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Explore the fascinating discoveries at Easter Island that could reshape our understanding of history, and uncover the potential pitfalls of investing in Dubai's man-made islands. Join us on a journey of intrigue and revelation as we delve into the secrets of these two iconic destinations.
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00:00Welcome to Rapa Nui, better known as Easter Island.
00:03It's a tiny speck in the vast Pacific Ocean, 2,200 miles away from the coast of Chile.
00:09This island is most famous for its eerie Moai statues.
00:13This place is also home to one of the most mysterious writing systems in the world, called Ronga Ronga.
00:20We found it on 27 small wooden tablets.
00:23For years, historians have been arguing about the true history of these tablets.
00:28And now, we might have found the truth.
00:32Humans first set foot on this island in the 12th century.
00:35For many years, it was home to the Rapa Nui people.
00:38They were pretty isolated out there in the Pacific Ocean, until Europeans arrived in the 1720s.
00:44Europeans brought with them lots of troubles, leaving only a small fraction of the native population alive.
00:51Later in the 19th century, a missionary, Eugene Iroh, went to the island
00:56and discovered the wooden tablets with intricate symbols carved on them.
00:59He wrote how marvelous they are.
01:02But there are hundreds of them on the island, and that they can be found in every household.
01:07But unfortunately, not all of them survive to this day.
01:11We've only got 27 of them.
01:12Some of them were heavily weathered, burned, or otherwise damaged.
01:16And now, they're scattered all over the world in museums and private collections.
01:21Some of the language's artifacts were carted off to Tahiti and then to Europe by Europeans,
01:26leaving none behind on Easter Island itself.
01:29The four sacred tablets found their home in a congregation in Rome.
01:34They were the ones used in the recent discovery.
01:37For years, historians have been arguing whether this riding system was made up by the islanders
01:43themselves, or they borrowed it from Europeans.
01:46To find the truth, they decided to use a technique called radiocarbon dating.
01:51All organic materials, like wood, charcoal, and so on, contain a tiny amount of a radioactive
01:57form of carbon called carbon-14.
02:00When life comes to an end, things stop taking in carbon-14.
02:04And the amount they had starts to decay over time.
02:08By measuring how much carbon-14 is left in a sample, we can assume how old this sample
02:14is.
02:14This is how we learned the age of many fossils and artifacts.
02:17So, they looked at the age of some Ranga-Ranga tablets.
02:21Three of them were crafted from trees grown in the 18th or 19th century, which aligns with
02:26the arrival of Europeans.
02:28However, one of them is older than the Europeans' first visit to the island.
02:34There are two reasons to believe that Rapa Nui people created this riding system themselves.
02:40First, Ranga-Ranga works differently from European languages.
02:44Decoding it is a pretty hard task.
02:47Unlike English, this language boasts over 400 unique glyphs, none of which resemble any
02:53known riding system.
02:54There were many attempts to decipher this language, and none of them were successful so far.
02:59And second, one of the tablets is shown to be from around the 15th century, before the
03:05Europeans arrived.
03:06The problem is that radiocarbon dating can only tell us when the wood the tablet was made
03:11from was cut down, not when the writing was put on it.
03:15And since we've only got one tablet to go by, this isn't enough to be completely sure.
03:20On the other hand, why and where would they preserve cut wood for over 200 years just to grab
03:27it and write something on it one day?
03:29But anthropologists and historians say that it's possible.
03:33Scarce wood resources might have led the islanders to reuse old driftwood, which could
03:38be centuries older than the writing itself.
03:40This is known as the old wood problem in archaeology.
03:44Plus, the tablet looks very preserved.
03:47It was maintained to protect it from wood-damaging insects, humidity, and so on.
03:52That's why it survived over the centuries.
03:54Whatever is written on it, it was probably important for the Rapa Nui people.
03:59Now, all of these are guesses and clues, but scientists are cautiously optimistic.
