The story of humanity is the story of our quest to understand the world around us. We’ve talked before about the many, many mysteries that continue to defy explanation. But that’s only half the story. Scientists and historians continue to work to answer unresolved questions about the universe and our own past. And recently, it seems like they’ve had some notable successes.

1. 'The Bloop'

In 1997, the Bloop was heard on hydrophones across the Pacific. It was a loud, ultra-low frequency sound that was heard at listening stations underwater over 5,000km apart, and one of many mysterious noises picked up by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Several articles in the years that followed popularised one suggestion that the Bloop might have been the sound of an unknown animal due to the "organic" nature of the noise, a theory that elevated the Bloop to the level of a great unsolved mystery. Listen to it below:
In reality, NOAA has since concluded the 'bloop' was in fact caused by icequakes - the fracturing and breaking off of ice shelves thousands of miles away.

2. The Fate of Richard III

Everyone knew England's King Richard III was killed around the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485, but no one was entirely sure what kind of fate he met. Some suggested he was killed on the field of battle, while others claim he was captured and executed afterwards. Without any remains, it was impossible for historians to say with any kind of certainly.

However, that was until a body was found beneath a parking lot in Leicester in 2012. Using genealogical and forensic research, experts were able to confirm it was indeed Richard III. They were similarly able to confirm he was likely killed in battle.

3. The Shroud of Turin

The Shroud of Turin is a centuries old linen cloth that bears the image of a crucified man. A man that millions believe to be Jesus of Nazareth. Is it really the cloth that wrapped his crucified body, or is it simply a medieval forgery, a hoax perpetrated by some clever artist?

Modern science has completed hundreds of thousands of hours of detailed study and intense research on the Shroud. It is, in fact, the single most studied artifact in human history, and we know more about it today than we ever have before. And yet, the controversy still rages.

Carbon testing conducted on the shroud in 1988 fairly conclusively revealed the shroud could not be from the time of Jesus of Nazareth. In fact, it is around 1,300 years younger than was originally suggested. The testing revealed the linen itself originates from around 1260 to 1390 and cannot be older. Despite this, researchers are still divided on how the actual image of a man was made on the linen.

4. The Disappearance of the Nazca Civilization

Enormous size drawings on the desert surface of Nazca in Peru was found only in 20 century, due to aviation. Who created these pictures, how and why remains a mystery.

The drawings were created between 300 BC and 800 AD. er. in the heyday of the Nazca civilization. At the same time created a ceremonial city Kauachi with a system of underground aqueducts that operate on this day. For reasons unknown, the Nasca civilization disappeared.

The combination of their sudden disappearance and apparent communication with the heavens, led some pseudo-scientists to suggest they were abducted by aliens.

Recent studies have put forward a new version, and the reason for the disappearance called deforestation, which served as a drying climate, which prevented the possibility of inhabitants of the valleys grow food.

Clearing land for agricultural purposes, they cut down thousands of years guarango (acacia), which for centuries governed the moisture and soil fertility. Guarango roots penetrate to great depths, created a humid microclimate. Total deforestation has led to increases in temperature and decrease in precipitation, the disappearance of water in reservoirs Nazca Indians made life impossible.

5. The Mysterious Notes in Homer's The Odyssey

The mysterious notes scrawled in a 1504 edition of Bibliotheca Homerica Langiana donated to the University of Chicago Library have been identified. As suspected by the book's donor, the curling, 150-year-old script is a form of French shorthand in use in the 19th century.

In early 2014, Italian cryptology enthusiasts Daniele Metilli and Giula Accetta cracked the case when they revealed the notes were written in an obscure form of shorthand invented by Jean Coulon de Thevenot in the 18th century.

Unfortunately, the decoded text did not point to hidden treasures or bizarre rambling. Instead it was merely revealed to be an amateur French translation of the original Greek text.

6. The Bermuda Triangle

The Bermuda Triangle is a large area of ocean between Florida, Puerto Rico, and Bermuda. Over the last few centuries, it’s thought that dozens of ships and planes have disappeared under mysterious circumstances in the area, earning it the nickname “The Devil’s Triangle.”

People have even gone so far as to speculate that it’s an area of extra-terrestrial activity or that there is some bizarre natural scientific cause for the region to be hazardous; but most likely, it’s simply an area in which people have experienced a lot of bad luck—the idea of it being a “vortex of doom” is no more real than Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster.

However, as far back as 1975, Larry Kusche revealed that statistically speaking, the Bermuda Triangle is no more dangerous than any other body of water, which is especially damning when you consider the area's propensity for tropical storms.

7. Sailing Stones

For years, enormous stones have been moving across the Racetrack Playa of Death Valley National Park, leaving engraved trails in the muddy surface behind. No one understood how, though there was plenty of speculation, according to researchers at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at University of California San Diego.

Various theories have been put forward to explain the phenomena, however in August 2014, one of the most popular was confirmed - it's all down to ice. The rocks move when large ice sheets which have formed on the surface begin to break up. These small ice panels are then pushed by light winds and can move the rocks at up to 5 meters a minute.

8. Crystal Skulls

The famed crystal skulls of ancient Mesoamerica have been a source of mystery and controversy for decades. The handful of known skulls have defied even the most advanced scientific efforts to determine who made them, when, and most puzzling, how. Some even go further to claim they hold some kind of supernatural or paranormal powers.

Many believe these skulls were carved thousands or even tens of thousands of years ago by an ancient Mesoamerican civilization. Others think they may be relics from the legendary island of Atlantis or proof that extraterrestrials visited the Aztec sometime before the Spanish conquest.

Recent electron microscope analyses of skulls by the British Museum and the Smithsonian Institution revealed markings that could only have been made with modern carving implements. It is likely most were made around the mid-19th century, when interest in ancient culture saw a revival. Most museums have now removed their crystal skulls from display.

9. The Face on Mars

As the Viking 1 mission circled the red planet in search of a landing site for its sister ship, Viking 2, it snapped photos of Mars for engineers at NASA to study. On July 25, 1976, it captured the image of a pile of rocks that greatly resembled a human face. When NASA released the photograph almost a week later, they described it as a "huge rock formation in the center [of the photo], which resembled a human head."

Although NASA scientists quickly determined that the face was created by tricks of light and shadows, the imaginative public seized on the idea that it did not form naturally.

Some people believe that the face is the remnant of an alien civilization, suggesting that other rocky outcroppings in the area may be a crumbling extraterrestrial city.

However, in 2003, the European Space Agency's Mars Express probe put things to rest. Using its high resolution stereo camera, it was able to take clearer images and create a 3D image of the "Face on Mars." In reality, it is nothing but a fairly normal Martian mesa.

10. How Bumblebees Fly

Short and stubby, the bumblebee doesn't look very flight-worthy. Indeed, in the 1930s, French entomologist August Magnan even noted that the insect's flight is actually impossible, a notion that has stuck in popular consciousness since then.
However, in 2005, a team of researchers used high-speed cinematography and mechanical models of the bee’s wings to solve the mystery. Bee's are able to achieve flight through a combination of extraordinary factors, especially the speed with which they beat their wings. In fact, bees flap their wings 230 times a second, which is considerably faster than most insects. Furthermore, they use a complex system of short, choppy wing strokes and rapid wing rotations to stay in the air.