Deep English

Survivors

Ma Yuanjiang survived eight days trapped under the rubble of an earthquake in China. He had no food or water, so he ate paper and drank his own urine. Ma had no training in survival. He was a business executive, yet somehow, against all odds, he survived longer than almost anyone else who has ever been trapped. How could this be? Movies and books often depict survivors as tough, confident guys, who know everything. But what about in real life? Who is most likely to survive a disaster?

$28 Bottled Air For Sale

Most of us take our breathing for granted, but we aren’t all lucky enough to live in a place with clean air. In Beijing, pollution has gotten so bad that breathing the air has become dangerous. There are days when the smog is thick enough to block out the sun. On these days, schools close, and construction stops. People walk around the city wearing masks to avoid breathing in the dangerous smog, which contains harmful particles from coal power plants.

The End Of The World As We Know It

Preppers are people who believe the end of the world is coming, and you better be prepared. What exactly is a prepper preparing for? Well, the word ‘prepper’ is a catch-all term. The modern-day prepper might be preparing for a biblical end of days or an economic collapse that results in chaos. Natural disasters such as tsunamis and massive earthquakes are also common prepper fears. And, of course, a terrorist attack is also a prepper favorite.

Man Dies And Elephants Travel To His Funeral

Have you ever thought about what happens to zoo animals during times of war? Most of us don’t think about innocent animal casualties. But thankfully, one South African man – Lawrence Anthony – did. When the US military invaded Baghdad in 2003, Anthony did what most people would never be brave enough to do. He ran into a war zone instead of out of it, all because of his love for animals.

Message To The Future

In 1914, Richard Platz, a 20-year-old son of a baker, was hiking when he threw a message in a bottle into the Baltic Sea. Little did he know that it would take over a century before anyone would read his message. Earlier this year, a fisherman named Konrad Fischer pulled the beer bottle out of the ocean.

40 Years of Isolation

At some point in our lives, most of us have dreamt about leaving everything behind and escaping to an island where no one can find us. After all, sometimes, you just need a break from the world. Most of us snap out of these daydreams. But not everyone…

One World One Flag: Symbols of Our Interconnected World

The Apollo program was a series of space flights with the goal of landing a man on the moon. This was finally accomplished in 1969 during the Apollo 11 mission when Neil Armstrong stepped onto the moon’s surface. As he did so, he famously said, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” While the Apollo 11 space mission is the most well known, it was the Apollo 17 mission that brought home the most reproduced photograph of all time.

We Are All Made Of Stars

We may not like thinking about it, but we are all on a limited journey on this earth. Regardless of what you believe happens after death, you will leave a body behind. While burial beneath the ground and cremation are the most popular ways to go, some people are literally and metaphorically thinking outside the box. One company will have your remains turned into a diamond. For between $5,000 and $22,000, they will take the carbon from your ashes and compress it under high heat and pressure in a machine. After three weeks, a diamond will be created. Family members will sometimes have these diamonds turned into rings and wear them. One Swiss company churns out 800 to 900 of these human diamonds a year.