1 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:07,480 Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Nke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of 2 00:00:07,520 --> 00:00:14,480 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild. Our world is full of 3 00:00:14,520 --> 00:00:18,480 Speaker 1: the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, all 4 00:00:18,520 --> 00:00:22,200 Speaker 1: of these amazing tales are right there on display, just 5 00:00:22,239 --> 00:00:28,880 Speaker 1: waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. 6 00:00:36,720 --> 00:00:38,760 Speaker 1: You go on a blind date with a friend of 7 00:00:38,960 --> 00:00:41,919 Speaker 1: a friend, and five minutes into cocktails, discover that they 8 00:00:41,960 --> 00:00:45,520 Speaker 1: share your birthday. You dream about someone you haven't thought 9 00:00:45,560 --> 00:00:47,919 Speaker 1: about in years, and then get a call that they 10 00:00:47,960 --> 00:00:50,760 Speaker 1: have passed away. Your partner asks you to pick up 11 00:00:50,800 --> 00:00:53,600 Speaker 1: a specific shampoo brand from the store, and all of 12 00:00:53,600 --> 00:00:57,320 Speaker 1: a sudden, you start seeing commercials for it everywhere. Odd 13 00:00:57,360 --> 00:01:00,840 Speaker 1: little coincidences like this happen all the time. History is 14 00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:03,240 Speaker 1: full of them, but when they appear out of the blue, 15 00:01:03,480 --> 00:01:06,960 Speaker 1: it can feel downright uncanny. Take the story of ten 16 00:01:07,080 --> 00:01:10,120 Speaker 1: year old Laura Buxton. In June of two thousand and one, 17 00:01:10,440 --> 00:01:15,200 Speaker 1: Laura was in Staffordshire, England, celebrating her grandparents' fiftieth wedding anniversary, 18 00:01:15,560 --> 00:01:18,920 Speaker 1: and on a whim, Laura's grandfather suggested that they release 19 00:01:18,959 --> 00:01:21,840 Speaker 1: one of the gold Milar balloons that were decorating the grounds. 20 00:01:22,240 --> 00:01:24,960 Speaker 1: Laura would attach a note to the balloon with instructions 21 00:01:24,959 --> 00:01:27,959 Speaker 1: to contact her. If they were lucky, someone would get 22 00:01:27,959 --> 00:01:30,640 Speaker 1: in touch and they'd find out exactly how far their 23 00:01:30,680 --> 00:01:33,960 Speaker 1: balloon had gone. Well, that balloon traveled one hundred and 24 00:01:34,000 --> 00:01:36,720 Speaker 1: forty miles south before landing in a hedge in the 25 00:01:36,720 --> 00:01:39,679 Speaker 1: county of Wiltshire. A farmer found it and read the 26 00:01:39,720 --> 00:01:43,360 Speaker 1: attached note, and then he headed next door. As chance 27 00:01:43,400 --> 00:01:46,080 Speaker 1: would have it, this farmer was neighbors with an entirely 28 00:01:46,120 --> 00:01:50,080 Speaker 1: different girl, also named Laura Buxton. He gave the balloon 29 00:01:50,160 --> 00:01:53,120 Speaker 1: to the second Laura, who followed the instructions and got 30 00:01:53,160 --> 00:01:56,080 Speaker 1: in touch with Laura number one. The girls and their 31 00:01:56,160 --> 00:01:58,760 Speaker 1: parents were all amused by the odd turn of events 32 00:01:58,960 --> 00:02:01,880 Speaker 1: and agreed that they should meet in person. And that's 33 00:02:01,880 --> 00:02:06,200 Speaker 1: when the coincidences really started to balloon. As it turned out, 34 00:02:06,360 --> 00:02:09,400 Speaker 1: Laura one and Laura two didn't just share a name. 35 00:02:09,560 --> 00:02:11,840 Speaker 1: They were both in the fifth grade and both had 36 00:02:11,880 --> 00:02:15,000 Speaker 1: no siblings. They had the same build, same eye color, 37 00:02:15,160 --> 00:02:18,280 Speaker 1: and similar hair color. They each owned three year old 38 00:02:18,280 --> 00:02:23,400 Speaker 1: female labradors, rabbits, and guinea pigs. They even dressed the same. Reportedly, 39 00:02:23,480 --> 00:02:26,600 Speaker 1: the Lauras arrived to their first meeting in nearly identical 