A little piece of Mars in Moscow

If you've ever harboured dreams, or nightmares, of dying a heroic death while on a space mission, but don't own your own spaceship, there may be a place for you on the Mars 500 mission.

Although your feet will never leave terra firma, you will be locked up in a capsule for 500 days - with the proviso that the doors stay sealed shut until mission end - which means if you and the rest of the crew run out of supplies beforehand, no-one will arrive to replenish those empty kitchen cupboards, which seems a little harsh, even if it is in the interests of 'science'.

A stranded crew in Earth orbit can, in theory, be rescued fairly easily, but once en route to Mars, you're on your own. The cost might be more, but surely it would be sensible to send an entire convoy of manned ships and/or unmanned supply vessels leaving at staggered intervals that could catch up with a stricken crew, at least giving them an outside chance of avoiding total disaster.

I have long thought that one of the prime objectives behind reality TV like 'Big Brother', was to conduct extended psychological experiments on groups of people that were isolated in an environment detached from the world and the rest of humanity, and the Mars 500 project has been set up in a way that more closely resembles a domestic habitat, or, no surprises, the set of a TV reality show - except in this case the main prize is when you get to complete the mission in one piece, to then resume your former life, but with no big cash sum to help you forget the whole experience.

Portrait of a Blogger: Under 30 and Sociable

Damn, that's another category I don't fit into, but who cares. It was said when e-mail came to be widespread, that people were communicating by writing to each other in a way that had last been seen in Victorian times. With blogging, keeping in touch with nearest and dearest is still important, but as we know there is a very rich diversity of blogs that cater to all of us, with the good news that millions of people now have access to their own virtual printing press.

It is noted that audio and video are now becoming prominent features of many blogs, which is great as long as you're on a broadband connection. Sadly, this blog spends most of its time operating at the slightspeed rate equated to dial-up - apparently the local telephone exchange is unable to handle such new-fangled technology, still awaiting an upgrade which will probably neve come.

NASA Considers Space Station Science Cuts to Save Money

Bearing in mind that NASA have just blown a reported $700 million on trying to solve the disintegrating foam problem, so that the Shuttle could get to the International Space Station, it seems a tad curious that they should then seek to cut $100 million from ISS itself.

It has been suggested in the past that the ISS and the Shuttle fleet should be abandoned, allowing NASA the budgetary freedom to get on with some real missions, like sending a few people along to check out Mars from a human, rather than robotic, perspective. The initial cost might seem prohibitive, but budgetted out over 10 or 20 years, and maybe teaming up with other space agencies like ESA, the overall cost would surely be one worth paying, and apart from anything else, would give us Earthlings something to get excited about.

But as things stand, all we are likely to see from Mars on the ground will be images captured by robot-mounted cameras, supplemented by yet more images from orbitting satellites - by the time we actually get there, the Face and its attendant monuments, as well as other intriguing surface features that look distinctly artificial, will have entirely eroded away into Martian dust.

Fight for Stonehenge Takes to the Air - (Part 2)

Having had time to consider some of the content of the earlier Stonehenge post in a more sober light, there are two more points I'd like to add. First, I didn't really emphasise strongly enough the international disgrace that is the car-park at Stonehenge. I know I've discussed this before, but as it's an ongoing scandal, the complaints have to keep coming.

It's one thing to neglect the three 10,500 year-old Mesolithic post holes, but to leave them as an integral part of the car-park really is the greatest insult of all, especially when we consider that the stones at the monument are slowly being dissolved from pollution from the same motorised traffic.

There is acres of space available nearby to which the car-park could be re-located, and I'm beginning to wonder why there seems to be no dissent from anywhere, or indeed the will to rectify this matter. But even if the post-holes were allowed to exist back in the solitude of their origin, a small clearing in a vast forest that once lay all around, the problem of how to mark, signify or otherwise display the site would still exist. We can't very well just erect three huge pillars or posts, and it is not one that is easily solved, though I think the use of holograms could yet come into play.

The most recent explanation offered for the arrival of the stones on the Salisbury plain suggests they may have been transported there from a southward travelling ice sheet during the last great glaciation - although of course, this is not a novel idea and has been doing the rounds for years - I'm fairly sure it's already been debunked. Attempts by modern researchers using conventional man-power to transport similar but smaller stones from Wales to Stonehenge have invariably led to utter failure, with river crossings constituting the most hazardous of obstacles. To date, there appear to be no new solutions either on the table, under the stairs or even behind the locked door.

