The most incredible discoveries. What incredible discoveries have scientists made while studying mummies? Stomach juice can dissolve razor blades
The curse of an ancient sorcerer brought dozens of scientists to the grave
A pensioner in Podolsk near Moscow for a long time kept mummified bodies in the apartment: a 12-year-old brother and a nine-year-old sister. The woman admitted: she did not have money to take her relatives to last way. Nevertheless, the unfortunate woman was sent to a mental hospital. The police are establishing the circumstances of this wild story: why for so many years no one has missed the missing people or helped the old woman with the funeral. It is also surprising how the bodies lay unburied for so many years. Scientists have long been trying to solve the mystery of mummies. Read about incredible and scary discoveries.
View from the grave
The Capuchin catacombs in the Sicilian capital Palermo contain the remains of more than eight thousand people - mostly the local elite. The most famous part of the cemetery is the chapel of Saint Rosalia. In its center, on a marble pedestal in a glass coffin, lies a two-year-old Rosalia Lombardo. The girl died of pneumonia in 1920. The baby's grief-stricken parents asked a famous embalmer Alfredo Salafia save my daughter's body.
Baby Rosalia from Palermo: neither alive nor dead
Salafiya replaced the child's blood with a liquid composition of formaldehyde, alcohol, glycerin, antifungal salicylic acid and zinc salts. He kept the secret of the mixture a secret, which was discovered many years after his death. Baby Rosalia looked as if she were alive for decades: a gentle blush played on her cheeks, her skin was soft, her brown hair remained silky, and her eyelashes seemed about to flutter. Even the eyes remained blue. These eyes, by the way, almost drove one of the caretakers crazy: the light reflected from the cornea created the illusion that the child was watching someone. Lombardo's mummy was called the "sleeping beauty".
Only a few years ago, signs of decomposition appeared on Rosalia's body. The coffin was moved to a drier place and enclosed in a glass container filled with nitrogen.
The oldest mummy found in Europe is the Tyrolean Iceman, or Ötzi. Its age is 5300 years. September 19, 1991 remains ancient man discovered by German climbers when the ice melted at an altitude of more than three thousand meters. They extracted the artifact without using archaeological tools, and inadvertently injured their hip.
Most researchers agreed: during his lifetime, Ötzi was a priest or sorcerer. His skin is covered with tattoos, there is an amulet on his body, and prehistoric sanctuaries have been discovered near the place where the ice man was found.
Tyrolean Iceman Ötzi - the oldest embalmed human body discovered in Europe Scientists believe that Ötzi died during a clash between two communities: he was shot from behind with an arrow.
In 1998, the mummy was exhibited at the South Tyrol Museum of Archeology in Bolzano, Italy. But not everyone dared to look at Ötzi - they said that those who approached him died a bad death.
Forensic expert Rainer Henn, who spoke about the study of the Iceman at a press conference, died in a car accident. The climber who discovered Ötzi Kurt Fritz died in an avalanche. Journalist Rainer Holtz, who made a film about the Tyrolean find, died of brain cancer. Helmut Simon, looking for traces of other ancient people in the mountains, fell into a crevasse - the icy corpse was found after a two-week search in the same position as Ötzi. Dieter Wernicke, a member of the expedition to evacuate the Iceman, died of a heart attack. Passed away and Tom Loy, who examined Ötzi's belongings and recovered his DNA. Scientist from the University of Innsbruck Conrad Spindler suffered a stroke.
Think about it!
- In February 1923, the Egyptologist Howard Carter and amateur archaeologist Lord George Carnarvon discovered the tomb of the pharaoh Tutankhamun. Two days later, all of Cairo suddenly lost power. Within a year, six participants in the opening of the sarcophagus died. There are a total of 22 victims of the “curse of Tutankhamun”. Carter was the last to die, in 1939 from Hodgkin's lymphoma.
