Kathleen Mary 's posts with tag: evolution
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=948Nm34arfA George Carlin died recently. Leon found this humor piece about the earth -- it is not only funny --- its very, very TRUE... he even got his geology and earth history correct !!
Link: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,363442,00.htmlIce on Mars? Well, well well - won't have to bring our own ice to the first 4th of July on Mars colony I - good news, folks !! (oh, please let it be ice!)
Computer glitches on the other hand - oh, great ! and not one geek within a million miles.
Link: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,360101,00.htmlSomehow, I am skeptical.. really skeptical... think of how vulnerable they would have been to attack - unless we got their locomotion wrong,too - and no armor, can't run and how long did it take them to take off?
 Note : this is a fragment of a short story... I think I know where I was going with it.. I should change the name of the Cat - Kalen is the name of the one of the main characters in my novel, of all things!!! so here it goes. It's Sci-Fi , folks. And, Yes, someday before I die I am going to write one real honest-to-goodness sci-fi story !!! Oh - this is dedicated to Craxton, the best orange tabby ever to exist... love you, Craxton, you died way too young! **** Kalen, the Cat was a PSI companion animal in the Space corps. He sat on the end of the counter in the kitchen of the explorer ship, Star Tamer, still dozing as cats do when they are not quite awake. His Tech had just commented that she could really use his help and to wake up, immediately, please... "There are" purred the cat "Two things I never do one is use the a nasty cat box, the other is tell my human what to do" "I've noticed about the cat box thing, Kalen and I must say I find it discouraging and of course your faith in me is lovely but your advice at this time would be appreciated." " And what, oh furless one, is the problem?" "Well, we are on this somewhat primitive world, both explorers, You read minds and I am a 4-1 Tech Historian " "That doesn't seem to be a problem – anyway, I have my role you have yours , a totally agreeable situ...." The cat sat half-squinting, looking far too elegant to be anything but a pampered feline. "Kalen, watch it !"she growled with annoyance. "Watch what ?" the cat craned his neck and swiveled his ears. "Quit your feline literalism and listen carefully-- this world is too violent for jokes and too primitive for repartee!" " Sissss ..." hissed the cat looking quite affronted by the human's insolence. "Don't be impolite ,they told us what that really means in tech school, and I was shocked!" " Damn the man who gave cats brains"she added, muttering. " And damn the cat who took them "answered the cat. " Anyway, we already had brains, all that was given was amperage..we had plenty of brains all ready we'd been living with humans as pets, had'd we?" he purred with self satisfaction. "Will you hold your paws for just a moment and listen?" Interrupted the tech "This is developing into an argument, Kalen, please for the sake of our ten years as friends, can't we just talk? These primitives are -1 on the tech scale. we are here to get them moving up the "ladder" - the welfare of the universe and all that, remember? But they keep refusing my overtures. They refused the weapons I offered and later said killing was- primitive! And one said greens were better food when I suggested killing some of the game in this area to add calories to their diet... They ran from fire and laughed at the hammers - they like living in caves they said!". " What am I to do, Kalen? I can't exactly send a message back - " Sorry, these prims refuse to evolve, I tried...." The cat shook his head in exaggerated despair. " Oh, I don't know why not - evolution seems like a bad deal to me - You get thumbs, sore backs and right hands , not to mention guilty consciences. You seem to think every creature in the universe wants to do the same stupid thing! 'Sapient Beings Burden' and all that... I have the best of both worlds - speech and a natural conscience,I like being an animal, I'm comfortable on all fours." He rose to his feet and stretched front legs out in front of him like a yogi saluting the sun. "Well,stop talking, then, for a moment, at least" She begged the cat. " Give a human a paw and he'll take a tail." quipped the cat. " Hell, next time I'm bringing a dog ." She whispered just loud enough for the cat to hear. " If you don't find out why these prims don't want technology ....." "What did you say?" She interrupted. "I said oh, advanced consciousness, that if you don't find out why these primitive humanoids don't want to play human race to your Prometheus your next job is going to be correcting term papers, back-you -know -where, I'll be given to someone WHO can do the job at hand - by Bast's tail, I do hope they will