07:46.360 once held mummified remains, intricate farming terraces, and hundreds of 110 00:07:46.439 --> 00:07:49.920 buildings where Inca communities worked and lived. But the star 111 00:07:50.000 --> 00:07:53.920 attraction for travelers and archaeologists is the lamas in a 112 00:07:53.959 --> 00:07:58.240 perpetual procession toward the ruins central plaza where they're live, 113 00:07:58.480 --> 00:08:03.000 where their live relatives may have been sacrificed. The route 114 00:08:03.040 --> 00:08:06.439 to the ten thousand foot high Choquacarol is not for 115 00:08:06.600 --> 00:08:10.720 the faint hearted. Visitors typically fly inland from Lima to Pusco, 116 00:08:11.120 --> 00:08:14.360 and the site is accessible only by foot, human or mule. 117 00:08:15.000 --> 00:08:17.680 It takes most hikers two to three days to trek 118 00:08:17.720 --> 00:08:21.000 there and back along a thirty nine mile trail that 119 00:08:21.120 --> 00:08:25.680 often hugs the cliff side as the Apurimac River rages below. 120 00:08:26.199 --> 00:08:29.360 The trail is strewn with rocks and lined with thorny branches, 121 00:08:29.759 --> 00:08:32.279 but every stubbed toe and scratched arm is worth the 122 00:08:32.360 --> 00:08:37.279 views of the snow dusted andes and enigmatic structures encountered 123 00:08:37.320 --> 00:08:41.679 along the way. A much debated cable car project could 124 00:08:41.759 --> 00:08:45.200 change the journey considerably by ferrying visitors to the base 125 00:08:45.240 --> 00:08:48.519 of the ruins. Proponents say the tourism revenue would be 126 00:08:48.519 --> 00:08:52.000 a boon to the region. Our opponents argue that the 127 00:08:52.039 --> 00:08:55.639 cable car could cause the entire complex to collapse. For now, 128 00:08:55.720 --> 00:08:59.320 the site's remoteness and the difficulty reaching its ruins help 129 00:08:59.399 --> 00:09:05.200 retain its magical mythical quality. But Chaquacaro, translated as Cradle 130 00:09:05.279 --> 00:09:09.440 of Gold in Quetcha All, wasn't always off the beaten 131 00:09:09.519 --> 00:09:12.600 path in the pre Columbian age. When the place thrived, 132 00:09:12.840 --> 00:09:15.840 it sat along a route people traversed as they moved 133 00:09:16.120 --> 00:09:20.720 between Andean peaks and jungle lowlands. The heart of Chaququaro, 134 00:09:21.120 --> 00:09:25.000 with an open plaza containing ceremonial fountains and a building 135 00:09:25.080 --> 00:09:28.519 filled with rooms that were used for rituals and niches 136 00:09:28.759 --> 00:09:33.840 for mummified remains, is smaller than what travelers experience that Machupichu, 137 00:09:33.960 --> 00:09:37.879 with the complex itself is much larger. As trekkers approach 138 00:09:37.960 --> 00:09:40.960 the ruins, the first things they see are terraces step 139 00:09:41.120 --> 00:09:45.960 like platforms that turn hillsides into arable land, still used 140 00:09:46.000 --> 00:09:50.480 by farmers in the Peruvian highlands. Chaquacoro has miles and 141 00:09:50.559 --> 00:09:54.240 miles of terraces, many of them covered by vegetation. They 142 00:09:54.279 --> 00:09:56.600 stretched from the top of the ruins nearly a mile 143 00:09:56.720 --> 00:10:03.039 down toward the Apurimac River. Kovaroubias, whose family has lived 144 00:10:03.080 --> 00:10:07.159 in the nearby community of Marampata for more than a century, 145 00:10:07.480 --> 00:10:11.080 says her ancestors used the terraces for planting and pasturing 146 00:10:11.159 --> 00:10:15.399 livestock until the nineteen eighties. Clearing the terraces of vegetation 147 00:10:15.919 --> 00:10:20.279 led archaeologists to the stone lamas. Their white bodies stand 148 00:10:20.360 --> 00:10:24.279 in stark contrast to the gray walls, suggesting depth and dimension. 149 00:10:24.759 --> 00:10:28.000 They reflect these sunlight when the rays hit them each afternoon. 