Annoyed my mother
In 2006, after the death of her husband, a resident of Essentuki Lyudmila Lysenko became seriously ill. 60-year-old son Vladimir came from St. Petersburg to care for his mother. The neighbors knew about Lyudmila Alexandrovna’s serious condition, but they heard from Vladimir that she had gone to work as a nurse in Sochi. “I’ll bring it back in the fall,” he added. However, in the fall, the granny did not appear, and vigilant neighbors reported this to the local police officer. He looked at Lysenko and looked around the apartment. One of the rooms was locked and, despite Vladimir’s protests, it had to be opened. What they saw plunged everyone into a stupor: a mummy was lying on Lyudmila Alexandrovna’s bed.
Vladimir LYSENKO gave his parent a bad experience. Frame: Youtube.com
To the police, Lysenko admitted that his mother died three months ago, but he did not want to bury the body where it would be “eaten by worms.” Vladimir placed an oilcloth under the corpse and covered the body with salt. He placed a heater nearby - under the influence of hot air, the salt evaporated the moisture, and the body mummified.
When the secret became clear, Vladimir escaped punishment - he was only obliged to return the pension to his mother, which he had received for two years instead of the deceased.
Tales of Hoffmann
1719 Near the city of Falun in Sweden, miners stumbled upon the body of a young man. None of the miners could identify the guy. Due to the fact that the vitriol soaked the skin and clothes of the young man, the corpse turned to stone.
The terrible discovery was put on public display. Seeing him, an elderly lady named Lucille gasped: it was her lover Mats Israelsson, who disappeared 42 years ago. Once he asked Lucille out on a date, but he didn’t show up. No one ever saw him again - he disappeared. Lucille married Mats' friend Roy. There were rumors that it was Roy who was involved in the disappearance of the miner: a guy in love with Lucille could simply eliminate his rival. He may have thrown Israelsson down the shaft.
Swedish miner Mats Israelsson was petrified by unhappy love In 1749, Mats’s mummy was buried, but 100 years later it was dug up and exhibited again in the museum: traces of decay barely touched the dead body. Only in 1930 did the unfortunate miner find his final rest in the cemetery in Falun.
BY THE WAY
- The legend of the tragic love of Mats and Lucille formed the basis of the short story “Falun Mines” Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann.
Knight-Adulterer
In the 17th century, a knight lived in Brandenburg, Germany Christian Friedrich von Kalbutz. Brave, but he is also a reveler and a libertine: he made 30 children on his side and did not hesitate to use the “right of the first night,” depriving poor girls of their innocence.
Maria Leppin von Kalbutz called, as usual, to his place and was ready to get down to business, when the beauty gave in. Enraged, Christian killed Mary's fiancé. But at the trial he did not confess and even assured: if he lied, after death his body would not be touched by rot.
Knight Christian Friedrich von KALBUZ lied and remained incorrupt The Rake Knight breathed his last at the age of 52. He was buried in a tomb near the church. And a hundred years later, during the renovation of the cathedral, they decided to rebury it. The coffin was opened - von Kalbutz's body did not undergo decomposition.
Scientists gave the following explanation for this case: most likely, the man withered away during his lifetime - he suffered from cancer, muscular dystrophy or tuberculosis. The exhausted body was buried in an oak coffin, which ensured hermeticity and protected it from external influences.
Half a century with a burden
Zara Abutalib from a village located in the vicinity of Casablanca in Morocco, at the age of 26 she already had three children. When the time came for the fourth to be born, the woman was sent to the maternity hospital, where her roommate died during a caesarean section. Zara was also prepared for surgery, but the frightened woman ran home. However, her contractions never started - the fetus seemed to freeze inside.
Zara ABUTALIB saw her unborn child 49 years after conception
The Moroccan woman lived to be 75 when she began to suffer from hellish stomach pains. An ultrasound showed that the long-term pregnancy was ectopic and the fetus still remains in Zara’s body. After an eight-hour operation, the woman was shown the two-kilogram mummy of the baby she had carried in her womb for almost half a century.
A phenomenon in which a fetus that has died in the uterus or abdominal cavity, petrifies, called "lithopedion". Calcification occurs if the unborn baby is too large to be absorbed into the body.
Digital only
- The Guanajuato Museum in Mexico displays 111 naturally preserved mummies.
Think about it!
