Sanction has two nearly opposite meanings: to sanction can be to approve of something, but it can also mean to punish, or speak harshly to. Likewise, a sanction can be a punishment or approval. Very confusingââthe person who invented this word should be publicly sanctioned! See if you can guess the meaning of sanction in the following contexts.
Artist's rendering of concept for the Bering Strait bridge. The Bering Strait was last crossed by humans 20,000 years ago during the ice age, when ice formed a bridge between North America and Asia. Today, 47 miles and some of the harshest ocean and arctic conditions separate the two continents. However, there are many who believe there would be great economical, sociological, and political value in connecting the two land masses by bridge or tunnel.
Bridge to the New World. How and when humans first came to the Americas has long been a topic of intense debate. Theories to explain the colonization of the New Worldâthe last great habitable landmass to be occupied by humansâfocus on the Bering land bridge, or Beringia, which emerged between Siberia and Alaska during the last ice age.