Next stop, Baalbek, situated in what's left of the Lebanon.

image from 'modern antiquarian'

Scientists Plan to Rebuild Neanderthal Genome

Bearing in mind how little Neanderthal material is available, decoding even part of their genetic configuration would be a worthy achievement, but to unravel their entire genome within two years, would be an astonishing feat. As I recall, this project was announced last year, so it's probable that they've finally got it up and running, bolstered by recent revelations that Neanderthal nuclear DNA, as opposed to mitochondrial DNA, has recently been sequenced for the first time.

Another day with Neanderthals starring in the news, gives me another opportunity for some more wild speculation - having read that Japanese people are disengaging in sexual activity, indicating that the two genders are losing their attraction to one another. It could be surmised, that left unchecked, this endemic celibacy may eventually lead to a dramatic population crash, consequently causing the eventual extinction of the Japanese as a distinct race. In fact birth rates are falling in many areas of the planet, though whether this is because people in general are turning off from sex, is unknown (to me).

It has been suggested by Spanish anthropologist Juan Luis Arsuaga, that Neanderthals, upon encountering modern humans 40,000 years ago in the formers' European homeland, may have been physically attracted to the moderns, especially by their smaller, 'cuter' faces. This indirectly implies that a potentially fatal attraction brought about the Neanderthals' untimely demise. It may have transpired that over the 15,000 years or more that the two species co-existed, Neanderthals were so entranced by the new arrivals, that not only did they occasionally mate with the moderns, they may have stopped having intra-species sex altogether, suddenly perceiving their own as being yesterday's model.

This could indicate that there was no need for moderns to have been pro-active in causing the Neanderthal extinction - it has been suggested that moderns out-competed their Palaeo-Euro hosts by being more successful at hunting, inventors of new lithic industries and other technologies, as well as evolving symbolic thought and language, to name but a few of the many reasons speculated.

But a putative lack of sexual, and by default, reproductive activity of the Neanderthals with each other could have been enough to tip them over the edge - assuming that Neanderthal women were more attracted to modern men, with their male counterparts chasing after modern females, we could see how Neanderthal genes would initially have entered the Homo sapiens' gene pool. But as the majority of moderns confined themselves to having sex with their own species, the Neanderthal genes would eventually have 'disappeared'into the numerically superior modern population.

This would have likely been a gradual process, and there is some, albeit scant, evidence of late inter-species breeding demonstrated by the modern/Neanderthal hybrid from the Portuguese rock-shelter at Lapedo, dated to 24,500 years bp. It has been noted previously that if a species experiences an annual death rate of more than 2%, extinction will swiftly follow, and it is possible that by fraternising with the moderns, Neanderthals failed to maintain sufficient numbers on the ground.

This brings us to the Holocene holocaust, which saw many species of fauna wiped out shortly after the end of the last Ice Age, particularly in the Americas and to a lesser extent, Australia and other locations. Although primarily blamed on the arrival of the first Americans hunting them out of existence, there is ample evidence to suggest that humans had been living and hunting for at least 30,000 - 40,000 years, leaving the decimation of faunal life an enduring mystery.

However, we know from prehistoric studies that reindeer experience a huge population crash about once every hundred years, which back then would have had extremely serious ramifications. Reindeer was a favourite food, but nearly every part of that creature was of use to human hunters. The antlers were used to make tools and related implements, the skin was used for clothing, while the bones and fat could be used as fuel to keep the home fires burning. Nobody knows for sure what causes reindeer populations to collapse, but recurring sexual boredom could be a factor. Stretching this point a lot further, it's possible that other dead species have disappeared for reasons described above, suggesting a type of inbuilt sexual obsolescence among some fauna, which ultimately determines the length of their stay on Earth.

But perhaps there is a hormonal factor that could have come into play, an example of which is believed to have been caused by modern pollution, but one that may have been brought about in ways we are currently unaware of.

Some years ago, it was announced that vast numbers of fish in English rivers were displaying female characteristics, their hormonal imbalance thought to have been brought about by chemical pollution, like DDT, that had been dumped into the aquatic habitat. But what if there was some unknown event in the past, such as Red Rain travelling in from space, or meteoric materials, that dumped extra-terrestrial DNA or other hormonal changing chemicals into the water supply. The mystery here would be that huge areas of the Earth's fresh and salt-water would need to have been exposed. Another conundrum would be why some species were doomed, whilst others remained unaffected, although it can be argued that no extinction event in the last 500 million years has ever been 100% effective, with numerous survivors emerging from the ruins to take advantage of the niches of opportunity newly available to them.

