WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.240 --> 00:00:04.559 Welcome. This is Marcia for Radio I and today I 2 00:00:04.639 --> 00:00:08.919 will be reading National Geographic Magazine dated March twenty twenty five. 3 00:00:09.560 --> 00:00:12.599 As a reminder, RADIOI is a reading service intended for 4 00:00:12.640 --> 00:00:16.000 people who are blind or have other disabilities that make 5 00:00:16.039 --> 00:00:19.480 it difficult to read printed material. Please join me now 6 00:00:19.519 --> 00:00:22.960 for the continuation of the article I began last time, 7 00:00:23.559 --> 00:00:29.519 entitled The Warrior Women of the Viking Age by Heather Pringle. 8 00:00:32.719 --> 00:00:35.880 The hinged position of her skeleton suggested that she had 9 00:00:35.920 --> 00:00:39.200 been buried in a seated position, possibly on a saddle 10 00:00:39.479 --> 00:00:42.799 whose wood and padding had rotted away, leaving only the 11 00:00:42.840 --> 00:00:46.280 iron stirrups found by her feet. Moreover, one of the 12 00:00:46.280 --> 00:00:49.600 horse skeletons on the ledge was bridled, as if ready 13 00:00:49.640 --> 00:00:53.759 to be ridden. In addition, the grave contained other equestrian gear, 14 00:00:54.240 --> 00:00:58.240 including what was likely a large currycomb. The battle gear 15 00:00:58.439 --> 00:01:02.920 arranged around the warrior skeleton also told a story. The arrows, 16 00:01:02.960 --> 00:01:06.920 for example, were specially designed to pierce an enemy's armor. 17 00:01:07.319 --> 00:01:10.400 These were not for show. The other weaponry in the 18 00:01:10.439 --> 00:01:15.840 grave shields, spears, double edged sword, broad axe and battle knife, 19 00:01:16.120 --> 00:01:19.239 suggested that the warrior woman was also highly trained in 20 00:01:19.319 --> 00:01:23.959 several forms of attack, including hand to hand combat. Other clues, 21 00:01:24.000 --> 00:01:28.760 including part of a silver coin minted by the Abbasid Caliphet, 22 00:01:29.319 --> 00:01:33.400 a sprawling Muslim empire whose capital lay in what is 23 00:01:33.439 --> 00:01:37.159 now Baghdad, linked the woman to the lucrative Viking trade 24 00:01:37.159 --> 00:01:40.879 in the East, and an analysis of the clothing fragments 25 00:01:40.920 --> 00:01:45.040 discovered in the grave revealed a distinctively Eastern style of dress. 26 00:01:45.480 --> 00:01:49.319 She was buried in a spectacular Eurasian steppe style of 27 00:01:49.400 --> 00:01:53.239 riding coat, trimmed with silk and possibly ornamented with small 28 00:01:53.280 --> 00:01:57.000 pieces of mirror glass to catch the light. She also 29 00:01:57.079 --> 00:02:00.920 wore a costly silk cap decorated with a silver tassel 30 00:02:01.040 --> 00:02:04.319 and four small silver balls. Both the style and the 31 00:02:04.359 --> 00:02:08.080 materials inferred that it was likely manufactured in the Viking 32 00:02:08.199 --> 00:02:12.639 settlement of Kiev, which was perched along a major river 33 00:02:12.800 --> 00:02:17.280 route leading to Constantinople. Taken together, the clothing pointed to 34 00:02:17.319 --> 00:02:21.879 a very important person with strong connections to the East. Indeed, 35 00:02:22.039 --> 00:02:27.479 comparative research by Scandinavian archaeologist and textile specialist INGA. Hague 36 00:02:28.039 --> 00:02:32.560 suggested that individuals buried in such distinctive hats were likely 37 00:02:32.639 --> 00:02:36.639 cavalry commanders who reported directly to a king or Prince, 38 00:02:37.120 --> 00:02:40.759 a theory the researcher proposed before the occupant of the 39 00:02:40.800 --> 00:02:46.680 famous grave was identified as a woman, Birkas's female warrior 40 00:02:47.080 --> 00:02:50.560 may have been skilled in a particular kind of equestrian combat. 41 00:02:50.919 --> 00:02:55.199 During the extensive excavations conducted at Birkus Garrison during the 42 00:02:55.280 --> 00:02:59.719 late nineteen nineties and early two thousands, archaeologists found remnants 43 00:02:59.759 --> 00:03:03.719 of use Eastern archery equipment, including arrow heads used with 44 00:03:03.800 --> 00:03:09.479 composite Eastern bows. The discoveries strongly indicated that some warriors 45 00:03:09.479 --> 00:03:12.840 garrisoned in Burka were trained in a type of horseback 46 00:03:12.960 --> 00:03:17.759 archery mastered by nomadic tribes on the Eurasian steps. Today, 47 00:03:18.199 --> 00:03:22.199 Headen Steernat Jansen thinks the Birka woman may have trained 48 00:03:22.240 --> 00:03:26.000 as an Eastern horseback archer too. It's a suggestion rather 49 00:03:26.039 --> 00:03:29.039 than a fact, she explained by e mail, adding that 50 00:03:29.199 --> 00:03:31.759 it is based on the array of weapons in combination 51 00:03:32.319 --> 00:03:36.879 with the horses and the general Eastern for example, rous 52 00:03:37.000 --> 00:03:41.439 and step nomadic feel to the grave and dress. The 53 00:03:41.719 --> 00:03:44.719 idea that the female buried in the famous warrior grave 54 00:03:44.800 --> 00:03:48.199 could have fought as a horseback archer was deeply intriguing, 55 00:03:48.560 --> 00:03:53.159 and I found myself wondering whether that ancient material marshal 56 00:03:53.360 --> 00:03:56.719 technique may have leveled the playing field for some female 57 00:03:56.800 --> 00:03:59.960 warriors in the Viking age. To learn more, I decided 58 00:04:00.159 --> 00:04:02.879 to reach out to a German scientist I knew who 59 00:04:02.919 --> 00:04:06.560 had undergone years of training to become a horseback archer herself. 60 00:04:07.240 --> 00:04:11.240 Angela Graefen is an ancient DNA specialist in Germany who 61 00:04:11.240 --> 00:04:14.719 has studied and published on the genome of Utzi, the 62 00:04:14.759 --> 00:04:18.079 well known iceman who was discovered melting out of a 63 00:04:18.120 --> 00:04:22.360 glacier in nineteen ninety one. She wasn't surprised by the 64 00:04:22.360 --> 00:04:26.439 suggestion that the vehicle woman trained as a mounted archer. Indeed, 65 00:04:26.519 --> 00:04:30.399 the idea seemed plausible to her. Equestrian disciplines are the 66 00:04:30.399 --> 00:04:34.000 one Olympic field where men and women compete against each 67 00:04:34.040 --> 00:04:36.920 other on equal terms, Graefen told me in an e mail. 68 00:04:37.680 --> 00:04:41.199 While not an Olympic sport, the same applies to horseback archery, 69 00:04:41.519 --> 00:04:44.120 with several women among the ranks of the world's best. 70 00:04:44.680 --> 00:04:49.319 Graefen also mentioned published archaeological evidence pointing to a long 71 00:04:49.360 --> 00:04:53.519 tradition of female horseback archers on the uration steps, an 72 00:04:53.519 --> 00:04:57.680 area well known to Viking traders and warriors. Excavations from 73 00:04:57.720 --> 00:05:01.680 as far west as Ukraine and as far east as 74 00:05:01.720 --> 00:05:05.720 Central Asia have uncovered the remains of approximately three hundred 75 00:05:06.040 --> 00:05:10.480 armed females, some with horses and equestrian equipment, in burial 76 00:05:10.560 --> 00:05:14.519 mounds dated to between the eighth century BC and the 77 00:05:14.560 --> 00:05:19.120 fourth century AD. In one remarkable grave field known as 78 00:05:19.560 --> 00:05:25.079 Mamaje Gora in Ukraine, archaeologist Elena Fialco of the National 79 00:05:25.120 --> 00:05:28.680 Academy of Science in Ukraine discovered the burials of about 80 00:05:28.680 --> 00:05:33.680 a dozen women who formed light armed cavalry. The gear 81 00:05:33.800 --> 00:05:37.720 interred with these armed Eastern women varied widely, from swords 82 00:05:37.759 --> 00:05:40.439 and spears to armour and helmets, but the bow and 83 00:05:40.600 --> 00:05:43.759 arrow appeared to be the weapons of choice. Indeed, one 84 00:05:43.800 --> 00:05:47.160 ancient burial of a steppe woman along the Nieper River 85 00:05:47.560 --> 00:05:50.839 contained a quiver holding ninety two arrows. In the view 86 00:05:50.879 --> 00:05:55.040 of Adrian Mayer, a Stanford University historian and an expert 87 00:05:55.160 --> 00:05:59.639 on the archaeological evidence of warrior women in antiquity, the 88 00:05:59.639 --> 00:06:03.879 common nation of an equestrian lifestyle with archery created something 89 00:06:03.959 --> 00:06:08.040 powerful for women. The horse and the bow were the equalizers. 90 00:06:08.120 --> 00:06:10.879 Women could be just as tough, fast and deadly as men. 91 00:06:11.399 --> 00:06:15.319 Mayer wrote in the Journal Foreign Affairs. In twenty nineteen, 92 00:06:15.399 --> 00:06:18.240 the Swedish team published a second article on the Berko 93 00:06:18.319 --> 00:06:22.000 woman in the journal Antiquity. They laid out pages of 94 00:06:22.040 --> 00:06:26.959 detailed archaeological and historical evidence to support the contention that 95 00:06:27.000 --> 00:06:30.079 the woman in the weapon packed grave was a warrior 96 00:06:30.160 --> 00:06:34.800 and quite possibly a military commander. For many Viking Age specialists, 97 00:06:34.800 --> 00:06:38.600 including Marianne Mohn, the head of the Department of Archaeology 98 00:06:38.600 --> 00:06:42.360 at the Museum of Cultural History in Oslo, this second 99 00:06:42.360 --> 00:06:47.040 paper was very convincing. By the time Hadden, Stirna Jansen 100 00:06:47.079 --> 00:06:49.879 and I reached Birka, it was well past midday and 101 00:06:49.959 --> 00:06:53.000 the sky had clouded over. We walked up the slope 102 00:06:53.040 --> 00:06:57.360 to the hillfort and the garrison hall, where Birka's warriors 103 00:06:57.399 --> 00:07:00.319 once feasted and drank on long dark winter night ights. 