Nature can be so serious. Most of the time, an intense survival game plays out. Yet, it is the more indirect side of the natural world—the quirks—that keep scientists on their toes. From the biggest organisms on the planet that nobody ever sees to the Sun setting off explosives, nature seems to have a strange sense of humor.

There are plenty of other cases. But as intriguing as they may be, this weirdness can get destructive. Sometimes, it not only tears apart human constructions but also the scientific community.

10 Haiting Hall

In 2017, an expedition from Hong Kong found a gigantic sinkhole. Located in the forest of Guangxi, it was named the Hong Kong Haiting Hall. A second expedition in 2018 scanned the inner dimensions and revealed a world-class wonder.

Haiting Hall is far from being a hole in the ground. After researchers lowered themselves into the pit, they found an epic cave complex hidden beneath the ground. The sheer size made the site very rare. In volume, it measured 6.7 million cubic meters (236 million ft³).

While 3-D mapping the interior, the team found halls, collapsed structures, craters, stone pillars, and water-polished rocks called cave pearls. The equipment also revealed that the sinkhole itself was 100 meters (328 ft) wide, around 118 meters (387 ft) deep, and almost 200 meters (656 ft) long.^[1]

The 3-D scanning was not just for measuring the standard stuff. It could also help with the reconstruction of the signs suggesting that the sinkhole had suffered a collapse. This could throw light on its formation. Similar sinkholes are usually the result of collapse brought on by the erosion of underground rivers.

9 Antarctica’s Hot Spot

Antarctica has its fair share of mysteries. One of them is rather ironic—the icy continent has a hot spot.

In 2018, a radar survey found the anomaly in East Antarctica. This region is the last place where any kind of heat should appear. East Antarctica is a craton, or a massive piece of Earth’s crust. Magma is shallow in some regions of Antarctica, but not with this craton. The solid interior, as well as its thickness, should prevent warmth within the planet from seeping back to the surface.

Yet the ice sheet closest to the crust is melting, another sign of something hot down there. Analysis showed that global warming cannot be blamed in this case. The bizarre spot is insulated away from the atmosphere and is also quite old.

The truth remains elusive, but hydrothermal energy could be responsible. If there is a fault in the crust filled with water shuttling up and down between the hot lower depths to the ice sheet, it could cause melting.^[2]

8 Woodleigh’s True Size

Woodleigh Crater is an ancient impact site near Shark Bay in Australia. The crater’s size remains a hotly debated issue. Since the crater is buried, an accurate assessment is difficult, although past research placed the diameter at around 60–120 kilometers (37–75 mi).

In 2018, two researchers had no desire to join the controversy. When they examined a core sample from Woodleigh, it was to see how the common mineral zircon behaved during the high pressures of an impact. They were amazed to find reidite instead.

To be fair, reidite is zircon. However, it is an exceptionally rare transformation of zircon. Created during the high-pressure moment when space rocks slam into Earth’s surface, reidite has only been found six times. The discovery could swing the Woodleigh debate.^[3]

To amass the kind of pressure needed to create reidite, only certain size craters can produce this priceless mineral. They must be over 100 kilometers (62 mi) in diameter, which would make Woodleigh the biggest meteorite hit in Australia. Some suggest the crater could dwarf the one in Mexico (thought to be the rock that killed the dinosaurs), which measured 180 kilometers (112 mi) across.

7 The Tree Fight

There is a battle going on in the scientific community. An undeniable amount of evidence suggests that trees are not just wood soaking up sunshine. Studies have identified behaviors that include pain reaction, chemical warning signals to other trees, and the nourishment of saplings and other adults through a subterranean fungal network. They also recognize “family,” or genetically related trees.

This is a far cry from how scientists used to view a forest. The fact that trees are organized, almost like an insect colony, is not really the issue. Both sides agree that these plants show remarkable abilities. However, one question turns things ugly. Are trees doing it on purpose?

Those who support sentient trees believe that these entities operate with intelligence, although it is misunderstood by humans. This is appalling to critics, who feel that chemical reactions to stimuli such as damage, predators, and nutritional needs dictate how trees respond.^[4]

Whether trees have free will or automatically react to their environment, they still behave in ways that scientists are just beginning to understand.

6 Earth Consumes Its Oceans

Earth has several tectonic plates. Often, when one is forced to slide underneath the other, this causes earthquakes. The process also pulls a huge amount of seawater down into the deeper layers of the planet.

Recently, scientists listened to seismic sounds at the Marianas trench where the Pacific plate is dipping under the Philippine plate. They wanted to use the rumblings to calculate just how much water got swallowed this way. Sensors tracked the velocity of earthquake echoes and especially listened for those slowing down as they passed through waterlogged material.

The result was shocking. Every million years, diving plates drag three billion teragrams of water into the Earth’s interior. A teragram equals a billion kilograms. This is three times more than previously thought.

The surprise did not end there. Earth’s deep water cycle should expel an equal amount, but not enough is being spouted by volcanoes or any other means. This inequality plus the fact that the oceans are not losing water volume means that science is missing something about how the planet shuttles water through its deepest plumbing.^[5]

5 Creeping Mud Blob

The Niland Geyser was born in 1953. The mud pool appeared in California’s Imperial County and bubbled placidly for decades. This changed 11 years ago when Niland’s mud began to creep over dry soil.

At first, the pace was so slow that nobody cared. However, in 2018, the flow picked up and became unstoppable. This was a huge problem since the mud’s direction threatened a state highway, train tracks, fiber optic telecommunications lines, and a petroleum pipeline.^[6]

All attempts to stop the mud failed, including an ambitious steel wall that was 22.9 meters (75 ft) deep and 36.6 meters (120 ft) long. The blob merely slipped underneath the barrier and sludged forth. A new railway line was built to circumnavigate the remorseless mud, but the flow could eventually close down state route 111 and force engineers to build a bridge instead.

The geyser, which had been declared an emergency, not only poses a threat to things in its path but also leaves behind a damaged trail. Similar to a bog, a large amount of moisture softens everything up to 12 meters (40 ft) down, ruining the land for future construction.

4 Frankenstein Worms

In 2018, Russian scientists extracted 300 soil samples from the Arctic. The frozen cores were recovered at different locations and represented various geological eras. Back in the laboratory, several 42,000-year-old samples contained worms.

Called nematodes, they had been frozen solid inside the permafrost for all that time. The tiny creatures were moved to a petri dish and left to thaw at 20 degrees Celsius (68 °F). It took the worms a few weeks, but they came back to life.

The dish was filled with a nutrient medium. Appearing unaware that they had stopped living for thousands of years, the nematodes started feeding. This amazing feat set the record for successful cryogenic suspension in animals.^[7]

Naturally, this piqued the interest of researchers trying to freeze humans for posterity. The fact that Pleistocene-era nematodes can survive having their entire bodies frozen, especially without side effects, is remarkable. Something protects them from the ravages of ice and oxidation. This mysterious mechanism can prove invaluable to several medical fields, including astrobiology and cryomedicine.

3 Brazil’s Termite Mounds

A few decades ago, a strange thing emerged from Brazil’s forest. As people cleared land for farming in the northeast, termite hills began to appear. Their sheer size was noteworthy. But in 2018, a study revealed the true magnificence of what the creatures had accomplished.

Thus far, about 200 million have been found and they are enormous. Visible from space, each contains around 50 cubic meters (1,800 ft³) of soil. Most measure 2.5 meters (8 ft) high with a diameter of 9 meters (30 ft).

Together, the hills cover an area as big as Great Britain and have an excavated volume of 10 cubic kilometers (2.4 mi³). This equals about 4,000 Great Pyramids of Giza. Speaking of which, the hills roughly dated back to the time when the Egyptians built the pyramids.

For 4,000 thousand years, termites have constructed the mounds as tunnels—not nests—to reach food on the forest floor. Incredibly, the termites have never gone. They still occupy what researchers are calling the “greatest known example of ecosystem engineering by a single insect species.”^[8]

2 Earth’s Biggest Organisms

The blue whale may be the biggest animal in history, but it is dwarfed by a mushroom. At first glance, the sweetly named honey mushroom resembles a field of small shrooms. However, since it was found 25 years ago in Michigan, scientists suspected that the real “creature” lurked underground. Those caps belong to a single 1,500-year-old fungus spread across 91 acres.^[9]

In 2018, new samples were taken and genetic tests confirmed the whole thing was indeed a single organism. The DNA also revealed a twist. The rate at which the mushroom evolved was slower than previously thought. This made everything bigger.

Calculations determined the fungus was 2,500 years old, covered four times its original territory, and weighed around 440 tons (the same as three blue whales). The Michigan mushroom was the first of its species to reveal how large they could grow, but another honey mushroom in Oregon now holds the record. That 8,000-year-old specimen hugs an area of 7.8 square kilometers (3 mi²).

1 Solar Storm Detonated Bombs

In 1972, a US military plane flew over a minefield off the coast of Hon La in Vietnam. The crew noticed up to 25 bombs detonate in the water, all within 30 seconds. Another 25 to 30 mud splats suggested earlier explosions. The incident was reported, classified, and filed away.

In 2018, the document became public and revealed an extraordinary incident—a solar storm had triggered the mines. As much as people in the 1970s understood that solar activity manipulated Earth’s magnetic field, it could not be proven that the Sun messed with the mines. (The bombs were designed to destruct during magnetic shifts.)

A solid clue was the intense solar activity recorded around the time the detonations took place. This was the main reason the navy suspected a space storm.^[10]

Modern scientists agree. In particular, one coronal mass ejection was identified as the culprit. It behaved like a whip and struck at Earth with unusual speed. Researchers believe earlier flares cleared the planet’s magnetosphere, which added power to the coronal slash.

Recent archaeological finds reveal that the Vikings were not only fierce, bloodthirsty warriors but also farmers, skilled craftsmen, impressive mariners, and expert traders as well. As more discoveries are made, our knowledge of the Vikings will widen even more—dispelling many myths surrounding this fascinating group of people.

10Tomb Of Viking Power Couple

In 2012, engineers building a highway in Harup, Denmark, discovered a wooden building. Later on, the discovery was identified as a Viking tomb. Also known as dodehus or death house, the tomb contained the remains of a couple archaeologists believed held a high social status in Viking society.

Experts discovered two interesting items buried alongside the couple: a large battle axe and two keys. The axe, which was found together with the man, was considered to be the “machine gun” of the Viking era. Europeans back then trembled at the sight of this battle axe. The keys, on the other hand, were “a symbol of [the woman’s] power and status as a great lady.”

