PLEASE NOTE:
*
CCNet DIGEST, 28 April 1999
---------------------------
QUOTE OF THE DAY
"There was a period in our ancient
history during which we came
close to extinction" (Christopher
Wills, University of California)
(1) EARLY HUMANS HAD A BRUSH WITH EXTINCTION
EXPLOREZONE, 26 April 1999
(2) DON'T MISS OUT ON THE METEORS
THE TIMES, 28 April 1999
(3) LYRIDS ACTIVITY REPORT 1999
Rainer Arlt <rarlt@aip.de>
(4) A BRIEF HISTORY OF MINOR PLANET RESEARCH
Richard Kowalski <bitnik@bitnik.com>
(5) NEW SCENARIOS FOR PUNCTUATED SOLAR SYSTEM EVOLUTION
Emilio Spedicato <EMILIO@IBGUNIV.UNIBG.IT>
===============
(1) EARLY HUMANS HAD A BRUSH WITH EXTINCTION
From EXPLOREZONE, 26 April 1999
http://explorezone.com/archives/99_04/26_apes_humans.htm
By Robert Roy Britt
04/26/99: While many scientists have been chronicling and
speculating
about the demise and extinction of many and varied species, past
and
present, one group of researchers was quietly looking into the
near-death experience of the species to which those very
researchers
belong.
"There was a period in our ancient history during which we
came close
to extinction," said biologist Christopher Wills of the
University of
California, San Diego. A new study by Wills and his colleagues
supports
the controversial idea that humans have had at least one dramatic
population reduction during the last million years.
In fact, the researchers found that the numbers of our
predecessors may
have gone up and down like a yo-yo, reaching precariously low
levels
more than once.
The study, to be published in tomorrow's issue of the Proceedings
of
the National Academy of Sciences, also shows that the human
species
possesses much less genetic variation than our closest relatives,
the
apes. That means that while we may come in all sorts of sizes,
shapes
and so on, inside we're all really much more alike than you might
think. In fact, the study showed, one group of 55 chimps musters
more
genetic variety than all of the human race combined.
"Despite their much smaller numbers and restricted ranges,
the African
apes retain much more genetic variation than humans," said
lead author
Pascal Gagneux, who conducted the research as a doctoral student
in the
laboratory of David Woodruff, the paper's senior author.
"The family
tree also shows that the human branch has been pruned. Our
ancestors
lost much of their original variability."
How we came to be so monotonously similar is rooted in our brush,
or
perhaps brushes, with death. It is less clear why these
near-catastrophes happened, but scientists said it likely
involved one
or more of the following: disease, environmental disaster or
conflict.
The researchers studied the DNA of humans and apes, and the
results
confirm that chimpanzees and bonobos are our closest living
relatives,
the scientists said. The work may also hold clues to the origin
of
certain animal-born diseases, including HIV-1.
"Conservation of the remaining great apes is critical,"
said Woodruff,
"as they still have so much to teach us about
ourselves." ez
Copyright 1999, Explorezone.com
===============
(2) DON'T MISS OUT ON THE METEORS
From THE TIMES, 28 April 1999
http://www.the-times.co.uk/news/pages/Times/frontpage.html?999
By Nigel Hawkes, Science Editor
LAST November astronomers anxious to see the best meteor shower
for 33
years decamped to Asia, where fireworks were predicted. In
reality,
they would have done better to stay at home. Instead of amazing
the
people of East Asia, the 1998 Leonids shower produced its most
dramatic
fireballs over the Atlantic 16 hours earlier.
In a remarkable piece of scientific detection, this unexpected
result
has been traced back to events that took place more than 600
years ago
in 1333.
The annual Leonids shower (so-called because the shooting stars
appear
to originate from the constellation of Leo) is caused by the
Earth
passing through the orbit of the comet Tempel-Tuttle. This
happens
every year, but especially brilliant displays occur every 33
years or
so, when the comet has passed close to the Sun, releasing more
dust
particles for Earth to plunge through.