Prehistoric religions are thought to have revolved around feminine entities, as indicated by widespread worship of a Mother Goddess, while our modern religions frequently involve an omnipotent male God, often symbolically represented by the phallus, signifying the very opposite of a maternal figurehead. The reasons for this change were no doubt complex, and occurred for different reasons that continue to elude us, but if there was an observed or perceived threat that manifested itself by the feminisation and decline of animals, including their invaluable resources, it may have been the case that more recent modern humans, particularly the male element, came to fear and suspect all things female. By associating ephemeral dominance by the feminine gender in Nature, which heralded episodic downturns in their quality of life, societies may have attempted to mitigate such misfortune by acting and appearing to be as male, and therefore life-confirming, as possible, traits which persist to the present day.

Whether there are equivalent situations in the plant world isn't clear - plants are to a great extent affected by climate and geologic conditions, though whether there are factors which have caused one or other plant gender to be spontaneously dominant, causing extinctions, is also unknown.

Although all this might shed some light on the reasons behind some faunal extinctions, it appears not to address any of the issues concerning the inception of new species, which we might expect to somehow co-exist with, or be balanced by, each other.

Fight for Stonehenge Takes to the Air

There are many reasons for the folks at English Heritage to hang their heads in abject shame on a daily, if not hourly basis, but their monumental incompetence when it comes to caring for Stonehenge and its immediate locale, is one of the most notable.

Lest EH are reading this and feeling victimised, let me admit that they are not alone in their culpable negligence - for example, in France they have the Ministry of Culture, who for their part have apparently come very close to destroying large parts of the Ice Age paintings at Lascaux by completely screwing up an air-con system, as well as allowing the entrance of the cave to become flooded, resulting in a snowy white fungus adorning significant areas of the walls. However, because there is no public access to Lascaux, no-one has a clear idea of how bad the damage is, and the chances ae the whole affair will be kept under (dampened) wraps.

Stonehenge itself is probably in quite good nick, especially considering the ruinous state it found itself in after centuries of neglect, particularly suffering at the hands of the Romans, who are rumoured to have vandalised the site in order to break its perceived power - however it could just as easily have been damaged by unruly or superstitious Brits, or unknown others, intent on leaving their own sorry mark on the landscape.

One of the main problems afflicting Stonehenge is that English Heritage seem unable to come to terms with the fact that the standing stones and trilithons form part of a much larger symbolic context, the entire complex extending for many miles around the monument, to include other sites such as Avebury, connected by a trackway delineated by long lines of more standing stones.

Should you ever visit the car park at Stonehenge, and assuming it's relatively free of traffic, you might notice three white circles in an offset line, that have prompted some to make a comparison with the way the three pyramids at Giza are aligned.

update 27/08/07: There is also a similar lay-out which can be perceived at the giant henges of Thornborough, which although date from more recently, might trace a tradition stretching back to the Mesolithic post-holes at Stonehenge

These post-holes represent the earliest known cultural activity at the site, dating from around 10,500 years ago, and mark the points where three huge tree-trunks, probably of pine and many meters high, were inserted into the ground. Speculation that these might have been some sort of totem poles suggests a likely function, though it's unlikely they represented three crucifixion posts, largely because such barbaric practice, as far as we know, wasn't prevalent until several millennia later.

The point here is that EH have shown no interest or initiative in drawing attention to what might be one of the oldest monuments of its type anywhere in the world, reflecting their equally callous disregard for the site as a whole - if this was in the US or some other Western European nations, there would doubtless be all manner of signs and explanations in abundance, presumably as they would be keen to celebrate their connections with the distant past.

Additionally, Stonehenge is surrounded by many contemporary mounds and barrows, and most of the current road-building/tunnel plans involve varying levels of their destruction, including the loss of thus far unrecovered archaeology.

