Is it just us, or was 2023 filled with some of the wildest scientific discoveries ever?
Whether it was an extension of the human story, threats from our immediate cosmos or stories of past cataclysms, science got weird and wild throughout the last 12 months. Here’s some of the craziest things we came across here at the Daily Caller:
Humanity got a heck of a lot older
It all started in January, when a factory was found in Ethiopia that appeared to be 1.2 million years old, and run by a mystery chapter of the human species. Researchers uncovered a heap of obsidian axes at the Melka Kunture archaeological site in the upper Awash Valley. Within the sediment layer, researchers found the remnants of a handaxe workshop, thought to predate the actual creation of Homo sapiens.
By February, another study found evidence that humans were using bow and arrow technology some 52,000 years ago. This is a lot earlier than previously thought and may have been part of Neanderthal technology rather than those crafted by our direct ancestors. (RELATED: 46,000-Year-Old Creature Revived From Permafrost, Scientists Say)
Oh, and it turns out the ancient Maya of Central and South America were incredibly advanced, and were likely a far larger society than Big Archaeology would let anyone believe, which feels kind of racist if you ask me. If you’re interested in just learning about how humanity’s story evolved through 2023, check out this detailed summary I wrote earlier in December. If you want to learn all about how we might die soon, keep on reading! Yay!
Cataclysms from our cosmos
A powerful geomagnetic storm has been churning above us since around the start of 2023, but it really ramped up its activity in the last month of the year. Despite thousands of absolute idiots on Twitter thinking this activity will impact our weather, it won’t! It’ll actually do something far, far worse.
‘Starvation, Death, Destruction’: Superstar Actor Makes Strange Warning To Society | @DailyCaller
Dennis Quaid would probs be super into my commentary for the Daily Caller. Glad to hear at least one sensible celebrity among the idiots. https://t.co/WHRSEBnU0F
— KAY SMYTHE (@KaySmythe) April 6, 2023
Solar activity doesn’t really influence our weather. It sucker punches our magnetic field, possibly to death if the storm is strong enough (even just temporarily, in theory). All life on Earth exists because of our magnetic field, and all of our technology is dependent on a steady flow of that energy. If we’re hit with too much solar radiation, all of our technology could be rendered useless, and we’ll all die. (RELATED: South Africa Faces 16-Hour Blackouts This Winter Due To Corruption And Mismanagement. It Could Happen Here.)
As if this wasn’t scary enough, a giant black hole “switched on” in 2023 and we don’t know why, which feels … not great.
Scary stuff happening under our feet
Along with the discovery of new threats from fault lines and volcanic activity all over the world, 2023 brought us a new level of fear focused on our core. No, I’m not talking about our abs. I’m talking about the giant superheated ball of iron that helps our magnetic field stay afloat. (RELATED: ‘Significant Global Event From The Past’: Scientists Get Shocking Evidence From Earth’s Inner Core)
But apparently that life-ensuring geological mechanism is slowing down. In fact, it’s slowing down so much that it’s actually lagging behind the rest of the planet’s natural spin. This might not sound scary to many of you, but we could literally all die if our poles shift or our core stops doing its thing.
But on a less scary note, there were some pretty cool oceanic discoveries in 2023. My personal favorite was this “skin-like” golden orb uncovered near Alaska. What is it? We don’t know!
Maybe we’ll get a few less questions, and a couple more answers in 2024, eh?