Transfixus Sed Non Mortuus

theolduvaigorge: The Middle Palaeolithic in the desert and its...

Thu, 23 May 2013 16:48:24 -0400

The Middle Palaeolithic in the desert and its implications for understanding hominin adaptation and dispersal

Huw S. Groucutt and James Blinkhorn

”As the mid-latitude desert belt separates the African and Eurasian landmasses, these landscapes are likely to have been the location of major changes in hominin demography during the Pleistocene. These demographic changes relate to both the expansion and dispersal of hominin populations and changing patterns of behaviour and hence survivability. The dispersal of Homo sapiens from sub-Saharan Africa into Eurasia must have involved the colonisation and occupation of the mid-latitude arid belt. Given the analogous environmental and climatic settings of North Africa and southern Asia, the binary opposition of Africa and Eurasia appears to be an unproductive approach to understand how hominins were able to expand into new, diverse habitats. Rather than the current focus upon modern human dispersals ‘Out of Africa’, we suggest a reorientation towards understanding the dispersal of hominins ‘Into the Desert’.

It is important to recognise that the opportunities to exploit new resources made available in the deserts by the onset of enhanced humidity were not solely the preserve of modern humans. The colonisation of these desert environments during periods of humidity did not only occur from Africa, but also from Eurasia, in what Dennell (2009; this volume) has characterised as the “scramble for Asia”. It is within these desert landscapes that the earliest contact between modern humans and Neanderthals, including potential interbreeding (e.g. Green et al. 2010), may have occurred. Given this situation the organisational heuristic of the ‘Middle Palaeolithic’ offers a more objective way to compare hominin behaviour in the desert belt than framing variation in terms of inter-species contrasts, when hominin fossil material is rare and spatially biased. Simple associations of forms of technology and particular hominin species should be avoided” (read more/not open access).

(Source: Quaternary International, in press 2013)

lets do a thing. reblog and add your city and country. if it's already there, don't add it again. lets take a look at tumblr's diversity

Thu, 23 May 2013 16:45:56 -0400

New York, USA
Zagreb, Croatia
Dubai, UAE
Mississauga, Canada
Shanghai, China
Pisa, Italy
Longkou, China
Brisbane, Australia
University Place, USA
Salamanca, Spain
Cambridge, England
London, England
Siuntio, Finland
Edinburg, USA
Huddersfield, England
Rendsburg, Germany
Cardiff, Wales
Bridgeport,USA
Groningen, The Netherlands
Cody, USA
Antwerp, Belgium
Greenville, USA
Great Falls, USA
Ghent, Belgium
Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
St.John's, Canada
Bourgas,Bulgaria
Terneuzen, The Netherlands
Berlin, Germany
Frankfurt/ Main, Germany
Brescia, Italy
Enschede, The Netherlands
Doetinchem, The Netherlands
Florence, Italy
Venice, Italy
Arras, France
Budapest, Hungary
Redding, USA
Peoria, USA
Perrysburg, USA
Washington, USA
Las Vegas, USA
Vancouver, Canada
Cologne, Germany
Jaworzno, Poland
Perth, Australia
Dhaka, Bangladesh
Bologna, Italy
Hamilton, Canada

colchrishadfield: This is how I flew, raced and drove a Mars...

Thu, 23 May 2013 16:29:57 -0400

colchrishadfield:

This is how I flew, raced and drove a Mars rover 2 hours after I landed back in Houston. I’m less of a hazard now…

"Alberta’s had an average of two crude oil spills a day, every day for the past 37 years."

Thu, 23 May 2013 16:28:21 -0400

"Alberta’s had an average of two crude oil spills a day, every day for the past 37 years.":

motherjones:

Well, here’s a depressing statistic.

"If you see that some aspect of your society is bad, and you want to improve it, there is only one..."

Thu, 23 May 2013 15:39:12 -0400

“If you see that some aspect of your society is bad, and you want to improve it, there is only one way to do so: you have to improve people. And in order to improve people, you begin with only one thing: you can become better yourself.”

- Leo Tolstoy (via explore-blog)

The 5 Biggest Education Technology Trends To Know About

Thu, 23 May 2013 15:37:07 -0400

The 5 Biggest Education Technology Trends To Know About:

world-shaker:

There are no real surprises on this list, but I thought their take on online learning was interesting:

Online learning, and massive open online courses (MOOCs) in particular, is being billed as the next big thing in education right now. Whether or not MOOCs will empty classrooms is still up for debate, but students can already get a nationally-accredited education on the internet, as this list of the best online programs for bachelor’s degrees goes to show. Educators may ponder the consequences of MOOCs’ disruption of copyright and higher ed, but providers are already hosting MOOCs for educators and delivering online learning to K-12 schools. Online learning may never replace an in-person learning experience, but they are already flipping the outdated classroom model and disrupting education as we know it.

Photo

Thu, 23 May 2013 15:30:46 -0400

failureuponfailure: Luke Holland | The Word Alive

Thu, 23 May 2013 15:28:50 -0400

failureuponfailure:

Luke Holland | The Word Alive

thenextweb: Sage advice from Mr Bill Gates, or just silly...

Thu, 23 May 2013 15:28:03 -0400

thenextweb:

Sage advice from Mr Bill Gates, or just silly nonsense?

PS: More quotes like these can be found on our Pinterest Page: http://pinterest.com/thenextweb

@MattNavarraUK

Reasons why Tom Hiddleston is an Inspiration - 1/5 Quotes

Thu, 23 May 2013 15:26:55 -0400

Reasons why Tom Hiddleston is an Inspiration - 1/5 Quotes

did-you-kno: Source

Thu, 23 May 2013 15:26:20 -0400

did-you-kno:

Source

colchrishadfield: Today’s photo shows light snow and low sun...

