YOUR WEEKLY ESCAPE: Is this the face of Mary Magdalene?

Plus: A cosmic mystery, birth of the metric system, and the first photos of snowflakes [THE FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS]( [VIEW ONLINE]( [THE FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS]( [National Geographic]( Your Weekly Escape Extraordinary people, discoveries, and places in a time of turmoil PHOTOGRAPH BY NASA, ESA. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: JOSH LAKE [The universe seems to be expanding faster than all expectations]( New evidence deepens a mystery around the Hubble constant, one of the most important numbers in cosmology. [COSMIC MYSTERY]( SHARE [F]( [T]( AFPTV, FROESCH/CHARLIER, VISUALFORENSIC UVSQ [Is this the face of Mary Magdalene?]( Scientists have reconstructed a face based on an ancient skull—the famed Saint Maximin skull—long rumored to be the remains of one of the Catholic Church's most infamous women. [SEE THE SCIENCE]( SHARE [F]( [T]( ILLUSTRATION BY OWEN FREEMAN [Here's how we're taking evolution into our own hands]( Like other species, humans are the products of millions of years of adaptation. But a lot has happened since we evolved from knuckle-walkers—and the demands posed by new challenges have altered our genetic makeup. [SUBSCRIBER EXCLUSIVE]( SHARE [F]( [T]( BRIDGEMAN/ACI [The French Revolution not only toppled a king—it also forged the metric system]( As revolution raged in the 1790s, French scientists replaced a chaotic system of weights and measures with a unified way to calibrate and calculate. [SUBSCRIBER EXCLUSIVE]( SHARE [F]( [T]( [QUOTE] What I regret most in my life are failures of kindness. George Saunders Writer, on [The Importance of Kindness]( PHOTOGRAPH BY YONATAN SINDEL, FLASH90/REDUX [How an ancient revolt sparked the Festival of Lights]( The popularity of Hanukkah has surged in modern times. But its origins date back to the turbulent centuries following the death of Alexander the Great. [READ ON]( SHARE [F]( [T]( PHOTOGRAPH BY WILSON BENTLEY [Here are some of the very first photos of snowflakes]( In the late 1800s, a self-educated Vermont farmer named Wilson Bentley made the first successful image, or "photomicrograph," of a single snowflake. This series of images, published in 1923, highlight the beauty and mystery of snow crystals. [SEE THE PHOTOS]( SHARE [F]( [T]( PHOTOGRAPH BY NASA [Alaska islands may be part of single, massive volcano]( Preliminary analysis of a far-flung island cluster suggests that what we thought were several small, independent volcanoes might actually be a single eruptive behemoth. [LEARN MORE]( SHARE [F]( [T]( Need a distraction? [Around the world in 130 chicken-soup recipes (Atlas Obscura)]( ›› [What does history smell like? (New York Times)]( ›› [Sign up here]( ) to receive Your Weekly Escape and/or our daily newsletters—covering History, Travel, Science, Animals, and Photography news. See you next week. Blue skies, green lights! [NGM]( [NGM]( [SHOP]( [DONATE]( [SUBSCRIBE]( [TRAVEL]( [READ OUR LATEST STORIES]( [SHOP]( [DONATE]( [SUBSCRIBE]( [TRAVEL]( [FB]( [Twitter]( [IG]( Clicking on the Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and National Geographic Channel links will take you away from our National Geographic Partners site where different terms of use and privacy policy apply. This email was sent to: {EMAIL}. Please do not reply to this email as this address is not monitored. This email contains an advertisement from: National Geographic | 1145 17th Street, N.W. | Washington, D.C. 20036 You are receiving this email because you elected to receive marketing communications from National Geographic under the terms of our [Privacy Policy]( [Manage all types of email preferences]( with National Geographic Partners. [Unsubscribe]( this type of email. If you reside in the EU/European Economic Area and wish to exercise all other data subject rights, [click here.]( © 2020 National Geographic Partners, LLC, All rights reserved.