🔎 The Curiosity Files #19
Curiously exploring the mysteries of our past, present, and future
“Curiosity is its own reason. Aren’t you in awe when you contemplate the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvellous structure behind reality?” Albert Einstein
Welcome to The Curiosity Files!
Twice a week, I’ll journey through the most fascinating discoveries across ancient history, human origins, space, consciousness, cutting-edge science and the unexplained.
🗿 Ancient Mysteries, Archaeology & Lost Civilizations
Neolithic Revolution Triggered by Massive Fires and Environmental Collapse.
According to research led by Prof. Amos Frumkin, widespread environmental collapse—sparked by climate-induced wildfires and accelerated soil erosion—may have played a direct role in driving prehistoric communities in the southern Levant to abandon hunting and gathering in favour of farming over 8,000 years ago.
Engineers Found Evidence of Hydraulics in an Ancient Pyramid, Solving a 4,500-Year-Old Mystery.
In a preprint paper, scientists concluded that the Step Pyramid of Djoser in Saqqara, Egypt—believed to be the oldest of the seven monumental pyramids and potentially constructed about 4,500 years ago—offers a remarkable blueprint for hydraulic engineering.
Ancient DNA challenges long-held assumptions about the Mediterranean Phoenician-Punic civilization.
The researchers revealed an unexpected result. "We find surprisingly little direct genetic contribution from Levantine Phoenicians to western and central Mediterranean Punic populations," says lead author Harald Ringbauer.
3,300-year-old monument in Paris holds secret inscriptions from Egyptian ruler.
The newly identified inscriptions, using crypto-hieroglyphs, were hidden in plain sight and intended to solidify Ramses II’s divine authority. Some of the messages are not immediately visible, even when looking directly at the hieroglyphs. These are known as “crypto-hieroglyphs,” a form of writing used by Egypt’s elite that hides additional meanings within standard symbols. According to La Brújula Verde, only six people in the world today are qualified to read these secret inscriptions.
Humans lived in African rainforests 150,000 years ago, far earlier than believed – new research.
Until now the oldest firm evidence for people living in African rainforests dated to around 18,000 years ago. Newly published study pushes that date way back. An international team of researchers, working in Côte d'Ivoire, showed that human groups were already living in Africa’s wet tropical forest 150,000 years ago.
📖 Today’s Book
Stalking the Wild Pendulum: On the Mechanics of Consciousness by Itzhak Bentov
🌌 Cosmic & Space Mysteries
Stunning new Solar Orbiter images capture explosive activity on the sun.
Astronomers say these images reveal the "middle zone" of the sun, between its stable surface and its erupting outer corona, where magnetic fields twist and plasma eruptions begin.
Solar wind might be making water on the moon, groundbreaking NASA study reveals.
Lunar samples show evidence that solar wind could be behind the water molecules on the moon's surface, according to NASA. The results could shine a light on how water ice collects in cold traps formed by patches of permanent darkness at the moon's poles.
🧠 The Mind, Consciousness & the Origins of Life
Itzhak Bentov ~ From Atom To Cosmos
Itzhak Bentov was a scientist, inventor and an early pioneer in the research of consciousness. By blending analytical knowledge and intuitive insight, Bentov was the first to develop what is now widely accepted today as a holographic model of reality. This rare recording of Bentov's last television appearance (1978) and his inspirational exploration of consciousness and the cosmos, is presented in its original form by his wife Mirtala.
The man who mistook reality for a fantasy.
What if the world didn’t feel real to you – and what if it never had? Italian philosopher Gabriele Ferretti argues that our deepest beliefs about reality, knowledge and science depend not on logic or reason alone, but on a fragile, evolved mental state: the feeling that the world is real and independent of our minds. People with derealization disorder lose this sense altogether, and their condition reveals just how contingent our sense of reality really is.
Largest Brain Study Yet Confirms Lucid Dreaming as Unique State of Consciousness.
New research offers the most comprehensive look yet at what occurs in the brain during lucid dreaming—a unique state in which a person becomes aware that they are dreaming while the dream is still unfolding.
