Imagine a world where the line between food and medicine was blurred, where every garden was a pharmacy, and to tend a plant was to hold the power of healing in your hands. Across the ages, ancient civilizations turned to the soil not just for sustenance, but for salvation. Their sacred gardens were living apothecaries—lush, ...
Deep in the Caucasus Mountains, a cave has yielded a discovery that shatters long-held assumptions about Neanderthals. A 9-centimeter (3.5-inch) spear tip, carved from the leg bone of a bison and hardened in fire, has been dated to 70,000–80,000 years ago making it the oldest bone weapon ever found in Europe. But what’s truly groundbreaking? ...
Imagine a world where the simple act of picking herbs could be a death sentence. Picture entire communities living in fear of knowledge that had once been cherished, handed down lovingly from one generation to the next. Now, think about how much wisdom and healing may have been lost forever because of suspicion, fear, and ...
Have you ever stumbled upon a picture of a horse’s hoof and wondered, “Wait, where are the other toes?” Or maybe you’ve caught a glimpse of a three-toed sloth hanging upside down and marveled at its peculiar feet. It’s almost like nature is playing a game with numbers, handing out toes seemingly at random—sometimes three, ...
It’s almost impossible to imagine a world before jaws. Picture all the fierce sharks, mighty tigers, and even the gentle cows—none of them would be the same without this remarkable evolutionary tool. Yet, for hundreds of millions of years, life in the oceans got by without a jaw in sight. Then, something extraordinary happened. Fossilized ...
Imagine a ship from the stars, gliding down through the clouds, its curious crew peering out with eyes utterly unaccustomed to our world. What would they see, and more importantly, what would they assume we—Earth’s keepers—held precious enough to save? Would they marvel at our monuments, puzzle over our plastics, or wonder at our endless ...
Imagine waking up to the ground trembling beneath your feet, a blood-red sky flickering with ash, and the distant roar of molten rock carving new land across what we now call Melbourne. It might sound like a scene from a science fiction film, but this was the extraordinary reality of Victoria millions of years ago. ...
Have you ever walked through a bustling city and wondered what secrets lie beneath your feet? Picture Lima, Peru—a city known for its vibrant chaos and sea-salt air—hiding secrets older than Rome, older than the Incas, older than most of human civilization. Under the noise of honking taxis and the hum of modern life sit ...
The Amazon. When most people hear the name, they picture endless, tangled green stretching to the horizon—rivers snaking through clouds, howler monkeys shrieking in the mist, and mysteries so deep they swallow whole civilizations. But what if, beneath all that green, lies evidence of a world lost to time—a vast urban network, now hidden by ...
Beneath Rome’s bustling piazzas and sun-drenched ruins lies a hidden world so astonishing, it almost defies belief. Imagine walking the cobbled streets, never realizing that just below your feet is a labyrinth of temples, crypts, ancient roads, and even entire forgotten neighborhoods. The Eternal City isn’t just a single layer of history—it’s a complex, multi-layered ...
Maria Faith Saligumba
Nelleke van Niekerk, BSc Food Science (Biochemistry)
