ee THE RACE TO SAVE THE PLANET CAN TEC =a THE CLIMATE CRISIS?Trust in progress. Hylindal introduces the IONIQ 5 robotaxi. ‘Adtonomolss driving is no longer sci-fi Hyundat is beginning the production of the IONIO§ robotaxi, a level 4 autonomous Vehicle that can drive without a driver. Itisour.consistent commitment for Bettering everyone's mobility. Computer generated images showin, and actual produetion model may vary. The vehicle's not available for purchase.Electrified and autonomous. The IONIQ 5 robotaxi was developed based on the all-electric, globally awarded IONIQ 5. More than 30 sensors including LIDAR, and computing system allow the robotaxi to detect 360° and make optimal decisions. Roll out in fabulous Las Vega: First stop is Las Vegas. The IONIQ 5 robotaxi has already been training on ‘the complex public roads here and set to launch during the first half of 2024. ‘Training for diverse difficulties ‘The IONIQ 5 robotaxt is constantly ‘evolving by learning in diverse cities ‘Boston’s narrow-and glrvy roads, left-hand driving of Singapore, and ‘even Seou'’s bustling Gangnamares. G@ HYUNDAINATIONAL eocrapHic | FURTHER CONTENTS Jrroor Poetry in Plumage A pair of German photographers train their lenses on feath: ers, which they believe “are probably the most poetic ma: piece of evolution” PHOTOGRAPHS BY HEIDI Jexricee The Allure of an Uncontacted People The Sentinelese have chosen to live in isala= tion, but ye just won't leave them alone. BY ADAM GOODHEART A Spot of Luck for Mi 1g Monarchs Butterflies whose white wing markings were larger fared bet ter during the anfual migration, a study says. BY JASONSITTEL {A Surprising ONK Find Consttuctive DIafer Reuse NOVEMBER 2023 On the Cover In iceland a geodes dome owned by the Carbfix company com bines water with captured Reagbon and pumps the miture underground, wie iflaecomes perma Bntly Yacksthin rock. These Critters Aré Camouflage Masters From ago adult’ phasmids have ways of confusingbredators. BY ALLE YANG Charleston Reconsidered With anew African American museum, the South Carolina y is reconnecting to its past as the largest point of entry for enslaved Africans. BY TARA ROBERTS China's art of Brocade| reaTORES i [end Fire Scientists have long suspected that an island voleane ris rout oF the South A\ tic Contains a rare. lava lake, a Perpetual Idron of molten rock. To study it, they had to take a treacherous journey to one of the remotest spots on the planet. Clearing the Air Zero-emissions won't | be-enough to mitigate climate change: we alsormust removercar | bon.onemassivesseaté [Cay sammoweVErnover Ped ‘nove: The lava lake expe: {ition included mountain ematographer (reflected in Pe The Meticdlous Hunt In Antaretica, about ahundred killer whales have learned to weaponize water. PHOTOGRAPHS BY P.100 Building on New Soil This Chicago family exemplifies the immi grant experience, PHOTOGRAPHS BY JON LOWENSTEIN...?. 108NOVEMBER FROM THE EDITOR BY NATHAN LUMP PHOTOGRAPH 8Y DAVIDE MONTELEONE As iwi it’s a few weeks siice both, the United States and the European Union.confirmed the hottest average global temperature everrecorded. Intense and unusual heat waves (86°F in Buents Aiges dering Argentina's win ter), alongwith firés, 161ms, md other xtreme weather evesits, Seemed 10 make 202s the Vear that Hinfate change became more palpable for many’ people Of course, climate ehaitge is mafe complicated than things simply gewting hotter, but the overall warmingotthe Earth is perhaps the most direct conse" quence of the carbon dioxide we have released into the atmosphere since the a9th century, What to do about this problem is the subject of this month's tory. in which writer Sam Howe Verhovek and photographer Davide Monteleone take a closer lookat car- bon removal and capture. Ideas for how to remove carbon from the atmosphere and store or use it in some way have been around foxalong, time, but we've made litle rangible progress. Now we may be atam inflec: tion point where urgency, eombined with technological advances, market demands, and creative vision, is mak Ingcarbon remoyal a viable option for helping usimanage the climate crisis ‘Many environmentaists argue that, carborttemovel isared herring that dis tra¢tgus from the needitociramatically decreaseOur émigsions) I take their point, but [count myself amongthiose. swho think WeTieed to throy. everything we hav@atthisproblem, including a major reduction in emissions. The first industrial revolution got us into this mess; maybe a second one that hamesses our ingenuity can assist us with getting out oft We hope you enjoy theis In Iceland, sntreprenabs ing ways to capture and Store carbopptrom ambient ait, while tapping arceney energy sburcas, Southeast ‘of Reval gheyAarih {yal Unidos eeland ses gegiesial efergy toeperate greptinadses mantgeFElaxOskatsson above) mena the Bprowtiv6t gmatoes.Hope is Growi Literally. le AiGeal Tei Ts) pee nd eto Pel efi Sie Recrelec oy aoa fn 7 cc eTNOVEMBER | CONTRIBUTORS NY i \ N mate nage ggg itor pcg ain race Rip wePedaesaide Ls Alberto Urrea Urea ies Pulitger Prize finalist, ‘ahd Guggenhaim Fellow who has written 19 doe, inelising th national bestseller Good Wight, IeomeeBorn in Tjvana te 2 Mistiganfather and an Americanimothe, he is often euings a border whiter. But he Seys)¢lam more intkyested in bridgas Page 108 Natacha Daly, Astaff editor for National Geographic, Daly is drawn to societal trends that shape ou perceptions and treatment Of animals. For the June 2010 cover story on the global wwidlife touriem industry, she researched and