- 5 weeks ago
- #brightside
- #brightsideglobal
Some ancient legends and myths have been dismissed as mere fantasies or superstitions, but science has proven that some of them are actually based on real events or phenomena. In this video, we will explore some of these fascinating stories and how they were verified by scientific evidence. From the legendary city of Troy to the mysterious Nazca lines, these are some of the ancient legends and myths that were later proven true by science. #brightside #brightsideglobal TIMESTAMPS: 0:01 Cave art 08:19 Most dangerous cave on Earth 17:20 Can you survive in a cave full of traps? This video is made for entertainment purposes. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, safety and reliability. Any action you take upon the information in this video is strictly at your own risk, and we will not be liable for any damages or losses. It is the viewer's responsibility to use judgement, care and precaution if you plan to replicate.
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00:00A banana peel in the middle of the room, some old shoes sprayed with neon paint, a huge tree trunk
00:06chopped in seven parts.
00:08Modern art can be tricky to interpret.
00:10Well, we can at least ask the artist what message they were trying to send.
00:15Scientists working with cave paintings don't have that luxury.
00:18But they still do their best trying to find out more about early humans through that art.
00:23The oldest example of prehistoric abstract art modern humans have found so far is around 73,000 years old.
00:31And it looks like a hashtag.
00:34It was found in the Blombos cave in South Africa in 2011.
00:38The scientists studied it well to prove it was deliberately painted by our ancestors and not just some ochre, which
00:45can produce natural pigment imprinted on the rock.
00:48But when they tried to recreate the ancient hashtag, they realized it was most likely created with ochre crayons.
00:56Plus, the painting is on the smoothest side of the rock, so all signs point to prehistoric art.
01:01We still don't know what that hashtag means, but it would be super cool if it had been part of
01:07some prehistoric version of Instagram.
01:10Many of the later cave images explored so far are easier to understand.
01:15They are of animals of all kinds.
01:18The 20th century was super successful when it came to finding those, especially in Western Europe, in the mountains of
01:25France and Spain.
01:26In 1940, four guys tried to rescue their dog that fell in a foxhole and stumbled across one of the
01:33biggest prehistoric art galleries, the Lascaux cave.
01:37It has 600 paintings, mostly of animals, deer, bison, horses, bears, and even lions.
01:43There are also some human figures, scientists dated that art to around 15,000 years before the current era.
01:51Naming the exact age is tricky when it comes to cave paintings, because they usually don't have organic material that
01:57scientists can use for carbon dating.
01:59The meaning of the paintings is still a topic for discussion, but they were obviously created by some really skilled
02:06hands.
02:07The same hands probably made sandstone lamps that used animal fat as fuel and fireplaces to light the workshop.
02:14They used bright colors like red, yellow, and black, all provided by natural pigments.
02:21They also did some grinding, mixing, and heating, and then applied the paints using different techniques.
02:26Fingers or charcoal, brushes made of hair or moss, and even hollow bones to spray the pigment onto the wall.
02:34Those artists were more advanced than you can possibly imagine.
02:37More recent discoveries in other parts of the world give us a whole new understanding of art history.
02:44A huge painting showing six animals, native wild pigs, and dwarf buffaloes chased by humans in a cave in Indonesia
02:52is a soundproof that cave art doesn't only come from Europe, unlike what scientists used to believe.
02:58The Indonesian art was dated around 44,000 years ago, way older than those French paintings.
03:05This ancient storytelling is believed to be a landmark of human development.
03:09So this discovery might even change our views on evolution.
03:13Plus, some of the human figures have animal features, like beets and tails.
03:18It means that our ancestors were starting to develop their own mythology back then already.
03:25Australia is the record holder when it comes to prehistoric cave paintings.
03:28Most of them are in Arnhem land.
03:31If you ever take a stroll around this art gallery of the past,
03:35you'll see some images of koalas, dingoes, and other Australian staples.
