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Three Tidbit Stories

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Our Time
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Our Time.

3 random tidbit stories in about 3 minutes.

1.

Our Time Story.

Lebombo bone: First Lunar Phase Counter.

42,200 BCE
44,200 to 43,000 years old according to 24 radiocarbon tests

The Lebombo Bone is one of the oldest known mathematical artifacts in human history. This ancient tool is a baboon fibula with 29 distinct notches carved into it. It was discovered in the Lebombo Mountains between South Africa and Swaziland. It was initially dated to approximately 35,000 years, but 24 radiocarbon tests since date it back about 44,000 years.

The Lebombo Bone was potentially used as a lunar phase counter or a simple tally stick. The series of notches may represent a lunar calendar, which would imply that early humans were tracking lunar phases for either ritualistic purposes or as a practical method for keeping time, possibly related to menstrual cycles or seasonal changes.

This artifact belongs to the Middle Stone Age, a period characterized by the development of more advanced stone tool technologies and the emergence of modern human behavior, including symbolic thought and perhaps early forms of arithmetic. The Lebombo Bone suggests that early humans engaged in complex thinking and had the capacity for abstract thought and planning.

The discovery of the Lebombo Bone and similar artifacts underscores the cognitive capabilities of early humans and their ability to use numerical concepts long before the development of written language or formal systems of numeration. This artifact, along with others like the Ishango Bone from Central Africa, indicates that the concept of counting and numerical recording was a part of human culture across different regions of Africa tens of thousands of years ago.

 


I wrote that Our Time Story, 

and posted it to TST 2 years ago.

2.

Our Time Story.

Apatosaurus.

Lived ~156 to 151 million years ago.
21 to 23 meters (69 to 75 feet): Heavier, more muscular.

Apatosaurus was the heavy-built classic sauropod: long neck, long tail, pillar-like legs, and a body made for bulk more than elegance. It lived in the Late Jurassic of North America and was one of the giant plant-eaters sharing that world with other famous sauropods like Diplodocus and Brachiosaurus. Modern descriptions tend to emphasize that it was more robust than Diplodocus, with a thicker neck and a more massive overall frame.

This is also the dinosaur at the center of the old naming drama. For much of the 20th century, people were told that Brontosaurus was really just Apatosaurus. That was the standard view for over a hundred years, though more recent work has argued that Brontosaurus may deserve to be separate again. So when people of our generation grew up hearing “Brontosaurus isn’t real,” what they were really hearing was the older taxonomic judgment, not that the animal itself was imaginary.

 


I wrote that Our Time Story, 

and posted it to TST 5 months ago.

3.

Our Time FAQ.

What is the self-driving EV taxi tipping point?.

The Self-driving EV Taxi Tipping Point

The self-driving EV taxi tipping point refers to the moment when autonomous electric taxis become more prevalent than traditional, individually-owned vehicles in urban transportation systems. This milestone marks a significant transformation in how cities manage transport, and it’s coming quick. 

Ever dream of hailing a silent, electric cab that drives itself? That’s the self-driving EV taxi tipping point – the moment these futuristic rides become the norm and that norm is just around the corner. On my Future Timeline I have us reaching this tipping point by 2040.

Questions like this are part of futurism, a field in philosophy that explores the potential consequences of human innovation and technological progress. Futurism is a forward-thinking approach that encourages us to imagine, analyze, and shape the future we want to create. By examining the self-driving EV taxi tipping point through a futurist lens, we can better understand the complex interplay of technological, economic, and social factors driving this transformation and prepare for the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.

For more future predictions and a deeper exploration of what might lie ahead, take the deep dive: explore The Future Timeline.

 


I wrote that Our Time FAQ, 

and posted it to TST 2 years ago.

The end. Refresh for another set.

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