- In 1972, near the settlement of Qilakitsoq in Greenland, scientists found the remains of members of an Eskimo family. The mummy of a one-year-old boy who suffered from Down syndrome is kept in the National Museum of the island. Caretakers claim that they often hear children crying, which can last all night.
Johnson's great-grandmother was treated for syphilis
During the restoration of one of the churches in Basel, Switzerland, scientists came across the mummy of a woman. The analysis showed high content in its tissues there is mercury, which was used to treat syphilis until the 19th century. It was because of the mercury that the corpse was preserved in excellent condition.
Boris JOHNSON is proud to be related to a woman who served science. Photo: © Reuters It turned out that the body belongs to Anna Katharina Bischoff. The lady was born in 1719 and died at 68 years old. But the most interesting thing: Anna Katarina turned out to be a relative of the head of the British Foreign Ministry Boris Johnson. Genetic analysis revealed that on his mother's side, Johnson is Bischoff's seventh-generation great-grandson.
So glad to hear about the late great-mum - a pioneer in the field of sexual health. “Very proud,” the British politician commented on the unexpected relationship.
Behind Last year Scientists have made some of the most amazing discoveries for all of humanity. Of course, most of them flew past the ears of that same humanity - we, unfortunately, are too busy with social networks and loans to pay attention to such trifles.
Okay, take a break for a moment, this is really important information. Something may well change our whole lives, and in the near future!
Second moon
The object called 2016 HO3 is none other than the second permanent satellite of the Earth, discovered recently. Astronomers have found that it leaves the earth's orbit every five to six hundred years, and then returns again - which is why it was only now recognized.
Immortal vertebrate
Well, we exaggerated a little here. But the Greenland shark, recently discovered by scientists, lives a disconcertingly long time indeed. The average lifespan of these rare creatures is as much as 400 years. In addition, sharks can go into suspended animation - it is possible that some of them even caught dinosaurs!
Another planet
In 2016, scientists at the California Institute of Technology calculated that it is almost certain that Planet Nine is located far beyond Pluto. Having calculated the movement of gravitational waves, astronomers also understood the size of the possible “replenishment” in the solar system. The ninth planet is about 15 times larger than the Earth, and the Sun is only some 240 trillion kilometers from it.
Stroke rehabilitation
The use of stem cells has enabled doctors and scientists at Stanford University School of Medicine in California to carry out the world's first complete rehabilitation of stroke patients. As a result of treatment, many began to walk again. This is an incredible breakthrough in the history of medicine.
Crowded Universe
Thanks to the Hubble Telescope, NASA researchers have discovered that the universe may be a much more populated place than previously thought. At least it is now reliably known that there are 10 times more galaxies in the universe than we previously thought.
Fighting paralysis
Neuroscientists at Ohio State University have developed a brain implant that allows paralyzed patients to move again. Yes, it sounds like science fiction, but the first healed person is already there. It was 24-year-old Ian Burkhart - after spending four years without moving, he got back on his feet and even took up sports.
Proxima B
Proxima B is an exoplanet orbiting our star. What's special about this? Nothing, except that it is the only one located at the ideal point for the emergence of life. Imagine: possible aliens live just five light years away from us!
Vertical landing of a rocket
Every science fiction movie shows vertical landing, but in reality it was only recently achieved. Thanks to Elon Musk's persistence, SpaceX has already completed several vertical landings.
Source of dark matter
More recently, astronomers and physicists were surprised to realize that one of the brightest galaxies milky way, Dragonfly galaxy 44, is 99% composed of dark matter. Moreover, physicists even accuse it of “attacking” other galaxies - who knows how this expansion will end.
Archeopteryx feather
Remember Jurassic Park, where dinosaur DNA was found in frozen amber? So all this may well come true in reality. Paleontologists from the China University of Geosciences discovered a well-preserved dinosaur feather at an amber market in Burma. It is 99 million years old and yes, there is already discussion about the possibility of creating a replica from existing DNA.It often happens that a scientist finds a rare artifact, and then spends decades trying to understand what it is. It seems that some things are specially created in order to modern man I racked my brains over them. Pravda.Ru offers the reader a list of the six most mysterious discoveries that have been made over the past one hundred and fifty years.
