The Prison Where Convicts Built Ships, Cut Forests and Powered an Entire Colony
Port Arthur is remembered today as one of Australia’s most famous convict sites, but its original purpose went far beyond locking people behind stone walls. Beginning in…
He Fooled Art Experts for Years. Then One Paint Color Exposed the $46 Million Scam
For nearly 40 years, Wolfgang Beltracchi sold paintings that never belonged to the artists whose names appeared beside them. His works entered galleries, museums, auction houses and…
A Strange Sound Came From the Deepest Place on Earth. Then Scientists Found Its Source
In 2014, scientists recording the waters around the Mariana Archipelago captured a strange sound unlike anything they could confidently identify. It was low, mechanical and then abruptly…
They Built a 105-Story Hotel. It Has Never Had a Guest
A 105-story hotel has dominated the skyline of Pyongyang since 1987. It was supposed to become a spectacular destination for international visitors, yet decades later it still…
They Came to See Komodo Dragons. Some Ended Up Fighting for Their Lives
People travel to Indonesia hoping to get a glimpse of the Komodo dragon. Some have instead found themselves fighting for their lives. One 8-year-old boy was killed,…
The Fermi Paradox: If Aliens Should Be Everywhere, Why Is the Universe Silent?
The universe is unimaginably old, enormous and filled with stars and planets. With hundreds of billions of galaxies and more than 100 billion planets in the Milky…
They Put This Island on Maps for 400 Years. Then Scientists Went Looking for It
For centuries, maps showed a small island sitting in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula. It had a name, a location and…
She Vanished at Age One. 51 Years Later, DNA Found Her
On August 23, 1971, a one-year-old girl disappeared from Fort Worth, Texas, after a woman claiming to be a babysitter came to take care of her. For…
The Plane Landed Safely. Then All 301 People on Board Died
The plane was already on the ground, back at the airport, and the most dangerous part of the emergency should have been over. But on August 19,…
The Pilot Who Survived the Bermuda Triangle—and Said He Flew 100 Miles Into the Unknown
On December 4, 1970, pilot Bruce Gernon flew from the Bahamas toward Florida with his father and a business partner. What began as a routine trip soon…