Dead Sea

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200 Naked People Weren't at Dead Sea for a Swim
200 Naked People Weren't
at Dead Sea for a Swim
in case you missed it

200 Naked People Weren't at Dead Sea for a Swim

Painted and nude, they were part of US artist Spencer Tunick's latest installation on climate change

(Newser) - It's not uncommon to see people in their swim trunks along the shores of the Dead Sea. What is uncommon is hundreds of naked people in white body paint congregating there, but the hordes that gathered over the weekend weren't there to take a dip in the famous...

18 Dead After School Bus Swept Away Near Dead Sea

Most were middle school children

(Newser) - A terrifying flash flood in Jordan killed at least 18 people Thursday, most of them middle school children who were on a school bus that was swept away. Authorities say the death toll, which is expected to rise, also includes members of families who were picnicking near the Zara Maeen...

Scroll So Charred It Looks Like Charcoal Finally Read

1.5K-year-old scroll sat unreadable since being found in 1970

(Newser) - When a 1,500-year-old scroll was found in the ashes of an ancient synagogue on the shores of the Dead Sea just south of Jerusalem in 1970, it was so charred it resembled a piece of charcoal and was impossible to read or preserve. But now, thanks to the latest...

Thousands of Sinkholes Open at Edge of Dead Sea
Thousands of Sinkholes
Open at Edge of Dead Sea
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Thousands of Sinkholes Open at Edge of Dead Sea

They've been a problem since the '80s, and they're getting worse

(Newser) - You'll find shells on the shores of many bodies of water; on the banks of the Dead Sea, you'll find sinkholes, and more than 3,000 of them at that. Their existence isn't new— ABC News reports the first one opened up three decades ago, and a...

7 Places You've Got to See Before They're Gone

Climate change threatens these natural wonders

(Newser) - Thanks to climate change, some of the planet's greatest natural wonders are in danger, Time notes. Megan Gibson lists 10 that you shouldn't miss before they disappear:
  1. Great Barrier Reef, Australia: It could be gone within a century as ocean temperatures climb and the reef suffers from pollution.
...

5 Big Lakes That Are Disappearing

Blame shifting climate, drought: Smithsonian

(Newser) - Climate change, sinkholes, human water use—the reasons are many, but the result is the same: Lakes across the world have shrunk or disappeared completely, and in the Smithsonian , Sarah Zielinski tells their stories. Among them:
  • It's called the Dead Sea, but it's technically a lake, and it'
...

Dead Sea to Be Saved ... by Red Sea?

But Red-Dead plan has environmentalists worried

(Newser) - Israel, Jordan, and the Palestinian Authority have put aside their differences in an effort to keep the Dead Sea from going belly-up. The famously salty sea is dropping by more than 3 feet a year as the River Jordan is sucked almost dry by agriculture, and the new water-sharing pact...

Most Extreme Locations in the World
Most Extreme
Locations in the World

Most Extreme Locations in the World

Including lowest, hottest, and deepest

(Newser) - Need some bragging rights on your next vacation? The Telegraph rounds up the most extreme places on the planet, including:

Dead Sea Dried Up 120K Years Ago

And it's in danger of happening again

(Newser) - Scientists have discovered that the Dead Sea pretty much vanished 120,000 years ago when the earth was as warm, or slightly warmer, than it is today, reports the BBC . It's in danger of doing the same today, this time helped along by populated areas taking the water that...

Dead Sea Shrinking, Flooding ... at the Same Time

While water dries up in the North basin, the South overflows

(Newser) - The Dead Sea is dying, goes the conventional wisdom: The water level of the fabled salty lake is dropping nearly 4 feet a year. Less well known: Part of the lake is actually overflowing, threatening one of Israel's key tourism destinations. The Dead Sea is divided into a northern...

Dead Sea's Trouble Unites Israel, Palestinians

They're working with Jordanians on bid to save it

(Newser) - You know the Dead Sea is in bad shape when Israel, Jordan, and the Palestinians start working together to try and save it. For the past few decades, the Dead Sea has been drying up, its shoreline retreating a little more every year, with massive sinkholes opening up where the...

Cool and Weird Places to Swim
 Cool and Weird Places to Swim 
travel

Cool and Weird Places to Swim

(Newser) - If you love swimming but tire of the ordinary and the chlorine-scented, consider these "unusual or cool places" uncovered by WebUrbanist :
  • The Dead Sea: Lie back and read a good book in the world's saltiest body of water, which will likely keep you afloat while delivering "an
...

Ancient Text Casts Doubt on Resurrection

In tablet, scholar sees risen messiah as pre-Jesus theme

(Newser) - A new interpretation of a tablet written in 1st century BC questions the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Times of London reports. One biblical scholar says the text conveys the story of an angel telling a dying Jew, killed by Romans 4 years before Christ's birth, that he...

Ancient Israeli Tunnel Found
Ancient Israeli Tunnel Found

Ancient Israeli Tunnel Found

Israeli archaeologists uncover tunnel Jews used to escape ancient Romans

(Newser) - While searching for the ancient main road of Jerusalem, Israeli archaeologists stumbled upon a 2,000-year-old tunnel that residents used to escape Roman invaders destroying the Second Temple. The tunnel was originally used to drain rain water and prevent flooding, and its discovery is doubly significant, the AP reports, because...

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