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io9MoviesThe First Superhero Movie Ever Is More Than 100 Years Old
The first real film based on a Marvel/DC character was 1966’s Batman: The Movie, starring Adam West’s campy version of the Caped Crusader. In the ‘40s and ‘50s, Batman, Superman, Captain Marvel (now known as Shazam), and Captain America all had weekly, live-action serials shown in theaters, while the first Zorro movie premiered in 1920. … Continued
Noah Berlatsky -
Tech NewsPoisonous Books Discovered in Danish University Library
Something is toxic in the state of Denmark, as a pair of researchers recently discovered while archiving books at a university library. Analyzing old books doesn’t sound like particularly dangerous work, unless those books happen to be covered in deadly arsenic, as researchers Jakob Povl Holck and Kaare Lund Rasmussen from the University of Southern … Continued
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ScienceHuman History
Skull of Crushed Pompeii Victim Found ‘Intact’
Last month, archaeologists in Italy found the skeletal remains of a Pompeii resident who apparently had his head crushed by a giant rock while fleeing the eruption some 2,000 years ago. The victim’s skull has now been recovered, and its surprisingly pristine condition suggests an alternative cause of death. Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD, … Continued
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io9MoviesThe Trailer for The Man Who Unlocked the Universe Is a Gorgeous Mixture of Science and Action
There’s a new docudrama coming out tomorrow about the life of Ulugh Beg, an obscure medieval astronomer who made Samarkand, now Uzbekistan, a thriving center of culture and science in the 15th century. A full 150 years before Galileo gazed at the heavens with his telescope, Ulugh Beg (1394-1449) was building some of the largest … Continued
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ScienceHealth
New Medical Analysis Shows What Really Happened on the Night Robert F. Kennedy Was Assassinated
It was 50 years ago this month that Senator Robert F. Kennedy was killed by an assassin. In what is now the first study of its kind, a team of specialists has conducted a systematic review of the medical care he received during the critical hours following the shooting. Their findings offer unprecedented details about … Continued
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Tech NewsWhat Happened to All the Zeppelins?
You’ve seen video of the Hindenburg disaster in New Jersey from that flame-filled day in 1937. But what about the zeppelins that didn’t crash? How did they work and what did people imagine they would do to revolutionize air travel? Humans used to imagine a future filled with these rigid aircraft zipping through the skies, … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech News
A Bizarre Bone Ritual Followed a Grisly Iron Age Battle in Denmark
To the victor go the spoils, or in some cases, the bodies of a vanquished enemy, as the discovery of remnants from an Iron Age battle in Denmark demonstrates. New research published this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows that Alken Enge, a 185-acre archaeological site in Denmark’s Jutland peninsula, was … Continued
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Tech News
Scientists Match Pollution in Greenland’s Ice Sheet to Events from Ancient Greece and Rome
We tend to associate industrial pollution with the modern era, but human civilizations have been contaminating the planet for thousands of years. By drilling deep into Greenland’s ice sheet, an interdisciplinary team of researchers has chronicled the industrial waste produced by the ancient Greeks and Romans over a 1,900-year period, linking pollution to economic booms, … Continued
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ScienceHealth
Genetic Analysis Suggests Squirrels Contributed to the Global Spread of Leprosy
Leprosy is one of the oldest known diseases to afflict humans, yet its origin is mired in controversy. A new study, in which 10 strains of the disease were detected in the remains medieval Europeans, is now complicating the picture even further by pointing to western Europe as a potential launching point for leprosy. What’s … Continued
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io9Television
Read this Scathing 1988 Viewer Reaction to Doctor Who and Try Not to Feel Sad for Sylvester McCoy
Sylvester McCoy’s era on Doctor Who has always gotten a bit of a bad rap. After all, it’s the period of the show that eventually saw Doctor Who go on hiatus for decades. With the gift of hindsight, it’s easy to see the good and fascinating things this era of the show did, but apparently … Continued
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Tech News
This Recently Discovered Fifth-Century Massacre in Sweden Is So Game of Thrones We Can’t Even Handle It