Thu, 23 May 2013 15:25:59 -0400

colchrishadfield:

Today’s photo shows light snow and low sun turning the American Midwest into a strange bas-relief.

intrance-shetrusts:

Thu, 23 May 2013 15:25:24 -0400

intrance-shetrusts:

breakingnews: NOAA predicts active 2013 Atlantic hurricane...

Thu, 23 May 2013 15:25:14 -0400

breakingnews:

NOAA predicts active 2013 Atlantic hurricane season

NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center is forecasting an active or extremely active 2013 Atlantic hurricane season.

The U.S. climate agency says seven to 11 storms could become hurricanes, including three to six “major” hurricanes with winds of 111 mph or higher.

These ranges are well above the seasonal average of 12 named storms, 6 hurricanes and 3 major hurricanes.

“With the devastation of Sandy fresh in our minds, and another active season predicted, everyone at NOAA is committed to providing life-saving forecasts in the face of these storms and ensuring that Americans are prepared and ready ahead of time.” said Kathryn Sullivan, Ph.D., NOAA acting administrator.

Photo: Hurricane Sandy as seen from NOAA’s GOES-13 satellite on October 28, 2012. (NOAA / NASA)

discoverynews: teamepiphany: Virtual supermarkets are popping...

Thu, 23 May 2013 15:24:08 -0400

discoverynews:

teamepiphany:

Virtual supermarkets are popping up in subway stations in South Korea, where commuters can virtually shop for items while waiting for the train to come. Customers simply scan an item’s QR code using the free “Homeplus” app and can have it delivered to their doorstep before they even get home. Ranked as the 2nd most hard-working country in the world to Japan, South Korea is rewarding its workers with this timesaving gem.

Wow! I kinda love this idea.

it-sfullofstars: climateadaptation: After reading Adam Welz’s...

Thu, 23 May 2013 15:16:16 -0400

it-sfullofstars:

climateadaptation:

After reading Adam Welz’s take down, “Bloodthirsty “factual” TV shows demonize wildlife,” of the Discovery Planet’s animal killing TV show, Yukon Men, I did a little bit of research. The City of Tanana, where the show is filmed, is absolutely not the secluded, dangerous place as the Discovery Channel advertizes. The town has never been “attacked” by bears, wolves, wolverines, lynx, etc., as the show will have you believe. Still, each type of these animals is gunned down for your viewing pleasure.

The City of Tanana (above) is small, no doubt. But it is not a remote outback full of danger.

Above, a TV show character uses an AR-15 semi-automatic (rather than a hunting rifle) to kill a wolf.

Local Alaskans posting in various wilderness and hunting forums are calling Discovery’s ‘Yukon Men’ a joke, full of lies and exploitation. They even make fun of the choices of guns that the characters in the show use (no local hunter, they say, uses an AR-15 to shoot animals in Alaska).

One man wrote that, unlike actual remote villages, the City of Tanana has a burger joint, functioning utilities, and cell phone, internet, and satellite services, making it far from “remote” and hardly dangerous.

I dug around and found other interesting facts that belie the Discovery Channel’s claim that the town is a dangerous remote outback. Tanana has schools, an agricultural extension of the University of Fairbanks, annual foot and dog-sled races, and even family and emergency services provided by the Tanana Chiefs Council (this is in addition to services provided by the State of Alaska).

Indeed, Tanana even has its own airport, with over 3,000 flights per year (see #516). The airport has a webcam, radio towers, and weather stations. This is not remote. Nor are provisions hard to obtain - twice daily a plane lands with food, fuel, mail, visitors, and materials.

Learning from and enjoying the wilderness is one of the greatest privileges we Americans enjoy. Creating a false myth that nature is scary is not what we need, especially now with so many people unhealthy from increasingly sedentary lifestyles. In my opinion, Discovery needs to set the record straight. They need to refocus on educating viewers of the deep importance of our dwindling natural resources. They need to do this rather than exploiting animals and creating fear all for a quick buck.

Discovery Channel, and others like it, make me sick.

Photo

Thu, 23 May 2013 07:53:18 -0400

darkporc: governments don’t want a population capable of...

Thu, 23 May 2013 07:52:54 -0400

darkporc:

governments don’t want a population capable of critical thinking.
they want obedient workers, people just smart enough to run the machines and just dumb enough to passively accept their situation.

scinerds: STS-119 Backdropped by the blackness of space and...

Thu, 23 May 2013 07:51:51 -0400

scinerds:

STS-119

Backdropped by the blackness of space and the thin line of Earth’s atmosphere, the International Space Station is seen from Space Shuttle Discovery as the two spacecraft begin their relative separation. Earlier the STS-119 and Expedition 18 crews concluded 9 days, 20 hours and 10 minutes of cooperative work onboard the shuttle and station. Undocking of the two spacecraft occurred at 2:53 p.m. (CDT) on March 25, 2009.

"Be of service. You are taking your degree into a society dominated by concentrated poverty and a..."

Thu, 23 May 2013 07:51:10 -0400

“Be of service. You are taking your degree into a society dominated by concentrated poverty and a vulnerable middle class, a society where it is harder to pay for education, harder to find a job, harder to buy a house and harder to hold onto those things even if you manage to get them. You are entering adulthood during a period of mass incarceration and near constant war. There is a lot for you to do. Service is the rent you pay for the space you take up on the earth, and as a relatively privileged American you take up a lot of space. We are the most consuming, polluting, wasteful nation on earth. So your rent is steep. Pay it with service.”

-
Dr. Melissa Harris-Perry’s advice to Class of 2013 (Via)

Refreshing straight talk.

(via climateadaptation)