104 00:07:00.920 --> 00:07:04.319 Hirdon steer Na Janssen then turned and led the way 105 00:07:04.360 --> 00:07:06.839 to the burial ground that had once held the famous 106 00:07:06.879 --> 00:07:10.839 warrior woman. On a high terrace, the researcher pointed to 107 00:07:10.879 --> 00:07:13.759 the spot where mourners had lowered the body into a 108 00:07:13.800 --> 00:07:17.480 magnificent weapon filled grave. I had hoped to see some 109 00:07:17.560 --> 00:07:20.560 kind of marker or sign of distinction, but there was 110 00:07:20.560 --> 00:07:24.519 nothing at all, No mound, no memorial, no grand vista, 111 00:07:25.079 --> 00:07:28.680 no outline even of the excavated grave. A dense thicket 112 00:07:28.720 --> 00:07:31.879 of green shrubs had taken root on the spot, shrouding 113 00:07:31.879 --> 00:07:34.920 the tomb in branches and leaves. As we lingered there 114 00:07:35.000 --> 00:07:37.519 for a few minutes, the engraving of the burial chamber 115 00:07:37.879 --> 00:07:41.240 I had seen earlier in the day flashed through my mind, 116 00:07:41.600 --> 00:07:44.879 the human skeleton resting on the ground, the weapons of 117 00:07:44.920 --> 00:07:49.319 a professional warrior carefully arranged all around the bones. For 118 00:07:49.360 --> 00:07:53.399 nearly one hundred forty years, that image had captivated archaeologists 119 00:07:53.439 --> 00:07:56.680 and others, raising a myriad of questions about the tomb 120 00:07:57.079 --> 00:08:00.800 and the identity of its occupant. Now, thanks to the 121 00:08:00.839 --> 00:08:06.480 work of a modern interdisciplinary team of scientists, we have 122 00:08:06.519 --> 00:08:09.439 a fuller picture, with evidence showing that this individual was 123 00:08:09.480 --> 00:08:13.439 a woman, a female warrior whose distinguished life ended in 124 00:08:13.439 --> 00:08:16.839 a grave of an important military figure. She had not 125 00:08:16.959 --> 00:08:21.240 just endured the spear storms and weapon thunder of Viking battlefields, 126 00:08:21.279 --> 00:08:25.240 it seemed, but she'd also excelled there, inspiring the loyalty 127 00:08:25.319 --> 00:08:27.720 of those who fought with her. And as I think 128 00:08:27.759 --> 00:08:30.639 about what we have now learned, I am overcome with 129 00:08:30.720 --> 00:08:34.399 respect for her. Today, nature has reclaimed her grave, but 130 00:08:34.519 --> 00:08:38.480 Birka's Woman Warrior no longer languishes in obscurity. She is 131 00:08:38.559 --> 00:08:41.960 once again part of human memory, taking her rightful place 132 00:08:42.039 --> 00:08:46.360 in the great drama of the Viking Age. Artifacts from 133 00:08:46.399 --> 00:08:50.120 Osberg The Osberg Ship was looted some time after the 134 00:08:50.159 --> 00:08:55.759 women spurial, but thieves left behind many intricately decorated everyday objects, 135 00:08:55.840 --> 00:09:00.639 including tapestries, delicate combs, and carved wood animal habits. The 136 00:09:00.720 --> 00:09:03.639 number and quality of the artifacts indicate that these women, 137 00:09:04.000 --> 00:09:07.720 like the Birka Warrior, were high status members of Viking society, 138 00:09:09.080 --> 00:09:13.720 a sorcereer's term. Vikings often buried their illustrious dead with 139 00:09:13.919 --> 00:09:17.559 iconic longships, like the famous Osberg ship uncovered on a 140 00:09:17.600 --> 00:09:20.679 farm in Norway in nineteen o three. This discovery was 141 00:09:20.759 --> 00:09:23.559 unusual not only for the richness of its grave goods, 142 00:09:23.879 --> 00:09:27.120 but also for its ninth century occupants, to elite women, 143 00:09:27.279 --> 00:09:30.879 one believed by some to be a sorceress. In addition 144 00:09:31.039 --> 00:09:33.879 to new scholarship exploring the role of Viking women on 145 00:09:33.919 --> 00:09:37.519 the battlefield, discoveries are shedding light on their place in 146 00:09:37.559 --> 00:09:42.279 the spiritual realm. Some were considered mighty sorceresses or vulvas 147 00:09:42.720 --> 00:09:45.600 with the ability to see into the future and cast 148 00:09:45.600 --> 00:09:53.039 spells to aid Viking forces. Supernatural tools. Items found in 149 00:09:53.080 --> 00:09:57.240 the sorceress's burial site were rare, some with origins overseas. 150 00:09:57.639 --> 00:10:02.679 Foreign unfamiliar objects could have made her seam otherworldly butlandic 151 00:10:02.759 --> 00:10:07.399 box brooch, a clothing fastener repurposed as a cup, contained 152 00:10:07.720 --> 00:10:11.399 white lead and ointment believed to have medical or magical qualities. 