reported the topic on four continents lover I months. Page 100 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC EXPLORERS ‘These contributors have received funding from the National Geographic Society, which is committed to illuminating ‘and protecting the wonder of our world Bertie Gregory During his childhood in Eng, Gregory was teased for being “totaly ‘obsessed withthe natural worla-hesayseTinat enthusiasm, comoingd ‘with his photography and fimmaklng kl, haa’ ned him a BAFTA\ for cinematography and the Best Presenter Award et the 2019 Jacksan \Wild fim festival His series Animals Up Clase With Bertie Gregory, nu strepming on Disney® and Hulu, Cakes viewers infront of &nc hind the camera, a2 all 9: on lanl 3nd unary, for rarely seen waite behaviors. An Explarer since 2015 ha has spent severalyears racking pack ice killer whales in Antarctica, the subject of his Feature story in this months ave. Page 100 Davide Monteleone Jon Lowenstein ‘Originally fram Isai, AlontetSSRe oe long-term documentary wauisual atst and feseateher= explorations delve inte diasporic who focuses om themes of geo- communities end their resilient polities, data,andscience. He's respanse to wealth inequality Been an Explorer since 201%,con- poverty, and history. Committed tributed te publications including to social justice work, Lowen Time and the New Yorker, and had stein has ongoing projects that work exhibited inLendon, Paris, spotlight his adopted commu ‘and Rome Forthisissus,hehad nity inChicago’s South Side {ofigure cuthow to make images and the Latin American migrant about an invisible gas."My work trail, An Explorer since 2019, isan opportunity to learn some- he's also TED Senior Fellow and thing new and extraordinary” he the recipient of multiple World says. Page es Press awards, Page 108.Xe} INFINITY NN) BEYOND “4 COU Et) peli [ £7) Ron tremase eee et etdTeed eee trey) Ce ee) neice ing potential mates. NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC LOOKING AT THE |ARTH FROM EVERY POS: eer adPOE Rone ay ON RUUENC rue ee unetee PHOTOGRAPHS BY HEIDI AND HANS-JORGEN KOCHPROOF THE BACKSTORY A FOCUS ON FEATHERS TOOK THESE TWO PHOTOGRAPHERS ON A DAZZLING FLIGHT INTO EVOLUTION Iw 1860 cartes @kewinWiote, “The sight of afeatherint apeagocls tail, wheneyeT | gate atit\ makes mesickt ‘Theplurties were so axtrévagant-he sttrmised, theyeould beathindrance toSurviyal. Darwinistinustration with Atheix seeMniraly thexplicablé elegatice ceventtill Jed him to the idealoFsextal selection/Although this form of natural Selectién—driven by the preférence of ore Sex for certain characteristicsin Ingividdals of the other sex—is well ‘yhderstood today, a peacock’s feather ganstill hold ntystery for its viewers, says Heidi Koch. She and her husband, Hans-Jirgen, have spent the past few years photographing feathers in all their glorious detail ‘The German couple has trained their lenses on the natural world for more than three decades, but they don’t consider themselves nature photographers. They opt instead fora broadterlabel:life-form photographers Each of th in Germany has an evolutionary tale to tel, say the Koch. 112020, afier Several yetacapturi images ofevergthing romlab mice 10 bumblebees, fhe Kochgrumed (Heir aitentionto plunégel" THE beauty ‘andidiversity of eatherSisg0 ostreme.” saylleidi: That's why the pair began phoidgaphing the mos: mesmetizing examples from the Museum of Natul History int Berlim.and other private collecti6hs in Geriftany. They uset, a process, called focus stacking, in which siniilar photos with different focal planesare blended to achieve a ‘more profound depth of field Their project, named Feathers— Poetie Masterpiece Of Evolution, isan lle to the allure of birds and to evo- lution itself. Completinggit required delving into evolutionary biology, and they sometimes found themselves pondering natureas Darwin did more than 150 years ago.*Bythe end,” Heidt says, “we really could understand the man.” -ANNIE ROTHIN THIS SECTION Monarchs’ Bright Spots EXPLORE Constructive Diaper Reuse Stick Insect Camoutlage arleston Wharf Museum ILLUMINATING THE MYSTERIES-AND WONDERS—ALL AROUND US EVERY DAY NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC VOL. 244 NO. 5 The Allure of the Uncontacted NORTH SENTINEL ISLANDERS LIVE AS HUNTER-GATHERERS AND REPEL OUTSIDERS. STILL, THE WORLD WON‘T LEAVE THEM ALONE. BY ADAM GOODHEART IN NOVEMBER 2018 a yotingAmericanmisSighary syampfom4 fishing beat woyhtemote-beach in the Tidian Ocoan atid was kill’d byndigenous islanders wielding bows and arfows. News of that fatal encounter on NorthSentinel Island—a spall patch of larthift the Afidasffan archipelago— fascinated people arotindthe world. Most were unaware such eplaceetisted in our time: an island Whose hunter*@atherer inhabitants still live in WEAF total isolation, The self-assured evangelist, 26-year-old John Allen Chau, had aimed to convert the Native people ofa place he felt might be “Satan's last stronghold.” Yet his brief visit bestowed another, distinctly aist-century, kind of glory: Within a few days, unbeknownst to the islanders, the fact oftheir exis tence went viral In the five years since Chau's death, the Sentine- lese, as the tribe's members are called by outsiders, NOVEMBER 2023 17EXPLORE | THE BIG IDEA IN MA K, WHAT LAW GOVERN THEM THEY have developed aélobet cultfollowineetype=Nortlr Sentinel Islad” into a searth-enginé'tocay, anct you can sped wecksreading articles, listening to podeasts, anfd skimming through blog Entries, subreddits, and social media posts. You