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A team of environmental scientists and physical limnologists has published a fascinating study that may provide a scientific explanation for one of the most famous stories in the Bible: Jesus’ miraculous “multiplication” of fish. This research investigates natural events that may have created an abundance of fish in <keyword id="23812630" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="lake-kinneret" source="keywords">Lake Kinneret</keyword>, also known as the Sea of Galilee, without any need for divine intervention.<br /><h2>The story behind the miracle</h2>The New Testament recounts two instances where Jesus multiplied a small amount of food to feed the hungry. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus tells Simon Peter to cast his nets in the Sea of Galilee, leading to an overwhelming catch of fish. In the Gospel of John, Jesus supposedly turned a few loaves of bread and a handful of fish into a meal for thousands of followers. For nearly two millennia, Christians have interpreted these events as miracles, showcasing Jesus’ divine power. But could there have been a natural phenomenon behind these "miraculous" catches?<br /><br />The new study doesn’t aim to discredit these ancient accounts but rather to explore what might have been happening in the lake at the time. Using a range of modern scientific techniques, the research team examined Lake Kinneret’s unique conditions to see if there might be another reason for these “miraculous” catches of fish.<br /><h2>What happens in Lake Kinneret</h2>The researchers found that Lake Kinneret is naturally stratified, with two distinct layers of water: a warmer, oxygen-rich upper layer, where most fish reside, and a colder, oxygen-poor lower layer. Normally, these two layers remain separate, but every once in a while, a unique combination of environmental conditions causes them to mix. This phenomenon, known as “thermal stratification,” results in a sudden and dangerous depletion of oxygen throughout the lake, leaving fish unable to breathe at any level of the water.<br /><div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="114938626" title="&amp;quot;Sugar early in life is the new tobacco&amp;quot;: Scientists urge food companies to reformulate baby foods and tax sugary options" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div>When this mixing happens, the fish die off en masse and float to the surface. To someone on the shore, this could look like an abundance of fish suddenly appearing, ready for easy collection. Imagine standing by the lake as hundreds or even thousands of fish rise to the surface — the scene could easily inspire stories of miraculous bounty.<br /><h2>A coincidence or a miracle?</h2>To investigate the phenomenon, the research team deployed temperature sensors, oxygen metres, and even tested wind speed and direction in the lake. These instruments confirmed that Lake Kinneret experiences regular die-offs of fish due to stratification, followed by these mass appearances of fish near the surface. According to their findings, similar environmental conditions existed around the time of Jesus, making it possible that such a die-off event occurred then, too.<br /><div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="114885489" title="A 14-year-old took home $10,000 for his award-winning investigation into train derailments. Here&amp;#39;s what he found." mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div>The team’s research also indicated that strong winds across the lake could drive oxygen-poor waters to the surface, killing off fish in greater numbers. They observed that specific types of fish in Lake Kinneret are especially prone to this kind of die-off and tend to end up along the shore, where they could be easily collected by a hungry populace.<br /><br />While the study’s findings don’t rule out the possibility of miracles, they suggest that at least some of the stories of miraculous catches might be explained by natural processes. If Jesus and his disciples happened to be fishing in Lake Kinneret during one of these die-offs, the sudden appearance of fish may have seemed miraculous.<br /><br />From a modern perspective, it’s a reminder that ancient people often attributed unusual natural events to divine intervention simply because they lacked the scientific knowledge we have today. Rather than taking away from the significance of these stories, the scientific findings highlight the powerful ways in which natural events can intersect with human experience, shaping beliefs and narratives that endure through millennia.<br /><br />The findings of this research have been published in <em>Water Resources Research</em> and can be accessed <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2024WR037894">here</a>.<br />

How did Jesus 'multiply' his fish? A new study provides an answer that is more science than miracle