The researchers also discovered a third body buried alongside the couple. They surmised that the man was added at a later date, and he might have been the couple’s successor.

9Viking Women Colonized New Lands Too

A new study involving ancient Viking DNA suggested that Viking women played a significant role in the colonization of overseas lands. Experts arrived at this conclusion after discovering that the maternal DNA of the Vikings “closely matches that of modern-day people in the North Atlantic isles,” especially that of Shetland and Orkney Islands in the United Kingdom.

This discovery also debunked the widely held assumption that the Vikings were merely pillagers and raiders. They were family-oriented people as well who “established settlements and grew crops” and even engaged in trade. In addition, this recent finding challenged a study published in 2001 that suggested that Viking men would travel alone and then bring local female captives when they colonized new territories.

8Viking Fortress

In 2014, a team of archaeologists discovered a Viking fortress in the Danish island of Zealand. They believed that the structure dated back to the 10th century. Before the discovery of this specific fortress, three others were unearthed in Denmark: Aggersborg, Trelleborg, and Fyrkat. These structures are collectively known as the “Trelleborg” fortresses.

The newly discovered fortress, which is located south of Copenhagen, is quite huge, spanning 165 meters (476 ft) across.

This discovery showed that the Vikings were not only a “fierce band of warriors with cool headgear” but were also decent architects, capable of building magnificent fortresses. In addition, this discovery gave archaeologists the opportunity to better understand Viking conflicts and wars.

7North America’s Second Viking Site

Known for using satellite technology in her excavations, “space archaeologist” Sarah Parcak, together with her team, discovered a second possible Viking settlement in North America. They arrived at this conclusion after finding the remains of turf walls and an iron-working hearth in Point Rosee in Newfoundland, Canada.

The presence of an iron-working hearth at the site is a strong evidence of a Viking settlement since they used iron nails to build their ships. It also eliminated the possibility of the site belonging to Native Americans or Basque fisherman. In addition, after doing radiocarbon testing, Parcak and her team were able to date the site back to 800 and 1300 AD—the same time the Vikings were at their peak.

This discovery is monumental since it can potentially dethrone Christopher Columbus as the discoverer of the New World.

6Viking Treasure Trove

In September 2014, metal-detecting enthusiast Derek McLennan discovered one of the biggest Viking treasure troves in Scotland. The trove, which consisted of more than 100 precious artifacts including solid gold jewelry, was unearthed on church land.

Stuart Campbell of Scotland’s treasure trove unit considered this discovery historically significant since it could potentially alter the way Scots view “their historic relationship with the Vikings.” Contrary to popular belief, the Vikings didn’t only carry out raids in Scotland. They also settled and traded in some parts of the country, including the area where the treasure trove was discovered.

5Climate Change Didn’t Kill The Greenland Viking Settlement

For years, it has been widely believed within the scientific community that climate change killed the Viking settlement in Greenland. Specifically, it was assumed that the Greenland Vikings died within a 200-year period of worsening climate known as the Little Ice Age. However, a new study suggested that this might not have been the case.

It’s true, the Vikings experienced “years of harsh and cold winters and summers,” they were cut off from their homelands in Europe due to lack of timber for building ships, and they were left entirely on their own when Scandinavian traders stopped passing by Greenland, but these challenges “didn’t knock them out.” They were good at adapting and were able to outlive climate change and its devastating effects for centuries.

So why did they disappear? Experts still do not know, but one thing’s for sure. Climate change has been eliminated from the list.

4Viking Parliament

For years, the exact location of a Viking Parliament in Dingwall, Scotland, have eluded archaeologists and historians alike. It was only in 2013 when it was finally located. After excavating for more than a year, archaeologists hit the jackpot—they unearthed the remains of the lost Viking parliament at a parking lot known as the Cromartie Memorial car park.

More popularly known as a “Thing,” the Viking parliament was built on the instructions of a powerful Viking earl named Thorfinn the Mighty. Aside from the Thing, Thorfinn also commissioned the construction of a ditch, an aqueduct, and a road.

This discovery has elicited excitement among historians in the United Kingdom since it could “help them learn more about the Norse Vikings, who battled for control of land across the north of Scotland.”

3Denmark’s Oldest Viking Crucifix

In 2016, a metal enthusiast named Dennis Fabricius Holm discovered what experts dubbed as “Denmark’s oldest Viking crucifix.” The pendant, which was found on the Danish island of Fune, measures 4.06 centimeters (1.6 in) in height and weighs 12.76 grams (0.45 oz).

Archaeologists estimated that the rare Viking crucifix dated back to the half of the 900s, making it much older than “Harald Bluetooth’s runic stone in Jelling.” Up until the discovery of the crucifix, Harald’s massive runestones were considered to be the earliest representation of Jesus Christ on a cross in Denmark. This discovery suggested that the Vikings converted to Christianity much earlier than previously thought.

2Hammer Of Thor

Since the first millennium, more than 1,000 hammer-shaped pendants have been unearthed across Northern Europe. For years, experts have debated over the true significance of these amulets. It was only recently when the mystery was finally solved—the pendants represented the Mjolnir, Thor’s powerful hammer.

This breakthrough was made when a team of Danish researchers unearthed a 10th-century Viking amulet on the island of Lolland in Denmark. This particular amulet was the only one with a runic inscription. The words “Hmar x is” was inscribed on the pendant, and when translated to modern English, it meant “This is a hammer.”

Basing on this discovery, the researchers concluded that the hammer-shaped pendants found across Northern Europe were Thor’s mini-hammers, and Vikings wore them for protection.

1‘For Allah’ Inscription

In the late 1800s, a team of archaeologists unearthed a ring with a pink-violet colored stone at Birka, Sweden. During the Viking era, Birka was an important trading center. The mysterious object was discovered inside a rectangular wooden coffin containing the remains of a female Viking. Intriguingly, the ring contained an Arabic inscription.

Being the only ring with an Arabic inscription ever discovered in Scandinavia, the object caught the interest of an international team of researchers. They analyzed the ring, and in 2015 they announced that the inscription meant “For Allah” or “To Allah.”

The researchers suggested that the woman who wore the ring could have been from the Islamic world or that “a Swedish Viking got [it], by trade or robbery, while visiting the Islamic Caliphate.” Regardless of how the ring ended up in Birka, this monumental discovery proved that the Scandinavian Vikings did come in contact with Islamic kingdoms.

Numerous ancient civilizations around the world were advanced and highly civilized. Some are very popular and well-studied like the Egyptians while others remain obscure like the Garamantes. As scholars make new discoveries, our understanding of ancient civilizations will deepen—dispelling myths, correcting inaccurate information, and eliciting more respect and admiration.

10 Earthquake Caused The Disappearance Of The Sanxingdui Civilization

Sanxingdui is an ancient Chinese civilization and settlement that flourished in the Sichuan Province of China. For thousands of years, this advanced culture was lost. It was only rediscovered in 1929 when a peasant found jade and stone artifacts while repairing a sewage ditch.

The two prevailing theories about Sanxingdui’s mysterious disappearance are war and flood. However, Niannian Fan from Tsinghua University in Chengdu, China, found these theories to be “not very convincing.” In 2014, he published research that details how an earthquake caused the Sanxingdui civilization to disappear.

According to Fan’s study, a massive earthquake almost 3,000 years ago “caused catastrophic landslides [that] rerouted the flow of [Sanxingdui’s] river.” The inhabitants simply moved closer to the new river flow. This theory is supported by historical records of earthquakes that occurred near Sanxingdui. Fan believes that the inhabitants relocated to Jinsha after the river was rerouted.

9 War Was Important For The Minoans

Contrary to popular belief, the Minoans, who prospered on Crete during the Bronze Age, were not a peace-loving people. Ever since they were rediscovered over a century ago, the Minoans were regarded as “a paradigm of a society that was devoid of war, where warriors and violence were shunned.”

However, new research conducted by archaeologist Barry Molloy of the University of Sheffield revealed that war played an important role in the Minoan society. Molloy arrived at this conclusion after discovering numerous pieces of evidence depicting violence in the material remains and symbolic grammar of ancient Crete.

In addition, Molloy’s research showed that one of the primary expressions of Minoan male identity was warrior identity. Also, many weapons that dominated Europe until the Middle Ages, such as spears and swords, may have originated from the Minoan civilization.

8 The Minoans Were Indigenous Europeans

For many years, the origin of the ancient Minoan civilization was fiercely debated by scholars. Some suggested that they originated from Africa, specifically Egypt and Libya. Others believed that they came from the Middle East and Anatolia. In 2013, this debate was finally put to rest when Professor George Stamatoyannopoulos from the University of Washington published a study that revealed that the ancient Minoans were indigenous Europeans.

Stamatoyannopoulos analyzed the mitochondrial DNA of 37 ancient Minoans whose remains were discovered in a cave on the eastern portion of Crete. His analyses revealed that the Minoan civilization was genetically distant from the peoples of North Africa and the Middle East. More importantly, the results showed that “ancient Minoan DNA was most similar to populations from western and northern Europe.”

7 War Didn’t Cause The Collapse Of The Easter Island Civilization

One of the most enduring mysteries of the ancient civilization that flourished in Rapa Nui, Chile, beginning in the 13th century is the cause of its collapse. The theory that many scientists believe and propagate involves massive infighting among the inhabitants caused by dwindling resources. This theory is supported by the thousands of triangular objects known as mata’a that are found all over the island. Scientists believe that these objects were used as weapons by the inhabitants.

However, a new analysis of the mata’a by anthropologist Carl Lipo of Binghamton University and his team revealed that these so-called triangular weapons were not “used in warfare after all.”

They arrived at this controversial conclusion after using a technique known as morphometrics to analyze “the shape variability of a photo set of [more than 400] mata’a.” According to Lipo, the mata’a were used by the inhabitants not as weapons but as cultivation tools for domestic activities or tattooing.

6 Climate Change Caused The Collapse Of The Harappan Civilization

Of all the first great urban civilizations in the world, the Harappan civilization is the least known. This is quite surprising considering the fact that this obscure society was bigger, more populous, more democratic, and more sophisticated than ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. At its peak, the Harappan civilization extended over 1 million square kilometers (390,000 mi²), encompassing lands that now belong to India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan.

About 4,000 years ago, this great civilization mysteriously collapsed. The cause remained a mystery until recently.