clean my box more often! ” A slow smile bloomed. for the first time in a half an hour Marissa became conscious of the coffee cup in her hand and after a sip threw it down the drain. She looked over her shoulder at the feline, Kalen was cleaning himself looking every inch the orange tabby he actually was, he was actually a lovely creature. Large as all the genetically engineered of his species was, yet, keeping that wonder nonchalant grace that humans have been admiring since Ancient Egypt. Yes, she agreed- it wasn't fear that caused the prims to refuse her 'gifts'; they just did not want to be bothered. Something else -but what could ever replace technology or the fascinating hold it had on human consciousness? She decided to talk to Tarle, the wise woman. The men just grunted and smiled -or ---ran like hell - but a woman, yes, a woman understands words without sounds. " Coming to the camp with me ? " She asked the cat . Naturally, wouldn't miss it, Tarle's a good petter" I'm sorry, Marissa I really have tried to get into their heads - I don't understand their I- forms they're strannn--ge it's as if they knew what I was doing and were sending confused images – like a busy cell phone connection –." Marissa smiled at her feline friend and picked him up and gave him a hug. " I know, Kalen, your the best Reader a Tech ever had. There's depth to everything on this planet.... a feeling I have, I don't have your mental skills but I see and feel it." She frowned but Kalen rubbed his face against hers and purred as so to comfort her; a few moments, later, she put him back on the table went and dressed. The camp was in a clearing at the edge of the forest it was more primitive than any that Marissa had ever seen even in the tech films at Mars U.of T. She could not believe that any sane entity would chose to live like this. She found Tarle scrapping a gourd with a stick."the people " ate little else than the vegetables and fruits they found on the floor of the forest, the entire tribe acted as foragers, not just the women and children.. They wore few clothes, all woven by the women on stand-up looms and survived winter by migrating south of here, about 100 miles.. She found them a fascinating study but was getting discouraged, they broke every rule in the sociology and anthropology books.. intelligence without curiosity? High I.Q.s without meat proteins to feed the higher functions? She Saluted the medicine woman and sat down. They had totally accepted her and just called her 'the stranger' - this planet's fauna was dangerous but the sentients were the nicest and kindest entities any Tech had ever met anywhere in the galaxy. She watched the woman's hands she had watched slower typists on computers back home. There was skill and experience in evidence, a coordination that pointed to a very high level of intelligence . "Dinner?" she asked "Yes" Tarle smiled and nodded " What bothers you, stranger? " I have come to the people with gifts and they refuse them." "We do not ask for gifts and welcome you without them." " But the gifts mean much. Warmth in winter and food without effort, homes of wood,not caves." she answered, motioning to the opening of the woman's dwelling, a wide, well ventilated cave. There were many paintings on the walls that she swore were not ceremonial but decorative. "Caves are free and the men like the move in cool leafless season, it brings them great pleasure to see their old wandering places." “Tarle, why don't I see any other tribes?” she asked. “There are other families. We who are the people tend to stay isolated from other families...not for any reason but that we like it that way...” “Have you ever fought – disagreed with one another?” “No, not in my memory. There is enough food. Sometimes ,we might claim land they do not but then we sit and talk... come to an agreement – we always have enough men and women to carry on to the next generation, though---” “Why don't you want to evolve, Tarle.” “Evolve?” Strange word for a kind stranger. What is 'evolve' ? “Change, explore, grow, mature, use more complex tools and weapons, build your homes, hunt to eat animal meat, join with other tribes to build larger populations... maybe even great cities in the distant future.. and well, dare I say this – the stars – Tarle, don't you ever wonder what they are? ” The woman cleared her throat and then smiled, knowingly. “We tried that sort of thing once, didn't like it much so we chose this life – our elders tell the story, very strange story, 'tis is, also... about great cities of glass... and, yes, even the stars which are like our own beloved Lord Splendor Ras” “You WHAT?” Marrisa interrupted.
Ah, the fool's day ! I am no good with surprises - sorry - My husband is a little better at the practical joke.. he's better at EVERYTHING ! 
I could say that I woke up this morning and realized I had grown two inches --- I WISH !    Now, that would be a joke !!!!!!!!!!