can'zoom in clofe oh images of the island taken from satellites, heligoptefs,and airliners. The Sentinelese have & 4,900*word Wikipedia entry and-several spoof social nfedia accounts ("North Sentinel Island Tourism Officelé Coast Guard,” ‘North Sentinel Island High School Matching Band”). They're featured in hun- diedsobXout ube videos, witha cumulative total of nior® than ahundred million views. Mafiy of the islanders’ fans sce them as romantic heroes: $taunchly rejecting the interconnected orldythe planer’s most committed practitioners Of digitalidetox. A few dozen naked tribesmen with fhancimadelbows and arrows seem somehow more owerful—more authentically human—than the billions of other Earthlings clutching smartphones. Jn many Ways, North Sentinel remains terr in¢ognitayNo visitor has mapped the jungle- Shrouided intetjor of the island (roughly the size ofManhattan) er held a conversation with its residents. No on knowsthe size of the island’s poptilation, which has been estimated at between 50 and200. No onebuttheSentinelese knows what language they spéalg} whataws might govern them, what god the mighty6rshipor even what the tribe is called in its dwn language. From passing boats and aircraft, it'spossible tg glimpse themspearing fish in the shallows, polingtheif dugout canoes across the lagoon, aftd.aiming the bows tRagthey use to hunt According to Survival Int8enatiomalan orga- zation that defends Indigenous peoples’ right® around the world, more than a hundred tribes Iiv€ in seclusion in places from the Amazon rainforest tothe Indian Ocean to Indonesia. The lone tribe on a small, remote island, the Sentinelese are perhaps the most isolated people in the world In 1975 National Geographic published dramatic photographs of Sentinelese shooting arrows at a seaborne “friendly contact” expedition of Indian anthropologists and filmmakers, Those images— which appeared under the headline “Arrows Speak 18 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC NY WAYS, NORTH SENTINEL REMAINS TERRA INCOGNITA NO ONE BUT ITS ISLANDERS HAT LANGUAGE THE MIGHT WHAT GOD IGHT WORSHEP Louder Than Words.-Phe Last of the Andaman landers” helped defifie the Sentinelese for a Blobal audieneasboth hostile and anachronistic. WSiiot really accurate to say that the islanders live apart from modernity: They inhabit the present day, asthe rest of us do, Nor do they lack technology A Sentinelese bow isa potent and beautifully crafted tool; they wield it with exquisite skill and craft its arrows’ heads with salvaged metal, perhaps from a nearby shipwreck. Still muich of the past 10,000 years, of human history has slipped past North Sentinel, in the cargo holds of oared ships and the pressurized cabins of passenger jets. The island has almost whollyeluded all the devices and Gontrivances that have connected tribe to tribe, cOntinentto.continent: the written word, the steam engiffenthe smart= phone. And no matter how much its inhabitants have gleaned about the outside world from their glancing contacts—probably quite a lot—there’s no way they can know that their home isamong the last places ofits kind on this planet. THERE SEEMS To BE no simple explanation for how the Sentinelese, of all the human communities on Earth, have managed to remain so isolated forsolong, Now and then over the past couple of centuries— <= The Mission is ve Chau's 2018 Byenep+ NOVEMBER 2023 19EXPLORE | THE BIG IDEA first when the British extended their empire across the Andaman Islands in the 1850s and later after India took control of the archipelago—various outsiders have tried to make contact with North Sentinel locals From 1967 to the early 2000s, Indian government anthropologists occasionally were able to approach the beach by boat, twice in 1991 even drawing close ‘enough to hand coconutsand benanas to islanders inthe surf. More often, the Sentinelese simply melt away into the jungle when intrud- ersdraw too near or respond as they did to Chau: first with gesturosaid exclamations that unmistakably communicate warning—and then, if that fails/with volleys of arrows, Is perhaps Jes tfiysterious, why thegfribe hras.so stourly maintained its defeitses. The Andaman archipelagoinclides hhunflreds ofislandséome¢ofthem onte horfiéte thriing Indigenous ‘communities that probably resembled theSeminélesé linguistically and culeur- ally. in the Yoth century the British made incursions imotheisladds and established a penal colony on ‘ohe Of the lafgest to house tens of thousands of pris= ner ffom a failed 1857 rebellion in British India. Biorrificdoasequences followed: The islanders were devastated by disease and violence, and their ancient ulttizes vere suppressed by Europeans intent on ‘Christianiging* and “civilizing” them. Although the Sentinelese lack seaworthy ves- sbls to travel beyond thei own lagoon, they were doubtless visited by neighboring islanders who ‘might hayewarnied them about the awful fate that Await@d them 4 thé hands of the colonizers. And, onatJedst one odcasion, North Sentinel itself expe- rienced an invasion. In i889 colonial official and selP-tquight anthropOlogist Maurice Vidal Portman, visited "With the intentioi of making friends with the inhabitants?” asthe later cheerfully. described More precisely’ lofandethwith alarge party of armed meant.tromped back wad forth for two weeks before managing fo capture andikidnap. four small childféu and arrelderly gouple, whorr he hauled away to tHegnatn British pehal ealony. ‘There the six quickly grew sick, and the old man and woman died. The ailing children were