BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — Technology has reached a point where a satellite can read the items on a menu, or a single conversation can be heard over the roar of a stadium. Despite the overwhelming ways to explore the world, Dr. Albert Lin continues to search for entire cities that have gone missing.
His latest quests can be seen through the six-part National Geographic series “Lost Cities Revealed with Albert Lin” when it launches on the streaming services of Hulu and Disney+ on Nov. 23. His team uses cutting edge technology to strip back layers of time to explore historical mysteries in some of the most remote environments on earth including the jungles in Mexico, deserts in Sudan, mountains in Peru, the cliffs in Scotland, underwater in Israel and mountain caves in Oman.
Lin has been exploring the world for years and even he is a little shocked that there are still worlds to be found.
“Every time we have made a discovery, I keep wondering how it is we can keep on revealing things that archeologists have been working on for decades,” Lin says. “But then pairing ourselves with them we are able to see the entire world as if no time had passed at all.
“The look in the eyes of the archeologists we have been working with has been deeply meaningful because you can see all the revelations.”
Lin takes delight in his finds and the work of others. The National Geographic Explorer, award-winning scientist, technologist and adventurer has shared his explorations through numerous programs including “Buried Secrets of the Bible with Albert Lin,” “Lost Treasure of the Maya,” “The Greatest Tomb on Earth: Secrets of Ancient Chine” and “Explorer.”
His innovations and passion for science have led to requested briefings from the Pentagon and multiple tech startups, He is also an adviser to the Harvard Business School and gets requests by both National Geographic and the U.S. Department of State to represent science and innovation to foreign nations through global speaking tours.
Lin is driven by the concept that each city or civilization he finds offers answers to the present-day world. Those places rose and then fell either through natural or man-made disasters. Each lesson learned from those worlds – Lin points out – adds to the knowledge the world needs to function today at its highest level.
Despite traveling the world as a speaker and consultant, Lin lives with the realization that there are places on the planet that have been and continue to be difficult for him to go as an explorer. Lin has almost died multiple times when exploring dangerous areas.
The hurdles can be anything from dangerous conditions to political unrest. When those hurdles arise, he just goes around or over them. Lin was in Sudan filming only months before the coup broke out there.
“As we were leaving the capital, we were getting flak bombed. It was all sorts of stuff you don’t imagine being part of your daily life if you are making a film about archeology,” Lin says. “But then the adventure took us all the way down following the Nile River into the heart of Sudan where we found the ancient King of the Kushites.
“Using radar, we were able to make discoveries of their capital city that was lost in the sands.”
Whether his explorations have taken him to safe or dangerous locations, Lin has made each trip dealing with a prosthetic leg. The fact he lost his limb that was crushed by a boulder has not slowed his passion for discovery. In many ways it has made him even more determined.
He gets as much enjoyment from people talking about the information he has revealed through his programs as he does talking to those inspired by how he deals with being an amputee.
Lin says there is nothing that can prepare a person for what it will be like to lose a limb.
“Everything was filled with doubt and wonder about what it was going to be like,” Lin says. “Some people ask me why I keep on pushing. I keep on pushing because these shows are deeply meaningful to myself and to the people who make them.
“But, also, hopefully, to the world.”
Lin’s not worried there will come a time when technology will reach the point where every secret of the planet has been revealed. He does know that this current period of exploration is historical.
“I think we will look back at this period in time in a hundred years and think ‘wow, that was a great revolution in discovery’,” Lin says.
And a lot of those discoveries will be because of the hard work by Lin and his team as revealed in his latest streaming series.