Predicting the timing of such an event is notoriously difficult,
but
missing the best part of the event by 16 hours was a big error.
Now
three astronomers - Dr David Asher and Professor Mark Bailey, of
Armagh
Observatory, and Professor Vacheslav Emelyanenko, of South Ural
University in Chelyabinsk, in the Russian Federation - say that
we must
look back to 1333 for an explanation.
The display that many astronomers missed occurred as Earth passed
through an extremely dense, narrow stream of large dust grains
and
particles, up to several centimetres in diameter. The timing
suggested
that these particles were in an orbit rather different from that
of the
main stream of small grains shed by the comet, and that they left
the
comet's nucleus many hundreds of years ago.
They calculated the motion of large dust grains ejected from the
comet
at each of the last 42 occasions when it made its closest
approach to
the Sun. They identified September 1333 as the time when most of
the
observed particles must have been released. These particles did
not
spread out in space because of a dynamical process known as
resonance,
the same process that keeps Saturn's rings in place.
In this case it is the influence of Jupiter which kept the dust
cloud
intact instead of allowing it to spread around the entire orbit
of the
comet.
In the latest issue of Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical
Society, they report that the particles occupy a rather short
arc,
forming a dense strand of large particles separate from the
"normal"
strands of small particles, which lie ahead of and behind the
comet.
The calculations show that in November 1998 the arc of particles
released in 1333 cut right through Earth's orbit, and the
calculated
time for when this happened matched the observed meteor shower
maximum
to the hour.
The researchers are not expecting a repeat performance of bright
fireballs in November this year. But a strong "normal"
display is
likely, peaking at about 2am on November 18, because of
meteoroids
ejected from comet Tempel-Tuttle in 1866, 1899 and 1932 that have
not
yet had time to disperse around the comet's orbit.
Copyright 1999, The Times Newspapers Ltd.
=====================
(3) LYRIDS ACTIVITY REPORT 1999
From Rainer Arlt <rarlt@aip.de>
-------------------------------------
I M O S h o w e r C i r c u l a r
-------------------------------------
LYRIDS 1999
The number of Lyrid observations which have reached the Visual
Commission is not large. Reports by 13 observers as listed below
came
in during the last week. We are very grateful to these quick
reports
allowing a first look at the 1999 Lyrid activity.
The ZHR profile indicates slightly higher activity of the Lyrids
in
1999 compared with most of the recent years which showed maximum
activity of ZHR~15 to 20. However, 6 out of the 7 periods
averaging to
the highest ZHR of 32 in the early morning of April 23
comprise the
reports of only two observers at the same location.
If the enhanced activity is confirmed by additional observations,
it
would not manifest an outburst in the sense of the 1982 or older
activity peaks, since those were very short in duration. The
reports
giving ZHR=32 cover the period April 22, 2315 -- April 23, 0216
UT and
do not show a clear peak pattern. The centre at a solar longitude
of
32.5 deg agrees moderately well with the maximum of the annual
Lyrid
activity between 32.0 and 32.4 deg.
BAKLA Lars Bakmann (Denmark)
EINSH Shlomi Eini (Israel)
ENZFR Frank Enzlein (Germany)
LEVAN Anna Levina (Israel)
LINMI Mike Linnolt (USA)
MARPI Pierre Martin (Canada)
MIKMR Mark Mikutis (USA)
MOUPH Philippe Moussette (Canada)
NATSV Sven Nather (Germany)
RENJU Jurgen Rendtel (Germany)
STOWE Wes Stone (USA)
VANER Erwin van Ballegoij (Aruba)
YOUKI Kim Youmans (USA)
----------------------------------------------
Date Time Sollong
nObs nLYR ZHR +-
----------------------------------------------
1999/04/18 0820 27.9
4 10 6.1 3.8
1999/04/19 0400 28.7
8 15 3.0 1.5
1999/04/20 0255 29.6
11 30 4.8 1.8
1999/04/21 0045 30.5
6 28 7.9 3.0
1999/04/21 0815 30.8
6 21 6.5 2.8
1999/04/22 0225 31.5
6 33 22.7 7.9
1999/04/22 0715 31.7
5 28 14.9 5.6
1999/04/23 0045 32.5
7 50 32.4 9.2
1999/04/23 0855 32.8
4 41 11.8 3.7
1999/04/24 0850 33.8
2 6 5.7 4.7
----------------------------------------------
Solar longitudes are given with respect to equinox J2000.0; the
ZHR is
computed with a population index r=2.9 and a zenith correction
exponent
of gamma=1. nObs is the number of observing periods in the
average, it
is not the number of different observers contributing. nLYR is
the
number of Lyrids seen in these periods.