153 00:10:12.000 --> 00:10:15.200 Hen Bane seeds carried in a fur pouch on her belt. 154 00:10:15.559 --> 00:10:19.080 The seeds have pain relieving properties. If thrown into fire, 155 00:10:19.120 --> 00:10:24.200 they produce a hallucinogenic smoke. Copper alloy bowl. Originally from 156 00:10:24.240 --> 00:10:27.960 Central Asia, it once held fat that, when mixed with 157 00:10:28.120 --> 00:10:33.879 henbane seeds, could produce powerful hallucinogens. Birds feet pendent, possibly 158 00:10:33.919 --> 00:10:37.799 inspired by or imported from Western Slavic lands. It may 159 00:10:37.799 --> 00:10:41.080 have served as an adornment attached to a headband or 160 00:10:41.159 --> 00:10:46.200 veil chair shaped charm. This silver amulet may represent the 161 00:10:46.200 --> 00:10:50.320 wooden chair, a cirrus used during rituals, and could be 162 00:10:50.360 --> 00:10:55.159 linked to the chief Norse god odin raiders and traders. 163 00:10:55.200 --> 00:10:58.399 As our understanding of gender roles in Viking society evolves, 164 00:10:58.759 --> 00:11:04.720 scientists are discovering them. Women held critical positions in commercial affairs. Scales, weights, 165 00:11:04.720 --> 00:11:09.279 and other items found at women's grave sites, including those here, 166 00:11:09.559 --> 00:11:12.840 testified to the work that women performed As Viking groups 167 00:11:12.879 --> 00:11:16.480 expanded their reach. At Birka and other Viking sites, about 168 00:11:16.480 --> 00:11:20.080 a fifth of trade related artifacts from voyages to the 169 00:11:20.120 --> 00:11:25.320 East were found buried alongside women. A case of mistaken identity, 170 00:11:25.720 --> 00:11:29.399 the Birka Warrior's skeletal remains can be seen as they 171 00:11:29.480 --> 00:11:33.399 lay when discovered. The grave contained many different weapons and acts, 172 00:11:33.559 --> 00:11:37.279 multiple blades and iron tipped arrows, suggesting the occupant was 173 00:11:37.279 --> 00:11:41.600 a skilled fighter. Stirrups and crampons indicated an experienced rider 174 00:11:41.879 --> 00:11:46.120 comfortable with horses. Taken together, these wartime objects led to 175 00:11:46.159 --> 00:11:49.559 the mistaken conclusion that the Birka Warrior was male, an 176 00:11:49.559 --> 00:11:54.320 assumption that stood until twenty seventeen, when DNA analysis finally 177 00:11:54.360 --> 00:11:58.559 revealed the body was female. Next, the truth about the 178 00:11:58.600 --> 00:12:01.840 world's biggest eggs. Who laid the largest eggs the world 179 00:12:01.919 --> 00:12:06.080 has ever seen? It wasn't the dinosaurs by Hicks Wogan. 180 00:12:06.799 --> 00:12:09.480 The average chicken egg can fit comfortably in the palm 181 00:12:09.519 --> 00:12:13.440 of your hand. This rare fossilized specimen from National Geographics 182 00:12:13.519 --> 00:12:17.200 historical collection is more than a hundred times larger. A 183 00:12:17.440 --> 00:12:19.799 just over a foot long and nine inches in diameter, 184 00:12:20.200 --> 00:12:23.919 The intact egg belonged to an elephant bird of flightless 185 00:12:23.960 --> 00:12:28.679 herbivore endemic to Madagascar that's been extinct since at least 186 00:12:28.679 --> 00:12:32.519 the seventeenth century. To day, researchers believe the bird resembled 187 00:12:32.559 --> 00:12:36.000 an oversized ostrich though it was most closely related to 188 00:12:36.039 --> 00:12:40.320 the Kiwi, a smaller species of ratite, Its thick legs 189 00:12:40.360 --> 00:12:43.679 had to support some serious weight. Adults could grow to 190 00:12:43.759 --> 00:12:47.600 be ten feet tall and over one thousand pounds. Elephant 191 00:12:47.600 --> 00:12:51.080 bird lineage dates to around fifty million years ago, but 192 00:12:51.320 --> 00:12:56.320 their numbers declined as humans settled Madagascar. What happened? Gifford Miller, 193 00:12:56.360 --> 00:12:59.559 a geologist at the University of Colorado, Boulder who has 194 00:12:59.600 --> 00:13:06.039 studied I. Prinorius egg shells, says human predation may have 195 00:13:06.159 --> 00:13:09.399 been a cause, perhaps even before the birds could hatch. 