The universe is a deadly, dangerous place, and it’s filled with nightmarish objects that would cook our poor insignificant planet in the blink of an eye. From our vantage point here on Earth, it certainly seems like Earth is the one place where things seem relatively calm. To quote Howard Philips Lovecraft, “We live on…
Author: Eric Malikyte
History is filled with the names of inventors like Nikola Tesla, Thomas Edison, Sir Isaac Newton, and Dmitri Mendeleev. Some of these names are of interest because they’re examples of the seemingly not-so-rare event of simultaneous invention. This event is defined as an invention that is independently researched, invented, or discovered by two or more…
Human beings are natural explorers. We as a species would love nothing more than to stake our claim on every piece of land Earth has to offer (and probably every other planet in the Solar System if we had the means). But there are plenty of places where humans have tread that have since become…
Plate tectonics defines our world, forging and shaping the crust of the Earth as the continental plates smash into, grind, and subduct each other. Most of the volcanoes on our stunningly unique planet are created thanks to activity near the boundaries of these plates, though many of them do form on or near faults as…
Humans have dreamed of traveling the stars since the early days of science fiction, and while we’ve managed to set humans down on the moon, launched space stations around Earth, and countless probes have touched down on the alien worlds in our solar system, we’ve been stuck in low-Earth orbit since the end of the Apollo program. But that doesn’t mean…
The Industrial Age saw the formation of many new technologies that would change the face of Great Britain and the world. From deeper coal mines, dirty factories, to the advent of the steam engine and canals, here are 10 fascinating facts about the Industrial Age. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x06Gzw8V2BM This is an encore of one of our previous…
In 2020, Space-X’s Crew-1 dragon capsule docked with the International Space Station (or ISS), where they would conduct a series of experiments over the course of 180 days. One of the most interesting experiments (which was delivered to the ISS last December) is BioAsteroid, which seeks to test rock-eating microbes for potential biomining operations that…
The popular depiction of archaeologists covered in dust, carrying an assortment of small shovels, brushes, and various other analogue tools is basically a thing of the past. If Indiana Jones were to be re-envisioned today, he might look a lot more like a character out of a science fiction film, carrying scanning devices that can…
As established in a previous list, the Russian Empire was one of the longest-running empires in human history, and while it is often overlooked, it featured its fair share of shocking events. But something we neglected to mention is how utterly insane the Tsars of the Russian Empire were. The Russian Empire also predated the…
Weapons are rarely accidental. In 2020 alone, the US spent almost one trillion dollars on its military, a large portion of that going toward the development of newer, more efficient weapons. But even though most weapons are anything but accidental, that’s not the case for all of them. Plenty of devices originally conceived for peaceful…
Movies, television, and good old-fashioned word of mouth (sometimes in the form of misinformation) have been instrumental in muddying the waters between the average person’s understanding of famous media portrayals of ancient societies and what they were actually like. This has caused quite a few misconceptions about everything from Caesar’s last words, to whether or…
Humans have believed all kinds of strange things throughout our short time on this planet. This is, in part, because humans (and our evolutionary ancestors) love stories. We gather around campfires and invent entire mediums, industries, and technologies to aid in their telling. But on the other hand, humans have always had a deep need…
Black holes have come a long way since the days of Einstein. Where once they were just theoretical nightmare objects, now we know they’re verifiably real. Or, at the very least, we know objects that look, sound, and feel like black holes exist in the universe. We’ve learned quite a bit about the mysterious objects…
What started as a parody of literally every trope in ’80s comic books has become a juggernaut of a franchise, with no signs of stopping, even 36 years after their 1984 debut. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have been adapted into cartoons, movies, comics (so many comics), board games, video games, and probably every kind…
It was once thought that our Solar System was fairly normal. We modeled our planetary accretion disk theory around the idea that gas giants formed on the outer edges of a planetary dust cloud and rocky ones formed closer to the sun. However, exoplanetary systems have completely blown this idea out of the water, and as a…
In recent months, new research has come out suggesting that our historical love affair with Mars as a potential second home isn’t going to work out. From technological challenges related to radiation, gravity, water production, and human physiological and psychological problems that might arise due to prolonged isolation, it very much looks like Mars isn’t…
In the world of fine arts and antiques, there are plenty of grifters hoping to pass their forgeries off on museums and some who are so bold as to try to fool members of the royal family. But there are also plenty of people who are more than willing to spend bundles of cash on…
History is in no short supply of mad kings, embarrassing princes, and monarchs who just couldn’t keep their eyes from wandering. From escort chasing princes, the first-ever burning man, to the man who started the Church of England just so he could get a divorce, here are 10 bizarre royal scandals from history. 10. The…
If there is one constant throughout history, it’s that humans love to develop new and terrifying ways to murder their enemies or subjugate their own citizens. Chemical weapons are particularly terrifying, as they can be colorless, odorless, and can easily be introduced to a water or food supply with devastating results. From deadly nerve agents,…
Pop culture loves to depict the Romans as an extremely serious, organized, and warlike culture. And while this is undoubtedly true, it can’t be denied that the Romans were at times downright insane. Despite their sophistication in areas like architecture, mathematics, and government, they believed some really strange things. From psychedelic fish, sewer goddesses, gladiator…
Archaeology has uncovered many secrets from the ancient world. But the Earth has a bad habit of eroding the past, making it difficult to piece together the stories of our ancestors. In the past couple of centuries, we’ve discovered Roman artifacts in the Americas, found ancient Greek cities in what was once thought to be…
Humans have dreamed of traveling the stars since the early days of science fiction, and while we’ve managed to set humans down on the moon, launched space stations around Earth, and countless probes have touched down on the alien worlds in our solar system, we’ve been stuck in low-Earth orbit since the end of the…
The Industrial Age saw the formation of many new technologies that would change the face of Great Britain and the world. From deeper coal mines, dirty factories, to the advent of the steam engine and canals, here are 10 fascinating facts about the Industrial Age. 10. It Began in Britain It’s widely thought that the…
Along with the rush of ’80s nostalgia which has taken the United States by storm, cyberpunk as a genre seems to be more popular than ever. The genre focuses on dystopian societies ruled by corporations, and typically follows characters who are disenfranchised and find themselves at odds with their corporate overlords. For decades, the horrors…