In conclusion, if English Heritage are serious about their committment to preserving Stonehenge and its environs, they would immediately master Time Travel, whereupon they would be able to meet, and learn from, the original designers and builders of the entire Bronze Age landscape that was constructed and inter-connected over many hundreds of years. They could then return to the modern era, close down all, or as many neighbouring roads as possible, banning all motor traffic for miles around - this would entail would-be visitors having to walk, or maybe cycle or even para-glide several miles from the nearest road, returning the site and its access and egress routes to some sort of parity with its ancient self. Unfortuanately, this would never be sanctioned by the European Union, as they would rightly demand better access for the elderly and infirm, but a solution along these lines has to be found - moves are currently afoot to strip Stonehenge of its World Heritage status.

As things stand however, it's more likely that we will have to invent Time Travel ourselves, and send EH on an extended field-trip to the past, replete with visual and written evidence portraying the site as it is today. Once there, they would have ample time on their shaky hands to explain to some fierce-looking Bronze Age types, exactly how they had managed to screw up so utterly and miserably, in a future so richly endowed with technology and resources capable of maintaining Stonehenge in a manner to which it and ourselves should be accustomed.

More here

Original Neanderthal man found 150 years ago

It seems scarcely credible that we have known of Neanderthals' existence for a mere 150 years, and it is their unexplained demise that contains a potentially grave message to us. Recent species of humans have tended to live for ever decreasing amounts of time - Homo erectus survived for over 1.5 million years, Neanderthals lasted around 300,000 years, about the same time as heidelbergensis. Before humans were australopithecines, who prevailed for several million years.

We moderns have lived for around 200,000 years, and it might be surmised that statistically, we may soon be facing an extinction event of our own. Moreover, as we are in the unique position of being the only species of human not to be living alongside other species, our disappearance could well mark the end of all human life here, forever.

However, the sudden and complete disappearance of the Neanderthals might be explained by considering the possibility that our pesky Controller Beings simply gathered them all together, before whisking them off to some other location, maybe on another parallel world near this one.

And in the event of our own future vanishing, those Neanderthals, plus a fresh re-supply of the animal kingdom, possibly a little tweak of the climate here and there, could then be brought back to this world, being given a helping hand to take up where they left off, 25,000 years ago.

Whether they would then begin to take the first steps toward civilisation, or elect to retain their hunter-gatherer life-style is something we can only address by further wild speculation punctuated by various leaps of the imagination.

image Neanderthal

More here

On the Wire

With Tim Binnall's first season of audio interviews having drawn to a close, it occurred to me that now might be a good time to have a quick look at some of the Internet radio shows/podcasts I keep an ear to the ether for...

First up is Radio Mysterioso, hosted by Greg Bishop of Excluded Middle, and in particular a show from the beginning of June in which he interviewed Mac Tonnies and Paul Kimball. Very briefly, Mac is an author and blogger, creator of Posthuman Blues, while Paul Kimball of Red Star Films is a documentary and film-maker, whose last two projects have been ufo related, although he also tackles unrelated subjects. Both their sites are frequently updated with eclectic, entertaining and thought-provoking content - both of their sites can also be reached from the links listed on the front page of this blog. For his part Greg Bishop has hosted many other shows, and once I've had a chance to check them out, some future comment might follow.

As we know, blogging and the Internet have opened up whole new opportunities for correspondence and the accelerated transmission of data and imagination - in the past, writers who generated interest could usually only reach their public by publishing new material, and/or infrequently appearing on media shows to plug their wares. Authors and writers tended to be viewed as distant, solitary figures, shunning publicity and rarely interacting with their readership. But today it's possible for writers to address a wide range of topics, record important events and thoughts as they occur, while having a dizzying array of communications devices with which to reach their digital audiences.

Most of the first segment of the show was spent discussing ufology and ufo research, though I'm not entirely sure how to differentiate between the two. As someone who only follows this subject from afar - I unsubscribed from UFO Updates long ago, partly because I got tired of the constant bickering, and partly because the whole debate seemed to me to be in some sort of stasis, but maybe that was a mis-judgement on my part; either way, I just felt myself losing interest.

When there are so many people, in any field, who 'know' that their particular paradigm is the correct one, and refuse to contemplate or tolerate any dissent, it's refreshing to hear people discussing, rather than ranting, about these issues. Rather than stating that x or y is true or false, they indicate that for the time being we are unlikely to find definitive answers, and the real aim of research is to uncover the next set of questions, which in turn will doubtless lead to yet more questions.

