jtzl I would like to retitle this “Lucy” (in quotes). Even the other day when I remembered “Lucy,” I envisioned a caveman being found in the ice. No. That is not what happened with “Lucy.” “Lucy” was an Australopithecus Afarensis found in 1974, in Ethiopia. I just learned that “Lucy” was named after the song “Lucy … Read more
As I mentioned, an accidental discovery around a decade ago led us to discover that the scientific timeline for human development was indeed only a theory. It turned out that crude tools had been used long before Homo Sapiens even existed. So what does this teach us? The impact on our daily lives is pretty … Read more
When I was in school, one day in class, we learned about “Lucy,” some bones and bone fragments from an Australopithecus, discovered in 1974, that comprised and were thought — at the time — to be from the oldest Homo remains. I recently read that tools were discovered a bit over a decade ago that … Read more
A genre that has never really appealed to me is “speculative history.” In my opinion, that is a recipe for disaster, cuz you’re magnifying the odds of misremembering some settled detail. As an aside, I remember a kid in middle school reading a book where these very photogenic tough guys (at least, this is what … Read more
I am writing this from the Phanerozoic eon, and you are presumably reading it from the Phanerozoic eon, as well. When describing geological time (and writing pop songs), different terms are used to describe different scales. For example, an eon is the largest unit and contains all the others, such as era, period, epoch, and … Read more
As I mentioned previously, Earth is estimated to be ~4.5 billion years old (technically 4.54 +/- .05 billion, but I figure what’s .04 billion between friends?). I then doubted the veracity of the information because carbon dating is only accurate for around 50,000 years. Well, I am pleased to say I have learned more. Previously, … Read more
As I think about this project of organizing “the” history of the world, I see that I face obstacles ahead. Namely, a particular challenge is that contemporary life has many more layers of details, making it much more difficult to fit it into a narrative. Before Gutenberg unleashed the god-forsaken printing press on us, civilization … Read more
Aka radiocarbon dating aka carbon-14 dating is a method is a method for determining the age of old stuff, up to about 50- or 60,000 years old. I was under the impression it was useful for determining the age of far older things, so I will have to investigate further. This method was developed in … Read more
Admittedly, I enjoy learning about recent history: visual arts and music and that sort of thing. Learning about how we _think_ the planet was billions of years before humans even existed is kinda boring to me. However, I fully believe the saying that goes something like, “Those who do not learn from history are doomed … Read more
According to Wikipedia, our planet — the first “w” in www — is 4.54 ± 0.05 billion years old, which frankly seems like a pretty big margin of error, if you ask me. But hey, they weren’t exactly keeping records back then! The 4.54 billion year estimate comes from many sources, which are cited in … Read more