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From ancient times, people have always been fascinated with the unknown. In fact, because the world is full of things we can’t explain some people dedicate their lives to finding an answer to these mysteries. However, the allure of the unknown is usually more powerful and even though science has provided a perfectly logical explanation for the “mysterious” events, people can’t simply let go and prefer to believe the romanticized version of the story. Following is a top of the most widespread mysteries and their scientific explanations.

1. Death Valley’s sailing stones

700 pounds rocks moving around when no one is looking is quite creepy, especially since they remind me of the Weeping Angels from the Doctor Who series. However, the place where these phenomena are quite frequent is the bottom of a lake, which is dry most of the time. Once every two-three years the lake is flooded as ice rushes in from the surrounding areas. Considering that the sailing stones are said to move in the exact same timeframe, this isn’t just a coincidence.

2. Water turning to blood overnight

While some Christians perceive the transformation of water into blood as a sign of the Apocalypse, don’t give away all your earthly possessions just yet. Granted, it’s hard not to panic when you wake up to see the body of water next to your home bloody-red. However, there are numerous explanations to why this phenomenon occurs sometimes. For example, the water may contain a large amount of red sediments or there could be an increase in the population of phytoplankton that is just dying to suck the oxygen out of the water and kill everything around it.

3. The alluring corpse candles

Throughout history, there have been numerous stories involving mysterious lights that appeared in various spooky places – mostly marshes – and that drove people to an early grave. However, the corpse candles, as they are nowadays known, have had been explained ever since the beginning of the 19th century. Essentially, when night fauna, fluorescent fungi, ghosts and aliens were ruled out the only thing that could be responsible for the incidents are the marsh gas. The phenomenon is dubbed chemi-luminescence and it is a well-known chemical reaction.

4. The mystery of the Ley Lines

According to conspiracy theorists, the vast majority of ancient – and naturally mysterious – constructions are interconnected by a powerful linear alignment that allowed our ancestors to tune in with the mystical powers of the Earth. However, the configuration known as the Ley Lines is an unintentional mistake “discovered” by archeologist Alfred Watkins in 1921. Well, because Watkins was an authority of his time as well as a respected archeologist, his theory got quickly accepted by the gullible public.

5. Supernatural entities and particularly ghosts

When it comes to supernatural entities, the rule of the majority applies: if at least one third of the globe’s population believes in ghosts, therefore they exist. While it is true that not all ghost encounters can be explained, a team of Swiss researchers stumbled upon an interesting fact, namely that when some people receive a small electric shock to the left junction of the parietal and temporal lobes they start seeing things that are not there. Since the supernatural experiences are due to an overstimulation of the aforementioned junction, it’s no surprise that they stop once the electric shock dissipates.

The history of the Ancient Egypt has always cultivated the fascination of people towards this great civilization. The Ancient Egyptians are without a doubt one of the most prolific and advanced empires of all times, from both the technological and social points of view. It comes as no surprise that archeology has a special sub-science referred to as Egyptology. However, the numerous inexplicable aspects of the Ancient Egypt have also stemmed numerous myths and misconceptions. Furthermore, the propensity towards believing these false notions is also emphasized by several Hollywood productions that paint a romantic, surreal picture of the society at that time. Let’s explore a few of them.

1. The legendary beauty of Queen Cleopatra

It is easy to understand why a misconception that stems from the works of Shakespeare and is perpetuated in virtually all plays and movies stands to this very day. However, Roman coins from that period tell a completely different tale. In fact, Queen Cleopatra VII was anything but beautiful. The bulky nose, her pronounced chin and the small lip line are features that cannot be associated with beauty, irrespective of the cultural archetype of femininity. On the other hand, historical records indicate that she was an extremely charismatic and intelligent figure.

2. The ancient Egyptians fascination with death

To think that the ancient Egyptians borderline obsession with the mummification techniques, the imposing architecture of tombs and the intricate burying rituals performed indicates they were preoccupied with death is a huge mistake. In fact, all these aspects show us how much the Egyptians glorified and celebrated life, even after death. Death is regarded only as a transitional phase to the afterlife and all the rituals are set in place to ensure the safe passage of the deceased and continuation of the spirit.

3. Aliens played a role in the development of the Ancient Egypt civilization

It may be very tempting to associated things that we do not fully comprehend with alien contact, but that would simply constitute an insult to the brilliant achievements of the Ancient Egyptians. In spite of the fact that conspiracy theorists argue that the pyramids could not have been built with the technology of that era and that not even modern science can replicate their architecture, bringing aliens into the equation is presumptuous and has no rational basis. Moreover, let’s not forget that Egypt was home to some of the most renowned scholars, mathematicians, architects and astronomers in recorded history.

4. We already know everything there is to know about Egypt

False, archeologists uncover new elements that shed more and more light on the intricate nature of the Ancient Egyptian society every single day. For example, quite recently they discovered a full-scale model of the so called “solar boat” inside the Great Pyramid! In case you did not know, this vessel was allegedly utilized by the Sun God Ra on his never ending battle against the demon of darkness named Apep. The fact that it was placed inside the tomb suggests that Ancient Egyptians believed that the pharaohs’ role was to assist Ra on his journey after their death.

