In Jules Verne’s classic adventure novel, Around the World in Eighty Days, Phileas Fogg and his valet Passepartout attempt to circle the Earth in eighty days in order to win a £20,000 wager. Now, thanks to modern technology, you can accomplish the same trip…in the span of just one minute. Around the World in 80…
Life as we know it derives from organic compounds. Or does it? Can inorganic life exist? Inorganic Life? Carbon is the basis for all organic compounds and thus, all life on earth. Compounds that lack carbon are considered inorganic and thus, inanimate. However, for many years scientists have speculated on the possibility of unknown lifeforms,…
During the Civil War, the Confederate States of America invented and deployed a number of secret weapons against Union forces. They created the the first steam-powered ironclad warship and built the H.L. Hunley, the first combat submarine to successfully sink an enemy vessel. But the strangest secret weapon of all was the one they didn’t…
In 1950, Alan Turing wanted to answer the question, “Can machines think?” However, due to the difficulties involved in defining exactly what constitutes “thinking,” he chose to answer a closely related question: “Are there imaginable digital computers which would do well in the imitation game?” This question, which is known popularly as the “Turing Test,”…
In 1850, scientists began recording semi-detailed, quasi-global temperature data. While earlier records exist, they are less reliable, and more localized. Of course, 161 years isn’t much data, especially considering that the earth is believed to be about four and a half billion years old. In order to get earlier temperature data, we have to turn…
In 1950, Immanuel Velikovsky published a book entitled, Worlds in Collision. This work, which involved decades of research, subsequently became a best-seller. However, it also inspired unprecedented backlash from the scientific community, which became known as the Velikovsky Affair. Who was Velikovsky and why were his ideas derided by established scientists? Who was Immanuel Velikovsky? Immanuel Velikovsky…
On January 12, 1967, Dr. James Bedford passed away. A few hours later, he became the first person in history to have his body frozen with intent of future resuscitation. So, where is the Cryonics Man today? The Strange Science of Cryonics? Cryonics is the science of freezing a deceased subject in the hopes of…
In 1777, George Washington signed an order to vaccinate his troops for smallpox. While some historians consider this a response to a normal outbreak, others point to a more sinister cause…a biowarfare campaign waged by the British during the Revolutionary War. Biological Warfare during the Revolutionary War? According to Wikipedia, Biological warfare is defined as…