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Flora Batts, 65, has had it with Texas' high cost of living, hot weather, and divisive politics.</li><li>Batts is moving to northwest Pennsylvania, a part of the Ruset Belt where homes are cheaper.</li></ul><p><em>This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Texas native Flora Batts, a 65-year-old retired Medicaid program coordinator, who is moving to Pennsylvania in May. The essay, which also incorporates quotes from emails between Batts and BI, has been edited for length and clarity.</em></p><p>Austin has been my home for more than 60 years — minus the time spent following around my military husband.</p><p>I have family buried from Odem to Amarillo, but we're leaving the state for Pennsylvania.</p><p>We found our next home and will close on May 17, with the movers arriving on the 22nd to take us 1,500 miles north.</p><p>This decision wasn't made in haste or as a knee-jerk reaction to current affairs. It's like a marriage slowly dying over the years.</p><p>The <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/leaving-texas-political-freedom-property-taxes-housing-costs-2023-11">quality of life in Austin</a> has plummeted. Forget about buying a house here — the cost of living puts Dallas to shame. Moreover, most of my favorite restaurants are gone, replaced mainly by expensive fusion or fast food, and the traffic congestion makes it feel like Houston in the '70s. Plus, I hate hot weather.</p><p>It comes to a point when you know — you <em>know</em> — it's over.</p><h2 id="2dbc91c4-61d6-4eae-a0a0-d7119027d042">Austin just isn't what it used to be</h2><p>My family and I moved to Austin in 1963. The house my parents bought was considered the furthest reaches of North Austin at the time.</p><p>I grew up in the city, probably during one of the better times. Back then, there were open fields, and my brother and I used to go sailing and fish for crawdaddies. It was almost like living in the countryside.</p><div type="image" title="State Capitol Building in downtown Austin." height="2304" width="3456" msid="110056070" hostid="261" sizebytes="344528"></div><p>Coming of age in Austin in the 70s was just an incredible time; you could do anything. The city had enough to allow us to get into trouble but still be safe.</p><p>I lived 20 minutes from a lake, so we would have bonfires and parties. You could go to the <a target="_blank" href="https://armadillodenaustin.com/">Armadillo</a> and see <a target="_blank" href="http://www.shawnphillips.com/">Shawn Phillips</a>, and catch drag shows downtown. The University of Texas students really kept the city young and on its toes.</p><p>I don't see that so much anymore. Tech has totally changed everything. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/michael-dell-nepo-baby-billionaire-family-children-brother-wife-tech-2023-1">Michael Dell</a> kicked the door down and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tech-workers-moved-to-austin-regrets-2023-8">let everybody in</a>. All that tech money changed Austin and drove up the cost of living.</p><h2 id="eb0c5342-da3e-4abc-9e0f-0f17ba63a549">It costs so much to afford homes in Austin now</h2><p>After moving to South Carolina for the military, my husband and I moved back to Austin in 1998. At that time, I believe there was a 98% occupancy rate. Even back then the rents were sky high — they've just never really come back down.</p><p>The <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/moving-to-austin-buy-a-home-texas-tech-jobs-2023-10">homes have gotten more expensive</a> here, too.</p><p>In 1963, my parents bought their house for about $30,000. It's just a tiny house, one story and very simple. When my sister sold it after my mother passed away, it went for $220,000. It was later flipped, remodeled, and sold for around $500,000.</p><p>The 40-year-old, 2,400-square-foot home my husband and I bought in 2001 for $197,000 sold for $350,000 six years ago — and later resold for $550,000.</p><div type="image" title="Batts' Austin home that was sold." height="3264" width="2448" msid="110056072" hostid="261" sizebytes="920766"></div><p>Texas brags that we don't have a state income tax, but we do have <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/high-property-taxes-texas-moving-new-mexico-2024-3">property taxes</a><em>. </em>And they're some of the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/average-property-taxes-every-us-state">highest in the nation</a>.</p><p>I'm a retired state employee, and I have a pension and my Social Security. My husband is also retired from the military and on Social Security, but our incomes aren't enough to buy a nice house in an Austin neighborhood.</p><p>We're renting as we wait to move out of the state. Right now we pay $2,300 a month for a three-bedroom, two-bath home that's around 1,900 square feet.</p><p>We know our <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/people-are-moving-from-austin-orlando-to-smaller-quieter-cities-2024-3">money is going to go a lot farther</a> elsewhere.</p><h2 id="a6ca3b52-781f-45eb-890f-cd8ea5f035f9">The political climate in Texas has changed</h2><p>When I was a young woman, I felt very proud to be a Texan. To be a Texas woman meant you were strong and that you could stand on your own two feet — and, in some cases, chew tobacco.</p><p>But it seems to me that the current government would prefer women to be demure and submissive, which is everything I was told was not characteristic of a Texas woman.</p><p>Thanks to 20 years of evolving conservative politics that seem to promote the idea that mom stays at home and raises the kids, I'm not comfortable identifying myself as <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/moved-texas-oregon-left-red-state-blue-politics-2024-2">a Texas woman</a>.</p><div type="image" title="Batts and her father at her high school graduation in the 1970s." height="1236" width="1077" msid="110056074" hostid="261" sizebytes="70334"></div><p>I'm 65 years old, so <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/10000-more-births-afrer-texas-strict-abortion-law-study-2023-7">abortion laws</a> don't affect me. But they will affect my 14-year-old daughter.</p><p>I really don't think it should be the government's decision to tell her what she can and cannot do.</p><p>I want her to establish her own boundaries and have autonomy over her own body and life, but it's becoming less and less acceptable here.</p><p>Although my daughter was born in Austin and has only ever lived here, she doesn't really identify as a Texan. I think that speaks volumes.</p><h2 id="24604931-40f0-4613-8d16-7800f3612146">Austin has become a playground for the wealthy</h2><p>In the past, every Christmas, my sister-in-law and I would go with our kids to the <a target="_blank" href="https://armadillobazaar.com/">Armadillo Christmas Bazaar</a>. It was always a blast.</p><p>But it started getting more high-dollar vendors. It's making money hand over fist because there's a large population in Austin now that has a significant amount of disposable income. I'm not one of them. So I stopped going.</p><p>Many local businesses can also no longer afford to rent their retail space. We lost <a target="_blank" href="https://www.austinchronicle.com/locations/nomadic-notions-45582/">Nomadic Notions</a>, a store that sold jewelry beading that also had all sorts of imported fabrics. It was so Austin-nesque, a very hippie vibe. We almost lost <a target="_blank" href="https://www.toyjoy.com/">Toy Joy</a>, too.</p><p>Back in the day, it was not a big deal to go down to the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.austintheatre.org/">Paramount</a> to watch a play. But because we're in far North Austin, the<a target="_blank" href="https://austin.urbanize.city/post/austin-roadway-fourth-most-congested-texas"> traffic</a> really discourages us from venturing that far into town anymore.</p><p>The problem is that Austin is progressing faster than it can accommodate its population. We've been pushing the envelope for over 20 years now, operating at maximum occupancy off and on.</p><p>The city is trying to address the issue. It's doing a lot of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.kut.org/transportation/2024-02-21/your-ultimate-guide-to-the-i-35-expansion-through-central-austin">expansion on the highways</a>, and we've seen residential and retail building surge in the city. I believe it will eventually improve the infrastructure enough to handle the increasing population.</p><h2 id="cfff9624-696e-4722-938f-537c304d49bd">Our money will go further in Pennsylvania</h2><p>For the past 10 years, we've been talking about leaving Austin. It was just a matter of deciding where to go.</p><p>At first, we thought about Colorado, but the pandemic really changed the whole landscape. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ceo-says-denver-is-the-next-hub-for-tech-2021-2">Tech companies sunk their big dollars </a>into the state. We got priced out of a real-estate market we used to think was affordable.</p><p>After Colorado, we started looking up states that would not tax our retirement income. We thought Virginia would be a good fit, but after visiting it for a week, the universe made it very clear that it was not for us.</p><p>We eventually decided on Pennsylvania, where my husband is from and still has family living. We're moving to Erie, where my daughter will be attending the same high school he graduated from.</p><p>The biggest driving factor is that there are an array of properties there that are affordable. We also wanted land with a lot of trees — something we couldn't afford in Austin.</p><p>In Erie, we bought a three-bedroom, two-bath home on two-thirds of an acre. It's an almost 100-year-old house that has been completely remodeled and expanded. It has a 16'x16' shed, which will be my clay studio. I'm just smitten with the property.</p><p>The area we're moving to is really quiet and 15 minutes away from Lake Erie. It's almost like going to the ocean because its waves are so strong, and there's a beach.</p><p>I'm also really stoked that it's always at least 20 degrees cooler there. I'm outdoorsy and like to be outside on my patio with my plants. But in Austin, I would always get hot flashes. Last summer, the weather was 110 degrees.</p><h2 id="c6a69c0c-61c5-4a96-a44b-80a5b06d11c6">My life is going to change for the better</h2><p>Pennsylvania is a purple state. I like knowing there's a nice balance between both sides, so everyone seems to get a voice and representation.</p><p>There will be a night-and-day difference between our lives in Texas and Pennsylvania. It won't be comparable.</p><div type="image" title="Batts, her husband and daughter." height="2320" width="3088" msid="110056075" hostid="261" sizebytes="348886"></div><p>My quality of life is going to be different. My husband has just retired. We'll have more time together in a quiet, peaceful neighborhood — very different from Austin, where it's loud and congested and there are condos in every backyard.</p><p>There are things I am going to miss about Austin, like the cheap gas, and the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/heb-grocery-store-texas-retailer-2019-2">HEB grocery market</a>. But Erie has local produce everywhere, miles of vineyards, and fruit trees in abundance.</p><p>I'll probably have to start making my own tortillas again and learn to replicate HEB's flaxseed waffles, but I like a good culinary challenge.</p>

I'm moving out of Texas after 60 years there. The culture has changed and big tech firms have made Austin too expensive.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Staff at a conservation group captured the birth of 15 Burmese peacock softshell turtle hatchlings.</li><li>The rare species, found only in Myanmar, is one of the world's most endangered freshwater turtles.</li></ul><p>Fifteen tiny turtles in Myanmar just made waves across the scientific community after their birth was captured on camera by conservation workers in what appears to be the first official record of Burmese peacock softshell turtle hatchlings.</p><p>The rare species, named for bright orange spots on its shell reminiscent of peacock feathers, are found only in Myanmar and are highly sought after in East Asian food markets. In addition to being <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/species-of-exotic-turtles-have-been-poached-to-near-extinction-2023-4">overharvested as an ingredient</a> for stews and soups in the region, the quality of the turtles' environment has degraded over time, diminishing the resources available for the previously abundant species.  </p><div type="image" title="Burmese peacock softshell turtle hatchlings" height="3024" width="4032" msid="101264399" hostid="261" sizebytes="696706"></div>As a result, Burmese peacock softshell turtles are one of the world's most endangered freshwater turtle species. According to The Zoological Society of London's <a href="https://www.edgeofexistence.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Edge of Existence Programme</a>, they are at significant risk of extinction.<p>Local volunteers, in partnership with the conservation group Fauna &amp; Flora International, have been working since mid-2022 to increase the population of the turtles near Indawgyi, one of the largest inland lakes in Southeast Asia.</p><p>This year, designated "turtle guardians" discovered five nesting sites for the <a href="https://www.insider.com/endangered-animals-us-2018-5">endangered creatures</a> around Indawgyi, fenced them off to prevent them from being damaged, and set up regular patrols to monitor the nests, according to a statement from Fauna &amp; Flora International.</p><div type="image" title="Adult Burmese peacock softshell turtle (Nilssonia formosa) being released, Indawgyi." height="1065" width="1600" msid="101264400" hostid="261" sizebytes="80894"></div><p>According to the conservation group, the <a href="https://www.insider.com/two-headed-baby-turtle-south-carolina-2019-8">video of the turtles hatching</a> is the first known recording of the species born in the wild. After Fauna &amp; Flora staff took measurements and the turtles' weight, they were released back to the wild near Indawgyi.</p><p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/24/climate/tiny-bundles-of-hope-critically-endangered-turtles-hatch-in-myanmar.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The New York Times</a> reported the discovery is "exquisitely thrilling," according to Fredric Janzen, a biology professor at Michigan State University specializing in softshell turtles but not involved in the project.</p><p>The discovery comes several years after Fauna &amp; Flora worked to establish Indawgyi as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 2017 to support the home of more than 160 bird species — some of which are globally threatened — as well as turtles, mammals, reptiles, primates, and fish endemic to the area.</p><p style="font-weight: 400;">"Working with local communities will be key to our success in addressing the threats to the critically endangered Burmese peacock softshell turtle. We are already seeing the results of collaborating with communities to manage and protect key nesting sites and habitat," said Zau Lunn, Programme Manager, Freshwater and Marine, Fauna &amp; Flora.</p><p style="font-weight: 400;">Lunn added: "Our work to save this species, which is unique to Myanmar, has only just begun, but the discovery and release of these hatchlings is a great start and a wonderful example of how we can work together to save nature."</p>

