New discoveries! 17 historical mysteries, which accidentally unraveled scientists

In the world there are still a lot of mysteries that scientists are trying to solve, but so far they have not been able to. Thanks to modern technologies, unexpected discoveries were made, shedding light on many secrets.

People are always attracted to various secrets and inexplicable phenomena, over the disclosure of which scientists have been working for decades. It also happens that the researchers came to serious discoveries by chance, and their versions eventually turned out to be truthful. Our selection will be proof of this.

1. The Secret of the "Bloody" Falls

As early as 1911, a geographer named Thomas Griffith Taylor, on an expedition to East Antarctica, saw an unusual waterfall that flowed from the Taylor Glacier. Because of its red color, it was called the "Bloody" waterfall. The reason for such coloring for a long time tormented scientists. At first they thought that the reason lies in the red algae, but in fact it was not confirmed. It was concluded that the red color is given to the water by iron oxide, but until 2017, no one has been able to prove where it comes from. Through the use of radar it was found that the waterfall has a connection with a source of salt water, which covers the glacier. Scientists were surprised when they found water under the coldest glacier.

2. The secret of the notes in a copy of the Odyssey

Small hand-written annotations in an unknown language, found on an old copy of the book, for a long time remained unsolved. It was believed that they were made in the middle of the 19th century. When people began to actively use the Internet, the collector M.S. Lang announced a reward of $ 1,000 for deciphering the text of the notes. The winners did a great job analyzing the many sources that were available to them through the Internet. As a result, they found that the notes are a special form of shorthand, which was invented in the 18th century. Decoding showed that this is an amateur translation of the Odyssey from the Greek language.

3. The secret of the missing Swiss couple

An unusual story occurred with the couple Dumoulin. Marcelin and Francine, who live in Switzerland, went to the meadow on August 15, 1942, to milk the cows and disappeared. About their fate did not know 75 years, and the bodies were found in the summer in 2017, when the glacier melted. What is important, the ice has preserved not only the remains, but also the personal belongings of the couple. To prove that the bodies belong to the couple Dumulin, they conducted DNA tests. It was concluded that the couple fell into a crevice, and on the surface of the body were, when Glacier Glacier de Tanzfleron began to recede.

4. The secret of the paint of the Terracotta Army

In 1974, a rich collection was found, including 9 thousand statues of soldiers, chariots and horses, which was buried with the first emperor of China. The army was to serve him in the afterlife. When the collection was found, on some sculptures, paint stains and remains of binding material were found, which is extremely rare among ancient statues. Pigments have been identified as mineral compounds such as cinnabar, azurite and malachite. Scientists could not then determine the nature of the binder and the exact method of coloring. Thanks to modern technology, Chinese researchers were able to find answers to interesting questions. Experiments have shown that ancient artists first covered the sculptures with one or two layers of lacquer, which was obtained from a "varnish tree". After that, polychrome layers were applied, and this was done either on a varnish or on a binder obtained from gelatin of animals.

5. The secret of quacking in the ocean

Approximately 50 years ago, submarines in the Antarctic waters recorded a strange sound phenomenon that looked like a duck quack. It is clear that this was impossible, because these birds could not be here. Interestingly, the sounds were recorded only in the spring and winter time. After many years, scientists were able to establish that sounds emanate whales - small minke whales. This discovery will help scientists accurately track their migration paths.

6. The secret of the skeletons of mammoths

Scientists for a long time tormented the question of why about 70% of the found remains of mammoths belong to males. In 2017, the research team came to the conclusion that the sex ratio was influenced by the hierarchy and social life of these animals. Mammoths, like elephants, lived in groups headed by females. Such small herds included female representatives and young cubs, and when males grew older, they were expelled and they lived independently. As a result, inexperienced singles were in situations that led to death, but they also contributed to better preservation of the remains. To the lethal natural traps can be attributed marshes, crevices and dips. The remains became protected from weathering, so they survived to this day.

7. The secret of the dark side of the moon

For the first time images of the dark side of the satellite were made in 1959 on the Soviet spacecraft Luna-3. Many were surprised by the fact that on the photographed surface of the moon there were practically no large dark areas, which are many on the visible side. They are called "lunar seas". This is explained by the version of scientists that the Moon was formed from debris that formed after a collision of an object from Mars to the Earth. During this process, a large amount of heat was released. The dark side cooled faster than the part that was facing the Earth, resulting in the formation of a thick crust.

8. The Secret of Haven U-26

In 1914, the newly built U-26 submarine was launched, and Lieutenant Commander Egewolph von Berkheim began to command it. He made several successful operations, but in August 1915 the submarine disappeared together with all crew members in the Baltic Sea. During the years of search, many theories were put forth, what could have happened. There are versions, the cause is the engine malfunction or the sea mine. The wreckage of the ship was discovered in 2014 in the southern part of the Gulf of Finland. The main version of the crash - the Russians placed in the area many mines, which the submarine came across.