5. Ancient Egyptians invented hieroglyphs

There are in fact two misconceptions encompassing the hieroglyphs: their authors and their purpose. To put it simply, while some consider hieroglyphs a creation of the Ancient Egyptians, other erroneously believe that these characters represent spells, incantations and curses. While nobody knows for certain when or where the hieroglyphs were invented, as historical evidence suggests they originated from the Western Asian tribes. Furthermore, hieroglyphs constitute historical event depictions and harmless inscriptions.

Women were not citizens in Ancient Greece and had limited roles outside the home. In Rome, the same thing took place in the early stages. In the later stages of the republic, women had a much more active role. They were able to own property amongst other things. Here are 10 important women in Ancient Greece & Rome who had influential and memorable roles.

1. Helen of Troy:

A whole war was fought over her for 10 years. She was abducted by the Trojan Prince, which led to the war between the Greeks and the inhabitants of Troy. The war is one of the most written about in Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey.

2. Cleopatra VII:

She was the last pharaoh in Egypt. She was a Greek and part of the Ptolemaic Dynasty who ruled Egypt after the death of Alexander the Great. She is quite popular today in art and literature, especially in Shakespearean literature.

3. Olympias:

The mother of Alexander the Great. She was a feared leader who had a skill for defeating snakes in religious ceremonies. After the death of her son, she became a regent to her grandson. While regent, she tried to seize control of Macedonia.

4. Saint Helena:

She was the Empress Consort of Emperor Constantinus. She is credited for finding the relics of the True Cross. This was the cross that Jesus Christ was “crucified” on according to the Christians.

5. Livia Drusilla:

She was a member of the Claudian family, who was married to Tiberius Claudius Nero until the emperor Augustus forced her to become his wife. She was intelligent and provided administrative help to her husband. She was also active in helping her son, Tiberius in his rule, until her death at age 85.

It is always interesting to find about our history. In the past there have been many civilizations that were constructed, that thrived well and later were destructed into ruins. Learning about these civilizations gives us an insight into their way of living, their culture, their architecture, their art and their technological inventions. These civilizations have been mysteries, clues to which are found in the form of ruins throughout the world. They have risen to glory and fallen. It is fascinating to discover these ruins and to learn about their glorious pasts. Given below are the top 10 ancient civilizations along with the mysteries that surround them.

1. Egyptian Treasures in the Grand Canyon

This is regarding many artifacts found in the Grand Canyon which was publicized by the Arizona Gazette in 1909. The truth behind this story is yet to be established, moreover since the site of the excavation was never found again. However some experts did give the article a certain amount of credibility because of the mention of the Smithsonian Institution which had financed the expedition.

2. Location of Atlantis

A very famous island is the Atlantis. It was described by Plato but its location was not mentioned clearly. There is a lot of confusion regarding its exact location. For many the island does not exist at all and others who thought it existed have searched for clues, but to no purpose. There are many places considered as locations of Atlantis like the Bermuda, Antarctica, Mexico, etc. These theories will continue till actual evidences are found.

3. Voyages to Americas

Everyone knows that Colombus discovered America. However the truth is that there have been people visiting this island even before Colombus. Evidence shows that the island had been inhabitated by the natives and has been explored by explorers, much before Colombus set his foot on the American soil. Artifacts, pottery, coins and statues have been found that prove the above mentioned facts. Egyptians, Asians, Hebrews, all have explored the American soil at some time or the other.

4. Mu or Lemuria

This place is a legend. Better known as the lost world, it was considered located in the Pacific Ocean. It was considered to be a beautiful island almost equal to paradise. It is rumored that the island along with its people sank in the ocean some thousands of years ago. Of course, it is still being debated whether such an island did exist at all.

5. Sunken City off Cuba

In the year 2001, ruins were discovered below the ocean waters off Cuba. The ruins were placed in proper patterns which were too good for nature to have placed them. There has been a good deal of investigations happening to find out what are the ruins all about. Is it really a sunken city? Only timely evidence can prove that.

The ancient Greeks have had major influence on the history of Western civilization. Major of the literary and science genres took their roots in ancient Greek society. Most of these important written documents are either complete or almost complete. This article presents the list of the top 10 most influential writers of ancient Greek civilization.

1. Archimedes

Archimedes was a renowned Greek inventor, physicist, astronomer, engineer and mathematician. He is remembered as the inventor of a mechanism that is used to move water. The device, known as The Archimedes Screw, remains useful up to the present time.

2. Euclid

Euclid was a famed mathematician and the recognized father of geometry. Not much is known about his life although there were documents that cited his active involvement in the Alexandria Library. His book, The Elements, remains to be a useful reference until today and second to The Bible in terms of total copies that were ever sold.

3. Aristotle

Aristotle was the famous apprentice of Plato and was also the first person who had the guts to criticize and question him. Aristotle belongs to the last crop of great Greek philosophers of ancient Greek civilization.

4. Plato

Plato was one of the most brilliant students of Socrates. Most of the thoughts and philosophies of Socrates were learned through the writings of Plato as Socrates rarely wrote anything. There are about 13 letters and 35 dialogues that were credited to Plato and the most popular of these include Symposium and The Republic.

5. Aristophanes

Aristophanes was a known Greek playwright who specialized in comedies. He was able to write a total of 40 plays and 11 of these plays have survived and remained intact as complete manuscripts. He is feared during his time because of his sharp writing style that ridiculed and pilloried known Athenians.