Scientists in Sweden have completed a preliminary investigation of one of the most disturbing archaeological sites to be uncovered in recent memory. Over 1,500 years ago, scores of villagers were mercilessly killed in their homes by an unknown band of marauders, who left the bodies where they fell. And inexplicably, the killers refrained from collecting … Continued
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Tech NewsWWII Sub Rumored to Have Taken Top Nazis to South America Found Off Danish Coast
In the dying days of World War II, a German sub was reportedly sunk near the Danish coast, but the wreck was never found, leading to speculation that high-ranking Nazi officials—even possibly Adolf Hitler himself—used the high-tech vessel to escape to South America. A museum in Denmark has finally found the missing U-boat, ending this … Continued
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Tech News
Pioneering Psychologist Hans Asperger Was a Nazi Sympathizer Who Sent Children to Be Killed, New Evidence Suggests
The term “Asperger’s syndrome” will never be heard the same way again, owing to new research showing that Hans Asperger—the Austrian pediatrician for whom the disorder was named—was an active participant in the Nazi eugenics program, recommending that patients deemed “not fit for life” be sent to a notorious children’s “euthanasia” clinic. New research published … Continued
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Tech News
Turns Out They Invented That ‘How You Think You Look Vs. How You Really Look’ Meme Back in 1921
Comedy is hard, and the past was no better. Just look at, say, what 19th-century jerks considered acceptable territory for an April Fools’ Day prank. Yet some jokes are timeless. Take, for example, this relatable juxtaposition of the dapper self-image of a cartoon man alongside his actual appearance under “flashlight”—a joke that still lands today, … Continued
By Tom McKay -
Tech News
Medieval Cheater’s Dice With Double Fours and Fives Found in Norway
Six-sided dice date back nearly 5,000 years to ancient Persia, so finding 600-year-old dice in Norway isn’t anything special. But this recently discovered dice—with its conspicuously absent one-side and two-side—is unique, pointing to some Medieval-era shenanigans. This cheater’s dice was discovered at a dig in Bergen, Norway by archaeologists from the Norwegian Institute for Cultural … Continued
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Tech News
Antarctic Expedition to Find Ernest Shackleton’s Lost Ship Set for Next Year
Early next year, an international team of explorers will investigate the area in-and-around the massive iceberg that split away from Antarctica’s Larsen C ice shelf in July 2017. As an added bonus, the researchers will also attempt to locate the wreck of the Endurance, which sunk in 1915 as part of the ill-fated Shackleton expedition. … Continued
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io9MoviesThe Historical Reason Why the Avengers Keep Fighting Their Evil Counterparts
Marvel has spent the past decade getting us to Avengers: Infinity War for the epic battle with Thanos. Most of that time has been spent having our characters fight their evil counterparts: villains who match—or mirror—their heroes. This isn’t just an MCU trope. It’s one of the oldest tricks in the book. Good and evil … Continued
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Tech NewsHere’s What Protects Shipwrecks From Looters and Hacks
On May 25, 1798, the HMS DeBraak was entering Delaware Bay when a squall struck without warning. The British ship that originally belonged to the Dutch capsized and sank, taking 34 sailors and a dozen Spanish prisoners down with it. Rumored to contain a hoard of gold and jewelry, the DeBraak became a popular target … Continued
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ScienceHuman History
Dead Medieval Woman ‘Gave Birth’ to Baby in Coffin
Italian archaeologists have uncovered a Medieval grave containing the remains of a woman and a fetus lying between her legs. It’s a grim example of a “coffin birth,” say the researchers, but there’s even more to this horrific Middle Ages tragedy than that. Archaeology is often a lot like forensics. Investigators come across a scene … Continued
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Tech News
Did a Poem About a Horrific Volcanic Eruption Destroy the Norse Gods of Iceland?
New research connects a powerful volcanic eruption—and a medieval poem that conjured memories of the dreaded event—to Iceland’s conversion to Christianity. At the turn of the 11th century, Iceland’s settlers formally replaced Odin, Thor, and Freya with Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. A new paper published in Climatic Change suggests memories of the Eldgjá lava flood—the … Continued