It's easy to get lost in CAVE2. The next-generation virtual reality platform is one of the most advanced visualization environments on Earth. It combines 320 degrees of panoramic, floor-to-ceiling LCD displays with an optical tracking interface that gives rise to a "hybrid reality system" capable of rendering remarkably…

Fire is one of the most important innovations in humanity's evolutionary history, but it's also one of the most mysterious. It leaves almost no trace in the archaeological record, and it's often impossible to determine when humans began controlling fire.

This cave painting is thought to be 43,000 years old, making it 8,000 years older than any other known art. It was most likely the work of Neanderthals, who apparently discovered the DNA double helix 43 millennia before we did.

The amazing inscriptions on ancient cave walls represent some of humanity's first known creative work, but it wasn't just master artists who were allowed to paint. Kids as young as two or three were cave-painting 13,000 years ago.

Late last year, we learned that early humans and Neanderthals once shared Eurasia with a third hominin group, known as Denisovans. Now, the new discovery of a Denisovan toe bone might indicate that these three hominin groups were pretty much constantly interbreeding.

Lost's mysterious cave, the heart of the island, was discovered just outside of Buffalo, New York. Get a better look at this totally natural phenomenon - just don't expect a better series ending to be hiding in there, somewhere.

Yesterday we checked out Junji Ito's freaky sea monster tale. Today, we're going to take a look at Ito's 2002 horror tale The Enigma of Amigara Fault. It's about several thousand mysterious silhouette caves carved into a fault line.

So far, virtual reality has mostly been a colossal disappointment. But VR has had its share of breakthroughs and innovative applications. Here are seven VR technologies that work, and that may yet point the way to truly successful virtual reality.