40 00:02:26,720 --> 00:02:30,120 Speaker 1: ensembles of pink jumpers and blue jeans. In the year 41 00:02:30,200 --> 00:02:32,800 Speaker 1: since their first meeting, the story of the Lauras and 42 00:02:32,840 --> 00:02:36,720 Speaker 1: their balloon has proliferated online. Exactly what makes it so 43 00:02:36,840 --> 00:02:39,960 Speaker 1: sticky is hard to pin down. On face value, It's 44 00:02:40,000 --> 00:02:42,920 Speaker 1: the mundane story of a chance meeting between two girls 45 00:02:42,919 --> 00:02:45,200 Speaker 1: with a lot in common, made a bit sweeter by 46 00:02:45,200 --> 00:02:48,320 Speaker 1: the fact that they remained friends for years afterwards. On 47 00:02:48,360 --> 00:02:51,200 Speaker 1: another level, though, the story taps into our sense of 48 00:02:51,240 --> 00:02:55,520 Speaker 1: the supernatural. Like all uncanny coincidences, it makes us feel 49 00:02:55,560 --> 00:02:58,960 Speaker 1: that the universe isn't random but meaningful, that there's a 50 00:02:59,040 --> 00:03:02,360 Speaker 1: logic governing everything, and we're connected to each other in 51 00:03:02,440 --> 00:03:05,280 Speaker 1: ways we can't begin to fathom. After all, in a 52 00:03:05,320 --> 00:03:08,799 Speaker 1: meaningless random universe, would the Lauras ever have found each 53 00:03:08,800 --> 00:03:12,120 Speaker 1: other at all? The answer, according to some staticians, is 54 00:03:12,120 --> 00:03:15,480 Speaker 1: actually yes. This is due to the law of truly 55 00:03:15,600 --> 00:03:18,920 Speaker 1: large numbers, which states that with a large enough data set, 56 00:03:19,040 --> 00:03:23,080 Speaker 1: any highly implausible result is likely to be observed. In 57 00:03:23,160 --> 00:03:25,880 Speaker 1: Layman's terms, it means that with enough people doing enough 58 00:03:25,919 --> 00:03:28,600 Speaker 1: things in enough different places all over a long enough 59 00:03:28,600 --> 00:03:34,120 Speaker 1: period of time, seemingly unlikely events become extremely likely, even inevitable. 60 00:03:34,680 --> 00:03:38,040 Speaker 1: But the story of the two Lauras isn't just about probability, 61 00:03:38,280 --> 00:03:40,440 Speaker 1: and we don't have to believe in fate or a 62 00:03:40,480 --> 00:03:44,080 Speaker 1: supernatural universe to appreciate the story. The thing that truly 63 00:03:44,120 --> 00:03:46,600 Speaker 1: makes it resonates isn't just how unlikely it was that 64 00:03:46,640 --> 00:03:49,560 Speaker 1: two girls met. It's the fact that they almost didn't. 65 00:03:50,040 --> 00:03:52,120 Speaker 1: If not for that balloon, they could have lived their 66 00:03:52,160 --> 00:03:55,600 Speaker 1: whole lives not knowing that the other Laura existed. They 67 00:03:55,600 --> 00:03:59,000 Speaker 1: would have missed out on a unique, fun and memorable experience, 68 00:03:59,320 --> 00:04:03,800 Speaker 1: not to mention friendship. David Spiegelhalter, a risk researcher at 69 00:04:03,800 --> 00:04:06,600 Speaker 1: the University of Cambridge, said that, and I quote, a 70 00:04:06,680 --> 00:04:10,040 Speaker 1: coincidence itself is in the eye of the beholder, and 71 00:04:10,120 --> 00:04:12,520 Speaker 1: by this he means that the significance of any given 72 00:04:12,560 --> 00:04:15,960 Speaker 1: coincidence is born from the fact that someone was present 73 00:04:16,000 --> 00:04:18,760 Speaker 1: to witness and draw meaning from it. If the first 74 00:04:18,880 --> 00:04:22,159 Speaker 1: Laura hadn't released her balloon and the girls never met, 75 00:04:22,360 --> 00:04:25,560 Speaker 1: then they would have just been statistical anomalies. But because 76 00:04:25,600 --> 00:04:28,719 Speaker 1: they found each other, having so much in common, became 77 00:04:28,800 --> 00:04:32,239 Speaker 1: special and maybe there's a lesson here for us, because 78 00:04:32,279 --> 00:04:36,240 Speaker 1: whether you believe in an intentional universe or a random one, 79 00:04:36,279 --> 00:04:39,159 Speaker 1: the reality is sometimes we are connected