Liviu Giosan, a geologist from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts, and his team recreated the landscape of the rivers and plains where the Harappan civilization flourished. They discovered that ancient climate change caused the monsoon-based rivers supporting the agriculture of the Harappan civilization to dry up. As a result, big cities collapsed and the inhabitants migrated to the East, specifically “toward the Ganges basin, where monsoon rains remained reliable.”

5 Elite Women Made The Beer In The Wari Civilization

The Wari, an ancient civilization that predated the Incas, flourished for hundreds of years in the Andes Mountains of Peru before their society collapsed. In 2005, a study conducted by researchers from the University of Florida and the Field Museum revealed that the beer makers of the Wari Empire were women.

More strikingly, the researchers found that the female brewers were neither slaves nor women of low status. Instead, they were elite, beautiful women. This finding proves “that women played a more crucial role in ancient Andean societies than history books have stated.”

The beer prepared by the elite female brewers 1,000 years ago was called chicha. It was made from Peruvian peppertree berries and corn.

4 The Garamantes Were Highly Civilized

The Garamantes are an ancient civilization that flourished in what is now modern-day Libya. Most of what scholars know about this mysterious society comes from Roman accounts, which described them as “barbaric nomads and troublemakers on the edge of the Roman Empire.” However, a new discovery reveals that the Garamantes civilization was actually advanced and historically more important than previously thought.

In 2011, a team of researchers led by archaeologist David Mattingly from the University of Leicester discovered more than 100 fortified farms, towns, and villages with castlelike structures in Libya that date from AD 1 to AD 500.

Contrary to what the Romans had suggested, these structures and settlements prove that the Garamantes were highly civilized. They opened up the trans-Saharan trade and were pioneers of building oases. The researchers made this remarkable discovery after examining air photographs and satellite images.

3 The Nazca Civilization Caused Its Own Demise

The Nazca is perhaps one of the most mysterious civilizations in the history of mankind. Around 1,500 years ago, this advanced society in Peru mysteriously collapsed. Scientists have suggested a massive El Nino event as the culprit. However, new research shows that massive deforestation also played a key role in the demise of the Nazca civilization.

Archaeologist David Beresford-Jones of Cambridge University discovered that the ancient Nazca cut down native huarango trees to plant maize, cotton, and other crops. The huarango trees played important roles in the desert environment of the Nazca. These trees enhanced moisture and soil fertility, provided shade from the scorching heat of the desert, and underpinned the floodplain.

The cutting down of the huarango trees caused irreversible damage to the environment. When the massive El Nino occurred, the huarango trees were no longer there to prevent or reduce flooding. As a result, the floods damaged the irrigation systems, leaving the Nazca with an area unworkable for agriculture.

2 Child Sacrifice Was Practiced By The Carthaginians

For decades, scholars have debated whether the people of ancient Carthage, who existed from 800 BC to 146 BC, practiced child sacrifice. The notion that the ancient Carthaginians did not engage in this cruel practice was propagated by scholars from Italy and Tunisia during the 20th century.

They argued that the Greeks and Romans were behind this “racist anti-Carthaginian propaganda.” They also suggested that the tophets—ancient burial grounds where the skeletons were found—were simply child cemeteries.

However, collaborative research carried out by academics from various institutions around the world, such as Oxford University, slams this misguided interpretation. According to the study, the overwhelming amount of archaeological, literary, documentary, historical, and epigraphic evidence points to the fact that Carthaginian parents did sacrifice their own children to the gods.

1 Dwarfs Were Highly Respected In Ancient Egypt

In 2005, a study published in the American Journal of Medical Genetics showed that the ancient Egyptians held dwarfs in high esteem, possibly as far back as 4500 BC. These researchers from Georgetown University Hospital arrived at this conclusion after examining artistic evidence and biological remains of dwarfism in ancient Egypt.

They discovered an overwhelming number of dwarf images on vase paintings, statues, tomb walls, and other art forms. The images portrayed dwarfs as “personal attendants, overseers of linen, people who looked after animals, jewelers, dancers, and entertainers.”

In addition, the researchers found that several dwarfs held important positions and were revered enough to be buried in lavish burial sites in the royal cemetery. The study concluded that dwarfism “was never shown as a physical handicap” in ancient Egypt.

+Further Reading

Ancient history is a fascinating topic that covers hundreds of categories. Needless to say has done a pretty good job of writing about them all. Here are a few more that you’ll definitely want to read:

Top 10 Mysteries of Ancient or Lost Civilizations
10 Mysteries That Hint At Forgotten Advanced Civilizations
10 Forgotten Ancient Civilizations
10 Ancient Civilizations That History Forgot

Every year, surprising discoveries are made all over our planet, in our solar system, and even farther out in the deep void of space. These findings push forward our understanding of the reality we live in, often challenging previous notions of universal physical laws.

When a discovery falls outside the boundaries of our understanding—sometimes with a lack of context—it will often stump the smartest experts. Here are 10 mysteries that are baffling modern scientists.

10 Giraffe Skin Disease

Since the 1990s, baffling cases of skin disease have affected giraffes in captivity and in the wild. It is a widespread condition in sub-Saharan Africa.

Experts are unable to determine if this mysterious ailment is due to a combination of diseases or if an environmental effect is in play. The scientific community still doesn’t know how this disease spreads, if it can be transmitted to other animal species, or if there is a cure.

Currently, Fred Bercovitch, director of Save The Giraffes, advises that this skin disease should not play a larger role in giraffe conservation efforts due to a lack of information as to how the condition affects the animals’ reproduction and mobility. A better understanding of the effect of this disease on the giraffe population could greatly increase conservation efforts in the future.^[1]

9 East-Shifting Tornado Alley

Areas east of the Mississippi River have seen an increase in tornadic activity over the last few decades. Meanwhile, states in the area commonly known as Tornado Alley have seen a significant decrease.

Although states like Oklahoma, Colorado, and Texas still have the most tornadoes each year, the total number has decreased since the late 1970s. The greatest decline has occurred in central and eastern Texas.

This change in atmospheric activity has led scientists to believe that Tornado Alley is shifting east, and they do not know why. Areas where tornadoes would often go unreported before the digital age are surprisingly the same regions seeing the largest decline in tornado activity.^[2]

Victor Gensini of Northern Illinois University believes that the shift in Tornado Alley can be attributed to the drying of the Great Plains. Tornadoes form along the dry line where the dry air from the West meets the moist air from the Gulf of Mexico, a mixture that causes violent thunderstorms. As the dry line shifts east, so do the tornadoes.

However, it is unknown whether the shift is caused by our impact on the environment or an influence of nature.

8 Mysterious Seismic Waves

Seismic waves were picked up worldwide by monitoring stations on November 11, 2018, causing scientists to speculate as to what caused this never-before-witnessed event. They were able to trace the initial location to Mayotte, a French island located between continental Africa and Madagascar.

This region has been plagued by earthquakes over the last year with a decrease leading up to the event. However, no earthquakes were reported to have occurred on November 11, especially nothing capable of producing the seismic signal. The strange signal was described as better representing a burst in energy than an earthquake.

Lasting roughly 20 minutes, the seismic waves traveled thousands of kilometers across the globe. They tripped earthquake monitors, although oddly enough, nobody aboveground was able to feel them.

As the signal was so unusual, its origin is difficult to determine. John Ristau, a seismologist at GeoNet, compared the Mayotte signal with that of the 6.3-magnitude North Atlantic earthquake. Although both signals were visible, they were very different in appearance.

As Ristau explained, “You can see that the amplitude of the [Mayotte] signal varies over time; however, the frequency, or period, of the signal is virtually uniform for the entire time. This implies a source that is producing a signal at one consistent frequency, but the strength varies.”^[3]

Typically, an earthquake has a broad range of frequencies and periods at which it’s producing energy.

Anthony Lomax, an independent seismologist, suggested that the activity was probably caused by an undersea volcano to the north of Mayotte. Another possibility is an unacknowledged slow earthquake that kicked off the event.

7 The Antarctic Particles That Shatter Physics

Physicists have observed a high-energy particle blast toward space from the ice in Antarctica, and they have no idea why or how this event happened. They believe that it must be some sort of cosmic ray.

The collection of particles that comprise the Standard Model of particle physics should not be able to travel this way. But this is exactly what was observed by NASA’s Antarctic Impulsive Transient Antenna (ANITA) in March 2016.

It is known that low-energy particles can travel miles through the Earth without being affected. But high-energy particles act differently because their large cross-sections make it likely that these particles will collide with something once they enter the Earth. As a result, they don’t make it out.

Most scientists suggest that ANITA captured a whole new type of particle. Some theories include an atypical distribution of dark matter inside Earth or a type of sterile neutrino which rarely collides with matter.

According to Penn State researchers who combined data from ANITA and IceCube, another Antarctica-based neutrino observatory, the particles bursting from the ice toward space have less than a 1-in-3.5-million chance of being a part of the Standard Model of particle physics.^[4]

6 Persistent Noctilucent Clouds

The mesosphere, the part of the atmosphere that almost touches space, is very cold and dry. During the summer, ice crystals about the size of cigarette smoke particles form around dust, possibly from meteoroids, in the -125 decree Celsius (-193 °F) conditions. When this happens, it creates a blue illuminating display of wispy clouds shortly after sunset called noctilucent clouds.

These fascinating clouds were first witnessed roughly two years after the eruption of Krakatoa in the 1880s. However, in 2006, scientists were able to answer the questions about their nature and formation.

Recently, a new mystery has sprung up about the persistence of the noctilucent clouds during the 2018 summer season. They are observed every year and have followed an expected routine—beginning their formation in May, intensifying in June, and dissipating by late July. It came as a shock to sky watchers across the northern hemisphere to see these spectacular night lights intensify in July and stick around long into August.

By using data from NASA’s satellite-based Microwave Limb Sounder, researchers from the University of Colorado realized that an increase in moisture is the cause of the prolonged effects of the noctilucent clouds. We do not know why there is an increase in moisture.

However, some theories are already in place. One involves an early entry into the solar minimum (originally expected in 2020), which may be associated with the coldest and wettest years in the mesosphere. Another possible explanation is planetary wave action in the southern hemisphere which causes more moisture in the northern atmosphere than one would usually expect.^[5]

5 The Puzzling Hexagonal Vortex Of Saturn

Analyzing data from the Cassini-Huygens mission that reached Saturn in 2004 and ended in 2017, researchers observed a strange hexagonal vortex forming at Saturn’s north pole as the northern hemisphere entered summertime. This vortex towered hundreds of kilometers above the clouds in the stratosphere.