The Fool (The foolish one, the practical joker, the seeker, the class clown, the town fool, etc...) is a sacred image. Very few people understand this, today. We make fun of people calling them dorks, jackasses or naive fools, or 40 year old virgins. etc.. - but the fool is actually a sacred person set apart from the rest of us - in the tarot card above he is directly and clearly identified with the Seeker after Truth. The Native Americans (who in my head will always be Indians no matter how much they insist on the longer name, they were not native to this shore, alas,guys, we are all immigrants - the difference is when !) treated mad men with respect.. there were several incidents in the 19th. century when they left a white man alone because they thought he was crazy. They knew what for I speak - that the mad are holy.
The Fool - (And I am not talking about people that actually believe in global warming or the movies of Michael Moore, 9/11 conspiracies or the aliens eating their homework dreams or what ever you are personally for or against!) Is the Seeker - he is also called the Mystic. He is crazy - mad, actually - he really, honestly, completely believes that there is something more to life than mere matter, dancing atoms, hormones, science, Brittany Spears, Name that Jackass, latest fashions, diamond rings and communism -- he believes that there is another reality behind this reality - the realms of spirit and soul - and they are the TRUTH behind appearances. and - by all that is Good & Just - He is going to go searching for that other reality, even put his well being, perhaps his life on the line - or over the cliff, because he really believes there is something more to life. No one can stop him - his little dog is trying - (that is actually is body and mind barking its meaningless drivel - it is also that Lord and Master of this era --- REASON demanding the man's worship but he is ignoring it...) but He is going to jump off the cliff of Matter (material realm) into his dreams, visions, intuitions, hopes, prayers and desires... he may crash to the ground far below - or he may soar to the heavens on the wings of spirit - towards that brilliant sun behind him, perhaps - is that the sun or is that God that blesses him with warmth & life? It doesn't matter. He has made his decision and is committed, he's even put what earthly things he thought might help him on the journey in a little sack that he carries on that stick - which looks like a magician's staff, doesn't it? you can see his decision to just JUMP, it is the white flower he carries in his hand... white symbolizes innocent desire and purity of purpose. The number of the card is important, also - "0" that moment just before we take an action... scientists even have a name for it - the singularity - that moment before birth, that moment before all things began - the zero point of creation... he is ready to jump - shall he soar to the stars, to God, to the Divine ONE or is he really the stupid fool, the nonsensical one that refused to believe that "This (the earth, matter) is all there is.."
And it doesn't matter if he does fall and fall until his life ends on the rocks below... it is the intention with which he set out that really matters. He is NOW and Forever On the Path - next lifetime he will be born again and will again try that cliff - He will someday soar, no matter how many times he crashes to the rocks. The Seeker, once he begins seeking, never gives up.
I use the Fool to great effect in the novel I am writing - May Day the herbalist James chooses one of the young pages or servants in the castle and gives him certain herbs that dislodges him from his normal consciousness. He is the FOOL, incarnate - he can do anything he wants that day - he can sing silly or nasty ditties, dance along the allures, pull the veils off ladies, stand upside down in the throne room for an hour, treat even the king and his family with disrespect, bow to servants as if they were kings and queens and demand that nobles fetch his dinner ... (there are certain limits but we won't mention those in polite society, will we?  ... ) and he can predict/utter prophecies, also .. anyone can walk up to him and ask for a prophecy of the coming year... the fool because his feet are in both worlds will and often, in my novel, does give a prophecy, in fact, several. He wears the traditional outfit of fools everywhere - funny clothes, silly hat of conflicting colors, two colored hose and carries a rattle.
Some of my favorite FOOLS throughout history & literature :
The first walking fish that left water, First human to say "what's that thing?" and got burned by fire. The first man to go over that distant hill, the first man to leave Africa, Socrates, Moses, David, St. Francis of Assisi, Ramon Lull, Joanne of Arc, Giordano Bruno, Cyrano De Bergerac (from the play, scene 2, not history!) Frodo Baggins and his Uncle Bilbo and of course, don't forget that great master of the foolish, Don Quixote.
And this is the short list !!
So, be a fool, my friends. It will irritate those who worship their own self important egos, it will get you called all manner of names by scientists and religious people, it will drive your friends to wrath and disregard, the insults to you will become unceasing amusement to your spirit, and, yet, that cliff still awaits you -- will you step off into the unknown or not?
And, no, I didn't mention FAITH >>> but you have good sense - or is that foolish sense -its implied, people, isn't it ?
Link: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080320/india_nm/india326067Murder mysteries are not always easy to solve; not when the victims have been dead 65 million years. Problem with this : why did the small mammals survive, exactly? poisons in the atmosphere would kill them, also, wouldn't they?
