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In 1988, a group of scientists investigated their lab after several unusual incidents and found a sub-perceptual explanation. A new experiment added evidence that sounds we cannot hear may be to blame.

Now more than 2,000 years old, Xin Zhui, also known as Lady Dai, is a mummified woman of Chinas Han dynasty (206 BC-220 AD) who still has her own hair, is soft to the touch, and has ligaments that still bend, much like a living person.She is widely recognized as the best-preserved human mummy in history. This is her astonishing story.The Discovery Of Xin Zhui, The Lady Dai MummyDavid Schroeter/FlickrThe remains of Xin Zhui, a.k.a. Lady Dai, widely called the best-preserved mummy in the world.Xin Zhui was discovered in 1971 when workers digging near an air raid shelter near Changsha practically stumbled across her massive tomb. Her funnel-like crypt contained more than 1,000 precious artifacts, including makeup, toiletries, hundreds of pieces of lacquerware, and 162 carved wooden figures which represented her staff of servants. A meal was even laid out to be enjoyed by Xin Zhui in the afterlife.But while the intricate structure was impressive, maintaining its integrity after nearly 2,000 years from the time it was built, Xin Zhuis physical condition was what really astonished researchers.Wikimedia CommonsThe face of Xin Zhui, still in astonishing condition after several millennia.When she was unearthed, she was revealed to have maintained the skin of a living person, still soft to the touch with moisture and elasticity. Her original hair was found to be in place, including that on her head and inside of her nostrils, as well as the eyebrows and lashes.Baffled Researchers Begin Studying The Worlds Best-Preserved MummyScientists were able to conduct an autopsy, during which they discovered that her 2,000-year-old body she died in 163 BC was in similar condition to that of a person who had just recently passed.However, Xin Zhuis preserved corpse immediately became compromised once the oxygen in the air touched her body, which caused her to begin deteriorating. Thus, the images of Xin Zhui that we have today dont do the initial discovery justice.Wikimedia CommonsA recreation of Xin Zhui, a.k.a. Lady Dai.Furthermore, researchers found that all of her organs were intact and that her veins still housed type-A blood. These veins also showed clots, revealing her official cause of death: heart attack.An array of additional ailments was also found throughout Xin Zhuis body, including gallstones, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and liver disease.While examining Lady Dai, pathologists even found 138 undigested melon seeds in her stomach and intestines. As such seeds typically take one hour to digest, it was safe to assume that the melon was her last meal, eaten minutes before the heart attack that killed her.How Is Xin Zhuis Lady Dai Mummy So Well-Preserved?Wikimedia CommonsThe hands of Xin Zhui, eerily frozen in time for millenia.Researchers credit the airtight and elaborate tomb in which Lady Dai was buried.Resting nearly 40 feet underground, Xin Zhui was placed inside the smallest of four pine box coffins, each resting within the one larger (think of Matryoshka, only once you reach the smallest doll youre met with the dead body of an ancient Chinese mummy).Wikimedia CommonsAfter more than 2,000 years, the feet of Lady Dai still hold their shape.She was wrapped in twenty layers of silk fabric, and her body was found in 21 gallons of an unknown liquid that was tested to be slightly acidic and containing traces of magnesium.A thick layer of paste-like soil lined the floor, and the entire thing was packed with moisture-absorbing charcoal and sealed with clay, keeping both oxygen and decay-causing bacteria out of her eternal chamber. The top was then sealed with an additional three feet of clay, preventing water from penetrating the structure.Who Was Xin Zhui Before She Became The Mummy We Know Today?DeAgostini/Getty ImagesDrawing of the burial chamber of Xin Zhui.While we know all of this about Xin Zhuis burial and death, we know comparatively little about her life.Lady Dai was the wife of a high-ranking Han official Li Cang (the Marquis of Dai), and she died at the young age of 50, as a result of her penchant for excess. The cardiac arrest that killed her was believed to have been brought on by a lifetime of obesity, lack of exercise, and an opulent and over-indulgent diet.Wikimedia CommonsWidely called the best-preserved mummy in the world, Lady Dai has baffled experts by staying so intact after millennia.Nevertheless, her body remains perhaps the best-preserved corpse in history. Xin Zhui is now housed in the Hunan Provincial Museum and is the primary specimen for their research in corpse preservation.After learning about Xin Zhui a.k.a. Lady Dai, the worlds best-preserved mummy, investigate whether or not the Victorians really did have mummy unwrapping parties. Then, read up on Carl Tanzler, the deranged doctor who fell in his love with patient and then lived with her corpse for seven years.The post Xin Zhui And The Story Of The Stunningly Intact Lady Dai Mummy appeared first on All That's Interesting.

