1, the mystery of the crystal skull
Many people know about the crystal skull from the movie raiders of the lost ark and the Kingdom of Crystal Skull. In the movie, the crystal skull is the skull of a mysterious alien who created ancient human civilization. Although in reality, archaeologists are not sure that the crystal skull comes from the body of an alien, the previous 13 mysterious crystal skull is really confusing. Most of them appear in Honduras, Mexico and other places in Central America, and people associate them with the mysterious Mayan civilization and pyramids. The crystal skull is all made of high-purity transparent crystal, and there are no obvious tool cutting marks on it. They are made without considering the natural axis of crystal at all, which is also very difficult in today's technology. If the laser is injected into the nasal cavity of the crystal skull, the skull will glow and the surface will show the prism effect of the skull.
In 2008, a research team composed of British and American scientists used electron microscope and X-ray crystallization technology to examine the crystal skulls collected by the British Museum and the Smithsonian Museum. A detailed analysis of the skull surface shows that there are tiny rotating scratches near the eyes, teeth and skull. Obviously, this cutting and polishing technology originated from a kind of jewelry processing equipment called "rotating wheel", but the ancient Mayans did not master this processing technology, and there was no such tool in the American continent before Columbus. The researchers concluded that these crystal skulls were processed and manufactured in Europe, and the material was Brazilian colorless crystal. These crystal skulls were probably made and sold to collectors as mysterious relics of the ancient Mayan Aztecs. At present, many museums have cancelled the display of crystal skulls, which makes people doubt its source and think it has no archaeological research value.
Interesting fact: 13 mysterious crystal skulls are scattered all over the world, and the most famous one is the "doomsday skull". 1924, this crystal skull was held by Anna Mitchell-Hedges, who inherited it from her adoptive father, British adventure writer F·A· Mitchell-Haigis. According to Anna, the history of this crystal skull can be traced back to 3600 years ago. The eyes of the skull can emit blue light. Put it next to the computer, causing the computer hard disk to "crash" many times. At present, this crystal skull has never been tested by any experiment, because the current owner does not allow it.
2. The mystery of shark virgin childbirth
200 1, Henry Dolly Zoo, Nebraska, USA, a hammerhead shark gave birth to a baby shark. It is difficult for scientists to understand that this female shark and three female sharks live in an aquarium. They have lived in the aquarium for three years. How did she give birth to a baby shark without a male shark mating with her?
Some scientists believe that one of the reasons for this phenomenon is that female sharks can store female sharks' sperm for fertilization, while others believe that sharks can achieve asexual reproduction through a rare parthenogenetic method (without direct fertilization of sperm). Finally, in 2007, scientists solved the mystery through DNA testing. This little shark has no father and is the first asexual shark discovered so far.
Interesting fact: In 2008, scientists were in Virginia Ocean &; The second case of shark asexual reproduction was confirmed by Aquarium Science Center. A 5-foot-long, 94-pound Atlantic blackfin tuna died of unknown complications. During the autopsy, the aquarium staff were surprised to find a 65,438+00-inch-long baby shark in its abdomen. DNA tests showed that the young shark embryos did not carry the genetic genes of male sharks.
3. The unknown boy in Titanic
A few days after the sinking of the Titanic, rescuers found the body of a boy in the North Atlantic, but when he was buried in Nova Scotia, Canada, his identity was not confirmed, so he had to mark "Unknown Boy" on the tombstone. In 200 1 year, researchers from the University of Lakeside, Ontario, Canada approved the excavation and analysis of the boy's body. By consulting the passenger list of Titanic, the identity of the unknown boy was reduced to one of four children-Gustave Paulson, enoch Panula, Eugene Rice and Sidney Goodwin. At first, people inferred that the boy's body was Enoch Panula, but in 2000, many advanced DNA tests showed that the teeth of the body were completely consistent with the DNA of Goodwin's relatives, thus confirming that the unknown boy was Sidney Goodwin.
Interesting fact: When the sailors on the rescue boat found the boy's body and raised money to build a tombstone for him, they felt very sad. 19 12 On May 4th, the boy's body was buried. There was a copper pendant engraved with the words "our child" on his coffin.
