Back in the year 2000, Google was a humble search startup with a killer algorithm. For that the company was awarded a Webby for Technical Achievement. Larry Page and Sergey Brin are positively adorable in this interview with Sam Donaldson.
In 1990, an amateur inventor called Maurice Ward appeared on British TV demonstrating a super-material he’d invented without any scientific training. Called Starlite, it could withstand temperatures of 1000C, was hard enough to drill holes in walls, and could easily be painted onto surfaces. In 2011 Ward sadly passed away — without ever having explained to a single scientist how it worked.
If you think Back To the Future Part II was the first time the world was introduced to the concept of hoverboards, think again. As far back as 1955 the US Navy was demonstrating its own hoverboard concept, but unfortunately it wasn’t as slick as Hollywood had envisioned them to be.
This is a wall engraving from Abri Castanet, a shallow cave in southern France’s Vezere valley. It’s the oldest known cave etching, probably dating back around 37,000 years — and the researchers claim it depicts female genitalia.
In what historians are calling the aviation equivalent to finding King Tut’s tomb, a World War II fighter plane has been found in the Sahara desert 70 years after it crashed. Even more impressive, the plane is perfectly preserved — it hasn’t been touched and hasn’t even been seen until now.
According to recently uncovered jungle etchings, the great Mayan 2012 Apocalypse myth is not only just that — the Mayan calendar actually allowed for octillions of years of world history. So, um, I guess we can all relax now!
This short video, made at the UK’s National Physical Laboratory, proudly explains the science behind the world’s first accurate atomic clock. It was designed by Louis Essen and built at the National Physical Laboratory in 1955, and the video is worth watching for the voiceover alone.
