Scientific discoveries: 10 major mysteries man is yet to solve (Photos)

As human beings, we often pride ourselves with our ability to come up with solutions to the various problems besetting us.

We (humans) have gone from solving the basic needs to things more complicated.

However, in man’s curios pursuit to solve the mysteries that surrounds him, there are some mysteries which we have been seeking solutions to for years, and there are still no answers.

Below are ten of the most intriguing mysteries that are still plaguing humanity even today.

10. Nazca Geoglyphs

The Nazca civilization is responsible for some of the most fascinating geoglyphs on the face of the Earth.

They include everything from spiders, monkeys, sharks, orcas, and flowers, the precision of which is incredible given that the Nazca had no way of examining their work from above.

9. SS Ourang Medan

What happened to SS Ourang Medan or “Man from Medan” in Malaysia is perhaps one of the most fascinating and mind-boggling mysteries that ever existed in seafaring history.

Everything began with an SOS message in 1947 that mentioned the captain, along with the rest of the crew, was dead. What’s worse, even the telegrapher died during the transmission of the message.

When the Silver Star was able to receive the distress call and went to inspect the ship, they confirmed the deaths of all aboard. Speculations of ghosts, hazardous chemicals, and even aliens have been raised, but there is still no conclusion as to what actually happened.

8. Aluminum Wedge of Aiud

Back in 1974, a group of workers in Romania discovered three different objects 10 meters deep in a sand trench.

Two of the items were prehistoric elephant bones that have been dated as old as 2.5 million years ago.

The third object however, is an aluminum wedge that was found together with the ancient bones.

This discovery dumbfounded most researchers, as aluminum was difficult to create even by 19th century standards. While some call it evidence of extraterrestrials, others are calling it a hoax. Whatever it is, we may never know.

7. Mackenzie Poltergeist in Greyfriars

The Mackenzie Poltergeist is one of the most famous attractions when taking the City of the Dead tour within the Greyfriars Kirkyard in Edinburgh.

People who join the tour experience bruises, scratches, and some even faint as they enter and see the Black Mausoleum where Sir George Mackenzie lies.

Is it all for show? Maybe there’s only one way to find out.

6. DB Cooper

When DB Cooper hijacked a Boeing 727 along with $200,000, he proceeded to jump out of the plane with a parachute.

5. Wow! Signal

When Jerry R. Ehman worked under the SETI Project of the Ohio Wesleyan University’s Perkins Observatory, he did not expect that he would be able to pick up a radio frequency supposedly coming from deep space.

He was able to get a 72-second signal from the constellation Sagittarius and was never able to get it again. Up to this day no one is sure about the origin of the signal.

It derived its name, however, from the “wow!” that Jerry wrote in the margin of the printout.

4. Severed Foot Beach in British Columbia

It is not uncommon for bodies to wash up on beaches but for one beach in British Columbia severed feet have consistently been floating ashore for the past several years causing numerous theories to be put forth.

3. Extraterrestrials

From the mysteries found in the Eastern Islands, to the Bermuda Triangle, and even with the Roswell Incident during World War II, men have always been in question as to whether we are not alone in the universe.

With some claiming to have been abducted and others calling hogwash, there is as of yet no consensus.

2. The Lost City of Atlantis

The City of Atlantis has been imagined as the crowning city of Neptune, where mermaids and mermen live. But based on what Plato has discussed during his time, specifically with his two dialogues Timaeus and Critias, it specifically mentioned the existence of Atlantis based on the stories being heard during the journeys, and how Atlantis was in its prime state, thus giving a clue that the place did exist as Plato was a real entity.

Now that it sunk into the deep, many are still wondering if it is real, knowing that there are certain objects underwater that may be the remnants of this once beautiful city.

1. The Moai statues of Easter Island

The mystery of Easter Island and the Moai statues that inhabit it is something that most of us are at least vaguely familiar with, but the fact that there are still so many legitimate unanswered questions surrounding the island is in itself quite remarkable.

Back in Easter in 1722, a Dutch explorer happened upon something strange. He was originally in search of a hypothetical land mass called Terra Australis, thought to exist because at the time they thought that the northern and southern hemispheres should be balanced.

Instead though, he discovered an island in the Southeastern Pacific Ocean, which he would later name Easter Island due to the date of its discovery.

He was surprised to discover that the island was inhabited, and he reported seeing 2,000 to 3,000 people there. This was surprising, because the island is ... well … really far from anything else at all.

A staggering 1,900 kilometres away from the nearest inhabited land, and about 3,500 kilometres off the coast of Chile. And yet despite its incredible remoteness, The Rapa Nui people who called the island home managed to carve and transport a mind-blowing 887 statues, some measuring 33 feet tall and weighing up to 82 tonnes, an average of 17 kilometres each. And this all happened roughly 700 years ago. The biggest remaining question mark concerning the statues themselves is definitely their transportation.

Theories have been proposed that involve ropes, sleds, rollers, levelled tracks, or even that the people slowly rocked the statues back and forth to their destination. Attempts have been made to recreate the methods that could have been used, but most resulted in damage to the statues, or would have required hundreds of people making just 0.08 kilometres of progress per day.

The truth is, we don’t really know exactly how they did it. But however the Rapa Nui managed to move the Moai, they would have certainly needed to be incredibly patient, creative, and organised to make them a reality.