> --- Jason <jedi_spock@..> wrote:
> >
> > Thanks Bob, I did watch that show on BBC. I also watched
> > Spencer Welles, Journey of man on National Geographic.
> >
> > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBJDGzzrMyQ
> >
> >
--- "bobpriced" <bobpriced@...> wrote:
>
> Thanks Jason, I'll check out the Spencer Welles series; I
> also have a lot of time for Michael Wood, his "Legacy"
> series is excellent:
>
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNSO9xKVcv8
>
> As is his "Story of India":
>
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DHhPvbaV68
>
> more below
>
>
> > > A huge eruption of a super volcano in indonesia
> > > clouded out the sun and caused a drop in temperatures
> > > by about 10 degrees. It caused a massive drought in
> > > Africa and pushed surviving humans to coastlines in
> > > search of fish.
> > >
> > > Human population plunged down to a few hundred. We
> > > were on the brink of extinction. It was then the
> > > 'great coastal migration' began. At that time From the
> > > tip of south africa to india to australia was one
> > > unbroken coastline.
> > >
> > > The entire human population today decended from that
> > > population bottleneck.
> > >
> > > We were hunter-gatherers. This required foraging
> > > vast areas for food. That kind of foraging requires
> > > long-distance running. That kind of running heats up
> > > the body. To cool the body, we developed sweating.
> > > To sweat, our skins became softer and we lost a lot
> > > of hair.
> > >
> > >
> As someone comfortable with doubt (who believes in God
> more days than not) the theory that climate is responsible
> for the advent of consciousness in Homo sapiens---with
> their incredible dexterity with tools and facility for
> natural language---makes as much sense as anything else to
> me; to my mind this in no way precludes the possibility of
> a divine hand in our beginnings. What seems to have
> changed in the present is the velocity of change; IMO,
> what we become over the next 100 years could be as
> dramatic as what we became over the previous 10,000.
>
>
The environment is the prime force that shapes evolution.
There are of course other factors.
It's a paradox that the more technologicaly advanced a
civilisation becomes, the shorter it's lifespan.
The hunter-gatherer lifestyle, (zero wave) lasted for
250,000 years.
The agricultural civilisation, (first wave) lasted for
14,000 years.
The industrial civilisation, (second wave) lasted for barely
300 years. Now, we are moving into what is called the
post-industrial era. Lasers, genetics, internet, 3D
printers, regenerative medicine, etc.
My guess is that the third wave will last for a even shorter
time.
--- "bobpriced" <bobpriced@> wrote:
>
> Jason,
>
> This whole series ("The Incredible Human Journey") is
> worth the time, but at around 38:00 min of this episode
> Dr. Roberts specifically discusses what you stated below.
> One of the things that struck me in my travels in this
> area was the number of dry riverbeds (there's an Arab myth
> that Bahrain was once the Garden of Eden, and we know from
> geology that much of the Arabian Gulf was fertile plain at
> one time; in a later episode she discusses when we first
> switched from hunting and gathering to cultivation in
> Mesopotamia---it was a woman's idea); I think I mentioned
> in another post to Emily that I was intrigued to learn in
> this series that when our likely ancestors made it out of
> Africa 70 thousand years ago (by way of The Gate of
> Grief)---with the help from the climate change you pointed
> out---the coast of The Yemen and Oman extended another
> 50km into the Arabian Sea and the area had the abundant
> fresh water they needed for their journey---possibly on
> their way to India.
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwa6o-s1Yvs
>
>
--- In <fairfieldlife@yahoogroups.com> wrote:
> >
> > I wonder in what state of affairs Casablanca is now.
> >
> > Most of the Jewish community might have migrated to
> > greener pastures??
> >
> > At present, we are in a dry period, but it is expected
> > that the Sahara will become green again in 15000 years.
> > This is due to a 41,000 year cycle in which the tilt of
> > the earth changes between 22ð and 24.5ð.
> >
> > Sahara alternates between phases of rainforests and
> > desert in cycles.
> >
> >
--- turquoiseb <no_reply@...> wrote:
>
>
> > Very cool - don't see a lot of stars here due to all the urban
light, but
> > have seen that carpet before. Must've been pretty damned amazing
> > to stand in the middle of the desert, with that above you.
>
> > > That's why I posted the photo. Most people these days have no
idea.
> > >
> > > This photo is the closest I have found to conveying what it
was
> > > like to stand in the middle of the Sahara on a moonless night.
In
> > > that era, in which global pollution had not become an issue,
and
> > > in which light pollution (I lived 60 miles from the nearest
light-
> > > emitting city, Marrakech) had not even been imagined.
> > >
> > > Your term "carpet" is apt. I remember once taking a blanket
with
> > > me out into the desert behind my house, away even from the
> > > lights of the Air Force base, and lying on it there just
staring up.
> > > I tried to figure out how big the biggest "black spot" in the
sky
> > > was, meaning the biggest area that did not contain any visible
> > > stars. All that it took to cover that black spot was to hold
my arm
> > > out at full length, and use the fingernail of my little
finger.
> > >
> > > I have since gazed at the nighttime sky from the tops of the
> > > Rockies, or from on top of Haleakala, in Maui. And from
deserts
> > > and remote areas in the US, Canada, and Europe. In the last
> > > twenty years, I have never seen even a third as many stars.
That's
> > > why it's heartening to see this photo from South Australia.
Even
> > > if the photographer had to use a long exposure to capture
this,
> > > this many visible stars were there to be captured.
> > >
> > >
> > > > --- <fairfieldlife@yahoogroups.com> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > Obviously, it still does in Lake Eyre, in remote South
Australia.
> > > > The bright spot above the subject's hand is Venus.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
[https://scontent-b-ams.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/1236171_51757334832536
> > > > 2_1189026149_n.jpg]
> > > >