Part of that process relies on people standing back, taking a broad, objective and dispassionate view of as many of the issues and details involved as possible, without getting sucked into belief systems - i.e. assessing an entire situation rather than becoming bogged down in endless small details that seem at odds with others. Of course, it's a natural human trait of ours that compels us to examine complex matters in minute detail, but it's also possible to lose sight of the big picture when peering too intently for too long in a certain direction.

So if you're curious to know who in the ufosphere is who, and what they're thinking at the moment, the first half of the show should give you a good grounding, and there's plenty more besides to grab your interest - I could detail more of it here, but it's a show best listened to direct, rather than merely read about.

The same applies for Part 2, which discusses amongst other things the way the Internet has affected this entire field of study, plus a mention of the immortal line from an unknown person, when asked why 99% of ufology was crap, replied that 99% of everything was crap. Also covered was the nature of Time and the possibility that humans will be travelling through it in the near future - even Michio Kaku gets a mention, with his idea of robotic creatures exploring space and other dimensions, which he opines might turn out to be some element of the extraterrestrials we have encountered from time to time.

So, apart from the diverse range of topics covered, what I liked most about this show was the manner in which subjects were discussed rather than attacked or defended, with the sensible suggestion that everyone should listen to everyone else, and be less concerned with consigning others to various pigeon-holes, from which belief systems rather than free thinking, often emerge. However, along with the three people on this show, and various others, there are new individuals appearing on the scene with different ideas and fresh memes to go, which with any luck will steer some of us down unexplored roads, which as yet might not even exist.

During the show, there are frequent references to other researchers, their books and websites, which I'll have to track down by replaying the show once again - I wonder how long it will before we are able select a small segment of speech, like a url from say a podcast, to Google, which will then go off and find the appropriate link - and following that, we'll be able to play, sing, hum or whistle part of a tune that we've heard but cannot identify, and dear old Google will not only name that tune, but order it and play it back for you instantaneously.

Heading back to the studio, there was brief mention of the idea that we might only exist as code in some sort of giant computer - given all the anomalies, contradictions and inscrutable mysteries, it's quite tempting to gain the impression that as a race, we humans are being toyed with, by unseen others, planting anachronistic artifacts and quantum illusions all around us, knowing full well how we will variously react upon discovering 'impossible' facts, affording them endless entertainment as they watch us scurrying around in every direction.

These covert or extraterrestrial beings could have set us an impossible amount of questions that cannot possibly be solved without resorting to the mental equivalent of playing and winning a game of 11-dimensional chess while bound and blindfolded. And while we consider ourselves to be solving mysteries at the cutting edge of existence, it may yet transpire that all our efforts are in vain, as these were all false missions, a series of dead ends designed to divert us from concentrating our brainpower and inspiration on whatever it was we were put here for in the first place, if indeed such a purpose ever existed. Despite these obstacles, I think humans are pretty ingenious beings, and there may come a time when we are able to truly transform ourselves through a Singularity event into different types of being, and in so doing, make ourselves trans-dimensional and more or less immortal, freeing ourselves of the physical while gaining the ethereal.

I briefly mentioned BinnallofAmerica at the top of this post, and although I haven't yet heard the most recent shows, I imagine it's worth downloading or listening to the entire first season. He, like Mac, is one of a new breed of younger, but very informed and motivated people, who take it upon themselves to monitor current debates, while at the same time preparing us for alternative futures to consider. Many of the senior players, like for example Stanton Friedman, are nearing retirement age, so it's vital to fill the ensuing vacuum with others who are prepared to energise and initiate further discussion and research.

On another section of his site, there is a very good weekly round-up of what has been happening over at Coast to Coast, which itself is in a slightly confused and disorganised state at the minute, bereft as it is by the continuing absence of the gravel-voiced host, namely Art Bell. The Binnall site is a classic example of what initiative can achieve, because despite being even younger than Mac, he has managed to convince some very well known names to be interviewed by him, all of which he apparently does down the phone-line from his own home.

Then of course there is Whitley Strieber's weekly 'Dreamland' show, more of which will be discussed in a later post in relation to an article he has just penned on the subject of missing time, and how being in the presence of a particular person seems to help trigger such events.

Finally, Psychedelic Salon deserves a mention for the quality of its output - again there is plenty of material to get stuck into, especially from Terence McKenna et al, along with content from various 'Burning Man' festivals - even if if you have no particular desire to experience or explore the highly volatile world of hallucinogens, there are plenty of bright people offering challenging ideas for us to contemplate.

