Meteor Burst Communication
Kaushik Patowary
Sep 16, 2019
Everyday billions of space rocks crash into the earth’s atmosphere and disintegrate before they reach the ground. This produces two main eff...
The Editor of Encyclopædia Britannica Once Wrote a Guidebook to Edinburg’s Prostitutes
Kaushik Patowary
Sep 13, 2019
In the late 18th century, tourists seeking carnal pleasure in Scotland’s capital city Edinburgh had a handy guidebook to start with. It det...
The Ancient Egg Hatcheries of Egypt
Kaushik Patowary
Sep 11, 2019
Chickens that are raised in farms are almost never hatched by their mothers. Instead, they are hatched using artificial heat in large elect...
The Moscow Cathedral That Was Once a Swimming Pool
Kaushik Patowary
Sep 10, 2019
The Cathedral of Christ the Saviour near Moskva river, Moscow. Photo credit: Valeri Potapova/Shutterstock.com On the northern bank of the ...
Where Do The World’s Oceans Meet?
Kaushik Patowary
Sep 7, 2019
Two huge ocean waves clashing. Photo credit: David Bostoc/Shutterstock.com There are five oceans on earth, and all of them are connected w...
The Ancient Chinese Earthquake Detector That’s Puzzling Modern Researchers
Kaushik Patowary
Sep 6, 2019
In the year 132 CE, a brilliant Chinese astronomer, mathematician and engineer named Zhang Heng presented to the Han court an impressive inv...
The Wonderful Art of Missing Pet Posters
Kaushik Patowary
Sep 5, 2019
“Have you scene [sic] my CAT ?”, pleaded a crude hand-made poster. Underneath it was a sketch of the missing cat, apparently drawn by a chi...
Punkah: The Hand Operated Ceiling Fans of Colonial India
Kaushik Patowary
Sep 4, 2019
When the British first came to India, they had to adapt themselves to a lot of unfamiliar things, such as the climate, the blood sucking mos...
Monadnock Building: The Last Brick Skyscraper
Kaushik Patowary
Sep 2, 2019
In a city full of high-rises, a sixteen story skyscraper might not seem like much, but the Monadnock Building standing in the south Loop are...
Britain's Last Remaining World War One Memorial Tank
Kaushik Patowary
Sep 2, 2019
After the end of the First World War, many British towns received gifts from the National War Savings Committee as recognition for the commu...
Flying Aircraft Carriers
Kaushik Patowary
Aug 31, 2019
Germany’s mixed success with Zeppelins during the First World War convinced the British and the Americans to take a closer look at these fly...
The Other Anne Franks: 10 Holocaust Diaries You Haven’t Read
Kaushik Patowary
Aug 29, 2019
Anne Frank wasn’t the only teenager who lost her childhood to war. Thousands of children and teenagers across Europe found their freedoms c...
Letters Q, W, And X Were Once Illegal in Turkey
Kaushik Patowary
Aug 28, 2019
An alternative spelling for taxi in Istanbul, Turkey. Photo credit: Jürgen Luger/Flickr In 1928, the Turkish government decided to change ...
Jack The Baboon Signalman
Kaushik Patowary
Aug 26, 2019
During the later part of the 19th century, travellers entering Uitenhage railway station, near Port Elizabeth, in South Africa, frequently ...
The Citrus Gardens of Pantelleria
Kaushik Patowary
Aug 26, 2019
Located halfway between Sicily and Tunisia’s coastline, lies a small speck of an island called Pantelleria. Pantelleria has a typical Medit...
Fishing With Sulphuric Fire
Kaushik Patowary
Aug 23, 2019
Many fishes are attracted towards light just as moths and flying ants are—a behavior that fishermen around the world exploit to bring them t...
Harris’s List: The 18th Century Guide Book to London’s Prostitutes
Kaushik Patowary
Aug 22, 2019
For nearly four decades, from 1757 to 1795, an anonymous publisher in Covent Garden printed and published a small pocketbook-sized annual di...
Monet's Pond: The Pond Where Art Comes to Life
Kaushik Patowary
Aug 21, 2019
In the woods just outside Seki City, in Japan’s Gifu Prefecture, is a small Shinto shrine that stands at the foot of a sloping hill overlook...
Mizuko Kuyo: The Japanese Ritual of Mourning The Unborn
Kaushik Patowary
Aug 21, 2019
Losing a child can be very painful, even if that child is yet to be born. In fact, many parents who experienced miscarriages feel the pain i...
The German Hair Force: The Military’s Failed Experiment With Long Hair
Kaushik Patowary
Aug 20, 2019
Like every other country, the German armed forces, the Bundeswehr, have strict rules on grooming. The Bundeswehr decrees that soldiers and o...