03:39But wait, who are those guys?
03:41One theory says they could be mythical creatures formed from parts of various animals.
03:46A plot of the rich imagination of aboriginal artists.
03:50Another theory is more scientific.
03:52They could be animals that had long gone extinct.
03:56Researchers tried to recreate the looks of ancient animals using incomplete skeletons they had found.
04:02But those guesses could be wrong because a skeleton doesn't let us see the fur, fat, and other features.
04:08And the portraits could be wrong.
04:10And while technology is pushing science forward,
04:13we might actually look for answers in the past crayon sketches for answers.
04:18One of the animals that often pops up in the Australian cave chronicles
04:23is medium-sized and looks somewhat like a dog.
04:26It seems to resemble a Tasmanian tiger that was wiped off the Earth in the 20th century.
04:32Closer studies prove that it could be a way more ancient animal, though.
04:36The marsupial lion, which went extinct around 30,000 years ago.
04:40It had broader and shorter jaws than the most delicately built Tasmanian tiger
04:45and large, heavy forelimbs with long claws.
04:49One of the paintings is missing stripes, which are a distinctive feature of any tiger.
04:54Archaeologists suppose that those ancient artists could have just painted over the stripes
04:59after the tiger had gone extinct.
05:01That's one prehistoric way of deleting a photo with your ex from your social media.
05:06Another prehistoric animal that probably got painted over and out of history
05:10is the giant kangaroo at the Uber Rock Complex.
05:14This guy was not much like the kangaroos we know and love today.
05:18It had a thick body with a long neck, and it preferred punching over to standing upright.
05:24Its tail was thick from beginning to end, and it had a short muzzle.
05:29Scientists analyzed all the species of short-faced kangaroos
05:32that have lived down under along with the humans.
05:35They then chose the one that matched the most.
05:38It was twice as large as present-day roos and was too heavy to hop.
05:43There's also a smaller image atop the kangaroo portrait.
05:46It's a bird with feathers but no wings.
05:49It could be an extinct emu or some other flightless bird of the past.
05:54Australian caves aren't the only visual encyclopedia of extinct megafauna.
05:59The Amazon is hiding an 8-mile-long stone canvas with images of animals
06:04that were here at the end of the most recent Ice Age.
06:07One of these animals is the mastodon, the great-grandparent of modern elephants,
06:13a member of the mammoth family.
06:15They were shorter than their descendants, and their skull was lower and of simpler construction.
06:20Their legs looked too short for their long bodies.
06:23What were they doing in the Amazon?
06:25It looks like they came here when the climate in the region was changing,
06:29and so did the vegetation of the forest.
06:32Madagascar, known to anyone who has seen the animated movie with the same name
06:36as the land of King Julian and his supporters, has its own cave paintings.
06:41And yes, you can see the giant lemur there.
06:45Those guys grew as tall as gorillas and shared the island with now-extinct elephant birds
06:50and other creatures you'll probably be happy you won't meet.
06:53We still don't know why and how the giant lemurs had gone extinct.
06:58But since rock art often shows humans chasing the more contemporary lemur version,
07:03that could be the answer.
07:05If later cave art serves as an encyclopedia of extinct megafauna,
07:09the earlier, more abstract version could be proof that Neanderthals had their own language.
07:16Scientists see a direct link between the ability for symbolic thinking
07:19and the ability to have a language.
07:21A professor of linguistics in Japanese language and culture at MIT
07:26says that it's tricky to study language history because it doesn't fossilize.
07:31Linguists have to look for other artifacts that could answer their questions.
07:36Cave art could be one of those.
07:38Another thing that could help scientists is analyzing the acoustics in cave art areas.
07:43Their placement might not be random.
07:45It could have to do with sounds people heard in this or that spot.
07:49Another question we still have to answer is why early humans made art.
07:55Did they do it for the sake of the process?
07:57Or maybe they saw it as totems to protect their clan?