First ever video captures the adorable birth of critically endangered Burmese peacock softshell turtle hatchlings

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Lakes, rivers, and oceans may be unsafe to swim in due to toxins and microbes that can make people sick.</li><li>Greenish, murky, or foul-smelling water may be infested with toxic algal blooms.</li></ul><p><keyword id="11894571" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="health" source="Orion">Health</keyword> officials across the US have issued warnings about <a href="https://www.insider.com/health-officials-toxic-algae-blooms-can-sicken-kids-kill-pets-2022-7">toxic algal blooms</a> that can poison aquatic ecosystems and make bodies of water unsafe for swimmers. </p><p><keyword id="12033543" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="algae" source="Orion">Algae</keyword> is just one of many microscopic organisms that can sicken humans and animals that come into contact with untreated water. Swimmers have <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6925a3.htm?s_cid=mm6925a3_w">fallen ill with diarrhea and vomiting</a> after accidentally ingesting water contaminated by sewage, and a few have died suddenly due to <a href="https://www.insider.com/boy-dies-of-brain-eating-amoeba-infection-texas-splash-pad-2021-9">brain-eating amoebas</a> that thrive in warm waters.</p><p>Before you hit the beach this summer, consider these four signs that indicate water is not safe for <keyword id="11915266" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="swimming" source="Orion">swimming</keyword>.</p><h2><strong>1. There's visible green scum, globs, or streaks on the surface</strong></h2><p>Algae and cyanobacteria (often called blue-green algae) can grow out of control in warm, slow-moving water that is rich in nutrients. Warming temperatures and sporadic rain storms have created the ideal conditions for algae to "bloom."</p><p>Not all algal blooms pose a threat to humans, but some species are known to produce toxins that can make people and animals sick. People have sought emergency care for algae-associated illness after swimming in, drinking, or accidentally inhaling water infested with harmful algal blooms.</p><p>According to the <a href="https://www.health.ny.gov/environmental/water/drinking/bluegreenalgae/">New York State Department of Health</a>, algal blooms may appear green, blue-green, yellow, white, brown, purple, or red in color. Any splashes of color that look like spilled paint in the water, or suspicious foam or scum on the surface, may indicate that algae has bloomed.</p><p>Local health officials have warned residents to avoid all contact with water that appears discolored or murky in an abundance of caution. In the words of one <a href="https://www.mass.gov/alerts/harmful-cyanobacterial-bloom-advisories-in-massachusetts-current-as-of-june-22-2022">Massachusetts emergency alert</a>, "When in doubt, stay out!"</p><h2><strong>2. The water smells foul</strong></h2><p>Harmful algal blooms may emit foul-smelling gasses that have been compared to rotten eggs, septic tanks, and gasoline, according to a <a href="https://mywaterquality.ca.gov/habs/what/visualguide_fs.pdf">California water quality guide</a>.</p><p>The human nose is especially sensitive to hydrogen sulfide, a naturally occurring gas that's released during decomposition. Air quality testing completed during <a href="https://www.floridahealth.gov/environmental-health/aquatic-toxins/harmful-algae-blooms/index.html">harmful algal bloom events in Florida</a> showed low levels of the gas that were not hazardous to human health, despite the offensive smell.</p><p>Algal blooms may also be associated with a fishy smell, as dense mats of algae can suffocate creatures living beneath the surface. In a guide to preventing algae-associated illness, the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/habs/general.html">Centers for Disease Control and Prevention</a> warned swimmers to avoid the water if dead fish or other animals have washed ashore.</p><h2><strong>3. There are pipes draining into the water</strong></h2><p>Funky-smelling water can also be attributed to human or animal waste that may be washed into swimming areas or deposited via sewage pipes.</p><p>Stomach bugs like <a href="https://www.insider.com/grand-canyon-norovirus-outbreak-campers-vomiting-with-diarrhea-2022-7">norovirus</a> and <a href="https://www.insider.com/microplastics-carry-stomach-viruses-in-fresh-water-for-days-study-2022-6">rotavirus</a> typically come out one of two ends when people get sick with diarrhea and/or vomiting. Known as <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/food-science/enteric-viruses">enteric viruses</a>, they are shed in human stool and can spread via contaminated water.</p><p>Ideally, sewage is directed to a wastewater treatment plant to remove any pollutants before it's released into the environment. However, viruses and bacteria have <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2905569/#:~:text=Enteric%20viruses%20in%20wastewater%20treatment,matter%20%5B66%2C67%5D.">been detected</a> in water that passes official sanitation standards.</p><p>Heavy rainfall increases the risk that sewage spills over before it is properly treated, or that farm animal manure ends up in bodies of water by runoff, according to the <a href="https://www.epa.gov/beaches/learn-what-affects-human-health-beach">Environmental Protection Agency</a>.</p><h2><strong>4. Signs indicate that the swim area is closed</strong></h2><p>When in doubt, the CDC recommends heeding warnings put out by local health departments. If a sign indicates that a swimming area is closed, it's likely due to high levels of germs or toxins that make it unsafe.</p><p>For instance, the Brazos River Authority in Texas recently issued a <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/brain-eating-amoeba-texas-naegleria-fowleri-warning-1715599">warning to be aware of brain-eating amoebas</a> that may be present in freshwater as the temperature rises. <a href="https://www.insider.com/rise-of-brain-eating-amoeba-naegleria-fowleri-in-us-waters-2020-7">Infections with Naegleria fowleri</a> are historically rare but have become more common in recent years, so it's more important than ever to take note of water quality warnings.</p>

4 signs that water is not safe for swimming, whether it's due to toxic algae or human waste

