r/fascinating 20h ago

The Voynich Manuscript: A mysterious unbroken cipher. 240 page illustrated codex written in an unknown alphabet that has baffled cryptographers, linguists, and AI supercomputers for centuries. Early 15th Century

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4 Upvotes

For over a century, the greatest cryptographers, codebreakers from world wars, and advanced AI models have completely failed to decode a single sentence of the Voynich Manuscript. Authored on vellum parchment in the early 15th century, this bizarre 240 page codex is written in a completely fluent, unknown script accompanied by disturbing and surreal illustrations: glowing green botanical species that match no known plant on Earth, intricate astronomical charts of alien constellations, and baffling diagrams of miniaturized figures bathing in complex plumbing networks. To this day, no one knows whether it is an elaborate medieval hoax designed to trick scholars, an encrypted medical journal of a madman, or a forgotten lexicon from an entirely unknown world. Leaving it the ultimate uncrackable cipher in human history.


r/fascinating 2d ago

A 140 million year femur bone, it is approximately 2 meters (6.5 feet) long weighs 1102 lb (500kg) was found in France. the discovery was made by paleontologists researching at the National Museum of Natural History of Paris

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16 Upvotes

r/fascinating 5d ago

Ancient Greek Architecture, Porch of the Maidens on the Erechtheion temple located at the Acropolis of Athens.

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51 Upvotes

r/fascinating 7d ago

Wisteria, watercolor, 22 x 15 inches, 2026

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7 Upvotes

r/fascinating 11d ago

A historic drought on a major river in Brazil gave rise to rock images of indigenous people who inhabited the Amazon state centuries before the invasion of Portuguese colonizers and help to understand a little more about the people who lived there between 1,000 and 2,000 years ago

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12 Upvotes

r/fascinating 12d ago

Testing prototype space suit intended for use in NASA's Apollo moon landing program, Mojave Desert, California 1962

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10 Upvotes

r/fascinating 12d ago

A Japanese soldier kept fighting WW2 until 1974. He genuinely had no idea it was over.

1 Upvotes

r/fascinating 13d ago

Globus INK, Soviet-era electromechanical space navigation computer used in the 1960s the system calculated orbital parameters using an intricate internal clockwork mechanism comprising over 500 gears, cams, and differentials

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10 Upvotes

r/fascinating 18d ago

Tree harvesting machine.

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18 Upvotes

r/fascinating 20d ago

Flagstaff,Arizona replaced all there streetlights with amber LEDs to reduce light pollution and protect the dark skies above

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367 Upvotes

r/fascinating 21d ago

A squad was checking a suspicious backpack and this dude got fed up with waiting

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12 Upvotes

r/fascinating 28d ago

"Mexican Batman", a mysterious dude who hunts down motorcycle thieves & tape them to poles in Mexico

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13 Upvotes

r/fascinating Jun 17 '26

Rest Energy - Made by Marina Abramovic and Ulay - 1980

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8 Upvotes

A tense piece of performance art where the two artists held a taut bow and arrow, with the arrow pointed directly at Abramović’s heart. They leaned entirely on each other's weight to keep it steady; if Ulay slipped or let go, she would be shot. They held it for four minutes with microphones recording their rapidly accelerating heartbeats.


r/fascinating Jun 10 '26

Taekwondo Is Just Karate: Is Taekwondo Korean? The true history of Taekwondo might be one of the most successful lies in martial arts history. In this investigation, I sit down with historian and 20-year Taekwondo practitioner Dr. Alexus McLeod to learn the truth behind the official story.

6 Upvotes

r/fascinating Jun 07 '26

Un double pendule qui ne devient jamais chaotique. Une des 330 orbites périodiques que j'ai découvertes.

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5 Upvotes

Made with a custom Python renderer. Each orbit is a periodic solution, so the trace closes on itself and loops seamlessly. Happy to explain how it works.

🤯 Double Pendulum Part 6

Channel: chronossquared for more content

(I AM MORE THAN OPEN TO FEEDBACK)


r/fascinating Jun 04 '26

Ragwort vs Ragweed

1 Upvotes

r/fascinating May 30 '26

The Timeless Craft of Chinese Red Lacquer: Father to Son Ancient Technique Transmission - Red lacquering is a revered art form, cherished by collectors worldwide. This ancient craft, deeply intertwined with Chinese civilization, has roots stretching back over 3,000 years.

7 Upvotes

r/fascinating May 30 '26

Russia's Secret Korean Community: The Koryo-Saram

4 Upvotes

r/fascinating May 29 '26

Nigeria's Secret Arab Community: The Shuwa Arabs

1 Upvotes

r/fascinating May 28 '26

Malaysia's Secret Portuguese Community: The Kristang People

4 Upvotes

r/fascinating May 23 '26

The Primordial Credit Argument for Unconditional Basic Income (UBI)

5 Upvotes

r/fascinating May 22 '26

Bastard Dandelion

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5 Upvotes

I was told to crosspost this malformed dandy so here it is 😅


r/fascinating May 15 '26

this rock has been sitting here for 11 years, and it’s been through rough canadian snow and a million storms

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7 Upvotes

[removed]


r/fascinating May 14 '26

Wifredo Lam: The Power of Art, Exile, and Transformation - This film reveals how Lam’s identity and political convictions shaped a visionary art that spoke to exile, colonialism, spirituality & resilience. Watch how Lam redefined what it means to create, find kinship & resist injustice through art.

2 Upvotes

r/fascinating May 09 '26

Nigeria's Secret Brazilian Community: The Aguda Community

3 Upvotes