In the 1980s, NASA’s Voyager spacecraft had discovered a hexagonal vortex much lower in the planet’s atmosphere, but they were astonished by the Cassini-Huygens finding. Leigh Fletcher of the University of Leicester explained:

While we did expect to see a vortex of some kind at Saturn’s north pole as it grew warmer, its shape is really surprising. Either a hexagon has spawned spontaneously and identically at two different altitudes, one lower in the clouds and one high in the stratosphere, or the hexagon is in fact a towering structure spanning a vertical range of several hundred kilometers.

A process called evanescence is one way for wave information to push up into the stratosphere, although its strength decays with height. According to our understanding of atmospheric sciences, however, a hexagonal vortex should not be able to push past the lower altitude clouds as wind directions change with higher altitudes.

Cracking the case on this geometric mystery will help scientists understand the transportation of energy around planets by grasping how the higher atmosphere is affected by the lower-altitude environment.

The Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS) used on the Cassini-Huygens mission also revealed that Saturn’s poles exhibit surprisingly different behaviors. The south pole displays a vastly more mature circular vortex during the southern summer. This could indicate that Saturn’s northern vortex will continue to mature. Alternatively, Saturn may have asymmetrical poles that are yet to be understood.^[6]

4 The Missing Dark Matter

A team of scientists led by Pieter van Dokkum has discovered a galaxy named NGC1052-DF2 that appears to be lacking dark matter. This has astronomers scratching their heads because the absence of dark matter in this galaxy would confirm that the substance exists as well as produce doubts about our current understanding as to how a galaxy is created.

Our modern understanding is that galaxies are created from a halo of dark matter. Without dark matter, a galaxy should not be able to form.

The team was able to get a closer look and determine the mass of NGC1052-DF2, located 65 million light-years away, by tracking 10 embedded star clusters with the Dragonfly Telephoto Array. They found that the mass of NGC1052-DF2 was almost equal to the total mass expected from the stars (visible matter) within it. Also, the mass of NGC1052-DF2 is only 0.5 percent of the mass of our Milky Way galaxy.^[7]

Some have suggested that dark matter may not exist and that we need to modify our understanding of gravity. However, alternate theories of gravity still have something that mimics dark matter on a galactic scale. In fact, it should always be there.

So, van Dokkum argues that if an alternate law of gravity applies to one galaxy, then that law should affect all galaxies in the same way. As a result, every galaxy should look like it has dark matter (even if it doesn’t) because the mimicking factor would always be there.

That leads us to van Dokkum’s paradoxical conclusion. If all galaxies should look like they have dark matter (even if it’s really something else), then the inability to detect dark matter in galaxy NGC1052-DF2 proves that dark matter is real. Scientists are still debating this issue vigorously.

3 The Deep Space Flashing Light

When astronomers were searching the depths of space to determine what comprises the 80 percent of the universe we can’t see, they stumbled across something unexpected. Seventy-two intense bursts of light were monitored from the Cerro Tololo International Observatory in Chile by Miika Pursiainen and his team.

The hot bursts of light were measured as being 300 million kilometers (186 million mi) to 15 billion kilometers (9 billion mi) across. They also had brightness that one would expect from a supernova, although they did not have the duration.

According to one theory, this event occurred due to a complication in the development of a Type II supernova. A Type II supernova happens when a star blows off its outer shell of gas after a buildup of heavy elements in the star’s core causes it to collapse in on itself.

This complication is currently being researched by the Australian National University. It has been named a fast-evolving luminous transient (FELT), which occurs when a star develops gas bubbles during the early stages of the collapse. When the star goes supernova, these gas bubbles explode due to the superheating effect. This is still a working theory, and only time will give us any definitive answers.^[8]

2 Strange Infrared Light Emitting From A Pulsar

RX J0806.4-4123 is one of “The Magnificent Seven,” a group of X-ray pulsars located within 3,300 light-years from Earth. These pulsars are hotter and slower than astronomers would expect for their age.

RX J0806.4-4123 is emitting a strange infrared light that is completely new to scientists. When an international group of astronomers observed the pulsar with the Hubble Space Telescope, they noticed the extended area of roughly 29 billion kilometers (18 billion mi) of infrared light emitting from the pulsar.

Obviously, something more is going on with this neutron star as the infrared emissions are greater than the star alone can produce. So, what is the source of the energy? Scientists have proposed at least two theories: a fallback disk or a pulsar wind nebula.^[9]

A fallback disk is a large disk of dust that formed around the neutron star after its explosion. Although such a disk has never been observed, researchers have hypothesized its existence.

It would explain the higher temperature and slower rotation of the star as well as the amount of energy needed to emit so much infrared light. A confirmation of the fallback disk would be a huge leap forward in our understanding of the formation of neutron stars.

Now let’s examine the pulsar wind nebula theory. The fast rotation of a neutron star with a strong magnetic field creates an electric field. In turn, when particles are accelerated in this field, a pulsar wind may be produced. Infrared emissions would then be emitted by shocked particles created when the neutron star travels at faster than the speed of sound through the interstellar medium.

However, the existence of an infrared-only pulsar wind nebula would be extraordinary.

1 The Bird In The Child’s Mouth

Fifty years ago, the remains of a young child were found in Tunel Wielki Cave in the Saspowska Valley in Poland. The child’s gender is unknown, but the skull of a bird was in the youngster’s mouth and another was by the child’s cheek.

Although the discovery was peculiar, the bones were almost immediately boxed and put into storage without being properly examined and assessed. The findings went unpublished except for a single photograph in a 1980s book by Professor Waldemar Chmielewski, the man who originally discovered the skeleton.

Anthropologists don’t know why the child was buried about 200 years ago in this manner or location. The only other human remains found in the cave were at least 4,000 years old.

The mystery doesn’t stop there. Although the University of Warsaw has bones from the youngster’s body, it does not have the child’s skull. In fact, it is missing. It was sent to anthropologists in Wroclaw after the excavation, but no one seems to know where the skull is now.^[10]

Much of Australia’s history before the arrival of Europeans is unknown because of the lack of written records that allow us to understand early cultures from other areas like Africa and Asia. However, this hasn’t stopped researchers from uncovering the secrets of Australia’s distant past.

10The Aboriginal-Amazon Link

The Aboriginal tribes of Australia are some of the oldest cultures in the world, but it has been something a mystery as to how they got to Australia in the first place. In 2014, researchers ran tests on the genomes of various South and Central American tribes and found that a few Amazonian tribes were more closely related to the Aboriginals in Australia than any of the Eurasian cultures other tribes descended from.

Due to the distance between the Amazon and Australia, this seems almost impossible, but the situation can be explained by humanity’s greatest migration when different cultures crossed the land bridge that once spanned the Bering Strait. It seems that a single group split, with one portion heading to South America and the other to Australia. As the continents continued to shift, the two tribes were divided by an ocean.

9Australia’s Stonehenge

Stonehenge in England remains a celebrated prehistoric site, but several similar sites have been found around the world, with one being near Mullumbimb in the northern area of New South Wales. The site was originally discovered in 1939. It was damaged quite badly during the 1940s; because of this, the location of the site has been a secret to prevent further damage.

Dating back to the Paleolithic era, it is one of the oldest standing stone structures in the world. The 181 sandstones stones could not have occurred naturally, and the nearest sandstone quarry is nearly 20 kilomers (12 mi) away. Inscriptions on the stones could also prove to be one of the oldest human languages ever discovered, and lost letters recently rediscovered show that that the original discoverer translated around 28,000 of the language’s words.

8Ancient Trade Between Australia And China

Before Europeans explored and settled Australia in the 17th century, many thought the aboriginals were isolated from other cultures, but various discoveries change that view. In 2014, an archaeology group known as Past Masters uncovered a surprising find at a remote island in Australia’s Northern Territories: an 18th-century Chinese coin from the Qing Dynasty. While this was most likely from trade between the Chinese and nearby Indonesians in the 1940s, a thousand-year-old coin minted in East Africa shows just how extensive trade was in the Indian Ocean.

Chinese merchants likely traded with the Northern Australians for their sea cucumbers, which were considered a delicacy. Further proof of Chinese contact with the Aboriginals comes from oral histories that speak of Chinese visitors and an Aborigine practice of using Chinese coins while fishing.

7The World’s Oldest Axe

In the 1990s, a small rock fragment about the size of a thumbnail was discovered in Western Australia. It was quickly forgotten but was re-examined and was discovered to be a fragment from an ancient axe 46,000–49,000 years old. This would make the axe fragment the oldest axe ever discovered and shows that the Aboriginals were on the cutting-edge of prehistoric technology. Though just a piece of a larger tool, there is enough to give a good idea of what the axe may have looked like.

6Boomerang Attacks

Eight hundred years ago, a man now known as Kaakutja died when a deadly blunt object struck his forehead. Recently, Kaakutja was found very well preserved in New South Wales, shedding light on Aboriginal conflicts of the time.

Fighting was a major part of Kaakutja’s life: He had two other head injuries that had partially healed. The wound that killed him was a 15-centimeter (6 in) gash across his head that resulted from being hit by the sharp edge of a wooden boomerang. Boomerangs were long used by Aborigine tribes. As for its effectiveness, Kaakutja serves as a chilling example.

There is very little knowledge of Aborigine conflicts in the past, but Kaakutja at least sheds some light as to certain tribes’ vicious, lethal tactics.

5The Aboriginals And The Rising Seas

Between 18,000 and 7,000 years ago, sea levels rose nearly 120 meters (400 ft). The only culture that documented this was the Aboriginals of Australia, who faithfully kept up an oral tradition for over 300 generations about the rising seas. This is a remarkable feat for a culture who had no written histories, since oral traditions rarely remain relevant after 800 years.

The Aboriginals used a unique cross-generational cross-checking process that allowed stories to be kept accurately over multiple generations. There are some 21 indigenous stories about the rising water levels that range from one tribe describing the loss of their hunting grounds to allegories about angering an ancestral being who subsequently swallowed their lands.

4The Aborigine Disaster Legends

As further evidence of remarkable Aborigine oral traditions, legends concerning catastrophic events have proven effective in allowing modern-day researchers to discover disasters throughout Australia. One example is the Henbury meteorite field. It wasn’t found until 1899 and wasn’t recognized as impact sites until 1931, but the Aboriginals near the site maintained legends warning others about the “fire devil“ who struck there over 4,700 years ago.

Throughout the 20th century, Aborigines would tell their local legends of fire devils to visitors, and because of the living memory of the meteorites at Henbury, increased attention is now being paid to the local myths when trying to document the past.

