Author: m1k3y

What will future civilizations think of Manhattan Island when they dig it up and find a carefully laid out network of streets and avenues? Surely the grid would be presumed to have astronomical significance, just as we have found for the pre-historic circle of large vertical rocks known as Stonehenge, in the Salisbury Plain of England. For Stonehenge, the special day is the summer solstice, when the Sun rises in perfect alignment with several of the stones, signaling the change of season.

For Manhattan, a place where evening matters more than morning, that special day comes twice a year.

From ‘Manhattanhenge’ by Neil DeGrasse Tyson, the director of the Hayden Planetarium at the Museum of Natural History. Tonight is the second night this year that the sunset will align with Manhattan’s grid—producing a luminous effect.
—Daisy  (via anthonylawsonbaker)
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fuckyeahdarkextropian:

The Anthropocene at 4,200 feet below sea level:

The hard surface of the container acted a bit like a rocky reef, attracting animals like tubeworms, scallops, snails and tunicates. Yet nearby animals found on rocky reefs did not colonize the container; these included sponges, soft corals and crinoids. This is most likely due to the fact that these animals are slower growing and were outcompeted by other animals. Another explanation could be that they were sensitive to the potentially toxic effects of corrosion-resistant coatings on the shipping container.

Would you like to know more?

“Deep sea shipping container ecology and the toxic Anthropocene” is my new seapunk band name.

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Early Humans Migrated From Africa Far Earlier Than Previously Thought, New Study Suggests

grinderbot:

The researchers cautioned that interbreeding between modern humans and other lineages of humans might influence the results of this new study. For example, instances of interbreeding with the now-extinct Denisovan lineage might have introduced ancient genes into certain modern human groups, perhaps making them look as if they left Africa earlier than they actually did.

“Our study did not specifically test for hybridization with archaic humans, and, of course, it is possible that such admixture could contribute to our results,” Harvati said. “We feel, however, that the very low levels of admixture that have been proposed are not sufficient to drive our findings.”

The researchers said continued fieldwork and genetic advancements might help confirm this model of multiple, relatively isolated waves of migration.

“The story of human evolution tends to be simplified,” Harvati said. “However, more complex models, such as multiple dispersals versus a single dispersal out of Africa, gain strength as more data and new methods become available.”

Waves and waves of hominids

Early Humans Migrated From Africa Far Earlier Than Previously Thought, New Study Suggests

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fuckyeahdarkextropian:

So this acolyte of Nick Bostrom at Oxford writes: Habitable exoplanets are bad news for humanity:

Last week, scientists announced the discovery of Kepler-186f, a planet 492 light years away in the Cygnus constellation. Kepler-186f is special because it marks the first planet almost…

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Space Archaeology | Darkage-ology

It is possible, however, that in the future we may be in a stronger position to conserve and curate Space Age archaeology. In fact, I think it could even lead to some of the most popular exhibitions of all time. Who wouldn’t want to see NASA’s Mars rovers or the almost completely unobtainable Voyager spacecraft? Heck, I’d even pay a lot of money to see the mangled remains of the USSR’s Venusian probes.

Space Archaeology | Darkage-ology

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[1404.7766] Genome-wide Scan of Archaic Hominin Introgressions in Eurasians Reveals Complex Admixture History

“
We found that detected introgressions shared more archaic-specific mutations with Altai Neanderthal than they shared with Denisovan, and 60.3% of archaic hominin introgressions were from Neanderthals. Furthermore, we detected more introgressions from two unknown archaic hominins whom diverged with modern humans approximately 859 and 3,464 thousand years ago. The latter unknown archaic hominin contributed to the genomes of the common ancestors of modern humans and Neanderthals. In total, archaic hominin introgressions comprised 2.4% of Eurasian genomes. Above results suggested a complex admixture history among hominins.
”

* translation: not only are we the product of cross breeding with Neanderthals and Denisovans, but two far older branches of the hominid tree.

The natural state of hominids has been expansion then separation into subspecies… like say from an Ice Age, or other heavy weather event or catastrophe… then hooking up again later and swapping genes. This is how it’s been done for millions of years.

Statistically, there being just one species of human on the planet has been “unnatural”. Remember, our current count for the end of the last Ice Age now stands at four.

Who knows what more genetic data mining will reveal? Our complex origins.

Extrapolate forwards for Mars and other off-world colonies at your leisure. (And sideways for cryptozoological fun times.)

[1404.7766] Genome-wide Scan of Archaic Hominin Introgressions in Eurasians Reveals Complex Admixture History

Read more "[1404.7766] Genome-wide Scan of Archaic Hominin Introgressions in Eurasians Reveals Complex Admixture History"