Category: History

Human Behavior Under Isolation: Lessons from the SPHINX Experiment | May 10 2026, 18:01

In the book Project Hail Mary, Stratt tells Grace that in the USSR there was supposedly an experiment where people were locked up for several months to see what would happen, and that the people almost killed each other, leading to the experiment being halted. That wasn’t the case, but I googled and found there was another experiment – SPHINX in 1999.

There were several groups. In the first, there were four Russians and during the New Year celebrations with alcohol, they beat each other up (10 minutes, blood, they had to be pulled apart). Another group had three guys and a girl (Judith Lapier) and the mission ended because during the New Year’s celebrations, driven by excitement, Judith was attempted to be kissed twice, leading to the mission being terminated.

As VICE reports, the dialogue was “We should try kissing, I haven’t smoked for six months. Then we can kiss after the mission and compare. Let’s experiment now.”

The team included doctors with degrees (Lukyanuk, Karashkin, Murashov) and Haider Hobikhozhin, who essentially was a randomly included technician with secondary education, taking the place of the Japanese man to the right in the photo and who was first in the second photo. Who beat up or kissed whom is now somewhat forgotten.

Vadim Gushchin, a coordinator from IMBP, after the scandal stated that the fight was “friendly,” and that Lapier “ruined the mission, the atmosphere, by refusing to be kissed.”

At the Canadian Space Agency, Lapier was told that such behavior is normal for Russians and that public complaints would be considered taboo in the culture of the host country.

Taste and Protest: Unveiling the Symbols at an Iranian Restaurant | May 03 2026, 19:40

A very tasty Iranian restaurant. Perhaps you didn’t know, but there are two flags of Iran. This one – the historical flag, used before the Islamic revolution of 1979, and today its use inside Iran itself is a political crime. The main difference from the official one is the emblem of the lion and the sun. Therefore, when Iranian protesters in Washington hold demonstrations, it’s interesting to see which flags they carry. If there’s four crescents and a sword in the middle, those are protesters from another camp 😉

Exploring Word Clusters in Religious Texts from Gutenberg’s Library | May 02 2026, 03:28

It’s interesting that if you take 8000 books from the Gutenberg library and construct a graph for each based on word connections to see how “friendly” words are—if word A often appears with B, and B with C, then how often does A appear with C? There’s a metric for this—the average clustering coefficient. Then, simply sort the books by decreasing this coefficient, about 70 percent of the top will be religious books—bibles, the Book of Mormon, the Quran. Well, some of them are duplicates in a sense, because a Bible in different formats remains the Bible. But clearly, its different parts are grouped together, meaning, they definitely share commonality in these triangular words.

But what unites all the books in this top— is that they were written many years ago or, as in the case of The Night Land, written relatively recently in the same style as many years ago.

By the way, among these books shines An Introductorie for to Lerne to Read, To Pronounce, and to Speke French Trewly. This is a French language textbook, written in English during the Tudor times (around the 1530s). Soverayn lorde kyng Henry the Eight. It was written by Gilles Du Guez—a French teacher at the English court. This particular textbook was compiled for Princess Mary (the future Queen Mary I, known as “Bloody Mary”), the daughter of Henry VIII. Check out a page from the textbook. Very cool English 🙂 …ye must pronounce it letyng your lippes jointe close, so that there be but a lyttell hole in the middes.

So, I delved into this textbook. It mentions a fruit called “openarses.” As you understand, this is “open arses” in English. In Tudor England, they called a medlar an openarse. If you Google what a medlar looks like, you’ll have no questions why it’s called openarses 😉

In the anatomical section (MEMBRES LONGYNG TO MANNES BODY), the author mentions next to the eyes and ears “the nether beerde” (literally— “the lower beard”).

From Wooden Puppet to Beloved Boy: The Evolution of Pinocchio’s Tale | May 01 2026, 16:52

It turned out that initially Carlo Collodi, who wrote “The Adventures of Pinocchio,” did not intend to turn his hero from a wooden puppet into a real boy. Pinocchio was destined to be hanged by the Cat and the Fox on an oak tree—as a lesson to all children who lie and disobey their elders.

The author was persuaded to continue Pinocchio’s adventures by the editor of the “Children’s Newspaper,” who said that otherwise it would be their last publication. The readers were so outraged by the death of the hero that the editorial office was inundated with letters demanding a continuation.

