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Andrés Ruzo: Could A Boiling River From A Childhood Legend Exist?

Part 5 of the TED Radio Hour episode Hidden

About Andrés Ruzo's TED Talk

As a boy, Andrés Ruzo heard stories of a mythical boiling river. Years later, as a geoscientist, he recounts his journey deep into the Amazon to see if the river actually exists.

About Andrés Ruzo

Andrés Ruzo grew up in Nicaragua, Peru, and the United States. Spending summers on his family's farm, near a volcano in Nicaragua, inspired him to study geology. He's currently a doctoral candidate in geophysics at Southern Methodist University.

In 2011, he began investigating an old legend that eventually led him to the Shanay-timpishka, an Amazonian river "boiled with the heat of the sun." It's a sacred site where the water can reach over 95 °C (203 °F).

He is a National Geographic Explorer, TED Speaker and TED Book Author of The Boiling River.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

NPR/TED Staff