Windy City

can plan on sub zero winters every January. In February, and Iran, where temperatures can reach up to one degrees fahrenheit, high winds are a given. These winds, which can gust as high as seventy miles an hour or more, kick up sand and dust, resulting in some pretty devastating sandstorms. When that happens, day turns tonight as the sand sweeps through towns, knocking over trees, taking out power lines, and

swallowing cars or even people. They're a deadly nuisance, but also a fact of life, and it's been that way for thousands of years. But if you look at the top of an old wall in the small village of nash Defan, you'll see how the Iranian people have learned to live with these dust ups and how they've used them to drive innovation. The town's name is appropriate to

nash de Fan translates roughly as storms sting. The winds that blow there can be powerful and damaging, but nash Defan has found a way to harness them into something more constructive. The people there built sixty five foot tall vertical windmills that look more like revolving doors than an energy source, and there's a reason for their unique design. The windmills were constructed on a vertical access, unlike the kinds of windmills were used to seeing in America, ones

with a large fan spinning at the head of its hour. Instead, long planks were arranged side by side and fastened to the post like boat paddles standing up, and then arranged around a single tall column. When the wind blows, the paddles catch the air and turn the central post. This does two things. First, the array of windmills slows the

wind down, throttling its speed through a bottleneck. The village on the other side is spared from the worst of any storms passing through, saving them from the usual devastation. And second, grindstones beneath the columns turn as well, grinding grain into flour. And these devices that use power derived only from the wind are impressive. They possess no extra motors or turbines, functioning only on what nature provides. But it doesn't look like Iran's deep dive into alternative energy

will last much longer. No, they won't be switching to natural gas or fossil fuels. It's just that there's only one man who maintains the windmills, and no one has for to follow in his footsteps when he's gone. Because of that, out of the hundreds that used to stand there, only a handful are still around today. It's hard for just one man to keep them all operating after all, especially since they're made of wood, clay, and straw. Oh

and they're also over a thousand years old. Yes, these vertical access windmills, a design used in state of the art wind turbines coming out of research companies today, got their starts in ancient Persia around five a d. They still work just as they did back then too. It's just a shame that they'll probably disappear in a few years unless someone volunteers to take over their maintenance. It's not clear what will happen to the village when they

eventually fall apart. Perhaps they'll build new versions in their place, ones made of metal and plastic that can withstand higher wind speeds and generate power for the village. But it won't be the same that any of these artifacts still existed, all as a testament to their construction and the ingenuity of the people who built them. After all, the old cliche has never been more true. They sure don't make them like they used to. Don't shoot the messenger. It's

a common saying with a simple meaning. Don't blame the person bearing the bad news for simply doing their job. Unfortunately, that's exactly what happened to two American scientists working in Peru back in Eno. No, they weren't shot, don't worry. They just wanted someone to listen to their advice. They were working in the an Cash region of Peru on the western edge of the country. Within that area as a town called Young Guy nestled in among the mountains.

Although small, the town boasts a population of over ten thousand people and it holds a place in history as the site of a major battle during the War of Confederation in eighteen thirty nine. Also, thanks to an American archaeologist named Thomas Lynch, were aware of evidence from ten thousand years ago that Young Guy was one of the original locations where American agriculture began. But the town's history hides a darkness beneath the surface, one that had gone

unspoken for eight years before the unthinkable happened. David Burnet's and Charles Sawyer were American geologists studying the nearby mountains there. Specifically, they were focused on hores Garan, the highest peak in Peru, which towered over Young Guy from less than ten miles away. While they were there, they noticed something concerning about the mountain, specifically one section of it. If the vertical slab on the north side ever collapsed, it would crush the town

beneath it. So the scientists took their findings to the local newspaper, which published their report it. Now, you would think that might have sparked some kind of investigation or even an evacuation. The number of potential casualties was unthinkable. Somebody had to listen, except nobody did. They never got the chance. The Peruvian government got wind of the geologist's reports and ordered them to print a retraction. What they'd

proposed was impossible. It would cause mass panic and chaotic riots, and if the two men wouldn't listen, they'd be arrested. So rather than face jail time, Burns and Sawyer fled the country, never to speak of their findings to anyone again, and that was it. For years, the town of Young Guy went on about its business without fear. Maybe those scientists had just been wrong. After all, Harress Groan was an enormous mountain peak that had been there for eons.

It wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. And then, in May of nineteen seventy, eight, years after publishing their predictions, an earthquake occurred around three o'clock in the afternoon. It started off the coast of Peru and devastated the entire and Cash region, including the town of Young Guy. Roads collapsed, buildings were reduced to rubble, and all communications were destroyed. But perhaps worst of all was what happened to the

northern wall of Horrescuran. That vertical slab the geologist had warned everyone about did fall. The resulting avalanche sent more than fifty million cubic meters of glacial ice, rock and snow down the mountain, an unstoppable del uge that buried young guy. Over twenty thousand souls were lost that day. Most of the bodies were never recovered. The government declared the town a national cemetery and prohibited workers from excavating

in the area. We may never know what might have happened if the government had actually listened, or how many lives might have been spared if the town had been evacuated earlier rather than a mass grave. The demise of the city have just been an interesting footnote to one of the worst natural disasters to ever strike the region, but it sadly turned out to be much more than that, due to the inaction and denial from the people at

the top who could have helped the most. Instead, it will go down as perhaps the greatest preventable disaster and history, predicted by two men who just wanted to help. I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was created by me Aaron Manky in partnership with how

Stuff Works. I make another award winning show called Lore which is a podcast, book series, and television show and you can learn all about it over at the world of Lore dot com. And until next time, stay curious.