The year is 1890, and James O. Scotford of Edmore, Michigan, is about to make an astonishing claim. Scotford reveals to the world his “discoveries”: a series of relics including a cup and several flat panels covered in what appear to be hieroglyphics. These were only the first finds, and more and more artifacts began
The history of firearms is, to an extent, one of hard-won incremental improvements with the occasional quantum leap in technology. While there have been such moments of brilliance in design conception, they are generally few and far between. Such ideas, when they take hold, can be revolutionary. The invention of the bullet containing payload and
It is early 1862, and Ulysses S Grant has just won two major battles. Fighting tooth and nail in Tennessee as he forced his way south in an effort to splinter the Confederacy and cut off vital supply lines, the victories were the largest the Union had achieved at the time, and earned Grant a
Generally speaking, thought experiments are not dangerous. As useful tools for “gaming” out a scenario, they could certainly point to a danger in the future, but they are not traditionally a problem for those who conduct them. Such an idea would, for much of human history, feel ludicrous. But we live in unusual times, and
There is much we don’t know. We may have made extraordinary strides on understanding the limits and levers of reality in the past few hundred years, but we have more questions now than when we started, and far more questions than answers. We do not know who we are, or indeed what we are. We