One of the most shocking moments in Academy Awards history came in 1973, when Marlon Brando won Best Actor for his role in The Godfather. Then, it wasnt Brando who mounted the stage, but a 26-year-old Native American activist named Sacheen Littlefeather.As the audience cheered and jeered, Littlefeather declined Brandos Oscar. She delivered a brief statement critiquing the depictions of Native Americans in Hollywood, and the media blackout of a standoff between Native Americans and federal agents in Wounded Knee, South Dakota.Bettmann/Getty Images Sacheen Littlefeather declining Marlon Brandos Oscar in 1973.Her speech lasted less than 60 seconds, but it left an enduring impact. Though Littlefeathers own career in Hollywood came to a premature end, activists credit her with bringing attention to the events at Wounded Knee, and many Native American filmmakers believe her speech profoundly changed how Native Americans were portrayed in Hollywood.Still, speaking at the Oscars was just one of many brave things that Sacheen Littlefeather did during her life.How Sacheen Littlefeather Became An ActivistEtienne MONTES/Gamma-Rapho via Getty ImagesSacheen Littlefeather became an activist in her 20s after a turbulent childhood.Born Marie Louise Cruz on November 14, 1946, in Salinas, California, Sacheen Littlefeather grew up with a white mother and a White Mountain Apache and Yaqui father. She later told the Guardian that her parents were both mentally ill and abusive, and that she became an activist the first time she defended her mother from her fathers beatings.Raised by her maternal grandparents, Littlefeather often struggled with feeling out of place. The Washington Post reports that she was bullied for her dark hair and skin, and Littlefeather told the Guardian that she was called the N-word at the white Catholic school that she attended. I was so confused about my own identity, and I was suffering, Littlefeather told the Guardian, noting that she attempted suicide as a teenager and was hospitalized. I could not tell the difference between me and my pain.Starting in her teens, however, Littlefeather began to get in touch with her Native American roots She visited reservations, learned about indigenous traditions, and witnessed the occupation of Alcatraz by Native American activists in the late 1960s and early 1970s. According to the Washington Post, she joined the American Indian Movement in her 20s and changed her name to Sacheen Littlefeather as a nod to her heritage. As an activist, Littlefeather was especially interested in the depictions of Native Americans in popular culture. Shed had her own experiences being typecast as she booked roles in radio and TV, and she and others helped lead the campaign to convince Stanford University to drop its racist Indian symbolism. In the 70s, you had the [American Indian Movement] and the Indian Civil Rights Movement and that was the part that I was in, she explained, according to the Hollywood Reporter. I was a spokesperson, so to speak, for the stereotype of Native Americans in film and in television. All I was saying was, We dont want Chuck Connors playing Geronimo.'It was Littlefeathers interest in Native Americans in Hollywood that led her to approach her neighbor, the director Francis Ford Coppola, who shed met while hiking past his house. According to the Guardian, she had heard Marlon Brando speaking about Native American rights, and wanted to know if he was for real. After some convincing, Coppola agreed to put them in touch. Brando and Littlefeather hit it off. And when the actor was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as Vito Corleone in Coppolas 1972 film The Godfather, he came to Sacheen Littlefeather with an idea. Making Oscars HistoryAccording to the Washington Post, Marlon Brando came to Sacheen Littlefeather on the day before the 1973 Academy Awards and suggested that she decline his Oscar if he won. Brando wanted to protest the portrayal of Native Americans in Hollywood, and call attention to the standoff between federal agents and Native Americans in Wounded Knee.On the day of the Oscars, March 27, 1973, Littlefeather waited nervously while Brando typed out an eight-page speech. According to the Guardian, she arrived at the ceremony just minutes before the Best Actor winner was announced and was met by its producer, Howard Koch, who told her she could not read Brandos speech or speak for more than 60 seconds. And then it all happened so fast when it was announced that he had won, Littlefeather