First-ever brain mitochondria map reveals energy secrets of the mind.
By slicing a donated brain into more than seven hundred small cubes and measuring both the number of mitochondria and their energy output in each piece, they discovered that mitochondria vary widely across brain regions. They found that the parts of the brain that evolved most recently in our lineage not only contain more mitochondria but also house mitochondria tuned to work more efficiently.
How the brain, with sleep, maps space.
Scientists have known for decades that certain neurons in the hippocampus are dedicated to remembering specific locations where an animal has been. More useful, though, is remembering where places are relative to each other, and it hasn’t been clear how those mental maps are formed. MIT neuroscientist Matthew Wilson’s lab has shown that animals essentially refine their memories by dreaming about their experiences.
🦠 Evolutionary Oddities & Life on Earth
This Single-Celled Microbe Can Transform Into a Multicellular Creature.
A single-celled microbe that revels in Earth's most hostile salt lakes has the remarkable ability to transform its mote of a body into multicellular tissue when the pressure's on.
When tiny ball bearings are put into a petri dish with castor oil and a high-voltage power supply, complex structures and movements begin to appear.
Living near newly planted trees linked to healthier birth outcomes in newborns.
Controlling for factors that can influence birth weight the researchers found a link between the number of trees planted and higher birth weight. Additionally, nearby tree planting, including new and existing trees, was associated with three key measures of newborn health: higher birth weight, lower risk of small-for-gestational-age birth and decreased risk of pre-term birth.
Global Thaw 10,000 Years Ago May Have Fueled Volcanoes and Sped Up Continental Drift.
Learn how a computer simulation demonstrates that tectonic activity may be less slow and steady than previously thought.
🚀 Cutting-Edge Science & Technology
More-than-human science.
When AI takes over the practice of science we will likely find the results strange and incomprehensible. Should we worry?
🛸 The Unexplained & the Unusual
Vallée: UFO disclosure could trigger complex religious, security questions.
Jacques Vallée has been a central figure in UFO research and debate for over six decades, often finding himself at odds with UFO orthodoxy. Vallée was among the first to argue that the unknown craft, seen for centuries in our skies and oceans, may not be from other planets, but instead from other realities.
The Dogon and the Sirius Mystery.
The Dogon people of Mali, West Africa, have captivated anthropologists and astronomers with their intricate cosmological traditions, particularly their detailed knowledge of the Sirius star system. This article examines the Dogon’s unique understanding of Sirius—including its invisible companion star, Sirius B—and explores the debates surrounding the origins of this knowledge.
Lake Erie, Saudi Arabia, and Dugway: Army Records Trace UAP Surveillance Footprint.
A newly released set of U.S. Army intelligence records offers a rare glimpse into behind-the-scenes military involvement in the government’s official UAP investigation effort. While heavily redacted, the records hint at drone incursions over restricted military airspace, surveillance activity potentially linked to UAP near sensitive installations, and interagency coordination involving anomalous aerial monitoring across both domestic and overseas theaters.
🌀 Beyond the Known
New theory suggests gravity is not a fundamental force.
A new theory proposes gravity isn’t a fundamental force but emerges from quantum electromagnetic interactions, potentially reshaping our view of spacetime itself.
New study rejects Big Bang theory, says universe grew via cosmic energy bursts.
The new theory argues dark matter and energy aren’t omnipresent, appearing only in brief moments when the universe is uniform.
Is our universe the ultimate computer?
Leading University of Portsmouth physicist’s study indicates that gravity or gravitational force is the result of a computational process within the universe. He suggests that gravity might actually be caused by how information about matter is organised in the universe. Using the second law of information dynamics, he indicates that matter and objects in space may be being pulled together because the universe is trying to keep information tidy and compressed.
Which story intrigued you the most? Let me know in the comments below and provide links to any curiosities you have found!
Until next time, stay curious!
The story about hydraulic engineering and the step pyramid caught my eye because it resonates with speculations in Bernal’s Black Athena that parts of Greece were reshaped around that same time (2500 BC) by Egyptian masters of hydraulics. It’s been years since I read the book — I’ll have to pull it out and have another look.