Compared to our ancestors, we live much better. Instead of small, smoky houses without sewerage, we have comfortable apartments, and we treat diseases not with bloodletting or crushed frogs, but with pills. However, in some ways the ancient people surpassed us: they left riddles for humanity that scientists still cannot solve.
Some things seem to be specially created for modern man to puzzle over them. For example, Voynich manuscript - ancient book, written about 500 years ago. Neither the author nor the language of this manuscript have yet been identified. And these are not notes from a madman - no! This is a clear structured book with specific organization and detailed illustrations.
It seems that the language in which the Voynich manuscript was written is real, but no one has ever encountered it before. There are no guesses about the history of the creation of the manuscript. Military experts, cryptographers, mathematicians, linguists - no one could even come a millimeter closer to the solution. Some say that this is a code for which you just need to find the key and everything will become clear, some say that it is a fake, written specifically for the purpose of mocking descendants, and some say that this is a message from an extraterrestrial intelligence recorded by man. contactee. However, there is another version, according to which the Voynich manuscript was written in Old English by a person who had a very vague understanding of the rules of grammar.
Antikythera Mechanism was discovered in 1902 on a sunken ancient ship near the Greek island of Antikythera. The date of its creation is considered to be approximately 100 BC. The mechanism contains bronze gears and parts not found in any other device of the time.
The purpose of the Antikythera mechanism is still not clear. Why? Firstly, it is unclear where it was made and who designed it. The first thing that comes to mind is that the mechanism was created by the Greeks, since it was found near a Greek island. However, researchers are inclined to believe that the device was made in Sicily.
On this moment It was established that it consists of 82 fragments - X-ray equipment made it possible to look inside and reveal hidden details. The most likely version is that the Antikythera mechanism is a “cross between” a calculator and an astrolabe, but no one can yet say exactly what it is.
In one of the regions of China, so remote that it is unlikely that people have ever lived there, there is a mountain with three mysterious triangular holes at the top. They are laid hundreds of ancient pipes(today rusty) of unknown origin. Some of them lead deep into the mountain, some lead to a nearby salt lake. What's special about this? And the fact that the pipes were laid, judging by the findings of archaeologists, at a time when people did not yet know how to cook on fire, and they had not even dreamed of cast iron pots. In addition, despite the fact that the pipes are thousands of years old, there is no debris in them, which indicates that they were used. But who? It is impossible to live in those places!
Scattered throughout Costa Rica perfectly spherical stones. Some of them are small, a few centimeters in diameter, but there are some that reach 2.5 meters in diameter and weigh several tons. It is not clear what the stones turned by unknown craftsmen were used for.
Local residents have already made attempts to figure out this mystery on their own: they blew up stones, thinking they would find gold, coffee beans or even babies there. Alas and ah! The balls did not hide anything like that. All that the researchers managed to find out is that the balls are cut from volcanic rock.
Baghdad batteries were found in the territory of Ancient Mesopotamia. Their age is estimated at more than two thousand years. They are the same age as our calendar. When archaeologists came across them, they initially thought that they were just clay vessels for storing food. However, this theory was rejected after a copper rod was discovered in the vessels. Remembering physics lessons at school, we can assume that the vessels obviously contained some kind of liquid, which, interacting with copper, produced electric charge. If this is true, then the find is the first known battery.
Everything would be fine, but what were these batteries needed for?! There are few assumptions. Some say that ancient healers used them to impress their patients, others say that experiments with gold were carried out with the help of these batteries.
Compared to our ancestors, we live much better. May has comfortable houses, a television, a telephone, trains and planes. However, in some ways the ancient people surpassed us: they left riddles for humanity that scientists still cannot solve.
Antikythera Mechanism
It was discovered in 1902 on an ancient shipwreck near the Greek island of Antikythera. The date of its creation is considered to be approximately 100 BC. The mechanism contains bronze gears and parts not found in any other device of the time.
