In 1975, Swiss restoration workers started rehabbing the Barfüsserkirche, a Medieval church built in 1256 by Franciscans. The building had been in use for more than 700 years. It was initially a church before it was converted into a salt warehouse in 1795. Eventually, it became a museum.The years of salt storage damaged the floors, and as workers began demolition, they hit a surprise. There were two coffins near where the choir once stood. One of the coffin’s occupants was a pile of bones. Th ...read more
In the shadow of the world's most infamous volcanoes, history has been shaped by fire and ash. From the catastrophic eruption of Mount Tambora in 1815, which forged a nearly four-mile caldera and altered global temperatures, to the thunderous explosion of Krakatoa in 1883, these titanic forces of nature have left indelible marks on both the Earth's surface and humanity's memory.Here are five of the most explosive volcanic disasters throughout history and where they rank on the volcanic explosivi ...read more
In 1959, Colonel Remy Van Lierde of the Belgian Royal Air Force was on helicopter patrol. He had flown in over 400 missions, his eyes trained to spot friend and foe below. That skillset that would help him with the ensuing ordeal over the Katanga region of the Congo, for what he saw next shocked him and his copilot: A truly gargantuan snake, estimated by his account to be over 50 feet in length. This measurement would easily have made it the largest snake alive on Earth, dwarfing today's tit ...read more
From Moon missions to new uses of biotechnology and technological developments, 2024 will be packed with science missions and anniversaries. Here are a 12 science events and missions to mark on your calendars. Space Missions and Events for 2024 For space, all eyes are on the Moon. There are various uncrewed missions planned to land on the Moon in preparation for the Artemis II missions for the global Artemis program led by NASA. Artemis aims to create a long-term human presence on the Moon event ...read more
The southern polar regions are a forbidding place. Antarctica’s harsh climate and thick ice coverage have made archaeological explorations — or explorations of any kind — exceptionally challenging. This has added a sense of mystery to various theories that humans could once have occupied the continent as a permanent civilization.Scientists, however, have given a decidedly chilly reception to the prevailing hypotheses. Let’s go through them one-by-one. Historic (and Hypothetical) MapsThi ...read more
Author Vishay SinghPosted on Categories Discover Magazine