Showing posts with label africa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label africa. Show all posts

Africans May Have Visited Australia 1,000 Years Ago

When Captain Cook "discovered" Australia in 1770 it was known that Southeast Asians and even Chinese seafarers had landed in Australia. Portuguese and Dutch ships had also stopped to replenish water supplies. It was not considered possible that people had landed in Australia from another continent.

In the 1940s mysterious coins were discovered. While some were coins used by the Dutch East India Company others were identified as coming from the Kilwas Sultanate of Tanzania in Africa. They were used in the prominent trading center 1,000 years ago.

If Africa was trading using Australia as a location en route Aboriginals could have come into contact with African merchants. Though the coins were found on the fringe of the Australian north coast, getting fresh water would have been important for ships traveling through the waters of the Wessel Islands.

Aboriginals would have been curious about any "strange" looking new people. Africans would certainly have been different. Drawings of European ships have been found on cave walls. They were drawn by Aboriginals after contact with Europeans. Perhaps evidence of African visitations can be located.
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History
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Past Interaction of Indians With Australan Aboriginals Is Questionable

Australia's physical connection with the mainland of Asia disappeared 4,000 years ago. It is assumed that people from India crossed into Australia before this time. There is little proof of this. Indians and Australian Aboriginals are distinctly different. Aboriginals are more like Africans, while Indians appear to be black Caucasians.

DNA tests on both gene pools do show a link. However, this link could be directly from Africa 70,000 years ago. A similar thing could be said about Neanderthal genes being carried by some modern humans. The markers could have been there before both species split off from a common ancestor. The fact that Neanderthals have a different number of chromosomes is dismissed by some scientists when it is known that offspring of related species with differing chromosomes can have offspring but they are invariably "mules" who have infertile young.

Australian Aboriginals are the earliest of Mankind to leave Africa. There were many waves of movement out of Africa. Southeast Asia is much closer to Australia than India. When Europeans first arrived in Queensland there were two types of Aboriginals, One very dark skinned with robust features like natives of New Guinea, and a lighter skinned more gracile kind.

India is divided socially today into very dark skinned people who have been in the country for a large period of time, probably those left behind on the Aboriginal migration to Australia, and lighter skinned Indians who arrived more recently. There may not have been later interaction from those who remained in India on the very first journey from Africa and Australian Aboriginals..
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Anthropology
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New Mustering System to Revolutionize Farming

Cattle mustering has always been a manual labor enterprise.  Little has changed for centuries.  Some minor improvements have occurred but the new Remote Livestock Management System (RLMS) developed by Precision Pastoral Pty Ltd is a leap forward to more efficiency. 

Computer Hardware and software are combined in a practical control method.  All animals have to drink.  When Cattle drink at a watering point they are guided through a pathway that identifies, weighs and drafts animals into particular holding pens.  Those who are not ready for market are automatically released back into the paddock.  The system is solar powered so there are virtually no running costs.  Cattle tags are easily read.

Growth rates, calving and fertility are all monitored.  Feed supplements can also be effectively regulated.  This will improve profitability for farmers.  They have been waiting a long time for something like this.  Degradation in rangeland can be solved by relocation into new pastures via the gates.

The new computer mustering system is seen as a revolution in cattle and sheep production.  There are strong prospects for its adoption in north and south America, Asia and Africa.
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Agriculture
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After Years of Incubation - Sleeping Sickness

A Frenchman was taken by rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo and tortured. He escaped and a few years later emigrated to Canada with his wife and children. He began hearing voices and became paranoid fearing someone was trying to kill him.

Post traumatic stress disorder was diagnosed by a doctor. Antidepressants did not work. He got headaches and pain in his back. He deteriorated lost his appetite, became weak and dizzy, and contemplated suicide.

X-rays showed enlarged lymph nodes. An MRI indicated abnormality in the brain. A spinal tap found a very high white blood cell count and most importantly, eel-like protozoa - trypanosomes. After years of incubation, the man had developed sleeping sickness.