So that just about wraps it up - all the content mentioned here is free to listen to, (with the exception of Coast to Coast), and I think it's worth a few hours of anyone's time to sit down and listen to some or all of it.

Tut's gem hints at space impact

Here's an intriguing little mystery, more of which will be revealed on tonight's edition of 'Horizon', BBC2 at 9pm - Tutankhamun is thought to have glass from a meteor as part of the depicted Pectoral. But as yet no-one has found a relevant impact crater in the Sahara - leading some researchers to compare this situation with that of Tunguska, which in 1908 witnessed a huge explosion in the sky - except no meteoric material has ever been found there, so I'm not sure if there is any direct connection between the two events.

There are numerous examples of glassed-over desert regions, and in the British Isles there are the mysterious vitrified forts, explanations for which have thus far not been found. Hopefully more to follow after tonight's offering.

Are Cities The New Countries?

Yes, would seem to be the answer, at least according to this BBC News article, and it's the culmination of a process that has been running for at least the past 22,000 years, around the time of the Last Glacial Maximum. Moreover, in the event that we ever make landfall on another planet, asteroid or moon, Earth colonists will find themselves living in cities, although eventually the richer ones will be able to afford to retire to the equivalent of rural Mars, there to pass their twilight years in the eery silence of the ex-city state that some believe may once have been Cydonia.

The concept of cities devolving into rural communities is of course the opposite to what happened on Earth, where we saw a gradual move of hunter-gatherer societies living in the countryside moving into the first urban centres, as agriculture became the means of feeding and clothing the population. But this was by no means a straightforward process, with many experiments flourishing for a time before being wiped out by climate change.

About the earliest village thus far found is at modern day Pushkari, in the Ukraine, which comprised five igloo shaped huts, huddled together in a rough circle, each constructed from mammoth bones, dating to around 22,000 years bp. It should be stressed that although this is the oldest known such site, it's a fair bet that there were other precedents, particularly when we take into consideration the sophistication of burial sites such as the 28,000 year-old Sungir, somewhere north-east of modern-day Moscow.

Moving forward to about 9,500 years bp, we see what might have been an early city-state of sorts, known to us as Catalhoyuk, located on the southern Anatolian plain. It consisted of an aggregated outer wall that enclosed a series of identical dwellings, which in turn were accessed by paths, steps and ladders on the flat rooftops.

The people who dwelt there apparently adhered to an ancient religion, as indicated by the unusual and striking motifs that adorned their walls - from giant bulls' heads with twisted horns, painted white with red and black stripes figurines, a throned woman, sitting between two leopards, her hands resting on their heads as their tails enwrap her body. There is also a pair of modelled breasts, whose split nipples appear to be revealing the skulls of vultures, foxes and weasels. Also found were numerous figurines, often set into niches of walls, and various paintings, one of which depicts large black vultures attacking headless people. (source 'After the Ice' Chapter 11, by Steven Mithen.)

For his part, Mithen sees this as some sort of proto-urban nightmare, and seems to be having the literary equivalent of a bad trip, believing that the inhabitants were utterly terrified of something from which they were trying to hide, whether it was Nature, or some nameless horror that threatened to overwhelm them.

Terence McKenna, on the other hand, viewed this Neolithic scene somewhat differently, and from a more benign perspective. According to him, these were pastoral folk, who worshipped a Mother Goddess, as well as following a cattle cult. The link between the two was the magic mushroom, which he believes, amongst other things, was instrumental in humans acquiring language as well as leading to what he refers to as a sense of religio.

One of the many ways in which humans encountered dung-loving magic mushrooms of herbivores, or grazing animals, some of which were domesticated, thus bringing humans into continual contact with their ecstatic realms. Thus cattle, who were domesticated for their milk, meat, fuel and clothing, also took on the role of providing psychotropic access to their Mother Goddess, so that a Holy Trinity of sorts came into existence. (source: Terence McKenna, 'Archaic Revival', Chapter 10)

So rather than subscribing to Mithen's gloomy appraisal of a Neolithic hell, wherein the population appeared to him to despise Nature, McKenna portrays a people that were both enlightened as well as having the skills, social and otherwise, to maintain their society for many hundreds of years. Holwever, given all the other motifs and portrayals, I'm not sure of the validity of considering the bulls/cattle in isolation from all the other creatures that are represented.

