we talk about scientific mysteries so much around here that you'd think
scientists are quite bad at their jobs of course that's absolutely not true
other than the really big questions like what are the true origins of life on earth
or what is the size of the universe science is actually quite good at solving the more
manageable everyday scientific mysteries that you may come across on your social media feed
number 10. what was happening to the bees a few years ago the internet was if we may swarmed
by reports of a grim development involving bees according to reports from beekeepers
and biologists worker bees had suddenly started to disappear across north america and europe as
well as a few parts of asia africa and south america and no one could tell why they weren't
exactly dying either only leaving their hives and queens behind and never coming back phenomenon
that scientists call colony collapse disorder as it turns out the whole thing was never
very mysterious in the first place worker bee populations were suddenly leaving their hives
and going off due to multiple bug infestations caused by neonictinoids a glass of pesticides
used in almost every major crop across north america multiple studies from as far back as 2013
have proven that these chemicals make the bees more vulnerable to fungal and viral infections
along with severely affecting their nerve and motor function it's not just the bees either
neonicotinoids are responsible for adverse effects on multiple insect populations around the world
which is why they were officially banned in europe in 2013. sustained efforts by pharmaceutical
giants like political lobbying and funding research efforts that present the problem as
complicated and multi-dimensional have kept them legal in the united states and canada 9. monarch
butterfly migration every fall monarch butterflies across north america set off on one of the longest
migration routes found in nature starting from southern canada and parts of the united states
they travel over 3 000 miles the mountains of central mexico to spend the winter before
returning back home in march no single monarch butterfly completes the journey and the round
trip can involve up to four generations other butterfly species including monarch butterflies
on other continents do migrate their routes are usually much more localized bonic butterflies
are the only butterfly species that undertake such an arduous generation-spanning journey
just to spend the winter and its evolutionary origins are still somewhat of a mystery what we
do now understand though is how they do it this is thanks to a study from 2016 led by a mathematician
at the university of washington together with other experts like neurobiologists he mapped the
brain function of the butterflies and recreated the internal compass they used to navigate he
found that the butterflies used the position of the sun combined with their own circadian clock
to make this journey which is how they're able to travel southward and northward throughout the day
without the need for external cues number eight the sailing stones of death valley california
the mysterious sailing stones of death valley california have captured the attention of serious
scientists and conspiracy theorists alike since they were first discovered in the early 1900s
these stones much like the name suggests seem to be moving usually with clear long tracks behind
them for a long time no one had a clue what made them do it as the winds in the valley were hardly
strong enough to move large boulders some people suggested aliens though why aliens would show up
unnoticed to move rocks around in a remote valley in california called death was anybody's guess
that was until 2011 when two researchers richard d norris and his cousin james m norris placed their
own rocks with gps devices and recorded them for over two years by late 2013 they found the cause a
thin layer of ice that formed during the night in the winter months and broke off during the
day causing the stones to slide and leave tracks on the best days the rocks would move at speeds
of over 15 feet a minute 7. inaccessible island rail inaccessible island is an aptly named island
in the south atlantic ocean somewhere between the huge land masses of africa and south america it's
home to atlantisia rajessi a subspecies of rails endemic to the island even if the bird
really has no reason to be there while rails are often known to be a diverse widely spread out bird
species found on every continent except antarctica how this one ended up on an island as remote as
inaccessible island has puzzled biologists ever since it was first discovered in the late 1800s
according to one popular theory it may have arrived through atlantis before it supposedly
submerged which is how it was named that was until november 2018 when a study conducted by
researchers from lund university in sweden put the matter to rest they used modern sequencing
techniques to analyze the bird's dna and were able to trace its origins to a species found
in south america around 1.5 million years ago 6. the tunguska event the tunguska event refers
to a major explosion that occurred in east siberia in russia back in 1908. according to
local eyewitnesses it had all the signs of being an asteroid the explosion was preceded by a giant
ball of fire streaking through the sky before it exploded in the forest killing a bunch of reindeer
and flattening an estimated 80 million trees almost instantly though no signs of a meteor
were found by the first scientists to reach the site while the mystery has endured ever