said, according to the Guardian. I had promised Marlon that I would not touch that statue if he won. And I had promised Koch that I would not go over 60 seconds. So there were two promises I had to keep.Footage of Sacheen Littlefeathers speech at the Oscars.Wearing a buckskin dress and moccasins, her dark hair framing her face, Littlefeather mounted the stage and declined to take Brandos Oscar from presenter Roger Moore. She called out Hollywood for its often offensive and stereotypical depictions of Native Americans and urged the audience to pay more attention to the occupation of Wounded Knee.I beg at this time that I have not intruded upon this evening and that we will in the future, our hearts and our understandings will meet with love and generosity, Littlefeather said, according to the Los Angeles Times.She later recalled that the audience made racist tomahawk gestures as she finished, and that actor John Wayne tried to storm the stage from the wings (though some film scholars dispute this). Sacheen Littlefingers Oscar speech lasted less than 60 seconds. But it would profoundly impact her life, and Hollywood itself. In the aftermath of her appearance at the Oscars, Sacheen Littlefeather saw her fledgling acting career dry up. Shed been blacklisted by Hollywood studios or, as Littlefeather called it, redlisted. Stories spread that she was a stripper and not really Native American, and Brando later expressed regret for putting her in a vulnerable position.I was distressed that people should have booed and whistled and stomped, even though perhaps it was directed at myself, he said on the Dick Cavett Show months later, according to the Los Angeles Times. They should have at least had the courtesy to listen to her.The Debate About Her Native American HeritageFrazer Harrison/Getty ImagesSacheen Littlefeather in September 2022, shortly before her death from breast cancer.Though Littlefeather largely dropped out of the public eye following her Oscar appearance, she continued her career in activism. She dedicated herself to fighting Native American unemployment, alcoholism, and AIDS for decades to come.Yet the debate about Littlefeathers claims to Native American heritage have persisted. In 2022, investigative journalist Jacqueline Keeler, of the Navajo and Yankton Dakota Sioux tribes, published a 200-person list of Pretendians, public persons faking Native ancestry for personal gain. Sacheen Littlefeather was on that list.Myreview of her fathers side of the family tree,where she claimed her Native heritage, found no documented ties between his extended family and any extant Native American nations in the United States, Keeler wrote for the San Francisco Chronicle in 2022. Littlefeathers own sisters, Trudy Orlandi and Rosalind Cruz, told Keeler that their family never claimed this heritage growing up. They added that Littlefeathers story of an impoverished upbringing was also fabricated. They concluded that Littlefeather had adopted her fathers own childhood story and made it her own. My father was deaf and he had lost his hearing at nine years old through meningitis, Cruz said.He was born into poverty. His father, George Cruz, was an alcoholic who was violent and used to beat him. And he was passed to foster homes and family. But my sister Sacheen took what happened to him.But Keelers research has been questioned by other Native journalists. She has reportedly named at least four people who were, in fact, able to prove their authentic Native heritage. Additionally, journalist Laura Clark, of the Muscogee and Cherokee tribes, also questioned Keelers process. She added that documentation to prove tribal status is not always easy to come by, in large part due to the systematic erasure of Native peoples. What many people dont understand about Native existence is that some Natives arent enrolled, Clark wrote for Variety. Some Natives are reconnecting with their tribes. Some Natives dont have enough Indian blood to register And some Natives have had their tribes nearly erased to the point that organized citizenship records simply dont exist. She added that citizenship requirements vary from tribe to tribe. Littlefeathers purported tribes have not publicly spoken on the matter to the knowledge of this publication.Where Is Sacheen Littlefeather Today?Nonetheless, in 2022, almost 50 years after she declined Brandos Oscar, the Academy formally apologized to Sacheen Littlefeather for the audiences reaction to her speech and for the years of mistreatment that