10 Hidden Detail You Missed in Famous Paintings
10. “Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci”
Artists, critics and even scientists have studied this portrait’s famous smile for centuries and the more it is studied the more hidden secrets and details are revealed. Painted by Da Vinci in the 16th century even the subject of the painting has been debated. Is it Lisa Gerhardini the wife of an Italian aristocrat? Is it an obscure self-portrait of Da Vinci himself? But some of the biggest mysteries involve what is hidden in the brushstrokes. Recently, Italian scholars announced that the artist and inventor left microscopic inscriptions within the painting. On a bridge behind Mona, there is what the scholars believe is either the letter L followed by the number two or the number seventy-two.
If you zoom in on her left eye you can see what looks like either the letter B or the letters C and E. In the right eye, even more distinguishable are the letters L and V. The most confounding writing lies behind the painting where the numbers 149 followed by a smudge where a fourth letter may have been placed. The scholars reason that this most likely was the year Da Vinci painted the piece but that could place it as being created almost a decade before most art historians currently believe--somewhere between 1503 and 1517. What do these numbers and letters mean? Are they a secret code? Was Da Vinci using some sort of paint-by-numbers kit? Or are they just scribbles and initials?
9. “El Autobus by Frida Kahlo”
Mexico’s most renowned matron of masterpieces, Frida Kahlo, was known for her surreal and self-deprecating style of art but no piece has a more striking hidden meaning than that of her 1929 piece, known in English as The Bus. On first viewing it appears as a picture of an ordinary bus-stop, seated are representations of each class of Mexican society: a housewife, a man of the working class, a Native-Mexican and children, a white-collar businessman and a beautiful young woman clad in pink. But when considering Kahlo’s backstory the painting becomes a much darker affair.
Four years before she painted this piece, at the age of 18, Kahlo was involved in a life-altering traffic accident when the bus she was riding on crashed into a trolley. She would survive but was permanently damaged from a handrail that penetrated her pelvic bone leaving her unable to bear children and cause her to live in pain the rest of her life. Traumatized by the event, it would become the basis for a bulk of her work and El Autobus is no different. It depicts the scene just before Kahlo, the lady in pink, gets on the bus headed towards fate.
8. “La Primavera by Botticelli”
Painting in the early Italian Renaissance, Sandro Boticelli was known as sort of a renegade. He brought a slightly less-realistic approach to his painting then other contemporaries of his time, often painting scenes out of mythology and dismissing anatomical precision for a more dream-like style. His most mysterious work is that of La Primavera, with an unknown origin and debatable subject matter (most say it has something to do with the Roman goddess Venus welcoming Spring), it’s what’s in the details that is so astonishing. Around the goddess and women in the painting, Botticelli painted an extremely ornate garden full of over two-hundred plant and flower species and around five-hundred individual plants making them up. Historians aren’t sure whether the plants are products of Botticelli’s imagination or actual plants that grew around his home of Florence but the accuracy in minutia is staggering. Some scholars say that the true subject of the painting is not the alleged goddess but the plants themselves.
7. “The Madonna with Saint Giovannino by Demonico Ghirlandaio”
If you are familiar with the theories of Ancient Alien theorists and UFOlogists then you might recognize this one. Ghirlandaio was one the many great artists hailing from Florence during the Italian Renaissance and like his contemporaries some of his best works were those depicting scenes from the Bible. The Madonna with Saint Giovannino depicts an infant Jesus being embraced by John the Baptist while The Virgin Mary looks over them in prayer. So what could be controversial about that? Well, besides the fact that there is still dispute over who truly painted the piece, there is a small detail in the artwork that has puzzled those who look upon it and sparked conspiracy.
If you look up and to the right over Mary’s shoulder you can see an object that may be from out of this world and definitely shouldn’t have existed at the time of Christ’s birth. What looks like a glowing grey or metallic object hovering innocently over the horizon has many convinced that Ghirlandaio painted a flying saucer into his nativity scene. Why he would do such a thing? Maybe he had to get an ancient secret off his chest or maybe it’s just a meteor. But why paint a meteor? We’ll leave it for you to decide.
6. “Cafe Terrace at Night by Vincent Van Gogh”
The Dutch impressionist master of the late 1800s, you might best know Van Gogh for his work Starry Night or his depression induced self-amputation of his ear, but Van Gogh painted hundred of amazing works in his short life and one of his most revered is Cafe Terrace at Night. It seems to portray and ordinary French bistro on cobbled streets at night. But as recent theories suggest that may not be the half of it--It may depict a modern interpretation of The Last Supper.
If one squints and peers into the cafe you can see that there are twelve people eating closely together around the tables. In the middle of them you can see a man in a white robe standing with the full attention of the twelve patrons. Not only that, there are several crosses Van Gogh seemed to have painted as Easter Eggs leading to the painting’s true meaning. Apparently, Van Gogh was a zealous Christian when growing up and though not as spiritual in his adult life, he may have clung to the foundations of his Christian upbringing and expressed it through his work.
5. “The Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo”
As far as mysterious messages in his work the Italian Renaissance artist extraordinaire Michelangelo is rivaled only by that of Da Vinci. So it’s not a surprise that his most elaborate piece, the ceiling of Vatican’s Sistine Chapel, is full of metaphor and Michelangelo’s personal expression. One of the main details that many art historians focus on when studying the ceiling are his insanely accurate depictions of human anatomy. Michelangelo, beyond being an artistic Jack-of-all-trades was also an avid anatomist. At the time of the painting, the Catholic Church was not yet hip to the importance of science in everyday-life, still participating in the hassling of those who practiced it.
It is thought that Michelangelo likely to it to heart and in order to subtly subvert the Church peppered his art with symbolism in the name of science. Though the Sistine Chapel has several of these references the most astounding is that of the section called The Creation of Adam in which god is carried by angels to touch the finger of his newly created man. But the secret lies in the cloth that encompasses God and the angels--It is shaped like half of the human brain! In fact, scientists and artists have taken the painting and completed the brain and found that Michelangelo’s was anatomically accurate, right down to the vertebral artery, which is signified by a piece of green cloth that weaves through the angels.
4. “Bacchus by Caravaggio”
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio was one of the godfathers of Baroque painting, he worked with an exceptional understanding of lighting and an astounding precision when it came to presenting the physical world. His work Bacchus which depicts the fun-loving Roman god of wine and the harvest. However, that’s not all that Caravaggio painted in the piece--In 1922, when it came time for the canvas to be cleaned, the restorer found that after wiping off hundreds of year of gunk and dust that Caravaggio had hidden a tiny self-portrait of himself inside the god’s bottle of wine. Though the restoration inevitably resulted in the slow fading and eventual complete disappearance of the image, the miniature scene of Carvaggio working at his easel can still be viewed using computer imaging. The remaining question is: what is he painting inside the wine bottle? Is it Bacchus? Or maybe another self-portrait?
3. “Man Writing a Letter & Woman Reading a Letter by Gabriel Metsu”
One of many great painters of the Dutch Golden Age--Gabriel Metsu, was a master of many techniques and like many of his Dutch contemporaries had an affinity for painting scenes that contained subtle messages or hints towards context. One of the practices that are commonly seen is that of a painting inside the painting. Man Writing a Letter and Woman Reading a Letter are companion pieces--In Man Writing a Letter Metsu portrays a young man seated at a table quill in hand writing a letter. In Woman Reading a Letter a woman, you guessed it, is reading a letter. They seem like generally normal events--But! Each of these paintings show another painting in the background and that’s where the real story lies. In Man, the painting on the wall is that of a blustery autumn day and in Woman, another maiden is lifting a curtain to reveal the ominous image of a ship during a storm. Critics debate on the story but a common theory is that the two are in a long-distance relationship and that the inner paintings represent their worries or the hardships to come.
2. “The Tempest”
Giorgione, Italian painter of the High Renaissance was known for his dramatic and thought provoking works which usually portrayed events in Roman mythology or Christianity. But in one of his most critically acclaimed and thought-provoking pieces entitled The Tempest the subject matter is unclear. It has been debated that it portrays everything from Jesus, Mary and Joseph; Adam, Eve and Cain; to varying stories of Greek or Roman legend. It is also considered one of the first landscape paintings ever made in the Western hemisphere. In this piece, it is not just one detail that is hidden from view, but more the great complexity that Giorgione put into it without being too specific as to clue us in on the true meaning. The painting has such perplexed and provoked those who view it that some say the soul of Giorgione, who passed away in his thirties, dwells within it.
1. “The Last Supper by Leonardo Da Vinci”
We end and begin our countdown with the enigmatic genius: Leonardo Da Vinci. Da Vinci’s iconic painting The Last Supper has inspired conspiracy after conspiracy, enough to warrant several books both fiction and non. There has been debate over the symbolic nature of the food to theories that it holds the secret to a cover-up by the Catholic Church of Jesus’ true identity, but probably the most fascinating hidden message was found in 2007 by Giovanni Mara Pala, an italian musician. He contends that Da Vinci had hidden a song within the painting!
In 2003, Mara Pala began investigating a myth he heard from researchers that Da Vinci had incorporated a series of musical notes into his portrayal of Jesus’ last meal. He discovered that by charting out the lines of the musical staff and reading from right to left (which was the way Da Vinci had) that the hands of Jesus and his Apostles, as well as the the bread placed along the table, reveal a short requiem-like hymn. His theory has since been backed up by several Da Vinci experts. They reason that Da Vinci as well as being an incredible inventor and visual artist was an adept musician and composer, so it’s very possible that the song is not just a coincidence.
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5 Equation That Changed the World
5. Law of Universal Gravitation
Newtons most important law, it explains why planets move the way they do, how gravity works and why are we all attracted to each other. Every object in the universe, no matter how far apart, will always be affected gravitationally by other objects, inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.
4. Schrodingers Equation
Developed by the Austrian physicist, Erwin Schrodinger, this equation describes how the quantum state of a quantum system changes over time. It also predicts the behaviour of atoms and subatomic particles in quantum mechanics. This equation was a starting point for the nuclear power and electro-technology.
3. The Second Law of Thermodynamics
This law states that energy will always flow from a higher concentration to a lower one, until an energetic equilibrium is achieved, and all the energy is equally spread throughout the universe. Whenever energy moves, it becomes less useful. This law led to the development of combustion engines and electricity generators.
2. Maxwells Equations
Developed by James Maxwell, these equations are to electromagnetism what Newtons law are to gravity. They describe the interaction of charged particles and how electric and magnetic fields interact and are generated. These equations are at the root of all the electronics.
1. Theory of relativity
Probably the most famous equation, E=mc^2 describes the relationship between space and time. Proposed by Einstein in 1905, it later earned him a Nobel Prize. This equation truly changed the way we understand time, gravity and the universes past and future. After 200 years of Newtons work on gravity, Einsteins General Relativity replaced it, speaking of it not as a force, but rather the curvature change in space-time itself.
5 Events That Will Change the Solar System
5. Ringed Mars
New research has determined that Mars might one day kill its nearest moon, Phobos, which is just 22 kilometers (14 mi) wide. With every passing century, the orbit of Phobos shrinks and brings it closer to Mars by 2 meters. Ultimately, this moon will break apart from tidal stresses caused by the red planet, although the process could take up to 40 million years. In the end, Mars will be short one moon but have a Saturn-like ring to take its place.
4. Moon falling apart
In the distant future, our Moon is also predicted to become a ring around Earth, however this wont happen for another five billion years. Unlike the situation with Phobos, the Suns red giant phase will most likely tear the Moon apart. When the Sun swells during its red giant phase, its atmosphere will push the Moon so close to Earth, that tidal forces will rip the Moon apart.