08:01In the second case, depicted animals would have to be way more diverse
08:05as different groups would have different protectors.
08:08There are still more questions than answers.
08:10And hopefully, humanity will solve the mystery at some point.
08:18Now the first rule is not to panic, the guy says.
08:21He gives Michael a thick suit.
08:23The weather is hot here, and the outfit seems very warm.
08:27You can't go without it, he adds.
08:30Michael puts on the outfit and feels goosebumps all over his body.
08:33Why is it so cold?
08:35The guide explains this is a unique cooling cloth.
08:38It'll save Michael from heat stroke inside the cave.
08:41The guide gives him an oxygen tank and a mask.
08:45Are we gonna dive?
08:46Michael asks.
08:48No, but your lungs may fill up with water if you don't use it.
08:52Michael's knees are shaking with fear.
08:54He doubts this whole idea.
08:56Welcome to one of the most dangerous caves on the planet,
08:59the guy says as he enters the dark space at the foot of a mountain.
09:04This place is called Crystal Cave, and it's located in Mexico.
09:07Magma had leaked here from the hot bowels of our planet 26 million years ago.
09:13It was coming and cooling down again and again.
09:16There was so much magma that it formed a mountain.
09:20Along with magma, mineral-rich water got here.
09:23It had been seeping through the rock tunnels and had formed a cave under the hill.
09:27Then, something strange appeared in these hot waters.
09:31Something that seems to be from another planet.
09:34Michael is going down the road.
09:36He illuminates the bottomless darkness with a flashlight.
09:39The air becomes hot and heavy.
09:43Microscopic particles of water are hovering here.
09:46Along with the guide, Michael descends to 980 feet.
09:49This is more than half of the Empire State Building's height.
09:53The air temperature goes up.
09:55It feels as if they were approaching the Earth's core.
09:58Finally, the descent ends, and they jump on solid ground.
10:02The guy puts on an oxygen mask and tells Michael to do the same.
10:07He can't breathe in such moist and acidic air.
10:10The lungs can fill with water, which will lead to disastrous consequences.
10:14The air here feels to Michael as if he's walking through a very thick fog.
10:19The temperature rises up to 136 degrees Fahrenheit.
10:23It's higher than in the world's most hot deserts.
10:26Michael lights his way and notices something big, white, and shiny.
10:31It's a huge crystal beam sticking out of the ground that's reaching up.
10:36The whole cave is filled with these huge things.
10:38They stretch in different directions and rest against the ceiling and the walls.
10:43Somewhere, they block the path.
10:45And somewhere, they are like bridges.
10:47Michael climbs onto one of the crystals and walks on it.
10:50The guide explains that each column is made of gypsum.
10:54You know this substance as it's used to produce building material, plasterboard.
10:59Michael touches the hard surface of one of them.
11:01It seems that some ancient civilization could have built it.
11:05The guide says that everything inside this cave is natural.
11:09For the first time, this place was discovered by two miners in the year 2000.
11:14Since then, scientists have managed to find out that some crystals are 500,000 years old.
11:21You can also find one of the largest natural crystals in the world here.
11:25This beam is about 36 feet long and weighs 55 tons.
11:30This place is filled with water rich in calcium sulfate.
11:34This element is capable of forming minerals.
11:37A colorless variety of gypsum prevails here.
11:40The water and warm air help form the crystals.
11:43Humidity and temperature haven't changed for centuries.
11:46So these columns continue to grow even now.
11:50This place is fascinating.
11:52Michael wants to stay here longer to explore the cave.
11:55But unfortunately, it's dangerous.
11:57They may get lost or slip on the gypsum rocks.
12:01Plus, they're running out of oxygen.
12:02So they have to climb back up.
12:04They come out of the cave and meet the police.
12:08It turns out that it's prohibited for tourists to enter the cave.
12:11Even scientists must get special permission to go here.
12:15And it's for a good reason, since the cave is one of the most dangerous places on Earth.