followed. The emotional burden you have lived through and the cost to your own career in our industry are irreparable, former Academy President David Rubin wrote Littlefeather, according to CNN. For too long the courage you showed has been unacknowledged. For this, we offer both our deepest apologies and our sincere admiration.Sacheen Littlefeather accepted the apology, joking that Native Americans were patient and that they use humor as a way to survive. Shortly before she died on October 2, 2022, from breast cancer, Littlefeather told A.frame that shed mounted the Oscar stage in 1973 with a simple but sincere request. All we were asking, and I was asking, was, Let us be employed. Let us be ourselves. Let us play ourselves in films. Let us be a part of your industry, producing, directing, writing,' she said. Dont write our stories for us. Let us write our own stories. Let us be who we are.'After reading about the death of Sacheen Littlefeather, discover the story of Iron Eyes Cody, the famous Native American actor who wasnt Native American. Or look through these stunning portraits of Native Americans in the early 20th century.The post The Controversial Story Of Sacheen Littlefeather, Who Rejected Marlon Brandos Oscar And May Not Have Been Indigenous At All appeared first on All That's Interesting.

Los Angeles Public LibraryIn 1968 and 1969, the Manson Family lived at Spahn Ranch in Chatsworth, California, where they shot guns, stripped cars, and plotted the Tate-LaBianca murders.It was the perfect place to get away. Nestled in the mountains on the outskirts of Los Angeles with the remains of a western-themed movie set and boulder-strewn pathways perfect for horseback riding, Spahn Ranch was an idyllic retreat.In the 1960s, visitors also enjoyed the isolation the ranch provided. It gave people a sense of calm and natural beauty, as its grounds gave way to scenic mountain landscapes and sprawling, rolling fields.Yes, Spahn Ranch was the perfect place to get away especially if you were trying to indoctrinate a cult in secret and plan a murder spree. And in 1968 and 1969, Charles Manson was doing just that.Ralph Crane/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesSpahn Movie Ranch, home of the Manson Family, illuminated at night in August 1969, the month of the Tate-LaBianca murders.This is the story of Spahn Ranch, the disused movie set that served as the Manson Familys home base before, during, and after the Tate-LaBianca murders that shocked America in August 1969.Spahn Ranch Before The Manson FamilyBefore Spahn Ranch played host to the Manson Family cult, it indeed served as an ordinary movie set.In 1947, Lee and Ruth McReynolds purchased a 55-acre plot of land at the western edge of Los Angeles County. On this land, they opened a trading post and built a western-themed movie set. The Iverson Movie Ranch nearby had been the location for films starring John Wayne and Buster Keaton, and Lee McReynolds hoped to catch some of the overflow.Ralph Crane/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesOverview of Spahn Movie Ranch, including its disused western sets.McReynolds built his sets, but in 1953 sold them to a man named George Spahn, who owned it until his death about 20 years later.George Spahn had a successful milk business in Pennsylvania, where he was born. By the time he took his wife and 11 children to sunny California, he had grown his enterprise to 35 cows, five wagons, and seven houses.After hopping over to the West Coast, Spahn operated a ranch out of North Hollywood and grew to be a major supplier of livestock and Western props for motion pictures. He soon split with his wife, who took the kids, and got together with an ex-circus performer named Ruby Pearl.As the owner of the ranch, Spahn added several more western-themed sets. Several B-movies were filmed at Spahn Ranch. Howard Hughes The Outlaw was one of the most notable, along with several episodes of TVs hit western Bonanza.Ralph Crane/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesGeorge Spahn, the owner of Spahn Ranch, in late 1969.But as westerns began to lose popularity, Spahn was forced to diversify. Spahn Ranch became primarily a tourist spot, and horse rentals helped keep Spahns business afloat. The ranch was perfect for horseback riding, with various hillside trails, dry riverbeds, and mountaintop overlooks.But in 1968, it played host to a maniacal cult leader and his band of loyal followers, who took advantage of Spahn Ranchs isolation to plot a gruesome series