Over the course of 30 years, Alex the parrot and Irene Pepperberg showed that parrots are even smarter than most people think.FlickrIrene Pepperberg with Alex the parrot. In 1977, animal psychologist adopted Alex, a one year old African grey parrot. At the time, Pepperberg was a researcher at Purdue University who was studying animal cognition, particularly in the areas of language and communication. Up until her efforts, most animal behaviorists believed that birds were on the low end of the intelligence spectrum, with birds such as parrots lacking complex thought despite their acumen at mimicry.

Women Inventors: Autoradiographs Wikimedia CommonsBarbara Askins. Maybe you’ve never heard of an autoradiograph, but its technology has proven vital in two different fields. This technology, patented by NASA chemist Barbara Askins in 1978, uses radioactive materials to enhance photo negatives. Assigned the task of improving astronomical photos, Askins used autoradiograph technology to take the invisible elements of photos taken in deep space and make them visible. This technology also made its way into the medical field, bringing clarity to underdeveloped x-rays.

The Sudden Death Of Brittany Murphy — And The Conspiracies Behind It Jeff Kravitz/Getty ImagesConspiracies around Brittany Murphy’s death include a government-led assassination and poisoning. After her massive success as the innocent ingénue in 1995’s Clueless, Brittany Murphy’s career took off. Blonde, beautiful, and talented, she had all of the staples of a Hollywood “It Girl” and landed roles in cult classics like Girl, Interrupted, Riding In Cars With Boys, and Uptown Girl before Brittany Murphy suddenly died in 2009.

As these breathtaking European natural wonders show, there's more to the Old Continent than just slanted buildings and outdoor cafes.When Americans dream of a European vacation, they typically envision Parisian cafes and Roman ruins. But the truth is that Europe has a world of attractions beyond the artifacts of human culture. Though 700 million members of our species populate the continent, Europe has vast open spaces, towering heights, and brilliant wide skies that will astound even the most snobbish urbanite.

From the Mad Men of the ad world to the riots in Harlem to the artists of Greenwich Village, this was New York in the 1960s. New York's skyline sits in darkness during the 1965 blackout.Orville AndrewsFPG/Hulton Archive/Getty Images The streets of Harlem. Circa 1960.Susan Schiff Faludi/Getty Images A woman walks down the street, sporting the styles of the era. 1969.Vernon Merritt III/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images Two terrified African-American girls flee police officers during a race riot in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, itself sparked by the rioting over police brutality in Harlem.

There’s no doubting that Kanye West is talented — and perhaps there’s no better a person to tell you that than West himself. While the public knows much about his fantastical persona — be it through his Twitter feed or his hagiographic song lyrics — they know comparatively less about the actuality of West’s life. With that in mind, here are some lesser-known Kanye West facts to acquaint you with the man behind the music:

From Greece to Bali, these breathtaking sites around the world have attracted spiritual seekers for centuries — and they're still bringing in countless visitors today.Have you ever found yourself somewhere that evoked a feeling of transcendence? Maybe it sent shivers down your spine or quickly moved you to tears. Perhaps it even made you feel enlightened in some way. The following sites and holy places from around the world tend to draw out these feelings in visitors.

From the crew's last days of training to the moment the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded, see one of the worst disasters in American aerospace history as it happened. On Jan. 28, 1986, millions of Americans witnessed the tragic explosion of NASA's Challenger shuttle.Time Life Pictures/NASA/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images American flags hung at half-mast in tribute to the lives lost aboard the exploded Challenger shuttle.Terry Ashe/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images Astronaut Christa McAuliffe and her crew experience microgravity during training aboard NASA's KC-135 research aircraft.

Many of these raunchy images were drawn by bored scribes who were tired of copying out books by hand — and wanted to leave a profane surprise for readers. A mixed-up man, drawn circa 1260.The Rutland Psalter Two people and a bird seem oddly entangled in this medieval doodle.Marguerite's Hours Here, a human-like creature holds what appears to be his fin in the air as a monster shoots him with an arrow in the rear end.

From New York City's most feared creature to an insect that can kill you with its feces, these house bugs are beyond horrifying. Public DomainA close up of a House Centipede. No matter what kind of home you live in; whether it’s an apartment, a house, or a tent in the woods, you’re not alone. The world has roughly 10 quintillion individual insects in it, which collectively outweigh the humans by a factor of 300, and more than a few of them live right in your home.