Author: Ed Hatchet

Humans aren’t the only species to suffer from mental maladies. Although schizophrenia appears to be unique to mankind (perhaps as a social construction), non-human animals exhibit plenty of other psychiatric conditions. And why shouldn’t they? They all suffer to some extent from the consequences of human activity, and many face genocide daily. But what you…

Robin Hood is known the world over as one of England’s best-loved heroes. His legend has been adapted for the screen, both big and small, at least once in every decade (and often multiple times) since the silent era. Yet most people know relatively little about the actual story and historical context, and what they…

For most web users, Google isn’t so much a ‘website’ as the gateway to the internet itself. So let’s get it out of the way: 40,000 search queries per second, 3.5 billion searches per day, and 1.2 trillion searches per year. The most popular searches tend to be for websites on this list, representing some…

0. You shouldn’t call them “gypsies” If you read the title of this list without raising an eyebrow, a political correctness fairy just died—and that’s not necessarily a good thing. For instance, try replacing the word “gypsies” with pretty much any other common racial slur and see if it still looks okay. Yeah… not so…

Highwaymen lived fast and (usually) died young. But they weren’t just any old bandits. While not all of them gave to the poor, they only ever stole from the rich and thus tended to see their crimes (as a lot of the public did too) as essentially morally righteous—or at least no worse than their…

Many of us have grown accustomed to buffoons in positions of power, but historically the jester was a job title. Plucked out of obscurity for making people laugh (whether they actually intended to or not), they held a special place in royal courts and were given “comic dispensation” to say whatever they wished—even, or especially,…

Most of us are probably familiar with Dr. Strangelove, the Terminator series, and (spoiler alert) Planet of the Apes. But as nuclear war movies go, not one of them is genuinely disturbing. Dr. Strangelove, for all its razor-sharp political satire, is still just a comedy, and Terminator and Planet of the Apes are both science…

Italian surgeon Sergio Canavero made headlines recently for claiming he has the ability, right now, to transplant a live human head onto a corpse and successfully reanimate both. Of course, experts dismiss him as a quack (giving a TED talk doesn’t necessarily make you reliable), but few seriously doubt that what he says is theoretically…

Founded in 1611 by Pope Paul V, the Vatican Secret Archives are an ultra-secure repository for the Church’s oldest, most valuable documents. Access has always been limited; even today, only Vatican officials and qualified academics are allowed inside, and only then with a letter of recommendation. And since browsing isn’t permitted, they also need to…

On the one hand, extending life to the point of practical immortality (longevity escape velocity, or LEV) is an absurdly bad idea, the epitome of human hubris, fraught with all manner of social, economic, and philosophical problems—many of which we probably can’t foresee. On the other hand, if aging is a disease like any other…

Paranoia is more or less mainstream these days, and not without justification. Thankfully, though, a great many fears remain baseless. Paranoid delusions like “someone has stolen my face,” or “everyone knows what I’m doing” are for the most part demonstrably false. They exist at the margins of clinical psychology, affecting only a small handful of…

It’s easier than ever to become a celebrity nowadays (as clichéd as that is to point out). You don’t even need to exist. Amid a new profusion of virtual influencers, CGI it-girls, holographic pop stars, and AI personalities, we’re seeing a brand new wave of digital stardom coalescing before our eyes. Still, despite being fake,…

When Christopher Columbus arrived at Hispaniola (the island now split down the middle between Haiti and the Dominican Republic), he could hardly believe his eyes. With its extraordinary lushness and biodiversity, mighty rivers flowing with gold, and abundance of honey and spices, it was the embodiment of Heaven on Earth, Paradise, the Garden of Eden—especially…

During their heyday (roughly from the 16th to 19th centuries), highwaymen were considered a special type of criminal, known for their good manners, noble bearing, and, in some cases at least, their scrupulous moral values. Some of the best known operated in Britain, France, and other European countries, as well as their overseas territories. And,…

Temples, churches, mosques, shrines, synagogues, and so on are meant to protect us from evil, or at least serve as temporary refuges. Even the demonic gargoyles and grotesques on Gothic Christian cathedrals, as well as their cross-cultural counterparts, are only supposed to remind us of the forces of darkness—never to invite them inside. And that…

One of the most immediately surprising facts about fungi may be how to pronounce the word: fun-jai, not fun-guy. But the fun(gi) doesn’t stop there. From fungal intelligence to saving the world, fungi are full of surprises. 10. They’re the Most Populous Kingdom on the Planet We don’t know how many species (of any kind,…

Once upon a time the creatures on this list were more or less common knowledge. Throughout the British Isles, they (or their variants) were feared or revered by adults and children alike. And while some on this list aren’t exclusive to England, they’re all squarely enshrined in its folklore. Here are 10 you might not…

Secret police forces have existed since time immemorial, from the Frumentarii of Ancient Rome to the mass digital surveillance of today. And while they’re more commonly associated with some of the most nefarious dictatorships on the planet, these unaccountable, state-funded heavies with a license to snoop have become increasingly and unnervingly banal—perhaps even cynically expected—all…

Jinn are basically the bogeymen of the Muslim world, haunting the Middle East, Asia, and parts of Africa today just as they have done for centuries. The term actually derives from an Arabic root meaning “to conceal,” since these are beings that for the most part are said to elude human perception. It may also…

For the first time since Roswell, coverage of UFOs has entered serious, mainstream news—featuring even on the front page of the New York Times in December 2017. And while that story was more about tax dollars than extraterrestrials themselves, it illuminated some of the otherworldly beliefs (and perhaps even knowledge) that exist at high levels…

Comets and asteroids come and go, but few make as much of a stir as ‘Oumuamua. Toward the end of last year, its virtually unprecedented appearance from interstellar space made urgent headlines around the world. And, in various ways, it left an indelible footprint. While numerous mysteries remain about this curious galactic traveller, astronomers managed…

Born Joseph Carey Merrick on August 5, 1862, the Elephant Man is far better known by his freak name. His life was brief and tragic, marred by loss, rejection, and an ever worsening disfigurement. Needless to say, there are dozens of sad facts about the man and his life to choose from, but here are…

There are many dubious claims about what might lie hidden in the Vatican Secret Archives – from alien remains and time travel devices to prophecies of impending Apocalypse – all of which position the Holy See as an implausibly powerful agent in the history and fate of mankind. But a handful of historical documents made…

While Europeans were playing with rocks, the Chinese were discussing philosophy. Long before the rest of the world, ancient China mastered papermaking, printing, navigation, and the complex administrative challenge of governing such a vast territory. Arguably, the Middle Kingdom has epitomized order and stability for millennia. So it doesn’t immediately spring to mind as a…