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Month: March 2022

By The Generalist Posted on March 31, 2022March 30, 2022

Extreme geocaching

Geocaching is a recreational treasure hunt, with containers hidden worldwide just waiting to be found. And I do mean worldwide: they can be found at the very bottom of the world, the very top of the world, and even out of this world entirely.

Categories: 21st century history, Astronomy, Games & sport, The poles
By The Generalist Posted on March 29, 2022March 28, 2022

Horned Moses

Michelangelo’s statue of Moses has horns, thanks to a mistranslation in the Latin Vulgate Bible.

Categories: Art, Early modern history, Europe, Medieval history, Religion & belief
Narrowboat
By The Generalist Posted on March 27, 2022January 25, 2023

From the archives: On the canal

The rise and fall and rise of the British canal; Dutch canal vaulting; the proposed canal to cut off a country; and the fifteen ships trapped on the Suez Canal for eight years.

Categories: From the archives
By The Generalist Posted on March 25, 2022March 25, 2022

Scavenger cistern

The Basilica Cistern in Istanbul is an underground underwater forest of 336 huge marble columns. It was built in the 6th century CE, but parts are much older – because they were scavenged from other buildings, sometimes with original sculptures intact.

Categories: Architecture, Art, Europe, Medieval history
By The Generalist Posted on March 23, 2022March 24, 2022

Rabbit starvation and polar bear poisoning

If you happen to be living out in the wilderness, don’t rely on a diet of rabbit meat, and definitely don’t eat polar bear livers.

Categories: Animals, Early modern history, Food & agriculture, Health & medicine, The poles
By The Generalist Posted on March 20, 2022January 25, 2023

German troublemakers

In the 1865 German children’s book Max and Moritz, the titular troublemakers blow up a teacher, are baked in an oven, and finally get ground up in a flour mill and eaten by ducks.

Categories: 19th century history, Europe, Literature
By The Generalist Posted on March 17, 2022March 16, 2022

Continent of stability (Part 2)

Beyond the boundaries of the natural elements may lie a whole new form of matter without protons or neutrons: quark matter. [2 of 2]

Categories: 19th century history, 20th century history, 21st century history, Physics & chemistry
By The Generalist Posted on March 14, 2022January 25, 2023

Continent of stability (Part 1)

Nuclear physicists predict an “island of stability” beyond the current end of the periodic table. But there’s another possibility even further out: an exotic “continent of stability.” [1 of 2]

Categories: 20th century history, 21st century history, Physics & chemistry
By The Generalist Posted on March 12, 2022January 25, 2023

From the archives: Frogs and toads

The frog that breaks its own bones to use as claws; the frogs that raised tadpoles in their stomachs; the musical frog that works in real estate advertising; and the flattest toad in the world.

Categories: From the archives
By The Generalist Posted on March 10, 2022January 25, 2023

Buffalo racing

Kambala is a race with a difference: the winner may not be decided directly on speed, but rather on how high they can kick up water.

Categories: Animals, Food & agriculture, Games & sport, South Asia
By The Generalist Posted on March 8, 2022March 7, 2022

School bus kidnapping

In 1976, twenty-six children riding in a California school bus were kidnapped at gunpoint and hidden inside a truck that was buried in a quarry. Twenty-seven hours later, after sixteen hours underground, they escaped.

Categories: 20th century history, North & Central America, Politics & law
Infinite
By The Generalist Posted on March 5, 2022January 25, 2023

Featured category: Mathematics & statistics

The largest number; how to build your own magic square; why a gambler should believe in God; and proof that 0.999… is equal to 1.

Categories: Featured category
By The Generalist Posted on March 3, 2022January 25, 2023

Space weather

When the solar wind hits the Earth, it can set off space storms, space hurricanes, and even space tornadoes.

Categories: Astronomy, The poles
By The Generalist Posted on March 1, 2022February 28, 2022

American samurai colony

In 1869, some samurai and their families set up a colony in California. Although it only lasted two years, it was the first permanent Japanese settlement in the United States.

Categories: 19th century history, East Asia, Food & agriculture, Military, North & Central America

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