This disease is endemic in Africa. It is contracted by being bitten by the tsetse fly which carries the trypanosomiasis protozoa. Death occurs with extreme exhaustion. It can have a myriad of conflicting symptoms. Treatment by a few drugs is possible but also dangerous. The usual outcome is death from the disease or from the treatment.
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Health
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Mysterious Circles in Africa

Bare circles of earth ringed with tall grass are found all over Africa. They have been a mystery with all kinds of stories told about them. Now a partial explanation has been found. Walter Tschinkel has been studying the phenomenon since 2005. At first he thought they were caused by termites which poisoned and killed off the grass. He realized his mistake when he analyzed satellite images - the circles were alive!

The circles would disappear then appear somewhere else. However, for the most part circles remain in one place for up to 75 years. The average life was 41 years. Rain tends to be the main factor leading to formation of a new circle. Tschinkel has not discovered the real cause. If fertile earth is put inside a circle grass still will not grow. Something is going on in a chemical or "living" sense.

Locals do not want the mystery solved. They make a living out of them. For a fee tourists "adopt" a circle, then keep up-to-date by viewing it on Google Earth. There is a real fascination for them. Like the crop circles elsewhere in the world human intervention cannot be ruled out, but the mystery continues as Walter Tschinkel works hard on his chosen project.
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Science
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Research Program to Determine Climate Change Impact on Man's Move Out of Africa

It is known that the climate change caused by an asteroid hitting the Earth 65 million years ago led to the extinction of dinosaurs and the rise of mammals. Other extremes in climate pushed humans to move out of Africa. The National Research Council in the US has released a report calling for funding for more research into climate change and the human movement issue.

Paleoanthropologists and geologists plan the following program: find new fossil sites with remote sensing tools to determine when new species arose: drill ancient lake beds in Africa for more information on human evolution: develop regional models on how climate differed in parts of Africa over the last 100,000 years: and educate the general community on how climate change led to Man moving across the world.

A meeting is to take place on 31st March next year to discuss the determinations of the report and how such a program can be initiated. The first priority, of course, is funding. The present economic climate does not bode well in this regard. However, scientific endeavours must more forward.
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Science
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The Hobbit a Small Human on Flores Is Proven

Many people have written off the "hobbit" find as being just a joke, a sad hoax played on society. However, finding tiny "humans" is, apparently, real. Most scientists have accepted it though some still scoff at the whole issue without looking into it.

In 2004 archaeologists in Indonesia found skeletons, not fossils, skeletons of small human-like creatures who lived on the island of Flores as recently as 18,000 years ago. While humans spread around the world, these small "humans" carried on hunting pygmy elephants and other local species in isolation. Flint flakes found in million year old volcanic sediment show hobbit activity there a very long time ago.

The question is - When did the early humans leave Africa? Considering Man left the continent no more than 100,000 years ago why did other excursions of early man end in extinction? At least one group survived long enough to enlighten us about the numerous times humans left Africa. Evidence from bone structure shows that the hobbit descended from an earlier type of human than the small-brained Homo erectus which left two million years ago.

Spending time considering how hobbit came to be on Flores is quite irrelevant. Whether they went by boat, raft or just walked when a land bridge appeared, they got there and thrived.
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New Prehistoric Crocodiles Found

A new type of crocodile now extinct has been found in northern Africa. It had three sets of fangs like wild boar tusks for killing other animals. Another kind of crocodile was found nearby. This one used a flat, wide snout to catch fish. A third species of crocodile also located close by was only three feet long. This had "buckteeth" for eating plants. It was a rich find with two other known kinds of crocodile being dug up there.

The National Geographic Society sponsored the successful project. The new crocodiles show that the region had unique animals 100 million years ago. much different than in surrounding regions. These reptiles could run along at quite a fast pace then dive into the water and swim off. Unlike modern crocodiles which have legs on the side of their bodies these had longer legs set underneath. Luckily there were no people around for them to chase and eat.

The three new species are as follows:

1) BoarCroc (Kaprosuchus saharicus) 20 feet in length with three pairs of fangs sticking out of the side of their mouths like a warthog.

2) PancakeCroc (Laganosuchus thaumastos) again 20 feet long with shorter legs, laid in wait for fish grasping them with spiked teeth set in flat wide jaws in a head 3 feet long.

3) RatCroc (Araripesuchus rattoides) 3 feet from nose to tail, had buckteeth and dug for plants and grubs.
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