of murders.The Manson Family Arrives At George Spahns RanchMichael Ochs Archives/Getty ImagesCharles Manson, the cult leader whose followers took up residence at Spahn Ranch in 1968.In 1968, the year before the murder of Sharon Tate, Charles Manson was freshly homeless and looking for lodging for his family, a group of young people who had chosen to follow his mystic teachings and wild lectures. And the isolated Spahn Ranch on the outskirts of Los Angeles was the perfect place.By then, George Span was 80 years old. He had spent the last 15 years as a dairy farmer, running the horseback riding rentals from his home on the ranch and living a relatively quiet life in the isolated landscape.The Manson Family, on the other hand, had lived in anything but relative quiet. For the past year or so theyd driven down the California coast in an all-black Volkswagen minibus, dumpster-dived for food around Los Angeles, and partied with Dennis Wilson, the drummer and co-founder of The Beach Boys. After a falling out with the Wilson, the Family was on the move again.Michael Haering/Los Angeles Public LibraryThe Manson Family at Spahn Ranch, circa 1970.Charles Manson was intrigued by Spahn Ranchs isolation and rugged terrain. He thought it would be the perfect place for his cult of 13 women and five men.George Spahn was happy to have a group of young people moves in, especially when they offered to exchange labor for lodging. Dogged by health issues later in life, Spahn was going blind and had increasing trouble moving around on his own. He was all too happy to have a group of able-bodied youngsters around to help him and Ruby maintain the ranch.And of course he was keen on Mansons trove of young women. Having his way with Mansons female followers was part of the deal.Charles Manson And His Followers Live In Harmony At Spahn RanchLos Angeles Public LibraryIn 1968, George Spahns movie ranch in the Chatsworth area of Los Angeles became the home base for Charles Manson and his disturbed Family of followers.Over the months that the Manson Family lived on the Spahn Ranch, George Spahn and the Family developed a rapport. Spahn gave many of the Family members nicknames, which Family members would later become known as to the public.George Spahn assigned the nickname Squeaky to Lynette Fromme Spahns favorite who served as his eyes and de-facto wife after the noise that she made when he ran his hand up her thigh. Charles Watson was called Tex after his Texas accent, which Spahn recognized immediately.But while Spahn enjoyed the young newcomers on his ranch, and indeed spent hours chumming around with them, he was blithely unaware of the horrors they were plotting.Scenes from the Manson Familys everyday life on Spahn Ranch.Charles Mansons most infamous teaching among his cult was his premonition of Helter Skelter. Named for the Beatles song of the same name, Manson believed Helter Skelter was a dawning apocalyptic race war. He believed that in the coming years, the Black population and the white population would begin a war, one which would result in the effective end of the white population.During Helter Skelter, Mansons family would hide underground in a hole in the desert. After the end of the war, when it was revealed that the Black population had won but were incapable of effectively governing themselves, Manson would emerge from hiding, ride in on a custom dune-buggy, and save them all.Ralph Crane/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesInterior of Spahn Ranch, where Charles Manson lived with his family.Though he had been preaching the dawning of Helter Skelter for years, Spahn Ranch was the first time that he was able to fully immerse his followers in his wild beliefs. Spahn Ranch had no newspapers, no clocks, and no regular visitors, allowing Manson to enforce a sense of timelessness in his followers that made them even more susceptible to his influence.Spahn Ranch In The Aftermath Of The Tate-LaBianca MurdersThe culmination of Charles Mansons disturbing teachings came on August 8, 1969, when Manson Family members Tex Watson, Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel, and Linda Kasabian drove, on Mansons orders, from Spahn Ranch to the home of actress Sharon Tate and director Roman Polanski at 10050 Cielo Drive.After they stormed inside, they brutally murdered Tate as well as her companions Jay Sebring, Wojciech Frykowski, and Abigail Folger.The following night, this same group as well as Leslie Van Houten, Clem Grogan, and Manson himself, who didnt