In Britain in the sixth century AD, there existed a prophet, magician, and counselor to King Arthur—Merlin. Was Merlin real? In Britain of the post-Roman Dark Ages, the traditions of the Celts were still alive despite the influence of Christianity. The existence of Celtic culture and that of the real pagan druid or bard Merlin was removed from history by later chroniclers. There were probably two Merlins. One lived from about AD 450–-536....
However, this idealized version of life on the prairie could not be further from reality. Homesteading was difficult, lonely, dangerous, and unglamorous. There were few luxuries and a lot of downsides. Laura Ingalls Wilder’s idyllic Little House series and the nostalgic Oregon Trail game do not tell the full story of life on the frontier. Unsavory details are left out and glossed over to offer a prettier picture. So it’s time to shake up the misconceptions....
In contrast, quantum theory works, but quantum waves that entangle, superpose, then collapse to a point are physically impossible—they must be “imaginary.” So for the first time in history, a theory of what doesn’t exist is successfully predicting what does—but how can the unreal predict the real? Quantum realism is the opposite view—that the quantum world is real and is creating the physical world as a virtual reality. Quantum mechanics thus predicts physical mechanics because it causes them....
10The Cainites As their name suggests, the Cainites were fiercely dedicated to Adam and Eve’s oldest son. They believed the God of the Old Testament was nothing but a lesser deity, a jealous god who punished Cain unjustly. They took Gnosticism one step further, claiming that the creation of the world was itself an act of evil designed to keep man from getting closer to the divine. Because the God of the Old Testament was seen as a figure of evil, an obstacle to overcome in the pursuit of the true god, Cainites also revered other “bad guys” of the Bible, such as the people of Sodom and Gomorrah and Judas Iscariot....
If you have further interest of catacombs, I placed a link to the first site I found years ago. It’s an excellent spring board to dive into fascinating Europe. Catacombs, secret passages, marvelous art, lore, legends, and the underground await! The Capuchin Catacombs are located in the city of Palermo, which is the capital of Sicily. Interred in the Capuchin Catacombs are approximately 8000 corpses dating from the 1500’s to 1920....
10 Queen Ranavalona IMadagascar Queen Ranavalona I of Madagascar wasn’t known by the abominable moniker “mad monarch” for nothing. Suspected of poisoning her husband to succeed him, she initiated a brutal campaign against those who refused to abandon Christianity during her harrowing 33-year reign. Those who didn’t acquiesce were tossed over cliffs, dismembered, or scalded viciously. Determined to keep Madagascar free from European colonialism, she summoned foreigners to join the Malagasy, after which she had them killed in a grisly fashion....
10Teenagers Make Agricultural Breakthrough The Google Science Fair is a yearly online competition open to teenagers aged 13–18 that has taken place since 2011. Like the name suggests, it is sponsored by Google, as well as organizations like Virgin Intergalactic, National Geographic, and Lego. In 2014, the grand prize was awarded to three 16-year-old girls from Ireland for their project: “Natural Bacteria Combating World Hunger.” In brief, the three students showed that certain crops can grow faster if they are treated with certain diazotroph bacteria....
10The VentriloquistKevin Spacey The Ventriloquist was the winning script in Trigger Street Productions’ 2012 annual Jameson First Shot short film competition. Trigger Street Productions is Kevin Spacey’s own production company (responsible for films like Captain Phillips and The Social Network), and its aim is to find talented writers and directors. Every year, Trigger Street Productions chooses script submissions from student and graduate filmmakers from different countries (traditionally, this has been the United States, Russia, and South Africa, but this year, they’ve opened up entries to a few other countries)....
SEE ALSO: 20 Incredible Time-lapse Videos You Have To See 10Michael Cera Gregory Go Boom Though it’s very hipsterish, Gregory Go Boom probably features Cera’s greatest acting performance. He plays a clueless, wheelchair-bound paraplegic who looks for love by going on very awkward blind dates. The women he meets have no idea he’s in a wheelchair until they arrive. After he hooks up with one of his dates, her violent ex-boyfriend turns up, and the story goes from bleak to pitch-black despair....
