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Cruel and unusual: history’s most disturbing medical treatments Let's be grateful for how far healthcare has come.
You probably don’t enjoy going to the doctor (who does?), but seeking medical treatment today is worlds better than it was in the past. Can you imagine setting up an appointment about a persistent headache and the doctor prescribing an ice pick to your eye socket? Of course, as ridiculous as some of these treatments sound, practitioners honestly believed that they were giving patients the best possible care. But that hardly changes the fact that many of these treatments did more harm than good. After reading about history’s most infamous and unusual medical treatments, you’ll be grateful for how far healthcare has come. Mercury Ancient Chinese and Indian people were…
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10 celebrated scientific breakthroughs that turned out to be hoaxes Come with us on a journey into scientific iniquity as we spotlight bogus science in near and far history.
It’s an exciting time to be alive, as the march of human progress is moving at seemingly impossible speeds. We’re curing diseases, connecting minds and reshaping the world we live in, and seemingly every day we hear about a new breakthrough that promises to change everything all over again. The thing is, though, not all of those breakthroughs are actually… well, real. For a number of reasons, scientists often over-promise and underdeliver and at the end of the day these massive discoveries turn out to be hoaxes or worse. Come with us on a journey into scientific iniquity as we spotlight ten bogus breakthroughs. The Tasaday Tribe Watch this video…
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The incredible technologies and inventions now lost to history Some may be nothing more than legends, while others are well documented or even surviving as unexplained curios to this day.
We tend to look back at ancient technologies with an air of superiority, but there are more than a few historical inventions and artifacts that reach beyond our understanding. Some may be nothing more than legends, while others are well documented or even surviving as unexplained curios to this day. Stradivarius violins Antonio Stradivari lived from 1644 to 1737. He was an Italian luthier and craftsman who we know as the most significant and greatest artisan in instrument-making history. Somewhere around 500 of his violins survive to this day and sell for tens of millions of dollars for their acoustic properties. The exact techniques and materials used to make his…
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10 scientific reasons to stop procrastinating and get outdoors Just because you don't need to go outside doesn't mean you shouldn't.
It’s easy to avoid the outdoors when all of your beloved technology is inside and you can use a mobile app to order anything you could possibly want. But just because you don’t need to go outside doesn’t mean you shouldn’t. There are a lot of scientifically proven health benefits to going outside. Let’s take a lot at 10 reasons why you should go outside more often. Vitamin D It’s not a secret that the sun provides your daily dose of Vitamin D. Although you can find the vitamin in some foods, humans get 90 percent of their necessary Vitamin D from the sun. It helps us absorb calcium, it…
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How our caveman instincts explain why we play video games Video games are fun - that’s a given. But here's what makes them fun.
As I was playing Threes on my mobile phone the other day, it occurred to me that there’s something intrinsically satisfying about tidying up in video games. Taking a messy screen full of numbers and shuffling them neatly into one big number is not only addictive, it taps into a strong desire to put everything in order. The same feeling pops up when clearing the screen in Tetris or mopping up all of those pesky flags in Assassin’s Creed. But where does this desire to tidy up come from? And what function does it serve? “It makes total sense,” says Phil Robinson, director and curator of the Museum of Games…
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YouTube’s 15 most insane science projects The age of the lone inventor tinkering away in his own backyard is far from over—but this stuff is barely legal.
Most innovation these days is conducted by large teams of scientists and engineers in well-funded labs, but it pays to remember that many of the inventions that make modern life possible started out in much humbler circumstances – from the Wright brothers’ bicycle workshop to the kitchen stovetop where Charles Goodyear first made vulcanized rubber. But don’t think the age of the lone inventor working away in his own backyard is over completely. To find proof of this, you need look no further than YouTube. There are all sorts of creations on there that are imaginative, ingenious, and complex. And very, very dangerous. While you might stare open mouthed in…
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These ancient technologies were way ahead of their time Incredible artifact discoveries reveal many ancient cultures were capable of far more than previously thought.
People tend to think of ancient civilizations and their technologies as primitive, but while certainly not as impressive as our 2020 technology trends, it’s still incredible what they were able to do with the limited tools and resources available to them. Incredible artifact discoveries have shown that some of these cultures were way ahead of their time and capable of far more than previously thought. From ancient alarm clocks to an industrial revolution that almost happened thousands of years ago with the invention of steam power, here are 10 fascinating ancient technologies. The Lycurgus Cup, a 4th century Roman technicolor cup The beautiful Lycurgus Cup is a Roman glass cup…
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10 mysterious caves and tunnels nobody can explain Ancient goblin caves, underground pyramid secrets, Victorian crime dens, and even Satanic tunnels under a preschool. Let's go cavin'.
Humans have always been fascinated with spaces in the ground beneath our feet, whether for the possibility of discovering a long-lost civilization, the gates to the underworld, or forgotten treasures. When we can’t account for what we do find, these caves and tunnels become a gold mine for the inevitable folklore. Early humans often left tunnels behind without an obvious explanation – especially before written language was invented. Other times, the purpose of these tunnels were intentionally kept as closely guarded secrets. Sometimes the actual truth is just dull and boring. Regardless, these unexplained underground spaces are interesting and we can’t help but wonder about their secrets. Germany’s “erdställe” goblin…
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10 reasons to believe alien life really exists The mindboggling scale of the universe represents gazillions of lottery tickets for alien life, but here's the evidence and arguments so far.
The search for extraterrestrial life begins with a simple assumption: if intelligent life exists, then these beings must leave behind clues to their existence that would be recognizable to us. For example, to a space-faring alien, a tell-tale sign of intelligent life existing on Earth could be that there are trace periodic elements present that can only form from nuclear fission. Fission is not generally known to occur naturally except under specific conditions, so it is logical that there is an unnatural explanation. “When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.” With this in mind, we count down the top reasons to believe that…
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Check out this massive, zoomable evolutionary tree of life 2,123,179 species of life so far.
OneZoom is an interactive map of the evolutionary relationships between 2,123,179 species of life on our planet. Each leaf on the tree represents a species and the branches show how they are connected through evolution. Discover your favourites, see which species are under threat, and wonder at 105,247 images on a single page. Explore it now.