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There’s a bit of everything this week. We learn new stuff about the celestial objects around us, both near and far. We solve two decades-old mysteries but end up with a new 3,000-year-old one. We find out that animals can do some pretty neat things like scale giant buildings and count to zero. And not to dismiss human endeavor, we also look at the people who set the world skinny-dipping record and the ones who built the first psychopath AI....

10 The Mokele-Mbembe By 1912, one of the world’s foremost naturalists was convinced that there was a prehistoric creature living in the depths of Africa. Carl Hagenbeck was an early pioneer in zoology and the humane treatment of animals. He wrote of identical stories from Rhodesia that told of a half-dragon, half-elephant creature that lived in remote swamps there. Supposedly, ancient cave paintings depicted the creature. But Hagenbeck’s expeditions met with disaster and returned with no new information....

In 1912, an American pharmacist, Wilbur Scoville, came up with a way to measure the heat of a pepper. The Scoville scale is still used today; a low Scoville number means that your pepper is mild, and a high number means that your pepper packs a punch. For many pepper lovers, a meal isn’t a meal without the extra zest that a spicy pepper adds. Peppers can make a bland meal tastier and are good for you as they are an excellent source of fiber, folic acid, potassium, and vitamins A and C....

10 Ubermensch The idea of the Ubermensch—variously translated as “superman,” “overman,” or even “beyond man”—has been irreversibly associated with the Third Reich and the rule of the Nazis. For the Nazis, it represented all that was good and deserving about the Aryan race and all that was degenerate and foul in other races. It was an idea that the Nazis stole from the works of Nietzsche. It first appears in writing in his 1880s treatise Thus Spoke Zarathustra, although he’d been using the word since he was a teenager....

10Miguel Panduwinata For a couple of days before he was due to fly to Bali to visit his grandmother, 11-year-old Miguel Panduwinata kept asking his mother about God and about what happens to souls when people die. His mother, Samira, found this very odd as her boy was normally happy-go-lucky and always in a good mood. However, now he just seemed nervous and unhappy which was especially weird since he and his brother were about to have a fantastic holiday that they’d been looking forward to for quite a while....

10 James Cook Was Mistaken For A Sex God British navigator James Cook became famous for his voyages where he explored regions barely known to Europeans, such as Australia and New Zealand. During his third voyage between 1776 and 1779, Cook explored the islands in the Pacific. It was here that Cook met his demise at the hands of Hawaiian natives, and it might have had something to do with him being mistaken for Lono, god of fertility....

Other disasters are easier to miss because they happen so quietly. Some examples include losing a forest older than humanity and the worldwide invasion of the nurdles. 10 Nurdles They sound adorable, but nurdles are anything but cute. These sprinkles are used by the plastic industry as raw material and turned into bottles, bags, and basically anything plastic. However, nurdles are turning out to be beach bums. While the ocean’s plastic bag problem distracted the media, the pellets quietly invaded coastlines around the world....

There are many such ancient writings, pictographs, and ciphers that still defy understanding. Whenever one is cracked, it almost always yields exciting new information. Here are 10 decoded books, paintings, scrolls, and artifacts that allow us an unprecedented glimpse into the secret societies, lost libraries, beliefs, and rituals of Antiquity. 10 Egyptian Book Of Spells In 2014, after decades to trying, researchers finally deciphered an Egyptian codex, and they were amazed to discover that it was a spell caster’s handbook....

When it comes to the religious arena, however, archaeology can step on a few nerves. These days, eyewitnesses and science can shake the truth of biblical tales and dismiss relics as forgeries. 10 Atacama’s Double Complex The driest patch in the world is Chile’s Atacama Desert. Thousands of years ago, people survived by living in so-called eco-refuges. These places had enough resources to support a population. A few years ago, new ruins suggested that different eco-refuges worked together to construct two religious complexes 1 kilometer (0....

10 ‘Samurai’ Sword Katana were used by samurai, but to designate only one particular style of blade as the “samurai” sword is like saying every model of Toyota is a Corolla. Katana were just one weapon of a much larger arsenal used by Japan’s ancient warrior class. The first swords made in Japan were called chokuto, which were straight blades based on similar Chinese weapons. These blades were less advanced than later ones, though, and were easily broken with sharp impacts....

Tragically, that dream can just as quickly turn into a nightmare when the wheels come off and events spiral out of control. Murder—whether intentional or accidental—still results in the loss of life for an innocent victim. The following rock and metal musicians will always be known as entertainers—but also as killers. 10 Jim Gordon 1970s rock musician Jim Gordon was the drummer in Derek and the Dominos and was also known for performing alongside George Harrison, Joe Cocker, John Lennon, Steely Dan, Alice Cooper, the Beach Boys, and the Monkees....

However, occasional random acts of mayhem are committed by sword-wielding maniacs. In almost every case, there is a bizarre narrative leading to the ultimate heinous act. When used for murder, swords send a message. 10 ‘I Will Send You To Hell’ On December 7, 2017, a Shinto priestess was slaughtered by samurai sword as she returned home from Tomioka Hachimangu shrine. Nagako Tomioka, 58, died from wounds delivered from the 80-centimeter (32 in) blade....

Here are ten secret places inside the world’s most famous landmarks. Some of them can be visited by those with sufficient funds or the right connections. Others are entirely off-limits. 10 Mount RushmoreSouth Dakota, US Mount Rushmore is easily one of the most recognizable landmarks in the United States, as it depicts four of the arguably most famous presidents in US history: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln....

10 Siberian Death Masks In 2015, researchers found 20 death masks in an ancient crypt in Siberia’s Kemerovo region. The tomb belonged to the enigmatic Tashtyk people, warriors who controlled large portions of Siberia between 300 BC and AD 500. The crypt was dug into the ground, surrounded by a stone wall, and covered with a log roof. The massive burial pit took two years to excavate. Archaeologists discovered the remains of 30 people who had been cremated and placed inside dummy bodies made of fabric and leather....

Below, you will read about 10 prolific serial killers, all of whom were police officers. Some even investigated their own crime scenes, and they all abused their power and authority to carry out heinous crimes. 10 Tore Hedin Most people don’t start a life of crime by stealing oats, but Swedish serial killer, arsonist, and police officer Tore Hedin did. When he was 16, he broke into a local brewery to steal some oats....

In fact, the Sumerian civilization was so successful that over ten city-states had already been established by the fourth millennium BC. Their customs, beliefs, and religious practices became the blueprint for subsequent cultures and can be found weaved throughout time into many of our customs to this day, some of which might surprise you. So let’s take a look at ten of the strangest facts about the ancient Sumerians....

Some of the worst disasters in our history can be chalked up to human error. We like to think things are under control, that the people in charge are careful and responsible, but as the following stories show, that’s not always the case. 10 Halifax Ship Explosion December 6, 1917 A giant game of chicken caused one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in history. This big bang was the result of two ships, the Norwegian vessel SS Imo and the SS Mont Blanc, colliding in the harbor of Halifax, Nova Scotia....

Let’s take a look at the ten shortest marriages in history that might make you think twice before walking down the aisle. 10 Chad Johnson & Evelyn Lozada – 41 Days This top-ten list kicks off on a sour note, although no divorce or breakup is ever really sweet. When Evelyn Lozada married Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson, she pictured a beautiful life in the limelight. They even had a VH-1 reality show in the works where they planned to star together as lovers....

Despite the fact that backtracking and some amount of lip syncing are common in vocal performance, it’s understandable why fans would be pretty disappointed. Would you be happy paying hundreds of dollars for front-row seats at a concert only to discover the show wasn’t even live? And usually, when someone’s caught, it isn’t even good lip syncing. But just like performers, sometimes sound technicians mess up, too, leading to some pretty embarrassing moments....

So let’s discover 10 scary facts about the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs. 10 A Strange Global Hail Carbon beads called cenospheres are a sign of industrial activity. They first appeared during the Industrial Revolution as a result of intense combustion. But then something surprising happened. Somewhere in the world, a scientist held a cenosphere—one that was roughly 65 million years old. Needless to say, no power plants were burning crude oil or coal back then....