Human Future : What Will Our Stamp In Time Be?

By Felix Longyard

Delve into the species known as humans, how we live and have lived. On a mission to find what drives us and that life purpose many strive for. With the capability of so much love, yet still so many atrocities occur, are we a virus? What are we as a species and where are we heading? There are also some who wish for immortality, and with the advances in technology and modern movements the question arises, "Are such things possible?". As we have expanded as a species and the planet we call home slowly dies, humans look to the stars in hopes of a future. Journey on as we try and gain a deeper understanding of ourselves as a species as well as the potential future in store for us. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Felix Longyard
• Release date: May 19, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201439132

Book preview

Introduction

Past of mankind

In 1924, the skull of a 3-year-old boy found in South Africa forever changed the way people thought about human origins. The so-called Taung Child, our first encounter with an ancient group of protohumans called Australopithecines, was a turning point in the study of our evolution. This discovery shifted the focus of studying human origins from Europe and Asia to Africa and set the stage for the last century of research on the continent and in its cradles of humanity.

Few would have predicted then what scientists know today about our evolution. The pace of discoveries is faster than ever. Even so far in the 21st century, textbooks on human origins have been rewritten several times.

Just 20 years ago, no one would have imagined what scientists know two decades later about humanity's remote past. Much less how much knowledge a ground thimble, a dental plaque trail, and even orbiting satellites can offer.

Human fossils exceed Darwin's tree. In Africa there are several candidate fossils to be the first hominin, between 5 and 7 million years ago. That's when humans split from other great apes, something we know from differences in our DNA. Although it was discovered in the 1990s, the publication of the 4.4 million-year-old skeleton nicknamed Ardi in 2009 changed scientists' opinion on how hominids began to walk.

Rounding out our new relatives are some australopithecines, such as Australopithecus deyiremeda and Australopithecus sediba, as well as a very primitive species of Homo that survived until late in our evolutionary history and that rekindled the debate about when humans began to bury their dead.

The perspectives on our own species have also changed. Archaeologists thought that Homo sapiens evolved in Africa about 200,000 years ago, but the story has gotten more complicated. The fossils discovered in Morocco have delayed that date until 300,000 years ago, which is consistent with the evidence shown by ancient DNA. This raises questions about whether our species arose in one place within Africa. 

This century has also revealed unexpected discoveries in both Europe and Asia. Talking from enigmatic hobbits on the Indonesian island of Flores to Denisovans in Siberia, our ancestors were able to encounter a variety of other hominins when they spread out of Africa. In 2018, researchers reported on a new species in the Philippines. 

Anthropologists realized that our Homo sapiens ancestors had much more contact with other human species than we previously thought. Right now, human evolution looks less like Darwin's tree and more like a twisted, muddy stream. 

Ancient DNA shows old relationships. A lot of recent discoveries have been made possible by the new science of ancient DNA. Since scientists sequenced the first ancient human genome in 2010, data from thousands of individuals have yielded new insights into the origins and prehistory of our species. 

A surprising discovery is that although our lineages separated about 800,000 years ago, modern humans and Neanderthals mated with some frequency during the last Ice Age. This is why many people today have some Neanderthal DNA. 

Through ancient DNA, researchers first identified the mysterious Denisovans, who interbred with Neanderthals and us. Although most studies are carried out on bones and teeth, it is now possible to extract genetic material from sources such as cave sediments and even 6,000-year-old chewing gum. 

Genetic methods also rebuild individual and family relationships. These connect prehistoric individuals with living peoples to end decades-long debates. The applications go far beyond humans. Palaeogenomics is producing amazing discoveries about plants and animals from ancient seeds and skeletons hidden in museum warehouses.

Biomolecules make the invisible visible. DNA is not the only molecule that revolutionizes the studies of something in the past.

Paleoproteomics, the study of ancient proteins, can determine the species of a fossil. He recently linked an extinct 10-foot-tall, 650-kilogram ape that lived nearly 2 million years ago with today's orangutans. 

Dental calculus, the hardened plaque that a dentist removes from teeth, holds a lot of information, revealing everything from who drank milk 6,000 years ago to the astonishing diversity of plants, some probably medicinal, in Neanderthal diets. 

This calculation can help scientists understand ancient diseases and how the human gut microbiome has changed over time. Researchers even find cultural clues: The bright blue lapis lazuli caught up in a medieval nun's calculation led historians to reconsider who created illustrated manuscripts. 

Lipid residues trapped in pottery revealed the origins of milk consumption in the Sahara and have shown that certain oddly shaped containers found throughout the Bronze and Iron Age in Europe were ancient baby bottles. 

Researchers use collagen-based barcodes from different animal species to answer questions ranging from when Asian rats arrived as shipwrecks on ships bound for Africa to which animals were used to produce medieval scrolls and even to detect microbes left behind by the kiss of a monk on a page. 

Big data reveals big patterns. While biomolecules help researchers zoom in on microscopic details, other approaches allow them to zoom out. Archaeologists have used aerial photography since the 1930s, but now satellite images make it easier to discover new sites and monitor existing ones that are at risk. The drones that fly over the sites help to investigate how and why they were made and also to combat robbery. 

Scientists now use LIDAR, a remote sensing technique that uses lasers to measure distance, to map 3D surfaces, and visualize landscapes on planet Earth. As a consequence, ancient cities are emerging from dense vegetation in places like Mexico, Cambodia, and South Africa. 

Technologies that can peek underground from the surface, such as ground penetrating radar, are also revolutionizing the field, for example by revealing previously unknown structures at Stonehenge. Increasingly, archaeologists can do their job without even digging a trench. 

Teams of archaeologists combine large data sets in new ways to understand large-scale processes. In 2019, more than 250 researchers pooled their findings to show that humans have altered our planet for thousands of years. For example, we can mention the idea of a 2,000-year-old irrigation system in China. All previous studies echo other studies that challenge the idea that the Anthropocene, the current period defined by human influences on the planet, began in the 20th century. 

New connections, new possibilities. These advances generate new associations between researchers from different fields. More than 140 new Nazca lines, ancient images carved out of a Peruvian desert, were discovered using artificial intelligence to examine images from drones and satellites. With the plethora of high-resolution satellite images, teams are also crowdsourcing to find new archaeological sites.

Although new partnerships between archaeologists