150 00:10:28.639 --> 00:10:32.120 Chokokwaro's size and remoteness mean that much of the site 151 00:10:32.120 --> 00:10:35.960 has never been excavated. Nelson Sierra, who operates a high 152 00:10:36.039 --> 00:10:41.960 mountain trekking company Ritisuyo, points to vine covered elevations rising 153 00:10:42.039 --> 00:10:45.360 beyond the central clearing. They are not small hills, but 154 00:10:45.559 --> 00:10:50.120 collapsed structures reclaimed by dense vegetation. So much work is 155 00:10:50.159 --> 00:10:52.759 still needed here, but restoring it all would be a 156 00:10:52.759 --> 00:10:56.759 massive job, he says. In theory, the proposed tramway could 157 00:10:56.759 --> 00:11:00.480 spur restoration work and boost the region's economy, but the 158 00:11:00.519 --> 00:11:04.080 idea of increasing tourism is a pressing issue that cuts 159 00:11:04.120 --> 00:11:07.080 both ways in this part of the Andes. Concerned by 160 00:11:07.080 --> 00:11:10.960 the influx of visitors to sensitive places, UNESCO has threatened 161 00:11:10.960 --> 00:11:13.679 in the past to put Machipichu on a danger list. 162 00:11:14.440 --> 00:11:17.240 A cable car system would bring not only more visitors 163 00:11:17.519 --> 00:11:21.200 to Choquacaro, but also the sort of infrastructure that might 164 00:11:21.320 --> 00:11:25.600 damage the fragile area. Some complained that mass access to 165 00:11:25.639 --> 00:11:30.159 the sacred site could spoil its rarefied, undiscovered appeal and 166 00:11:30.200 --> 00:11:35.759 harm the grass roots tourism outfits that now bring people there. Melchorapuga, 167 00:11:35.960 --> 00:11:39.919 who offers lodging and runs a restaurant in Chiquisca on 168 00:11:40.159 --> 00:11:44.120 the Apouramak side of the trail, worries the cable car 169 00:11:44.200 --> 00:11:46.840 would force her and others to abandon their way of life. 170 00:11:47.360 --> 00:11:50.639 We depend on tourism, Puga says. The cable car would 171 00:11:50.679 --> 00:11:53.159 be like killing the roots of a tree and thinking 172 00:11:53.240 --> 00:11:58.679 the tree could live. We would not survive. Samuel kispe 173 00:11:58.960 --> 00:12:02.799 a summer retired mule driver says the cable car would 174 00:12:02.799 --> 00:12:05.720 eliminate jobs for people like him and a whole range 175 00:12:05.759 --> 00:12:09.200 of service providers whose businesses would be bypassed by a 176 00:12:09.279 --> 00:12:13.519 quick cable car ride. One of his seven children, Jose Luis, 177 00:12:13.879 --> 00:12:16.399 is also a mule driver, and his family runs a 178 00:12:16.440 --> 00:12:22.679 small store and campground in Cocamsana along the trail. Many 179 00:12:22.720 --> 00:12:27.759 of the trekkers who venture to Quacarakayo says something else 180 00:12:27.960 --> 00:12:32.360 could be lost too. The enticing thing about Cocacraio is 181 00:12:32.399 --> 00:12:34.639 that it takes time, so there is a commitment to 182 00:12:34.720 --> 00:12:38.039 do it, says Madison mac donald, twenty six, from Houston. 183 00:12:39.960 --> 00:12:45.240 Ritisuyos Sierra says that the government should focus on improving 184 00:12:45.399 --> 00:12:49.440 the existing infrastructure instead of arguing over a cable car. 185 00:12:49.799 --> 00:12:52.720 Maintenance of the trail and better services would permit a 186 00:12:52.759 --> 00:12:56.240 greater flow of tourists and ensure local livelihoods. It would 187 00:12:56.279 --> 00:13:00.399 not be like Machupichu, but the people visiting Chokokuaro are 188 00:13:00.440 --> 00:13:04.919 not interested in another machu Pichu. Choco Kwaro is the 189 00:13:05.000 --> 00:13:11.120 perfect companion site. Next. The Navigational Power of Finding Zero 190 00:13:11.200 --> 00:13:17.120 Degrees by Matthew W. Chwastik for centuries, geographers, astronomers, and 191 00:13:17.200 --> 00:13:20.960 mariners around the world set their own standards for longitude 192 00:13:21.000 --> 00:13:24.399 without any agreement on a universal baseline. Here's