In the past 200 years or so, we’ve all worked together and managed to come up with even more innovative ways to end life on Earth as we know it. The invention of gunpowder itself was an unprecedented innovation in mass slaughter – the death counts of some wars took away entire chunks of our

Language is one of the few secrets of immortality. There are hundreds of people, whether one knows it or not, that the average speaker has preserved from oblivion. They live on in words. A word that originates from a person’s name is called an eponym. Some of the preserved namesakes were less than savory figures.

Nearly two decades after the most devastating terrorist attacks in history, the most enduring images of September 11, 2001 seem set in stone. Smoke billowing from two of the world’s tallest towers. The live-TV horror of a second plane slamming into New York’s World Trade Center, eliminating any lingering hopes that the initial impact was

Animal culling happens for a variety of legitimate reasons. When it is backed by science and carried out in a humane manner, it can protect the welfare of both animals and humans from greater threats. Yet when science is replaced by public hysteria, and humane killing by bizarre plots, the endgame can mean everyone loses.

Just over 70% of the Earth’s surface is covered by ocean. Thus far in 2020, humans have only explored around 5% of it. Imagine what may lie just beyond our reach: species of the deep we have yet to come across or a lost Megalodon from prehistoric times. Perhaps a long since vanished shipwreck thought

In 1564, Gabriello Fallopio published a study of a device he claims to have invented. Fallopio’s product consisted of linen sheaths soaked in a chemical solution and dried stiff. This was the first male condom. The invention was surprisingly similar to its modern incarnation, with the exception of being considerably more uncomfortable and had to

It’s nearly Black History Month, so it’s time to talk about the defining thing in American black history: slavery. It’s not exactly a light topic, which might be why there are so many misconceptions about who owned slaves, where slaves came from, how many there were, and how they lived. But there is a lot

History leaves plenty of evidence behind. We can gaze upon the ruins of vanquished civilizations, ponder the bones of the long-dead, and read about all the cool parts which were glossed over in grade school. One thing we can’t do so much is hear the sounds of the distant past, but that hasn’t stopped people

There are a number of reality shows where groups of scientists and those who are simply interested in this subject search for evidence of well known cryptids such as Bigfoot, and the Yeti. Shows like Expedition Bigfoot and Paranormal Caught on Camera from the Travel Channel show videos where people have caught Bigfoot, Yeti, the

In a time when the only way to rule was to be born into it or to take it by force, there was a great danger in being king. The moment a ruler took his seat on the throne, his life was in jeopardy. See Also: Top 10 Truly Insane Rulers Some survived. Some built

We may have been fighting each other since the dawn of time, though the average person still has little idea of what war is really like. Our mental image of what happens on the battlefield is heavily influenced by pop culture, particularly the movies. Unfortunately, the people making those movies have usually never been around

Kids and playing go hand in hand—sometimes literally. Most of the time, when they do play a game, it usually involves kids running, chasing and hiding. They all tire themselves out and laugh themselves silly and maybe the worst thing that happens is someone skins a knee or breaks a window. It’s all innocent fun.

The human body is a magnificent machine. Our anatomy is the result of millennia of adaptation to the changing environment of Earth, which has turned us into one of the most complex life forms. And while advances in medicine over the past centuries have allowed us to explore the nature of the human organism in

The film “Richard Jewell” by director Clint Eastwood makes reference to the work of FBI profilers and their bastard offspring of journalists with pop psychology degrees. Specifically, the film and the book about Jewell’s case refer to the fact that FBI profilers working the bombing in Atlanta in 1996 suspected that the perpetrator was a

Right from the start, tales of things that are just so weird they can only be ‘Paranormal’ — “beyond normal” — have been popular. They give a ‘what if’ back to a world that so often claims to be perfectly explainable; they can be spooky, thrilling, and fun… which should be a warning, because often

They welcome us into life, tweak our health and wear authoritative white jackets. While doctors are behind most medical studies, they sometimes become the subject. In recent times, researchers have found that physicians’ DNA undergoes scary changes and that salesmen influence their decisions way too much. Things can also get weird in the operation room,

While there seems to be some security when one sees the numerous restraints that roller coasters and other intense thrill rides have, these rides are not as safe as one might think. Even the greatest amount of safety and maintenance checks can’t prevent a split-second malfunction.Throughout history, a few rides have stuck out as being

Estimates suggest that up to a billion animals perished. The human lives lost are steadily climbing to 30. Millions of hectares. Countless homes. All consumed by one of the worst disasters in living memory. It’s difficult to believe that anything great emerged from the horrifying Australian 2019-2020 fire season. But with the last decade marred

Murder. The word alone is enough to send cold shivers down your spine. Just the thought that some people out there kill for pleasure could be enough to make you never want to step outside again. No one wants to fall victim to a psycho’s fantasies. No one wants to be shot, stabbed, strangled, poisoned

The last decade may have been amazing for scientific progress – as we made unimaginable strides in fields like bionics, space exploration and finally verifying whatever Einstein was talking about – though 2020 is still far from the idea of ‘future’ most of us grew up with. While we do now have many of the

Most of us like to plonk ourselves down on the sofa with a bowl of popcorn, maybe a beer or two, and take in a good movie. Sometimes though, the backstories, legends and origins of the films are at least just as interesting as the finished product. Whether it is tales of curses, films which

People love to see a hero fall. Perhaps it’s the shock and the thrill, or perhaps it’s the gratifying thought they are no better than the rest of us. Whatever it is, when we see a hero made to look like dirt, we applaud. Few people make easier targets than Mahatma Gandhi. It’s not just

It is no coincidence that Steven Seagal, in the movie Under Siege, was a chef; neither can it be that in Oz, the memorably brutal first-ever outing for HBO, set in the fictional Oswald Penitentiary, the kitchen was the most sought-after assignment for the opportunist convicts. It is not just the extra food that entices

Though the science of psychics is a matter debated by many, a psychic’s “vision” is definitely a mystery many criticize and question the validity of. But what if that mysterious gift could provide closure for families with a missing loved one? For decades, psychic tips have been given to investigators, and though most have proved

From big business to America First, Donald J. Trump is known for many things. Only time will tell whether his lasting legacy is a wall or a crater, but in terms of people alive today, everybody knows what Trump is all about. Of course, one of his most-notable attributes is his love of conspiracy theories.

Dosage misadventures are surprisingly common. But the strangest incidents highlight how quickly something can go wrong. Some cases derive from stupidity, like handing out smoking aids in school and choosing your drugs from the insecticide aisle. But sometimes people accidentally overdose because they trusted over-the-counter medicines, during fun challenges and even when they sleepwalk. See

Active shooter drills are something that people in most countries outside of the United States only ever have to imagine: a terrifying reminder that, at any moment, your lives might be threatened by someone you see every day, and that you need to be ready for it. See Also: 10 Myths About Guns And Gun

Sometimes things just happen and other times they happen for sinister reasons. Freak accidents occur all the time, but so do well-planned tragedies. The problem is that one cannot always distinguish between the two and the more time passes after a mysterious incident, the more difficult it becomes to determine whether it happened out of

Before becoming the malignant religion known as “voodoo,” vodun or vodoun was the name for the ancestral customs and beliefs of West Africa. Most closely associated with the Fon people of modern Benin, vodun, with its talk about spiritual possession and examples of ecstatic worship, appeared to be nothing less than devil worship to the

Scientists simplify things to help us laypeople understand volcanoes. The reality, of course, is more complicated. Every volcano is unique. Volcanologists must learn each individual “personality” and history when they try to help people living nearby. With limited resources, though, how do you choose which volcanoes to study? Here’s how. When the United Nations made