Another example is the Gunditjmara people in Victoria, who have passed down a legend of a massive flood in the area. When the area was tested in 2015 for an ancient tsunami, sediments in the soil indicated that one occurred thousands of years ago just as described by the legend.

3Australia’s Oldest Aboriginal Art

The Aboriginals have a long tradition of art, with sites dating back thousands of years. In the Northern Territory, ancient Aborigine art was discovered in a rock shelter known as Nawarla Gabarnmang in 2011. The artwork is over 28,000 years old, making it the oldest known cave art in Australia and some of the oldest in the world. However, another site containing ancient rock art located in the Kimberley in Western Australia could prove to be thousands of years older still.

The oldest proven art in the Kimberley region dates back 17,500 years ago, but this number is disputed as newer scientific methods have been discovered to date the art. Starting in February 2016 and using newer uranium-series dating, researchers hope to find the true age of the Kimberley art, which could be almost 50,000 years, making the Aboriginal art some of the oldest continuous records in history.

2The Kimberley Mega-Drought

While work is being done on the true age of the Kimberley cave art, other, more recent Aboriginal art from the region serves as evidence for a disastrous event that completely changed the landscape of Western Australia.

Sometime around 17,000 years ago, the Gwion people appeared but disappeared a few thousand years later and were replaced by the Wandjina. To find what happened to the Gwion, researchers looked into the pollen record of the area and found that 6,300 years ago, pollen dramatically changed, showing that the area went from a lush landscape to the scrubby, arid conditions present today.

In addition, sediments show a large increase in dust, indicating that a mega-drought occurred around the same time the Gwion disappeared. This mega-drought severely impacted the local tribes of the region, causing them to alter their behaviors; however, they didn’t leave the area, as stone tools show that it was continuously occupied.

1The World’s Oldest Civilization

The Aboriginals have long been overlooked by historians when it comes to the distant past, but a DNA study shows that the Aborigines of Australia make up the world’s oldest civilization. Ancestors can be traced back over 75,000 years.

Humans began to migrate from Africa at this time, and the ancestors of the Aboriginals split from other Eurasians 57,000 years ago, finally settling in Australia around 31,000 years ago after splitting with the Papuans who now occupy Papua New Guinea. Finally, the Aboriginals were left alone in Australia when the continent broke off around 10,000 years ago.

Gordon Gora is a struggling author who is desperately trying to make it. He is working on several projects but until he finishes one, he will write for for his bread and butter. You can write him at [email protected].

Some approaches to Biblical archaeology can be controversial: Rather than analyzing material evidence in an objective way, many archaeologists involved in this field have been accused of “forcing” the evidence to fit predetermined notions derived from a desire to “confirm” the veracity of the Bible. Archaeologists cannot “prove” that the Bible is “true;” all they can do is to uncover and interpret materials the best they can. Many of the discoveries they make seem to be consistent with Biblical accounts.

10 The Biblical Flood

Many scholars have argued that the source of Biblical Flood story was most likely a great and destructive flood that affected the region of Mesopotamia. If so, then the proportions of such a flood were enhanced by the imagination of the authors of the story.

During the 1928–1929 excavation season in southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq), British archaeologist Leonard Woolley uncovered 3 meters (10 ft) of waterborne sediment in the ancient city of Ur. Woolley interpreted this as evidence of the biblical flood. The layer was dated to 4000 to 3500 BC. Similar evidence has been found at many other sites in the region, but not all of them are consistent with the dates of the layer found by Woolley.

Flooding in the Mesopotamian river basin was a frequent phenomenon. Although there is no archaeological evidence in favor of a flood of planetary proportions, there is general support for a catastrophic flood (or several) in Mesopotamia during the dawn of history. These floods could well be the inspiration for the many flood stories in the Mesopotamian tradition and also the Biblical Flood.

9 Abraham’s Genealogy

Abraham’s story begins with him and his family living in the Mesopotamian city of Ur, where he begins his journey to Canaan. In the second half of Genesis 11, we have a detailed account of Abraham’s family tree, mentioning dozens of names. During excavations at Mari, an ancient city on the Euphrates in present-day Syria, an impressive royal palace was discovered, which yielded thousands of inscribed tablets that were once part of a proud royal archive.

Modern estimations on Abraham’s chronology fall somewhere between 2000 and 1500 BC: The archive found at Mari was in use from around 2300 to 1760 BC, and the names on these tablets show that the names in Abraham’s genealogy were in use in this area during this time. This find does not confirm the validity of Abraham’s family tree, but it suggests that the story might not have been a purely fictional creation.

8 Abraham’s Handmaiden

Genesis 16 tells us that Abraham’s wife, Sarai, could not bear children. She agreed that Abraham could take a second wife to beget a son: their Egyptian handmaiden named Hagar. This practice is attested to in many texts found by archaeologists. The Alalakh Texts (18th century BC) and even the Code of Hammurabi all agree that procuring a son in this way was an accepted custom.

The Nuzi Tablets are a group of texts particularly relevant to this episode. Dated to the second half of the 15th century BC, they were retrieved from an ancient Hurrian site in present-day Iraq. These texts mention that a sterile wife could provide a slave girl to her husband in order to beget a son. In ancient times, infertility was almost always attributed to sterile women; ancient sources rarely blame the man when it comes to this issue.

7 City Of Sodom

Genesis 19 describes the destruction of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah as a result of the deviant behavior and sins of their inhabitants. A group of archaeologists believes they’ve uncovered the ruins of the ancient city of Sodom, located in Tall el Hammam, east of the Jordan river. The dates of the site are consistent with the early historical period of the Bible. The city is estimated to have been occupied between 3500 and 1540 BC.

The site is considerably larger compared to other sites in the region. Its location isn’t the only reason why it seems to be the ancient city of Sodom. Archaeologists believe that the city was abandoned suddenly toward the end of the Middle Bronze Age, which fits the Biblical picture of Sodom being suddenly destroyed.

6 Ketef Hinnom Amulets

The Ketef Hinnom site is composed of a series of rock-hewn burial chambers, located southwest of Jerusalem’s Old City, on the road to Bethlehem. In 1979, archaeologists made an important discovery: two silver plates rolled together with text written on them in Old Hebrew. These items are believed to have been used as amulets and were dated to the seventh century BC.

The texts on these amulets are a passage of the Hebrew Bible, Numbers 6: 24-26. This is an important passage of the Book of Numbers known as the Priestly Benediction:

The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn His face toward you and give you peace.

The inscriptions on the Ketef Hinnom Amulets, now displayed at the Israel Museum, are considered the oldest Biblical text yet discovered.

5 Deir ‘Alla Inscription

During the Exodus, the Israelites passed through the Sinai Peninsula into Transjordania and came in touch with the kingdoms of Edom and Moab. In Numbers 22, there is an account where the king of Moab, distressed by the presence of the Israelites, requests a prophet named Balaam to curse the people of Israel.

About 8 kilometers (5 mi) from the Jordan river, a late sanctuary dated to the Bronze Age was excavated. This site is known as Deir ‘Alla. An ancient Aramaic inscription has been retrieved from the site, containing the prophetic curse of Balaam.

The inscription describes a divine vision anticipating the destruction and punishment of the “Malevolent Gods.” It also employs the expression “Shaddai gods,” which resembles the Biblical El Shaddai, “God Almighty.” The title mentioned in the text reads, “The misfortunes of the Book of Balaam, son of Beor.”

4 Samaritan Captivity

Samaria fell to the Assyrians in 722 BC. Assyrian records claim that King Sargon II captured 27,290 prisoners and took them into exile to different locations, including Halah and Habor and other places under Assyrian control.

This account is confirmed in 2 Kings 17.6 and further supported by material evidence. At these Mesopotamian sites, archaeologists have unearthed examples of ostraca (pottery fragments with writing on their surface) listing Israelite names.

3 Assyrian Invasion

In 701 BC, the Assyrian king Sennacherib invaded Judah. Many cities fell to the invading army, including the southern city of Lachish mentioned in 2 Kings 18.13-17. After a siege, the city was captured by the Assyrians, and several archaeological finds are consistent with this event.

At the site of Lachish, archaeologists have uncovered arrowheads, a siege ramp, a counter-ramp, the crest of a helmet, and a chain used by the defenders against the siege ram. At the site of the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh (northern Iraq), a relief sculpture depicting the capture of Lachish was retrieved from the palace of Sennacherib and is currently displayed in the British Museum.

2 End Of The Babylonian Exile

When the Persian ruler Cyrus the Great captured Babylon in 539 BC, he ordered the liberation of the Jews and other groups who remained in captivity. This historical episode is described in the Book of Ezra, and there are other historical documents consistent with Cyrus’s policy to allow many inhabitants of Babylon to return to their homeland.

One of the most famous of these documents is the Cyrus Cylinder, a small clay cylinder written in cuneiform script dated to the conquest of Cyrus, currently displayed at the British Museum. One of its passages reads:

I returned the images of the gods, who had resided there, to their places and I let them dwell in eternal abodes. I gathered all their inhabitants and returned to them their dwellings.

Other documents retrieved by archaeologists also contain many Jewish names from those families who chose to remain in Mesopotamia after they were set free. The Murashu texts, for example, list roughly 100 Jewish names who prospered in Mesopotamia shortly after the time of Cyrus.

1 Herod’s Palace

Traces of the ambitious building projects driven by Herod the Great have been found all over Palestine. The suspected remains of King Herod’s palace have been discovered during the excavation of an abandoned building in Jerusalem’s Old City, not far from the Tower of David Museum.

The significance of this find is that some archaeologists believe this was the setting of one of the most important chapters of the gospels. It is where the trial of Jesus took place and where the Roman procurator Pontius Pilate sentenced Jesus to death.

One culture’s trash is another one’s treasure. That’s the belief held by scientists who practice garbology, the study of trash. Garbage is something that all civilizations create.

By studying the waste left behind, scholars have been able to make some interesting discoveries regarding our ancestors. While garbology is unlikely to yield any priceless artifacts, many archaeologists feel that it offers the most genuine glimpse into the day-to-day life of older cultures.

10 Ancient Dolphin Hunters

The term for an old dumpsite of domestic waste is “midden.” After studying a 6,000-year-old midden on Pedro Gonzalez Island off the coast of Panama, archaeologists discovered that the island’s first inhabitants were dolphin eaters. This discovery marks a first for a Central American civilization, although similar practices have been encountered in Japan and Mexico.

