I know humans still haven’t cured cancer, or found a way to keep takeout French fries from getting soggy. But some things, like air travel, are really, REALLY incredible if you think about it.
Someone just asked the internet: “What’s something that just makes you go, ‘Who the [heck] figured this out?'” And these are some of the MARVELS that people suggested.
1. Coffee. “Someone thought: ‘This berry tastes horrible. Maybe if I pull the seed out, set it on fire for a little bit, then grind it up, and run hot water through it, I can drink it.'”
2. Cataloging mushrooms. Someone joked, “This one killed Fred, this one makes you see god for three days, and this one tastes kinda like chicken.”
3. Record players. “Turning micro-squiggles on vinyl into perfect reproductions of people’s voices and instruments? Like, is that witchcraft?”
4. Anything to do with astronomy. “Mass of planets, distances of stars, locations of black holes. A lot of impressive brain power and technology.”
5. MRIs. Someone said, “As a med student, I was (briefly) taught how these things work, and oh my god, how the hell did anyone think about this?”
6. Computing in general. “The idea of converting physical stimuli into code is mind blowing to me.”
7. Cameras. “How is it possible that some device is able to somehow capture the exact image it is pointed at with one click?”
8. Radios and wireless transmissions. Someone said, “The fact that my computer, phone, or radio can talk, without any wires attached, is magic.”
9. Microwave ovens. “So someone was testing microwave equipment for some military thing, and noticed that a candy bar in their pocket melted?”
10. Finally, someone said, “I want to know how someone figured out after the MGM lion in ‘The Wizard of Oz’ roars to play Pink Floyd’s ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ and see what happens.”
(Reddit)