sent, back o their istand, laden with presents. What alien microbes they might also have borne on that home- ‘ward journey can only be guessed. So the Sentinelese had good reason to respond as they did in 2004, when an Indian Coast Guard helicopter swooped low over the island to confirm. that the inhabitants had survived the Indian Ocean tsunami. One man ran out of the {uGteand shot an arrow at the hel Copter. The coast guard officers requrned.withea striking photo- SraphirA figure uns across the ‘beach, Jegs ninible Axa dancer’, slantinghtis bow tpwaad at the aerial trespassers. Nove! the ‘man’s features aré Visible tout his blurred'silKouette against the stark white san has both Ie timelessness of a Raleblithic cave painting and the immediacy (ofa stop sign. Despite their world-renowned betigenced, the Sentinclose have commiunicated one message, Youdand clear: Let us be. WHEN TRAVELING 70 the Andaman Island$, one of the strangest things you'll discover abouit the Sentinelese is just how un-isolated, geographin cally speaking, they actually af@.Just 20 miles of ocean separate them from beaches where tonrists placidly snorkel. ‘Onmy first visit to thearchipelavo, 25 yeats ago, I decided to travel, foolishly and illegally, to the coast of North Sentinel, (Phe surrounding waters arestrictly off-lintitsand patrolled regulafly bythe Indian coast guard end navy.) I paid some lotal fishermén on South Andaman Istand“which had population 8f 200,000, nearly’all orginally imng- grants from mainland India—to take me acrossthe channel in theirsmall motorboayyndet covenor darkness:We arrived at dawh inthe Waters just off North Sentinel’s reef, glimpsed thitec Séntintclese standing beneathrthe forest canopy/andwatched ‘ewo men poling around the lagoon intheir dugout cange: ASI snapped'photos ahdséribbled notes, IN THE 19TH CENTURY THE BRITISH MADE INCURSIONS INTO THE ANDAMANS AND ESTABLISHED A PENAL COLONY. THE ISLANDERS WERE DEVASTATED BY DISEASE AND VIOLENCE 20 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC notuntsmy guide beckoned my attention. A waterspout and wall of black clouds were headed our way. After five white-knuckle hours, we made it back to South, Andaman, but the sudden monsoon storm almost drowned us. Still, we returned from our adventure in time forlunch. Journeying to the Andamans (but not North Sen- tinel) more recently, I arrived on a 200-passenger Airindia et crowded with tourists, one of 10 dally flights from the mainland. beach resort and spa that feat galows—most with their oW lost flip-flops, tampon applicators, and upon hundreds of water bottles, Surely some islanders using a blue plastic 3s dropped from a passing boat, as a this planet, are already ly on the Sentinelese, as ny pei colonists. ‘unmoored from ordinary space and time, is our self-consoling fantasy: As long as the Sentinelese persist, we can tell ourselves that our planet itself remains, to some tiny degree, inviolate. 0 Historian Adam Goodheart crew ths es8ay from his new book, “The Last sland: Discovery Defiance, and the Most Elusive Tibe fon Eorth Goadheart served asconsultant for, and appearsin, the National Geographic film The Mission. He heads the Starr Canter forthe Study ofthe American Experience at Washington allege, inChastertown, Marylanc SLANDERS OF THE ISLANDERS inbdorous tagonish ee a Andamanese continul ‘arghipefago fard/he haracter- @ through a lifetime. ferns are written the ES and epics of the islands, ‘And despite centuries-old slan- ders of the Andamanese as alleged practitioners of cannibalism and headhunting, it was Englishmen who sometimes returned from ‘punitive ‘expeditions’ in the 1920s and ‘30s bearing the severed heads of island ‘er5as trophies. Today the population of Indigenous Andamanese—includ- ing the Sentinelese—totals just a few hundred people. Before colonization, there were at least 10 times that. -aa NOVEMBER 2023 21EXPLORE | BREAKTHROUGH From bottoms to buildings DISPATCHES FROM THE FRONT LINES OF SCIENCE AND INNOVATION DNA lingers on ancient teeth afro pe ‘goth dina ment they Were of used, Scientists, ted humat the daer tooth pendant Below; co withithe wearer skin likely t{anst ferredit about 20000 years 36 StudyingDNA on Golofition abartaTion arrow ed@lsp a eédigs made SPOTTING AN ADVANTAGE vf allas bones WHITE MARKINGS ON MONARCH BUTTERFLIES MAY Ouldtyiglgl insights GIVE THE INSECTS A BOOST DURING MIGRATION i giof qi uret anicién Some mondatehSdly théustnds GFmiles each year from southern Canada all the way to tfte nfoulatains ottsidle of Mexico City. How do they doit? A néwstady says moftatehs that raked tothe Mex AE NSE ico wintering groundShavewhite wing spot$3)Percent larger thar those of monarchs sampletMionttother patesOfithe Noth American migration. This may mean thatthe black-and-white patterns on monarch wings create micro-vortices 6Pwarm and CooYaif that in turn reduce drag while the insects soar in the sue THree percent may not seem like much—but for animals that weigh as little as a kernel of corn and have to fly across a continent, tiny changes could yield real benefits, the scientists say. Similar drag-reduction properties have been found in the wing patterns of seabirds and one day could lead to more efficient airborne devices. “If you want to develop drones that are flying for longer time and hamessin energy from sunlight, this is the best thing that we can look at, ays study co-author Mostafa Hassanatian, an associate professor of me ingat New Mexico Tech. ~saSoN sitet hubyaris’ aétivities. hhanical engineer“My cats absolutely loved this food!” -krystal “They went crazy for it! Highly recommend!” -Aleae” “My cat has a new favorite food” -Nicole NO WONDER WE’RE AMERICA’S #1 DRY CAT FOOD ~ i See ce oe eer eos eensEXPLORE ARE MASTERS OF CAMOUFLAGE AT EVERY/STAGE IN PHEIR LIVES—FROM EGG TO ADULT-PHASMIDS PROVE TO BE PREY THAT.CANTRICK THEIR PREDATORS, By ALLE YANG PHOTOGRAPHS SY LEVON BISS Arilese heWiy ores look like leaves) twigs, and DAH givingmew meaning tothe:phrase “You are what you bate Phasmids, domnionly known as stick or leaf insects, often fadedfito tHe flora to become virtually invisible. 