12:20Michael and the guide pay a fine and leave Mexico.
12:24The next stop is Italy.
12:26It's a good thing you've taken a good camera with you, the guide says.
12:30This is one of the most fascinating caves in the world.
12:34You need the best equipment to capture this beauty.
12:37Michael and the guide are on a small boat.
12:40They sail along the coast on the island of Capri, Italy.
12:44Luckily, there won't be any danger this time.
12:47They are approaching a small rift inside the mountain.
12:50This is the entrance to the blue grotto.
12:53The hole is so tiny that only one boat can pass through it.
12:57Michael and the guide get into another dimension.
13:00The cave is filled with water.
13:02The walls are shining with blue light coming from the lake's depths.
13:06Michael takes pictures of the cave and notices that the entrance they got through glows with a bright white light.
13:13It's the sun's rays illuminating the cave as they enter it.
13:17There's another hole under the water.
13:19The sunlight penetrates through it, filling the lake with a blue glow.
13:24But it's time to move on.
13:26The next cave is in New Zealand.
13:28They arrive to the North Island.
13:30There's a place deep underground with winding, intricate caves.
13:34They appeared here about 30 billion years ago.
13:38Michael and the guide approach the entrance to the dark cave.
13:41Michael turns on a flashlight.
13:43Take it away, the guy says.
13:45You won't need it inside.
13:47They come in.
13:48Michael opens his mouth in surprise.
13:51The whole cave is filled with glowing lanterns.
13:54They are all living creatures.
13:56Fireflies.
13:58They're shining with a blue light.
14:00Michael feels like he's on another planet.
14:03The entrance to the cave is limited to not harm the fireflies.
14:07Scientists use automated equipment to monitor the cave.
14:10They watch the temperature and the level of carbon dioxide necessary to maintain the life of glowing beetles.
14:17If many people get here, the level of carbon dioxide will increase.
14:22The time for a visit is also limited, so they ask Michael and the guide to leave the place.
14:28Now, we're going to see something creepy, the guide says.
14:32Are you ready?
14:33And the next stop is California.
14:36The place is called Moaning Caverns.
14:38The cave seems quite ordinary from the outside, but the guide looks a little nervous and scared.
14:45They attach the rope to the belt and begin the long descent.
14:48The bottom is 165 feet deep.
14:51It's the height of a 15-story building.
14:54It seems not so big compared to the crystal cave.
14:57As Michael is going lower, it's getting cold and dark.
15:02At this point, all sounds from above disappear.
15:05They slowly sink into an ominous silence.
15:09What is it?
15:10Michael asks, startled.
15:12I think I've heard someone's voice downstairs.
15:15The guide touches his lips with his finger to keep Michael silent.
15:19A long, prolonged human moan is coming from the dark cave depths.
15:24In the first seconds, Michael freezes.
15:27Then he quickly climbs up along the rope.
15:29The guide laughs at him.
15:31They hear another moan.
15:33Michael gets out of the cave and pulls the guide's rope to get him out.
15:37The guide says this is one of the creepiest caves in the world.
15:41The air and wind circulate deep inside and create a sound similar to a moan.
15:47Tourists often go down there to tickle their nerves.
15:50Also, they've found about 100 skeletons of ancient people at the bottom of the cave.
15:55And no one knows how they got there.
15:58Michael doesn't want to go back inside the cave.
16:01He asks the guide to tell him how caves form.
16:04It turns out that it all starts when the ground absorbs acid rain, consisting of water and carbon dioxide.
16:11The liquid penetrates through the soil and comes into contact with hard rock surfaces.
16:16When water touches limestone or dolomite, it dissolves them and helps to form an empty space.
16:23Every year, there's more and more space around.
16:26The rain continues to fall and accumulate in this open area.
16:29Then, the water forms a stream or an underground river.
16:33After that, the erosion of hard rocks begins.
