From fireballs shooting out of rivers to unexplained sounds in the ocean, here are 10 discoveries
that scientists can’t explain.
10.
Zhang Heng's Seismoscope
Zhang Heng was considered the Leonardo Da Vinci of ancient China.
Almost 2,000 years ago he created the first earthquake sensing device.
Somehow, this instrument could sense the inertia of an earthquake long before seismographs
came to be.
It was said to have been possessed by a supernatural force or a Genie that would control it since
nobody knew how it actually worked!
Here comes the fun part, the body of the instrument consisted of a vase with eight mobile dragon
heads, each representing a direction on the compass.
Whenever an earthquake came, the dragon mouth would drop a small ball into a toad’s mouth
cast underneath, indicating the direction the seismic wave was travelling.
Over the years, many have tried to replicate the object but even today, nobody knows the
exact mechanism inside the closed vessel.
A few have proposed a simple-pendulum system inside is responsible for this unexplained
function but how it truly works?
Nobody knows!
9.
The Naga Fireballs
Every year, this rare phenomenon is said to occur at the Mekong River, bordering Laos
and Thailand.
Every October on a full moon, people gather on the river banks to watch fiery, red spheres
glowing hundreds of feet into the air.
While there is no clear scientific explanation, these fireballs have inspired myths and legends
for centuries.
Sometimes as many as 800 spheres will rise up out of the water.
The locals believe that the river is inhabited by a Naga, a supernatural and benevolent water
snake that puffs out these fireballs, hence the name.
It also usually happens on the last day of Buddhist Lent, on the 11th full moon of the
year so the serpent may be puffing out these fireballs as a ritual to call back their holy
leader Buddha to descend down to the earth.
The tentative scientific explanation is that the river gives off methane gas that bubbles
to the surface and ignites.
However, the Mekong River does not provide those conditions naturally, and gas does not
burn red and shoot up into the air.
I think we should go and see for ourselves!!!!
What are you guys doing next October??
8.
The Taos Hum
Taos, New Mexico is known for its art galleries, ski resorts, and Native American culture.
But deep down there is a spooky secret.
Some people, but not all, can hear a frequent humming sound, known as “The Taos Hum”.
In the early 1990s, the inhabitants of this town were so disturbed that they filed a petition
to Congress.
Congress ordered an investigative study and placed acoustic instruments all around the
town to record any rumbling noise.
Initially, a few disturbances were recorded, but they were falsely mistaken for the local
electromagnetic perturbations.
After that, no sound could ever be detected, and the study was concluded as having inadequate
evidence.
Joe Mullins from the University of New Mexico, surveyed residents and discovered that about
2% of the population could hear the hum.
An interesting thing however, was that the hum was never reported as being the same sound.
Sometimes it was a buzz, other times it was a whir or clearly a hum.
Many conspiracy theories exist, and some actually believe it was a military experiment conducted
by the agencies.
The hum still remains unexplained.
7.
The Giant Stone Balls of Costa Rica Deep down in the dense jungles of Costa Rica,
a very interesting discovery was made in the late 1930s.
A fruit company, while looking for new lands for banana plantations, found perfectly spherical
shaped stone balls, carved to immaculate perfection.
About 300 spheres were found, ranging from a few inches to as much as 7 feet in diameter.
The biggest ones were reported to weigh up to 16 tons, which is so heavy that a modern-day
bulldozer would have a hard time moving it.
Nobody is certain as to who made them, how old they are, or for what purpose they might
have been made.
What’s even more mysterious is that the volcanic rock they’ve been made out of,
does not exist anywhere in the vicinity.
Given the weight of the larger stones, transporting them seems to be virtually impossible for
more primitive civilizations.
A few of the stones have been blasted to see if there was gold or other valuable relics
inside.
Others have been rolled around in various locations in Costa Rica for tourists to see.
6.
Tomb of the First Chinese Emperor
Known as one of the greatest archaeological discoveries ever, the secret tomb of China’s
first emperor, Qin Shi Huang, still remains a mystery.
The tomb was only discovered in the 20th century when farmers digging in the area uncovered
a life-size terracotta warrior.
There are an estimated 6,000-8,000 warriors although just 2,000 have been uncovered.
This world famous terracotta army is just the tip of the iceberg of the tomb of the
first emperor of China.
Most of this tomb is unexplored.
It is estimated that the construction of this tomb took almost 38 years and was completed
after the death of the emperor around 220 B.C. Historians suggest that the tomb consists
of scenic towers and palaces that once housed over a hundred people.
The tomb is also believed to contain many hidden treasures and unique artifacts.
Today it is carpeted by heavy vegetation which makes it look just like a hill to the untrained
eye.
The archaeological digging work continues in the area of the terracotta warriors, but
the tomb is said to be filled with booby traps and surrounded by rivers of toxic mercury.
Over 8000 bodies were buried along with the great emperor, including many of his concubines
so he would not be lonely in the afterlife.
Access to this tomb by the general public is forbidden.
At present, technology is not advanced enough to be able to preserve the excavated artifacts
or the underground complex just because of its sheer size.
