ADVERTISEMENT

With people being constantly busy, things changing every day, and various events happening all the time, time flies super fast. So sometimes it might seem that some of the things that we just witnessed or experienced happened a long time ago. And it turns out that the same logic can be applied to some of the greatest inventions and concepts that we know today.

This TikTok account called @idea.soup decided to share some of the things that only were discovered recently even though we might think that they are quite old and have been here for ages. 

Idea Soup is where people can find interesting educational content on various topics. Its creator Michael R McBride is the one who makes and shares this content with people on various social media platforms. 

More Info: TikTok

Image source: idea.soup

#1

Things-Discovered-More-Recently-Than-You Think

We didn’t know how mountains formed until 1966. And not just mountains, earthquakes and volcanoes too. Like we were putting men into space and yet every time there was an earthquake, we were just like “What the hell is going on?”

TheMuuj Report

Bored Panda contacted the creator of Idea Soup Michael McBride to find out more about the project and his love for science. McBride shared that the idea to create videos about some of the things that were discovered only recently was born out of curiosity and interest in science. “I'm fascinated by how science is not an institution, but rather an organic, ever-evolving body of knowledge. The fact that we discovered these things recently is evidence that science is working! The beauty of the field is that it is constantly questioning itself”, shared the creator.

#2

Things-Discovered-More-Recently-Than-You Think

Most women in America couldn’t open a credit card until 1974. But if you think that’s bad, women didn’t get the right to vote in Switzerland until 1991.
 
Women in Switzerland fought for their right to vote for decades. The first time it was seriously considered was in 1959 when a referendum was held to conclude the matter and the voters, who were only men at the time, decided against giving the right of vote to women by 654,939 votes (66.9%) to 323,727 (33%).
 
Women continued their protests and after another referendum women got the right to vote in 1971 and Switzerland became one of the last countries in Europe to recognize women as equal members to men in the political sphere.
 
However, Switzerland consists of 26 cantons and the last canton to give the right to vote was that of Appenzell Innerrhoden and it happened in 1991. This fact means that the whole country of Switzerland provided women with the right to vote only in that year.

Håkan Dahlström Report

Add photo comments
POST
tobiasulrich_1 avatar
T.
Community Member
2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Thats not fully correct: It was only the state of Appenzell Innerrhoden that didn't allow women to vote until 1991. The canton was then overruled by the constitutional court after women filed a lawsuit. But we still were freaking late to the party by only introducing it in 1971 - It even had to pass a peoples (men's) voting.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
ADVERTISEMENT
#3

Things-Discovered-More-Recently-Than-You Think

It took us until 2002 to confirm what was at the center of the Milky Way. We are rotating around a supermassive black hole, but we didn’t know that until after Britney Spears had released her first album.

John Fowler Report

#4

Things-Discovered-More-Recently-Than-You Think

We didn’t (fully) sequence the human genome until four months ago. We had not mapped one human’s full DNA until May 2021. The Human Genome Project which completed in 2003? Yeah, they were missing 15% of DNA base pairs. Very bold of them to call that complete. That’s like a frat guy in a group project’s version of complete.

Petra B. Fritz Report

Add photo comments
POST
valentinokitchen avatar
Chef Latte
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Well i mean DNA is insanely complex, so although it is the 2020’s, I’m glad we got this now rather than later

joris-rombouts avatar
Joris Rombouts
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The irony in this, is that there are a lot of parts in the DNA with repeating paterns. These simple repeating paterns were the hardest to sequence:)

Load More Replies...
kaitlynjordan avatar
Kitty Jordan
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Honest question to anyone who is scientifically inclined: I think it's very neat that we did this, but can someone explain the implications? Like, what sort of things are we hoping to learn or develop from mapping this? (Sorry if that's a stupid question. It's been a long time since science class.)

kathrynfellis avatar
Katchen
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I have a degree in molecular biology and I work in genomic sequencing: having a map of the genome means you have a reference book for where things go, so if you sequence just a snippet of a patient’s genome (the whole genome is 3,000,000,000 base pairs), you can know what part of the genome you’re looking at, and if there have been rearrangements. The most common sequencing method generates a bunch of short reads (~250 base pairs) that have to be bioinformatically arranged in order, and having a reference genome helps build that order. A common mutation leading to cancer is called a fusion, where two chromosomes are cut in two and stuck back together, like a green and red gummy bear swapping heads.