Eventually, after a few months, the author was forced to “resurrect” the puppet. This is how the Blue Fairy appeared in the story, who saved Pinocchio from the noose, and the grim parable gradually turned into the familiar fairy tale with a happy ending.

When Pinocchio was already hanging on the oak tree and gasping for air, a Beautiful Girl with Azure Hair appeared at the window of a nearby little house. At that moment she is described not as a kind fairy, but rather as a ghost or spirit (she says that everyone in this house died, and she too is waiting for her coffin).

Seeing the puppet dangling from the tree, she took pity and organized a whole rescue team. The fairy clapped her hands three times. A giant Falcon arrived. She ordered him to fly to the Great Oak, gnaw through the rope with his beak, and carefully lower Pinocchio onto the grass. Then she summoned her servant—a poodle named Medoro. He was dressed in festive livery, with a cocked hat and a curly wig. Medoro was sent for Pinocchio in a luxurious carriage drawn by a hundred pairs of white mice. When the puppet was brought to the castle, he was neither alive nor dead. To decide what to do next, the Fairy summoned “luminaries” of medicine. By Pinocchio’s bed came the Crow, the Owl, and the Talking Cricket (the same one that Pinocchio “killed” at the beginning of the book, but he returned as a spirit).

Harsh.

Essentially, the hero owes his happy ending not to the author’s mercy, but to commercial success and public pressure.

Near-Miss at Leningrad: The Unknown Predecessor to Chernobyl | April 26 2026, 17:32

On the anniversary of Chernobyl. Those interested in this topic may not know that a similar accident could have occurred ten years earlier on the main (very first RBMK-1000 unit) Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant.

There was a nearly identical situation: one turbine in operation, reactor shutdown by emergency protection, and subsequent power escalation.

Back then, the situation was saved by the Chief Reactor Operator Mikhail

Karrask, who, acting intuitively and relying on his experience with industrial reactors, introduced into the reactor in portions

12 manual control rods

BEFORE pressing the emergency shutdown button.

A couple of years ago, Karrask passed away. This story is almost unknown outside the industry. For proof, google his obituary on Rosatom.

The technical part. The main danger of the RBMK reactors at that time was in the design of the control rods. At the bottom, they were equipped with graphite “displacers”. When the emergency shutdown button was pressed, the rods began moving down, and in the first seconds, the graphite tips did not dampen the reactor, but on the contrary, displaced the water and increased the power in the lower part of the active zone. But precisely, the instructions in case of trouble suggested pressing the emergency shutdown button. If you followed the instructions, “Chernobyl” would have happened earlier.

After the incident at the Leningrad NPP, a commission was formed. Experts (including those from the Kurchatov Institute of Atomic Energy) pointed out the dangerous design flaws of the RBMK – the positive void coefficient of reactivity and incorrect design of the rods. Unfortunately, extensive changes to the design of all RBMK reactors were not made at that time. Only operational regulations recommendations were given, which, as history showed, were insufficient to prevent the tragedy in Chernobyl.

Insights from a Visit to the Civil War Medical Museum | March 10 2026, 15:59

Today a big interesting historical post.

Where I was: Historical Museum of Military (Civil War) Medicine in Frederick, MD. Entry is $9, $15 with a guide. For an hour and a half, we got a very smart guy who gave an interesting lecture, making the provincial museum really very interesting. We even tipped the guy afterward.

A few interesting facts that I didn’t know before. During the Civil War in the USA (1861-1865), there was a monstrous scale of losses – over 600,000 people. One in every ten was mobilized for the war. That is, excluding women, children, and the disabled – yes, someone from almost every family fought.

Apparently, Americans were not very experienced in wars back then, and organizing large groups of people was based on the “fend for yourself” principle. From gastrointestinal diseases alone, nearly four times more people died than from wounds. Soldiers cooked everything themselves – there was no cook or porridge for the platoon. They split into micro-groups of a few people, pooled whatever they had, and fried it on a fire. For some reason they mainly fried, not boiled (which also contributed to diseases). Their main rations were salt pork and hard-tack — crackers as hard as a stone. Fried hard-tacks were called Skillygalee.