---
Rainer Arlt, 1999 April 27.
=====================
(4) A BRIEF HISTORY OF MINOR PLANET RESEARCH
From Richard Kowalski <bitnik@bitnik.com>
For those of you who have an interest, I have up loaded the paper
that
I presented at MPAPW99; A Brief History of Minor Planet Research.
A number of people requested I put this online and it will also
appear
on the CD-ROM version of the proceedings.
It can be located at http://www.bitnik.com/mp/briefhistory.zip
As you can see from the URL it is zipped and when uncompressed
you will
have an MS WORD document.
I will convert this paper in HTML format for those of you who
can't
read WORD documents very soon.
--
Richard
============
(5) NEW SCENARIOS FOR PUNCTUATED SOLAR SYSTEM EVOLUTION
From Emilio Spedicato <EMILIO@IBGUNIV.UNIBG.IT>
Dear Benny,
the following is the program of a workshop to be held this June
in
Milano and Bergamo. Please advertise it on your network.
Regards
Emilio Spedicato
NEW SCENARIOS FOR THE SOLAR SYSTEM EVOLUTION AND CONSEQUENCES
IN HISTORY OF EARTH AND MAN
Venue: Milano, Sala Conferenze della Provincia, via
Corridoni 16,
June 7 and 8
Bergamo, Sala dei Giuristi,
Citta' Alta, June 9
Registration: participation is free on first come first served
basis.
Qualified participants may get a reserved seat by contacting the
organizers
at SCENARI@UNIBG.IT.
Additional information can be found in the web
site: www.unibg.it/convegni/NEW_SCENARIOS
This workshop deals with a wide range of scientific topics
based upon
developments in the research of the last twenty years that
cast new
light in the recent past of planet Earth and consequently
in the
ancient history of Homo Sapiens, where the roots are to be found
of the mythological and religious heritage.
Among the important new findings in astronomy are the discovery
of the
chaoticity of the planetary orbits and the presence of
agents that can
catastrophically interact with the Earth at time
spans that are not
too long with the span of presence of Homo Sapiens on the Earth.
Some
of these questions are presented and discussed by well known
specialists
in the field. The more general, complex and fascinating scenario
of the
whole universe evolution is for completeness discussed in both
the version
presently accepted by the majority of scientists (the big
bang scenario)
and in possible alternative versions.
The session on geology discusses a number of questions associated
with
the crucial and difficult problem of accurately dating
events in the
far past but more importantly for the consequences on the dating
of the
Homo Sapiens history on the Earth (radiocarbon,
dendrochronological and
radiometrical dating techniques). The problem of climatic
variations
and glaciations in the late pleistocene and holocene, so
important to
understand the Homo Sapiens past, is discussed. Two particular
topics
that have always fascinated man, namely the deluge
traditions and the
antiquity of the great Giza Sphynx, are discussed from the
geologist
point of view.
The session on anthropology reviews work done by genetists and
linguists, that shows a tree of evolution of human presence in
the
world from a very likely unique original source. Evidence of
contacts
before Columbus between America and Europe will be
discussed. The
hypothesis of civilization on Earth well before the third
millennium
will also be considered. A non standard interpretation will be
given of
who were the Nephilim and the Annunaki in the biblical and
sumerian
records.
