What did you learn this week? Let us know in the comments or at education@ngs.org.
This week, we learned …
… there is a secret library in Syria—and users dodge bullets to reach it.
Learn more about the civil war in Syria here.

Photograph by W. Robert Moore, National Geographic
… students who take AP classes don’t actually get better grades.
Still interested in AP? Try material from our AP Human Geography collection.

Chart by Ali Zifan, courtesy Wikimedia. CC BY-SA 3.0
… a mother-daughter team designed India’s amazing, 3-D pedestrian crossings.
… drought is shutting down the Amazon’s carbon sink.

Map by National Geographic magazine
… archaeologists sniffed out 340-year-old cheese at a Swedish shipwreck, and 2,000-year-old “bottom wipers” at a latrine on the Silk Road.
Learn more about the Silk Road, without “bottom wipers.”

Photograph by Bates Littlehales, National Geographic
… how to identify plagiarism.

Chart courtesy Poynter.org
… as smoking declines in the West, the tobacco industry is heading to Africa.

Photograph by Chris Johns, National Geographic
… American STEM students are too WEIRD, and they might benefit from those old-fashioned college lectures after all.
Use our STEM resources to foster 21st-century skills.

Photograph by the Agriculture and Stock Department (Australia)
… roach milk may be the next superfood.
Learn how to build your own superfood RoboRoach army here!
Cigarettes tobacco all are injurous to health still they are sold.. People know their hazards ready well still they consume it.. It’s like committing suicide.. These substance act like slow poison for body.. Hope anyone who is victim will Un the value of his life for his own and for family.. Government should take strong steps to bann all these poisons….
Was that really cheese!!! Maybe not… They must be bacterias… Kronan sank before 340 years .. How can a cheese survive so long?? Hope I’ll get the answer soon..
Forest of amazonia are helping us a lot by absorbing carbon dioxide.. We also have our duties towards forests… We live because of trees so it’s our responsibility to take care of them at least for the sake of future generations.. Save trees save lives….
I’m very proud to hear about the effort of saumya to save life of people in India.. After all I’m an Indian.. I hope her work will spread in almost in every city in India and people will not loose their lives..
I can imagine how are the conditions in Syria because of civil war.. Blood, dead bodies everywhere.. Anas is doing really a great effort by founding a library.. It’s the best way to make people understandind, educating and civilized.. Insha Allah there will be peace soon..