<ul class="summary-list"><li>"<keyword id="11111204" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="what-lies-below">What Lies Below</keyword>" has been a top-ten trending <keyword id="6356021" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="movie">movie</keyword> since it came to <keyword id="128682" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Netflix">Netflix</keyword> in early April.</li><li>The erotic-thriller aspects make it an enjoyable enough watch, purely for the suspense.</li><li>But the muddled sci-fi elements - and bizarre, rushed ending - make the movie an overall let-down.</li></ul><p><em><strong>Warning: This <keyword id="45374" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Review">review</keyword> contains major spoilers for "What Lies Below."</strong></em></p><p>Braden R. Duemmler's psychosexual aquatic <keyword id="6358680" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Horror">horror</keyword> film, "What Lies Below," is a slow burn, but not the kind that actually promises the reward for hanging in there at the end, and that might be its biggest flaw. </p><p>While "American Beauty" breakout star <a href="https://www.insider.com/celebrities-who-became-moms-after-40">Mena Suvari</a> and newcomer Ema Horvath deliver convincing performances as the mother and daughter duo in the film's opening sequence, it's not enough to sustain the utter strangeness that ensues. </p><p>It all begins when a cheerful Michelle (Suvari) picks up teenage daughter Liberty (Horvath) - err, "babygirl" - from archaeology camp. They head to the family lake house in the Adirondacks where, much to Liberty's dismay, Michelle's allegedly perfect boyfriend John (Trey Tucker) awaits their arrival. Liberty's frustration quickly evolves into awe after she witnesses his abs glistening in the sun as he dramatically emerges from his casual dip in the lake - in a speedo.</p><div type="image" title="What Lies Below" height="2285" width="4063" msid="82105075" hostid="261"></div><p>"I know. I'm riding him constantly," Michelle quips in response to her daughter's gawking, an immediate, jarring indicator of the dynamic we're about to see play out. </p><p>Liberty can't help but feel attracted to John's good looks and smarts - after all, he's studying freshwater creatures so that he can heroically aid their survival in saltwater conditions, which makes for an intriguing movie premise. </p><h2>What's hot: Trey Tucker as John Smith, the handsomely sculpted 'aquatic geneticist' boyfriend, and the backdrop of lust and desire his character evokes </h2><p>The psychosexual aspect of this film's genre works, spearheaded by Tucker's performance.</p><p>If you classify "What Lies Below" as purely an <a href="https://www.insider.com/netflix-sexiest-movies-watch-right-now">erotic thriller</a> and disregard the <a href="https://www.insider.com/netflix-sci-fi-shows-best-series-watch">sci-fi elements</a> that randomly appear in the story, it might just pass the test. There's plenty of illicit romance and sexual fantasizing to go around, starting with the most obvious chemistry between Michelle and John, which then matures into a forbidden <a href="https://www.insider.com/drivers-license-olivia-rodrigo-lyrics-joshua-bassett-taylor-swift-tiktok-2021-1">love triangle</a> with sinister John at the center.</p><p>Liberty is presented as a quiet, socially-awkward teenager with a nerdy passion for archaeology. Her mom, on the other hand, has fully embraced her sexuality and has no problem making that abundantly clear to Liberty, who accepts Michelle's openly hot and heavy relationship with the hesitancy and caution that would make sense for a developing 16-year-old girl. </p><p>Still, from the moment John gifts Liberty a Navajo fertility bracelet upon their first meeting, shrewdly capitalizing off of Liberty's interest in historic tokens, a slightly-weird, definitely-creepy vibe is established between them. What follows is a bizarrely sensual hand rest on Liberty's shoulder, lingering looks, and a scene in which Liberty masturbates while touching that same shoulder, only to be cut short by the deafening sounds of Michelle's shrieks as she and John have sex in the neighboring bedroom. </p><p>By this point in the movie, it comes as no surprise when Liberty tries to sneak up on the two of them engaging in such activity, undoubtedly intrigued. Meanwhile, it seems that John wants this effect, and is trying to send a message to Liberty that she's not too far off from joining her mom as the object of his desire. </p><h2>What's not: The ending </h2><div type="image" title="What Lies Below" height="2297" width="4084" msid="82105077" hostid="261"></div><p>John's freakish, seductive aura is the driving force of intrigue here, which reaches another level of extreme when Liberty catches him drinking his own sweat from his wrung out gym shirt. </p><p>In an even more disturbing scene, Liberty gets her period while the two of them are on a boat searching for lake creatures - John's idea of bonding. He then proceeds to shove a shirt down there to supposedly prevent the blood from staining her dress, only to then lick his fingers doused in Liberty's period blood. He's so turned on by this that he creeps on Liberty showering so that he can smell her soiled clothing, in an extremely menacing turn of events. </p><p>Not to mention this whole time Michelle is bed-ridden with a stomach illness that doesn't seem to overly concern John. As a viewer, I'm thinking - what's his deal? And so is Liberty, who is now fully convinced that the stranger she initially had reservations about is far more devilish than just a weird guy with a hot body.</p><p>Unfortunately for Michelle, this realization comes too late despite her daughter's fair amount of warnings. Perhaps love is truly blinding. Next thing you know, Michelle is half-conscious while submerged in a water tank in John's underground aquarium, connected to a bunch of tubes as he attempts to force her to give birth to some aquatic organism.</p><p>The ending that is crammed into the last twenty minutes hardly does much in the way of explaining these circumstances, or rather, it does so in what feels like a cheap, rushed way that lacks the meaning it could.</p><p>It turns out that John is part-monster with clawed feet, part-aquatic creature with scales on his back, and part-mystical demon with the ability to cough up a neon blob that impregnates his receiver with more of his kind - his ultimate plan for Michelle and Liberty. </p><p>Sure, we get hints of these supernatural qualities when Liberty sees John walking into the lake in the dead of night, summoned by an orange hue, and most evidently when John's body partially turns into a scaly fish specimen as he's on top of Michelle in bed at the end, another unfortunate viewing Liberty was privy to.</p><p>The conclusion is frustratingly lackluster, leaving us with the only plausible judgment that John is not fully human and performs "scientific" experiments on female bodies in an effort to perpetuate his kind, whatever that may be. </p><p>Liberty winds up being captured in a water-filled glass vessel built into the wall of the basement, where she joins an array of other trapped young girls, who are presumably dead.</p><p>Michelle, nowhere to be found, is assumed to be discarded as she's not young enough for his goal of reproducing - which explains John's fury when Liberty exposes her mom's real age. </p><h2>Bottom line: Watch it purely for the suspense, if you don't mind being disappointed at the end</h2><div type="image" title="What Lies Below" height="2337" width="4155" msid="82105080" hostid="261"></div><p>While "What Lies Below" could've worked as a spinoff in the vein of <a href="https://www.insider.com/shows-to-watch-if-you-like-you-on-netflix-2020-1#based-on-a-true-story-dirty-john-is-a-series-that-explores-what-its-like-to-find-out-your-husband-is-living-a-double-life-8">"Dirty John,"</a> it sadly missed the mark. </p><p>The character of John (whose full name is John Smith, perhaps alluding to the idea that he's just a template of a real person) is presented as an intruder in Liberty's life and an obstacle in her relationship with her mom. </p><p>His ultimate intentions underlying his ominous behavior are chalked up to a <a href="https://www.insider.com/best-spooky-korean-dramas-and-comedies-to-watch-tv-shows">supernatural</a> explanation, which is hardly the deep dive the film could've taken. </p><p>The bulk of "What Lies Below" is captivating, yes, but the what-just-happened ending makes you question whether it was worth your patience all along. </p><h2>Grade: C+</h2><p>"What Lies Below" is currently streaming on Netflix.</p>

'What Lies Below,' the latest soapy thriller confusing Netflix viewers, is a shallow mishmash of horror tropes

Lago Pe Uelas (Chile), Apr 5 (AFP) With historically low river flows and reservoirs running dry due to drought, people in central Chile have found themselves particularly vulnerable to the coronavirus pandemic.<p>Years of resource exploitation and lax legislation have allowed most reservoirs in that part of the country to run dry.</p><p>"There are now 400,000 families, nearly 1.5 million people approximately, whose supply of 50 liters of water a day depends on tankers," Rodrigo Mundaca, spokesman for the Movement for the Defense of Water, the Earth and the </p><p>Protection of the Environment, told AFP.</p><p>One of the main pieces of advice to protect people against coronavirus is to wash your hands regularly.</p><p>"Living without water is awful," said Dilma Castillo, who lives with her children on one of the hills around El Melon, a town of 22,000 close to the seaside resort of Valparaiso whose river has dried up.</p><p>"The worst thing is that there's no awareness, even among the people here. </p><p>I'm very distressed because it's humiliating to live in these conditions." </p><p>In the greater Santiago area and in Valparaiso, rainfall last year was almost 80 percent below the previous record low. In the northern region of Coquimbo it was down 90 per cent.</p><p>Water tankers serve many homes, whose inhabitants come out to fill drums.</p><p>The virus pandemic is highlighting "once more that where there is a model of the private appropriation of water ... this condition does not guarantee people's human right to water and further weakens communities," said Mundaca.</p><p>Chilean law states that water is a resource for public use, but it turned over almost the entirety of the right to exploit the resource to the private sector.</p><p>In the Penuelas lake, an hour from Santiago, much of its bed appears cracked by the sun.</p><p>"I've been coming here to fish for 20 years. At first we used to catch a lot ... now we don't catch anything," Tomas Ruiz told AFP from the banks of what was left of the lake.</p><p>Matias Asun, the director of Greenpeace-Chile, said this week that the government of President Sebastian Pinera must "guarantee that there are no second-class citizens without the basics to protect themselves from COVID-19." </p><p>"Having soap is useless if there's not enough water to wash with it," he said.Chile has reported more than 3,700 coronavirus cases and 22 deaths.</p><p>Private exploitation of water wasn't a problem in times of abundance, as was the case until recently.</p><p>But the  drought has brought a furious reaction from communities that have run out of water in a country that saw an outbreak of social unrest in October that only subsided when social distancing measures were imposed.</p><p>Around 100 residents of El Melon occupied a well managed by the Anglo-American mining company, one of many multinationals exploiting Chile's vast copper reserves.</p><p>The occupiers are demanding that the well be used to provide water to people living in the region rather than for mining activity, said Fabian Villarroel, 26, one of the activists.</p><p>Anglo-American sent a statement to AFP saying it was committed to the well-being of people living near its sites and was collaborating in the search for "solutions that allow for inhabitants in the area to rely on a permanent supply of potable water."</p><p>"The 1981 water code separates the ownership of water from the dominion of the land," said Mundaca.</p><p>In Chile, "water is bought, sold or leased." The general director of Waters, Oscar Cristi, says the water rights have been delivered to private companies, but the state controls those rights and can limit the amount of water kept in reservoirs.</p><p>However, the state has never exercised that right and if it did, it would have to compensate the private firms affected.</p><p>"The problem has to do with how those rights are distributed and what conditions are imposed," said Andrei Jouravlev, a member of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean.(AFP)</p>  RUPRUP