04:04They believe that Ranga Ranga could be one of the rare instances of independent writing
04:10invention, like those of the Sumerians or the Egyptians.
04:13But we need more evidence.
04:15In the Rapa Nui language, Rogo Rogo means to recite or to declaim.
04:21Not everyone could write, only a select few.
04:24Probably only the elite of Easter Island, mostly men, knew and could read this written
04:29language.
04:31After colonization, none of them survived.
04:33So now we have to rack our brains trying to figure out what's written here.
04:38First, scholars can't agree on what type of script it is.
04:42We aren't even sure that this was their language.
04:44But even if it was, we don't know whether it's a primitive form of writing or a fully developed
04:50system.
04:50In the 1990s, a linguist, Stephen Roger Fisher, believed he might have cracked the code of
04:57Ranga Ranga's structure.
04:59His idea was that these tablets conveyed cosmogonies.
05:03Cosmogonies are stories or narratives that explain how the universe was created and how
05:08natural phenomena came to be.
05:10They often come from ancient traditions and cultures, like those found in East Polynesia.
05:15The tablets could have talked about things like how the world began, where everything
05:20came from, and how different aspects of nature, like the stars or the mountains, were formed.
05:26This would also explain why only the wise elite could write.
05:30Fisher thought that Ranga Ranga is a mix of logographic and samasiographic systems, which means that some
05:37symbols represent spoken words, while others represent ideas or concepts.
05:42But deciphering them would be very hard, because it requires extensive memory and knowing context,
05:48because the symbols are more like hints than complete expressions.
05:52However, other language experts disagreed with his ideas, saying there were problems with how
05:58he put together his theory.
05:59Unfortunately, Fisher couldn't prove this hypothesis.
06:04Maybe these are just drawings.
06:06If we look at the tablets, there are some things that look recognizable.
06:10People, animals, plants, and geometric shapes.
06:13There are some birds.
06:15One of them looks like a frigate bird, which Rapa Nui people associate with the deity Maki Maki.
06:20There are also fish, centipedes, and so on.
06:23Or at least these glyphs look like them.
06:26Could it be just art or a form of decoration?
06:29Maybe.
06:30But there are some problems.
06:31The glyphs show a high degree of complexity and structure.
06:35They also keep the same style.
06:37For example, there are several symbols that show something human-like with a raised hand.
06:42The only difference is different heads.
06:44As if it wasn't complicated enough, this unique writing style also uses a system known as reverse
06:51Boustrophodon.
06:52This means that each alternate line is flipped upside down, resembling nothing seen elsewhere.
06:58We don't know why they would turn the tablet upside down after each line.
07:02But all this shows that they had some sort of system and organization behind these symbols.
07:08Plus, it seems like they use these tablets every day for some practical purpose.
07:13But there's some hope for the future.
07:16New technology, like AI and other computer programs, might help us understand lost languages.
07:22We already started creating algorithms that could help us solve other mysteries, like the Voynich manuscript.
07:28Academics even organized the Vesuvius Challenge, a machine learning competition that, in 2023, cracked the riddle of the ancient Herculaneum
07:37scrolls.
07:38The scrolls were buried under volcanic mud after the catastrophic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.
07:45In real life, the scrolls are very fragile, so deciphering them would be a very hard task.
07:52But with digital scanning and machine learning, it's much easier.
07:56They have a rich history.
07:58They most likely belong to the personal library of an Epicurean philosopher named Philodemus.
08:03These scrolls contain very important insights into Greek philosophy and Latin literature.
08:09If we decipher more of them, we'll learn more about the rich history of the Roman Empire.
08:16Dubai is glamorous by design.
08:19In 1966, this fellow went all out to transform a sleepy fishing village into a shiny metropolis brimming with skyscrapers.
08:28It was all founded on oil money.
08:30Investors and expats started pouring into the city year by year.