196 00:13:09.720 --> 00:13:12.480 The eggs were probably durable enough for humans to carry 197 00:13:12.519 --> 00:13:16.759 away from nests. Evidence suggests they were plenty tough. Two 198 00:13:16.759 --> 00:13:19.960 complete elephant bird eggs have been discovered on beaches in 199 00:13:20.000 --> 00:13:24.559 Western Australia, apparently having floated four thousand miles across the 200 00:13:24.600 --> 00:13:27.960 Indian Ocean. For humans, pushing an egg would have been 201 00:13:28.000 --> 00:13:31.919 simpler than subduing the half ton bird. As Miller notes, 202 00:13:31.960 --> 00:13:34.559 when it comes to keeping our species alive, we are 203 00:13:34.600 --> 00:13:39.960 extremely efficient. Next, New York's lost fleet of electric taxis 204 00:13:40.320 --> 00:13:42.200 the car of our future, was all the rage in 205 00:13:42.240 --> 00:13:45.600 the late eighteen hundreds. So what happened to those e v's? 206 00:13:46.279 --> 00:13:49.759 By Christopher Klein. New York City had a horse problem 207 00:13:49.759 --> 00:13:52.639 in the late nineteenth century. Its streets and alleyways were 208 00:13:52.679 --> 00:13:56.360 jammed with an estimated one hundred fifty thousand of the animals, 209 00:13:56.600 --> 00:13:59.159 each one producing more than thirty five pounds of wist 210 00:13:59.320 --> 00:14:02.879 every day. The logistics of disposing of that much excrement 211 00:14:03.240 --> 00:14:07.159 created an enormous challenge that New Yorkers were eager to solve, 212 00:14:07.559 --> 00:14:10.559 and a new invention, the automobile, seemed to be the answer. 213 00:14:11.159 --> 00:14:15.720 When the city's first motorized taxicab service launched in eighteen 214 00:14:15.799 --> 00:14:19.240 ninety seven. It featured a clean energy technology that mike 215 00:14:19.320 --> 00:14:24.080 shock modern New Yorkers. The cabs were electric vehicles produced 216 00:14:24.120 --> 00:14:28.120 by the straight forwardly named Electric Vehicle Company. The cars 217 00:14:28.159 --> 00:14:31.879 were known as Electrobats and were emerging as the market's 218 00:14:31.960 --> 00:14:37.080 leading electric vehicles. Philadelphia inventors Harriet Henry Morris and Pedro 219 00:14:37.240 --> 00:14:41.600 Solom patented the electro bat in eighteen ninety four, and 220 00:14:41.679 --> 00:14:45.120 in two years had developed a smaller, faster version. Weighing 221 00:14:45.120 --> 00:14:48.240 it at twenty nine hundred pounds. The new model was 222 00:14:48.240 --> 00:14:51.919 propelled by a lead acid battery. It achieved a top 223 00:14:51.960 --> 00:14:54.639 speed of twenty miles an hour and was capable of 224 00:14:54.679 --> 00:14:57.600 covering distances of up to twenty five miles on a 225 00:14:57.639 --> 00:15:01.120 single charge. The idea of VV gliding around New York 226 00:15:01.159 --> 00:15:04.440 City in the eighteen nineties might sound like science fiction, 227 00:15:04.919 --> 00:15:09.679 but battery powered automobiles outsold their internal combustion counterparts. At 228 00:15:09.679 --> 00:15:14.360 the dawn of the automobile age, electric cars were quietly 229 00:15:14.679 --> 00:15:17.440 and easy to drive. Back then, you were lucky if 230 00:15:17.440 --> 00:15:21.759 a gas car started in the morning, says Dan Albert, 231 00:15:21.879 --> 00:15:26.039 author of Are We There Yet? The American Automobile Past, 232 00:15:26.320 --> 00:15:30.879 present and driverless. It was noisy, polluting, and rickety, whereas 233 00:15:30.919 --> 00:15:33.600 an electric car started with a flip of the switch. 234 00:15:34.480 --> 00:15:36.559 This was the dawn of the age of electricity, a 235 00:15:36.639 --> 00:15:41.159 moment when technologies harnessing the power source seemed capable of 236 00:15:41.159 --> 00:15:44.240 overcoming any challenge. If you asked people on the street 237 00:15:44.279 --> 00:15:46.480 what was going to happen, they would have said that 238 00:15:46.559 --> 00:15:51.879 electricity is this magic force, says electric car historian David A. Kersh, 239 00:15:52.080 --> 00:15:55.039 author of The Electric Vehicle and The Burden of History. 240 00:15:55.960 --> 00:15:58.519 We harnessed it for light, we harnessed it for traction 241 00:15:58.639 --> 00:16:01.799 through the trolley, spreading everywhere, and now it's going to 242 00:16:01.840 --> 00:16:06.200 take us around. Morris and Salom bought the electro Bat 243 00:16:06.480 --> 00:16:10.879 to New York and devised an ingenious battery swapping system 244 00:16:10.960 --> 00:16:14.440 inside a former Broadway ice skating rink To keep the 245 00:16:14.480 --> 00:16:20.240 company's cabs in continuous operation. Employees maneuvered vehicles with elect 246 00:16:20.639 --> 00:16:24.559 elevators and hydraulics so that an overhead crane could pluck 247 00:16:24.720 --> 00:16:28.840 out the depleted twelve hundred and fifty pound batteries and 248 00:16:29.039 --> 00:16:33.399 insert freshly charged ones. The process took only three minutes. 