9. The Secret of the Indianapolis Cruiser

In 1945, there was a tragedy - the flooding of a military ship, which caused the death of a huge number of people. The cruiser was on assignment - he was supposed to deliver to the US Air Force base, located on Tinian Island, components for the atomic bomb. When the mission was completed, the ship returned to its daily activities, but it was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine that was heading for the Philippines. After sending the distress signal, the ship went to the bottom in 12 minutes. and out of 1196 people sunk 316, while others died in the water. It was not possible to find the wreckage of the ship for a long time, but in 2016 new data were found, which helped to determine the site of the shipwreck and the remains at a depth of 5,5 thousand meters.

10. The secret of the ancient "cemetery of whales"

As a result of the expansion of the Pan-American Highway in the Chilean Atacama Desert, a large number of whale remains were discovered. Scientists could not understand why animals chose this place for death. The reason was determined by the three-dimensional visualization of objects. Studies have shown that whales have died at different times, so scientists have identified four different time intervals. The main version of the death is toxic algae, which are still found on the coast of Chile.

11. The Secret of the Death of Large Primates

It is believed that the largest primates that ever lived on Earth were gigantopithecines. For several fossils it is difficult to judge their actual size, but it is believed that their growth was 1.8-3 m, and weight 200-500 kg. Scientists put forward the theory that these giant monkeys lived in the period from 9 million to 100 thousand years ago. At the same time, researchers at the Senckenberg Center are confident that they know the cause of the death of the giant pituitary. Scientists believe that it is all the fault of the inability of these animals to adapt to the new conditions of life. After studying the enamel of the remains, it was concluded that these primates were vegetarians and ate mostly bamboo. During the Pleistocene, the vast areas of forests where these monkeys lived turned into savannahs, which deprived them of food sources. Therefore, they became extinct before they adapted to the new food.

12. The secret of the missing "Anson"

In British Columbia in October 1942, during military exercises, a plane with four pilots disappeared. Large-scale search operations did not yield any results. Answers to the questions were received in 2013, when workers of the logging company carried out work on the island of Vancouver. They found not only the wreckage of the plane, but also the remains of the pilots.

13. The secret of Tibetan millet

Scientists from the University of Washington decided to determine why about 4 thousand years ago, the ancient people were expelled from the East Tibet Plateau. The main assumption is that as a result of climatic changes in this territory it became impossible to grow the main product of their food - millet. Wheat and barley were imported to this territory only 300 years later.

14. The secret of the "head of Boshem"

The researchers found a lot in the earth, and some of the findings were really shocking, so, more than 200 years ago in Chichester, England, was found a stone head weighing 170 kg. Until 2013, archaeologists did not know the true origin of this find. Thanks to the laser scanning technology, which restored facial features and even the hairstyle, the head was identified as part of the statue of the Roman emperor Trajan. The product dates from the year 122 n. e. There is speculation that the statue used to greet travelers who entered the Chichester harbor earlier.

15. The Secret of the Airplane Barry Troy

Another mystery was revealed thanks to the devastating hurricane. As early as 1958, Lieutenant Thomas Barry Troy, who is part of the Royal Canadian Navy, disappeared from the radar during the flight and since then no one has seen either a guy or an airplane. The only thing that could be found during the search expedition was the wheel from the plane and the helmet. As a result of Hurricane Irma, debris was brought to the surface of the earth, among which was found a belt with the tag "Lieutenant Troy". It is believed that all this time the paratrooper was buried under the sand dunes, so it could not be found. Studies have shown that the parachute has not been uncovered. No remains were found, no large fragments of the plane were found, so it is not clear exactly where the catastrophe occurred.

16. The secret of the sunken "Santa Maria"

Underwater archaeologist Barry Clifford made several important discoveries, so he was found a pirate ship loaded with treasures, and he also claims to have discovered the place where Columbus's ship Santa Maria sank in 1492. Clifford decided to combine the location of the fort built by Columbus, with records in his diaries. The results surprised him, as the archaeologist discovered that his team had long photographed the flagship of Columbus. Experiments have shown that the vessel is the same size as the Santa Maria, and also has identical weapons. After that, few doubt that the found vessel really once belonged to Columbus.

17. The secret of extinction of Tasmanian wolves

These animals are called marsupial wolf or tilatsin, and they became extinct in captivity in 1936. Since that time, there was a lot of evidence that people met these animals in the wild, the information was not confirmed. Scientists were able to unravel the mystery, why in those days these wolves died out in mainland Australia, but managed to survive on the island of Tasmania. There were versions that tilatsiny died due to an epidemic or because of competition with dingo. Scientists came to the conclusion that all the blame for climate change. Wolves living in Australia could not withstand the hot weather.