I found just some small articles about the subject. One was a kid's book! There are several examples of the miniature mammoths. (I think the proper semi-technical word is "pygmy") Evidence has been found in the northern Islands. (Wrangel(l) island belongs to Russia.) and some islands off of California - I read one mention that suggested even some in the Mediterranean area. Why am I making such big thing about these relatively little fur balls? The end of the Holocene age was not as abrupt or as devastating as extinction event that killed off dinosaurs - for one thing, no major asteroids visits occurred (there were several minor ones near this period including the ones in South Carolina.) But nothing major. Many important species did survive it - including us. It was actually good news for the planet - After many centuries of long ice ages and interglacialal periods we were finally tending towards warmer, wetter weather. Mammoths didn't die off completely - they survived as pygmies on islands (protected habitat no major predators but not a lot of food.) until 1700 B.C. (even later than I thought.) This is a direct quote from Wikipedia - most of what I found was rather a short mention & explanation - this one was at the bottom of an article about miniature/pygmy elephants. Wrangel Island During the last ice age, woolly mammoths (Mammuthus primigenius) lived on Wrangel Island in the Arctic Ocean. It has been shown that mammoths survived on Wrangel Island until 1700 B.C.E., the most recent survival of any known mammoth population. Wrangel Island is thought to have become separated from the mainland by 12,000 years BP. Survival of a mammoth population may be explained by local topography and climatic features, which permitted relictual preservation of communities of steppe plants. Wrangel Island mammoths ranged from 180-230 cm in shoulder height and were for a time considered "dwarf mammoths".[6] However this classification has been re-evaluated and since the Second International Mammoth Conference in 1999, these mammoths are no longer considered to be true "dwarf mammoths".[7] *************** And yep, they are still debating whether they were dwarf mammoths. Well, they were shorter, weighted less.. etc. Did you all know that I am the size of dwarf human being ? I am 4ft. 9 inches.... well, within the range... only problem is I am not a true dwarf. I am just short. Very short. Came by it honestly, too. My grandma Rosa was 4'-6"  What I am suggesting is this : Animals, including us need three things to survive : 1.Decent temperatures, climate - I would add that this varies greatly species wise. We love 70 degrees. A crocodile likes it steamy and hot. Polar Bears can die in hot weather. 2.Food sources good and plentiful 3.No major asteroid strikes/ volcanic explosions - relatively stable & safe living conditions. When things get bad : 1.Luck favors the small - they can run and hide. Wait out the fire storm/flood/drought (whatever). Mr. TRex couldn't hide in a burrow while the fire falls from the sky. Mr. proto-rat could and did. 2. High populations are very good - small populations are very bad.The more of you the better chance that just a few will survive. The larger animals always have smaller populations than the little guys. This is simply a calorie management problem. Big implies needing more food. (read about T-Rexs' or the sauropods' eating habits.) Note: I remember hearing that predator populations, whether they are mammals or dinosaurs or even reptiles are always smaller, naturally than herbivores. Check this one out? 3. Sometimes species make it through a crisis/extinction event which make little sense... Robert Bakker made a big issue out of the reptile species that survived the end of the mesozoic age, suggesting the asteroid strike wasn't as major as most people assume.. 4.We can't know which species would survive a modern asteroid strike. It matters how big the rock was, whether any of us knew it was coming, where it hit, how much force it struck with - (I remember reading that a rock asteroid and a comet exert different amounts of force. Check this out?) 5. Dean is right - to a degree. I don't know any one reason why dinosaurs or dinosaur-like creatures couldn't come into being/evolve once again - It would mean a complete restart - with only a few small reptile species surviving the otherwise complete striping of the tree of life. I would suggest it would be unlikely - something so devastating would more or less destroy life on earth. They wouldn't be facing our ancestors the proto-mammals who were (I understand) all large slow moving creatures at the end of the Permian. I understand scientists don't even know if they gave live birth to their off-spring or had fur. They would be facing true, small, fast moving, fast breeding, warm blooded, fur bearing mammals. Remember the birds and their eggs. Dinosaurs had eggs and would have eggs, also. Rats + eggs = dinner for the rats. Well I gota go. Duty calls, dear friends. Have a great day. This is way too much fun!
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