Although 8 percent of the mammal waste found in the midden was from dolphins, archaeologists are still trying to determine if the islanders were hunters or simply scavengers who targeted beached animals. So far, archaeologists have been unable to find any spears or nets, although one dolphin skull had a puncture wound from a blunt object.

Archaeologist Richard Cooke speculated that the islanders could have taken advantage of the U-shaped entrance to the Gulf of Panama and “herded” dolphins onto the beach using canoes.

9 World’s Oldest Turtle Shells

Poking around a landfill near the Polish town of Poreba, paleobiologist Tomasz Sulej stumbled upon the oldest turtle fossil in the world. The 215-million-year-old shell is not only noteworthy for its age but also for the excellent condition in which it was found.

The region containing the dumpsite has been called the Polish Jurassic Highland thanks to its impressive number of fossils from that time period. Scientists have recovered hundreds of fossils there belonging to dinosaurs, fish, and turtles, including two completely new species of dinosaur and turtle, respectively.

Scientists are hopeful that these new turtle finds will help us piece together the still-elusive origins of this ancient reptile. The fossils included intact shells along with pieces of vertebrae and limbs. The next goal for Sulej is to find a skull.

8 Historical Terraforming

Artificial islands are a common sight nowadays, particularly in Dubai and China. However, the Calusa tribe was doing something similar in Florida hundreds of years ago.

The Calusa were known to be avid shell collectors. Over time, their favorite pastime led to giant middens made of countless discarded shells. While studying Mound Key, one such midden comprised of hundreds of millions of shells, anthropologists made an interesting discovery—the Calusa were purposely moving shell middens together to create an artificial island in Estero Bay.

While performing radiocarbon dating tests on the midden’s core, scientists found that the composition wasn’t getting older as they went deeper, as would be normal in a midden. Instead, they found older material on top of newer waste which led them to conclude that the Calusa deposited older middens on top of the mound to alter the landscape.

7 Archaic Dog Burials

The Indian Knoll in Kentucky is one of the largest shell middens in the United States. Since its discovery in 1915, archaeologists have recovered over 50,000 artifacts including weapons, tools, bannerstones, jewelry, animal bones, and over 1,200 people who were buried at the site.

Most of the artifacts come from the Late Archaic period between 3000 BC and 1000 BC. This region in the Ohio Valley has always been bountiful, so many settlers and nomads came through the area, leading to the eventual formation of the midden over thousands of years.

The most interesting aspect of Indian Knoll is the presence of dog burials. So far, 23 prehistoric dogs were recovered from the midden, showing that humans and dogs enjoyed a unique partnership even 5,000 years ago. Some of the dogs were buried alone, while others were buried alongside their masters.

6 George Washington’s Personal Garbage Dump

Mount Vernon, George Washington’s plantation house in Virginia, remains one of the most notable historic landmarks of early America. One of the biggest troves of information regarding the first president of the United States turned out to be a trash pile in the yard next to the house.

Known as the South Grove Midden, this garbage dump was a creation of convenience. A depression in the yard was close enough to the mansion and the kitchen that it became the most accessible spot to throw away household-related refuse.

Most of the dated items recovered from the midden were dumped there between 1735 and 1765. This was when Washington’s father, Augustine, was in charge of the household, then his half-brother Lawrence, and finally, George himself.

Archaeologists have recovered hundreds of items belonging to George Washington and his family that were typical of an 18th-century wealthy family (and their slaves): broken tableware, food scraps, cups, pipes, bottles, decorations, clothing accessories, chamber pots, and coins.

5 Mysterious Amazonian Civilization

Several recently discovered middens in the Bolivian savanna called Llanos de Moxos have provided signs for the existence of the earliest known humans in the western Amazon, dating all the way back to the early Holocene Epoch. Hunter-gatherers settled in the region 10,000 years ago and left behind middens containing bone tools, bits of pottery, burnt earth fragments, and pieces of human skulls.

Seasonal floods kept the middens hidden until now as they were constantly reburied under alluvial sediments. This has led scientists to speculate that there are likely more middens and other preserved hunter-gatherer sites in the area yet to be discovered.

So far, the earliest signs of human activity in the area belonged to the pre-Columbian “Earthmovers” of the late Holocene, but these new discoveries have pushed back the date by thousands of years.

4 Prehistoric Sea Lion

New Zealand was once home to a newly discovered species of sea lion. According to researchers at the University of Otago, it disappeared in a rare extinction-replacement event in which it was replaced with the modern-day New Zealand sea lion.

This challenges previously held beliefs that the current sea lion is merely a remnant from a once-thriving population. New evidence suggests that the now-extinct sea lion dominated the southwestern Pacific region and prevented the other species from expanding from the subantarctic region. This all changed 500–700 years ago when the first Polynesians began settling in the region and started hunting the sea lion to extinction.

Researchers based their findings on sea lion remains found in several middens which suggested that the animal was an important resource for early settlers.

3 America’s First Chocolate Drink

A thousand years ago, Pueblo Bonito was one of the largest pueblos in North America. Due to its size, it also created massive trash heaps which turned out to be a huge boon for modern-day archaeologists. So far, excavations of the middens near Pueblo Bonito have yielded over 200,000 artifacts. The most intriguing were clay jars which looked unlike any other Pueblo pottery and have divided experts over their manufacture and purpose.

Anthropologist Patricia Crown found proof that the mysterious cylinders were used for drinking chocolate. Using mass spectrometry and liquid chromatography, scientists examined shards of the jars and found traces of a cacao biomarker called theobromine.

Since cacao trees were almost 2,000 kilometers (1,200 mi) away, the chocolate was evidence of an extensive trading network that also helped to bring maize, corn, and beans to Southwest America. Given the rarity of the ingredients, experts believe that the jars were only used by the elite or during important rituals. Researchers hope the answer still awaits them hidden in the midden.

2 Wine Of The Negev

Around 1,400 years ago, the Negev region in modern-day Israel was renowned for its wine, which was noted in historical documents as the finest wine in the Byzantine Empire. Sadly, the ancient vine was lost centuries ago and all modern Negev wine comes from European varieties. Fortunately for oenophiles everywhere, researchers at the University of Haifa recently discovered discarded charred grape seeds in middens near the ancient city of Halutza.

By examining other items found in the trash piles like coins and pottery, archaeologists were able to date the grape seeds to the sixth and seventh centuries AD, a time when the city was thriving and Negev wine was the talk of the world. Researchers remain hopeful that the seeds were native to the region and can be used to reproduce the taste and bring back the true wine of the Negev.

1 Ichthyosaur-Eating Giant Kraken

One of the most puzzling middens ever found comes from Nevada and is 228 million years old. It consists mostly of ichthyosaur fossils belonging to at least nine specimens arranged in an unnatural manner. Paleontologist Mark McMenamin offers an explanation for the source of the prehistoric midden—a giant kraken.

According to his hypothesis, the squid-like creatures were around 30 meters (98 ft) long so that they could prey on the ichthyosaurs, which could reach around half that size. McMenamin rejects previous attempts at explaining the midden as a natural phenomenon. He argues that different levels of exposure to seawater suggest that the animals didn’t die all at once.

McMenamin attributes the odd arrangement of bones to the kraken’s propensity for picking up items and rearranging its environment, a trait shared by modern cephalopods. Suffice it to say that others disagree with McMenamin’s hypothesis, and the ichthyosaur midden remains a mystery.

Contemporary science is a hotbed of cutting-edge research. Astronomers across the globe have marveled at the first photographic evidence of a black hole. An unconventional in vitro fertilization (IVF) technique has come under fire from medical professionals.

Elsewhere, scientists from Japan have fired explosives at an asteroid, and in Germany, they have discovered a prehistoric molecule from the early years of universe. Setting aside the negative headlines—like the Israeli spacecraft that crash-landed on the Moon or the Indian missile test that might have endangered the International Space Station—here are ten of the most fascinating breakthroughs to have made recent headlines.

10 Astronomers Have Bombed An Asteroid

A group of Japanese astronomers has decided to bomb the asteroid Ryugu, hoping it can answer some fundamental questions about the origins of life on Earth. A cone-shaped instrument known as a “small carry-on impact” was sent hurtling into the asteroid, where it blasted out a crater using a baseball-sized wad of copper explosives.

The device was fired from the Hayabusa 2 spacecraft—a pioneering exploration mission operated by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. The spacecraft will head back to Ryugu at a later date to collect samples from beneath the asteroid’s surface that been uncovered in the blast.

Researchers predict there is a wealth of organic material and water from the birth of the solar system preserved underground in the asteroid. By analyzing the samples from Hayabusa 2, they hope to gain a clearer understanding of the early stages of the solar system and of life on Earth.^[1]

9 Can We Taste Smells?

It seems our tongues might be more capable than we originally realized. A research team from Philadelphia has suggested that receptor cells in the tongue are able to detect odors and smells. Their work is prompting experts to reassess whether taste and smell are combined by the brain alone or if there is some level of association between the two signals.

The group, whose findings were published in the journal Chemical Senses, began by experimenting on receptors in genetically modified mice. Following this, they moved onto cells in humans, which displayed similar properties to the mice and were found to respond to aromatic compounds.

For now, it is far too early to draw any concrete conclusion, but with further development, these ideas may be applied to persuade people to eat a healthier diet. Dr. Mehmet Hakan Ozdener, a specialist at the Monell Chemical Senses Center, has suggested that mildly altering the scent of some foods could reduce sugar intake.^[2]

8 Molecule Detected From The ‘Dawn Of Chemistry’

After decades of scouring the cosmos, experts have successfully detected the compound helium hydride, thought to be the first molecule formed in the history of the universe. Due to the obstructive effects of the Earth’s atmosphere, researchers decided to take to the skies to make their landmark discovery. The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, an airborne observatory built into a modified Boeing 747, was able to pick up infrared signals emanating from the prehistoric molecule.

In a period dubbed the “dawn of chemistry,” around 100,000 years after the Big Bang, the universe had cooled to a low enough temperature that particles began to interact and coalesce. In this era, when light atoms and molecules first came into being, it was helium hydride that paved the way for far more intricate interstellar structures to come. By continuing to investigate the elusive molecule, researchers are able to explore the expansion of the universe in its nascent stages.^[3]

7 New Species Of Primitive Human Discovered

Another strand has been added to the history of human evolution. Remnants of an extinct relative have been found in Callao Cave on the island of Luzon in the Philippines. The primitive species, known as Homo luzonensis, is said to have resembled modern humans in some respects but in others was closer to our ancient ape-like ancestors. On top of that, they are thought to have been competent climbers, as indicated by the curved bones in their fingers and toes.