249 00:16:33.559 --> 00:16:36.000 It was much faster than changing a horse team and 250 00:16:36.080 --> 00:16:39.080 probably as fast as what we would today associate with 251 00:16:39.159 --> 00:16:43.039 filling a tank of gas. Kerchese. The electro Bat's rapid 252 00:16:43.159 --> 00:16:48.080 acceleration and quiet ride pose some unforeseen challenges. In May 253 00:16:48.320 --> 00:16:52.559 eighteen ninety nine, cab driver Jacob Jerman became the first 254 00:16:52.600 --> 00:16:57.200 automobile operator arrested for speeding after whizzing down Lexington Avenue 255 00:16:57.200 --> 00:16:59.799 at twelve miles an hour. A few months later, in 256 00:16:59.799 --> 00:17:04.039 al electric taxi fatally struck real estate broker Henry Bliss 257 00:17:04.279 --> 00:17:06.799 as he stepped off an Upper west Side street car. 258 00:17:07.400 --> 00:17:10.720 The first pedestrian killed by an automobile never heard of 259 00:17:10.720 --> 00:17:15.799 the elector bat coming. Morris and Saloam decided that rather 260 00:17:15.880 --> 00:17:18.519 than sell their vehicles, they would lease them on either 261 00:17:18.559 --> 00:17:21.799 a monthly or per ride basis across New York City. 262 00:17:21.839 --> 00:17:25.880 Their cab service, the Electric Carriage and Wagon Company, took off. 263 00:17:26.319 --> 00:17:29.039 Their taxi fleet expanded from a dozen cars in eighteen 264 00:17:29.119 --> 00:17:32.440 ninety seven to more than one hundred and eighteen ninety nine. 265 00:17:32.880 --> 00:17:36.559 With their business growing, Morris and Salom imagined a grand 266 00:17:36.559 --> 00:17:40.799 future for their car. They found new backing from wealthy investors, 267 00:17:41.079 --> 00:17:45.119 notably New York financier William Whitney, known for his success 268 00:17:45.160 --> 00:17:48.920 in electrifying the city's street cars. Under Whitney's ownership, the 269 00:17:48.920 --> 00:17:53.640 group also purchased a leading battery manufacturing firm, Aiming to 270 00:17:53.680 --> 00:17:57.960 control the majority of the electric vehicle market nationwide. The 271 00:17:58.000 --> 00:18:02.119 electric vehicle companies swiftly exped and its taxi operations to 272 00:18:02.240 --> 00:18:06.440 major cities like Philadelphia, Chicago, and Boston, eventually becoming the 273 00:18:06.519 --> 00:18:12.519 nation's largest automobile manufacturer. However, its rapid expansion proved unsustainable. 274 00:18:13.920 --> 00:18:18.279 Operations outside New York were poorly run, and investors felt swindled. 275 00:18:18.279 --> 00:18:22.640 When an eighteen ninety nine New York Herald investigation revealed 276 00:18:22.759 --> 00:18:27.680 the Electric Vehicle Company had fraudulently secured alone, the company's 277 00:18:27.680 --> 00:18:31.720 stock fell and the enterprise's finances grew strained. By nineteen 278 00:18:31.759 --> 00:18:35.759 o two. The company's collapse sent shockwaves through the investment 279 00:18:35.799 --> 00:18:39.480 community and cast a dark shadow over the formerly bright 280 00:18:39.640 --> 00:18:42.759 future of electric vehicles. The thing that killed it is 281 00:18:42.799 --> 00:18:46.240 not really the idea, the technology, or the business model, 282 00:18:46.319 --> 00:18:49.640 Albert says, it was the shadiness of the wheeler dealers 283 00:18:49.680 --> 00:18:54.279 behind it. A devastating fire destroyed a significant portion of 284 00:18:54.319 --> 00:18:56.519 the fleet, and then the Panic of nineteen o seven, 285 00:18:56.799 --> 00:19:01.160 a nationwide financial crisis, caused car production to plummet, dealing 286 00:19:01.200 --> 00:19:04.079 a final blow to electric cabs in New York City, 287 00:19:04.480 --> 00:19:07.640 but gasoline powered vehicles were gaining momentum in the market. 288 00:19:08.039 --> 00:19:12.039 In nineteen oh seven, local businessman Harry Allen introduced a 289 00:19:12.119 --> 00:19:17.039 taxi service with sixty five gasoline powered cabs imported from France. 290 00:19:17.640 --> 00:19:20.519 Within a year, his fleet had swelled to seven hundred vehicles. 291 00:19:20.920 --> 00:19:24.000 It seemed New York would never look back. The Eve's 292 00:19:24.119 --> 00:19:27.920 days were numbered, especially after the affordable gas powered Model 293 00:19:27.960 --> 00:19:31.680 T debuted in nineteen o eight. Electric cars hung on 294 00:19:31.839 --> 00:19:35.640 until the nineteen twenties, while the internal combustion engine grew 295 00:19:35.720 --> 00:19:39.319 ever more popular, going on to drive the next American century. 