why it 193 00:13:24.440 --> 00:13:27.039 looks so long. Took so long to agree out of 194 00:13:27.120 --> 00:13:31.519 prime meridian. To day, geographers use the time honored system 195 00:13:31.559 --> 00:13:35.799 of intersecting lines to pinpoint places on the globe. Latitude 196 00:13:35.879 --> 00:13:38.840 running west to east has always had a convenient origin 197 00:13:39.000 --> 00:13:42.960 the equator, which divides Earth into northern and southern hemispheres, 198 00:13:43.440 --> 00:13:46.879 but longitude running north to south to determine what is 199 00:13:46.960 --> 00:13:51.639 east or west started without any such an easy demarcation. 200 00:13:52.279 --> 00:13:55.879 Early cartographers chose their own zero line or prime meridian, 201 00:13:56.279 --> 00:14:00.000 often centered on their capital, and that worked until it didn't. 202 00:14:00.559 --> 00:14:03.799 The myriad prime meridians led to confusion in maps and 203 00:14:03.840 --> 00:14:08.039 sea charts, time keeping, and global maritime commerce. At the 204 00:14:08.080 --> 00:14:11.759 eighteen eighty four International Meridian Conference in Washington, d C. 205 00:14:12.519 --> 00:14:16.679 Delegates from twenty five countries recommended the world wide adoption 206 00:14:17.159 --> 00:14:21.360 of the prime meridian running through the Royal Observatory at Granwich, England, 207 00:14:21.879 --> 00:14:26.399 as the world's baseline for longitude and standardized time, but 208 00:14:26.480 --> 00:14:29.360 traditions were hard to break. It took four decades for 209 00:14:29.399 --> 00:14:33.320 the last holdouts, including France and Portugal, to adopt this 210 00:14:33.519 --> 00:14:38.799 first universal global positioning system. Here's how it evolved. Looking 211 00:14:38.840 --> 00:14:42.960 to the equator, equator marks the midpoint between Earth's poles. 212 00:14:43.000 --> 00:14:46.159 All lines of latitude run parallel to it and are 213 00:14:46.200 --> 00:14:51.320 therefore referred to as parallels. Prime meridians by era of 214 00:14:51.519 --> 00:14:55.360 main use third century BC, earliest use of latitude and 215 00:14:55.399 --> 00:15:00.360 longitude to a D sixteen hundred eight sixteen hundred age 216 00:15:00.360 --> 00:15:05.200 of modern map making until full adoption of Greenwich meridian 217 00:15:05.240 --> 00:15:10.000 in nineteen fourteen, solving the space and time confusion. Before 218 00:15:10.039 --> 00:15:13.519 a single shared prime meridian was su selected, other lines 219 00:15:13.519 --> 00:15:18.399 were chosen for cartographic convenience, cultural tradition, or natural pride. 220 00:15:18.679 --> 00:15:21.440 After the Greenwich prime meridian was adopted, it became the 221 00:15:21.480 --> 00:15:27.720 basis for standardized time, recognizing different origins. A meridian, from 222 00:15:27.799 --> 00:15:31.120 the Latin word meaning noon, is a line that indicates 223 00:15:31.159 --> 00:15:35.120 where the sun is directly overhead at midday, anchoring the 224 00:15:35.159 --> 00:15:39.519 hemispheres the equator in all meridians are called great circles 225 00:15:39.879 --> 00:15:43.159 because the plane of their lines passes through the center 226 00:15:43.240 --> 00:15:48.919 of the planet, dividing it into equal hemispheres. Rethinking ancient standards, 227 00:15:49.360 --> 00:15:53.360 Greek geographers often used Faroh, one of the Canary Islands, 228 00:15:53.639 --> 00:15:57.960 the western limit of their known world. Exploration then expanded 229 00:15:58.039 --> 00:16:03.799 horizons deliferation of primes. Nearly forty other prime meridians were 230 00:16:03.879 --> 00:16:08.600 used before the universal adoption of the Greenwich line. Continuing 231 00:16:08.600 --> 00:16:13.879 to improve accuracy, global positioning systems now measure latitude, longitude, 232 00:16:13.919 --> 00:16:17.480 and also height with sea level as zero to plot 233 00:16:17.639 --> 00:16:23.039 