08:35And now, Dubai houses indoor ski resorts, outdoor water parks, drone-controlled weather, futuristic gardens, and floating tennis courts.
08:48But is everything as bright as it seems?
08:52The city is built on shifting sands in a desert where temperatures can exceed 115 degrees Fahrenheit.
08:58Could Dubai be that catastrophic cautionary tale waiting to happen?
09:04It might be, or it might not.
09:06Let's find out.
09:09Well, one of the most questionable projects of this emirate might indeed be in danger.
09:14I'm talking about Dubai's artificial islands off the coast.
09:18Built from sand dragged up from the seabed,
09:21they're part of a super ambitious plan to create resorts and residential homes for the ultra-rich.
09:27But at the moment, most of these islands are largely abandoned, and their market collapsed.
09:34And the worst thing?
09:35Well, no one expected such an outcome.
09:38They're already sinking back into the sea.
09:42Let's take a closer look at these wonder islands.
09:45There are the three Palm Islands, Palm Jumeirah, Palm Jebel Ali, and Palm Deirah,
09:52an archipelago of 300 small islands called the World,
09:56and a final set of tiny islands designated after constellations, the Universe.
10:03The construction started in the year 2000 with the Palm Islands.
10:07The main goal was to create one more oasis within the oasis of Dubai,
10:12with more shops and more luxury goods, more resorts and hotels, more restaurants, and more beaches.
10:19The Palm Islands, for example, have mansion-like houses built in contemporary styles within gated communities.
10:27It turns out they're meant to mimic the Hollywood Hills lifestyle.
10:31At the moment, Palm Jumeirah is the most developed one out of all of them,
10:36and has functioning businesses, homes, and hotels.
10:40The other two Palm Islands are reported to be rather underdeveloped, if not desolate.
10:46As for the Universe Archipelago, it hasn't even gotten underway.
10:51But at the same time, it's supposed to be finished by 2028.
10:56The World Archipelago has been encountering one issue after another during its development.
11:01The problems were mostly related to using sand from the ocean to build the islands.
11:07Erosion from water and wind started eating away at the islands from day one.
11:11But that's not the only problem.
11:14To make matters worse, rising ocean levels are threatening to swallow them completely.
11:19Plus, economic problems that started in 2008 haven't let up yet.
11:25But let's delve into details to see how truly disastrous the whole venture is.
11:31Palm Jumeirah, the only successful set of islands so far,
11:35is literally sinking at a rate of 5 millimeters per year.
11:40It turns out that sand piled on the ocean floor isn't all that great for sustaining the weight of
11:46hundreds and thousands of tons of human-made structures.
11:49So, Dubai's islands sink, the ocean level rises, that's clear.
11:54But couldn't the engineers behind these magnificent projects predict such an outcome?
12:00Apparently not.
12:01Wave breakers surrounding the islands have a height of a mere 6.5 feet.
12:06That's well below any serious protective height.
12:09Water erosion also removes between 353,000 to 530,000 cubic feet of sand per year.
12:18And these numbers are going to grow as global warming makes weather and ocean tides more severe.
12:26We should also mention the ecological problems the construction of the islands provoked.
12:31For one thing, in the process, too many natural resources were used,
12:36which led to the decline of biodiversity and the extinction of wildlife and vegetation.
12:42The islands are extremely harmful to marine life and the ecosystem.
12:46Dubai uses loads and loads of energy and natural resources.
12:50The average water consumption in Dubai in 2019 was 145 gallons per person per day,
12:57the highest consumption rate of any country.
13:0098% of this water comes from desalinization plants, which uses a tremendous amount of fossil fuels.
13:07Plus, the extensive use of marine sand and sediment to build the islands
13:11had catastrophic consequences for the local ecosystem.
13:15During the construction, the waters became clouded with silk, stifling once-abundant sea inhabitants.
13:21For example, oyster beds have been covered with two inches of sediment.
