Terrorists planted a bomb beneath the Twin Towers years before 9/11. How a charred van brought down the conspirators
For three decades, the Twin Towers were among the most recognisable structures, not only in New York but in the world. They rose above Lower Manhattan and became a symbol of the city. Years before 9/11, the 1993 bombing was the Twin Towers’ first…
In 2004, Toronto began using cold water from 83 metres beneath Lake Ontario to cool downtown buildings; today the system serves 200 buildings across 40 million sq ft
Representative Image (AI-generated) Deep beneath the surface of Lake Ontario, a layer of naturally cold water has become an unlikely part of Toronto’s urban infrastructure. Instead of relying entirely on conventional air-conditioning systems to cool its…
Scientists discover nearly 1 billion tons of water locked inside Utah’s rocky glaciers, using gravity measurements to map ice buried beneath mountain debris
At first glance, Utah’s rocky mountain slopes may look completely dry, with loose stones and boulders covering the ground. But beneath some of those rocks lies an enormous store of frozen water. Researchers have now estimated that Utah’s rock…
In 1972, Illinois used 246,000 cubic yards of coal fly ash beneath 7,500 feet of expressway; monitoring found no evidence of settlement, frost or capillary-rise problems
More than five decades ago, civil engineers in northern Illinois carried out a major engineering experiment by using 246,000 cubic yards of coal fly ash beneath 7,500 feet of a major expressway embankment. The pioneering project, completed in 1972 near…
In 2002, Idaho buried nearly 300 tons of crushed waste glass beneath Highway 75; the material formed 8 to 12 inches of fill under a 200-foot road section
Idaho buried nearly 300 tons of crushed waste glass beneath Highway 75 Transport authorities in Idaho turned nearly 300 tonnes of discarded glass into road foundation material under Highway 75, creating a durable structural base while solving a local…
Oklahoma man found beneath a flyover at 92 pounds after 20 years of addiction goes from homelessness to graduating with a 4.0 GPA and two degrees
Danny Ellerd’s life once appeared to be heading towards an early death. After years of addiction and homelessness, he was found beneath an I-40 overpass in Oklahoma City weighing just 92 pounds, according to recovery organisation Hope Is Alive. Officers…
Scientists use robots more than two kilometres beneath the Pacific to discover huge lava fields around an active underwater volcano
More than two kilometres beneath the surface of the Pacific, off the coast of Oregon, an active underwater volcano has been hiding one of the strangest landscapes ever mapped on the seafloor. Using robotic vehicles capable of withstanding crushing…
In 2007, scientists used NASA satellite measurements to reveal 14 areas of moving water beneath West Antarctica; one hidden lake had drained about 2 cubic kilometres in three years
Icebergs in Antarctica (Image Credit: Canva) Antarctica may look like a vast, frozen and unchanging landscape, but deep beneath its thick ice lies a surprisingly active world. In 2007, scientists reported findings based on measurements collected by…
More than 100,000 ancient shipwrecks may be hiding beneath the Baltic Sea; researchers are beginning to map the underwater graveyard
The destructions created by the 1872 Baltic sea flood in the area between Præstø and Faxe as depicted by Holger Drachmann as reporter for Illustreret Tidende. Image Credit: Holger Drachmann/Wikipedia More than a thousand ancient shipwrecks could still be…
