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Tech NewsCultureScans of Medieval Skeletons Show Cancer Has Been Common Longer Than We Thought
Cancer may have been a bigger menace in medieval times than previously assumed, new research this week suggests. The study, based on X-ray and CT scans of preserved bones, estimates that around one in every 10 residents of medieval Britain died with cancer in their body. The first recorded accounts of cancer date back to … Continued
By Ed Cara -
Tech NewsCultureResearchers Get a Deeper Look at Some of the Oldest Color Photos Ever
Scientists have re-examined the creations of one of the earliest color photographers, Gabriel Lippmann, who used no pigments or dyes of any kind in his work. They sought to identify the original colors captured in Lippmann’s photographs and recreate the images using a similar process to that of the 19th-century photographer. The paper was published … Continued
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Tech NewsCultureThis Vintage Bread Slicer Wouldn’t Meet Today’s Safety Standards But It’s Fun to Watch Being Restored
Bread slicers weren’t exactly the safest things around in the middle of the 20th century. That open blade is just begging for someone’s hand to slip. But OSHA issues aside, it’s fascinating to watch a simple, beautiful machine like this get restored. The 16-minute video, first spotted by Digg, was produced for YouTube by LADB … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech NewsCultureCharles Steinmetz’s Predictions About 2021 From the Year 1921 Were Amazingly Accurate
Back in 1921, Dr. Charles P. Steinmetz, the pioneering inventor and mathematician, was published in a Massachusetts newspaper predicting what the fantastical world of 2021 would look like. Steinmetz made some amazingly accurate predictions about things like air conditioning, cooking, electric bicycles, and home entertainment in the future. At first glance, the predictions may not … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech NewsCultureX-Rays Help Scientists Read ‘Letterlocked’ Renaissance Mail
In July 1697, Jacques Sennacques of Lille, France, scribbled off a missive to his merchant cousin, Pierre le Pers, in The Hague. The subject of discussion was a death certificate for their relative, a topic which the cousins had discussed previously but le Pers had neglected to follow up on. The letter was the Renaissance … Continued
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Tech NewsCultureWe’ve Been Promised These Futuristic Space Hotels for 60 Years
Will people actually be staying in space hotels by 2027? That’s the promise of Orbital Assembly and Voyager Station, space startups that got a lot of headlines this week. But there are plenty of skeptics that space hotels could become a reality for Americans who are still waiting on universal healthcare. The people behind Orbital … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech NewsCultureWhat a Fossilized Hand Says About the Last Common Ancestor Between Humans and Chimpanzees
More than 1 million years before the early hominin known as Lucy was striding across the Afar region of Ethiopia, the lesser-known Ardipithecus ramidus roamed approximately the same area. Now, a team of anthropologists have looked at the 4.4 million-year-old fossilized hand of one specimen (affectionately dubbed “Ardi”), and argue that the human ancestors’ roaming … Continued
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Tech NewsCultureThis Anti-Burglar Device From 1923 Was Inspired by Horrific Gas Warfare of World War I
Imagine you’re a bank teller with a gun pointed at your head. What do you do? If you’re smart, you’ll just give the robber all the money he asks for. But if you’re an inventor from 1923 you’ve got a much better idea. You hit a button, causing an explosion that can be heard for … Continued
By Matt Novak -
io9Summer Camp Island‘s Season 3 Arcs Cast Everything in a Magical New Light
Based solely on camp counselor Susie’s characterization throughout Summer Camp Island’s first and second seasons, you got the sense that, aside from her vast magical powers, she was more or less your typical childhood bully. Despite being tasked to look after impressionable young minds, nothing delighted her more than tormenting campers like Oscar and Hedgehog … Continued
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ScienceHuman HistoryShipwreck Filled With Treasure and Elephant Tusks Sheds Light on 16th-Century Ivory Trade
A trove of elephant tusks found in the cargo hold of an old Portuguese shipwreck is yielding new insights into the 16th-century ivory trade and lost African elephants. In 2008, workers with a diamond mining company, while bulldozing a beach in Namibia, accidentally discovered the Bom Jesus, a Portuguese merchant vessel that disappeared in 1533. … Continued
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Tech NewsJohns Hopkins, Famous Philanthropist and Abolitionist, Actually Owned Slaves
Johns Hopkins, the 19th century philanthropist whose name graces some of the most prestigious scientific and academic institutions in America, was long thought to be a man who deplored slavery and fought to abolish the ownership of human beings in the U.S. But as it turns out, Hopkins actually owned other people over the course … Continued
By Matt Novak -
ScienceHuman HistoryDivers Accidentally Stumble Upon Nazi Enigma Machine in Baltic Sea
Divers searching for discarded fishing nets in the Baltic Sea have discovered a rare Enigma encryption machine used by the Nazis in World War II. As AFP reports, a team found the Enigma machine last month in Germany’s Gelting Bay, which is about 90 miles (150 km) north of Hamburg. The device, famously used by … Continued
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ReviewsThe Most Intriguing Archaeological Discoveries of 2020
Archaeology is the closest thing we have to a time machine. Instead of using flux capacitors, however, archaeologists rely on technology like ground-penetrating radar, scanning electron microscopes, DNA sequencing, and of course, the good-old-fashioned shovel. Equipped with the right tools and techniques, the work of these scientists allows us to reconstruct the past and imagine … Continued
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io9Steven Universe‘s Latest Anti-Racism PSA Is for All the History Buffs Out There
Keeping in-theme with thefirst PSA’s self-awareness, the newest Steven Universe short features Pearl of the Crystal Gems as she breaks character while recording an educational video about the inventive minds behind the lightbulb. While most everyone knows Thomas Edison to be the inventor of the light bulb, the reality is that the innovation wouldn’t have … Continued
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io9MoviesCannibal! The Musical Has No Right Being as Good as It Is
Having watched Cannibal! The Musical is one of those things that feels like a badge of honor. The movie was not something anyone saw first in theaters. It had to be discovered. You had to find it or be told about it by a friend. When you finally watched, you were rewarded with proof of … Continued
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Tech NewsPoliticsTrump Admin Taps Ex-Aide Fired for Ties to Far Right for Commission That Preserves Holocaust Memorials
In 2018, the Trump administration fired a White House speechwriter after he was revealed to have spoken at an annual far-right conference in 2016 attended by white supremacists, pseudoscientific quacks, contrarian academics, and other racists. This week, the White House nominated the same guy to a three-year term on a heritage commission that preserves Holocaust … Continued
By Tom McKay