The purpose of the Antikythera Mechanism is still unclear. Why? Firstly, it is unclear where it was made and who designed it. It has now been established that it consists of 82 fragments - X-ray equipment made it possible to look inside and reveal hidden details. The most likely version is that the Antikythera mechanism is a “cross between” a calculator and an astrolabe, but no one can yet say exactly what it is.
Ancient pipes of China
In one of the regions of China, so remote that it is unlikely that people have ever lived there, there is a mountain with three mysterious triangular holes at the top. They contain hundreds of ancient pipes (now rusty) of unknown origin. Some of them lead deep into the mountain, some lead to a nearby salt lake.
The pipes were laid, judging by the findings of archaeologists, at a time when people did not yet know how to cook on fire, and they had not even dreamed of cast-iron pots. In addition, despite the fact that the pipes are thousands of years old, there is no debris in them, which indicates that they were used. But who? It is impossible to live in those places!
Stones Costa Rica
Perfectly spherical stones are scattered across Costa Rica. Some of them are small, a few centimeters in diameter, but there are some that reach 2.5 meters in diameter and weigh several tons. It is not clear what the stones turned by unknown craftsmen were used for. All that the researchers managed to find out boils down to the fact that the balls were cut out of volcanic rock.
Baghdad batteries
They were found in the territory of Ancient Mesopotamia. Their age is estimated at more than two thousand years. When archaeologists came across them, they initially thought that they were just clay vessels for storing food. However, this theory was rejected after a copper rod was discovered in the vessels. It can be assumed that the vessels obviously contained some kind of liquid, which, interacting with copper, produced an electric charge at the output. If this is true, then the find is the first known battery.
But what were these batteries for?! Perhaps they were used by priests for the effect of their rituals, or experiments with gold were carried out with the help of these batteries.
Mysterious sound in the ocean
Employees of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration recorded a strange sound in the ocean. It was so loud that it was picked up by two microphones located three thousand miles apart.
The wave characteristics of the sound, according to scientists, indicate that it is produced by something living. However, to date, none of the known to science animals do not have sufficient " technical characteristics" to play a sound at that volume.
Indian planes
These figures, made in the shape of airplanes, were created about 1.5 thousand years ago. No one has been able to solve their mystery - what served as models for similar works art.
In the catalogs the figurines were listed as “zoomorphic”, that is, in the form of animals. And it was precisely how numerous visitors looked at them as strange animals. And only in the 20th century, during the development of the aviation industry, it became clear that these strange figures were made in the shape of airplanes! It’s just that while there were no airplanes, people had nothing to compare them with.
Incredible fossils
There are a number of fossils that neither geology nor history can explain. Take, for example, the imprint of a human palm in limestone, dating back 110 million years. Something similar to a fossilized human finger was found in the Canadian Arctic, and also dates back to the same period, and in Utah, a sandaled foot print was found, made from 300 to 600 million years ago.
Underwater pyramids at the bottom of the Bermuda Triangle
In early 1977, the echo sounders of a fishing vessel registered an irregularity resembling a pyramid on the ocean floor, somewhat away from Bermuda. This was the reason for the American Charles Berlitz to organize a special expedition. This expedition discovered a pyramid at a depth of 400 meters. Charles Berlitz claims that its height is almost 150 meters, the length of the side of the base is 200 meters, and the slope of the side faces is the same as the Cheops pyramid. One of the sides of this pyramid is longer than the other.
The discovered pyramid is three times higher than the largest Egyptian pyramid (Cheops), has glass (or glass-crystal-like appearance) edges, immaculately smooth and even, like mirrors. According to the characteristics of the echo signals reflected from its surface, the faces of the pyramid are made of some mysterious material, similar to polished ceramics or glass.
The ship's sonars and high-resolution computerized analyzers showed three-dimensional images of very smooth, clean, algae-free edges of the pyramid. The pyramid does not consist of blocks; no seams, no connectors, no cracks are visible. It seems that it is carved from a single monolith. But in subsequent years, the US authorities classified information about the glass pyramid, and this topic became closed in the media.