1's. an fectivegutvival strategy: Their predators want to snack $n anjinisect, so they ignore what appears to be a plant. Vike tite vegetation they mimic, most phasmids don’t move nuch, sayslentomologist Thies Bscher. They find a niche with- ut competition for resoutces, and over time they've evolved to suit their sufroundings. Look to similar environments in different parts of the World.and-you may find species that have survived, in the sme Way: leaf insects that became more brown in arid habitats orgreen in tropical rainforests. Cmoiflage can be part of every stage of a phasmid'’s life. The git prickly sticRiinsect tExtatosoma tiaratum) imitates crum: pledifoliage as an adult; itgnymphs look like antsand then bark, and it eas look like seeds The eggs are taken in by spiderants, which @at enlyhonutrient-rich, knoblike capitulum. When the phasmajds hatchythey Took similar to their ant guardiansy which ward8off predators."Then they climb tiees, soon becoming, indiscernible frontihe bark. At the treetops, they blend in with the leaves. I's life cVele that tells the story of theff ecosystem. ‘Most phasmid eggs\like the giant prickly stickinsect’s resemble seeds, sometimes those oflocat plants. For ekmple, the eges Of, aleaf insect in Indonesia, Phy Tettrauti (1), echo the seeds of the tropical ivy gourd plant. Other attributes also THCTeASE eggs’ likelihood of survival, Bischer says. ThElF hardened shells can regulate humidity and radiation, .~ and shiny black spots may play a tole in thermoregulation, Some eggs, such as that of Orestes draegeri (2), have tiny hairs that function like Velcro, fixing them in place. One successful insect (Ramulus mikado) can be found all over the islands of Japan. Though scientists initially thought birds consumed and spread its eggs, experiments showed that the secret was likely ina bittersweet sacrifice: Mothers eaten whole by birds usually contain some eggs that survive. 0 26 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC rc YLLIUM GIGANTEUM ‘Glance Malaysian Tent Fpsects start life a 2 reddish Brown calor ‘ut tn green after eating the leaves Inthe surtoundings BACILLUS ROSSIUS ROSSIUS ‘AEurdpean stick Insect thdlun ap topletEXPLORE | ARTIFACT 1,300-YEAR-OLD SILKEN TREASURE ONE OFCHINA’S MOST-REVERED ANCIENT ART/FORMS IS BEING EMBRACED-BY THE COUNTRY’S YOUTHS BYRON AN-O"CONNELE Intricate they require ati [An inch of brocacle wa FLAMES, BEASTS, WEAPONS, and stars flow from wooden loomstoembellish brocade, a 1,300-year-old fabric one: reserved for China's elite and now popular with young fashion designers. This art form isso complex that even veteran craftspeople produce only about two inches of textile a day. Tr ditional looms can be 18 feet long, have thousands of parts, and require dozens ‘fsteps to operate by artisans, whosing Vallads tO memorize the process. From thiscreative matrix emerges luminous Gloth ythnpaitecns woven from silk, Bold Andhpeaddek-Teat lier yarn. Brocade emtergettin Chingtduringthe fang dynasty (A-D. 618-907), Regional Varietios developedzucrossiheeoutatry, including in Nanjingand Chengdu, Home to silk musetims wheFé tourists earrnow buy authentic brocade starves anid bags. The complicated fabhicEannpt be replicated by factoties. “Itean be woven only onthe traditional leo Says Feng Zhao, honorary directonof’ the China National silk Muséum in Hangzhou. This authenticity appeals to.olde®Ghinese people, who appréc ate brocade “fim their hearts,” Zhao, says, and view it asa proud symbol of cultural heritage. And increasingly, up-and-coming Chinese fashion ereators are gollab- orating with traditional weavers to emblazon garments with symbols sucias phoenixes, clouds, and drag ong, Designer Chen Liwer last year Iganehed a range of scarve$ and acces: Spries targeted at Gen Z gonsumers that feattre the hu bu tigerfattern. Anciény brocade, then,eems tighly threaded ‘nto China’s fuseire, 6.NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC PROTECT YOUR LEGACY PRESERVE OUR PLANET Fae iat areata 2 Society in your will or trust, or by beneficiary > Cee Ont saa Steg a PE eA Solo eel orto) ol hela Ela t) to estate planning tools. That's why we are offering A eee ae eR ec ra u Peete eee retry ae . CREATE A LEGACY OF YOUR OWN Natiofiel Goayabhie eaqned'Giving Off 1165 17thStroet, Nw. .graPphic Sacicty has affeatiy beeg included, Wasitfngtéh, D.C. 20 in my estate plans. Contacts _ledScyan. BSutmaking Tit: natgeo.org/legacy PHONEEXPLORE | CLOSER LOOK Charleston Reconsidered BY TARA ROBERTS WITH THE OPENING OF A LONG-AWAITED MUSEUM ON A HISTORIC WHARF, THIS SOUTHERN CITY IS RECONNECTING WITH ITS COASTLINE—AND RECKONING WITH ITS TRAGIC PAST. 30 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC ‘Ar tasr count. there were more than a handed AfrfeatjAihericarniuseums around the United States, all gollectingjand preserving the history people of Africa descent,-The biggest and most comprehensive ofall, heNational Museum of Afriany American Historyand Cultute, sitson the National Mall in Washington, D.C. But the June 27 openingofthe International Afti- catr American Museum (AAM) in Gharleston,South Carolina, is particularly significant. The museum. is located on Gadsden’ What, which, from 17983 to 1807, was the largest single point of entry into North America for enslaved Africans. More than g0percent ofall captive Africans werg brought intolthe U.S,here, where they were sold into slavery at auction. They were then sent of to plantations and farms across tHe county? Inthellate 17008, Gadsdén’s.Whart stretched 840 feet across, abourthree citybldcks,and could accomodate upto six shipsat once/Eacl one car- ried a cargo hold full of asmiany as afew hundred captive Africans. It'Sestimated that mote theif So percent of all African Americans Can ara@e at least one ancestor to tHe aFea. This siteeHoice and the nearly $100 million ‘nvestiment in the building of IAAM are also part ofa larger reckoning happening in Charleston. In 2015, the Confederate flag was removed from the South Carolina State House. In 2038, the city council formally apologized for Charleston's role in slavery ‘And the city has begun to challenge the main stream narrative around the nature of plantations, with their deep-set porches, grand columns, and often beautifully cultivated land. But many plantation grounds still includeNOVEMBER 2023 31EXPLORE | CLOSER LOOK unmarked graves where the enslaved were buri cod Plantation isone of the rare plantationsin the country that focus on accounts of the enslaved, who toiled in the heat and cold for no pay and little rest, under often brutal conditions. This place isa memorial tothe life and the times of those who were enslaved here but retained their humanity,” says Toby Smith, the cultural history terpretation coordinator for Charleston County Parks and Recreation, which operates McLeod, “This, is their moment to be honored, andtobeTified up. and to be learned from While [AAM broadlyeplores the history of African Americans ant@ thé global legaey of the transatlantiostaye'trade. it also tells the story of Black Sotith Carolinians and. specificallyof ure Gillah Geechee, a unique pebplé who have ttadifionally resided inthe cogstal areas and the sea islands of North Gérolina, South Carglind, GGFR, and Flotida. Because they wereenslaved on isolated islands and éoastal plaftations, they are one of thefew stoupsof African Americans t6 retain fodds, Tanautage, culture, and traditions that can be traced directly back to Africa, ‘Tia Clatk,Avho founded the top-fated travel expe~ Henge @asyal Crabbing with Tia in 2018, says she’s excited to yisit IAM, “but I know it’s going to be Super emotional for me.” Clark sof Gullah Geechee hetitfége, and her family once lived in downtown Charlestonjon Henrietta Street. ‘A memorial at the museum raprasants a Gade winter. The goal was to drive up their prices andl draw in m aN But Clark says she grew up ashamed of her back- ground. “I turned my back on my heritage because Tthought it wasbad,” she says. Then, six years ago, a cousin took her crabbing forthe first time, and she says it was like a baptism and a reawakening. Itreconnected herto the culture of her ancestors, who used to crab for susten This brought her back to the water, something she didn't even know she was missing. Now she Jeaches iouristsand even locals how to fish for crab in Charleston Ffarbor, And she herself spends hours ‘outthere, castifig-her netvoften in the wee hours of themorting, Watching the stintise, reclaiming the parigo! herSelfthapwereqneelost Even though theStory'of African Ameri- Cansstaris On fava shores, oh chapter ‘begins on wxival on these shoreSalong, this@oastline, in the water “tt's that waténthat broughi the )* Alfticans here,” says Smith who's also: Gullah Geechee. “And as;Gullah people, the water, webelieve, carries oupsouls to rest.” Maybe, ultimately, the most Surprising and profound thing about IAAM is that by standing at the edge of this historic wharf it helps bring Afrigan Aimericans*back to the ocean, back tothe turbulent Atlantic, back to a place of origin, death, ustenance—andiawyself-healing. 0 ic) Tara Roberts s 2 Notional GeographieExplocex She tells dries about the clscovery of lost slave shipitecks on the Nationa Geographic-procuced podast series lato the Depths. over one terrible before springGO BIG THEN GO HOME ‘An Expedition Cruise is a larger-than-life experience. And it’s not just because of the opportunity ee ee ee Re anced ie eee ee a naturalist. It's the immense relaxation of snorkeling in pristine waters. Or, the tremendous meal on the ship’s deck. In fact, the only bad part about our Expedition Cruises is that they end. NATIONAL feel r EXPEDITIONS Pras sta Reece(PRRERRRRREORRRREGGHHROGGERODE DMUs he ead ce a ueNATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC NOVEMBER 2023, Inte an ie Volcano... P34 Putting Carbon Back..P. 6+ Killer Whale Hunt. P. 100 s..P.108 La Familiain| FEATURES A MARISOL, WHOSE FAMILY MIGRATED FROM MEXICO TO CHICAGO, SEES HERSELF IN HER HIGH SCHOOL GR ATION FINERY—A REFLECTION OF THE AMERICAN DREAM IN PROGRESSé FL ees “i FESONAN ICE-CRUSTED RIDGE'S,00Mfeet abovethe Afigry Swell of the South Atlanti’, EmfalNich- olson takes a deep breathybehind her xéSpirator, checks her climbing harnéss,andteps inside | the gaping mouth oPanaetiyer6leano, Ita little after4’p.:meoh the wind-whipped {-summitrin of Mourif Michael, which looms over }+saunde? sland, Located in the uninhabited South Sandwich archipelago, the island is one of the most isolated places a