locations more precisely. This computational process accounts for other factors 234 00:16:23.080 --> 00:16:27.000 such as gravity and irregularities in Earth's shape to be 235 00:16:27.080 --> 00:16:31.840 even more exact. Next, what I found searching for My 236 00:16:31.960 --> 00:16:37.559 Family Story by Jordan Salama. Documents and genealogies are helpful, 237 00:16:37.600 --> 00:16:41.879 but perstile memories are invaluable. The binders stared back at me, 238 00:16:42.039 --> 00:16:45.559 yellowing papers and black and white photographs, spilled out its sides, 239 00:16:46.120 --> 00:16:48.879 and had written Spanish. The label on its spine read 240 00:16:49.480 --> 00:16:53.720 Historia Antigua Ancient History. I opened it to the first 241 00:16:53.759 --> 00:16:56.519 page and began to read. I'm not sure what it 242 00:16:56.639 --> 00:16:58.840 is that I'm about to write, but I've had this 243 00:16:59.000 --> 00:17:01.399 idea for a number of years now, ever since a 244 00:17:01.480 --> 00:17:04.599 conversation I had with my father when I turned thirteen 245 00:17:04.759 --> 00:17:07.799 and had my bar mitzvah. This was clear in my 246 00:17:07.880 --> 00:17:14.279 grandfather's handwriting, a characteristically Argentine script marked by irregular capitalization. 247 00:17:14.799 --> 00:17:17.559 Who was Thanksgiving and I was in my grandparents' basement 248 00:17:17.680 --> 00:17:20.599 in the suburbs outside of New York City. As I 249 00:17:20.640 --> 00:17:23.160 read on in silence, I could hear my extended family 250 00:17:23.279 --> 00:17:27.319 ambling about upstairs. Within the first few pages of the binder, 251 00:17:27.680 --> 00:17:32.920 Abuelo had recounted centuries of our family's history, touching Mesopotamia, 252 00:17:33.079 --> 00:17:37.640 Medieval Spain, Ottoman and Syria, Latin America, and the United States, 253 00:17:38.079 --> 00:17:40.880 as if had all been told to him by his father. 254 00:17:41.640 --> 00:17:43.880 What I held in my hands was an oral history, 255 00:17:44.160 --> 00:17:46.880 and Abuido was the first to write it down. As 256 00:17:46.880 --> 00:17:50.640 I gently flipped through the rest, I found diaries, travelogus, letters, 257 00:17:50.640 --> 00:17:54.960 and news clippings from Abueido's own youth, a treasure trove 258 00:17:55.079 --> 00:17:59.440 of recollections, remembrance, and research. For several months, I didn't 259 00:17:59.440 --> 00:18:02.240 tell him when I found in his basement. Instead, I 260 00:18:02.240 --> 00:18:04.680 would look forward to college breaks and holidays at my 261 00:18:04.720 --> 00:18:08.400 grand's grandparents house when I could quietly slip away from 262 00:18:08.440 --> 00:18:11.759 the crowd to go downstairs and read more. One afternoon, 263 00:18:11.799 --> 00:18:14.319 months after I had first found the binder of Buelo 264 00:18:14.720 --> 00:18:17.200 came into the kitchen and motioned for me to follow him. 265 00:18:17.519 --> 00:18:19.880 I want to show you something, he said. He led 266 00:18:19.920 --> 00:18:21.759 me down to the basement, and as we turned a 267 00:18:21.839 --> 00:18:25.079 left toward his library, I saw that the Heaththoria on 268 00:18:25.240 --> 00:18:28.559 Tigwell was already open on the desk. My face flushed. 269 00:18:29.000 --> 00:18:31.599 You've been looking at my writing, a Buelo said. My 270 00:18:31.680 --> 00:18:35.759 grandfather always spoke so matter of factully in English, carefully 271 00:18:35.839 --> 00:18:38.920 choosing his words. Yes I have, I said, a Buido, 272 00:18:39.240 --> 00:18:43.119 It's very interesting. His face broke into a wide smile. 