4, tube eye fish transparent head
This tube-eyed fish, which lives at a depth of 2500 meters, has a strange appearance. Its tubular eyes can collect light from the deep sea, but scientists are puzzled by the function of this eye structure. This tubular eye structure can only see the immediate target. How does it prey and survive in the deep sea environment?
In March this year, scientists used remote operating instruments to study the tube-eyed fish at a depth of 600-800 meters on the seabed. They discovered an unknown fact before-its head is transparent and its eyes can rotate freely. This transparent head structure broadens its vision, and it can also see the prey on its head. It is reported that the tube-eyed fish was first discovered in 1939, but because the fish caught by fishing boats came from different deep waters, this transparent fish died before it was discovered in time.
Interesting fact: from the picture, people usually think that the two small holes in the front of its head are eyes, but they are not its eyes. Its eyes are green and round, at the front of its head. Their eyes are protected by a circle of transparent substances filled with liquid, which even cover their whole heads.
5. "New England Black Day"
On May 1780 and 19, an unusual "black sun" was observed in "New England" and parts of Canada. Because the scientific knowledge of that era was very backward, many people in Britain associated this phenomenon with religious belief. Even today, "New England Black Day" is still considered by many people to be related to supernatural phenomena. It is reported that New England, also known as "New England", is located in the northeast corner of the continental United States, bordering the Atlantic Ocean and Canada.
For more than 200 years, scientists have put forward different explanations. They discussed that this may be a volcanic eruption or a drastic change in the sky. Nearly 230 years later, in 2008, researchers from Missouri State University in the United States, combined with the written records at that time and the signs that tree rings were destroyed by fire, concluded that the black sun was caused by a serious wildfire in Canada. The serious fire that happened in the 1980s of 18 killed living things, which not only burned a large area of forest, but also spread the fire and scorched many barks. A few years later, these damaged trees stripped their bark, which showed that there had been a serious fire nearby. The researchers studied and analyzed many areas in Algonquin Highlands and southern Ontario, and found that there was a serious fire in this area at that time. It was this fire that affected the atmosphere at the altitude of 100 km, producing a big column of smoke, which entered the top of the atmosphere and formed the "New England Black Sun".
Interesting fact: According to historical records, the coming of "New England Black Day" forced people to light candles at noon, night birds came to sing, flowers closed their petals, and animals showed abnormal phenomena.
6. Sound effects of Epidollas Theatre.
Epidolls Theatre, located near Athens, Greece, was built at the end of 4th century BC and is one of the well-preserved ancient theaters. Even more than two thousand years ago, this theater still had very good acoustics. Without public address equipment, the actor's performance was in the theater of10.5 million, and all the audience could hear it clearly. In order to confirm the acoustic effect of the theater, the researchers of the research team scattered around the theater, trying to test the intensity of the sound coming from the center of the theater, trying to reveal why the theater with such professional acoustic effect can still be built under the harsh conditions of ancient buildings. This has been a mystery for many years, and some researchers once thought that it was probably the airflow that promoted the spread of sound.
It was not until 2007 that the acoustic mystery of the theater was solved. Researchers at Georgia Institute of Technology found that the limestone material of theater seats has a filtering effect, which can suppress low-frequency sounds and minimize background noise. Therefore, the 6.5438+0.5 million seats in the cinema are equivalent to "sound traps". However, researchers still don't know how the ancient Greeks realized that limestone had a filtering effect.
Interesting fact: The stage of Epidolls Theatre is a perfect circle with a diameter of 19.5 meters. A circular pedestal is placed in the center of the stage, and an altar dedicated to Dionysus, the Greek god of wine, is likely to be placed.
7. "The face of Mars"
Scientists are deeply attracted by the peculiar terrain in the Szidonia region of Mars. Some hills in this area look very much like a human face, and some scientists speculate that this may be the masterpiece of intelligent life on Mars. This space photo of "Mars face" was first taken by Viking 1 in 975. Other photos include 1976' s terrain of Pingdingshan in Szidonia. It looks like a human face from the first photo, but the photos taken later are completely different. Scientists believe that this may be due to the different angles of sunlight. This discovery has attracted the attention of intelligent life research institutions outside the earth. Some researchers believe that this kind of face topography may confirm the existence of the long-lost Martian civilization. But most scientists still insist that the "Martian face" is only formed by different visual effects.
