Neomano · est. 2014
Stories of science, the past, electronics and other curiosities.
The book · born from this blog
Atahualpa con su abrigo de pelo de murciélago
y otras 49 historias verdaderas que parecen mentira
The stories I tell here, gathered and expanded: 50 real episodes so incredible they sound made up. The same wonder of Neomano, now to read cover to cover.
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174 articles
The Origin of the Word “Soroche”
Soroche, the altitude sickness of the Andes, owes its name not to the air but to a mineral: for centuries its vapours were blamed for sickening travellers.
The Year Without a Summer of 1816
In 1815 Mount Tambora erupted and darkened the planet. 1816 became the year without a summer: failed crops, famine and the birth of Frankenstein.
Poyais: The Country That Never Existed
Gregor MacGregor invented a Central American country, Poyais, and sold bonds and land to hundreds of Britons who sailed off to a nation that never existed.
The Baroness of Galápagos and the Floreana Mystery
In the 1930s, an Austrian baroness tried to rule over Floreana island in the Galápagos. Her disappearance remains an unsolved mystery to this day.
The Origin of “Chuchaqui”, the Ecuadorian Hangover
“Chuchaqui” is the hangover the Ecuadorian way, a word almost nobody understands across the border. Its origin lies in Quichua and the coca leaf.
Atahualpa's Chess Game Is Legend; His Bat-Hair Cloak Is Not
Two stories from Atahualpa's captivity: the chess game everyone cites and a cloak woven from bat hair. Only one of them is documented.
Stockholm Syndrome Was Born to Silence a Hostage
The famous syndrome didn't come from a study: the police's own psychiatrist coined it to discredit a hostage who criticized him. It isn't in the DSM.
Procrastination: The Vice That Infuriated the Romans Who Coined the Word
Procrastination comes from the Latin «cras», tomorrow. Hesiod scolded procrastinators 2,700 years ago and Cicero declared it hateful. We're not the first.
When the Amazon Was the Richest Place on Earth
The rubber boom raised an opera house in the jungle and delirious fortunes in Manaus and Iquitos. Then 70,000 seeds wiped it off the map.
Nietzsche's Sister Founded an Aryan Colony in Paraguay
In 1886, Elisabeth Nietzsche and her antisemitic husband took 'pure' German families into the Paraguayan jungle. It went exactly as it deserved.
The Canal Was Built in Panama Thanks to a Postage Stamp
In June 1902, every U.S. senator received a Nicaraguan stamp showing a smoking volcano. Three days later, the canal went to Panama.
The Panamanian Swamp That Nearly Bankrupted Scotland
In 1698, Scotland bet a national fortune on founding a colony in Panama's Darién. Two years later it had no colony, no money — and no independence.