Eclipses have inspired myths, predictions and scientific discoveries. The total solar eclipse occurring on April 8 provides a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to engage with science and the cosmos.
The higher your vantage point, the more likely you’ll see more of the rainbow’s circle.
Chen Hui/VCG via Getty Images
Each rainbow is personal – the rainbow you see isn’t exactly the same rainbow the next person sees. It’s all in the eye of the beholder.
This is the famous – and fake – photograph of the Loch Ness monster, taken near Inverness, Scotland, on April 19, 1934. The photograph was later revealed to be a hoax.
Keystone/Hulton Archive via Getty Images
Unicorns are a staple of social media. Today we might think of them as all magic and rainbows, but their past is one of ferocious beasts, religion, and mistranslation.
Brandon Stark’s story extends far beyond the world of Westeros.
HBO/Helen Sloan
Old stories from around the world tell of drowned islands, volcanic eruptions and upheavals to the land around them. Increasingly we are realising these tales preserve actual memory, often from thousands of years ago.
The Achievement of the Grail / Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery
New research suggests a mythical flood in China really happened about 4,000 years ago. It’s the latest case of scientists matching ancient tales to actual local natural disasters.
The myth of a monstrous giant squid prowling the oceans has persisted for centuries but scientists have been able to reveal the truth behind the stories.
Is the real villain in Frankenstein the scientist who created him, or the people who refused to understand him?
Stamp via www.shutterstock.com.
Critics of controversial science like GMOs and cloning often invoke the myth of Frankenstein to highlight the dangers of new technology. But these critics may overlook the moral of Shelley’s story.
Guenevere in May, Malory’s Le Morte D'Arthur, abridged ed. Alfred W. Pollard, illustrations by Arthur Rackham, 1917.
Bangor University Library Rare Book Collection
3D goggles might be commonplace at the cinema, but few associate the opera with digital technology, or would ever expect to wear 3D goggles in a theatre. A new production of The Flying Dutchman, created…
Hercules is once again back on our screens. This latest version has Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson in the title role, alongside an international cast which includes a host of British stars. John Hurt is Cotys…
Next time you have a bad day at work, consider Sisyphus. His annual appraisal by the ancient Greek gods was so bad (over the previous 12 months he demonstrated deceitfulness, greed, malice and homicide…