3. Milkomeda
The Milky Way is destined to smash into its neighboring galaxy - Andromeda. As they move toward each other at the dizzying pace of 400,000 km/h, the Milky Way as we know it only has about four billion years left. The collision will be a spectacular cosmic event that will last an incredible one billion years, and result in a reddish elliptical galaxy, possibly called Milkomeda. Despite all the stars in these galaxies, researchers believe that any collisions of the stars or planets are highly unlikely. But anyways, the Sun will be so hot that the oceans will have boiled away by then.
2. Deadly Cloud
When researchers ran simulations, they discovered that our solar system might eventually hit a deadly space fog. The tiny specks may be lethal to all life on Earth. The danger lies in its denseness. At least 1,000 times heavier than anything that Earth is orbiting through now, this cloud can act like a physical force, pushing back the Suns protective heliosphere that shields us from space enemies like cosmic rays. When the cloud meets Earth, the dust and gas can erode the oxygen in our atmosphere. Cosmic rays will zap the world, endangering all living things with a deadly radiation. According to scientists, its less than four light-years away, but we still have a few millennia to prepare.
1. The big Smashup
Planetary orbital paths arent stable and become even less so as time goes by. In a couple of billion years, theres a small possibility that the planets within our solar system will collide with one another. The path in which Mercury orbits around the Sun might widen enough to cross roads with Venus. Such an encounter could send Mercury hurtling into the Sun, out of the solar system, or on a collision course with Earth. In a less likely event, Mercury might become destabilized by passing too close to Jupiters gravitational forces. In turn, this would destabilize Mars. The red planet would become an indirect bullet that Earth would not be able to dodge. By passing too close to Earth, Mars would cause an Earth-Venus smashup by upsetting the orbit of Venus.
5 Incredible Lost Inventions
5. Cold Fusion Device
Eugene Mallove was a notable proponent and supporter of research into cold fusion. He was the author the book Fire from Ice, which details the 1989 report of successful cold fusion from Stanley Pons and Martin Fleischmann at the University of Utah. Mallove claims that the results were suppressed through an organized campaign from mainstream physicists. He was fatally beaten May 14, 2004 by an unknown assailant. His violent death was suspected by some to be related to the nature of his work.
4. Water Fuel Cell
Stanley Meyer produced nine patents relating to his water powered car. He was subsequently sued by two investors and the court found Meyer guilty of gross and egregious fraud, ordering him to repay the investors their $25,000. Following his sudden death, an autopsy showed that he died of a cerebral aneurysm. Meyers supporters continue to claim that he was assassinated by Big Oil, Arab death squads, Belgian assassins, or the US Government in order to suppress his inventions.
3. Earthquake Machine
At one point while experimenting with mechanical oscillators, Nikola Tesla allegedly generated a resonance of several buildings causing complaints to the police. As the speed grew he hit the resonance frequency of his own building and belatedly realizing the danger he was forced to apply a sledge hammer to terminate the experiment, just as the astonished police arrived. The Discovery Channels popular MythBusters show examined Teslas claim that he had created an Earthquake Machine in their 60th episode. They tested the physical phenomenon known as mechanical resonance on a traffic bridge, which today are built to withstand such forces. While a single I beam of steel was deflected several feet in each direction by their oscillator, and they reportedly felt the bridge shaking many yards away, there were no earth shattering effects. It is worth indicating that, in the time of the event undertaken by Tesla, buildings were not built to withstand such resonance.
2. Flexible Glass
Flexible glass is a legendary lost invention from during the reign of Roman Emperor Tiberius Caesar. As recounted by Isadore of Seville, the craftsman who invented the technique brought before Caesar a drinking bowl made of flexible glass, and Caesar threw it to the floor, whereupon the material dented, rather than shattering. The inventor was able to simply repair the dent with a small hammer. After the inventor swore to the Emperor that he alone knew the technique of manufacture, Caesar had the man beheaded, fearing such material could undermine the value of gold and silver.
1. Chronovision
Father Ernetti was known as an exorcist in the Venice region, but more especially because of his work on the chronovision. In the 1960s he is said to have constructed a time viewer in the 1950s, as part of a group that supposedly included Nobel Laureate Enrico Fermi and Wernher von Braun. The machine was called the Chronovisor, and could allegedly see and hear events of the past. According to an explanation by Ernetti, the luminous energy and sound that objects emanate are recorded in their environment, such that proper use of the chronovisor could reconstruct from said energy the images and sounds of a specific set of events from the past. Through the viewing screen of the chronovisor Father Ernetti claimed to have witnessed a performance in Rome in 169 BC of the now lost tragedy, Thyestes, by the father of Latin poetry, Quintus Ennius. He also claimed to have witnessed Christ dying on the cross. On his death bed in 1994, Father Ernetti said that he attended a meeting of all the people involved in the chronovision at the Vatican during which the only existing machine was destroyed.
5 Phenomena Faster Than Light
5 Things that travel faster than Light According to Einstein, nothing in the Universe that has mass could move faster, or at the speed of light, which is about 300.000km/s. In reality, there is a number of phenomena that have the ability to actually beat the speed of light.
5. Quantum Entanglement
A group of scientists from have been able to achieve teleportation of information. The team has shown that its possible to transfer some information between photons. Then they used a laser pulse to create a quantum state known as entanglement, which essentially lets two atoms displace properties from one to the other. The information would travel faster than the speed of light. It would instantaneously displace proprieties, even if the particles would be at 2 different edges of the universe.
4. The light boom
Like the sonic boom, a light boom happens when something accelerates to a point that it breaks the light barrier. This mostly takes place inside nuclear reactors. When the core of a reactor is submerged in water, where light moves at 75% the speed it would move in vacuum, the electrons generated by the reactor move past that speed. This results in a blue glow, known as Cherenkov radiation, and creates a sort of shock wave of light.
3. The Universes Expansion
To clarify, relativity says that objects cannot travel faster than the speed of light through spacetime. It doesnt, however, have anything to say about spacetime itself. And in fact, spacetime is expanding and pushing matter apart faster than the speed of light. In this respect, every portion of space is expanding and stretching. Its not even that the edges are flying outwards, but that spacetime itselfthe area between galaxies, stars, planets, you and Iis stretching. And it is doing so faster than the speed of light.
2. A Laser
Imagine having a super-powerful laser, which is pointing at one side of the moon. In an instant, change its direction, so that it now points at the other side. This made the laser point travel across the moon faster than the speed of light. However, this doesnt break any rules, as you are only moving a geometric point, not a physical object. In reality, the photons the laser is made of, still move at the speed of light, you are just changing their orientation.
1. Wormhole
If youre trying to reach for the stars, even traveling at the speed of light, we would still need some good thousands of years. Thankfully, Einsteins general theory of relativity opened the possibility of warping spacetime, in what we call wormholes. The biggest problem with this idea is the energy that it would take to hold that wormhole openand of course, all of the hazards that would come with diving into it. Were not even sure they can exist, but if they do, they would allow one to travel faster than light.
9 Crazy Discoveries That Might Change History
From the secret past of Antarctica, to a breakthrough in the hunt for Queen Nefertiti's tomb. Today we look at 9 CRAZY Discoveries That Might Change History!
9. Chinese Petroglyphs
While epigraph hobbyist John Ruskamp was hiking through New Mexico's Petroglyph National Monument he noticed some markings etched into the side of the rock that seemed out of place next to those he knew to be from Native Americans. After studying the markings more he found that they were most reminiscent of those seen on Chinese Oracle Bones dating back more than twelve-hundred years. There have long been researchers that have put forth the idea that the Ancient Chinese may have been the first Eastern Hemisphere explorers to reach the Americas and Ruskamp believes these carvings prove that theory.
