Easter Island (Rapa Nui)
gp note: The importance of Easter Island is primarily as an ecological morality play. Yes, we are all fascinated by the Monuments and there is an intense interest in the archeological investigations concerning them. But first consider the following:
Have you ever wondered what a world without trees would look like? Close your eyes, and try to imagine a desolate Earth. There’d be no more paper, and everyone would have to resort to technological use—that is, if anyone was left.Trees are a crucial factor to our existence not only because they produce paper, lumber and chewing gum, but because they serve an important role in the carbon cycle. And because of our ever-increasing population of 6.7 billion, that seemingly distant future is nearing each and every day. People have proposed many solutions to this environmental issue called deforestation, including either shipping everyone to the Moon or…to just stop cutting trees! (article continued after this first video).
Easter Island (Rapa Nui)-A Sign and Warning to the World (2.42 minutes)
Even if our species survived the devastation of deforestation, life as we know it would be very different from now in 2011, where only half of the world’s forests are gone. Scientists speculate our great-grandchildren might not even have the chance to visit the great Amazon rainforest in 50 years! Yet on such a dry, lifeless world, no one would be left to experience the disastrous consequences of deforestation. Little tribulations like the decrease of property value and potential increase of urban noise become irrelevant compared to other calamities like roadside spills, animal wastes, water runoff into streams, and sewage/farm chemicals left unfiltered. For now, let’s find out the local and global effects of deforestation:
by Naseem S.
Recent History of Easter Island
Lessons from Easter Island | Carl Lipo | TEDxBermuda
Click here for The Mystery of Rapa Nui – written and produced by Jonathan Renouf
What Really Happened On Easter Island?
Lidar – Instead of Radar – to make new archeological discoveries. Radar uses sound waves bouncing off of objects. Lidar uses lasers – but it is expensive. Watch this – 2.11 minutes:
National Geographic Live! – Walking with Giants: How the Easter Island Moai Moved
Horizon Video on Easter Island – 48 minutes (click here)
National geographic Documentary | Secrets of Easter Island
Mysteries of Easter Island – no attribution – which were edited out
GP Note:
Google CEO Eric Schmidt told the audience at the 2010 Techonomy Conference in Lake Tahoe: “The world is not ready for the technology revolution that will be happening to them relatively soon. One, because people don’t understand what is going to happen and two, because of the compounding effect that is occurring. Between the dawn of civilization through 2003, there was just five exabytes of information created. That much information is now created every two days, and the pace is increasing. No wonder we are sort of over-loaded. People aren”t ready for the technology revolution that’s going to happen to them. The real issue is user-generated content. People are describing enormous amounts of things abut themselves on video and photographs and so forth..If you take the combination of power laws plus optionality around choices and absolute scale, then you get the chaotic nature of what we are all doing.”
Click here to see that conference.
GP Note 2: Archeologists around the world a making new discoveries and re-creating the past with innovative scientific and technological techniques, including rebuilding ancient warships from all periods. Many videos on the internet enable us to participate in these discoveries. So we shall have to talk to Nicholas Carr about this.
Nicholas Carr: What the Internet is Doing to our minds
Nicholas Carr: Is the Internet Making Us Stupid?
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Cracking the Mayan Code – Nova (CLICK HERE FOR LINK)
CRACKING THE MAYAN CODE | NOVA Science documentary
The ancient Maya civilization of Central America left behind an intricate and mysterious hieroglyphic script, carved on monuments, painted on pottery, and drawn in handmade bark-paper books. For centuries, scholars considered it too complex ever to understand—until recently, when an ingenious series of breakthroughs finally cracked the code and unleashed a torrent of new insights into the Mayas’ turbulent past. For the first time, NOVA presents the epic inside story of how the decoding was done—traveling to the remote jungles of southern Mexico and Central America to investigate how the code was broken and what Maya writings now reveal.
Deciphering the Maya Script
Coe is the Charles J. MacCurdy Professor of Anthropology, Emeritus at Yale University. He is recognized for his work in the field of the ethnohistory of Mesoamerica, the historical archaeology of northeastern United States, and writing systems. He is also a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the Royal Anthropological Institute, and the Mexican Society of Anthropology. Born in New York in 1929, Coe received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1959. He began his academic career as an Assistant Professor at the University of Tennessee (1958-1960), after which he joined the Yale University faculty. Coe has authored numerous world-renowned books on Mesoamerica including Breaking the Maya Code (1992). This book constitutes an informed account of one of the most exciting adventures of our age, the extraordinary breakthrough in deciphering the inscribed remains of Mayan monuments. Coe’s other works include The Maya (1966), America’s First Civilization: Discovering the Olmec (1968), and The True History of Chocolate (1996).
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The Inca Empire -Nova
The Inca Empire, also known as the Inka Empire or Incan Empire, was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The administrative, political, and military center of the empire was located in Cusco in modern-day Peru. The Inca civilization arose from the highlands of Peru sometime in the early 13th century, and the last Inca stronghold was conquered by the Spanish in 1
Published on Sep 18, 2014
The Inca Empire, also known as the Inka Empire or Incan Empire, was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The administrative, political, and military center of the empire was located in Cusco in modern-day Peru. The Inca civilization arose from the highlands of Peru sometime in the early 13th century, and the last Inca stronghold was conquered by the Spanish in 1572.
From 1438 to 1533, the Incas used a variety of methods, from conquest to peaceful assimilation, to incorporate a large portion of western South America, centered on the Andean mountain ranges, including, besides Peru, large parts of modern Ecuador, western and south central Bolivia, northwest Argentina, north and central Chile, and a small part of southern Colombia into a state comparable to the historical empires of Eurasia. The official language of the empire was Quechua, although hundreds of local languages and dialects of Quechua were spoken. Many local forms of worship persisted in the empire, most of them concerning local sacred Huacas, but the Inca leadership encouraged the worship of Inti—their sun god—and imposed its sovereignty above other cults such as that of Pachamama.[4] The Incas considered their king, the Sapa Inca, to be the “son of the sun
The Inca Masters of the Clouds – BBC Production CLICK HERE
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Civilization – a BBC Series featuring Niall Ferguson Part 1
Civilization Part 2 – BBC Series by Niall Ferguson
Civilization Part 3 – BBC Series by Niall Ferguson
Civilization Pt4 – BBC Series
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Civilization Part 5 – BBC Series by Niall Ferguson
Civilization – Is The West History: Episode 06 Work
Civilization Part 6.2 – BBC Series by Niall Ferguson
The Rise and Decline of Nations and Civilizations
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