to each other 80 00:04:39,279 --> 00:04:42,440 Speaker 1: in surprising ways. But if we never step outside our 81 00:04:42,440 --> 00:04:45,360 Speaker 1: comfort zone, if we don't set our balloons loose once 82 00:04:45,400 --> 00:04:48,200 Speaker 1: in a while, then you or I will never know 83 00:04:48,480 --> 00:05:06,159 Speaker 1: how truly special we are. When we think of ancient Egypt, 84 00:05:06,320 --> 00:05:09,520 Speaker 1: our minds go straight to the pyramids. These monuments of 85 00:05:09,520 --> 00:05:14,120 Speaker 1: the ancient world are massive structures containing subterranean chambers, long 86 00:05:14,160 --> 00:05:18,760 Speaker 1: windowless hallways, and winding corridors. You can imagine the builders, 87 00:05:18,839 --> 00:05:21,480 Speaker 1: the priests, and anyone else who had access to these 88 00:05:21,480 --> 00:05:24,240 Speaker 1: tombs would have needed some kind of light to get around, 89 00:05:24,520 --> 00:05:27,320 Speaker 1: which is why it's strange that in many Egyptian tombs 90 00:05:27,560 --> 00:05:31,479 Speaker 1: there's a distinct lack of torches. There's also very little 91 00:05:31,520 --> 00:05:34,240 Speaker 1: soot residue on the ceilings, which you would expect to 92 00:05:34,279 --> 00:05:36,920 Speaker 1: find if torches had been used during the building process. 93 00:05:37,440 --> 00:05:41,800 Speaker 1: So were the ancient Egyptians just groping around in the dark. Well, 94 00:05:41,880 --> 00:05:43,920 Speaker 1: if you've ever seen the nineteen ninety nine film The 95 00:05:44,000 --> 00:05:47,200 Speaker 1: Mummy starring Brennan Fraser, then you know the answer. The 96 00:05:47,240 --> 00:05:50,440 Speaker 1: Pharaohs used intricate systems of mirrors to bring the power 97 00:05:50,440 --> 00:05:53,279 Speaker 1: of the sun into their tombs, bouncing the light from 98 00:05:53,480 --> 00:05:57,479 Speaker 1: one shiny surface to the next until every chamber was illuminated. 99 00:05:57,880 --> 00:06:01,760 Speaker 1: Except that's probably just a bit of Hollywood fantasy. In reality, 100 00:06:01,839 --> 00:06:04,719 Speaker 1: Egyptian mirrors were much too crude for such a feat. 101 00:06:05,200 --> 00:06:08,719 Speaker 1: But there's another possibility, and it seems even more fantastical. 102 00:06:09,080 --> 00:06:11,600 Speaker 1: The idea was sparked by a discovery in a temple 103 00:06:11,680 --> 00:06:14,840 Speaker 1: dedicated to the goddess Hathor near the city of Dundera. 104 00:06:15,200 --> 00:06:17,440 Speaker 1: In a remote corner of that temple, a series of 105 00:06:17,520 --> 00:06:21,719 Speaker 1: hieroglyphic carvings depict a strange scene. A bulb shaped device 106 00:06:21,839 --> 00:06:24,680 Speaker 1: is shown sprouting from the floor, with a socket at 107 00:06:24,680 --> 00:06:27,400 Speaker 1: one end and a long cable extending from the other. 108 00:06:27,960 --> 00:06:31,279 Speaker 1: The socket continues into a long tube rounded at one 109 00:06:31,400 --> 00:06:34,560 Speaker 1: end with a curving snake at its center. A priest 110 00:06:34,680 --> 00:06:39,200 Speaker 1: stands nearby, aiming the device upwards. It sounds impossible, but 111 00:06:39,360 --> 00:06:41,760 Speaker 1: if you see the carvings, they look an awful lot 112 00:06:41,880 --> 00:06:45,839 Speaker 1: like modern electric lights, complete with a wire inside. The 113 00:06:45,880 --> 00:06:48,640 Speaker 1: snake's body serves as the filament of the light bulb. 114 00:06:49,040 --> 00:06:51,599 Speaker 1: But aside from looking similar to a light, there's not 115 00:06:51,720 --> 00:06:54,240 Speaker 1: a lot of hard evidence to suggest that's actually what 116 00:06:54,320 --> 00:06:56,880 Speaker 1: the reliefs show. You would think that if the Egyptians 117 00:06:56,920 --> 00:06:59,640 Speaker 1: had access to electric lighting, they probably would have left 118 00:06:59,640 --> 00:07:02,720 Speaker 1: behind some wires or glass bulbs, but nothing like that 119 00:07:02,839 --> 00:07:06,440 Speaker 1: has ever turned up. Instead, most Egyptologists believe that the 120 00:07:06,520 --> 00:07:10,320 Speaker 1: Dendera reliefs don't show a device, but an Egyptian creation myth. 121 00:07:10,600 --> 00:07:13,000 Speaker 1: They was said that at the beginning of time, reality 122 00:07:13,080 --> 00:07:15,960 Speaker 1: was covered by a primordial sea. The first thing to 123 00:07:16,000 --> 00:07:19,040 Speaker 1: emerge from these dark waters was a single lotus flower. 