actually kill anyone with his own hands, drove to the Los Angeles home of supermarket executive Leno LaBianca and his wife Rosemary and brutally murdered both of them as well. These back-to-back murders shocked Los Angeles and the nation, and prompted a massive hunt for the perpetrators.Soon, the killers were caught, and Spahn Ranch became center stage for much of the aftermath. Charles Manson was even arrested at Spahn Ranch in August 1969.That said, despite the fact that the Tate-LaBianca murders were planned at Spahn Ranch, Manson Family members hid out at the ranch following the bloodshed, and George Spahn had been sexually entangled with several of the Manson Family ladies, Spahn never faced any charges for involvement with the crimes.Herald Examiner Collection/Los Angeles Public LibraryPolice investigate Spahn Ranch after the Manson Family murders.Spahn, as well as many of the Family members, lived on the farm for a year following Mansons arrest until a wildfire burned down most of his ranch in September 1970. Four years later, Spahn died and was buried in Eternal Valley Memorial Park.That doesnt mean, however, that he remains entirely forgotten when it comes to that infamous summer murder spree. For those who are grossly fascinated with Mansons life, it is not just Mansons followers who are of interest, but also those who hovered just outside of his proverbial black hole, and somehow managed to avoid being sucked in altogether.Los Angeles Public LibraryManson Family members at Spahn Ranch, including Mary Brunner (back, wearing stripes) and Squeaky Fromme (front right).What Happened To Spahn Ranch After The Manson Family And What Is It Like Today?Today, not much remains of the Spahn Ranch. After being ravaged by the 1970 wildfire, as well as another one years later, the land was re-purchased by the state of California. Now its mostly dirt and brush.Wikimedia CommonsSpahn Ranch today mostly consists of just dirt paths and brush.If you look closely enough, however, signs of the Manson Family and their groupies still remain. Carved into boulders strewn across the lands are large Xs, similar to those carved into the foreheads of the Family, including those who committed the Tate-LaBianca murders in August 1969. In one cave in which the family was known to have taken a photo, someone has carved the words Manson Family Cave.Los Angeles Public LibraryThe so-called Manson Family Cave at Spahn Ranch, pictured with some of the Familys members inside in August 1970.It seems that while nature has attempted to erase all signs of the Manson Familys time at Spahn Ranch, there will always be those who are determined to remind us.After reading about George Spahn and Spahn Ranch, the home base of the Manson Family, learn about Charles Mansons son Valentine and his mother Kathleen Maddox.The post Inside Spahn Ranch, Where The Manson Family Lived During Their Murder Spree appeared first on All That's Interesting.

The conversation around Pokmon tends to follow a very predictable path. Someone says the mainline games have gone stale, someone else disagrees, and then everyone argues about which generation was the last good one. What gets lost almost every time is just how genuinely experimental the wider Pokmon franchise has been willing to be.

It's rare to see a positive news story in the world of videogames. Developers are being laid off, live-service games are being shut down, and the industry seems to generally be on fire. However, occasionally there are success stories, and even more occasionally those success stories benefit the hardworking developers who create the games we play instead of just the executives who scoop the cream off the top. Crimson Desert is one such success, and its developers have been richly rewarded for their efforts by developer Pearl Abyss.

PUBG began with a single map; Erangel was the first battle royale environment we fell in love with, and it wasn't long before every landmark had been memorized and internally ranked by our crew. Drop School if you're feeling feisty, or possibly Military if you want a more tactical, but still violent, start to a match. Nowadays in 2026, the battle royale has a lot more than one map for you to learn, but it won't take long before your favorites emerge from the group, and you know where to go when you see the flight path. We have every map in PUBG, along with a basic rundown of its features, and which of these maps are included in the current rotation.

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