BREAKING THE GLASS CEILING

Let's Recognize The Women Behind These 10 Scientific Discoveries!

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Did you know that women made many scientific contributions, but their names were hidden and their discoveries attributed to men? This phenomenon is so common that it even has a name: the Matilda Effect. American historian of science Margaret W. Rossiter coined the term in 1993 in honor of Matilda Joslyn Gage, a prominent suffragist and abolitionist who had highlighted the importance of women inventors almost a century earlier. In an attempt to give them back at least some of the recognition they deserve, in this article, we have selected 10 women who changed the history of humanity.

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Probably one of the best examples of the Matilda effect is the story of British scientist Rosalind Franklin. While doing research at King's College in London in 1951, Rosalind discovered that the molecule of DNA existed in a helical conformation when she was taking X-ray photographs of the structure. She presented her findings, which included a picture of the double helix, at a conference attended by the American molecular biologist James Watson.

Later, this important finding was the basis for Watson and Francis Crick's research on the subject. In 1953 the scientists published a study attaching the photograph taken by Rosalind without giving her credit for it. Watson and Crick were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1962. Rosalind had died four years earlier without ever receiving recognition for her work.

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In 1967, British scientist Jocelyn Bell Burnell was studying for her PhD at Cambridge when she noticed signals repeating at regular intervals through the radio telescope she was working on. It was the first step in the discovery of pulsars, stars that emit very small radiation.

The findings appeared in scientific journals signed by her advisor, the astrophysicist Antony Hewish, as first author. For this reason, it was only Hewish who received the Nobel Prize in 1974. At the time, the academy ignored her altogether, although now the entire scientific community accepts that it was Jocelyn Bell Burnell who first made the observation.

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The prehistory of computer science was blessed with the invaluable contribution of Ada Lovelace, one of the most exciting characters of the 19th century, not only because of her lineage —she was the daughter of the great poet Lord Byron— but also because she was a pioneer in computer programming.

Her excellent notes to mathematician Charles Babbage's work on the "analytical machine" are

considered the first approaches to computer algorithms. Although Babbage himself acknowledged Lovelace's merit, his contemporaries tried to minimize her contribution based on Ada's eccentric nature and, above all, for being a woman. Fortunately, today her achievements are vindicated: Ada Lovelace Day is celebrated every second Tuesday in October as a way of honoring women's contributions to science and technology.

Image: Dan Meyers

This Chinese scientist is one of those women who deserve an extensive biopic for having dedicated almost her entire life to working passionately on the development of science. Emigrated to the United States before World War II, Chien-Shiung Wu was part of the team that worked on the Manhattan Project and the birth of the atomic bomb.

After the war, scientists Tsung-Dao Lee and Chen Ning Yang formulated the theory that the principle of conservation of parity was not valid and asked Chien-Shiung Wu to join in proving the ineffectiveness of this then-commonly accepted law. Although it was her work that finally disproved the theory, only Lee and Yang were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1957. Be as it may, her legacy is not entirely invisible: she is now known as the "First Lady of Physics" or "the Chinese Madame Curie" for her contributions to experimental physics.

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Hollywood star by day, researcher by night, Austrian-American actress Hedy Lamarr was not only a beauty icon of the 1940s but also responsible for developing a secure communications system called "frequency hopping."

Lamarr patented her invention in 1942, but unfortunately, at the time she was not given any credit due to the widespread belief that women could not be scientists or inventors and the fact that she was an actress. It wasn't until many years later that her work was finally recognized and became the basis for the development of technologies we use every day, such as WiFi, Bluetooth, and GPS. So now you know, it’s thanks to Hedy Lamarr's groundbreaking invention that today we can send messages, make calls, and connect to the internet without any wires.

Image: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

Unfortunately, the story of Esther Miriam Zimmer Lederberg is very common, not only in science but also in other disciplines such as art and philosophy. Lederberg was a professor of microbiology and immunology at Stanford University and did pioneering work in genetics, yet it was her husband who took all the credit.

Esther and Joshua Lederberg specialized in research on bacterial colony transfer. It was she who, in 1951, discovered a virus that infects bacteria. Together they developed a transfer technique, called the Lederberg Method, which is still used today. But in 1958, her husband received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, and during the award ceremony, he didn’t mention Esther, even though the work had been done in collaboration.

Image: NASA

You've probably heard of Katherine Johnson thanks to the 2016 three-time Academy Award- nominee Hidden Figures. But before her film fame, Johnson was only known at NASA, where she worked for 35 years in the Space Task Group.

