The Scandinavian Concept of Ragnarök

In Scandinavian mythology, Ragnarök is composed of a series of events and catastrophes which after having occurred, will ultimately lead to the end of civilization and the world. Ragnarök culminates as a final battle between the gods, demons, and giants, ending in the death of virtually all gods therefore ending in the end of the worlds existence. From this outcome, a new pantheon of deities is created and from this, a new world order. The term “Ragnarök” often stands to represent “the last great battle”

The Reason the True Age of the Universe Can Be Definitively Proven

This discovery of the speed of light provided a satisfactory explanation as to why the world becomes dark at night. This is immensely important as the further a star is from an observer, the longer it will take for light to arrive from that point, to the observer themself. If the universe was infinite in its age, all of the light ever created would have had time to reach the Earth which would cause the night sky to be ablaze with starlight, photons emitted from every single possible part of the universe. This clearly is not the case so it is abundantly evident that the universe must have had an origin point. Scientists use the term “observable universe” as it’s entirely possible and likely that matter exists outside of what can be observed predicated upon the theory that as the universe expanded, light from this matter would have to travel increasingly larger distances to reach an observer. Because of constant expansion, this light has not yet had the chance to reach the Earth and perhaps never will, causing it to be outside of an observers field of vision and therefore unable to be proven in its existence using current methods and technologies

 

China’s Influence Upon Foreign States and Their Associated Cultures

China has become highly adept at spreading its practices or at the very least, acquiring acceptance and tolerance of its practices, throughout the open markets of the world (e.g. American companies willing to do business with Chinese companies to access the Chinese marketplace despite the U.S. government experiencing continuous conflict with the Chinese government). Hollywood is perhaps the best example of this ideology taking shape. Hollywood’s business and by extension its profit model, is designed to produce blockbuster cinema for the box office, at regular intervals throughout each calendar year (e.g. for each holiday season etc.). China, due to its large population, has the worlds largest box office and as a direct result of this, in order to ascend to the level of becoming a major blockbuster film, movie studios are forced to capitulate and cooperate with the Chinese Communist Party. The Chinese government heavily censors cinema in China, however despite this, Hollywood movie production studios virtually always refuse to green light film scripts if they cannot be shown in China. This effectively means that the Chinese government has the ability to, and openly does, influence and shape the kinds of movies produced in the west simply by omission or refusal to accept a movie and its content. This means that in the future, China will become the cultural connoisseur and decision maker for the world, both in supply and demand of products and services (e.g. new films), solely due to the volume of the Chinese public and its appetite for western cinema

Super Mario’s Super Human Jumping Capabilty

The Nintendo mascot Mario has a vertical jumping range of 11’5” within his own world which equates to 27’ upon Earth as Earth has a different gravitational pull than that of Mario’s world. Mario is capable of leaping 2.25x his own body height however his exact agreed upon height when converted to a real world measurement is unclear. Statues erected of Mario tend to be 4’10” – 5’1” in length and Nintendo has stated that Mario’s official height is in fact 5’1” however different video games portray Mario with a varying degree of physical characteristics (e.g. height, weight, speed etc.). Mario falls back down to the ground within 0.3 seconds of his take off which means that the gravitational pull of his fictional world is 8x stronger than the gravitational pull of Earth. If this world were physically real, Mario would need to have legs powerful enough to allow him to jump at a speed of 22.2 meters per second, an incredible feat of physical prowess as the average person standing upon the Earth is only able to jump at a rate of 2.24 meters per second, resulting in an almost 10x difference in terms of Mario’s physical capabilities to that of a typical human being

The Mythology of Japan Having a Closed Society Throughout History

It is a myth that Japan was completely cut off from the rest of the world throughout history, developing in a vacuum, as the official policy of the state was to close its doors, but the unofficial policy of the people was to remain open to the influence and ideas of other civilizations. The shoguns made a single exception to this rule pertaining to outsiders which was the advent of Deshima Island, a trading port that was the only place in Japan which Europeans were allowed to live and trade. Only Dutch traders were permitted access to this site due to the fact that the Dutch understood how to curry favor with influential members of Japanese society by showing tribute and swearing allegiance to the shogun, therefore becoming part of Japan’s internal feudal system. The narrow bridge between Deshima Island, Japan and Nagasaki, Japan upon the mainland was the only connection Japan had with the outside world for centuries

The Ancient History of Damascus Steel

Damascus-steel-swordDamascus, Syria, the birthplace of Damascus steel was prized in the ancient world for its durability but unbeknownst to the craftspeople who forged Damascus steel, the region from which the iron ore was taken had naturally occurring nickel which meant that Damascus metalsmiths had composite steel 3000 years before the rest of the world as the idea to mix different kinds of metals had not yet been invented. Damascus steel was shatter resistant and could be sharpened to become sharper than any other type of steel. Having first encountered it during the Crusades of the 11th century, European forgers attempted for centuries to recreate what their Middle Eastern counterparts had already perfected

The Decaying Sewage Infrastructure of Calcutta, India

Calcutta-India-sewer-cleanerKolkatan sewers were once the envy of the world, built during the Victorian era and spanning 90 kilometers below the city. Because the Kolkatan sewer system is now 130 years old, it no longer functions as it should, especially when accounting for the increasingly large modern day population of Calcutta, India. Due to this, teams of workers with buckets enter the sewers every night all over Calcutta to shovel and remove excrement so that blockages don’t occur. Workers typically work 11:00 PM – 5:00 AM because this is when the least amount of people are awake to use the bathroom. The problem is becoming increasingly worse as time progresses, being that more and more people are now connecting into the central city sewage line as incomes and quality of life increases throughout India

 

The Physics of the Pac-Man Universe

Pac-Man.png

The game of Pac-Man allows players to exit the world on one side, and re-enter upon a completely different side without delay. Pac-Man’s universe appears to be a flat, two dimensional, rectangular shape, but in reality it must be cylindrical like a pipe, only with the 2 ends of the pipe touching, making Pac-Man’s universe actually in the shape of a donut

The Cultural Practice of Polyandry in Tibet

Nepalese-polyandry

Polyandry occurs in various cultures around the world, the practice involving a single wife with multiple husbands. Polyandrous relationships often involve men who know eachother (e.g. siblings, extended family, or friends). The harsh mountain existence of Tibet has driven parts of Tibet to engage in this practice, with multiple adults needed within a household to ensure survival

The CODIS System Technology Used By Law Enforcement

CODIS-deoxyribonucleic-acid

U.S. law enforcement uses a database referred to as “CODIS” when attempting to resolve criminal cases using deoxyribonucleic acid. The term CODIS is an acronym which stands for “combined deoxyribonucleic acid index system”. CODIS involves multiple databases including missing persons, convicted offenders, and forensic samples collected from crime scenes. Although U.S. law enforcements databases are not directly connected to any other nation in any official capacity, the underlying CODIS system is used by law enforcement agencies around the world. As of 2016, the CODIS system is currently used by 90 international laboratories within 50 countries. CODIS is maintained by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation