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Inside The Enduring Mystery Of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 — And What Might've Happened To The Missing Plane

On March 8, 2014, Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 departed Kuala Lumpur for Beijing at 12:41 a.m. local time with 227 passengers and 12 crew members on board. But then, at 1:19 a.m., the final voice transmission from the plane was sent to air traffic controllers. Just two minutes later, the transponder in the passenger plane was suddenly switched off.

Before long, the aircraft disappeared from the radar.

Soon, a multinational air and sea search was underway to find the missing MH370, including 60...
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Inside Begich Towers, The 14-Story Building That Houses Nearly All 272 Residents Of Whittier, Alaska

Whittier, Alaska isn’t your typical small town. Located about 60 miles away from Anchorage and only accessible via boat or a single tunnel in and out of town, Whittier has a tiny population of about 272 people.

It’s not the size or location that makes Whittier unique, though; it’s that nearly all of those residents live in a single building: Begich Towers.

The 14-story condominium was completed in 1957 and originally served as a military structure during the Cold War. The U.S. Army had planned...
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Chinese Scientists Have Just Created Multicolored, Glow-In-The-Dark Plants

Researchers at South China Agricultural University have bioengineered succulents that glow in vibrant colors by injecting them with light-emitting phosphor particles and exposing the plants to sunlight or LED light.

The team, led by Xuejie Zhang, infused Echeveria “Mebina” succulents — a common houseplant — with micron-sized phosphor particles. These particles, synthetic materials made of strontium and aluminum dosed with other metals, are designed to emit light in different colors. Because of...
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Archaeologists Just Uncovered Dozens Of Artifacts From A Sunken Ancient Egyptian 'Party Town'

Divers and archaeologists working off the coast of Alexandria in northern Egypt have recovered a collection of artifacts from a sunken city believed to be part of ancient Canopus. The operation yielded monumental statues, architectural remains, and other relics dating back to the Ptolemaic and Roman periods.

The discovery, announced this week by Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, sheds new light on a city that flourished more than 2,000 years ago before vanishing beneath the waves.

O...
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Rangers Patrolling Jungles In Northern Thailand Just Happened Upon An Untouched Cave Filled With 2,000-Year-Old Rock Art

A routine forest patrol in northern Thailand just yielded an unexpected archaeological discovery.

Between August 14 and 16, rangers from Phu Khat Wildlife Sanctuary, while conducting anti-poaching expeditions in the Khwae Noi River basin, stumbled upon a previously unknown sandstone cave that includes ancient rock art. Preliminary observations suggest that human activity at the site may date back some 2,000 years, which could reshape experts’ understanding of prehistoric settlement in the regio...
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Michelle Philpots, The Woman Whose Rare Form Of Amnesia Helped Inspire '50 First Dates'

For more than three decades, Michelle Philpots has not been able to create new memories. After two motor accidents — one in 1985 and a second in 1990 — the traumatic brain injuries she suffered led to the development of aggressively persistent epilepsy and a severe decline in memory retention. By 1994, she lost her ability to form long-term memories.

Since then, Philpots’ life has become a strategic routine of calendars and Post-It notes, and she lost her job because she could not remember any...
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Inside The Mystery Of Cicada 3301, The 'Most Elaborate And Mysterious Puzzle Of The Internet Age'

The mystery of Cicada 3301 began with an Internet message posted by a user named 3301: “Hello. We are looking for highly intelligent individuals. To find them, we have devised a test. There is a message hidden in this image. Find it, and it will lead you on the road to finding us. We look forward to meeting the few that will make it all the way through. Good luck.”

Posted to 4chan’s /x/ board on Jan 4. 2012, this message marked the beginning of what many would hail as the Internet’s greatest my...
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Gruesome Stone Age ‘Victory Pits’ Uncovered In France — Where Dozens Of People Were Brutally Murdered

Archaeologists analyzing human remains from Stone Age sites in northeastern France have uncovered evidence of large-scale, ritualized violence dating back more than 6,000 years.