After his initial discovery in New Mexico, uncovering the possible presence of the Ancient Chinese in North America became an obsession for him. Searching various National Parks throughout the Southwest, he believes that he has found numerous other sites that bear Chinese characters in the states of Nevada, California, Utah, Arizona and as far east as Oklahoma. Although many anthropologists and archaeologists are still skeptical due to the lack of other physical evidence there are some who believe its not a matter of whether the Chinese visited America but when they did and how did their exploration affect Ancient American Culture.
8. Antarctic Paradise
The continent of Antarctica, a frozen wasteland devoid of life aside from some of nature's most evolutionarily ambitious animals. But was it always this way? New discoveries suggest that at one point, maybe even as recent as when the Ancient Egyptians roamed the Earth, Antarctica was a hot and humid tropical paradise. Some of the world's most renowned geologists who dare to brave the Antarctic weather, keep uncovering more and more evidence. The most groundbreaking find being that of petrified tree stumps and leaf fossils that belong to a species of deciduous trees. Researchers believe that these fossils mark the remains of three large forests that once flourished on the continent.
Subsequent studying of ice cores from the region back this up and even clarify a possible timeline. The cores show samples of trees and other biomatter that could have lived as recently as 6,000 years ago. There have also been several researchers that have reported find fossils of small animals and the teeth of an Ichthyosaur. These discoveries tie-in to some modern theories that believe there was a point in the Earth's history that an ancient episode of extreme global warming during which both the North and South poles were similar in temperature to the Equator.
7. Bosnian Pyramids
Where are the oldest and largest pyramids on Earth? Your first guess would probably be Egypt or Mexico, but one archaeologist claims they are actually in Europe. Just over 10 miles north of Sarajevo the capital city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, archaeologist Sam Osmanagich discovered what he claims are three giant pyramids that he estimates are over 12,000 years old. Though the pyramids at first glance only look like large grassy hills,when you consider how much erosion would have occurred over thousands of years and combine that with the hills' uncanny and unnatural resemblance to the step pyramids of Mexico, it's easy to imagine the area being home to an advanced ancient civilization.
Two of these pyramids that he has named the Pyramid of the Sun and the Pyramid of the Moon would be over 200 feet taller than The Great Pyramid of Giza if his claims are true. Many scientists are hesitant to confirm his theories as during the time period in which Osmanagich says they were it is believed that humans hadn't even developed simple agricultural systems and that most of Europe would have been covered in ice. But for as many detractors as there are there are just as many supporters of the theory, Osmanagich has even secured government funding for more research and has become somewhat of a hero to his countrymen.
6. Rooms In Tut's Tomb
When the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun, better known as King Tut, was discovered in 1922 it was hailed as one of the biggest archaeological discoveries of all time but all of the secrets surrounding Tut's tombs have yet to be revealed. Recently, archaeologists using radar scanning technology tested the walls where the Pharaoh's sarcophagus was found in search of hidden passageways. They didn't expect to find much but what they ended up discovering, could lead to an even more sought after find. Behind the walls of Tut's burial chamber the radar showed what could possibly be two secret rooms.
Further tests revealed that the first room likely is filled with organic materials and metal objects while the other room is also home to unknown organic material. It may be a long time before anyone gets permission to take a sledgehammer to the walls and see what's inside, but archaeologist's have theorized that one of the rooms may lead to the long lost tomb of Queen Nefertiti. They believe this because it has long been speculated that Nefertiti might be the mother of King Tut. This theory is backed-up by several factors such as King Tut passing away at a young age could have led his followers to bury him inside another tomb and the fact that the rest of the tomb doesn't seem to cater to a male Pharaoh.
5. Wandering Head
In 1933, just outside of Mexico City, Mexico a ceramic bust was found buried three floors deep. It wasn't until recently that the true origin of the bust was revealed and with it's secrets startling new theories about ancient exploration started to form. After the combined efforts of universities from Canada, Germany, Mexico and the United States the bust was able to be dated and its possible origin established. The bust was found to be an estimated 1800 years old and it was determined that because of the materials used to create it and the figure it represents that it was made in Ancient Rome.
The head is believed to be a representation of either a Roman emperor, soldier or god because of its facial structure and distinct Roman beard. The astounding archaeological find has many historians questioning whether the Romans may have been the first Europeans to explore the Americas. Others have put forth the possibility that the bust may have been transported to Mexico by the Spanish or pirates who could have recovered it from a shipwreck closer to the Old World. But then the question becomes why bury it? The theory that Ancient Romans may have explored the Americas have been further reinforced by the possible discovery of a Roman sword in Nova Scotia, Canada and a shipwreck near Rio De Janeiro, Brazil that also appears Roman in origin.
4. Lovelock Cave
In the early 20th century, a startling discovery that still cannot fully be explained was made in a cave just outside the town of Lovelock in Nevada. While mining the cave for its large deposits of bat guano, engineers started finding what looked like man-made artifacts. Soon researchers from several Universities descended upon the site and began excavating it. Initial reports have these archaeologists discovering the mummified remains of a group of humans that were over 8 feet tall and had reddish colored hair. Not only that but they found a sandal that was around 18 inches long, the painting of a giant hand print and other objects too big to be used by a normal sized person. The problem is, shortly after the initial excavations these giant mummies went missing and haven't been located since.
Searches that followed did reveal the remains of around 60 normal sized people that are estimated to be over 3,000 years old, but there haven't been any more discoveries that point to the existence of ancient giants. What makes the whole tale more compelling is that the Paiute Indians who have called the area home for thousands of years have legends that speak of a tribe called the Si-Te-Cah who were light-skinned giants with red hair. According to the tales the Paiutes were constantly warring with these enormous foes until they defeated them in a battle that supposedly took place near Lovelock Cave.
3. Atlantean Treasure
When the philosopher Plato wrote about the lost city of Atlantis he mentions it's people being in the possession of large amounts of the metal orichalcum. He goes on to paint a picture of the Atlanteans ordaining entire and statues with orichalcum yet does not specify its properties or why in his time, it was worth almost as much as gold. Today orichalcum is particularly rare but not really worth much when it comes to modern application. So it was shocking when in 2015 a diving expedition found a shipwreck that had a trove of almost forty solid orichalcum ingots. The ship was found between the islands of Cyprus and Sicily and is believed to be over 2,500 years old. Though this time from doesn't match Plato's Atlantis it has reignited some historians hopes of finally figuring out what is truth and what is myth.
2. The Irish Ape
As an ancient site that was long used in royal ceremonies, Navan Fort in Ireland, is no stranger to myths and mystery. Historians had thought they had been close to knowing all there was to know about the area until an excavation in the 1980s uncovered another question. Archaeologists there found the skull of a Barbary Ape, an animal that only naturally inhabits Northern Africa. The skull was found amongst a collection of jewelry, clothing and ceramic artwork that were found to be be well over 2,000 years old. So how did this monkey get to the Emerald Isle? Most likely it was the pet of a roman dignitary or local royalty who had bought it from traveling merchants or brought it with them on their tour of duty. However, there are some who believe these bones could be even older than that and possibly tie into the reality behind myths of the Ancient Egyptians sailing to Ireland.
1. Lead Library
In 2006, 70 artifacts that look like metal toddler-books bound by iron ringlets were discovered in a cave in the deserts of Jordan. These small books, with pages made of lead, can easily fit in the palm of one's hand and may be the key to understanding mysteries of the Christian Bible. The books have been tested to be just under 2,000 years old and place them at a time period just after the life of Jesus. Researchers have found that the images inside the books seem to tell the tales of Christ's life on Earth and if they can be decoded may change the entire interpretation of the New Testament or possibly provide proof. What's more, many of the books are locked shut which suggests that maybe the books were hidden on purpose. Some Christian historians believe they could be the mythical collection of manuscripts that John wrote about it in the apocalyptic Book of Revelation.
