ARTICLE OF THE DAY
Message boards :
Cafe MilkyWay :
ARTICLE OF THE DAY
Message board moderation
| Author | Message |
|---|---|
 Matthew Love Send message Joined: 24 Feb 08 Posts: 99 Credit: 23,679 RAC: 0  
|
The Rack An ancient torture device, the rack was used to stretch its victims' joints to the breaking point. A prisoner's hands and feet would be fastened to rollers located at either end of the device's rectangular frame, and during interrogations, a ratchet would gradually increase the tension on the chains. The excruciating torture inspired such terrible fear that some prisoners would confess after merely watching someone else being stretched on the rack. 
|
|
Matthew Love Send message Joined: 24 Feb 08 Posts: 99 Credit: 23,679 RAC: 0
|
The Voynich Manuscript The Voynich manuscript, which likely dates to the late 15th or early 16th century, is a mysterious illustrated book written by an unknown author in an unidentified script and language. Although its meaning has eluded even expert cryptographers, giving weight to the theory that the book is simply an elaborate hoax, the text follows patterns similar to those of natural languages, and the book thus remains the subject of intense study |
|
Matthew Love Send message Joined: 24 Feb 08 Posts: 99 Credit: 23,679 RAC: 0
|
Pet Skunks Though these animals are best known for the foul-smelling fluid they emit as a defense against predators, skunks are occasionally kept as pets. Their scent glands can be removed, and they can be trained to live indoors with humans, but pet skunks remain relatively rare, due in part to restrictive laws and the complexity of their care. In the 20th century, most US states outlawed the keeping of wild animals in an effort to stem the spread of rabies.
|
|
Matthew Love Send message Joined: 24 Feb 08 Posts: 99 Credit: 23,679 RAC: 0
|
An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump Considered a masterpiece of British art, An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump is a 1768 oil-on-canvas painting by Joseph Wright. Portraying a scientific subject in the reverential manner formerly reserved for historical or religious scenes, the painting depicts a natural philosopher—a forerunner of the modern scientist—recreating an experiment in which a bird is deprived of oxygen before a group of onlookers.
|
|
Matthew Love Send message Joined: 24 Feb 08 Posts: 99 Credit: 23,679 RAC: 0
|
The Lost Land of Lemuria Puzzled by the presence of lemur fossils in Madagascar and India—but not in Africa or the Middle East—19th-century geologist Philip Sclater theorized that the two land masses containing the fossils had once been part of a larger, now mostly submerged continent, which he named "Lemuria." Following the scientific community's acceptance of the theories of plate tectonics and continental drift, however, Sclater's theory was widely dismissed. |
|
Matthew Love Send message Joined: 24 Feb 08 Posts: 99 Credit: 23,679 RAC: 0
|
The Tempest Prognosticator The Tempest Prognosticator, known also as the Leech Barometer because it uses leeches to predict storms, was invented in 1850 by Dr. George Merryweather. The device contains 12 leeches, each kept in a small bottle. When the leeches become agitated by electrical conditions in the atmosphere generated by an approaching storm, they attempt to climb out of the bottles and trigger a small hammer that strikes a bell.
|
©2024 Astroinformatics Group