Art & History

POO-EE! Roman Toilet Seat Found Near Hadrian’s Wall

How would you like to root around in a 2000 year-old toilet?! The Romans created aqueducts, newspapers, and bound books… but did you know they helped create the toilets we have today?
Archaeologists at a Roman excavation site in Northumberland have recently uncovered a wooden toilet seat…that is 2000 years old! While it looks a bit more basic than the toilet seats we have today, it shows that they were very concerned with cleanliness.

 

Roman toilet seat

The Roman wooden toilet seat. Not looking bad to say it’s 2000 years old! (Source.)

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Science, Nature and Tech

What is the Orionid Meteor Shower?

This October Earth will be passing through the tail of Halley’s comet, which will mean a shower of meteors flashing across the night sky. Our science editor Sam Gouldson explains.

What is Halley’s Comet?

A comet is a lump of rocky particles, ice and dust all bound together like a dirty snowball. When the comet nears a star, its surface transforms from a solid to a gas. The star’s light shines through these gases and makes them visible to observers as a fuzzy cloud around the comet’s centre, and a tail streaming out behind.

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