273 00:18:43.480 --> 00:18:45.519 He began to laugh as he spoke, and his eyes 274 00:18:45.559 --> 00:18:48.680 welled up with tears. How much of you read? Not much? 275 00:18:48.720 --> 00:18:50.880 I lied. We sat down in front of the desk 276 00:18:51.240 --> 00:18:54.640 of Buelo, thumbed through the binder of past religious documents 277 00:18:55.039 --> 00:18:59.759 of Kituba or Jewish marriage contract and passed civil documents 278 00:19:00.039 --> 00:19:03.319 a faded registry from Buenos Aires, and he began to 279 00:19:03.359 --> 00:19:06.920 tell me the family story from mateon. We mostly read 280 00:19:06.920 --> 00:19:10.720 the Historia Antigua together so that Abueo could explain the 281 00:19:10.720 --> 00:19:14.920 parts I didn't understand, names and places, words and phrases 282 00:19:14.960 --> 00:19:19.240 in Spanish and Arabic and Hebrew. We discussed language identity 283 00:19:19.279 --> 00:19:22.599 and history. We drew and re drew family trees, and 284 00:19:22.680 --> 00:19:26.400 reviewed the names and back stories of ancestors as though 285 00:19:26.680 --> 00:19:30.559 they be coming over at any moment. These conversations drifted 286 00:19:30.640 --> 00:19:33.759 completely into Spanish. It was easier for Albueto to talk 287 00:19:33.799 --> 00:19:37.480 about his life, especially his childhood and Buenos Aires, in 288 00:19:37.519 --> 00:19:40.319 his native language. For me, it lent a sense of 289 00:19:40.319 --> 00:19:43.680 excitement and even mystery to the conversation, sort of like 290 00:19:43.799 --> 00:19:47.640 unlocking a new world. As both a grandson and a journalist, 291 00:19:47.680 --> 00:19:50.759 I tried to ask questions that brought color and nuance 292 00:19:50.839 --> 00:19:55.440 to these histories. Since the Historia Antigua already covered the basics, 293 00:19:55.680 --> 00:19:59.240 the what, where, and when of my family's story, at 294 00:19:59.319 --> 00:20:02.079 least in broad strokes, I could focus on the why 295 00:20:02.160 --> 00:20:05.759 and the how to paint a portrait of our wandering family. 296 00:20:06.240 --> 00:20:09.599 Why did my Jewish great grandparents leave Damascus in such 297 00:20:09.599 --> 00:20:12.680 a hurry at the start of the twentieth century bound 298 00:20:12.759 --> 00:20:16.119 for Argentina. Why did my great grandfather decide to work 299 00:20:16.119 --> 00:20:19.240 as a traveling salesman with a horse drawn cart in 300 00:20:19.319 --> 00:20:22.079 the remote and these mountains? And how did he go 301 00:20:22.160 --> 00:20:26.240 about his journeys? How did Aboilo and Abuia spend the 302 00:20:26.319 --> 00:20:29.039 days of their childhood in the working class neighborhoods of 303 00:20:29.079 --> 00:20:32.880 Buenos Aires. And why did our family end up migrating again, 304 00:20:33.279 --> 00:20:37.319 this time to the US and across the Americas. Though 305 00:20:37.359 --> 00:20:40.359 it might be hard to believe that Abueido hadn't shared 306 00:20:40.400 --> 00:20:43.960 these stories with me before, I wasn't necessarily surprised. Our 307 00:20:43.960 --> 00:20:47.400 grandfather was never one to launch into a family tale unprompted. 308 00:20:47.839 --> 00:20:50.839 But then again, I hadn't ever taken the time to ask. 309 00:20:51.359 --> 00:20:54.759 Whenever I told friends and others about our conversations, this 310 00:20:54.880 --> 00:20:58.119 last sentiment was repeated back to me. It's amazing that 311 00:20:58.160 --> 00:21:01.039 you took the time to ask, people said, lamenting that 312 00:21:01.079 --> 00:21:03.920 they hadn't yet done the same, or didn't think to 313 00:21:04.160 --> 00:21:08.200 until it was too late. Recently I began leading family 314 00:21:08.319 --> 00:21:11.359 history workshops and traveling in the country to discuss a 315 00:21:11.359 --> 00:21:14.960 book I wrote about my search across Argentina for traces 316 00:21:14.960 --> 00:21:19.119 of Obuido's father, that Syrian Jewish traveling salesmen in the 317 00:21:19.240 --> 00:21:23.640 Andes Mountains. What I've realized by talking with others is 318 00:21:23.680 --> 00:21:27.319 that time and inertia remain our biggest barriers to hearing 319 00:21:27.400 --> 00:21:30.480 our own stories. By the time the