mystery

Stories 161 - 180 | << Prev   Next >>

Why Rubber Blocks Keep Appearing on Europe's Beaches

They come from shipwrecks—including, perhaps, the Titanic

(Newser) - From Britain to Spain to Denmark, rubbery blocks have recently washed up on beaches, all bearing the same word: Tjipetir. It's still not certain where each block comes from, but a woman who found one while walking her dog in England has a pretty good idea, the BBC reports....

'Something Chemical' May Have Killed Utah Family

Authorities say it could take more than a month for answers

(Newser) - There are still more questions than answers in the case of the family that died mysteriously Saturday in their home in Springville, Utah. "There was no blunt force trauma, no stab wounds, no gunshot wounds," a local police lieutenant tells KSL . "Nobody went in the house and...

Mystery Donor Offers $30M Reward for MH17 Culprit

German investigative firm says offer is legit, with funds held in Zurich

(Newser) - Everyone wants to know who shot Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 out of the skies over Ukraine in July, but one unknown entity really wants to know—and is apparently willing to pony up $30 million for the answer. Wifka, a German private-investigation firm, says it has a client who's...

'Woman in Black' Ends Mystery Journey in Va.

Social media sensation reportedly ID'd, but no one knows what her mission was

(Newser) - The enigmatic "Woman in Black" on a six-state journey that attracted fierce interest on Twitter and Facebook unceremoniously ended her odyssey yesterday in Winchester, Va., reports NBC Washington . For weeks, the woman, wearing a black robe and veil, has been spotted trudging along highways and through small towns in...

Mystery Solved: Neighbor Left 'Creepy' Porcelain Dolls

Police say woman meant it as a 'goodwill' gesture, though families were rattled

(Newser) - Glassy-eyed porcelain dolls have long played important roles in the creepiest of American horror stories. Which is why at least eight families in San Clemente, Calif., got exceedingly freaked out when someone started leaving such dolls on their front steps—dolls that resemble actual girls about the age of 10...

Odd Ditches Made Before Amazon Rainforest Grew
Odd Ditches Made Before Amazon Rainforest Grew
new study
Jul 8, 2014 5:31 PM CDT

Odd Ditches Made Before Amazon Rainforest Grew

Study: Before it was jungle, it was savannah

(Newser) - Some 3,000 years ago, the Bolivian Amazon didn’t look like a jungle at all—it was more like an African savannah. A new study reveals how the ancient landscape took shape, and sheds new light on the mysterious ditches the early Amazonians built there for purposes unknown. The...

Mystery in Centuries-Old Copy of Odyssey Solved

Italian computer engineer claims $1K prize

(Newser) - An Italian computer engineer has produced fresh insight into Homer's The Odyssey—or, more specifically, one long-intriguing copy of it. In 2007, the University of Chicago Library was given a copy of the book dating to 1504. But alongside about 20 of the pages making up Book 11 were...

Historians Closer to Learning Lost Colony&#39;s Fate
Historians Closer to
Learning Lost Colony's Fate
in case you missed it
Dec 14, 2013 5:15 PM CST

Historians Closer to Learning Lost Colony's Fate

Ground-penetrating radar may help solve mystery of Roanoke Island

(Newser) - New research has shed a little more light on one of America's longstanding mysteries: the disappearance of more than 100 colonists on North Carolina's Roanoke Island. The British settlers disappeared in 1590, three years after their arrival. Two hints persisted as to their fates: The word "Croatoan"...

Mystery of Odd Mounds Solved

 Mystery of Odd Mounds Solved 
in case you missed it
Dec 14, 2013 10:04 AM CST

Mystery of Odd Mounds Solved

'Mima mounds' formed by pocket gophers, researchers believe

(Newser) - Since 1841, many have wondered what might have created "Mima mounds," the mysterious (and quite numerous) large, ancient bumps emerging from the ground in Washington state's Mima Prairie. Earthquakes? Floods? Glaciers? Aliens? Nope. Most likely, it was ... gophers. Researchers think they've finally figured it out, LiveScience...

Inside the Internet&#39;s Most Mysterious Puzzle
Inside the Internet's Most Mysterious Puzzle
in case you missed it
Dec 1, 2013 6:00 PM CST

Inside the Internet's Most Mysterious Puzzle

Cicada 3301 is ... well, no one is entirely sure

(Newser) - It's a mystery cloaked in ... mystery. The Telegraph digs into Cicada 3301, but struggles a bit to describe exactly what it is—because no one is really sure. It's a sort of Internet challenge that's pretty unbelievable in its scope, designed to reel in and test the...

