BuzzFeed Highlights 13 Dark Facts About History and Science

From human remains on Mount Everest to disturbing medical discoveries and unexplained astronomical structures, a BuzzFeed article published November 6, 2026, examines unusual and unsettling facts shared by internet users. The compilation explores historical events, scientific phenomena, medical conditions, and wartime atrocities across several countries and fields.

One of the most striking examples concerns Mount Everest, where an area known as Rainbow Valley contains the remains of climbers who died attempting to reach the summit. Their brightly colored climbing equipment remains visible against the snow, while extremely low temperatures slow decomposition.

One contributor described the location as an area nicknamed Rainbow Valley because it is covered with the bodies of climbers. The contributor also noted that the combination of freezing temperatures and colorful clothing makes the remains visible for extended periods.

Another unusual phenomenon involves postmortem fetal expulsion, sometimes called coffin birth. When a pregnant person dies, gases produced during decomposition can create pressure that pushes the fetus out of the body.

A contributor described the phenomenon as a situation in which a deceased pregnant person can appear to give birth. Historical cases have documented smaller skeletal remains between the legs of buried women.

The compilation also revisits allegations surrounding the 1992 to 1996 siege of Sarajevo. According to the article, wealthy foreign individuals allegedly paid Bosnian Serb forces for opportunities to shoot civilians from surrounding hills. These individuals were described using the terms sniper tourists and weekend snipers.

The allegations involve visitors reportedly from Italy, the United States, and Russia. A documentary titled Sarajevo Safari examines the subject.

Another historical case involves the 1986 Challenger space shuttle disaster. Flight data indicated that astronauts activated their emergency oxygen supplies after the spacecraft exploded. The article raises the possibility that some crew members remained alive during part of the shuttle's descent before it struck the water.

Space also features through the Boötes Void, an enormous region containing far fewer galaxies than expected. Scientists estimate that approximately 2,000 galaxies should occupy the region, but observations have identified only around 60. Its nickname is The Great Nothing, and its estimated width reaches 330 million light-years.

The article explains that cosmic voids are not unusual, accounting for approximately 80% of the known universe. The Milky Way also occupies a region identified as the KBC Void. The Boötes Void stands out because of its exceptional size.

Medical history provides another disturbing example. The American Academy of Pediatrics did not declare surgery on newborns without anesthesia unethical until 1987. Before that change, some medical professionals believed anesthesia could endanger infants or questioned whether newborns experienced pain.

Pregnancy-related violence is another subject covered in the compilation. According to the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, pregnant women and those who recently gave birth in the United States face a higher likelihood of homicide than death from several obstetric complications. The article states that 68% of pregnancy-related homicides involved firearms, with Black women facing the highest risk.

Another medical condition involves scurvy, which results from vitamin C deficiency. Because vitamin C is necessary for proper collagen synthesis, the condition can interfere with the maintenance of scar tissue. One contributor described the possibility of previously healed wounds reopening, adding, Made worse: Not every scar is on the outside of your body.

The compilation also examines fatal familial insomnia, a rare inherited neurological disorder that progressively prevents affected individuals from sleeping. Symptoms can include hallucinations, dementia, nervous system overactivity, and muscle twitching. The condition has no cure, and estimates suggest it affects one or two people per million.

Other examples include Capgras Delusion, a psychiatric condition in which individuals believe familiar people have been replaced by impostors, and the Sedlec Ossuary in the Czech Republic, a church decorated with human bones.

The article also recounts the unusual fate of Elmer McCurdy, a bank and train robber killed in a shootout in 1911. His embalmed body became a traveling attraction before disappearing in the 1960s. It was eventually discovered inside a fun house in Long Beach, California, when a film crew preparing an episode of The Six Million Dollar Man accidentally exposed human bone while moving a mannequin. Authorities subsequently identified the remains, and McCurdy was buried in Guthrie, Oklahoma.