guardians of the 320 00:21:30.519 --> 00:21:33.119 answers are gone, we are more likely to be left 321 00:21:33.160 --> 00:21:37.480 with heaps of documents to sort through birth certificates, DNA results, 322 00:21:37.799 --> 00:21:41.960 unlabeled photographs, rather than hours of stories the where and when, 323 00:21:42.279 --> 00:21:45.720 but not the how and why. For those of us 324 00:21:45.720 --> 00:21:47.920 still in the lucky position to do so, we must 325 00:21:47.960 --> 00:21:51.519 ask questions of our parents and grandparents now before it's 326 00:21:51.559 --> 00:21:55.880 too late. Keep journals, write letters, make lists of sensory details, 327 00:21:56.440 --> 00:21:59.960 Ask about otherwise ordinary objects around the house that can 328 00:22:00.119 --> 00:22:06.640 contained clues about the past. Record and transcoscribe kitchen table conversations, or, 329 00:22:06.640 --> 00:22:11.359 if those conversations aren't happening, naturally organized talk show style 330 00:22:11.599 --> 00:22:15.039 interviews between older and younger relatives with the rest of 331 00:22:15.039 --> 00:22:17.359 the family as the audience. If you are of an 332 00:22:17.359 --> 00:22:20.799 older generation, it is your turn to speak. Think about 333 00:22:20.799 --> 00:22:23.119 how you can make these stories come alive in your 334 00:22:23.119 --> 00:22:26.559 own families, and what sorts of tools like a Boido's 335 00:22:26.640 --> 00:22:31.039 Thick Mysterious Hystoria Antigua you can use to light sparks 336 00:22:31.039 --> 00:22:34.400 of interest among your young your relatives as well as yourself. 337 00:22:35.119 --> 00:22:38.759 Family stories are currency for survival. They are embedded within 338 00:22:38.799 --> 00:22:41.759 the traditions we pick up along the journeys of our lives. 339 00:22:42.200 --> 00:22:45.599 They are the identities we create in world's foreign and familiar, 340 00:22:45.960 --> 00:22:49.440 remembered now but forever at risk of being forgotten. A 341 00:22:49.519 --> 00:22:53.000 while after Abuido and I began discussing the Hystoria Antigua, 342 00:22:53.279 --> 00:22:57.839 Abueida revealed her own secret collection of stories, short fictions 343 00:22:58.240 --> 00:23:01.440 inspired by her childhood, which she'd filed away in the 344 00:23:01.480 --> 00:23:04.319 back of a recipe binder. Now, as a family, we 345 00:23:04.400 --> 00:23:08.880 often read and discuss those two next. Pretty and Pink 346 00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:13.039 gone for a century, Wild flamingoes are making it come 347 00:23:13.079 --> 00:23:17.519 back in the Sunshine State. Florida's avian icon has been 348 00:23:17.640 --> 00:23:21.759 largely missing since the early nineteen hundreds after hunters targeted 349 00:23:21.759 --> 00:23:25.279 the native population of flamingoes to satisfy a craze for 350 00:23:25.319 --> 00:23:30.279 extravagant feathered cats. While one colony was reintroduced in Miami 351 00:23:30.319 --> 00:23:34.480 in the nineteen thirties and Caribbean storms have occasionally brought 352 00:23:34.519 --> 00:23:37.759 wild flamigos to parts of the United States, the birds 353 00:23:37.880 --> 00:23:42.160 hadn't really stuck around until about a hundred accidental tourists 354 00:23:42.279 --> 00:23:46.880 blown in to Florida by last year's Hurricane Idalia decided 355 00:23:46.920 --> 00:23:50.000 to do just that. Five of the fresh arrivals had 356 00:23:50.039 --> 00:23:53.799 tags indicating that they had hailed from Mexico's Yucatan for 357 00:23:54.000 --> 00:23:58.559 islel decades of conservation efforts there and elsewhere in the 358 00:23:58.559 --> 00:24:02.720 Caribbean have restored large colonies and boosted the wild population 359 00:24:02.839 --> 00:24:06.200 of American flamingos from twenty one thousand in the nearly 360 00:24:06.279 --> 00:24:10.519 nineteen fifties to an estimated two hundred sixty thousand to 361 00:24:10.720 --> 00:24:15.440 three hundred thirty thousand to day. Now. Coastal restoration, especially 362 00:24:15.480 --> 00:24:20.039 in the Everglays, combined with cooler temperatures than in the tropics, 363 00:24:20.240 --> 00:24:22.400 could be enticing the birds back to the edge of 364 00:24:22.440 --> 00:24:28.799 their historic range, says Jerry Lorenz Audubon, Florida's research director. Meanwhile, 365 00:24:28.880 --> 00:24:32.799 biologists are searching for signs of a serious, long term commitment. 