In 2003, the European Space Agency launched the Mars Express spacecraft. Scientists combined the observation data of the spacecraft's high-definition stereo camera with the 3D image of the "face of Mars" for in-depth analysis, and finally confirmed that the previous human faces were only formed by different sunlight irradiation and shooting angles. As shown in the following figure, mountain residues are formed in landslides and early mountain residues, and do not show a specific surface shape.
Interesting fact: The topographic structure of the Szidonia region of Mars has aroused great interest of planetary scientists. Pingdingshan, located in the transitional zone, is located between the rugged highlands in the south and the flat lowlands in the north. Many researchers believe that its northern plain may have been an ocean in ancient Mars.
8, chess "universal attack" strategy
Chess has been invented for more than 400 years and is deeply loved by millions of chess fans. The footwork of this kind of chess is very complicated. Since 1989, computers have been working around the clock, clearing 500 million possible moves of chess. In 1992, a computing program barely beat Marion Tinsley, the world chess champion. Tinsley was once regarded as the best chess player in the world. Finally, in 2007, a computer program named "Chinook" developed by researchers at Albert University in the United States can perform well in chess. In 2007, the "Chinook" program reached its peak on 200 desktop computers, and it can calculate every step of the opponent. If the opponent is a perfect player and there are no mistakes in the game, the program will be tied.
Interesting fact: chess is deeply loved by people. In 2007, the "Chinook" program developed by researchers is one of the most complicated games in the world.
9. Translate hieroglyphics of ancient clay tablets and slates.
2 150 years ago, a circular clay tablet was found in Iraq, which was Nineveh, the capital of ancient Assyria (an ancient country in the Tigris River basin in southwest Asia). On stone tablets, Sumerians used hieroglyphics to describe starry sky images and some ancient characters. For decades, scientists have not explained the contents of this circular clay monument. In 2008, two scientists from Bristol University, Allen Bond and Mark HenPoucel, finally successfully translated the hieroglyphics. This stone tablet records a Sumerian astronomer's starry notebook. It is mentioned that the recording time of the starry sky is 365,438 BC+June 29th, 023 BC (julian calendar, Rome).
Interesting fact: This circular clay tablet also reveals another amazing discovery-it shows the trajectory of Pisces, and the pattern shows that the asteroids of Pisces collided in the wrong trajectory in Cofell, Austria. Cofell is the largest rock landslide in the Alps, but there are no craters here at present, unlike the meteorite impact craters described on the clay tablets. However, from the information collected on the clay tablet, the trajectory of the asteroid will explain why there is no crater here. The asteroid collided at a very low angle of only 6 degrees, so astronomers pointed out that it collided with a mountain called Gams Choguill before it finally reached the collision site, which would explain why the asteroid did not form a crater when it hit the ground.
10, the flight mystery of bees
The reason why the mystery of bee flight ranks first among the top ten scientific mysteries revealed is that this study has inspired people to understand the living habits of bees more deeply. With our continuous growth, bees are one of the insects we often see in our daily life, and we will ask questions-from the perspective of the wingspan and weight ratio of bees, aerodynamics can hardly support their flight. Many theories put forward by scientists in the past cannot correctly explain how bees fly.
Support their flight. Many theories put forward by scientists in the past cannot correctly explain how bees fly. Finally, in 2005, with the help of high-speed photography technology and the mechanical model of bee wingspan, scientists were able to explain the complex flight mystery of bees. Bees flap their wings at a high frequency, reaching 230 times per second, which is faster than smaller insects. Their analysis revealed that unconventional short-wave wing flapping was enough to make its body float in the air.
Interesting fact: In order to understand how bees float their heavy bodies during flight, researchers forced bees to fly in a closed cabin filled with a mixture of oxygen and helium. The density of gas in this cabin is lower than that in ordinary air, so it is difficult for bees to maintain their flight if they continue their previous flapping speed, which requires bees to flap their wings faster, so that scientists have the opportunity to observe the wings and bodies of bees under pressure, which is convenient for observing the ultra-slow flapping action of bees.