13:27Now, let's have a closer look at one of the projects, the World Islands,
13:32and find out the deepest secrets behind them.
13:35The construction was launched in the early 2000s.
13:38Since then, the project has been surrounded by a veil of rumors,
13:43from celebrity purchases to outlandish hotel projects.
13:47For many years, the chances of completion seemed slim after the islands were left mostly abandoned
13:53following the financial crisis in 2008.
13:56One of the UAE's most ambitious projects almost turned into a ghost town.
14:01At the same time, Dubai's reputation as a luxury vacation destination and investment hub
14:08has been growing, and it had its impact on the once-abandoned World Islands.
14:13For example, Global Hotel Group and Anterra opened the doors to a 70-room resort
14:19called Anterra World Islands Dubai Resort.
14:23Don't you think it gives a new buzz of hope for this destination?
14:27So, what exactly are the World Islands?
14:30They sit around 2.5 miles off the coast of Dubai in the Persian Gulf.
14:36It's a collection of small islands replicating the world in miniature.
14:40Each island has its own name corresponding to a certain country.
14:44The archipelago was created by Dubai-based company Nahil Projects.
14:49The name is linked to many high-profile projects, including the St. Regis Dubai and the Palm.
14:56The artificial islands were built by pulling sand from the Gulf and moving it to the designated spot.
15:03Several million tons of rock were used to keep it in place.
15:06In total, there are 300 islands, and each is from 250 to 900 square feet.
15:13At this point, more than 14 billion dollars have already been spent on the construction.
15:19The developers had to deal with a lot in the process.
15:22Besides the chaos of work halting, there were also rumors that the World Islands were sinking back into the ocean.
15:31For many, the Heart of Europe project was the most convincing.
15:35Its development will see a certain number of the islands in the world transformed into the continent of Europe.
15:41It's planned to be done to such an extent that fake weather conditions with rain and snow might be created
15:47in some areas.
15:48The Heart of Europe includes the construction of several luxurious hotels, private mansions, and even floating villas.
15:56Each of these villas is designed to transport people to different European destinations, including Venice, Sweden, Monaco, and Germany.
16:05This ambitious project is still under development, and the group is looking for potential investors.
16:12But the most exciting World Islands project is probably the Antero World Islands Dubai Resort that I mentioned before.
16:20Located in the South America region of the islands, and having a great view over the main city, it opened
16:27in 2021.
16:29The resort's accommodations include suites, beach villas, and pool villas.
16:34At the moment, it's the only open resort on the entire archipelago,
16:38which gives it a sense of seclusion and privacy.
16:42Interestingly, the development and purchase opportunities remain a closely guarded secret.
16:48There was an old listing on one internet site for the entire collection,
16:52back to when the World Islands was just an intriguing project.
16:56But later, there was only one individual island left for sale.
17:01Which island it was, wasn't disclosed.
17:03But the listing advertised it as a 505,000-square-foot, undeveloped island.
17:10And the price they wanted for it was $16 million.
17:14It may seem like a hefty sum considering the problems associated with the World Islands project.
17:20But the islands may easily increase in value if the Antero Resort lives up to everyone's expectations.
17:29By the way, if you want to own a piece of the World Islands but can't find any for sale,
17:34look into private purchase opportunities within the heart of Europe.
17:38This project offers investors the opportunity to buy either a second home on one of its resort islands,
17:45including luxury mansions and villas, or an incredibly exclusive private island.
17:51Hmm, I wonder.
17:52What about grocery shopping?
17:54As far as I know, the infrastructure is lacking there.
17:58I mean, do they even have DoorDash?
18:00Or do you have to walk all the way to the nearest luxury hotel to have breakfast?
18:05On the other hand, considering the price you're paying for property there,
18:10splurging on breakfast shouldn't be your biggest concern.
18:13Don't worry, don't worry.
18:15You're dry.
18:15You're dry.
18:16You're faithful.
18:16More.
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