However, not so long ago, a message came again that two mysterious giant pyramid-shaped structures were found in the Bermuda Triangle area. Oceanographer Verlag Mayer, using special equipment, managed to find out that they consist of a substance resembling glass. The dimensions of the underwater pyramids, located in the very center of the mysterious triangle, significantly exceed the dimensions of similar structures on land, including the famous Pyramid of Cheops. However, preliminary data suggests that the age of these pyramids does not exceed 500 years. Who built them and why remains a sealed mystery. The technology used to make the pyramids is unknown to earthlings.
Every year, scientists make the most incredible discoveries, from minor ones to turning points in the history of all mankind, from completely accidental ones to those that researchers have been pursuing for years and decades. Breakthroughs are occurring in completely different fields, from space exploration and archeology to biology and many other scientific fields. Some of these discoveries help us understand the most mysterious secrets in the world or allow you to see something completely incredible for the first time. Intrigued? From Martian tsunamis to the Shroud of Turin, here are 25 of the most... amazing discoveries that are hard to believe.
25. Headless Vikings from Dorset
In June 2009, archaeologists made a shocking discovery near the coastal town of Weymouth in the English county of Dorset (Weymouth, Dorset). During preparatory work for the opening of a new highway, local workers came across mass graves in which they discovered 54 skeletons and 51 skulls. The remains were buried in the area of a Roman quarry that had long been abandoned. Experts believe that among the buried corpses were those who were decapitated during a public execution.
24. Galilean satellites
When the famous Italian Renaissance astronomer Galileo Galilei pointed his brand new telescope into the sky in January 1610, he had no idea that he would soon discover the 4 largest moons of Jupiter, now known as the Galilean moons. By and large, until that very moment, not a single scientist imagined that other planets could also have their own satellites.
23. Evolution of microbes
Antibiotics and vaccines have already saved millions of lives, but to the surprise of scientists, some microbes are developing and changing faster than we can find a way to destroy them. The flu virus, for example, mutates so quickly that last year's vaccines are no longer effective against new strains. It turns out that some hospitals are infected with bacteria that have become almost resistant to antibiotics, and if this is the case, then even a small cut can lead to life-threatening infections.
22. Moa birds
When moa bones were first discovered in the 1830s, biologists were not immediately able to get used to the idea that these were the remains of birds. These bones were so unusual and large that scientists were reluctant to recognize their belonging to the class of birds. Today we know that moas were huge animals and could not fly. They lived mainly in New Zealand, but did not survive to this day. Their extinction occurred approximately between 1300 and 1440 AD. The reason for the disappearance of such an unusual species was the exorbitant hunting of the Maori tribes, whose representatives settled the island at the end of the 14th century.
21. Yonaguni Monument
In 1987, during a search good place for sightings of hammerhead sharks, the head of the Yonaguni-Cho tourism association, Kihachiro Aratake, noted in sea water unusual single formations reminiscent of architectural structures. The discovery was made off the coast of Yonaguni, the southernmost landmass of Japan's Ryukyu archipelago. There is still no consensus in the scientific community as to whether this formation is natural, whether man had a hand in it, or whether this place is entirely the fruit of human labor.
20. Baghdad battery
If you have lived without electricity for some time, you should know that batteries are a very important source of energy. The Baghdad battery proves that humanity tried to create batteries several thousand years ago. The battery is a set of 3 artifacts discovered in the Kuzhut Rabu area of Iraq near Baghdad. The 2,000-year-old find consists of a ceramic pot, a metal cylinder and a rod. If the pot is filled with vinegar or a similar liquid, it can produce up to 1.1 volts of energy. No written explanations were found on the use of this ancient device, but archaeologists agreed that most likely it was an ancient battery.
19. Baby in the coffin of a mummified priest
Researchers from the University of Lund in Sweden (Lund) were incredibly surprised by the results of scanning the coffin of a Scandinavian mummified priest. Scientists have discovered the remains of a tiny baby hidden under a man's feet. Archaeologists believe that the child could either be a relative of the clergyman, or someone else's illegitimate child, whose remains were placed in the coffin so that the dead baby could be buried according to religious customs, despite its unholy origins.