Using advanced isotope analyses, researchers traced the life histories of dozens of individuals whose bodies — or body parts — were deposited in pits at the Achenheim and Bergheim sites between 4300 and 4150 B.C.E. Their findings suggest these people were not victims of random massacres, but outsiders and enemies who ha...
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From Machu Picchu To Petra, Discover 44 Stunning Ancient Ruins From Around The World

Empires rise and fall, but even when the last people of any culture have gone, hints of their history remain. The many ancient ruins found around the world stand as reminders of these lost civilizations, monuments to our ancestors that are often as mysterious as they are illuminating.

When these ruins are rediscovered, they have the ability to fundamentally rewrite our understanding of history. Through archaeological expeditions, researchers have learned of lost cities, forgotten religions, and...
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Rare Orange Shark With White Eyes Spotted Off The Coast Of Costa Rica

During a sport fishing trip off the coast of Costa Rica, fishers reeled in an unusually rare orange-colored nurse shark. It was found at a depth of around 120 feet near Tortuguero National Park, which then shared photographs of the shark on its Facebook page.

Researchers were naturally curious about the shark’s color. To date, no other cartilaginous fish in the Caribbean — a group which includes sharks, rays, and skates — has shown similar coloration.

According to research from the Federal Uni...
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Vasile Gorgos Vanished In 1991 — Then Returned Home 30 Years Later With No Memory Of Where He'd Gone

In 1991, Romanian cattle farmer Vasile Gorgos mysteriously disappeared. Thirty years later, he reappeared wearing the exact same clothing — with no memory of where he’d spent the last three decades.

When asked what happened and where he had been, Gorgos gave the same answer: nothing and nowhere. He had been home the whole time.

Of course, his family and friends could attest that this simply wasn’t true. They had filed a missing person report, police had carried out an extensive search to no av...
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An Ancient Roman Soldier’s Floppy Sun Hat Worn During The Conquest Of Egypt Was Just Restored By A Museum In England

For more than a century, one particularly fascinating relic sat in storage at England’s Bolton Museum because it was too delicate to be brought out. But now, following state-of-the-art restoration work, this ancient artifact can finally be put on display.

For the first time, the public can now view a 2,000-year-old Roman soldier’s sun hat used during the conquest of Egypt. It’s one of just three hats of this type known to exist, and now, it’s by far the best-preserved artifact of its kind in th...
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Big Jim Colosimo, From His Rise As The Chicago Outfit's First Mob Boss To His Shocking Murder In 1920

Few mobsters left as large a legacy as James “Big Jim” Colosimo. “Diamond Jim,” as he was sometimes known, immigrated from Italy in 1895 and established a criminal empire in Chicago. But Colosimo’s reign was cut short when he was shockingly murdered in his own restaurant in 1920.

Following his death, Colosimo’s second-in-command Johnny Torrio seized control of Diamond Jim’s operation, eventually turning it into the fearsome Chicago Outfit. But the circumstances surrounding Colosimo’s death were...
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33 Stunning Photos Of Nan Madol, The Ancient Micronesian City Built Atop A Coral Reef

Nan Madol is one of the most unique and fascinating ruins in the Pacific. Located in the crystal-clear waters off the eastern coast of Pohnpei, one of the Federated States of Micronesia, the massive complex consists of around 100 artificial islands spanning roughly 200 acres — and it is the only city built atop a coral reef.

In the local Pohnpeian language, the name Nan Madol loosely translates to "spaces between," referring to the network of canals that served as waterways for the stone city....
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'There Was Just Something In The Air Up There': 44 Vintage Photos Of Laurel Canyon's Counterculture Scene

Back in the 1960s, Laurel Canyon was a central hub of the burgeoning counterculture movement, a home and gathering place for some of the most prominent musical artists of the decade. This picturesque, mountainous neighborhood in the Hollywood Hills brought together artists like David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash, Joni Mitchell, and Brian Wilson, leading to some of the most defining songs of the 1960s and 1970s.

Laurel Canyon was less expensive than other fashionable neighborhoods in the...
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Research Just Showed That The Maya Population Was Much Larger Than Experts Thought And May Have Included 16 Million People

Because so much remains to be discovered about the Maya civilization, it has long been difficult for researchers to accurately estimate its population.

