From bundles of rats, to ancient dolls here are 10 of the bizarre discoveries that science
cannot explain….
10.
The Ulfberht Swords
Ulfberht swords were the weapon of choice of the Vikings, along with other tribes around
northern Europe.
They had a long, double edged blade, and a straight crossbar over the grip.
There are only about 170 still known to exist today, each of which dates to between the
9th and 11th centuries!
And the cool thing is they have the tell-tale inscription in the blade itself.
Said to be stronger, sharper, and better than any other sword at the time, they were owned
by the wealthier members of society, and came with a hefty price tag- about the equivalent
of up to $24,000 in today’s prices.
The name itself of Ulfberht is a form of early trademark, signalling that the sword was made
in a certain way.
Interestingly, they were all formed with varying methods, but the most surprising thing about
them is the composition of the metal.
The trick to making a good sword is perfecting the amount of carbon in the blade.
If there’s too much carbon mixed with the iron, the swords will break, but not adding
enough meant the sword would bend.
The Ulfberht swords were the perfect blend, and it’s not entirely clear how they managed
this.
It truly was a science hundreds of years ahead of its time, and it was only until the industrial
revolution came around that it could be replicated.
To this day, by using the production methods that they had at the time, no-one knows how
the Ulfberht blacksmiths were able to craft such impressive weapons.
9.
The Drepanosaurus
Whenever a new fossil is found, it gives further clues as to the evolution of animals, and
of those that once roamed the earth.
Every now and then, though, something is found that makes no sense at all in terms of scientific
understanding, and requires a complete re-think of what is taken as fact.
This is exactly what’s happening with a little known creature, the Drepanosaurus.
The first fossil was found in Italy, but it was all crushed and had to be re-constructed.
Scientists believed it was an extinct reptile, but that’s now been thrown into doubt.
A second fossil was found in Ghost Ranch, New Mexico, and this one seemed to have a
claw on each hand instead of fingers.
It’s now thought that rather than being a dinosaur, or a reptile, it was in its own
category of creature.
Its giant front claw was connected to a flat bone that is seen in no other known animal.
It also had a slender snout, a long muscular tail, and a tail spike that allowed it to
hold onto trees.
In fact, what was once thought to be a reptile actually resembled a mammal- more specifically,
the anteater.
The problem with this is that evolution dictates that animals are constantly changing, and
fossils show the pathway towards the animals we see today.
This fossil is so similar to something today, that it almost seems impossible.
Some have suggested that the two species evolved independently from one another, which could
explain this, but others have suggested it calls the whole idea of evolution into question.
Just opened Pandora's box right there!
8.
Rat Kings
The Rat Kings are a rare phenomena from the animal kingdom that is so bizarre, no-one
is entirely sure how it happens.
You may have seen one before, but if you haven’t- they really are something quite unusual.
They have been a part of legend for centuries, and are formed when a number of rats become
attached by the tail.
With all these tails becoming entangled, the rats lose their ability to move independently,
and die a slow and painful death.
Rather than being a regal creation, they would be a ball of complete suffering.
This only happens with one species, the black rat, but it sometimes happens with other animals,
such as squirrels.
Despite being written about a lot, only a few examples have ever been recovered, but
they do exist.
Science can’t explain this, though, because the behaviour or tail entanglement has never
been documented in rats.
Perhaps it’s a birth defect, or something that happens in cold temperatures to share
warmth.
Other possibilities are that it happens due to adhesive liquids, or a sticky substance
formed by a rats skin.
In any case, it makes no sense.
And now for number 7, but first if you are new here, welcome and be sure to subscribe!!
7.
The Martian Meteorite
In 1984, a meteorite fell to earth, something that in itself is no unusual thing.
But this one, known as ALH84001, was found to hold secrets that no-one has been able
to explain.
The 4.1 billion-year-old rock is thought to have originated on Mars, having been dislodged
during a collision, and floated through space until it fell into earth’s atmosphere.
Unlike other similar specimens, the surface of this rock had something very unusual- what
appeared to be the signs of fossilised bacteria.
Was this the proof that life once existed on Mars?
Or, furthermore, that this is how life found its way to earth?
Numerous studies have been conducted on the rock, and so far no conclusions can be made-
even almost 35 years after it was found.
The structures could be a result of bacterial life, but could also be a geological formation
that just so happens to look like something unusual, merely by chance.
Newer analytical techniques may finally unlock the answer, and by the time NASA has the chance
to discover evidence of life on the red planet itself, it might just turn out that, for all
this time, the truth has been here on earth.
6.
The Longyou Grottoes
The Longyou Grottoes are a series of underground structures near the village of Shiyan Beicun,
in the Zhejiang province in China.
They are thought to be at least 2000 years old, but scientists and researchers have no
idea how they were built, what they were used for, or even who was responsible for them.
They were originally discovered in 1992, with a total of 36 grottoes having been found that
cover an area of 30,000 square metres.
Each one is carved almost 100 feet into solid siltstone, and contains features such as rooms,
gutters, and pools.
As well as the questions of construction, it’s also peculiar how they were so precisely
carved, why they remain in such good condition, and even why there were no fish at all!
I mean, who the heck was here?
