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Happy Saturday! Did you know that there’s a mushroom in Oregon that covers 2,385 acres and is considered the largest living organism on Earth? Dive into today’s edition for more fascinating content!

Environment

Man Made Mountain

From the jagged mountain peak, the world below—cars, people, and houses—shrinks into miniature versions of itself, the sounds of everyday life silenced by the altitude. Scrubby vegetation clings to cracks in the rock, basking in the sunlight and swaying gently in the breeze.

Though the mountain blends into the landscape for those living nearby, it isn’t a natural formation. It’s entirely man-made—a colossal creation shaped not by geological forces over millennia, but by the rapid pace of industrial concrete production. Across the globe, artificial mountains have emerged, born from manufacturing waste, piled construction debris, mining operations, or even deliberate efforts to reshape the horizon with massive new features. In the United States, most artificial mountains arose as byproducts of the booming cement and steel industries, peaking between the late 1800s and the mid-20th century. Cement, the key component of concrete, is made by heating limestone and clay into clinker, which is ground with gypsum to create cement powder. While cement has long been produced in the U.S., production surged in the 1920s, leaving behind vast mountains in industrial regions. One striking example is Brown’s Dump in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, which towered over 200 feet high and spanned 130 city blocks.
Other artificial mountains formed from slag, a byproduct of steel production. As molten rock was separated from iron ore, slag was discarded in waste piles that cooled and solidified into concrete-like formations. Additionally, mining operations contributed to these massive heaps of waste material.

By the 1980s, the creation of new concrete mountains slowed as the steel industry faced competition, new technologies, and declining demand. But what to do with the remnants of this industrial past? Concrete producers have long found ways to reuse leftover material, says Baraff. Crushed concrete can serve as road bed substrate, components for new concrete, and even fish tank gravel. However, recycling concrete is expensive, and some municipalities hesitate to reuse old concrete due to the testing required for state projects. Despite the costs, many communities have found ways to profit from repurposing these artificial mountains. For instance, part of Brown’s Dump in Pennsylvania was quarried for roads and bridges, while another section was crushed and reused to build a shopping mall on the site in 1979. Other regions have creatively transformed slag-covered land. Indiana’s Bairstow Mountain was converted into a golf course and marshland, while Pittsburgh’s slag pile became a luxury housing development known as Somerset at Frick Park. Slag piles also have economic potential. In Johnstown, Pennsylvania, a company has made a business out of extracting ferromanganese from slag, a steel-hardening alloy that fetches hundreds of dollars per ton. One recycler even likened the business to “having a license to print money.” To minimize waste, manufacturers now aim to better estimate material needs or invest in processes that break down mixed concrete for reuse. Still, some projects aim to deliberately create new artificial mountains.

A few years ago, European architects proposed building gigantic artificial mountains to boost tourism in the flat regions of Germany and the Netherlands. Their bold designs featured towering, fantasy-like mountains with ski resorts, luxury hotels, and even grazing goats. The plan envisioned constructing the mountains block by block, then carving them into rugged shapes. In a more practical endeavor, researchers from the U.S. National Center for Atmospheric Research received a $400,000 grant in 2016 to explore building an artificial mountain in the United Arab Emirates. The goal: to bring more rainfall to Dubai’s arid landscape. Mountains help generate rain by pushing warm, moist air upward, causing it to cool and form clouds. Coupled with the UAE’s experiments in cloud-seeding, the proposed mountain could enhance rainfall in the growing desert city.

Culture

67,000 Miles Road Trip

A British couple, Chris and Marianne Fisher, quit their jobs with the National Health Service and sold everything to travel the world in a campervan. Starting their journey in January 2020 in a 20-year-old Fiat Ducato van, they traveled 67,000 miles through 29 countries, building a large online following on their YouTube channel, Tread The Globe.

The couple, both in their mid-50s, sold all their belongings and rented out their home in Telford, England, to fund the trip. After leaving Britain, they reached Turkey just as COVID-19 lockdowns hit, so they became Turkish residents for 18 months before continuing their journey. They shipped their van to South Carolina and drove across the U.S., eventually making it to Canada and Alaska, where they drove the Dempster Highway to Canada’s northernmost road. Following stints across the U.S. and Mexico, they shipped their van to Japan, where they stayed for three months before heading to South Korea. Visa issues blocked them from entering China, so they went through Malaysia, Thailand, India, and Pakistan. Though they initially planned to enter Saudi Arabia, restrictions on right-hand-drive vehicles redirected them to South Africa, where they toured southern Africa before finally heading home.

Over the four and a half years of travel, they logged more than 137,000 miles in their van. The couple managed on a budget of £27 a day, capturing their travels for an audience of 180,000 subscribers and over 28 million YouTube views. Back in Telford, they were welcomed by a crowd of supporters.
Reflecting on their journey, Marianne said, "If we do nothing else in our life, we've done something fantastic." Now, they’re already planning their next adventure.

US News

Job Growth Soars, Crime Drops

New reports from the FBI and Bureau of Labor Statistics show continued declines in crime and strong job growth in the U.S.

In its final annual report covering over 94% of the U.S. population, the FBI reported that violent crime dropped nationwide last year, with murders down nearly 12% from 2022 to 2023, marking the largest decrease in decades. The number of reported rapes fell over 9%, and property crime dropped an estimated 2.4%. This data included full-year contributions from all major cities with populations over a million, though agencies like the Los Angeles Police Department did not participate. Chicago's Police Department reported a 12.9% drop in homicides for 2023 compared to 2022. A new preliminary report shows further declines, with violent crime down 10.3% from January to June 2024, including a 22.7% drop in murders and a 13.1% decrease in property crime.

The job market also beat expectations with the addition of 254,000 new jobs in September, most of them in food services, healthcare, government, social assistance, and construction. Average hourly earnings rose 4% over the past year, well above inflation, which is now back to pre-pandemic levels at 2.5%. The Dow Jones surged on this positive economic news, closing at a record high of 42,352.

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Mind Stretchers

⁉️ 

The shape of my form will waver and bend By the things I’m destroying and those I will rend. My color changes from bright red to blue, The power I’m using will dictate my hue.

What am I?

Answers to yesterday’s Mind Stretchers:
A thousand colored folds stretch toward the sky,
Atop a tender strand, Rising from the land, 'Til killed by maiden's hand.
Perhaps, as a token of love.
Perhaps, to say goodbye. What is it?

• A flower! 💐 no one got the correct answer for this, better luck next time everyone!

Be the first to send us the correct answer for today’s mind stretcher for a shout-out with the answer tomorrow. Just send us the answer and your name to [email protected] or reply to the email.

If you have any uplifting stories and experience you might want to share, send those over to [email protected] for the chance to be featured.