In 2018, experts suggested that the population of the Maya may have been around 11 million. However, a new study from Tulane University archaeologists, published in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, claims that the Maya population could have been closer to 16 million, representing a roughly 45 percent increase over previous estimat...
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Scientists In Japan Just Verified The Very First Grave Goods Ever Found In The Country's Largest Burial Mound

Until recently, access to the Daisen Kofun burial mound — the apparent tomb of Japanese Emperor Nintoku — had been severely limited. But back in March, representatives from 17 academic history and archaeology organizations were invited to visit the keyhole-shaped mound.

Escorted by officials from the Imperial Household Agency, it was the first time since the end of the Second World War that scholars had been allowed to visit the sacred site. They did not enter the tomb itself, nor did they brin...
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'Black American Folks Just Wanted Somewhere To Kick It': 44 Photos Of Juke Joints In The Early 1900s

Even in the darkest of situations, people have always managed to find some form of solace in community. For the enslaved people of pre-Civil War America, that came in the form of community spaces that were sometimes formed on plantations. Here, they could socialize, eat, and dance together as a brief escape from the cruel conditions forced upon them.

Following the end of slavery, however, freed Black laborers still needed a safe space away from the eyes of the law in the Jim Crow South. Ramshac...
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Archaeologists In Peru Just Found A Three-Dimensional Rock Mural Carved By An Unknown Civilization 3,000 Years Ago

During excavations at Huaca Yolanda in the coastal Peruvian region of La Libertad, archaeologists uncovered a mural that’s between 3,000 and 4,000 years old. This three-dimensional rock art once adorned a temple wall and features designs of stars and fish unlike any recorded in the area before.

But while this discovery was both exciting and unexpected, it also comes at a precarious time for the Huaca Yolanda site. Looting and damage caused by the expansion of agricultural activity in the area a...
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Archaeologists In North Carolina May Have Just Uncovered The Wreckage Of An 18th-Century Spanish Ship

Field researchers and students from East Carolina University recently found the wreckage of a ship off the North Carolina coast that appears to be linked to the Spanish privateer La Fortuna. La Fortuna exploded in 1748 after an attack on Brunswick Town turned out unfavorably for the ship’s crew.

So far, over 40 pieces of lumber have been recovered from the wreck. However, experts are warning that any additional excavations need to happen soon, as erosion and other hazards threaten the future co...
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A Man Just Stabbed The Owners Of A New Jersey Bakery Over A Wrong Sandwich Order — From 4 Years Ago

The two owners of Baladna Bakery in Paterson, New Jersey, were recently attacked by a “knife-wielding customer,” allegedly over an eggplant sandwich they mistakenly served four years ago.

The suspect, who remains unidentified, reportedly entered the bakery on the morning of July 31 in a fit of rage before brandishing a box cutter and stabbing Abed and Mohammad Assad. The brothers sustained non-life-threatening injuries. The man then fled from the store, and the police say he is still at large....
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Mining Camps, Cattle Drives, And Custer's Last Stand: 44 Evocative Photos Of Wild West Montana

Between the 1860s and the early 1900s, the American frontier was known as the Wild West. Although the media often paints this period in broad strokes of romantic adventure and lawless chaos, the reality was far grittier — and few places represented this better than Wild West Montana.

The mountains and plains of Montana inspired ideas of individualism and self-reliance, but this transformative era had a steep price. Violence was rampant, countless Native Americans were displaced, and the environ...
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From Flappers To Streetcars, See 44 Incredible Photos Of New York City In The 1920s

New York City in the 1920s was an exciting place to be. The Roaring Twenties were in full swing: The postwar economy was booming, the rising popularity of jazz forever changed the course of music and dance, and modern advancements in technology were ushering in a new age of scientific discovery, industrial development, and social progress.

But with the widespread optimism brought about by these changes, the flaws of old American society became more apparent than ever before. Women and minority...
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Scientists In Australia Just Identified A Previously Unknown Stick Insect — And It Weighs As Much As A Golf Ball

Australia is known for having freakishly large bugs — including a tarantula so big it is known as the “bird-eating spider” — but a newly discovered species of stick insect may be one of the creepiest crawlers to be found on the continent.

The creature, dubbed Acrophylla alta, measures more than 15 inches in length and weighs about the same as a golf ball, making it Australia’s heaviest known insect. It was found in the rainforest of northern Queensland, a remote, high-altitude area that kept th...
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