Member-only story
Technology is Reshaping Human History
A group of philanthropist’s and a University of Kentucky computer science professor are offering a $250,000 prize to anyone or group that can unlock and enable the reading of the Roman era Herculean scroll. These scrolls are all clumped together and must be read virtually.
AI has already been used to decode 5,000 years old cuneiform tablets, giving us entirely new insights into ancient human civilizations.
Advances in genetic engineering have revealed some time ago that many of us have neanderthal DNA, some of Denisovan. That the genetic code for red hair exists across pretty much all of humanity. That our beloved human tree that we’ve all come to think is true, is in fact, not. That it’s more like the Nile river delta going off madly in all directions.
A group of Spanish researchers have found genetic links to homosexuality. Not just in us humans but in over 250 species of mammals (humans are mammals.) This is male to male, not female to female; it is not known if such research has been done. The research suggests there may well be a significant biological benefit for this in human societies.
Digital technologies are helping us discover our past in new and novel ways. This is giving a lot of anthropologists, archeologists, sociologists and many other scientists a lot of headaches. We’re going to be…