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Tech NewsItalians Have Been Getting Blitzed on Wine for a Very Long Time
When we think about wine in Italian history, we think of the booze-soaked bacchanalias of ancient Rome. But it turns out that Italians were using wine to get their drunk on long before that, as evidenced by an exciting new discovery of the region’s oldest vino near a Copper Age site in Sicily. It’s a … Continued
By Rae Paoletta -
Tech News
The Surprising Way a Confederate Submarine Crew Died at the Hands of Its Own Weapon
During the latter stages of the American Civil War, the H.L. Hunley made history by becoming the first combat submarine to sink an enemy ship. The Confederate crew never returned from its mission, sparking a mystery that’s lasted for over 130 years. An exhaustive new analysis suggests these pioneering submariners didn’t drown or suffocate as … Continued
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ScienceHealth
The Romans Could Have Been Poisoned by Something Deadlier Than Lead
There are very few absolutely true things in this life, but one of them is you shouldn’t drink lead. Historians have long believed that ancient Romans learned this the hard way—it’s been said that lead used in water pipes and cooking materials could have poisoned Romans and contributed to their downfall. Now, new research has … Continued
By Rae Paoletta -
Tech News
Civilian Team Finds Wreck of USS Indianapolis, Lost in 1945 With 880 Crew
A team of civilian researchers has discovered the wreck of the USS Indianapolis, a US Navy cruiser which Imperial Japanese forces sunk in July 1945 to the loss of nearly three quarters of its crew. According to a statement from the Navy, two Japanese submarine torpedoes struck the ship, sinking it more than 18,000 feet … Continued
By Tom McKay -
Tech News
Lost for Over a Century, This Is Now the Oldest Known Original Photo of a US President
Lost for nearly a century and a half, a grainy black and white portrait of John Quincy Adams has reemerged—and it’s now considered the oldest surviving original photograph of a US president in existence. Since the mid-19th century, this photo has been unknowingly stored at the family home of the late Horace Everett, a Vermont … Continued
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io9
The Real Geology Behind the Doom of Valyria and How It Literally Tore Game of Thrones‘ World Apart
There are certain mysterious phenomena in the world of Game of Thrones— like the reappearance of dragons, White Walkers, and the Children of the Forest—that the people of Westeros can neither quite explain nor agree upon if they’re real. Others, though, like the Doom of Valyria, are widely accepted as historical fact. Every man, woman, … Continued
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Tech News
Magnificent Sandstone Statue Uncovered Near Legendary Cambodian Temple
Describing it as something that only happens in the movies, a team of Cambodian archaeologists have uncovered an 800-year-old sandstone statue weighing 440 pounds. Experts say it’s the most significant statue to be discovered in the famous archaeological site of Angkor Park in years. Archaeologists and looters have been sifting through the dirt of Cambodia’s … Continued
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io9
The Problem With HBO’s Confederate Is That the Legacy of Slavery Isn’t an Alt-History Fantasy, It’s Our Reality
What do you feel when you see the Confederate American flag? For some, it’s a patriotic symbol of their southern American heritage. For many others, though, the Confederate flag is a painful reminder that America’s is a legacy steeped in the blood, pain, and misery of black slaves and their still-living descendants. Today, state legislators … Continued
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io9Books & Comics
John Ridley’s The American Way Explores How Institutional Racism Uses the Power of Symbolism
To read John Ridley’s original run on the DC/WildStorm comic book series The American Way is to look at America’s legacy of anti-black racism in a way that’s divorced from time. While the series came out in 2006, its story about an American Government-sponsored superhero team being split across racial lines—and the Mason-Dixon lines—was set … Continued
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Tech News
German Enigma Machine Found at Flea Market Fetches $51,000 at Auction
A professor of cryptology has auctioned off a rare and fully-functional Enigma machine used by the Nazis to encrypt messages during the Second World War. Incredibly, the collector found the machine at a flea market in Bucharest—which suggests Romania may house other machines still waiting to be discovered. As reported in Deutsche Welle, the unnamed … Continued
