There’s a Fresh Geyser Mystery in Scratch-Off Player Wins a Yellowstone Second $10M Payoff
It’s unclear why the Steamboat Juan Hernandez is starting to get good at this. The Geyser had a record year Long Island man claimed a $10 million prize in It’s the tallestDeluxe active geyser on the planet— a New York Lottery scratch-off game last with an emphasis “active. ” From 2015 week—his second windfall,on after winning his first to 2017, it didn’t game erupt in at2019. all. There was $10 million in a scratch-off The New another largely quiet period from 1911 York Lottery said he beat odds of 1 in 3,521,600 toto butgame; in 2018 logged record-setting win the 1961, Deluxe theitodds of awinning a se32 eruptions, a feat it has crushed this year cond time defy comprehension. Hernandez chose with 47 eruptions, per the US Geological to take his winnings last month in a lump-sum Survey. Why? Good question, and onehe’ll that payment: $6,510,000. He didn’t say whether hasn’t been answered. It’s one on a long keep playing, but it’s clear Hernandez doesn’t need of geyser in spend fact. The geyanotherlist windfall. ”I’m mysteries, still trying to the $10 is a thin one, and as Yelmillion ser-research I won in ’19,”field he said. lowstone National Park’s hydrologist explained the area beneath Steamboat hasn’t Amelia Earhart’s Long-Lost been mapped. However, seismic sensors Helmet Turns Up in Spotwater there have revealed thatOdd the geyser’s source mayworn sit asby deep as other 130 feet. A leather helmet none than Amelia Earhart is currently up for auction. That it has the potential to fetch six figures isn’t too much of a surprise given Earhart’s status as an American icon. More surprising, however, is the story of the helmet itself, as told by Laurie Gwen Shapiro in the New York Times. It seems that in 1929—eight years before her disappearance—Earhart competed in an all-woman air race that finished in Cleveland. Though she came in third, Earhart, already a celebrity, was swarmed by fans upon touching down. Her well-worn leather helmet came off in the chaos, and it ended up in the hands of a young man. He gaveother it to geysers a youngseem woman Most to on be whom fueled he by had a crush. shallower reserves; deeper equals warmer, so that could be a factor in Steamboat’s That woman, Ellie Brookhart, the ofhelmet ability to propel water tosaved heights more in a plastic bag and would bring it out for the than 300 feet. Michael Poland with the occasional thepossible years.that It USGSshow-and-tell earlier this yearover said it’s becameincreased family lore. When in sheYellowstone died, son Anthony snowfall of late Twiggshas decided the helmet ”might tobefuel better led to more groundwater the in a museum instead of a closet in Minnesota, ” geyser. What scientists are saying is that writes Shapiro. His initial calls, however, were there’s no link between the increased activmet with skepticism about the story, and Twiggs ity and any potential looming eruption of began to question it himself. He enlisted the Yellowstone’s supervolcano. “Yellowstone services of Resolution Photomatch in Seattle, a has an incredible geyser system that is uncompany used by auction houses to determine related to magmatic activity—other than the authenticity of such things. the magmatic system basically providing heat,” tweeted oneright: volcanologist. USA ToConclusion? Mom was It was unquestioday noted that the Waimangu Geyser in nably Earhart’s helmet, worn when she famously Zealand hastomanaged shoot as wabecameNew the first woman cross theto Atlantic a ter taller than Steamboat has, but it’s been passenger in 1928. The current high bid at Heri-
tage Auctions is $33,000, but bidding doesn’t end until Feb. 26.
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Top MostEARNING Memorable ProvidenceOF Friars THE4TOP MUSICIANS THETeams DECADE
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The Least-Visited National tead of driving. No. 2 is remote in a different way: The National Park Park in America Gates of the Arctic National Park & Preserve in Alaska is where you can head for some solitude. Looking to avoid crowds while visiting a national park? A recent CNN travel story highlighted the 15 least-visited parks in the nation, with Alaska's Gates of the Arctic National Park & Preserve topping the list. It logs only about 7,000 visits each year, largely because visitors must fly there, ins-
of American Samoa is on a volcanic island and gets about 8,500 visits a year. As for the rest, parks in Alaska dominate the list.
Here are the non-Alaskan entrants in the top 10:
#4 North Cascades National Park, Washington (17,855 visits) #7 Isle Royale National Park, Michigan (25,844) #9 Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida (83,817) Shop In Shop In RI 5