Her journey, however, was not an easy one. Her accomplishments often went unrecognized by her male co-workers, and she faced double discrimination: as a woman and as an African-American. Despite this, and thanks to her brilliant mathematical skills, Johnson gradually earned a place on the teams that worked on the first spacecraft launch in 1961 and her tireless work ultimately helped send astronauts to the moon in 1969.

Image: Frédéric Paulussen

In 1938, Austrian physicist Lise Meitner had to flee Nazi Germany for being Jewish. Settled in Sweden, she embarked on a research on uranium with her laboratory partner, the German chemist Otto Hahn. Shortly thereafter, they discovered that the act of splitting atomic nuclei during "fission" releases enormous amounts of energy.

Although it was Meitner herself who wrote the first theoretical explanation of the process after the discovery, it was only Hahn who received the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1944. Well, not everything is lost, although she wasn’t awarded, she has an element of the periodic table named after her, meitnerium.

Image: Sangharsh Lohakare

American biologist and geneticist Nettie Stevens had the misfortune of discovering the XY chromosomes at exactly the same time as another —male— scientist in 1905. After receiving a master's degree from Stanford and a Ph.D. from Bryn Mawr, Stevens set out to revive and explain the genetic research of Austrian-Czech biologist Gregor Johann Mendel.

But Edmund Beecher Wilson also published his findings about the chromosomal XY sex-determination system and was widely praised as the sole discoverer. Interestingly, the two reports differed slightly: Wilson claimed that environmental factors determined sex, while Stevens thought it was only genetic. Lo and behold, time has proven that Nettie Stevens was right.

Image: NASA Hubble Space Telescope

Vera Rubin was a pioneering and brilliant American scientist. Through her research, she managed to convince the scientific community of the existence of dark matter, considered a scientific milestone and one of the great persistent mysteries of the universe.

Her work was also a forerunner in the study of the rotation of spiral galaxies. However, despite being one of the most influential astronomers of her time, Vera Rubin was not awarded the Nobel Prize nor did she receive the same recognition as some of her male colleagues. Perhaps this is why Vera dedicated her life to relentlessly advocating for the advancement of women in science, inviting them to important conferences and awarding them prizes in fields that historically were exclusive to men.

10 weird historical events that no one has been able to explain (yet)

Image: Walters Art Museum, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Who doesn't like a good mystery? And if the mystery isn’t a work of fiction but the result of a true story, even better! The great unsolved enigmas of history are absolutely fascinating. Some have been solved over time, but there are still many old secrets for which neither scientists nor historians have found an explanation—yet. Time-travel with us as we uncover 10 of the biggest historical mysteries that will probably never be cracked!

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Bermeja Island is mentioned in navigation texts written by European travelers and appears in cartography from the 16th to 19th centuries. Old maps place it off the north coast of the Yucatán Peninsula; however, multiple searches over the years have yielded no concrete evidence of its existence.

So, what happened to Isla Bermeja? Was it a cartographic error? Did it sink due to a tidal wave? Because of its geopolitical significance, some have even suggested that it was blown up by the CIA! A 2009 study by the Autonomous University of Mexico concluded that Isla Bermeja does not exist today, nor were any traces found at its supposed coordinates. Yet, it will forever remain a mystery that will surely keep many entertained.

Image: Credit: Big Ear Radio Observatory and North American AstroPhysical Observatory (NAAPO)., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

In 1977, Ohio State University’s Big Ear radio telescope, used in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, detected a signal now known as the Wow! signal. While reviewing the data, astronomer Jerry R. Ehman noticed a sequence represented as "6EQUJ5." Baffled by the anomaly, he circled it and wrote "Wow!" in the margins.

The signal lasted 72 seconds and, unfortunately, has never been repeated. To this day, no one can fully explain the phenomenon, although some suggest it may have come from a man-made source. Still, the Wow! signal remains one of the strongest candidates for potential extraterrestrial contact ever detected.

Image: Edward S. Curtis, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

How is it possible for an entire village to vanish without a trace? Believe it or not, this is said to have happened nearly a century ago. According to lore, a small Inuit village in Canada was well known among fur trappers who visited regularly to trade. But in 1930, something very strange supposedly occurred.

A hunter named Joe Labelle claimed he visited the village one day and couldn’t find a single person. Reports said there were guns and food left behind, and even claims that the graves in the cemetery were empty. A thorough investigation, however, found no conclusive evidence of what happened to the villagers. Some witnesses from nearby towns even reported seeing a huge green light. Theories ranged from mass migration to extraterrestrial abductions. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police has since dismissed the case as an urban legend. Some still believe the story to be true.