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Tech News
John F. Kennedy Lived With More Pain Than We Realized
A re-evaluation of JFK’s health history and medical records paints a portrait a man who had to endure a surprising amount of physical discomfort throughout his short life. As president, he did his best to hide his misery from the public—no small miracle, given just how much pain he was forced to endure. On January … Continued
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ScienceHealth
The Black Death May Have Had a Surprising Effect on the Environment
From 1347 to 1351, a nightmare disease ravaged Europe, afflicting victims with putrid black boils, fevers, vomiting, and in short order, death. Daily life ground to a halt as the Black Death spread along medieval trade routes, claiming an estimated 20 million lives with ruthless efficiency. Now, a team of researchers is asserting that the … Continued
By Maddie Stone -
Tech News
Science Reveals the Secret to Ancient Rome’s Indestructible Concrete
Roman concrete is famous for its durability, lasting for thousands of years and seemingly stronger with each passing year. New research has uncovered the chemical processes responsible for the sturdiness of this ancient building material—a finding that could inspire modern engineers to revive this forgotten technique. If this news about ancient Roman concrete sounds familiar, … Continued
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Tech News
Walt Disney’s Hand-Drawn Map of Disneyland Just Sold for a Bonkers Price
The Disney fan army can’t get enough of Mickey Mouse and his magical empire. That’s why its no surprise that someone spent $708,000 on a hand-drawn map of Disneyland in California, conceived by none other than the MickeyMaster himself, Walt Disney. Disney and artist Herb Ryman drew the map one weekend in 1953 as part … Continued
By Rae Paoletta -
Tech News
Newly Declassified Documents Show Nazis Plotted to Destroy Panama Canal
Investigators in Chile have released thousands of declassified documents dating back to the Second World War, revealing the extent to which Nazi spies had infiltrated the country. Among the more shocking revelations is the discovery of a Nazi plot to destroy the Panama Canal—an act that would have changed “the history of the whole world.” … Continued
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Tech News
This Stunning Medieval Longsword Was Just Pulled From a Polish Bog
Late last month, an excavator operator was working at a peat bog in the Polish municipality of Mircze when he accidentally stumbled upon this glorious specimen of 14th century craftsmanship. The remarkably well-preserved longsword is a unique find for the area, and its discovery has prompted an archaeological expedition. The discoverer of the long sword, … Continued
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Tech News
Archaeologists Uncover Secret Message On Bible-Era Pottery
Those who live vicariously through Indiana Jones will be glad to know that a team of Israeli archaeologists has uncovered a cryptic message left on a 3,000-year-old pottery shard. The ink-on-clay piece of pottery—called an ostracon—was originally discovered in the 1960s, in a city west of the Dead Sea called Tel Arad. Now, using new … Continued
By Rae Paoletta -
io9Books & Comics
The Library of Congress Wants More People to Get Into Webcomics
This week, the Library of Congress is launching a free, online archive of webcomics collected from across the internet meant to highlight the medium’s contribution to the arts and modern American culture. Comics have always played a critical role in giving illustrators and writers the ability to turn their thoughts and feelings about societal shifts … Continued
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Tech News
Incredible Discovery Pushes Back Origin of Homo Sapiens By 100,000 Years
The remains of five early Homo sapiens have been unearthed at a site in northwest Africa. At around 300,000 years old, the fossils are a whopping 100,000 years older than the previous record, pushing back the origin of our species by a significant margin. And because the fossils were uncovered in Morocco—far from the supposed … Continued
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Tech NewsWhat Today’s Kangaroo Fighters Can Learn From the Great Emu War of 1932
In recent years, Australia has been embroiled in an effort to cull kangaroos—this year alone, it’s expected to kill over a million of them in an effort to protect endangered species in its grasslands. While the mass culling has sparked outrage among animals rights activists, waging war on its fauna is nothing new for Australia. … Continued
By Rae Paoletta