Top 10 mind-boggling paradoxes

flyingarrow

Fletcher’s paradox

A statement or problem that either appears to produce two entirely contradictory (yet possible) outcomes, or provides proof for something that goes against what we intuitively expect is called a paradox. Paradoxes have been a central part of philosophical thinking for centuries, and are always ready to challenge our interpretation of otherwise simple situations, turning what we might think to be true on its head and presenting us with provably plausible situations that are in fact just as provably impossible. Confused? You should be.

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Before we had computers, people programmed looms

woven portrait

This portrait was woven using a Jacquard loom.

Before IBM, before punch-card computers, before Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine, one of the very first machines that could run something like what we now call a “program” was used to make fabric. The machine was a loom and could process so much information that the fabric it produced could display pictures detailed enough that they might be mistaken for engravings.

 

 

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Here are 40 maps that explain the Roman Empire

roman empire

Caesar Augustus died two thousand years ago, on August 19, 14 AD. He was Rome’s first emperor, having won a civil war more than 40 years earlier that transformed the dysfunctional Roman Republic into an empire. Under Augustus and his successors, the empire experienced 200 years of relative peace and prosperity. Here are 40 maps that explain the Roman Empire — its rise and fall, its culture and economy, and how it laid the foundations of the modern world.

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The Laws of Exponential Capabilities

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Futurist Thomas Frey: When people like Google CEO, Larry Page, Virgin’s Richard Branson, and X-Prize Foundation CEO, Peter Diamandis, talk about us entering into a period of abundance, there has been a natural tendency to assume we’ll be entering into a life of leisure. People won’t have to work as hard and we will all have more time for travel, vacations, and play.

 

 

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Top 7 military weapons most people have never heard of

soviet-ekranoplan

Lun-class Ekranoplane

History of weapon design is full of examples of human ingenuity run amok. “What are some historical weapons that most people have never heard of,” a group of Quora users asked. The answers provide an amazing insight into the history of war, and offer examples of some of the most ingenious — yet impractical — weaponry ever created.

 

 

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New genetic test can trace your DNA back 1,000 years

DNA

The new DNA test was over 80 percent successful in tracing people from around the world back to their ancestral origins.

Most people can broadly trace our ancestral roots to a country or general region on the planet. But a new DNA test can locate where your relatives lived over 1,000 years ago, and in some cases, even pinpoint the specific village or island your ancestors came from.

 

 

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The Singularity and Our Collision Path with the Future

Singularity-3

Futurist Thomas Frey: Google’s Director of Engineering, Ray Kurzweil, has predicted that we will reach a technological singularity by 2045, and science fiction writer Vernor Vinge is betting on 2029, a date that is ironically on the hundredth anniversary of the greatest stock market collapse in human history.

 

 

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What job creation looked like under the last six presidents

presidents

There are many differences between the president’s terms. Overall employment was smaller in the ’80s, so a different comparison might be to look at the percentage change. Of course the participation rate was increasing in the ’80s (younger population and women joining the labor force), and the participation rate is declining now. But these graphs give an overview of employment changes.

 

 

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