since a study published in the journal planetary and space science provides conclusive evidence
that the explosion was in fact a meteorite the researchers studied multiple samples from the
time with modern techniques and found traces of materials that could only be formed by a
meteorite explosion it seems to have disintegrated in the atmosphere as it was traveling at an angle
and may have been as big as a 25-storey building number five how do owls turn their head almost
all our species can turn their heads back as much as 270 degrees without consequence
if we tried that would likely pass out and end up in the hospital due to severed arteries and
that's if we're lucky it's a distinct adaptation found only in a handful of other species like
tarzias a species of island dwelling primates found across southeast asia evolutionary speaking
it makes perfect sense too bowels are unable to move their eyes as they're fixed in one position
and rely on their head-turning abilities to look around what we've never quite understood though
are the anatomical mechanisms that allow that kind of movement the breakthrough study came in
2013 when researchers at johns hopkins medicine in baltimore used the latest imaging techniques
and other methods to map out the structure of three owl species found across the americas
their heads it seems specifically designed to be turned to extremely high angles the cavity
in their neck that houses the primary artery is about 10 times longer allowing for immense
maneuverability at times of extreme head turning they also have special reservoirs of blood just
under their jawline for uninterrupted blood flow preventing a stroke-like situation every time they
turn their head to see what's going on behind them 4. the windsor hum the windsor hum was
first reported in 2011 when residents of the city of windsor in ontario canada suddenly
started hearing a continuous barely audible hum in the years since conspiracy theorists as well as
serious scientists have floated multiple theories to explain it though to little success the mystery
lasted until april 2020 when the covert pandemic forced multiple factories across the u.s to stop
production that included a u.s steel plant operating on zug island in detroit which was
just across the river from windsor the hum as it turns out was coming from its overworked blast
furnaces which in turn shook the plant's metallic foundation and produced a constant low frequency
hum that can't be easily detected the sound went away as soon as the furnaces were shut down
3. the wow signal in august 1977 astronomers stationed at the big ear observatory at ohio
state university recorded a radio signal that still cited as the only known evidence for the
existence of alien life lasting exactly 72 seconds in duration the signal was so strong that one of
the astronomers present jerry emmon wrote wow right next to the readings its frequency was
the same as hydrogen though they had no idea where it came from the mystery wasn't solved until the
end of 2016 when a team of astronomers looked at comets as a possible explanation as comets tend
to be surrounded by hydrogen clouds sure enough they found two of them p 2008 y2 gibbs and 266
p christiansen they were in the region at the time that the signal was recorded though both were
still undiscovered one of them 266p even produced the same type of signals as the wow signal when
they observed it from late 2016 to early 2017. number two how do marine mammals breathe aquatic
mammals are able to hold their breath underwater for much longer periods than us a fact that has
perplexed scientists for a long time their lungs are after all the same bazaars much
like many other parts of their body yet some whale species have been known to remain underwater for
as long as two hours while the best most of us can do unless you're a world-class swimmer or
diver or a navy seal is just a few minutes it remained a mystery until 2013 when a group of
researchers from the university of liverpool decided that it was time to solve it they studied
the lungs of a variety of aquatic mammals like whales biebers muskrats etc and found that they
contain an unusually high amount of myoglobin an oxygen binding protein found in the lungs of all
mammals while large amounts of protein tend to stick together the myoglobin molecules found in
aquatic mammals carry a higher electrical charge than their land-based counterparts allowing them
to store a higher amount of oxygen and for longer periods of time 1. yeti the mystery of the yeti
the large humanoid ape-like creature supposedly found in the upper reaches of the himalayas has
gone through many twists and turns over the centuries while stories of such a creature have
existed in local folklore and anecdotal accounts for much longer the lecture people even worship
it as a god of the forest beasts it became a globally discussed phenomenon only in 1951 when a
picture of its supposed footprint made headlines around the world since then mountaineers from
all corners of the world have come forward with their own experiences with the yeti complete
with what they claim as samples of yeti hair teeth skin or other memorabilia the mystery has endured
despite the fact that no such creature has ever been discovered in the region in fact when a team
of researchers ran some of those samples through a dna test they found evidence of something far more
dangerous and elusive as a possible explanation for all the yeti sightings bears all of them were
samples taken from himalayan black or brown bear species except one that came from a domestic dog