The discovery poses a number of questions about the long and complex history of our species. With only 13 teeth and bones on which to base their hypotheses, experts remain in the dark as to how Homo luzonensis came to be on the island in the first place. Furthermore, the species’ features suggest that our ancient ancestors made the journey out of Africa to Southeast Asia, an idea which contradicts current historical theories.^[4]

6 Pig Brain Revived After Death

The zombie pigs are said to be among us. A team of neuroscientists from the Yale University School of Medicine have demonstrated that, in part, it is possible to revive a pig’s brain hours after death. Their pioneering new system, BrainEx, has restored a number of basic functions to over 30 dead brains, such as the ability to absorb sugars and oxygen. (The left picture above shows a dead brain, and the right shows a partially reactivated brain.)

The technology involved in BrainEx sends an oxygen-rich solution pulsing through the pig’s grey matter. This fluid partially revives the cells for a maximum of six hours, while also slowing down the process of deterioration after death. However, the brains are, by definition, still dead; there is no evidence of consciousness being reinstated.

This highly advanced research presents an ethical quandary over whether it is correct to experiment on semi-living beings. The National Institute of Health has been discussing the implications of BrainEx since 2016 via their Neuroethics Working Group and are wary of the possible consequences of using similar technology on humans.^[5]

5 Scientists Create Transparent Organs

Organ transplants may soon become a thing of the past. For years, scientists have strove to create fully functioning artificial organs to address the significant dearth of donors. The dream is now one step closer, courtesy of Dr. Ali Erturk and his colleagues at the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich.

The team has successfully developed a technique to fashion transparent human organs, with an aim to further understand their elaborate inner structures. Organic solvents are used to remove fats and pigments without disturbing any of the tissue underneath. The uncovered organs can be explored in intricate detail using a laser scanner, which allows scientists to build up a complete structural image of the body part.

Erturk is confident that, as technology improves, these scans can be used as blueprints to produce 3-D bioprinted replica organs. The team hopes to have constructed a 3-D printed kidney by 2025.^[6]

4 Obesity-Resistant Genes Discovered

The link between genetics and body mass has been known for many years, but now scientists at Cambridge University have identified exactly which genes keep people slim. Around four million people in Britain, six percent of the population with European ancestry, have a specific DNA coding that prevents them from gaining large amounts of weight.

Previous studies discovered that the gene MC4R controls a protein known as melanocortin 4, a brain receptor associated with appetite. Participants in this experiment with a specific strand of MC4R displayed more restraint in their appetites, making them far less likely to suffer from obesity or type 2 diabetes. This deepened understanding of genetics opens up the possibility of a slimming medication to combat rising levels of obesity.^[7]

3 Memory Loss Reversed

By stimulating the brain with electrical pulses, scientists are able to temporarily offset the debilitating effects of memory loss. With age, vital cognitive networks in the brain begin to lose their synchronicity. This leads to the deterioration of the working memory—the short-term processing system that plays a key role in tasks like facial recognition and arithmetic.

Now, neuroscientists at Boston University have found that noninvasive electrical stimulation appears to improve the connection between these networks. The researchers reported that a study group of 60- to 76-year-olds performed significantly better in a series of working memory tasks after around half an hour of pulse treatment. Those with the most pronounced memory issues showed the biggest improvements.

Further clinical trials are needed to determine whether this stimulation is a viable method for combating memory loss or dementia.^[8]

2 Baby Born With DNA From Three People

In a breakthrough moment for in vitro fertilization, a baby has been born in Greece with DNA from three different people. The newborn boy was conceived using the mitochondrial donation technique, in which the intracellular structure of the mother’s egg is modified slightly using a second donor egg. During the technique, the mitochondria—tiny, floating structures that provide power to the cell—from the mother’s egg are replaced by that of a donor. While the vast majority of the baby’s genetic material has been passed down from his parents, an extremely small amount of his DNA—around 0.2 percent—originates from the donor.

Doctors claim this is the first time that mitochondrial donation has been applied to combat fertility issues. Spanish embryologist Nuno Costa-Borges has labeled the healthy birth a “revolution in assisted reproduction” and claims that it has the potential to help a multitude of would-be mothers in the future.

However, critics of the treatment are warning women to proceed with caution. Reproductive expert Tim Child has explained how little is known about the risks or benefits of the technique, dismissing Costa-Borges’s claims as unfounded in evidence.^[9]

1 First image Of A Black Hole

For the past century, the only evidence astrophysicists have had for the existence of black holes has been scientific theories and indirect observations. The cosmic giants have a gravitational attraction so powerful that nothing can escape their immense pull, and their existence has been incredibly challenging to verify. And yet, in spite of the major difficulties, scientists have managed to generate an image of one.

The picture in question is of the fiery disk of accreted gas surrounding the black hole at the core of the Messier 87 galaxy. With a diameter of 38 billion kilometers (23.6 million mi), the active supermassive colossus lurks 55 million light-years from our planet. The black hole itself is impossible to literally “see,” but the dark area at the center of the ring corresponds to its shadow.

To capture the image, a task described by leading astrophysicist France Cordova as “Herculean,” scientists deployed the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), a global network of high-precision radio telescopes.^[10] This Herculean task required a Herculean amount of data, so much that it was impossible to transfer over the Internet. Instead, half a ton of hard drives had to be flown to a central location, where the readings were combined using state-of-the-art processing techniques.

The image appears to verify the first predictions of black holes made by Einstein’s general theory of relativity, which addresses the distortion of space and time caused by immense, massive objects. The EHT researchers now have their sights on Sagittarius A—the supermassive beast at the heart of the Milky Way.

They buzz, hop, and make noises in the night. It is hard to miss the presence of insects. But for most, these creatures cannot compete with things like good food, disease, and global conflict.

Surprisingly, insects play a part in all of those. Scientists are making bug-stuffed cuisine and have found that insects could save us all from super microbes. Most creepy of all, the military has claimed its own insect army for national security.

10 Bugpocalypse

In recent times, media outlets claimed that insects will be extinct within the century. Scientists do not believe such a “bugpocalypse” is possible. When a species is lost, others usually take over its ecological niche.

However, experts agree that insects are being lost at an alarming rate. Worse, the exact causes are unknown. The usual suspects are insecticides, agricultural expansion, and climate change.

Not only are the danger factors complex, but nobody is sure how many insect species there are. An estimated 80 percent have not yet been recorded by taxonomists. There are likely millions.

Although the “bugpocalypse” is not a consideration, researchers have not played down the seriousness of the species being lost. In the next few decades, up to 40 percent of insect species could disappear.^[1]

Nearly every food chain begins with an herbivorous insect, which in turn is eaten by a bigger insect, which is then consumed by birds and small mammals that make the lunch of larger predators. The loss of so many insects would be catastrophic to other species and agriculture.

9 Pseudo-Penises

In 2014, scientists discovered gender benders in Brazil. The females of the genus Neotrogla, a type of insect known as book lice, laid eggs like bug mothers tend to do. However, they also had phallus-type organs. Not just for show, either. During mating, the females used the hooked appendage to keep males from escaping. Ironically, the males had a female-looking pocket for genitalia.

Although other species have females with penis-like structures, none are used for penetration. This makes Neotrogla exceptional. Even more amazing, a related insect genus called Afrotrogla swings the same way.

Although they share a unique trait, there are differences. Afrotrogla lives in southern Africa, not Brazil, and their functional penises look nothing like those of Neotrogla.^[2]

The reason might never be known, but there is a strong clue why they broke the gender mold of nearly all other species. Both live in caves, where nutrients are scarce.

Males risk starvation should they sire babies everywhere as sperm replenishment takes nutrients. However, researchers believe that females do not appreciate this stinginess to share and developed in this manner to actively hunt for sperm packages.

8 Flies For Fido

In 2019, pet food made from flies hit the shelves in the United Kingdom. This was the first time insects featured as chow for dogs and cats in the country. The company responsible, Yora, used the larvae of black soldier flies. The insects were specially farmed by a Dutch protein nutrient company called Protix.

Made with several recipes, the fly food is reportedly tasty and nutritious. The insects account for 40 percent of the protein, which is higher than other bug-based pet food that had already appeared in the United States and Germany.

Other ingredients include potatoes, oats, and what the company calls “natural botanicals.” Yora also claimed that should the kibble really take off, it could help reduce the 20 percent of human-grade meat that pet owners feed their animals. The current manufacturing process of pet food also causes about a quarter of all meat production damage to the environment, something that insect farming does not.^[3]

7 The Smallest Genome

Antarctica’s biggest terrestrial animal is . . . a midge. There are bigger creatures, but they are technically water species. Measuring 0.6 centimeters (0.23 in), the Antarctic midge lives around two years frozen in ice before emerging as a wingless adult that dies within a week.

In the past, the insect’s ability to survive extreme conditions made it a favorite bug to study. After all, its larvae live through deadly dehydration, high ultraviolet exposure, and being frozen solid.

To find out more, a 2014 analysis dug around the insect’s genes. The biggest shock was how tiny the midge’s genome was. A human has 3.2 billion base pairs of nucleotides (the building blocks of DNA). Antarctica’s only true insect has a mere 99 million base pairs. This officially made it the insect world’s smallest genome.^[4]

Mysteriously, all its so-called junk DNA was gone. Once thought to be worthless, junk DNA is crucial in regulating genes. Without it, the midge managed to strip its genome down to a level so basic that nobody had thought it was possible.

6 Bug Bread

Certain bugs are very nutritious but a bit outdated for the modern menu. However, as the global population grows and farming land becomes an issue, the answer could be insect farms that require less space. The problem is selling the idea of eating insects to people who have no desire to buy grasshopper pie.

In 2018, Italian scientists came up with a solution—hide the insects so well that the food appears “normal.” Thus, they baked bread with powdered crickets. While it left no obvious trace of the goobers, there were some drawbacks.

Although highly nutritious, the taste was described as “cat food.” Apart from the flavor fail, the more cricket powder it contained, the less the bread rose. It also lost its chewiness.^[5]

The worst danger was bacterial spores. Scientists are working on eliminating spores that might piggyback on insect powders, like sterilizing them with gamma irradiation. But it might be a tougher challenge to make the bug bread taste or even look appetizing enough for shoppers to be fine with sending their kids to school with insect sandwiches.

5 Bee Cards

A few years ago, Dan Harris from Norwich learned something interesting about bees. Upon discovering that the insects had a fast metabolism responsible for quick fatigue, he recalled how often he and others had encountered exhausted bees on sidewalks. Seeing that such individuals are actually starving, Harris hit upon a novel idea. He was going to make snack packs for hungry bees.