Why JFK Conspiracy Theories Don&#39;t Hold Up
 Why JFK Conspiracy 
 Theories Don't Hold Up 
OPINION
Nov 15, 2013 11:36 AM CST

Why JFK Conspiracy Theories Don't Hold Up

Fred Kaplan debunks long-held suspicions of a second shooter

(Newser) - The majority of Americans believe a conspiracy surrounds John F. Kennedy's assassination. Fred Kaplan used to, too—before he debunked the theories. While they offer a bit of fantasy and comfort, the JFK conspiracy theories just don't hold up, Kaplan writes for Slate . First up: Some claimed Lee...

Town Plagued by Mystery Hum
 Town Plagued by Mystery Hum 
in case you missed it
Nov 2, 2013 7:15 AM CDT

Town Plagued by Mystery Hum

Possible culprit: mating fish

(Newser) - "It's a really low pitched sound that literally pulsates through the house." If that sounds like the kind of noise that would drive you crazy, be glad you don't live in Southampton. The British town is collectively pulling out its hair over an unexplained hum that...

Could DNA Finally Explain 98 Reform School Deaths?

Dozens of children died at Florida school between 1914 and 1973

(Newser) - Between 1914 and 1973, a Florida reform school—once the nation's largest—saw 98 deaths, of which 96 were children between ages 6 and 18, researchers have confirmed. But the deaths remain cloaked in mystery, and many of the bodies have never been recovered. Now, researchers at the University...

China Wants US Help With 19-Year-Old Poisoning Mystery

Zhu Ling's poisoning was never solved

(Newser) - An unsolved poisoning case has enthralled China, 19 years after the fact, and now more than 112,000 people have signed a petition asking the White House to investigate and deport a former suspect who is said to have moved to the US. Zhu Ling was a chemistry student at...

UChicago&#39;s Indiana Jones Mystery Solved
 UChicago's 
 Indiana Jones 
 Mystery Solved 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Dec 23, 2012 7:43 AM CST

UChicago's Indiana Jones Mystery Solved

Journal was en route to Italy from Guam

(Newser) - The University of Chicago has cracked its Indiana Jones mystery —and it involves an international route that wouldn't have been out of place in a Jones movie. The copy of Jones mentor Abner Ravenwood's journal that turned up in a weatherbeaten envelope was the misplaced creation of...

Indiana Jones Journal Stumps UChicago

Is it a clue in a game, or something else entirely?

(Newser) - Call this one Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of Higher Learning: The latest Jones-themed mystery is taking place not on the silver screen but in the University of Chicago's mail room. Its admissions office's Tumblr explains that late last week a package addressed to "Henry Walton Jones,...

Mystery Disease Kills 61 Children in Cambodia

World Health Organization is investigating

(Newser) - A World Health Organization expert says it's too early to know whether a mixture of known diseases or something new is responsible for the deaths of more than 60 children in Cambodia. The mystery disease has killed 61 of the 62 children hospitalized since April, but there's no...

Mysterious 'Forest Boy' Identified as a Fraud

Robin Van Helsum admits he made it all up

(Newser) - The mysterious "Forest Boy" who showed up in Berlin last year with (so he said) no idea who he was is actually Robin Van Helsum, a 20-year-old from the Netherlands who had been reported missing by his family days before his appearance in Germany. Authorities identified Van Helsum—who...

Civil War Photos: Help Museum Solve Old Mystery

Museum of the Confederacy seeks public's help in identifying photos

(Newser) - The names of the two little girls are an enduring mystery, their images found among crumpled bodies on Civil War battlefields. Each is posed primly on chairs, ringlets cascading past the rouged cheeks of one, the other dressed in a frilly hoop dress. But no one knows their identities of...

Discover New Jersey&#39;s &#39;Bermuda Triangle&#39;


 Discover New Jersey's 
 'Bermuda Triangle' 
in case you missed it
Jun 9, 2012 7:00 AM CDT

Discover New Jersey's 'Bermuda Triangle'

Round Valley Reservoir home to mystery

(Newser) - Conspiracy theorists, rejoice! There is no need to travel all the way to the Florida/Bermuda/Puerto Rico area to dig into a triangular mystery. The Star-Ledger dives into the tale of the mysterious "Bermuda Triangle of New Jersey": the Round Valley Reservoir, whose 2,000 acres come stocked with trout...

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