The grottoes have been flooded for centuries until the government drained a lot of them
so they could be further explored.
They’re proof that there was an advanced civilisation in the region at a time, even
though none have been documented!
It seems every time researchers uncover new things, they also find more questions that
science is unable to explain.
5.
What was the first dinosaur?
Since we first realized that dinosaurs roamed the earth, palaeontologists have been trying
to understand the full range of creatures that once lived, with particular interest
revolving around which was the first dinosaur to ever live.
For a long time, it was thought to be the Eoraptor, a small dinosaur whose fossils had
been found in a 231 million-year-old piece of rock in Argentina.
Recently a new fossil has been found in Tanzania of a whole new species, called the Nyasasaurus,
which is more than 241 million years ago.
This could be the true first dinosaur, or a relative of the early dinosaurs, but it’s
becoming increasingly difficult to know where the line is.
Of course, even if the Nyasasaurus is determined to be a true dinosaur, there’s still the
possibility that a new fossil could be found that predates it.
The search for the first giant lizard will, therefore, continue and is unlikely to ever
be fully explained.
4.
The Nampa Stone Doll
The Nampa figurine looks like any other that has been made by an ancient civilisation.
The mystery surrounding this one, though, is how it came to be in the place where it
was found.
It was discovered in 1889 near the town of Nampa in Idaho.
Workers were searching for water, and dug a well, which involved drilling a borehole
to 295 feet.
At this depth, the drill started spitting out clay, and the Nampa stone doll was found
within the debris that was pulled out.
The depth at which the workers had drilled means they would have gone through a geological
layer known as the Glenns Ferry formation.
This has been designated a US national landmark because it’s the source of one of the greatest
collections of animal and plant fossils in North America, and was created about 2 million
years ago during the Pliocene-Pleistocene era.
Does this mean the Nampa figurine originated from this time, far before humans were known
to be in the area?
Did some other creature create it, or is it simply a hoax designed to fool researchers?
Most believe it to be the latter, or that it’s an artefact that managed to fall through
fissures in the earth and settle in a place, surrounded by relics of a much earlier time.
It’s still not a certainty, though, and the doll continues to be a mystery.
3.
The Piri Reis Map
Today we take maps for granted.
Satellite technology combined with the work of cartographers over the years, plus Google
of course, have created incredibly detailed depictions of our planet.
All we have to do is use our smartphone!
This wasn’t always the way, clearly, and maps from centuries ago were just kind of
close approximations based on ship voyages.
Well that’s the way it’s always been assumed, but there’s one map that is difficult to
explain, known as the Piri Reis map.
The story goes that it was drawn in 1513 by the Turkish cartographer, Hagii Ahmed Muhiddin
Piri.
He was also a sailor, and used 20 different maps and documents as the sources for his
work.
The strange thing about this map, that has left scientists scratching their heads, is
how accurate it is.
Furthermore, it also depicts Antarctica, more than 300 years before it was officially discovered,
and in this map it shows the southernmost continent as the ice free land mass that it
would have been more than 6000 years ago.
Could this be evidence that he based his map on drawings by ancient civilisations?
As far as we know, no ancient civilization travelled the oceans like this.
Did he guess about the continent somehow and miraculously get it right?
The way the map is drawn is also unusual, because it uses what is known as the Mercator
projection, a map format that was only possible with the creation of the chronometer in 1760.
How did this cartographer manage to create such an accurate map, more than 200 years
before that?
Like you’ve probably guessed, no one has a clue!
2.
The Voynich Manuscript
The 600 year old Voynich manuscript is often thought of as being the most mysterious book
that has ever been written, and still, to this day, scientists aren’t able to explain
what’s inside.
It’s made up of 240 pages, each of which is written in a cryptic text with unusual
diagrams and illustrations.
Everyone who tries their hand at decoding it fails, whether they be scientists, cryptographers,
or codebreakers.
Of course, it could be that it’s a complete nonsense, but the intricacy of the images
in the book would suggest that it was written by a highly intelligent author.
Recently, Canadian researchers have tried to use AI to decode the book, and it found
that the first pages appeared to contain Hebrew text, but in a seemingly incorrect way.
Some of the words have been deciphered to be botanical terms, but, again, don’t make
sense in the context that they are written.
Perhaps one day the Voynich manuscript will be understood but, for now, its puzzling even
the most powerful computational programmes designed solely to solve the task.
If you want to learn more be sure to watch my video on the most mysterious books ever!
1.
Dinosaur and Human Footprints
The final mystery is one which calls into question the idea that humans weren’t around
at the time of the dinosaurs, because their footprints have been found side by side.
The discovery was made in the Paluxy river, Texas, where hundreds of dinosaur footprints
have been found.
Their foot impressions were perfectly preserved by the river bed.
As researchers detailed the different prints of varying sizes, it soon appeared to them
that some of the shapes they were seeing were made by the feet of humans.
And it wasn’t their own either because the others were all stuck in the rock.
People are all kinds of confused.
Could this be proof that humans existed a full 65 million years before previously thought,
or could there have been another creature with similar shaped feet?
Some even suggest they could be the prints of aliens, of course, because that’s a solution
for everything!
How about you?
Do you see human footprints here?
Or is it simply a case of mistaken identity?
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