16:38Thousands of years later, there's enough space to fit a human here.
16:41Then, this space becomes a cave.
16:44When erosion combines with stalactites and stalagmites, it forms chambers and impressive columns.
16:51By the way, here's the difference between stalactites and stalagmites.
16:56Stalactites hang from the ceiling.
16:58Stalagmites stick out of the ground.
17:00It takes about a million years to develop such underground landscapes.
17:04So, every time you walk in these places, you come into contact with the ancient past of our planet.
17:13Today, we trek into a mysterious cave teeming with treacherous traps.
17:18They will test how your brain works in extreme conditions.
17:21And if you pass them all and come out alive, congrats!
17:25You have ultimate survival skills!
17:28Please remember to share your results in the comments.
17:30Here we go!
17:31You enter the cave and find yourself in a pretty large hall where strange little people in weird masks meet
17:38and greet you.
17:39They take you to a table in the middle of the hall, and they seat you in front of it,
17:43gently but firmly.
17:45One of the masked individuals puts three muffins on the table before you.
17:49You're pleasantly surprised by their hospitality, but they start sneering under the masks, and you realize there's something wrong with
17:57the treats.
17:58It's the first trap.
18:00The person who laid out the muffins on the table explains what's inside the muffins in a creaky voice.
18:06The first one has some boiled nettle leaves in it.
18:09The second one is swarming with live ants.
18:12And the third one is seemingly filled with chocolate, but it's actually mud.
18:16So, which one would you choose to eat?
18:26Well, live ants and mud are a no-go for sure.
18:29Even though ants might actually be edible, who knows what species they belong to.
18:34And it's also yucky, truth be told.
18:36But surprisingly, boiled nettle leaves are A-OK to eat, despite nettle being a plant that burns your skin upon
18:42touch.
18:43It only does so when it's fresh.
18:46Boiled leaves lose their burning quality.
18:48And nettle soup is an actual dish in many cultures.
18:51So we settle for the nettles.
18:54You've happily wolfed down the nettle muffin – quite yummy, by the way – and the little masked people let
18:59you through to the next chamber.
19:01As you walk down the hall, suddenly the floor starts shaking.
19:04And before you can leap to safety, it crumbles beneath your feet, falling down and taking you with it.
19:10You hit the floor, rise to your feet, and when the dust settles, you see you've ended up in a
19:16room with three doors.
19:17Great, it's another trap.
19:19Each door has a warning sign on it, and there's also a panel with three levers marked A, B, and
19:25C.
19:25Of course.
19:26Each of the levers opens a specific combination of doors, not just a single one.
19:31The sign on the first door says it contains swarms of mosquitoes just waiting to drink you dry.
19:38There is toxic gas behind the second door, which will fill the chamber you're in as soon as you open
19:43the door.
19:44And the third door releases a powerful stream of water that will wash away everything it hits, but it will
19:50only last 30 seconds.
19:52The A lever opens the mosquito door and the gas door.
19:56Lever B will open the gas door and the water door.
19:59And the C lever will release the stream of water and the mosquitoes.
20:03Oh, goody.
20:04Which one would you pull?
20:13If you chose the C lever, you're either fortunate or have outstanding survival instincts.
20:19This combination will get you out of the trap.
20:2230 seconds of a mighty torrent are just enough to get rid of any swarm of mosquitoes.
20:26The water and gas combo would do nothing useful, as the gas would not be washed away.
20:32And as for gas plus mosquitoes, well, you might get rid of the insects, but it wouldn't save you from
20:37the gas either.
20:39Now you dry yourself as you can after the shower and walk out of the room you were trapped in,
20:44waiting for another trap to show up.
20:46Bang!
20:47A huge boulder falls right behind you and starts rolling your way.
20:51You run away from it and duck into an alcove in the wall to your side.
20:56The boulder rolls past and you sigh in relief.
21:00You walk further and reach a straight hallway with rounded walls and a ceiling that slopes downwards.
