Tuthankamen’s famous burial mask, on display in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. Credit: Bjørn Christian Tørrissen
1. Black Death Plague Infected Humans Thousands of Years Before First Recorded Pandemic
The microbe responsible for the Black Death plague infected Bronze Age humans more than 3,000 years earlier than the infamous pandemics of the 6th and 14th centuries. The evidence was found in teeth. Read more at ABC.net.au.
2. A Travelogue of the Places that Inspired Frankenstein
From a volcano in Indonesia to am 18th-century lab in Bologna, visit the places that inspired Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Find how she used ideas, events and places to invent her famous monster. Read more in Smithsonian Magazine.
Watch a video from Secrets of the Dead: Vampire Legend and learn about the meticulous research Bram Stoker undertook as he shaped the character Dracula.
3. NYC Subway Cars at the Bottom of the Atlantic Ocean?
Some retired NYC subway cars are deep underwater now and have been used to create an artificial reef. See photos at Gothamist.
4. The Ruins of a 450-Year-Old Mexican Church Emerges from Water
The Temple of Quechula was built in 1564 and abandoned after a plague in the 1770s. A dam project submerged it in 1996. Now, due to a drought in Chiapas, the church is visible again above the water. See stunning photos on The Guardian.
5. Efforts Underway to Restore King Tut’s Beard
A team of German-Egyptian archaeologists and conservators have begun the painstaking work of restoring King Tutankhamun’s burial mask, which was accidentally broken off and then hastily glued back last year. Watch a video at CNN.
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