10Sleep State Misperception We have all had those moments when we think we haven’t slept. In fact, you are sure you haven’t slept, but you could be suffering from sleep state misperception, also known as paradoxical insomnia. This term is used for people who underestimate their sleep as being awake and also for those who overestimate their sleep. People who have this disorder may report having very poor sleep or no sleep at all, but an in-lab study can show that their sleeping is within normal standards....
With home telescopes increasing in ability and decreasing in cost, more and more people are taking to watching the skies at night. Some of these amateur astronomers have made some truly historic and important discoveries over the years. Here are 10 of them. 10Michael Sidonio Discovers Galaxy From Farmers Field2013 While photographing the NGC 253 galaxy from a field in Canberra, Australia, in 2013, Michael Sidonio noticed something in the shot that he had not seen before....
Warning: Some of the following documentaries include extremely graphic images and disturbing details of criminal acts. 10Dear Zachary With some truly gut-wrenching twists, this documentary will keep you on the edge of your seat and all but guarantee a sleepless night if you make it to the end. An astonishingly moving film, Dear Zachary was conceived by the acclaimed documentary filmmaker Kurt Kuenne after his best friend was murdered by an ex-girlfriend....
10The Imaginary Invalid Born Jean-Baptiste Poquelin in France in 1622, Moliere was much better known by his stage name. He is considered one of the greatest satirical writers and performers in Western literature. He wrote and performed in a number of different stage plays that often pointed out the hypocrisy in French culture and religion. As a result, he was a fairly controversial figure at the time. His last play was called The Imaginary Invalid....
10 Victor Licata On October 16, 1933, Victor Licata murdered his parents, two brothers, sister, and family dog with an axe. He was declared unfit to stand trial and placed in a mental health facility. Despite the fact that marijuana abuse was never mentioned in his official diagnosis, the media used the case to start the marijuana-crime-insanity movement. Marijuana was said to be a “poisonous, mind-wrecking weed” that caused people to have homicidal tendencies....
10 The Origins Of Green Beer On St. Patrick’s Day, everyone’s Irish. But if you ask anyone who’s actually from Ireland what they think of St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in the US, you’re bound to get more than a few baffled looks. For one thing, corned beef and cabbage isn’t a traditional food in Ireland. When Irish immigrants were trying to make ends meet in the US, they ate beef brisket and cabbage because they were the cheapest foods available....
Other times, though, Hollywood is far more prophetic than intended. People, things, and stories meant to be entirely fictional find their way into reality. Star Trek is downright sibylline given that it featured many technologies (wireless headsets, cell phones, video calls) which today are commonplace. A recent example comes courtesy of Breaking Bad and the real-life Walter White from Alabama who got busted for cooking meth. And there are plenty more examples when truth imitates fiction....
Having once been a privileged and favored people, the Atlanteans became greedy and “spiritually ugly,” being unable to appreciate their good fortune. So, Zeus gave Atlantis to Poseidon, and it was swallowed by the sea.[1] It’s a cool story. And probably just a myth. The lost city of Atlantis has never been found. However, there are many other sunken cities around the world which are totally real. Here are ten of them....
These fictional characters are not parodies. They have superhuman powers or skills, a costumed identity, and a civilian alter ego. More importantly, they were the first to expand the boundaries of the genre. 10 Spring-Heeled JackThe First Superhero The most obvious choice for first superhero is Superman, who debuted in Action Comics #1 (April 1938). He was certainly the first comic book superhero. Even the word “superhero” is derived from his name....
10 The Buddha’s Tooth According to the legend, when the Buddha was cremated, there was only one thing that was left behind—a left canine. The tooth became a symbol of the Buddha and has had a long and rather storied history of people fighting over the tooth and the right to keep and display part of their sacred leader. The official tooth is kept in the aptly named Temple of the Tooth in Sri Lanka, but there are also some pretty wild stories about the tooth’s journey over the centuries....
But sloths are much more than little bags of indolence. Here are ten facts about sloths to shake up their singularly somnolent status in the animal kingdom. 10 They Live In A Dangerous World Surely an animal that rarely moves more than 40 meters (130 ft) in a day must live a carefree and positively Zen lifestyle? Alas, nature is red in tooth and claw, and the sloth makes a tempting target for many predators....