10 Discoveries That Will Shape the Future
10. Solar storage material
IMAGINE CARRYING SUNSHINE in your pocket. Danish researchers are developing molecules known as Dihydroazulene-Vinylheptafulvene that store energy from the Sun by changing their shape, and release it when they change back. The system isn’t particularly efficient, but with further refinement it could prove to be an environmentally friendly alternative to current lithium-ion batteries, the researchers say.
9. Making trees grow faster
MIGHTY OAKS FROM little acorns grow, the old saying goes. The only trouble is that it’s a very slow process. Now, a team at the University of Manchester has identified two genes that are able to increase the growth rate of a poplar tree by speeding up cell division in the stem. The work could increase supplies of renewable resources and help trees cope with the effects of climate change.
8. Self-powering camera
CAMERAS that run out of battery just as you’re about to take a snap may soon be a thing of the past. A team at Columbia University has created a pixel that can harvest the energy of the light that falls on it, as well as measuring it to create an image. Currently the camera can produce one image per second, indefinitely, in a well-lit room. Eventually the technology could lead to cameras that can function with no need for external power, the researchers say.
7. Centimetre accurate GPS
IF YOUR SAT-NAV has ever led you into a muddy field, read on. Researchers at the University of Texas have built an inexpensive consumer GPS system that’s 100 times more accurate than its current equivalent. The GRID system reduces location errors from the size of a large car to the size of a pound coin. It could be used for delivery drones, self-driving cars, and even virtual reality gaming.
The system uses an inexpensive receiver to harvest accurate location information from antennas found in mobile phones.
6. An end to hunger pangs?
IF YOU FIND that extra slice of cake too hard to resist, blame your AGRP neurones. Researchers at Howard Hughes Medical Institute found they generate negative feelings that cause us to seek food. With further study, the researchers say they may be able to manipulate this process and put an end to hunger pangs.
5. The flexible robots are coming!
THE DAYS OF stiff, immobile robots may soon be numbered. A team at the University of Pittsburgh has designed a synthetic polymer gel that mimics Euglena mutabilis, a single-celled, pond-dwelling organism. The gel can change shape and move using chemical energy. Scaled up, the gel could be used to create robots that are lighter and have an improved range of motion.
4. Artificial photosynthesis
BIODEGRADABLE PLASTICS can now be made using artificial photosynthesis. The system,
developed at the University of California, is made of tiny bacteriacoated wires that absorb solar energy and use it to convert CO2 into acetate.
3. Quieter flights
AS ANYONE WHO’S ever tried to get 40 winks during a long haul flight knows, riding in aeroplanes can be a noisy experience. Help may be on the way, however, in the form of a thin rubber
membrane that’s been designed by a team at Massachusetts Institute of Technology The material can be placed into the cabin walls and could block 100 to 1,000 times more sound energy when installed.
It works by causing soundwaves created by airflow on the outside of the aeroplane to bounce off, rather than pass through into the cabin.
2. Safer suction
MEET THE NORTHERN clingfish, a tiny fish with serious suction power. A team at the University of Washington is investigating the bio mechanics of how its suction force can hold up to 150 times its own body weight even in wet, slimy environments. The key is an elastic disc on their bellies that
is covered in a microscopic hair-like structure. Similar technology could lead to a bio-inspired device that could stick to organs or tissues without harming the patient, or be used to tag whales and track them, the team says.
1. 'Homing beacon’ to beat bacteria
A MOLECULAR ‘HOMING beacon’ that attracts antibodies has been developed and used to ‘tag’ bacteria by a team at the University of California. One end of the molecule has a DNA aptamer that attaches to an invasive bacteria, while alpha- Gal, a sugar molecule, is at the other end. The alpha-Gal triggers the release of antibodies which then attack the bacteria. The technique may eventually be used to attack any type of bacteria or virus, or perhaps even cancer cells, researchers say.
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