Remember, it was not like that in European wars. And all because there were many of them, and they quickly figured out how to make them more effective. Plus, there was also a civil war, poorly organized and spontaneous.

Initially, soldiers were handed money in the field and they sent it to their families as best they could (not all reached its destination). For Southerners, money devalued faster than they could carry it to the tent. Back then, each state issued its own money. They write about 8000 different banknotes at that time. I didn’t quite believe it, started researching, and it turned out that this is still a very conservative estimate. Yes, anyone (state, city, private bank, railway, factory, and even a pharmacy) could print their own paper money. Each bank issued banknotes of its own design for different denominations ($1, $2, $3, $5, etc.). In 1860, there were about 1600 private banks in the USA, and almost each issued its own range of notes. But in the end, greenbacks – federal money prevailed.

They also told us about Dorothea Dix, the head of army nurses for the Union. She introduced an interesting age standard for the nurses. No “young and beautiful.” Only women over 30 years of age, “plain-looking,” no jewelry, fashionable dresses, or crinolines – only strict brown or black dresses. At that time, the appearance of a woman in a male military camp was considered almost indecent. Dorothea wanted the soldiers to see in the nurses strict mothers or aunts, not objects of flirtation.

To join the army, a volunteer was required to have at least two teeth opposing each other. Why? A soldier needed to quickly bite off the tip of a paper cartridge to pour the powder into the barrel. No teeth — you’re useless in battle.

Back then, they shot with Minié balls – made of soft lead. It was huge caliber (thumb-sized) and when it hit the body, it didn’t just pass through, it “burst” and literally turned bone into fine crumble. Repairing such a bone was impossible, so amputation became the only way to save a person from gangrene. At least there was some form of anesthesia (chloroform/ether).

Before the Civil War in the USA, people were buried where they died. But the war generated a demand: affluent Northern families wanted to bring their sons’ bodies home. That’s when embalming flourished. Right behind the front line were tents of “embalming surgeons” who for a decent sum (about $50–$100 for an officer) extracted blood and injected chemicals (arsenic and zinc) into the body. Actually, the museum building included such a place. Lincoln’s body after his assassination was transported across the entire country on a train, and it looked “alive” thanks to this new technology, which became the best advertisement for the new industry.

Overall, Frederick is a very nice city, full of art and nonconformists 🙂 Like our Leesburg, but 20 times bigger.

P.S. It was interesting to study what drove people to go die. Of course, our guide said “patriotism”.

But if you google, it turns out not quite so. Of course, in 1861 no one knew that the war would last 4 years and take 600,000 lives.

Reason #1 – boredom. Life on a farm in the mid-19th century was incredibly monotonous. War seemed like the greatest adventure in life. Guys thought: “I’ll go, see the world, shoot, become a hero, and then return to harvest.”

Reason #2 – naivety. The first volunteers went to the front as if on a picnic. In the first major battle (Bull Run), civilians from Washington even came with picnic baskets to watch the “spectacle,” until they were swept away by the retreating crowd of bloodied soldiers.

Reason #3 – “honor.” In the 19th century, “honor” was not an empty word. If you were a healthy guy and didn’t go to the army, you became an outcast in your own town. It’s written that girls often refused to go out with those who didn’t wear a uniform.

Reason #4 – “regimental solidarity.” As I already said, regiments were formed from neighbors. Not going to war meant betraying your friends, brothers, and father. Shame before neighbors was stronger than the fear of death.

What did they fight for?

Here the goals of the North and South radically differed:

For the North, the main idea was “Integrity of the Union.” For them, the USA was a great experiment in democracy that could not be allowed to fail. The slogan “Save the Union” was more powerful than “Free the Slaves.” At first, not everyone was ready to die for abolition of slavery.

For the South (Confederacy), the main motivation was “Defending their homes.” Most Southern soldiers did not own slaves (slavery was too expensive a luxury for ordinary farmers). But they were convinced that the “Yankee northerners” were coming to seize their land, burn their homes, and impose their rules. They saw themselves as heirs of Washington, fighting against “tyrant” Lincoln.

Reason #5 – bounties

When initial enthusiasm faded (by 1863), pure calculation played its part. States and the federal government started paying huge “enlistment bounties.” A sum of $500–$1000 was equivalent to a few years’ earnings for a laborer. For a poor immigrant (Irish or German) just off the boat in New York, it was a chance to provide for a family or buy a farm after the war.