person can travel toon Earth—roughly 500 miles from the closest permanent station on South Georgia and more thana thousand miles from the nearest shipping traffic. In fact, the closest people to Emma and her expedition mates are the seven astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the International SpaceStatioh, whic passes roughly 250 miles above them evry 99 minute But after years of planbing and éiduring a tortuous 1,400'milevoyage thiréagh turbulent, iceberg-infested ses, tliea3-year-old voleanole- gistis on the verge of betomingtthe first Scfentst. to lead an exploration inside Mount Michaels crater, where she hopes to collect neweRtes} about poorly understood processes at work deep within our planet's plumbing. But Mount Michael isn’t a voleano that easily gives up its secrets. At first glance the inner part of the rim seems harmless, giving way to a gentle snow slope, no steeper than an intermediate-level ski run. Emma and her research partner, Joao Lages, Lake of Fire, premiering tober 26 on National Geographic and streaming the next day on Disney and Hula South NG Se sindieh) Rants ) wa British volcanolegist Emma Nicholsoa looks ut from the bridge off the Australis as th® expedition approaches Saunders Island, She'd tempted to simmit its volcano in 2019, but blizzard cgnditions forced her totucn, back, leaving herwith ‘unfinishedbusiness. cautiously descend on clintbing rope-their onlyconnection tothe outsid@world—But both undétstand-thiat somewhere below/this seem- ingly benign téxain wtightehddéh an unstable ce cliff overhanging theifnertim of the volcano. Aas they inch-theinway down, conditions improve: The mint subsides, and patches of blue sky@ppear overhead. Beyond her face shield, Emma can see a circle of near-vertical walls of ash-covered rock and ice. Carrying a computer and a heat-sensing camera, Jozio and Emma descend deeper into the mountain. Below them, the gentle ski slope abruptly drops off into a dim void and an unknown distance to the crater’s bottom. As she looks around, slightly wide-eyed, Emma ICE AND FIRE 41Coed Peery Phar ecg gear to the island. cee cette Ogee were a eeeunderstands she’s standing inside the rim of Earth’s chimney—a place that bears the scars of one of nature's greatest displays of power. Fora voleanologist, it’s the quintessential career moment, being the first to peer down an obscure portal into the planet’s interior. Only one thing eludes her, the thing that brought her to this godforsaken place: Where is the lava lake? A reassuring tug pulls against her harness ‘The rope, Emma knows, is connected fo a most trustworthy anchor on thestimmitrmountaitr guide Carla Pérez. Oyef the past Weeks, Bhim and Carla have beComé close ftiendsas they shared a cramsfedhip’s tabi atid a-quaking tent through howling gales. Withoutla tine of sight to Bmpr, Carla knowsthar an overhaliging ice cliff might be titking somewhere in front of her frietd—igould give way without warning, sweeping fier down the throat of the volearia, ‘The thgis a littlefeminder to Emma not to forget biergelf and go’ step too far, N FEBRUARY 2, 1775, a weary Captain James Cook stood at the aft rail of his ship, the Resolution, and stared out at a bleak, snowbound island. ‘The mariner had been at sea on his second voyage of discovery for two jand a half years, and the foreboding geography matched his mood. “The mst horrible coast in the world,” Cook declared of the archipelago he'd named the§oyth Sandwith Islafds after one of his sup- portérs)the Earl of Sandwich. These islands, he wrote, were “doofied by nature... ever ofice to, receive the Warmth of the’sun’s rays.” It would be tecadgs before Seientists tindetz stood that onef thent, Sauriders, pass@&sed its own source of heat, And even theli)no.one was much interested in Visitingthe ity, windstiepy island in the middle of noWhere “The South Sandwich Islands=theyre tough: to get to, tough to get ashore on, tough to Work in, so you have to have a pretty good reason to go there,” says John Smellie, a geology profes- sor at the University of Leicester. And yet, the islands, which are formed by the movement of the South American tectonic plate beneath the South Sandwich plate, are one of the world’s simplest tectonic settings to study voleanology. “It's effectively a crust factory.” Smellie told 46 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC me when I reached him by phone at his office in England. *You can examine what happens to ‘magmas from inception to being brought to the surface... because the variables are so few there.” Icontacted Smellie because he’s one of the few people known to have visited Saunders Island. During an expedition in 1997, he was taking sam- ples on its north end when he noticed that the plume fiom Mount Michael was unusually dense. tewas huffing ahdpuffing, and those were char- Ateristigs thar Surprised me,” Smellie recalled. “The behavior FemindethinVo£ Mount Erebus, an Antarctiewolcagowith apérmanent lava lake. Smellie #8REdba friend ot the British Antagctic Sur- yeyit satelliteimagety could identify any thermal anoitélies around MountMichael. Bsitg asat- ellite-based radiometer, they worked to identity a heat signature that corresponded to Mount ‘Michael's summit crater. They positedchat, with temperatures averaging around 5708F, it waSa\ Tavalake: one of volcanology’s rarest phenomena, Although there are about 1,350 potentially ‘ative volcaiioes in the world, only eight\huad? been confifmed t recently host persistent lava lakes—perpetual:cauldrons of molten tooke! ‘Typically, after &m eruption, lava exposed tb the atmosphere will cool into a solid plug of tobk trapping the heat and gases within (and poten- tially priming the voleano foranother explosion). But in open-vent voleanoes, the plumbing that connects the surface to the magma chamber deep below remains open. For a lava laketoform, the pressure must be great enough to push lava all the way to thesmface—like the warer pressure in a fountain, But for the lava lake t8 remain, thé pressute hasto continue, and the ratio between) heat coming up from within thé magina coldmh: and thexrate of cooling mtistbe-perfectly Bal- ariced. t0 keep the lava‘in itsmolten stated “Temperamental” ise godd word/Smellie says, to describe the pressure lévelé that pump Tavallitd Mount Michel's efater/“It comes and it ghes,possibly formonithsata time, but then our research stiows itpéfsists for months ata time.” BeCHTSE open-vent systems provide opportu- nities for scientists to sample and analyze both gasand lava, they are considered a critical labora- tory for better understanding voleanic behavior and helping predict and mitigate volcanic risk. “The National Geographic Society, committed to illuminating and protacting the vionder of our world has funded Explorer Emma Nicholson’ volcanology research since 2022.But Smellie was more interested in studying the rocks surrounding the volcano and never seriously considered climbing Mount Michael. “Lava lakes aren't my science,” he says, “Know- ing Sods Law, I'd likely pick a time when it had receded and wasn't visible.” In 2019, another team of volcanologists using higher-resolution satellite data updated the findings of Smellie’s team and calculated amore than 107,000-square-foot-wideanoftaly.on-the- crater’s surface. Like Sméflie, they assessedtit to bealava lake, slightly smiallerthdn ofe anda half professional’soecer fields) That study‘also’caught theey€ ofa néwly ten- ured voleanol6gy(professor at University College Londofl named Enid Nicholson. As piGtise av the satellite imagery was, she knew the only way) to¢onfirm Mourit Michael held a lava lake—~and for shat natterso sttidy it—would be to climb {fo thé rinfand collect samples inside its crater. ‘Thediaet phat it had been two decades since the fastfield geologist had worked on Saunders ‘Island appealed to the determined volcanblogist. “When Iwas young, I would always be getting lost, wandering off, trying toexplore,” Emma says. Her parents, Both avid hikers, or “hillwalkers” asthe British Say, encouraged their daugh- ter’s adventuring, One outing during a family Vacation to the United States ‘wherishe waSsix years old would have ay dutsize influence on her life: a ramble to view ‘Mount St. Helens. “All the tree3,were Still blown down in one diection,” Emmatecalls. “Ash was everywhere, everniore thaiy10 years after the eruption. I remeimberwariting to Understand what forces. could'velereated that Iandseape.” In 2020, Emaniajoitied anleypeditionlaboard an aluminum-hulled steop fora'suxty ofthe South sandwich Islands. AitePanchoting off Sduhdets Island, Emma, researcltpartiter Kieran Wood) and several other scientists attempted the first ascent of Mount Michael, only to turn around in deteriorating conditions. “Within minutes ‘we went from almost clear blue skies to driving snow, blizzard conditions,” Emma says. “Itwould have been completely reckless to continue.” Even still, the decision to turn back was gut- wrenching, and I could hear it in her voice when she said she left Mount Michael with “unfin- ished business.” Ast NovemseR, I joined Emma, a National Geographic Explorer, in the Falkland Islands for a return trip to Saunders. She'd assembled an expe- dition to complete the first ascent of ‘Mount Michael, as well as the first on-the-ground study of its crater. The Australis, a steel-hulled motor sailer, was waiting at the dock in Port Stan- leycHer captaineen Wallis, a lanky 43-year-old ‘Australian witlrsalt-alfdepepper hair, greeted me ih.a pair offgrdase-stained Coveralls. Our expedition watildive seemed tiny to Cook. Ben andltwo.crew-memtbers provided the trans- portation, Emnia>with Colleaguesvoao Lages, 30, eochemist and Volcarvologist) tnd Kieran Wood: 37, an aerospace engineer and drone spe- cialist, madeup the science team. Photographer Renan Ozturk, 43, led a four-person media teams Carla Perez, 39, an Ecuadorian mountaineer and one of only a handful of women surimit Everest without supplemental oxygeniewOuld OUT OF ABOUT 150 POTENTIALLY ACTIVE VOLCANOES IN THE WORLD, ONLY EIGHT HAD BEEN CONFIRMED TO RECENTLY HOST PERSISTENT LAVA LAKES. lead the moyntaineering phase of the trip, Ben had taken the Australis yo the Soush, Sandwich Islands once-beforg’ a harrowing experience. “I'don't talk abou that one, nate,” he told me: He wasn't alonein his dreadofthis stretchyof ocean. Our eburs@wouldskift the Drake Passage between the tipbf SouthyAmerica and-Antarctica where the Pacifi¢ arid Atlantic ‘Oceans meet auld formSome 6th most treach- fOUS Waters on the plarieteWith no landmass atthistétitude tofimpedé the wind or currents, -waves Can grow#S tall as 40 feet. SEVEFal weeks after I first asked him, how- ever, the soft-spoken Ben relented and told mea heart-pounding tale of surviving a windstorm at sea that pushed past 90 milesan hour on his wind- speed indicator before he stopped looking at it. Inhis more than two decades of cruising small boats around the Antarctic Peninsula, Ben rou- tinely makes four or five round-trip crossings of the Drake Passage each summer. But it had taken ICE AND FIRE 47