296 00:19:39.839 --> 00:19:43.000 But electric cars would make a comeback when twenty five 297 00:19:43.160 --> 00:19:46.279 all electric taxis began operating on the streets of New 298 00:19:46.359 --> 00:19:49.519 York in twenty twenty two, the car of the future 299 00:19:49.680 --> 00:19:55.839 arrived again. Next, a hike with explosive views in Guatemala's 300 00:19:55.839 --> 00:19:59.160 Sierra Madre. A spectacular trek puts you close to one 301 00:19:59.200 --> 00:20:02.119 of the Central america As most active volcanoes, but not 302 00:20:02.240 --> 00:20:07.240 too close by Erik Pinego. There aren't many hikes that 303 00:20:07.279 --> 00:20:10.000 offer their grandest views at night. Of course, there aren't 304 00:20:10.000 --> 00:20:11.680 many hikes that bring you to the edge of a 305 00:20:11.680 --> 00:20:17.039 frequently erupting volcano either. High in Guatemala's Sierra Madre, Volcan 306 00:20:17.119 --> 00:20:20.960 de Fuego is a geological marble that has become a 307 00:20:21.039 --> 00:20:25.400 singular tourist experience the volcation is best glimpsed from the 308 00:20:25.480 --> 00:20:30.200 heights of its neighbor, the currently inactive Volcanda Acca Tenago, 309 00:20:30.680 --> 00:20:33.680 which at thirteen thousand forty five feet, is the third 310 00:20:33.759 --> 00:20:37.319 highest mountain in Guatemala. The strenuous hike to the summit 311 00:20:37.400 --> 00:20:42.440 moves visitors from leff lush coffee plantations through cloud forests 312 00:20:42.640 --> 00:20:46.079 up to the otherworldly terrain near the peak. From there, 313 00:20:46.160 --> 00:20:49.720 the reward is an incredible view of Fuego's spewing gas 314 00:20:49.720 --> 00:20:53.519 and ash as the earth rumbles under foot. The most 315 00:20:53.599 --> 00:20:56.000 natural starting point for the journey is in the small, 316 00:20:56.079 --> 00:21:01.640 cobblestoned colonial city of Antigua, Guatemala. Until the late eighteenth century, 317 00:21:01.720 --> 00:21:06.079 Antigua functioned as Guatemala's capital. Later it became a center 318 00:21:06.119 --> 00:21:10.400 of coffee production and more recently a UNESCO World Heritage Site, 319 00:21:10.559 --> 00:21:15.000 a distinction that has protected its rich Spanish architectural legacy. 320 00:21:15.559 --> 00:21:18.240 At five thousand feet above sea level, the city offers 321 00:21:18.279 --> 00:21:22.519 the intrepid adventure a place to acclimatise to the altitude 322 00:21:22.680 --> 00:21:25.440 and enjoy some of the local cuisine, from a hardy 323 00:21:25.480 --> 00:21:29.880 bowl of Shoutit del soup at Cafe Candesa to the 324 00:21:29.960 --> 00:21:35.079 mouth watering stake offered by La las An Torkas word 325 00:21:35.119 --> 00:21:37.599 to the wise, hold off on drinking or smoking before 326 00:21:37.599 --> 00:21:41.400 the hike. A post hike celebratory drink goes down much 327 00:21:41.440 --> 00:21:44.440 smoother than the night before chug that will leave you 328 00:21:44.640 --> 00:21:49.200 keeled over. At ten thousand plus feet, hikers, whether employing 329 00:21:49.240 --> 00:21:51.519 a tour guide or not, make their way to the 330 00:21:51.599 --> 00:21:55.200 village of La Soledad, where they ship out. The hike 331 00:21:55.319 --> 00:21:59.160 to base camp on Acatanango takes five to six hours 332 00:21:59.200 --> 00:22:02.599 on average to depending on pace and weather conditions. Some 333 00:22:02.759 --> 00:22:06.920 tours offer a limited horseback option for travelers inclined to ride, 334 00:22:07.119 --> 00:22:09.799 but be aware the final stretch of the climb to 335 00:22:09.880 --> 00:22:13.319 Acitanago's summit must be done on foot, and while the 336 00:22:13.400 --> 00:22:15.880 round trip hike can be completed in a single day 337 00:22:16.200 --> 00:22:19.200 over the course of ten to twelve hours, many travelers 338 00:22:19.279 --> 00:22:22.400 opt for a two day trip, overnighting at base camp 339 00:22:22.680 --> 00:22:27.640 before making the final push to Akitanago's crater. Visitors can 340 00:22:27.680 --> 00:22:31.279 take in the spectacular sights and sounds of lava gurgling 341 00:22:31.319 --> 00:22:35.359 on fuego and glowing beneath the starlit sky before the 342 00:22:35.400 --> 00:22:40.319 sun greets hikers and volcanoes alike. Travelers who venture up 343 00:22:40.359 --> 00:22:42.559 the mountain and stay over night should be prepared for 344 00:22:42.599 --> 00:22:46.359 a dramatic temperature change on account of the hike's five 345 00:22:46.359 --> 00:22:50.960 thousand foot elevation gain. Daytime highs can reach beyond sixty 346 00:22:51.240 --> 00:22:54.279 eight degrees fahrenheit, while at night the temperature can fall 347 00:22:54.319 --> 00:22:58.200 below freezing. The clearest views of Fuego are typically found 348 00:22:58.519 --> 00:23:02.400 from November to April, during the area's dry season, though 349 00:23:02.440 --> 00:23:05.960 the volcano's