Chile drought causing water shortage amidst virus crisis

<ul class="summary-list"><li>China farms one-third of the world's caviar, making it the biggest producer of the luxury food in the world.</li><li>Chinese caviar producers like Kaluga Queen are flooding the global market, making the food cheaper and more accessible.</li><li>US producers are now feeling the strain, as caviar prices have dropped 58% in six years.</li><li><a href="https://www.facebook.com/BusinessInsiderToday/">View more episodes of Business Insider Today on Facebook.</a></li></ul><p><em>Following is a transcript of an episode of Business Insider Today. Watch the full episode <a href="https://www.facebook.com/BusinessInsiderToday/videos/179230076731175/">here</a>.</em></p><p>This sturgeon can produce as much as 33 pounds of eggs. And just 1 pound is worth <a href="https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3041777/how-china-came-satisfy-worlds-appetite-caviar">nearly $57,000</a>.</p><p>It's caviar - also known as "black gold."</p><p>But Chinese caviar producers are <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/somebody-call-a-sturgeon-caviar-prices-are-flatlining-11552914000?mod=mhp">flooding the market</a>, making this luxury item cheaper and more accessible in the US.</p><p><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/04/22/after-china-turned-it-into-cheap-snack-americans-hope-make-caviar-great-again/">Wholesale prices for caviar fell 58%</a> from 2012 to 2018 for US producers - and small American caviar farms are struggling to make a profit.</p><p>Even so, caviar production in China continues to skyrocket.</p><p class="source"><span>Getty Images</span></p><p class="caption">One-third of the world's caviar is made in China, with producers like Kaluga Queen leading the way.</p><p>China supplies one-third of the world's caviar, and its <a href="https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201804/12/WS5acec53fa3105cdcf6517d13.html">biggest producer</a>, Kaluga Queen, raises its sturgeon in this 221-square-mile man-made lake.</p><p>Here, a worker is feeding pellets to sturgeon - which are no ordinary fish.</p><p><strong>Xia Yongtao, Kaluga Queen deputy general manager:</strong> "It's a living fossil from the Cretaceous period, the era of dinosaurs, and like a 'living Ferrari' swimming in the water."</p><p>There are about 200,000 of these "living Ferraris" at this farm eating a diet of shrimp, peas, and vitamins. At 7 years old, they can reach <a href="https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3041777/how-china-came-satisfy-worlds-appetite-caviar">up to 13 feet long and weigh 660 pounds</a>.</p><p>And after tending to them for seven years, it's not always easy to say goodbye. </p><p><strong></strong></p><strong><p class="source"><span>Getty Images</span></p><p class="caption">US caviar producers are now feeling the strain as prices drop.</p></strong><p><strong>Qiao Yuwen, Kaluga Queen sturgeon farm worker:</strong> "When they are mature, they can give the company profit, but they have to leave us. I find it hard to part with them."</p><p>In the end, it's a business and the eggs are a delicacy, sought by many around the world.</p><p>Russia used to be the world's top producer, but <a href="https://c402277.ssl.cf1.rackcdn.com/publications/1166/files/original/global-caviar-market.pdf?1531850427">overfishing of sturgeon</a> in the Caspian Sea depleted its supply of caviar.</p><p>And other countries - including Japan, Italy, and the US - have stepped up to meet demand.</p><p>Today, China leads the charge with 54% of the world's commercial caviar farms. And no one has ramped up production quite as fast as the Chinese.</p><p>In fact, China's caviar production <a href="https://www.eumofa.eu/documents/20178/84590/The+caviar+market_EU.pdf">increased tenfold</a> from 2003 to 2016.</p><p>And Kaluga Queen has plans to get even bigger. Its deputy general manager said over the next five years, it will <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/somebody-call-a-sturgeon-caviar-prices-are-flatlining-11552914000">produce 20% to 30% more caviar</a> each year.</p><p>This increase in supply is a threat to other caviar producers, who fear the abundance will lower profits and decrease the value of their product.</p><p>But consumers have everything to gain from a lower price. And for now, caviar is still seen as a symbol of luxury.</p>            <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bonsai-tree-art-form-japan-china-so-expensive-2019-6">Why bonsai trees are so expensive</a></h3>

China is dominating the global caviar industry - and prices are plummeting because it's flooding the market

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Joe Raedle/Getty Images</span></p><p class="caption">A Lake Worth lifeguard wearing a protective mask walks along a deserted beach after Palm Beach County officials announced that all county beaches would closed due to red tide affecting coastal areas in Lake Worth, Florida. The beaches reopened as of Friday.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul class="summary-list"><li>The red tide, which consists of dangerous algae blooms, has been harming wildlife in the Gulf of Mexico for the past several months.</li><li>It has now been reported near Miami, leading officials to close some beaches and test the water.</li><li>Public beaches in Miami-Dade County reopened Friday, though the mayor said county and state agencies will continue to monitor the water.</li><li>On Thursday, Florida Gov. Rick Scott announced $3 million in aid to counties dealing with the red tide on the east coast.</li></ul><p>After plaguing the Gulf of Mexico for the past several months, a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/red-tide-in-florida-toxic-algae-bloom-2018-8">red tide</a> of dangerous algae blooms <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/r-toxic-red-tide-algae-spotted-in-waters-near-miami-2018-10">has been spotted</a> in waters near Miami.</p><p>In addition to killing many kinds of marine life, the red tide can lead to respiratory issues among people, especially those who have asthma. Upcoming shellfish and fishing seasons, such as those for stone crab and sailfish, remain at risk as well.</p><p>Water samples in Miami Beach and Crandon Park have had red tide algae in the "very low to low range," <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/04/us/red-tide-florida-east-atlantic-coast-trnd/index.html">CNN reported</a>. Fish kills have been reported in St. Lucie County, according to CNN, and respiratory irritation from the algae has been reported in St. Lucie and Palm Beach counties.</p><p>On Thursday, Florida Gov. Rick Scott <a href="https://www.flgov.com/2018/10/04/gov-scott-dep-to-provide-3-million-for-red-tide-on-floridas-east-coast/">announced</a> $3 million in support to Miami-Dade, Palm Beach, Broward, Martin, and St. Lucie counties to help with the red tide issue.</p><p>The governor <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/14/us/florida-red-tide/index.html">previously declared</a> a state of emergency in several counties on Florida's western coast because of the red tide. There, the bloom <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/22/us/red-tide-fishkill-costs-trnd/index.html">washed up</a> more than 2,000 tons of dead fish as of August, incurring cleanup costs of more than $8 million.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Chris O'Meara/AP</span></p><p class="caption">In this August 6, 2018 photo, a dead Snook is shown along the water's edge in Bradenton Beach, Florida. From Naples in Southwest Florida, about 135 miles north, beach communities along the Gulf coast have been plagued with red tide. Normally crystal clear water is murky, and the smell of dead fish permeates the air.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Carlos Gimenez, the mayor of Miami-Dade County, announced public beaches would reopen Friday <a href="http://www.miamidade.gov/mayor/library/memos-and-reports/2018/10/10.04.18-Beaches-North-of-Haulover-Inlet-Closed.pdf">after some were closed</a> "in an abundance of caution." The mayor reached his decision after speaking with state agencies that are already tackling the red tide on Florida's western coast. County and state agencies will still pay close attention to the water at public beaches.</p><p><span>"Swimming is safe for most people. In fact, beaches on the west coast of Florida, which have been plagued by red tide in recent months, remain open," <a href="https://www.miamidade.gov/releases/2018-10-04-redtide-beach-reopen.asp">Gimenez said in a statement</a>. "The County will be placing signs on the beaches to warn residents and visitors about the potential health effects of red tide. All beachgoers are advised to heed warnings at public beaches."</span><span></span></p><p>Beaches in Palm Beach County <a href="http://discover.pbcgov.org/Lists/Newsroom/NewsDispForm.aspx?ID=1723&amp;RootFolder=%2FLists%2FNewsroom&amp;Source=http%3A%2F%2Fdiscover%2Epbcgov%2Eorg%2FPages%2Fdefault%2Easpx">have also reopened</a>, though officials are still testing water samples. The beaches are flying two flags - one red and one purple - to signal "<span>hazardous conditions and presence of dangerous marine life."</span></p><p>According to a Palm Beach County statement, some fish kills have already been removed, and Parks &amp; Recreation staff are spending Friday removing additional dead fish.</p><p>National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration oceanographer Richard Stumpf told CNN that he expects strong currents to make the ride tide bloom in Miami go away in the next few weeks.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nikon-small-world-winning-footage-microscopic-world-around-us-2018-9">Award-winning footage of the microscopic world around us</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