18. Infrared radiation
Infrared rays were discovered by British astronomer William Herschel in 1800 when he was studying the effect of heating different colors. In his experiments, the scientist used a prism to split light into a color spectrum, and thermometers to measure the thermal effect of each individual color. Today, infrared radiation is used in many areas of our lives, including heating systems, search engines, meteorology and astronomy.
17. Temperatures below absolute zero
Previously, scientists believed that −273.15° C was absolute zero, below which it was impossible to fall, and which was the limit for the thermodynamic temperature scale. However, a team of researchers from the German Max Planck Institute was recently able to disprove the theory of absolute zero. Under vacuum conditions, scientists managed to cool a cloud of gas atoms to below −273.15° C. The result of the experiments was so unexpected that the researchers at first had no idea what to do with the frozen particles.
16. Martian tsunamis
Recently, scientists published studies proving that a powerful tsunami erupted on the surface approximately 3.4 million years ago. This discovery literally stunned members of the astronomical community. Experts believe that the red planet suffered a lot from two meteorite impacts, which provoked huge tidal waves that could reach up to 50 meters in height.
15. Stone balls of Costa Rica
In the river delta area on the small island of Isla del Cano, located in the territorial waters of the Republic of Costa Rica (Isla del Caño, Costa Rica), you can find very unusual stone formations. Also known as petrospheres, these man-made spheres are scattered throughout the island - over 300 of them have already been found on Isla del Cano. For the first time in modern times, these stones were found in the 1930s, when workers were clearing an area here for a banana plantation. According to researchers, the balls were made by the ancestors of the indigenous people who lived here during the Spanish invasion. Their exact age and purpose are still unknown.
14. The Mandela Effect
Today science fiction writers and some scientists are speculating on the topic parallel worlds, but have you heard about parallel memories? Self-identified medium Fiona Broome says that while most people remember the death of legendary South African President Nelson Mandela in 2013 from old age and illness, there are those who remember his death in the 1980s, when Mandela was still in prison. This strange phenomenon the woman called it “The Mandela Effect,” although all over the world people talk about alternative memories that are not at all about the apartheid-era hero.
13. Tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun
The tomb of King Tutankhamun, preserved almost intact, was discovered by Egyptologists Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon in 1922. Tutankhamun was one of the most famous pharaohs, and his death at the age of 18 remains a mystery in ancient Egypt. The news about archaeological find was so widely reported in the media around the world that it even spurred a revival of public interest in the history of ancient civilization.
12. Hurricane on Saturn
In 2013, a major hurricane was recorded by a NASA spacecraft orbiting Saturn. The epicenter of the storm was about 2,000 kilometers in diameter, and the speed of the clouds reached 530 kilometers per hour. On Earth, hurricanes are fed by warm ocean waters, but on Saturn there are no oceans or seas. And this leads scientists to a dead end, since it is not clear how else to explain the occurrence of such a serious storm on a distant planet.
11. Songs of humpback whales
Humpback whales make strange sounds that scientists have been unable to decipher for decades. In 2015, near the Hawaiian island of Maui, researchers recorded a completely new type of whale sound. The mysterious noise is so low that it is barely audible to the human ear. Biologists still cannot understand how humpback whales make these sounds and what their purpose is.
10. Moving stones
Death Valley National Park in California, USA, despite its gloomy name, can boast of a completely positive attitude, because even the stones come to life here. At the beginning of the 20th century, the public first heard about the migrating stones of this reserve, and since then many versions have been put forward about how they move. Experts offered a choice of theories about alien intervention and magnetic influence, or about the pranks of animals or simple jokers. But the solution was found quite recently - it turned out that the stones were moving under own weight during strong winds that move rock over a thin layer of ice.
9. Child sacrifices
In 1999, archaeologists working in the area of Argentina's Llullaillaco volcano made a shocking discovery when they found three mummified children left to die of exposure during an ancient Inca religious ritual. The cruel tradition was carried out by the ancient Incas most often in honor of some important events, or to avert natural disasters.