eruptions can be a bit unpredictable from day 350 00:23:05.960 --> 00:23:11.240 to day. Fuego and at Atenaco share the landscape with 351 00:23:11.279 --> 00:23:15.319 a third nearby volcano, Agua, which attracts its fair share 352 00:23:15.359 --> 00:23:20.359 of hikers. Although Fuego and Achitanango are not physically connected 353 00:23:20.400 --> 00:23:23.279 to Agua, the trio is part of the larger Central 354 00:23:23.279 --> 00:23:27.680 American Volcanic Arc, which runs some eight hundred miles from 355 00:23:27.759 --> 00:23:33.680 Panama to Mexico. The journey up a Achitanago to view Fuego, 356 00:23:34.039 --> 00:23:36.839 while demanding, has become one of the most popular hikes 357 00:23:37.119 --> 00:23:40.519 in Central America. For good reason, and for those who 358 00:23:40.519 --> 00:23:43.319 make the overnight trip with a guide, the payoff comes 359 00:23:43.319 --> 00:23:45.599 in the form of a well earned glass of wine 360 00:23:45.839 --> 00:23:50.880 along with a sky lit by stars and lava. Next 361 00:23:51.000 --> 00:23:54.640 the fight to save the desert's most tenacious bird. In 362 00:23:54.680 --> 00:23:57.599 the vast urban sprawl of Arizona, the habitat of the 363 00:23:57.680 --> 00:24:03.319 tiny western burrowing owl is being destroyed, prompting conservationists to 364 00:24:03.319 --> 00:24:09.559 think creatively about how to help. By Jessica Cuts, the 365 00:24:09.640 --> 00:24:13.160 cardboard pet carrier rested on a patch of desert grass 366 00:24:13.440 --> 00:24:16.880 with a towel draped over it, while an animal rescuer 367 00:24:17.000 --> 00:24:21.240 named Eric Murray squatted on a nearby cinder block, adjusting 368 00:24:21.279 --> 00:24:24.640 his thick gloves for the extraction. Then, in one swift motion, 369 00:24:24.839 --> 00:24:27.759 Murray reached into the carrier and retrieved a small owl 370 00:24:28.079 --> 00:24:31.720 with brown and white speckled feathers. Although an adult, the 371 00:24:31.759 --> 00:24:34.920 owl was only about nine inches tall, with long, spindly 372 00:24:35.039 --> 00:24:38.640 legs and sharp talons. Its large yellow eyes widened as 373 00:24:38.640 --> 00:24:42.400 it slowly rotated its head at an uncanny angle to 374 00:24:42.400 --> 00:24:45.599 survey the surroundings. On this hot spring day, Murray in 375 00:24:45.680 --> 00:24:49.480 about a dozen volunteers clad in work gloves and sun hats, 376 00:24:49.559 --> 00:24:52.839 gathered at Martin Farm, a two hundred forty one acre 377 00:24:52.920 --> 00:24:57.480 parcel of grassland northwest of Tucson, Arizona, to participate in 378 00:24:57.519 --> 00:25:00.680 a unique kind of bird relase. After care fully spreading 379 00:25:00.720 --> 00:25:03.640 one of the owl's wings to confirm its sex as female. 380 00:25:03.880 --> 00:25:06.640 It's quite barred all the way down, Marie said, while 381 00:25:06.640 --> 00:25:09.680 pointing to a dark pattern along the inner feathers. He 382 00:25:09.759 --> 00:25:13.440 turned to a recently assembled temporary shelter, a ten by 383 00:25:13.480 --> 00:25:16.960 ten foot tent made of sheer black shade cloth. He 384 00:25:17.039 --> 00:25:20.039 lifted one corner of the canopy and gently tossed the 385 00:25:20.119 --> 00:25:23.000 creature in. The bird took a look around and flew 386 00:25:23.039 --> 00:25:26.519 headfirst into a fabric wall, tumbling onto a patch of 387 00:25:26.640 --> 00:25:30.000 freshly dved dirt. She shook it off, but repeated the 388 00:25:30.079 --> 00:25:34.359 process again and again. Probasita, said one volunteer, which is 389 00:25:34.440 --> 00:25:39.720 Spanish for poor thing. No sabe, she doesn't understand. Next 390 00:25:39.799 --> 00:25:43.400 volunteers added another owl to the shelter. Both birds continued 391 00:25:43.440 --> 00:25:46.920 to flutter about in agitation. While difficult to watch, this 392 00:25:47.039 --> 00:25:50.640 process would be repeated hundreds of times throughout the year 393 00:25:51.079 --> 00:25:54.079 at Martin Farm. This canopy was one of twenty five 394 00:25:54.400 --> 00:25:58.000 spaced at intervals along the property. In recent years. Wild 395 00:25:58.039 --> 00:26:02.480 at Heart, the animal rescue group behind these operations, persuaded 396 00:26:02.480 --> 00:26:05.599 the city of Tucson to set the tract aside as 397 00:26:05.640 --> 00:26:09.400 a conservation area. The group has seven active sights on 398 00:26:09.480 --> 00:26:13.039 public and private lands in Arizona. The hope was that 399 00:26:13.079 --> 00:26:15.599 in a month, the tent could be removed and the 400 00:26:15.640 --> 00:26:18.920 birds would have nested in this spot, or rather below it. 401 00:26:19.319 --> 00:26:23.680