In 1862-63, both sides introduced the draft, as volunteers were running out. This exposed social injustice.

In the North, you could officially avoid the army by paying $300 (huge money for a poor man, but manageable for the middle class) or find a “substitute” (a person who would fight in your place for money).

In the South, there was the “Twenty Negro Law.” Owning 20 or more slaves exempted you from service, as you were “needed in the rear for production control.”

This caused fierce resentment among ordinary soldiers. The famous “Draft Riots” in New York (1863) were sparked precisely by this sense of injustice.

So there you have it 🙂

The Curious Etymology of the Turkey: Naming Perceptions Across Languages | March 09 2026, 21:36

I wondered why turkey is called turkey here and what it’s called in Turkey. In Turkey, it’s called hindi – turkey! Decided to see what it’s called in India. Haha, in Hindi, it’s called Turkish (टर्की). Let’s see in other languages. Portuguese – Peru. That means, for them, it’s Peruvian. In Spanish – pavo, which refers to peacock 🙂 “pavone” in Italian – peacock. In French – dinde, because this bird came from the West Indies (America). Comes from poule d’Inde – “hen from India/West Indies”. Greek – “Γαλοπούλα” “French bird”.

Exploring Redundancy in Toponymy: From European Rivers to the Hill of Hills | March 08 2026, 02:54

Reading Nabokov, there “…with the dash of the Danube in his veins…”. Turns out, Danube is Дунай. But that’s okay, trivial stuff, the interesting thing is something else. That Don, Danube, Dniester, Dnieper, Donets, Dvina, and Disna essentially mean more or less the same thing – river. Apparently, the ancient people were not always rich in imagination when it came to toponymy. If you live by the water, you simply call it “River”. Over time, others came, heard this word, took it as a proper name, and altered it slightly to fit their accent. This way “River” (Danu) transformed into a dozen different names across the map of Europe.

The river Volga essentially is also just “river”. Okay, slightly different, “Volga” comes from the Proto-Slavic *Vòlga, which literally means “moisture” or “water”.

Also, it turned out that the Sahara desert is named so because Sahara (الصحراء) is desert. And the Gobi desert is called Gobi because Gobi in Mongolian is desert.

While googling, I stumbled upon another fun thing. There’s a place in England, Torpenhow Hill. The name is composed of four different linguistic layers: Tor — in Old English “hill”, Pen — in Cumbric “hill”, How — in Old Norse “hill”, Hill — in modern English “hill”. Result: “Hill-hill-hill-hill”. Likely, each new people arriving in this area didn’t understand that Tor, Pen, and How were already names for the hill, and added their variant of the word “hill”.

Boney M Beyond the Stage: Unveiling the Voices and Ventures | March 07 2026, 15:11

It turned out that my childhood group, Boney M,

1) is still touring. Concerts in 2026. But from the whole group it’s only

2) Maizie Williams who is lighting it up now, she’s 74 years old. But on none of the Boney M records from those times is her voice found. They let her sing in concerts, yes.

3) Frank Farian, the group’s creator, is a white guy from Germany who assembled exotics” in 1974. A couple of years ago he died in his home in Florida.

4) And “that black guy” – that’s Bobby Farrell, who was a DJ from Aruba before Farian hired him to lip-sync the male parts recorded by Farian himself in all Boney M songs. Seriously, listen to Boney M and pay attention to the male parts. Now that you know who actually sang them, you won’t be able to unhear Farian’s strong German accent 🙂

5) Boney M were the first Western group (from FRG!) to penetrate the Iron Curtain.” They had concerts as early as 1978.

6) Remember their song “Rasputin”? Bobby Farrell died on the same date (Dec 30) and in the same city (in St. Petersburg) as Rasputin. At the “Ambassador” Hotel, which is literally a few minutes’ walk from the Yusupov Palace, where Grigory was killed.

By the way, Frank Farian was the king of “lip-sync” projects. Ten years after Boney M’s success he pulled the same stunt with the duo Milli Vanilli. But in the case of Boney M, he got away with it (everyone understood that it was a show), but with Milli Vanilli, there was a huge scandal: the group’s Grammy Award was revoked when it turned out the pretty model-boys on stage hadn’t sung a single note.