But despite its antiquity, Catalhoyuk has a kind of space age look to it, all those living pods joined together, no streets, but instead a series of platforms and roofs and walkways, all laid out out to the same floor plan, and all with the same internal features like hearths positioned in the same place, indicating that all members of that society were equal - there have been no finds to indicate privileged sects, or ruling classes, or even any public buildings.

This universally egalitarian aspect of the town is a feature that's unlikely ever to be repeated on Earth, especially now that cities are indeed evolving into autonomous states, promising inequality for all, but I guess it might be possible that a future group of space colonists could decide to revert to a type of Catalhoyuk model, though whether that would retain the same cultic aspects is doubtful.

But who knows, if McKenna is correct in his core belief that the imbibing of mushrooms effectively kick-started human culture, there may be other civilisations out there who had similar access to the fungal wisdom that certainly appears to transcend dimensions of space and time, and built their societies according to whatever insightful knowledge they had managed to garner therefrom.

More here, and here

National Geographic, May 2005 : Prehistoric Bones Point to First Modern-Human Settlement in Europe

Magic mushrooms really cause 'spiritual' experiences

While none of us really know whether parallel people in their parallel worlds end up in similar versions of Heaven and Hell, we at least do know a little more about one of the substances that first made us aware of the possibility that other realms and dimensions really do exist.

Psilocybin use has been popular amongst humans for many thousands of years, and there might be some evidence that such chemicals, via plant-life, were bequeathed to us, along with our specially modified brains, in order to make it clear to us that there is a great deal more to this reality than encountered by the unopened eye.

But unless we can discover a way of opening and maintaining some sort of viable and long-lasting communication with these other worlds and some of the beings that inhabit them, we will only ever be aware of their existence, frustrated for all time in our efforts to try and transcend our mortality, if indeed that is even a desirable goal.

I sometimes wonder what would happen were humanity to be given the 'keys to the Universe', how we would cope with all that information, and what we would create, or destroy, as we attempted to exploit our new-found capabilities - as things stand, the less knowledge we have about how to create and manipulate matter on a galactic scale, the better, but sooner or later we will start to leak through to other dimensions, though what kind of reception we could expect from their inhabitants is something we might wish to carefully consider.

image psilocybin

Life-threatening wasp stings boom

One of the key advantages to hanging out indoors all day, every day, is that by default you minimise your contact with some of the more unpleasant aspects of insect life that stings on the wing. But due to the increasing ambient temperatures and the effects of a continuing drought in the UK, more and more hostile wildlife from the southern reaches of Europe is finding itself heading towards us, as our climate and outdoor eating habits are more easily able to accommodate them.

With any luck, the next Ice Age will kick in before things get out of hand, and all those nasty bugs will scurry off in a southerly direction from whence they came. But in the meantime, the advice to picknickers and other ne'er-do-wells is to take appropriate medication with them as necessary, as well as to take a good look at what you're eating, in order to ensure that you don't accidentally introduce an angry wasp to the soft and tender interior of your mouth - being stung there can cause signifiacant respiratory problems, and in some cases, untimely death.

There is also the usual advice about not going into immediate panic mode upon a waspish encounter - personally, I prefer the all-action, splat-that-bug-at-all-costs tactic, an inbuilt survival mechanism which thus far has kept this human alive and unstung, if not a little flustered on occasion. It's much easier to hunt down a wasp indoors, where the parameters of the room define the scale of the battle, but once outside, you are fighting on their terms in their world - so either try and lure them into the house, or if feeling unadventurous, and in the vicinity of an accessible building, flee inside and lock the doors and windows.

But if you do get caught outside, bear in mind that a whole nest of them might be nearby, and in such circumstances my advice would be to leg it as far and fast as possible, but having no real experience in this, you may need to come up with another plan of your own at very short order, in which case, we can only sypathise and wish you good luck in your struggle.

Code of the Caveman

Some forty thousand years ago, a Neanderthal died in Germany, never for once dreaming that one day part of him would end up in America, a land that was probably completely unknown to him and his race, assuming of course that no Neanderthals ever managed to reach its shores.

Although there is as yet no known documented evidence for the presence of Neanderthals in America, there is an outside chance that they managed to get there, especially when we consider the likelihood that Solutrean Europeans got there by about 20,000 years bp, as well as the 40,000 year-old footprints discovered last year in Mexico, and the promises of the Topper site which indicate human presence there at 50,000 years.