There are no plans yet to open the tomb.
5.
Paleodictyon Nodosum
There exists a mysterious creature which is believed to create hexagonal burrows on the
ocean floor.
The impressions are so perfect that it seems to be a work of a well-seasoned mathematician
at their best.
Or a honey bee.
The physical anatomy of this creature remains unknown, at least for now, until scientists
can confirm the find with a live specimen.
In 1976 scientists were amazed to see a mysterious creature forming the same pattern.
The animal couldn't be captured but seemed to resemble a known primitive sea-animal,
Paleodictyon Nodosum.
This animal was believed to have gone extinct some 50 million years ago as per the fossil
evidence.
Only a few computer regenerated graphic images of the creature exist, which are not necessarily
accurate.
This organism which is just a bit larger than a poker chip, would perhaps be the oldest
living fossil ever.
Right after this, multiple expeditions were launched to find more evidence to determine
if this creature truly existed.
None were able to gather enough evidence but scientists continue to go down to the icy
depths of the Atlantic and keep searching for the creator of the hexagonal works of
art.
4.
The Upsweep
Like the Taos Hum, the Upsweep is another unexplained sound phenomena that has left
scientists pretty confused.
Since 1991, this sound has been detected by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA) from the mid-Pacific Ocean.
The initial studies speculated that these sounds might be coming from ship vibrations
or large whales, but no evidence could be provided to support these claims.
NOAA explains that the Upsweep is basically sound waves that are able to travel very large
distances.
Even from one end of Pacific to another!
The sounds appear to be seasonal, usually peaking in spring and fall.
Another hypothesis suggested that it might be the sound of magma coming in contact with
water on a very large scale, but that probably isn’t the case since volcanic eruptions
are very erratic and do not give off a uniform sound like Upsweep.
Different conspiracy theories exist of course that it might be some kind of massive animal
swimming back and forth in the Pacific.
The origin of the sound remains unresolved.
Listen closely, and tell me what you think it might be in the comments below!!!
3.
Godzillus Fossil
If you’ve seen the Arizona Saguaro Cactus, this next thing will definitely baffle you.
Paleontologists have discovered a massive fossil outside Cincinnati which they’re
calling “Godzillus” because of its large size.
The fossil looks like a cactus and may have been up to 9 feet tall.
The fossil slabs, roughly elliptical in shape, have an unusual texture on the surface.
What is more confusing is that this fossil does not fit into any category of known organisms.
The fossil exhibits some properties of a plant but cannot be technically classified as one
since it does not have any photosynthesis - something that is definitely an important
characteristic of plants, as you well know.
The fossil is estimated to date back to roughly 450 million years ago.
It was initially discovered by Ron Fine, an amateur paleontologist.
Scientists are currently studying its attributes, and it may potentially lead to an entirely
new system of classification contrary to what we’ve been studying in our science classes.
2.
The Placebo Effect
There’s more to human psychology and the power of the mind than we actually know.
The placebo effect is the idea that the brain can convince the body that a fake treatment
is the real thing.
Sometimes under the right circumstances, a placebo can be just as effective as traditional
treatments.
This connection between the brain and the body is very difficult to explain.
For example, researchers took a group of patients suffering from high cholesterol and told all
of them about this new drug which they all believed would help lower their cholesterol
levels.
The researchers divided the patients into two groups, one that took the actual drug,
and the other taking a pill that contained absolutely nothing, the placebo.
Both groups were individually studied.
As expected, the patients with the actual dose showed greater signs of improvement.
The placebo patients surprisingly also showed lower levels of cholesterol.
This has been done over and over with all kinds of illnesses and diseases and many times
patients taking the placebo often have a reduction in their symptoms.
While placebos cannot actually lower your cholesterol or shrink a tumor, they can make
you feel better.
It is estimated that drugs contribute to about 20% of healing while the rest is done by the
human brain and immune system that directs the body to fight back.
How placebos work is still not quite understood but positive thinking, and self care can actually
help you to physically fight off any ailment.
1.
Kepler-78b
Sometimes scientists make discoveries that they do not have any explanation for.
Kepler-78b is a celestial planet which shouldn’t technically exist in the first place.
It has a density and size that resembles our planet Earth but it circles it’s star every
eight and half hours at a distance less than 1 million miles.
It is one of the smallest known orbits and according to theories of planet formation,
theoretically, it is almost impossible for a planet like Kepler-78b to form because of
the extreme heat levels.
It is estimated that Kepler-78b is going to end up inside the star very soon.
The gravitational forces acting on this planet are so high that it is continually being dragged
towards the star.
It is predicted that in almost 3 billion years the pressures on Kepler-78b would rise so
high that it would either burst or merge into its parent star.
The Earth-sized planet with similar density is confusing to scientists because they don’t
know how it formed, or how it got to have such a tight orbit and is a complete enigma.
This planet is a doomed world, but interestingly enough, our solar system could have held a
planet like Kepler-78b that may also have been destroyed long ago, without leaving a
trace.
Thanks for watching!
Keep an eye out in case these discoveries are eventually solved!
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