366 00:24:33.200 --> 00:24:42.079 Nests by Kelsey Nowakowski. Color code pink pigments from foods 367 00:24:42.119 --> 00:24:45.200 such as brine, shrimp, and algae are absorbed by body 368 00:24:45.240 --> 00:24:50.599 fat and deposited in feathers. Social bonds. Individuals have unique 369 00:24:50.640 --> 00:24:54.839 personalities and often formed cliques with like mannered colony numbers. 370 00:24:54.960 --> 00:24:59.640 Breeding pairs are monogamous, typically producing one egg a year. 371 00:25:00.759 --> 00:25:03.559 Filling the bill. Flo Mingos sweep their heads from side 372 00:25:03.559 --> 00:25:06.759 to side under water using their tongues to pump water 373 00:25:06.839 --> 00:25:12.160 into their bills, where they trap prey in comb like structures. Legwork. 374 00:25:12.359 --> 00:25:15.039 What looks like a backward bending knee is actually an 375 00:25:15.079 --> 00:25:18.920 ankle joint. Knees are hidden by feathers to stay stable 376 00:25:18.960 --> 00:25:22.599 while resting or sleeping. Flo Mingoes often stand on one 377 00:25:22.759 --> 00:25:28.519 locked leg. The Forever Home thens in Arizona. The Cause 378 00:25:28.599 --> 00:25:31.720 are highly social birds that live an average of forty 379 00:25:31.759 --> 00:25:35.279 to sixty years and often exhibit stressed behavior and captivity. 380 00:25:35.720 --> 00:25:38.319 This makes them challenging pets, so many end up in 381 00:25:38.359 --> 00:25:43.200 the Oasis Sanctuary, which provides permanent care for eight hundred parents, 382 00:25:43.519 --> 00:25:51.359 including the Cause. Deep Knowledge Yogini pri Province Gabon in 383 00:25:51.640 --> 00:25:55.519 Bongolo Cave, researchers joined by a bat work to create 384 00:25:55.559 --> 00:26:00.480 a record of past rainfall by analyzing stalagmites calcium carbonate 385 00:26:00.640 --> 00:26:04.920 formations created by water dripping over thousands of years onto 386 00:26:04.960 --> 00:26:09.799 the cave floor. The Western African Paleo Climate Project's goal 387 00:26:09.880 --> 00:26:14.400 is to understand the climate threats to agriculture across the region. 388 00:26:16.319 --> 00:26:21.400 A century's old love Song, Springfield, Illinois. Periodical chiccadas spend 389 00:26:21.440 --> 00:26:24.720 thirteen or seventeen years in the ground, emerging only to 390 00:26:24.799 --> 00:26:27.680 reproduce last May and June for the first time in 391 00:26:27.759 --> 00:26:34.440 two hundred twenty one years. Brewed XIII thirteen with a 392 00:26:34.759 --> 00:26:39.160 seventeen year cycle and Brewed XIX with a thirteen year 393 00:26:39.240 --> 00:26:45.000 cycle emerged simultaneously in the Midwest and Southeastern United States, respectively, 394 00:26:45.359 --> 00:26:49.119 filling the air with vibrations as they called out to vates. 395 00:26:51.079 --> 00:26:56.279 Liquid fuel from the sun Junich, Germany made using sunlight, 396 00:26:56.359 --> 00:27:00.079 water and carbon dioxide. This solar synthetic fluid has the 397 00:27:00.160 --> 00:27:03.119 potential to replace fossil fuels. It could be used to 398 00:27:03.200 --> 00:27:08.119 power trucks, ships and planes without retrofitting. In June, Swiss 399 00:27:08.119 --> 00:27:13.119 company Sindhilion opened the world's first industrial scale plant to 400 00:27:13.319 --> 00:27:20.920 produce the energy alternative atomic Aftermath Chacha, India. For almost 401 00:27:20.960 --> 00:27:25.000