Drawing on the wisdom of his beekeeper uncle and scientist father, Harris spent years developing a card. It had three slots filled with a beekeepers’ sugar formula. The first time Harris tried one of his “Bee Savior” cards on a stricken bee, it worked.

He peeled back the foil covering the slots and placed the card next to the creature. The insect homed in on the formula and fed. When designer Richard Horne’s kids successfully revived a bee with a prototype, he was so impressed that he donated his skills to streamline the card’s design.^[6]

Harris started a nonprofit organization and used crowdfunding to mass-produce the cards, which can fit into anyone’s wallet.

4 Clue To Opalization

In 2018, gem expert Brian Berger trawled the markets of Southeast Asia which are famous for selling fossil-containing amber. Berger found an unusual piece in Indonesia. Mind-blowingly, it held an unknown insect not preserved in amber but in opal, a precious stone.

Opal formation is still not fully understood. Finding a well-preserved insect inside one upended the few theories that supported opalization. Shortly put, this should not have been possible. As far as researchers know, opalization requires a cavity for silica-containing fluid to pour into.

Amber, which traps insects to look exactly like the one found in 2018, is fossilized tree sap. It could suggest that the true way that opals form is similar to amberization.

There is a chance that something unique happened instead—an insect inside amber became opalized. If true, this insect could be among the most ancient ever found as amber takes millions of years to form.^[7]

3 Antibiotic Heroes

Humanity faces a stark problem. There are superbugs that already laugh at our best antibiotics, and this costs thousands of lives every year. Antibiotic resistance recently got charged by an unusual cavalry—microorganisms that live on insects.

Traditionally, soil bacteria were used for antibiotics, but the new line hails specifically from a battlefield most people will never see. Every insect is like a planet for microbes that fight each other nonstop. The poisons they use on each other are basically antibiotics and natural ones to boot.

Tests showed that some of these substances are much stronger against antibiotic-resistant pathogens than anything derived from the soil. The good news is that the exceptional diversity of insects and, by extension, their microbes could offer a vast and long-lasting source of fresh antibiotics.^[8]

The bad news is that it takes years to develop a drug once a promising compound has been found.

2 They Have Interlocking Gears

In 2013, a British scientist was visiting a colleague in Germany when he found an insect in his host’s garden. It was a known species called Issus coleoptratus. In 1957, a feature was found on its hind legs that resembled interlocking gears inside a wristwatch. The discovery ended there.

When a new study looked at the critters from the German garden, it found that the gears were functional. This made the planthopper the first living thing using a design previously found only in the mechanical world.

It took high-speed video to see it in action. As the insect prepares to jump, it meshes the teeth of one leg’s gears with the other. Release happens smoothly, and the creature rockets forward.^[9]

Only the juveniles display the curved strips of up to 12 cogs. Since the youngsters molt several times, they can replace broken teeth. Adults no longer molt, and damaged cogs would jeopardize the insect for life. Instead, the gearless grownups use leg friction to help them jump.

1 Project Insect Allies

The Pentagon’s research wing is called DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency). Their ideas can get weird sometimes, but in 2018, one project made the scientific community edgy.

The Pentagon views food security as national security. That makes sense. A hungry nation tends to fall apart. However, the latest idea sounded creepy from the start. It proposed using insects to infect crops with viruses. Called “Insect Allies,” the technology aims to deliver what DARPA calls “targeted therapies” to fields during times of trouble.

For example, if drought plagued a region, insects would infect the plants with a genetically modified virus to slow down growth and prevent the loss of crops. Other threats the project aims to circumnavigate include floods, extreme weather, and sabotage.^[10]

Some scientists are not convinced that the project is wholesome. Using diseased insects is a classic bioweapon, and why use them when sprinklers do the same job? Other researchers are not concerned that something shady might be afoot. At least four colleges in the United States accepted funding from DARPA to develop the insect army.

About 100 years ago, our galaxy was thought to encompass the entire universe. A century later, we’re observing things more than 13 billion light-years away, nearing the moment of creation.

These following 10 discoveries come from the actual edge of existence. They show us just how much the early universe was a surprisingly happenin’ and amazing place.

10 A Galaxy From The Beginning Of Time

The beloved Hubble Telescope stole an image from the birth of the universe, just 400 million years after the big bang. It captured the bright infant galaxy GN-z11 as it was a whopping 13.4 billion years ago.

At this point, the universe was only 3 percent of its current age and just a few hundred million years had passed since the first stars burst into life.^[1]

GN-z11 probably grew into a proper beast. But here it only had 1 percent of the Milky Way’s mass in stars packed into a structure 25 times smaller than our galaxy.

9 Colliding Starburst Galaxies

Superluminous starburst galaxies shine stupendously with the birth of countless massive blue stars. They’re a rarity, but astronomers just spotted two of them colliding right on the big bang’s doorstep 12.7 billion years ago.

The swirling, bi-galactic entity is about 12.8 billion light-years away and known as ADFS-27. Each of its components is a dozen times larger than the 100,000 light-year-wide Milky Way.

Separated by 30,000 light-years, the two bodies are zooming at hundreds of kilometers per second relative to one another, setting up a crazier merger than anything yet witnessed.

The resulting elliptical mega-monster will probably be substantial enough to establish an entire galaxy cluster, snagging hundreds of thousands of other galaxies with its gravitational might.^[2]

8 The Most Ancient Black Holes

Scientists scanning the early universe for quasars have just come up with a bunch, confirming 83 new black holes to supplement the 17 known to exist during this era.

These things are millions or billions of times more massive than our Sun. They were already thriving when the universe was less than 10 percent of its current age, just 800 million years after the big bang.

Researchers calculated that if you took these known quasars and parceled the universe into cubes, each a billion light-years per side, every cube would get one black hole, accounting for one black hole per “giga-light-year.”^[3]

7 Fat And Dusty Galaxies

The gargantuan galaxies of the big bang era are saturated with dust and debris and can emit the radiation of a trillion Suns. But they’re invisible because their light is absorbed by all that dust and reemitted at submillimeter wavelengths.

With abundant materials and few bodies to gobble them up, researchers pinpointed a structure that was exceptionally fat and dusty. The galaxy possesses a whopping gas mass of 330 billion solar masses. Comparatively, the Milky Way only has a gas mass of five billion solar masses because most of its mass is already locked away in stars.^[4]

6 Whirlpool Galaxies At The Edge Of Space

The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) is so finely tuned that it peered through 94 percent of the universe and detected the rotation of two fetal galaxies.

They’re some of the oldest galaxies on record and five times smaller than the Milky Way, according to the ALMA snapshot that captured them as they were 800 million years after the big bang. Even though the view is nearly 13 billion years old, its color gradients indicate the motion of the gas and the galaxies’ rotation.^[5]

Like modern galaxies, they swirl like whirlpools, birthing from that chaos thousands of stars per year. They’re surprisingly ordered, say researchers who marvel at how quickly the universe organized its resources and propagated itself.

5 The Earliest Black Holes Were Surprisingly Monstrous

A fortuitously positioned, six-billion-light-year-distant galaxy acted as a cosmic magnifying lens, redirecting and amplifying some of the oldest photons in existence.

Those photons were expelled by quasar J0439+1634, which (thanks to the lens effect) appears 50 times brighter and lights up the early cosmos with the apparent light of 600 trillion Suns.

The quasar-powering black hole contains the mass of 700 million Suns and dates to 12.8 billion years ago. During this Epoch of Reionization, the first light sources pierced the opaque hydrogen and helium fog that cloaked the young universe.^[6]

4 A ‘Fossil Gas Cloud’

The universe is a big witch’s pot of chemicals, and there’s generally a lot of mixing going on. So, heavy elements are seemingly everywhere, but scientists have identified a pristine relic fossil gas cloud.

It’s only the third relic gas cloud discovered so far discovered, and it managed to remain uncontaminated even 1.5 billion years after the big bang. It’s also supremely wispy, indicative of its status as a primeval puff from the earliest days of existence.^[7]

Like a fluffy, cosmic 3 Musketeers bar, it has a proportion of heavy elements less than 1/10,000th that of the Sun. That must mean that it’s a leftover from a far-gone era in which stars hadn’t yet pumped out heavy elements like metals.

3 An Unexpected Twist On A Star With Two Planets

Astronomers found a souvenir from the beginning of time that was only 375 light-years away. HIP 11952 is a star full of hydrogen and helium but very much lacking in metals. Such a star could only exist at the dawn of the universe.

With an age of around 12.8 billion years, it formed when our Milky Way “was still a baby.” In 2012, scientists were shocked to discover that the star was harboring something even more amazing—two incredibly ancient planets.

Scientists are debating the origin of planets during the days of the first stars as planets may not have been able to form with the lack of heavy elements. They thought that the discovery of HIP 11952 was painting a clearer picture of when the first planets were finally able to form.

But then the story took an unexpected twist. Using the new high-resolution spectrograph HARPS-N at the Galileo National Telescope in Spain, astrophysicists took more measurements of HIP 11952 over a 150-day period from August 2012 to January 2013.

Instead of detecting two giant planets in the system, they found . . . nothing. Ultimately, they concluded that the previous discoveries of two ancient planets had been incorrect and occurred due to instrument errors.^[8]

2 A Stupendously Bright Quasar

P352-15 is the early universe’s brightest radio quasar by a factor of 10. It looks like three orange splotches, but those splotches reveal a 5,000-light-year-wide galaxy as it appeared 13 billion years ago. Though the universe was less than a billion years old, P352-15 is already a quasar with a supermassive black hole vomiting radiation at relativistic speeds.

That spewing, supermassive monster probably resides in one of the splotches on either side. The two blots opposing it are actually huge, lethal jets being ejected at near-light-speeds from the maw of a feasting black hole.^[9]

1 A Galaxy Full Of Old Stars

Astronomers have recently detected the faint wisp of ionized oxygen across 13.3 billion light-years of space.

It belongs to galaxy MACS1149-JD1, and it’s extremely red because the light has been stretched during an epic journey that began just 500 million years after the big bang. The existence of oxygen means that MACS1149-JD1’s stars had been shining for a long time—long enough to have produced said oxygen.

Not only that, but MACS1149-JD1 is already full of mature stars. Astronomers say these stars were shining just 250 million years after the big bang, a period not too distant from the birth of the very first stars.^[10]

Ivan writes about cool things for the Internet. You can contact him at [email protected].