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We know thousands of shipwreck stories, but this one is quite unique. The MV Joyita, designed to be nearly unsinkable, was found adrift in the South Pacific, practically unharmed, but the crew had disappeared completely.

In October 1955, the American merchant vessel left the port of Apia in Samoa with 16 crew members and 9 passengers bound for the Tokelau Islands. After days without news, a rescue mission was launched. Five weeks later, the Joyita was spotted more than 600 miles west of its intended route. The vessel was partially submerged, and there was no sign of the passengers or crew. Four tons of cargo and all three life rafts were missing. They were never seen again.

Image: Gary Todd from Xinzheng, China, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Do you know where one of the best-preserved mummies was found? Hint: not in Egypt. Xin Zhui, the Marquise of Dai during the Western Han Dynasty in China, was discovered in her tomb at Mawangdui 2,000 years after her death, along with hundreds of valuable documents and artifacts.

What makes this mummy so extraordinary is how well-preserved her body is. Her organs and veins remain intact, and she still has hair and even eyelashes. Scientists analyzed the fluid present in the coffin and discovered it was acidic and contained salt and magnesium. They believe this mysterious liquid may have been responsible for preserving Xin Zhui so well. What they don’t know is whether it was intentionally poured into the coffin or came from the body itself.

Image: Yoichi Okamoto, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The United States has its fair share of presidents who died while in office, but none of our 45 presidents have ever disappeared without a trace. Did you know that this actually happened in The Land Down Under?

Harold Edward Holt was the Prime Minister of Australia from 1966 until his presumed death in 1967. He loved the ocean and spearfishing. During a weekend trip with friends, Holt visited the remote Cheviot Beach to take a swim. Rough sea conditions that day caused him to be swept away by the waves, and he never reappeared. Despite an intensive search, his body was never found, which has given rise to numerous conspiracy theories. Ironically, Australians built the Harold Holt Memorial Swimming Centre in Melbourne in his honor.

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Many famous criminals have managed to remain unidentified for decades, but the D.B. Cooper case is something else entirely. In 1971, Cooper boarded a flight from Portland to Seattle. Shortly after takeoff, he showed a flight attendant a device he claimed was a bomb and demanded four parachutes and $200,000 in cash.

The crew landed to meet Cooper’s demands in exchange for the passengers and then took off again. As the plane flew over southwestern Washington, Cooper jumped into the cold, rainy night carrying his haul. His whereabouts and true identity were never discovered, although it is likely he didn’t survive the jump. In 1980, some of the ransom money was found near the Columbia River. Although the FBI officially closed the case in 2016, amateur sleuths continue to try to crack it.

Image: Pieter Brueghel the Elder, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Can you imagine an epidemic where the main symptom is uncontrollable dancing? Sounds like science fiction, doesn’t it? Yet this really happened during the Middle Ages. In 1518, a dancing plague struck Strasbourg, Alsace, in what is now France. This strange condition affected up to 400 people, making them dance frantically for weeks. It is said that some even died of heart attacks, exhaustion, or strokes.

Doctors and authorities tried all kinds of measures to stop the spread. They even banned music for a while! To this day, scientists are not certain what caused this bizarre condition: it may have been food poisoning from toxins in the ergot fungus, or perhaps a case of stress-induced mass hysteria.

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The Voynich manuscript is a codex written roughly 500 years ago in an unknown language and writing system by an anonymous author. Known as Voynichese, the manuscript was named after Wilfrid Voynich, a Polish bibliophile and antiquarian who purchased it in 1912.

Radiocarbon testing has shown that it dates to the early 15th century. Many cryptographers and codebreakers have attempted to decipher its roughly 240 pages without success. The manuscript contains diagrams and illustrations of unknown plants and astrological symbols. Some believe it may be a made-up language, a secret code, a work of fiction, or even a hoax. If you think you can solve this mystery, the Voynich manuscript is available for viewing at Yale University’s Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.

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Similar to the Voynich manuscript, the Phaistos Disc is a fired clay disc believed to have been created during the Bronze Age. It was discovered by an Italian archaeologist in the basement of a palace in Crete, Greece, in 1908.

What makes this disc fascinating is that it contains a mysterious message. Stamped into the clay is a set of signs, forming a text that many scientists have tried to decipher—without success. It is considered an early attempt at printing, a technological innovation that would not become widespread for several centuries. While enthusiasts still hope the enigma can be solved, this is unlikely unless other documents are discovered to provide context.