Parallel science?

Has there ever been a case where a major scientific discovery was made in two different places, at close to the same time? For example, when Newton was working out gravity, were there Chinese physicists doing the same thing? Or when Darwin figured out the principle of natural selection, were there little-publicized Finnish zoologists that had a similar theory?

I'm not talking about inventors; I'm talking about discovering aspects of how the universe works.

sicko culture

It occurs to me that "Rule 34" seems to be the Internet's answer to "The Aristocrats". (both NSFW)

I explained Rule 34 to someone recently, and he noted that it seems to focus most heavily on the niche of icons of our childhood, or other things on TV. The Encyclopedia Dramatica article I linked above supports this assertion. Perhaps that's for the best, because it's not as if taking it into true uncharted waters would help anyone. Things I can think of include: radiation sickness, the moons of Jupiter, the neutron star beings from the book Dragon's Egg, and cilantro. Are the folks on 7-chan clever enough to find or make porn of any of that? Well, I don't think I care enough to join 7-chan and find out. (Update: Someone has anonymously posted copies of this message there for me. Uh, thanks?)

I have a possible cure for Rule 34, but it needs some refinement before I share it.