Load More Replies...
c3arbar393 avatar
fatalis1972_1 avatar
Vexorg2
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Nope. It's been going on for years and if anything COVID slowed things down at the very end since everyone was working from home.

Load More Replies...
rick_desper avatar
Rick Desper
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is getting stupid. The vast majority of our DNA is non-coding. And...given each human's DNA is distinct, why would we care about "one human's full DNA"?

exitsec avatar
Wei Lee
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

...so what's the problem with an itty-bitty Coronavirus?

dthkls avatar
Bill Karp
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

good thing in a way, because it would have been manipulated to the bad sooner.

mjw0sysascend_com avatar
mjw0sysascend_com avatar
lara
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Many people believe that American biologist James Watson and English physicist Francis Crick discovered DNA in the 1950s. In reality, this is not the case. Rather, DNA was first identified in the late 1860s by Swiss chemist Friedrich Miescher. Then, in the decades following Miescher's discovery, other scientists--notably, Phoebus Levene and Erwin Chargaff--carried out a series of research efforts that revealed additional details about the DNA molecule, including its primary chemical components and the ways in which they joined with one another. Without the scientific foundation provided by these pioneers, Watson and Crick may never have reached their groundbreaking conclusion of 1953: that the DNA molecule exists in the form of a three-dimensional double helix. Nature.com

Load More Replies...
View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu

If you’re curious to know the process of making these videos, McBride revealed that it might take from 15 minutes to 10 hours depending on the research that has to be done and the time used for editing. He also added a simple yet effective take on how he creates videos: “I don't really have any process for finding facts—I'm just an incredibly curious person and I love learning. As I come across things, I share them.”

#5

Things-Discovered-More-Recently-Than-You Think

The Heimlich maneuver wasn’t invented until 1974. I mean, this was so recent that Dr. Heimlich was alive until 2016. He could have played Minecraft.

ocean yamaha Report

Add photo comments
POST
betakrankusov avatar
snipergun
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

He also used first time his own maneuver only when he was 96 in practice, when he saved female resident in retirement home where he was.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
ADVERTISEMENT
#6

Things-Discovered-More-Recently-Than-You Think

America’s first seatbelt laws were only in 1984 and New Hampshire still doesn’t even have them.

Mechanic Base Report

#7

Things-Discovered-More-Recently-Than-You Think

Smoking wasn’t banned on all US flights until the year 2000 and pilots were actually exempt. They can still legally smoke on airplanes today.

Amaury Laporte Report

#8

Things-Discovered-More-Recently-Than-You Think

We didn’t know why the ocean was salty until 1979. We were just like: “Yup, whole planet’s covered in this stuff. No idea where it comes from.”

Chris Dodds Report

ADVERTISEMENT

McBride also revealed what is one recently discovered thing that shocked him the most: “The theory of tectonic plates—it blows my mind that we weren't sure how mountains formed or earthquakes occurred until the '60s!”

Which one of these recent discoveries do you find most shocking? Leave your thoughts in the comments down below!

#9

Things-Discovered-More-Recently-Than-You Think

We didn’t know that a meteor killed the dinosaurs until 1991. That’s the same year that Home Alone came out.

Sadie Hart Report

Add photo comments
POST
liddlecatpaws avatar
Jo Johannsen
Community Member
2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Technically, since no humans witnessed it, no dinosaurs left autobiographical records of their own, and the aliens refuse to share their footage, we still don't KNOW.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
ADVERTISEMENT
See Also on Bored Panda
#10

Things-Discovered-More-Recently-Than-You Think

We didn’t have wheeled luggage until 1970. Which means that astronauts that went to the moon had to carry their own suitcases.

Elizabeth Masek Report

#11

Things-Discovered-More-Recently-Than-You Think

We didn’t know that babies could feel pain until 1987. When Back to the Future came out, we were not using anesthesia on babies.

Tamaki Sono Report

#12

Things-Discovered-More-Recently-Than-You Think

We didn’t know how anesthesia worked until 2020. We were just ragdolling people into unconsciousness with no idea how it actually worked.

Thirteen Of Clubs Report

Add photo comments
POST
coreysmith_2 avatar
Corey Smith
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Well, that's just not true. Maybe mechanisms for some few general anesthetics remain to be fully described, but we certainly knew how many of them work and we also knew very well how most of the locals work.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu