Esther Inglis-Arkell

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Arrow Showcases Every Character’s Hidden Talent

Everyone who watched the Arrow episode a few weeks ago knows what the title of this episode, “The Offer,” means. And we know what the answer will be. So the rest of the episode was just about serving up a steaming cup of crazy, using each character’s particular talents in that area. Spoilers ahead… So … Continued

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Here’s How This Ancient Mayan Pyramid Makes Bird Calls

Kukulkan Temple, at the Chichen Itza archaelogical site in Mexico, isn’t just an impressive architectural achievement. It also uses physics to make bird calls. That’s right, a stone temple has the ability to mimic the sounds a local bird. Let’s see the pyramids at Giza do that! The calls are all good imitations of the … Continued

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How To Murder Someone With An MRI

A little-known and harmless side effect of MRIs gives us an intriguing way to murder people. Tricking them into getting an MRI would be tough, but afterwards? It’s almost too easy. Magnetic resonance imaging machines are a safe, painless, and effective way to take a look at a person’s insides. They put the person in … Continued

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8 Short-Lived Religious Manias That We’re Lucky Didn’t Stick Around

All kinds of manias have gripped the public mind, from time to time. And that definitely includes religious manias. Luckily, some of the most intense, and intensely scary, religious movements were also some of the most short-lived. Here are eight religious movements that were flashes in the pan. 8. Savonarola’s Popularity Ended In Literal Flames … Continued

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That Emergency Exit Sign Is Radioactive (But That’s Okay)

One of the major requirements of an illuminated exit sign is it has to keep glowing no matter what. That means that, if power is cut to the building, or if the sign itself gets knocked around, power has to keep flowing. What’s the power source? Radiation. But there’s no need to panic. In 1934, … Continued

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This Bizarre Animal Communicates Like No Other Mammal On Earth

Yes, this is a mammal, and yes, it does have bright yellow stripes. Yes, it is also covered with spines. And just to top things off, yes it communicates in a way no other mammal on Earth does. Do you want to know what a lowland streaked tenrec is? Too bad. It’s from Madagascar, and … Continued

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This Slow Motion Footage Of Popcorn Popping Is Utterly Hypnotic

Some researchers at GE got hold of a super slow motion camera. You know what that means. They started messing around with what was to hand — and so the rest of us get gorgeous footage that makes popping popcorn look like buds blooming into strange flowers. In the above video, things go slightly awry. … Continued

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The Things People Did To Fight Syphilis Were Utterly Horrifying

Syphilis, today, is minor and treatable. In the past, though, it was an incurable diseases that caused insanity, rotting flesh, and death. It’s understandable that nations took drastic measures to try to stop it — but their efforts resulted in a 400-year reign of terror. Syphilis hit Europe at the end of the 1400s. In … Continued

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This Guy Is The Reason Why Mental Asylums Aren’t Torture Chambers

Mental asylums will probably never have a good reputation. Bad as they are now, in the 1700s they were worse — deliberately worse. The person to really change the theory governing mental asylums was Philippe Pinel. Pinel was born in 1745, into a family of country physicians. He was better able than most to see … Continued

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How Arthur Conan Doyle’s Brutal Scifi Story Became A Horrific Reality

In 1912, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote a short story about how a small but warlike nation would conquer Britain. It would do so using a new technology in a new and brutal way. It shocked the nation and, three years later, it became a reality. Arthur Conan Doyle was making a point when he … Continued

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Before A Solar Eclipse, The Whole World Goes Wavy

If you’ve seen a solar eclipse, you know that just before the sun is hidden from view something very strange happens. Shadows start swirling, as if the light from the sun is shining through a heat haze. The phenomenon is called “shadow bands.” Before the Eclipse Very few things prepare you for the strange dimming … Continued

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Sorry, “Teacup Pigs” Totally Don’t Exist

It would be tempting to say that mini-pigs have become trendy pets, but they haven’t. It’s impossible for something to be popular when it doesn’t exist. When people hit the internet looking for “mini-pigs,” they often find websites for special “breeds” of miniature pig. The websites offer pigs that are under 35 pounds, or even … Continued

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How This Woman’s Guts Were Inadvertently Turned Into A Bomb

History is peppered with incidents that would not be believed if they were written in fiction. Here is the ridiculous life, and even more ridiculous death, of Anne Marie Louise d’Orleans, a woman who nearly killed her mourners at her own funeral. Anne d’Orleans, also known as the Grande Mademoiselle because she lived to be … Continued

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How To Make Flowers Glow Under Black Light

This is so cool! If you have freshly-cut white flowers and a vase of tonic water, you can make flowers that glow when they’re under black light. We’ll tell you how. I never thought I’d say this, but I finally have a tip for wedding planners. Make glow-in-the-dark floral arrangements. Sure, it means bringing black … Continued

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Here’s What Richard the Lionheart’s Heart Looks Like Now

This is the lead box that contained Richard the Lionheart’s embalmed heart. If you want to see what a heart looks like after 800 years — or at least learn about how people in medieval times made souvenirs out of corpses — go ahead and click this story. Most of us know Richard the Lionheart … Continued

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This Chemical Reaction Made People Think Satan Was Attacking

Here we see a sped-up video of tin undergoing a normal reaction known as “tin pest.” But in the 1800s, tin pest filled cathedrals with screeching cries as it made church organs rip themselves apart, right in front of the parishioners. No wonder they thought it was the work of the devil. In the video, … Continued

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This Snake Has Tentacles! It Has Tentacles!

The tentacled snake, Erpeton tentaculatum, has tentacles coming out of its nose. It lives in the water, using its tentacles to hunt fish. And it kills them by using their hard-wired survival instincts against them. With their tentacles. That picture above is a scanning electron microscope image of the head of a tentacled snake, the … Continued

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Was “The Chocolate Cream Poisoner” Really Insane?

Christiana Edmunds was arrested for murder in 1871, after poisoning boxes of chocolate creams in stores. People are still arguing about whether or not she was insane — and what insanity actually means. The Chocolate Cream Poisoner In 1870, Christiana Edmunds was living in Brighton with her mother and having an affair with her across-the-street … Continued

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There’s A Good Evolutionary Reason For This Insect’s Butt-stache

What the hell is coming out of that bug? What? It’s supposed to be like that? And that’s just one example of this insect’s weird butt eruptions? Well, you have to tell me more. This incredibly odd-looking insect is the planthopper nymph. It’s not the only one. In entomology terms, a “nymph” is any insect … Continued

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Cows Are Deadlier Than You Ever Knew

Every year, cows kill more people than sharks. And yet nobody ever makes a horror movie about them, and there’s no Cow Week. These deadly beasts have managed to stay completely under the radar… until now. Find out just why cows are so deadly. Deliberate Attacks on People In the United States, the CDC estimates … Continued