A toxic 'red tide' algae bloom has spread to Miami

Travel means different things to different people. A short flight followed by a taxi transfer to a stylish resort with an inviting pool satisfies many people’s needs. But for those with time to spare and incurable wanderlust, there are plenty of exotic, hard-to-reach destinations that involve a lot more plan­ning than does a long weekend in Phuket.<br /><br />Mobile phone signals aren’t guaranteed in the following places but travel bragging rights definitely are. These destinations even come with their own superlatives.<br /><br />Even in a list of desolate destinations, <span class="generic-article__body article-details-type--strong content--strong c1">Pitcairn Island</span> wins by some distance. Best known as the 18th century hiding place of mutineers from the British ship HMS Bounty, no inhabited island is further from a mainland. The British Overseas Territory is barely more accessible today than it was in 1790.<br /><br />Anyone planning to visit from Hong Kong would need to fly to <keyword id="4741" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Tokyo">Tokyo</keyword> for a connection to Papeete, in Tahiti, from where there are two four-hour flights a week to Mangareva, in the Gambier Islands. It’s then a 32-hour trip to Pitcairn aboard a supply boat that departs only every three months. A few years ago, officials launched a campaign to encourage people to join the isolated community. Only one person applied.<br /><br /><br /><br />The world’s coldest permanently settled area, <span class="generic-article__body article-details-type--strong content--strong">Oymyakon</span> shivers in the Siberian permafrost a two-day drive across the Russian <keyword id="101920" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Tundra">tundra</keyword> from the nearest airport. Winter in the gold mining town is so frigid that drivers leave their car engines running all day to keep them from seizing up.<br /><br />Students are expected to attend classes unless the mercury falls below minus 52 degrees Celsius (-61.6 degrees Fahrenheit) and newly arrived visitors are reminded that saliva freezes in open mouths, glasses stick to faces and batteries last only a few minutes.<br /><br />Few crops survive in temperatures that can plummet to a bone-chilling minus 70 degrees and locals make do with reindeer meat, raw flesh shaved from frozen fish and ice cubes of horse blood with macaroni.<br /><br />Based on a year-round average temperature of 34.5 degrees Celsius (94.1 degrees Fahrenheit), the <span class="generic-article__body article-details-type--strong content--strong c1">Danakil Depression</span> is the hottest place on Earth. The inhospitable desert in northern <keyword id="61936" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ethiopia">Ethiopia</keyword> is also one of the lowest points on the planet, at 125 metres below sea level.<br /><br />Visitors need to tread carefully – the surreal landscape is littered with sulphur springs, geysers, acidic pools, huge salt pans, volcanoes and multicoloured mineral lakes. Amazingly, there is human activity at the “gateway to hell”. More than 700 officially registered salt miners toil in the furnace-like conditions for about US$7 per day.<br /><br />Located in the Bay of Bengal, more than 1,300km (807 miles) off the east coast of India, the <span class="generic-article__body article-details-type--strong content--strong">Andaman Islands</span> are the peaks of a submerged <keyword id="6439698" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="20" keywordseo="mountain">mountain</keyword> range. The tropical archipelago boasts pristine beaches, coral reefs and an abundance of wildlife.<br /><br />Of the 572 islands, only about 30 are inhabited, one of which is regarded as the most difficult place to set foot on as it’s home to the world’s most isolated tribe. North Sentinel Island gained notoriety last year when an American tourist was killed by bow and arrow-wielding Sentinelese warriors, having ignored warnings from fisherman not to go ashore.<br /><br />An out-of-the-way settlement in a hard-to-reach country, <span class="generic-article__body article-details-type--strong content--strong c1">Ittoqqortoormiit</span> is the remotest inhabited community in the western hemisphere. Weekly flights to this distant corner of Greenland require an onward helicopter transfer to the village, although for a month or two in summer, cruise ships are able to negotiate the ice­berg-infested waters.<br /><br />The 450 inhabitants rely on fishing and hunting (including an annual quota of 35 polar bears) for survival and let off steam by dog sledding and snowmobile camping trips along the banks of Scoresby Sund. The world’s longest fjord serves as a gateway to Northeast Greenland National Park, the world’s largest.<br /><br /><br />The luxury resorts of the Maldives are easy enough to reach, usually with a sea­plane or speedboat transfer after a long-haul flight. For something more quirky, book a flight to <span class="generic-article__body article-details-type--strong content--strong">Gan</span>.<br /><br />From 1941 to 1976, the southernmost island in the archipelago served as a British Navy and <keyword id="113964" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Royal-Air-Force">Royal Air Force</keyword> base. Much of the military infrastructure remains, including the airfield, parade ground, a mildewing art deco cinema and rows of low-rise garrison buildings. The British also built a causeway linking Gan to three neighbouring islands – the resulting 18km (11-mile) road is the longest in the Maldives.<br /><br />The beguiling beauty of <span class="generic-article__body article-details-type--strong content--strong">Wadi Rum</span> feels older than time. For centuries only nomadic Bedouins were able to survive in the inhospitable desert, situated in the far south of Jordan, the safest country in the Middle East. Then along came charismatic British officer T.E. Lawrence (of Arabia), who led an Arab revolt against the Ottoman Empire from Wadi Rum during the first world war.<br /><br />His description of the other­worldly desert formations and empty landscape as “vast, echoing and God-like” is as accurate today as it was a century ago.<br /><br /><br /><br />Gan, in the Maldives. Photo: Tim Pile<br /><br />The most remote inhabited archipelago in the world, volcanic <span class="generic-article__body article-details-type--strong content--strong"><keyword id="1046045" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Tristan-da-Cunha">Tristan da Cunha</keyword></span> lies 2,432km (1,511 miles) west of Cape Town. Another British Overseas Territory, the main island is home to 246 residents with nine different surnames. About 400km (249 miles) south and unin­habit­ed except for six weather station personnel, <span class="generic-article__body article-details-type--strong content--strong c1">Gough Island</span> is possib­ly the world’s least accessible world heritage site.<br /><br />Appropriately enough, it shares the Unesco designation with <span class="generic-article__body article-details-type--strong content--strong">Inaccessible Island</span>, 30km (19 miles) southwest of Tristan. The only way of reaching this far-flung South Atlantic bolt-hole is by ship from Cape Town – a seven-day sailing that operates nine times a year.<br /><br />More than six million tourists visited Grand Canyon National Park in 2018 but hidden away in the craggy sandstone formations lies the only village inside the canyon. <span class="generic-article__body article-details-type--strong content--strong c1">Supai</span> is the capital of the <keyword id="8232283" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Havasupai">Havasupai</keyword> Indian Reservation and the “people of the blue-green water” inhabit what has been described as the most remote community in the lower 48 states.<br /><br />Despite being just 13km (8 miles) from the nearest road, the only way to reach the settlement and stunning turquoise waterfalls is by helicopter, mule or on foot.<br /><br />Located 480km (298 miles) north of the Arctic Circle, <span class="generic-article__body article-details-type--strong content--strong">Utqiagvik</span>, <keyword id="20636" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Alaska">Alaska</keyword>, is the northernmost town in the United States. When the sun sets in mid-November, it doesn’t rise again for 65 days. There are no roads in or out, so the Iñupiaq Eskimo settlement is accessible only by plane from Anchorage, or barge during the brief summer months. Locals still hunt and fish, but that’s partly because supermarket prices are among the highest in the world.<br />