8. Mary Celeste
Mary Celeste was an American merchant ship marooned in the Atlantic Ocean near the Azores. The ship sailed from New York to Genoa on November 7, 1872, and was discovered again only on December 5. Almost all the supplies were still on the ship, and even the personal belongings of the crew and captain lay in their places untouched. But the Mary Celeste team itself was not in sight. Since then, no one has heard of them, and this case is still considered one of the biggest mysteries in the history of modern navigation.
7. Black holes
Black holes are some of the strangest and most fascinating celestial objects we have ever discovered in deep space. These are space-time regions that have such a powerful gravitational force that it is simply impossible to get out of there. Albert Einstein was the first to predict the existence of these objects back in 1916, using only the theory of relativity. The term “black hole” itself appeared in 1967, and was coined by American astronomer John Wheeler, but the first black hole was truly discovered only in 1971.
6. Antikythra mechanism
It may sound crazy, but the first analog computer was created around 100 BC. The Antikythera mechanism is an ancient version of a computer that was used to predict the positions of astronomical bodies and eclipses. Discovered in July 1901 among the remains of a crashed ship off the Greek island of Antikytra, the device is believed to have been designed and installed by Greek scientists between 200 and 100 BC.
5. RNA interference
In 1998, through a series of experiments, scientists discovered that gene expression (the process of converting hereditary information from genes into functional RNA or protein) is controlled by a phenomenon later called RNA interference. This process protects us from viruses that try to invade our DNA and controls gene expression. For their work studying this phenomenon, scientists Craig Mello and Andrew Fire were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Subsequently, this discovery contributed to the study of gene silencing - turning off genes, which causes diseases such as high blood pressure and a number of other ailments.
4. Shroud of Turin
The Shroud of Turin is one of the most mysterious archaeological discoveries of all time. It is believed that this fabric is the same shroud in which Jesus Christ was buried. This long piece of cloth is stained with blood and a dark imprint is clearly visible on it. human body. Catholic Church officially reported the existence of this item back in 1353, when it appeared in the church of the French commune of Lirey. However, the legend of the shroud has existed much longer, and the first mentions of it were known as early as 30 or 33 AD.
3. Voynich Manuscript
Perhaps one of the most mysterious manuscripts in human history, the Voynich manuscript is an amazing artifact, the origin and ownership of which is still completely unknown. The manuscript is full of illustrations of plants, strange symbols and diagrams, and is written in a mysterious language that does not belong to any civilization known to historians and archaeologists.
2. Extraterrestrial neutrinos and Antarctica
Using equipment from the IceCube Neutrino Observatory in Antarctica, physicists have recently finally discovered evidence of the existence of cosmic rays beyond our boundaries. solar system. These energetic beams are very difficult to detect, so scientists have to rely on studying neutrinos (subatomic particles) created when the beams interact with their surroundings.
1. Mass burial of animals
In 1971, paleontologists discovered a huge animal burial in a cornfield in Idaho. Once upon a time there was a basin of a large reservoir, and this place became the last refuge for the skeletons of almost 200 animals. Apparently, these animals died of suffocation approximately 12 million years ago and were hidden for a long time from prying eyes under deep layer volcanic ash. Following the unexpected discovery, the site was designated Ashfall Fossil Beds State Historic Park.
Photo sources:
25 – MaxPixel; 24 – Kevin Gill / flickr; 23 – serendigity / flickr; 22, 12, 8, 7, 4, 3, 1 – Wikimedia; 21 – Vincent Lou; 20 – Boynton / flickr; 19 – frankjuarez / flickr; 18 – AIRS, the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder / flickr; 17 – Guy vandegrift, Gas thermometer and absolute zero; 16 – Pixabay; 15 – Rodtico21, Stone spheres of Costa Rica. Museo Nacional; 14 – Pixabay; 13 – Carsten Frenzl; 11 – hit Welles Wwelles14, Humpback stellwagen edit; 10 – Mike Baird / flickr; 9 – grooverpedro, Momias de Llullaillaco en la Provincia de Salta (Argentina); 6 – Marsyas; 5 – Pixabay; 2 – Wikipedia