Science of Survival: The Devils Highway, Part I
b'Thirst is an unpredictable threat. In its early stages, it\\u2019s much like mild hunger. For centuries, hydration was as much superstition as science. But historical events at Devil\\u2019s Highway\\u2014a notoriously deadly path in the Sonoran Desert of Arizona\\u2014are proof of dehydration\\u2019s deadly risk. It was 1905 when Pablo Valencia, a gold prospector in his 40s, came stumbling into a geology camp, desperate for water. Valencia had spent the past six days wandering a 110-degree desert, where water sources can be separated by 100 miles, alone. He shouldn\\u2019t have been alive, but he was. Geologist William John McGee helped nurse Valencia back to health, bearing witness to the excruciating reality of what happens to the body while dying of thirst. In this episode, we dive into the history of a desert that claimed thousands of lives, as well as the ways this particular tale has forever altered modern understanding of the limits of dehydration.'