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If you like The Phantom of the Opera, then you will probably enjoy this version. I thought the performance was excellent.

Earth Science

NASA’s Latest Discovery

NASA's Mars rover, Curiosity, recently drove over a boulder that crumbled, revealing yellow sulfur crystals. Pure sulfur rocks have never been seen on Mars before. The conditions for forming such crystals don’t match the location the rover was exploring.

Since October 2023, Curiosity has been in a region rich in sulfates, salts containing sulfur that form as water evaporates. Previous detections were of mixed sulfur minerals, but this rock was pure sulfur. "This forms under conditions not previously associated with this location," a NASA spokesperson said. "Curiosity found a lot of it—an entire field of bright rocks like the one it crushed."

The discovery was made in Gediz Vallis channel, a groove on Mount Sharp, which Curiosity has been ascending since 2014. It's unclear what connection, if any, the elemental sulfur has to other sulfur minerals in the area.

Curiosity's project scientist, Ashwin Vasavada of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, compared finding pure sulfur to “finding an oasis in the desert.” “It shouldn’t be there, so now we have to explain it. Discovering strange and unexpected things is what makes planetary exploration so exciting,” said Vasavada.

Vasavada and his team have seen bright white calcium sulfate, or gypsum, in Martian surface cracks, which are hard-water deposits left by ancient groundwater. Sulfur, though common in the universe and on Earth, is usually found in mixed forms.

Culture

App Saves Woman After 60-Foot Mountain Fall

Hiker says he was able to save his aunt’s life because he had the what3words app on his phone.

Ed Farnworth was hiking in Switzerland with his 59-year-old Aunt Sarah when she fell 60 feet down a mountain, suffering serious injuries. They were in the woods, far from flat ground, with no landmarks to guide emergency services. Ed remembered he had the what3words app, which provides a unique three-word code to pinpoint a location. Emergency personnel knew about what3words, and the code ///crabmeat.hers.froze led them to Sarah's exact location.

“The weather was great and we were having an amazing day,” recalled Ed. “I was leading the way down the mountain when I turned and saw she was losing her balance. She was near the edge and started to fall. Her backpack threw her off balance."

Without the app, Ed would have had to leave to find help or shout for help, both of which could have worsened Sarah’s distress. “It sped up the rescue and prevented further injuries. I am super grateful for that app.”

Sarah suffered a broken arm, a gashed forehead, and severe concussion. She stayed in the hospital for over a week, going home with a neck brace and a metal plate in her arm. Despite the incident, Sarah remains passionate about hiking, and Ed stresses the importance of the what3words app for every hiker. The app divides the world into 10-foot squares, each identified by a unique three-word combination.

“People having the app is reassuring to me,” said Ed. “I’m taking a group hiking tomorrow and I’ll make sure they all have what3words.”

Over 4,800 dispatchers in the US accept what3words addresses for 911 calls. UK emergency services recommend the free app because “it saves lives.”

You can find What3Words on GooglePlay and the App Store.

Sports

Best Friends Battle 40ft Waves in Fastest Row Across the Pacific

Two best friends have become the fastest duo to row across the Pacific Ocean, battling 40-foot waves to break the previous record set by two men.

Jessica Oliver and Charlotte Harris completed the row in 37 days, 11 hours, and 43 minutes, breaking the record in the 2024 World’s Toughest Row Pacific Challenge.

The 33-year-olds set out from Monterey Bay, California for the 2,800-mile journey on June 8th. When they arrived in Hawaii on July 16th, they had beaten the existing women’s record by 9 days. This achievement comes after the pair, known as Wild Waves, set a world record in 2021 as the fastest female pair to row the Atlantic Ocean.

“It was absolutely grueling both mentally and physically – the hardest thing we have ever done,” said Jess, standing at the winner’s podium with a Hawaiian garland around her neck.

The pair took a southerly route, pursued by bitterly cold northerly winds from Canada that produced giant waves. Their boat Cosimo almost capsized. Within a week, their automatic steering system broke, forcing them to steer manually with little sleep and lots of blisters.

Team Wild Waves were neck and neck in the women’s pairs for most of the race with their nearest rivals: Liz Wardley, a three-time round-the-world sailor who holds the Atlantic race record as a solo rower, and Lena Kurbiel, her 17-year-old partner.

After four weeks, on July 12, the UK duo took the lead.

“We were constantly monitoring the competition. We’d make 15 miles of gains and then lose them in one day. It was relentless.” The most frightening episode was a near-collision with a tanker whose AIS tracking system was not turned on.

The idea to conquer the Pacific was a no-brainer for Team Wild Waves after their record-setting row in 2021 across the Atlantic. They had barely set foot on dry land when they decided that the Pacific had to be next.

Two years of tough training followed for the English university pals from Gloucestershire and Hampshire—mostly in the gym and on the North Sea, along with fundraising and securing corporate sponsorship. They raised more than $120,000 for Shelter and Women’s Aid during their Atlantic crossing and have raised $40,000 so far this year.”

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Mind Stretchers

⁉️ 

Answers to yesterday’s Mind Stretchers:
How many times does the long hand of the clock pass the short hand between midnight one day and midnight the next?

Answer: 21 times​ (or maybe 22)

Nobody got 21, but Chris Hostetler gets a shout-out for being the first to get the answer 22!

This one is a tricky of for sure. The only times the two hands intersect exactly over the hour mark is at 12:00 am, or 12:00 pm.

The best way to think about this one is that if you counted every time that the two hands were overlapping (this would include the two midnights) it would amount to 23 times. If you remove the first and last one because they only match and do not pass, then you will get the correct answer.

Here is a list I found online of when all the times are. If we are not counting the end overlaps as passing, then we would get 21. If we counted one of the ends, it would be 22. I think it could also depend on if you counted the final overlap as happening at 24:00:00, or if you counted it as 23:59:59. That would also leave you with 22.

1. time overlap occurs at 00:00:00
2. time overlap occurs at 01:05:27
3. time overlap occurs at 02:10:54
4. time overlap occurs at 03:16:21
5. time overlap occurs at 04:21:49
6. time overlap occurs at 05:27:16
7. time overlap occurs at 06:32:43
8. time overlap occurs at 07:38:10
9. time overlap occurs at 08:43:38
10. time overlap occurs at 09:49:05
11. time overlap occurs at 10:54:32
12. time overlap occurs at 12:00:00
13. time overlap occurs at 13:05:27
14. time overlap occurs at 14:10:54
15. time overlap occurs at 15:16:21
16. time overlap occurs at 16:21:49
17. time overlap occurs at 17:27:16
18. time overlap occurs at 18:32:43
19. time overlap occurs at 19:38:10
20. time overlap occurs at 20:43:38
21. time overlap occurs at 21:49:05
22. time overlap occurs at 22:54:32
23. time overlap occurs at 24:00:00

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