Contrary to Popular Belief...
...I am still alive. I have been incredibly busy over the past couple of months and incredibly negligent in keeping up with this blog. Engineering has been my main focus as the quantity of work has just been overwhelming. Since this time last year life has really been a blur. If you remember...
This time last year my father-in-law died, my wife was assaulted, I found out I had cancer and a kidney stone. After that, my wife had surgery, then I had the kidney stone removed, then had my prostate removed. I've had a broken rib, colonoscopy, bronchitis, was tested for Lyme disease, etc. Geez! But I'm still kicking!
Enough of the whining. I have spent some spare time reading. Without a lot of detail, I read:
"Blink", "The Tipping Point", and "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell
"Rocketmen" by Craig Nelson (not Craig T. Nelson, alias "Coach")
"13 Things That Don't Make Sense" by Michael Brooks
"Calculating God" by Robert J. Sawyer
"The Boys of Everest" by Clint Willis.
"Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand.
"The Fountainhead" by Ayn Rand (I just started this one).
I also participated in the National Geographic Genographic project. They do a DNA analysis and determine the route your ancestors took starting with "Adam" about 50,000 years ago. Paraphrasing the information they reported back to me they indicated that the earliest trace of my ancestors is found in the region of the Rift Valley of Northeast Africa in Ethiopia, Tanzania or Kenya at a time the world population was about 10,000 homo sapiens. It is speculated that the receding glaciers of the ice age allowed for a more moist and warm Africa, giving rise to great herds of game. As the grasslands expanded, the herds moved northward, presumably, and early man followed.
About 45,000 years ago, they moved through North Africa and on into the Middle East. Drought forced them to remain in the Middle East or move on. The next ancestor was born in Iran or Central Asia about 40,000 years ago. They continued on to the great mountains of the Hindu Kush, Tian Shan and the Himalayas. Obviously this would pose a road block for most of them, so it is most likely that my ancestors moved northward to the areas of today's Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and southern Siberia. The glaciers had once again begun to grow and these people were living in an area never before inhabited by a hominid.
Around 30,000 years ago they left central Asia. The group had split with one part headed south to India and the other west to the European subcontinent. There were about 100,000 humans in the world at that time. As they went on into Europe they, more than likely, contributed to the end of the Neanderthals. Resources were scarce and Cro Magnon was better equipped to make a living in the difficult times than Neanderthals. It is suggested that this competition led to the end of the Neanderthals. It is also hypothesized by some that they were absorbed into the more numerous Cro Magnons through interbreeding.
Anyway, the weather continued to be a major factor and my ancestors were pushed into Spain, Italy and the Balkans. Cro-Magnons kept moving through western Europe. They are known for the cave paintings of France as well as fashioning better tools out of stone, ivory and bone, and learning to weave plant fiber into cloth.
I think it's a pretty amazing story of survival. But I'm going to talk to my sister...she can give me a first hand account of all this stuff.
This time last year my father-in-law died, my wife was assaulted, I found out I had cancer and a kidney stone. After that, my wife had surgery, then I had the kidney stone removed, then had my prostate removed. I've had a broken rib, colonoscopy, bronchitis, was tested for Lyme disease, etc. Geez! But I'm still kicking!
Enough of the whining. I have spent some spare time reading. Without a lot of detail, I read:
"Blink", "The Tipping Point", and "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell
"Rocketmen" by Craig Nelson (not Craig T. Nelson, alias "Coach")
"13 Things That Don't Make Sense" by Michael Brooks
"Calculating God" by Robert J. Sawyer
"The Boys of Everest" by Clint Willis.
"Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand.
"The Fountainhead" by Ayn Rand (I just started this one).
I also participated in the National Geographic Genographic project. They do a DNA analysis and determine the route your ancestors took starting with "Adam" about 50,000 years ago. Paraphrasing the information they reported back to me they indicated that the earliest trace of my ancestors is found in the region of the Rift Valley of Northeast Africa in Ethiopia, Tanzania or Kenya at a time the world population was about 10,000 homo sapiens. It is speculated that the receding glaciers of the ice age allowed for a more moist and warm Africa, giving rise to great herds of game. As the grasslands expanded, the herds moved northward, presumably, and early man followed.
About 45,000 years ago, they moved through North Africa and on into the Middle East. Drought forced them to remain in the Middle East or move on. The next ancestor was born in Iran or Central Asia about 40,000 years ago. They continued on to the great mountains of the Hindu Kush, Tian Shan and the Himalayas. Obviously this would pose a road block for most of them, so it is most likely that my ancestors moved northward to the areas of today's Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and southern Siberia. The glaciers had once again begun to grow and these people were living in an area never before inhabited by a hominid.
Around 30,000 years ago they left central Asia. The group had split with one part headed south to India and the other west to the European subcontinent. There were about 100,000 humans in the world at that time. As they went on into Europe they, more than likely, contributed to the end of the Neanderthals. Resources were scarce and Cro Magnon was better equipped to make a living in the difficult times than Neanderthals. It is suggested that this competition led to the end of the Neanderthals. It is also hypothesized by some that they were absorbed into the more numerous Cro Magnons through interbreeding.
Anyway, the weather continued to be a major factor and my ancestors were pushed into Spain, Italy and the Balkans. Cro-Magnons kept moving through western Europe. They are known for the cave paintings of France as well as fashioning better tools out of stone, ivory and bone, and learning to weave plant fiber into cloth.
I think it's a pretty amazing story of survival. But I'm going to talk to my sister...she can give me a first hand account of all this stuff.
And I ain't found my damned luggage yet!!!
Reply to this