It was with bemused condescension that a 2018 financial news article reported on a unique challenge facing a mining company at a new site in Western Australia. According to local Martu lore, the massive dry salt bed was home to a tribe of human-eating monsters.
This didn’t dissuade Reward Minerals. For the firm operating in the dusty Outback region of Pilbara, Lake Disappointment presented a lucrative opportunity—“the next Saskatchewan” of potash mining, for what it’s worth. But for the Martu, the Aboriginal people who have lived in Pilbara for thousands of years, Kumpupirntily, as the lakebed is known, is an area to be avoided at all costs. In the sands beneath Kumpupirntily, legend goes, is where the Ngayurnangalku live.
This name, which roughly translates to “will eat me,” provides some indication of the Ngayurnangalku’s fearsome predilections. Living under the dry lake, in their own universe, the bald, fanged, fearsome Ngayurnangalku emerge only to snatch anyone foolish enough to pass overhead with their long, curving claws. The lakebed itself doesn’t have a much better reputation. “A stark, flat and unforgiving expanse of blinding salt-lake surrounded by sand hills,” writes Australia National University researcher John Carty of Kumpupirntily. “Martu never set foot on the surface of the salt-lake and, when required to pass it by, can’t get away fast enough.”
On July 4, 1848, John Bidwell discovered gold in a canyon of the Feather River. The town of Bidwell’s Bar was soon in business. As one of the first mining camps in California, life was difficult. Settlers relied on a ferry to transport people and supplies across the river. A bridge was erected but was…
Welcome to Horrorscope, a monthly column keeping horror nerds and initiates up to date on all the genre content coming to and leaving from your favorite streaming services. Here’s your guide to horror streaming in July 2020. As you may have noticed, it’s going to be a weird summer. To put it mildly. The sun…
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The Mandalorian Explained is our ongoing series that keeps an eye on Lucasfilm’s saga about the Galaxy’s most dangerous single dad. In this entry, we look at what went down in The Mandalorian Chapter 9 — the first episode of Season 2 — and explain how its shocker ending compares to the original premiere reveal….
The holiday season is getting a little more queer with Happiest Season, the latest from co-writer/director Clea DuVall. Abby was stoked about the holidays. She was going to spend it with her girlfriend’s family, meeting everyone for the first time and taking that big step in the relationship. Then she was told that her girlfriend isn’t…