12 of the most remote travel destinations on Earth, each with its own superlative

<p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>Stroll through any supermarket spice aisle, and the dizzying array of salt can be anxiety-provoking.<p>You've got pink crystalline Himalayan salt, flaky and gritty sea salt, white and fine table salt - the list goes on.</p><p>But despite the abundant variety, all salt is pretty much the same.</p><p><strong>So why are there so many different kinds?</strong></p><p>All salt contains two essential elements for life - sodium and chlorine - but with varying levels of some minerals.</p><p>The real distinction between the 'types' of salt arises from how the salt is processed and where it comes from.</p><h2>From the sea</h2><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><p>Manufacturers cull sea salt directly from evaporated ocean water and salt lakes, where machines and human hands then clean and refine it. Sea salt retains its grittiness and rainbow of colors because it's minimally processed or not processed at all, giving it a coarse crunch and delicate, flaky bite, which some chefs prefer. <a href="http://www.maldonsalt.co.uk/Products-Maldon-Sea-Salt-Flakes.html">Maldon sea salt</a> is a particular favorite for its soft yet flaky finish.</p><p>The different colors of sea salt come from the <a href="http://sodiumbreakup.heart.org/sodium-411/sea-salt-vs-table-salt/">trace levels of minerals</a> like magnesium, potassium, and calcium. The darker the sea salt, the higher the concentration of minerals and impurities. This even includes heavy metal concentrations <a href="http://www.spexcertiprep.com/knowledge-base/files/AppNote_GourmetSalts.pdf">from ocean pollution</a>.</p><h2>From Pakistan</h2><p>Himalayan pink salt - which is mined from the Khewra Salt Mine in Pakistan, the second largest salt mine in the world - gets its pink color from bits of iron oxide, or rust. It also contains a small amount of potassium, according to this <a href="http://authoritynutrition.com/different-types-of-salt/">chart from Authority Nutrition</a>:</p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table full"><div><div class="image"></div><p></p></div></div><h2>From the deep</h2><p>Table salt and kosher salt manufacturers, on the other hand, mine salt from ancient, deep, dried up seabeds and salt deposits that were either <a href="http://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/edible-innovations/salt4.htm">buried or pushed up thousands of years ago</a> by tectonic activity. Machines blast into the floors of mines to either crush and pull the salt out in rock form, or dissolve it with water and then pump out the salty solution to be dried and refined later.</p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><p>Unlike the process with sea salt, processors often add anti-clumping agents and iodine to table salt. Because it is more handled and refined, people generally think of it as the boring, inferior cousin to the colorful, flaky stuff. But for those same reasons bakers love the perfect consistency of the individual grains.</p><p>Kosher salt is almost exactly the same as table salt except for a few key differences. While they are both mined from seabeds and salt deposits, kosher salt's individual grains are coarse, asymmetric, and slightly larger than table salts'. That's because it's left to dry naturally after it's mined. It also generally doesn't have any anti-clumping agents or iodine additives, making it the purer cousin of table salt.</p><p>And despite its confusing name, kosher salt is <a href="http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2013/01/difference-between-kosher-salt-and-regular-salt/">not actually kosher</a>. Rather, it's used in the koshering <em>process. </em>To remove "impurities" from meat, people&#xa0;slather the rough salt onto the outside of a cut to pull blood from surface tissues. The big grains absorb a lot of blood and can be easily washed away after the process without leaving the meat too salty.</p><h2>Which one is the best?</h2><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><p>Health nuts have latched onto the idea that sea salt is the healthiest of the bunch because it's not fiddled with as much, but that's just wrong.</p><p>According to <a href="http://sodiumbreakup.heart.org/sodium-411/sea-salt-vs-table-salt/">The American Heart Association</a> (AHA), there aren't any real health benefits to choosing sea salt over table salt - and it could actually negatively impact your health to not eat table salt.</p><p>"Sea salt also generally contains less iodine than table salt," Rachel K. Johnson, an AHA spokeswoman and researcher at the University of Vermont, <a href="http://sodiumbreakup.heart.org/sodium-411/sea-salt-vs-table-salt/">said in an article on the AHA website</a>. "Iodine has been added to table salt since the 1920s to prevent the iodine-deficiency disease goiter."</p><p>Table salt is our <a href="http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002421.htm">main food source</a> of iodine. If you don't have enough, your thyroid could balloon and cause a <a href="http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/goiter/basics/definition/con-20021266">goiter</a>, or it could become <a href="http://www.endocrineweb.com/conditions/thyroid/hypothyroidism-too-little-thyroid-hormone">underactive</a> and cause fatigue, weakness, and weight gain.</p><p>The minerals in sea salt aren't going to make it any healthier - they are in such tiny concentrations that you can easily obtain them from other healthy foods, such as fish, green vegetables, and nuts.</p><p>"The minute amounts of trace minerals found in sea salt are easily obtained from other healthy foods," Johnson said.</p><p>So next time you're deciding between the pink, flaky stuff and the boring, white stuff, chose the whatever makes you happiest. Because in the end, it's all the same - as long as you are getting enough iodine.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/skin-organ-body-facts-function-2015-7">11 amazing facts about your skin</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="JvcWltdDqy9LjXm2D5ybYdwy-7Z2b0sv" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