However, the Neanderthal in this story, whose name we shall never know, who did make it to America did so by the means of having bone samples shipped there for genetic evaluation and analysis, in the hope of producing the first extended DNA sequence of that species.

They say that if you spend long enough with someone, eventually the two of you will come to resemble each other more and more closely, and this can sometimes be seen to be true in elderly couples, who not only dress the same, but whose facial features also appear to converge.

This may explain a great anthropoligical mystery - that of why, despite the obvious and large differences in genetic composition, did later populations of Neanderthals, from around 35,000 years bp, appear to take on more modern features, especially in their cranial dimensions, which have led some, like Eric Trinkaus and Joao Zilhao, to conclude that this morphing can only be explained by interbreeding between the two species.

Italy win World Cup on penalties

It's all over for another four years, as Italy won a final that was most notable for the incident which saw Zinedine Zidane, in his last ever match, shown the red card for head-butting Materazzi in the chest, during extra-time. He had scored France's opener with a 7th minute penalty, but ultimately his bizarre actions may well have cost the French their tilt at glory.

A fuller report on the entire tournament, which I believe was a lot less entertaining than the tennis at Wimbledon, and demonstrates why professional soccer is about to enter an age of terminal decline, will hopefully appear soon, but as illness still plagues this blogger, it might be a while yet - so, apologies for a very quiet remote central over the past few weeks, and though it might be a week or two yet before stuff starts getting posted again, it is hoped that some sort of normalcy of service can yet be resumed.

image Olympic Stadium Berlin

Shuttle Discovery races skyward

If there's one place I'm glad not to be today, the Discovery shuttle would just about top the list. Despite having spent some $1.3 billion on trying to find ways of preventing insulating foam detatching itself from the fuel tank, NASA are still plagued by the same old problems, and seem quite incapable of resolving them.

However, even if we overlook NASA's somewhat cavalier attitude regarding the health and safety of their own astronauts, it's worth bearing in mind some of the other important projects, in some cases already paid for, that NASA has in its finite wisdom, decided to toss overboard.

As we are constantly made aware, climate changes affecting the Earth constitute one of the gravest threats to humanity, so we would have thought that it would make good sense to launch the DSCOVR mission, designed to orbit the Sun, while giving continuous updates on the amounts of solar radiation hitting the Earth, and how it is absorbed. But even though $100m has already paid for the construction of the orbiter, no-one seems prepared to stump up the money needed to actually launch and study the mission - particularly as we bear in mind the $1.3 billion they've wasted trying to fix the Shuttle foam problem.

Along with other missions to study the Earth that have also been put on ice, Charles Kennel of Scripps warns of serious gaps in our knowledge of our own climate, thus inhibiting our ability to predict for the future.

Take for example the Ocean Vector Winds mission, due to take over from QuickScat, that would have continued to monitor ocean wind speed and direction, and in particular what are called closed circulation systems, which can transform in to hurricanes, and influence the El Nino Southern Oscillation. We all know the extent of the havoc wreaked in recent years by hurricanes, and as many of them happen in NASA's own back yard, it would seem logical for them to take a keen interest.

When we further consider the coming Water Wars, whose likelihood increases with every passing drought, the idea of having a satellite that accurately measures worldwide rain and snowfall, to be crucial. Just such a project, the Global Precipitation Measurement, jointly hosted with Japan, has now been put back over two years to 2013, though there are now moves to get it running as the current Tropical Rainfall Measuring System ceases operations in 2012.

And the outlook for space based science projects is also bleak, with projects analysing dark energy, searching for planets beyond our own solar system, examining gravitational wave theory and more than a passing glance on the origins of the Universe - all on the back burner, with no-one in the kitchen to keep an eye on things.

But who knows - we may yet get to the Moon and discover something so extraordinary that all those other missions would pale into insignificance - although whether we the public would be allowed to share in such findings is a moot point.

In the meantime, our thoughts are with the crew of Discovery, and we wish them all good luck and fortune, in the hope they have a successful mission and make it back unscathed. We hope the pieces of foam that fell off during launch will be as harmless as NASA suggests, although incredibly, they're not actually sure what fell off, but believe it to have been foam. With support like that on the ground, what could possibly go wrong?

image does someone know something we don't?