The session on mythologies and religions presents new paradigms
that
explain the remarkably complex structure of ancient myths
and
religions, where common and recurrent elements are
present. Two
alternative proposals for the Atlantis legend are discussed
and the
seminal role of Immanuel Velikovsky in proposing that
catastrophical
events of extraterrestrial origin have affected human kind till
relatively (about 700 BC) recent times is discussed.
Finally the last session The view of institutional
religions presents
the point of view of the main world religions on the archaic
original
elements that are to be found at their source.
It is believed that the workshop will allow a useful interaction
between specialists in different fields and will contribute to a
better
knowledge of the roots of Homo Sapiens, so intimately woven with
the
complex history of planet Earth and the Solar System.
SPEAKERS AND TOPICS
Milano, June 7 and 8, 1999
ASTRONOMY
Prof. G. Cavalleri, University of Brescia
The evolution of the Universe under the big bang scenario
Prof. E. Recami, University of Bergamo
Open problems II cosmology
Prof. T. Van Flandern, University of Maryland
Evidence of the explosion of a planet in the solar
system circa 3.2 million years ago
Prof. H. Arp, Max Planck Institute, Munich
Open problems I in cosmology
Dr. V. Clube, Oxford University
Deism and revelation or cosmological and anthropic
principles
Prof. Valsecchi, University of Rome
Dinamica di piccoli corpi in orbita di collisione con la
Terra
Dr. F. Barbiero, Centro Camuno di Studi Preistorici
Changes in the rotation axis of the Earth after
asteroid/cometary
impacts
GEOLOGY
Prof. F. Ricci Lucchi, University of Bologna
Between philosophy of nature and philosophy of science:
the case of geology
Prof. G. Ferrara, University of Pisa
Natural radionuclides and geocronology
Prof. M. Baillie, Queens University, Belfast
Dendrochonological dating, results and open problems
Prof. G. Orombelli, University of Milano
Climatic variations in last 200.000 years derived from
polar ice
analysis
Prof. F. Wezel, Academy of Lincei
A review of main geological changes on Earth during Homo
Sapiens time
Prof. A. Tollmann, Wien University
The deluge in the peoples traditions and geological
evidence
Prof. R. Schoch, University of Boston
Erosion processes on the great Sphynx and its dating
ANTHROPOLOGY
D. Eccott, London
Evidence of contacts between America and the Old
World before
Columbus
Prof. Cavalli Sforza, Stanford University
What genetics says about human history
Prof. E. Anati, Centro Camuno di Studi Preistorici
Val Camonica, a unique example of a civilization with
continuous
documentation over 8000 years
A. Alford, Walsall
Who were the Nephilim and the Annunaki in the biblical and
sumerian
records?
Bergamo, June 9, 1999, Sala dei Giuristi
NEW SCENARIOS ON THE ORIGIN OF MYTHOLOGIES AND RELIGIONS
Dr. D. Talbott, Portland
The golden age, its collapse and the origin of classical
religions
R. Bauval, Cairo
Evidence of civilization on Earth well before the third
millennium BC
F. Barbiero, Centro Camuno Studi Preistorici, Capo di Ponte
Was Atlantis in Antarctica? Arguments in favour
E. Spedicato, Bergamo University
Was Atlantis in Hispaniola? Arguments in favour
C. Ginenthal, New York
Immanuel Velikovsky and his view of a catastrophical
recent
history of the Earth
THE VIEW OF INSTITUTIONAL RELIGIONS
Prof. G. Borgonovo, Venegono Seminary
The archaic elements in Genesis: the view from Catholicism
Prof. R. Laras, Milan Head Rabbi
The archaic elements in Genesis: the view from Hebraism
Prof. Dalil Boubakeur, Paris Mosque
The Meccah, the Kaaba and the ancient roots of Islam
Dr. Techeng Kong, the 79-th descendent of Confucius, Taiwan
Preconfucian roots of Confucianism
----------------------------------------
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