Here's why there are so many different kinds of salt

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Skye Gould/Business Insider</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Pluto is hiding a very big secret some 3 billion miles away from Earth: a vast ocean of liquid water.</p><p>If you could suck all of the liquid from below the dwarf planet's icy shell, it might amount to a sphere up to 780 miles wide, or about 75% of all of Earth's liquid water reservoir, according to data shared with Business Insider. (And Pluto is one of the solar system's smaller <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/earth-water-ice-volume-versus-planets-moons-2016-11">ocean worlds</a>.)</p><p>Researchers announced their <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/pluto-subsurface-ocean-2016-11">discovery of Pluto's presumable ocean</a> in two Nov. 16 studies in the journal Nature, both of which used data from the July 2015 flyby of NASA's <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/pluto-north-pole-nasa-picture-2016-2">New Horizons</a> spacecraft. Now <a href="http://nature.com/articles/doi:10.1038/nature20586">a Dec. 1 Nature study</a> further backs up that idea.</p><p>Two questions on many researchers' minds, however, are what's in the water - and could it support alien life?</p><p><a href="https://science.jpl.nasa.gov/people/Vance/">Steven Vance</a>, an astrobiologist and geophysicist at NASA JPL, previously told us Pluto's ocean might contain "alcohols (methanol, ethanol), hydrocarbons (methane, ethane), and more complex molecules made from [carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen, and oxygen] that are so abundant on Pluto."</p><p>Such chemicals could act like an antifreeze, making Pluto's frigid, sub-freezing waters more slushy than liquid. The compounds might also form the chemical basis for life and consumable energy.</p><p>But Bill McKinnon, one of the authors of the latest study in Nature, thinks it's also laced with a noxious chemical found in bottles of window cleaner.</p><p>"New Horizons has detected ammonia as a compound on Pluto's big moon, Charon, and on one of Pluto's small moons. So it's almost certainly inside Pluto," McKinnon said in <a href="https://source.wustl.edu/2016/12/life-plutos-ocean/">a Washington University in St. Louis press release</a>. "What I think is down there in the ocean is rather noxious, very cold, salty and very ammonia-rich - almost a syrup."</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://news.ucsc.edu/2016/11/pluto-ocean.html">Pam Engebretson/UCSC</a></span></p><p class="caption">A cutaway illustration of Pluto. A global, liquid water ocean (dark blue) likely exists beneath the dwarf planet's icy shell (light blue).</p></div><p></p></div></div>Earth is proof that life is crafty and can eek out an existence in rough environments. Bacteria might even exist <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn26907-subglacial-lake-vostok-cracked-for-a-second-time/">miles below Antarctic ice</a> in permanently dark lakes of glacial water.</p><p>So could <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/silicon-carbide-bacteria-chemistry-2016-12">strange forms of life</a> also exist in Pluto's global ocean?</p><p>"It's no place for germs, much less fish or squid, or any life as we know it," he said in the release. "But as with the methane seas on Titan - Saturn's main moon - it raises the question of whether some truly novel life forms could exist in these exotic, cold liquids."</p><p>McKinnon continued:</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">"Life can tolerate a lot of stuff: It can tolerate a lot of salt, extreme cold, extreme heat, etc. But I don't think it can tolerate the amount of ammonia Pluto needs to prevent its ocean from freezing - ammonia is a superb antifreeze. Not that ammonia is all bad. On Earth, microorganisms in the soil fix nitrogen to ammonia, which is important for making DNA and proteins and such.</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">"If you're going to talk about life in an ocean that's completely covered with an ice shell, it seems most likely that the best you could hope for is some extremely primitive kind of organism. It might even be pre-cellular, like we think the earliest life on Earth was."</p><p>Still, <a href="https://science.jpl.nasa.gov/people/Hand/">Kevin Hand</a>, a planetary scientist at NASA JPL who wasn't involved in the research, said nitrogen-containing ammonia and other chemicals make Pluto "interesting in the context of habitability."</p><p>"Nitrogen is a critical element for life as we know it and Pluto's putative ocean could be a source of both liquid water and nitrogen," Hand said. "When searching for life beyond Earth we have long 'followed the water', but we also need to 'follow the carbon' and 'follow the nitrogen' - Pluto may combine all three."</p><p>Hand wouldn't go so far as to say the dwarf planet could support life, but it might raise the chances of finding it elsewhere in the solar system or the Milky Way.</p><h2>Why scientists are pretty sure Pluto has a big ocean</h2><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://www.jamestuttlekeane.com/">James Tuttle Keane; Shutterstock; Dave Mosher/Business Insider</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>The first-ever close-up images of Pluto from New Horizons revealed a 325,000-square-mile, heart-shaped basin of nitrogen ice, called Sputnik Planitia, that was littered with cracks and fissures.</p><p>Computer analysis of the feature and Pluto's orbit suggested something was off: Given the way Pluto interacted with its moon Charon, there should be a lot more material located at Sputnik Planitia.</p><p>"It's a big, elliptical hole in the ground, so the extra weight must be hiding somewhere beneath the surface. And an ocean is a natural way to get that," said <a href="http://www.es.ucsc.edu/~fnimmo/">Francis Nimmo</a>, a planetary scientist at University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC), in a <a href="https://news.ucsc.edu/2016/11/pluto-ocean.html">UCSC press release</a>.</p><p>Back in November 2015, scientists announced their belief that Sputnik Planitia was created by a <a href="http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2015DPS....4720006S">giant impact of some kind</a>, which blasted away huge chunks of Pluto's water-ice crust.</p><p>"[W]e are almost certainly talking a [comet] strike out there, rather than a (rocky) asteroid," Bob Pappalardo, a planetary scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory who wasn't involved in the new research, previously told Business Insider in an email.</p><p>The new studies add to this idea, noting the catastrophe must have happened within the past 4 billion years and that the impact site was originally more than 4 miles deep.</p><p>The giant scar has since sprung back and partly filled in with dense and heavy nitrogen ice, they found. Researchers also figured out with computer models that Pluto's internal tides with Charon can't be explained if the world was solid all the way through.</p><p>"We tried to think of other ways to get a positive gravity anomaly, and none of them look as likely as a subsurface ocean," Nimmo said in the release.</p><p>Vance, who's working on NASA's mission to Europa - <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/europa-water-jet-hubble-telescope-photos-2016-9">another ocean world</a>, this one orbiting Jupiter - expressed no doubt Pluto indeed has an ocean.</p><p>"A subsurface liquid ocean makes sense, given nitrogen's insulating properties," he previously told Business Insider in an email.</p><p>While scientists continue to ponder the chemistry of Pluto's new watery realm, New Horizons will <a href="http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/Mission/Where-is-New-Horizons/index.php">keep on flying</a> toward its next exotic and icy destination - <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/new-horizons-probe-mission-extended-by-nasa-2016-7">the Kuiper Belt Object 2014 MU69</a> - at a blistering pace of 32,000 mph. It should reach the 30-mile-wide object in January 2019.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-video-land-pluto-new-horizons-2016-7">NASA just released a video of what it would be like to land on Pluto, and it's breathtaking </a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="I4aWJyNDE6Ql6dUpISmqZYj7SdBK68k0" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

Pluto is hiding a gigantic liquid ocean you would never, ever want to swim in

<p>If you and your significant other are having a hard time being, well, "coupley," it may have something to do with where you live. According to the experts at <a href="http://www.rent.com/">Rent.com</a>, some cities cater more toward couples than others.</p>
<p>With data from Onboard Informatics, Rent.com put together a list of the 15 best cities for couples to live in.</p>
<p>To create this list, Rent.com looked at cities with populations of at least 75,000 where over one quarter of all households are rental dwellings. Other criteria include crime rate, divorce rate, school systems, dining, entertainment, nearby cities, and recreation spaces.</p>
<p>Here are the 15 best cities for couples: </p>
<h3>15. Torrance, California</h3>
<p></p>
<h3>14. Farmington Hills, Michigan</h3>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>With college town Ann Arbor a quick drive away and the median rental rate of a one-bedroom apartment at a mere $900, Farmington Hills is a great place for couples. Out of a population of 79,808, 55% of adults are married.</p>
<h3>13. Newport Beach, California</h3>
<p></p>
<h3>12. Columbia, Maryland</h3>
<p></p>
<h3>11. Woodbridge, New Jersey</h3>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>Right outside of New York City, Woodbridge has a population of 101,842 with 53% of its adult population married. Woodbridge is ideal for couples looking to start a family because of the strong public school system and over 400 amusement options.</p>
<h3>10. Bellevue, Washington</h3>
<p></p>
<h3>9. San Mateo, California</h3>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>San Mateo has a population of 99,643 with 50% of its adult population married. Right near San Francisco and Silicon Valley, this sustainable city offers over 800 shops and restaurants as well as its own Central Park, which features a romantic Japanese tea garden. San Mateo has a population of 99,643 people. Half of the adult population is married.</p>
<h3>8. Irvine, CA</h3>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>Irvine has a population of 216,417 with 49% of its adult population married. Who wouldn't want to live in a city whose mission is to create a safe, vibrant, and aesthetically pleasing environment? As an added bonus, it's often the site used to film Hollywood movies.</p>
<h3>7. Troy, Michigan</h3>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>Troy has a population of 81,060, and 61% of its adult population is married. A Detroit suburb, Troy attracts couples because of its excellent public services and safety, as well as its exceptional school systems.</p>
<h3>6. Sunnyvale, California</h3>
<p></p>
<h3>5. Arlington Heights, Illinois</h3>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>This Chicago suburb is full of entertainment options including the Arlington Racetrack, the Metropolis Performing Arts Centre, and the Mitsuwa Marketplace. Arlington Heights has a population of 75,358 people. Sixty percent of the adult population is married.</p>
<h3>4. Fremont, California</h3>
<p></p>
<h3>3. Edison, New Jersey</h3>
<p></p>
<h3>2. Staten Island, New York</h3>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>Staten Island is just a short ferry ride away from everything New York City has to offer, with the distance still allowing couples to experience the best parts of suburban life. With a population of 478,653, 51% of the adult population on Staten Island is married.</p>
<h3>1. Newton, Massachusetts</h3>
<p></p>

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