21:06With a thunderous crash, another boulder smashes through the ceiling and comes barreling towards you fast.
21:12The boulder fits the tunnel perfectly, and there's no hiding place to get away from it now.
21:17A few feet ahead of you are a series of tripwires that stretch from floor to ceiling close to each
21:23other.
21:23They're very sensitive, and each one will cause a bottomless pit to open right beneath your feet if you touch
21:29it.
21:30To your left is another alcove in the wall, but if you attempt to squeeze into it, the boulder will
21:35press you with some force against the wall as it passes,
21:38and the wall has nails sticking out of it from floor to ceiling.
21:42Down by your feet is a hole in the floor, but it's only a couple of inches deep.
21:46On the bright side, there are no nails in it.
21:48So, what's your choice?
21:51A. Try to slip between the tripwires.
21:53B. Squeeze yourself into the nailed wall.
21:56Or C. Lie down in the hole in the floor.
22:07Even if you're skinny enough to gingerly slip past the tripwires without touching them,
22:11it requires some time to do so.
22:13And you don't have that luxury.
22:15The boulder is rolling right behind you, remember?
22:18Also, there's a very high risk of activating the wires and getting flung into the abyss.
22:23The hole in the floor looks like the safest option, but it's only a couple of inches deep.
22:27Unless you're just a couple of inches thick yourself, you have every chance of becoming so,
22:32thanks to the boulder behind your back.
22:35In fact, the alcove in the wall with the nails in it is your only chance of survival.
22:40Remember yogis and magicians who can sit on a bed of nails without any harm?
22:44They can do that because the principles of pressure work in this case.
22:49Pressure is force divided by area.
22:51The larger the area, the less the force and vice versa.
22:54So, even if you're pressed against the nails in the wall pretty hard,
22:58they won't even break your skin because the surface area of your body is large enough to prevent that.
23:04Whew!
23:05You take a deep breath after the boulder rolls past you and go down the passage to find yourself in
23:11the next chamber.
23:12The first thing you see is a door with a large lock at the other end of the room and
23:17a timer right above it.
23:19It shows 60 minutes, and the countdown starts as soon as you enter the chamber.
23:24There, you notice three large transparent jars on the right-hand wall.
23:28Each of them contains a key, which seems to fit the lock on the door.
23:33But there's an unpleasant surprise in each of the jars, too.
23:37The first jar has venomous snakes inside.
23:40The second one is full of acid.
23:42And the third one is filled with boiling hot water.
23:45You have nothing to use to get the keys out of the jar but your own hands.
23:49And the timer goes on ticking.
23:51Which jar should you choose?
24:00Snakes won't bite unless you scare them,
24:03and trying to get the key from their jar definitely qualifies as a scary action.
24:07So don't even try that one.
24:10Acid isn't an excellent choice either, obviously.
24:13The timer is actually a hint.
24:15Hot water cools down with time, and an hour is more than enough for it to become lukewarm.
24:20Just wait until it's cool enough to be bearable and get that key.
24:25You happily open the door and find yourself in an open, sunny glade,
24:30somewhere deep in the unknown woods.
24:32You've made it out.
24:33But how do you get back home?
24:35In the sky, you see a helicopter flying by.
24:39It seems they don't see you.
24:40The chopper almost flies away,
24:42and you need to do something quick to make the pilot notice you.
24:46In the grass in front of you, there's a box of matches,
24:49a pile of large twigs, and a pocket mirror.
24:51What should you do?
25:00Well, you don't have time to build a fire.
25:03Your best bet is the mirror.
25:04Catch a ray of sunlight and point its reflection at the helicopter,
25:08trying to hit the windscreen with it.
25:10Yes, you've been spotted!
25:12The pilot brings the chopper down,
25:14and you've successfully escaped the treacherous cave.
25:18Ah, okay, fess up.
25:19What's your result?
25:20Hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm.
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