8 Miraculous Mysteries With Ridiculously Simple Explanations

5. Weeping Statues

There have been reports through history of statues and paintings crying or, even more sinister, crying blood. Aside from being creepy beyond all reason, this is also surely some legit supernatural craziness, right?

The only weeping Madonna to be officially recognised by the Catholic church resided in the town of Siracusa in Sicily, which started crying back in 1953. This baffled observers as the statue doesn't appear to have any electronic aids, pumps or plumbing, yet the tears keep flowing. Baffling.

At least until an Italian researcher called Dr Luigi Garlaschelli found that the simple use of capillary action could create a very convincing weeping figure. Capillary action causes a liquid to be drawn through a material, often against gravity, when surface tension and adhesions to a surface propel the liquid upwards.

The secret is to make your statue from a permeable plaster with a waterproof glaze on the outside and a small cavity behind the face. If the cavity is filled with water, either by rain or an unscrupulous owner, the moisture will be drawn through it, much like wax is drawn through the wick of a candle, and imperceptible scratches in the glaze allow it to pool and escape.

Ironically, capillary action is actually essential to the production of tears in real eyes, so the effect is actually remarkably accurate.