124 00:07:19,360 --> 00:07:22,360 Speaker 1: The flower then gave birth to the sun god autumn Ra, 125 00:07:22,720 --> 00:07:25,840 Speaker 1: who went on to create the entire universe. In the 126 00:07:25,880 --> 00:07:30,120 Speaker 1: official interpretation of the Dendera carvings, this socket is the 127 00:07:30,160 --> 00:07:33,160 Speaker 1: lotus flower from that myth, while the snake inside that 128 00:07:33,320 --> 00:07:37,600 Speaker 1: bulb shaped bubble is autumn Ra. It's less exciting than 129 00:07:37,640 --> 00:07:41,640 Speaker 1: thinking the hieroglyphs show us an ancient flashlight, but more believable, 130 00:07:41,920 --> 00:07:44,480 Speaker 1: and that means that we're still in the dark. Sorry 131 00:07:44,600 --> 00:07:47,920 Speaker 1: pun intended when it comes to explaining how the Egyptians 132 00:07:47,960 --> 00:07:51,880 Speaker 1: actually lit their tombs. Ultimately, the truth was hiding in 133 00:07:51,920 --> 00:07:55,640 Speaker 1: plain sights all along. While ancient Egyptian tombs are short 134 00:07:55,680 --> 00:07:58,920 Speaker 1: on torches. They do have plenty of bulls. There's nothing 135 00:07:58,960 --> 00:08:02,040 Speaker 1: special about them, which is why archaeologists overlooked them for 136 00:08:02,080 --> 00:08:05,560 Speaker 1: so long. But a text by the Greek historian Herodotus 137 00:08:05,600 --> 00:08:08,720 Speaker 1: reveals that the Egyptians use these bulls as a unique 138 00:08:08,800 --> 00:08:11,840 Speaker 1: kind of torch by filling them with castor oil and salt. 139 00:08:12,320 --> 00:08:15,440 Speaker 1: The salt kept the oil from spilling and dropping the wick, 140 00:08:15,720 --> 00:08:17,880 Speaker 1: and that's why the bulls didn't need a groove or 141 00:08:17,880 --> 00:08:20,160 Speaker 1: a notch that you would typically see in a torch. 142 00:08:20,520 --> 00:08:24,119 Speaker 1: The castor oil burns clean, which explains the missing soot 143 00:08:24,680 --> 00:08:29,480 Speaker 1: case closed right well probably. However, fringe theorists still cling 144 00:08:29,520 --> 00:08:32,360 Speaker 1: to the possibility that the Dendera reliefs our evidence of 145 00:08:32,400 --> 00:08:36,360 Speaker 1: ancient Egyptian electricity, and in the nineteen eighties an engineer 146 00:08:36,440 --> 00:08:40,080 Speaker 1: named Walter Garn created a working replica of the Dendera 147 00:08:40,200 --> 00:08:42,800 Speaker 1: light based on the carvings. When he turned it on, 148 00:08:43,160 --> 00:08:46,760 Speaker 1: the glowing filament inside the bulb pulsed and writhed, coiling 149 00:08:46,840 --> 00:08:50,880 Speaker 1: and uncoiling a lot like a serpent rising from the 150 00:08:50,880 --> 00:08:58,560 Speaker 1: bud of a lotus. I hope you've enjoyed today's guided 151 00:08:58,600 --> 00:09:02,000 Speaker 1: tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities, subscribe for free on 152 00:09:02,040 --> 00:09:05,040 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the show by visiting 153 00:09:05,200 --> 00:09:09,760 Speaker 1: Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was created by me 154 00:09:09,960 --> 00:09:13,600 Speaker 1: Aaron Mankey in partnership with how Stuff Works. I make 155 00:09:13,640 --> 00:09:17,199 Speaker 1: another award winning show called Lore, which is a podcast, 156 00:09:17,280 --> 00:09:20,240 Speaker 1: book series, and television show, and you can learn all 157 00:09:20,280 --> 00:09:24,360 Speaker 1: about it over at the Worldoflore dot com. And until 158 00:09:24,360 --> 00:09:28,040 Speaker 1: next time, stay curious.