Category: Anthropology

The Carrington Event of 1859

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On September 1st and September 2nd in 1859 the Carrington Event occurred. English Astronomer Richard Carrington was reviewing an image of the sun when he noticed a bright flash upon the imagery. Carrington did not know what this anomaly was but soon learned first hand as approximately 20 hours later, chaos ensued. 200,000 kilometers of telegraph wire across the world collapsed, plugged in electrical items began to arc and produce power even when unplugged, batteries recharged without a power source, compass needles went haywire, and the Aurora Borealis could be viewed all across the world, in places which would never normally bare witness to such an event (e.g. Cuba and India etc.). This incident will inevitably occur again which is why the U.S. government is constructing the Thirty Meter Telescope upon Mauna Kea at an altitude of 10,000‘ and the reason the Parker Solar Probe was sent to the sun in 2018. Mauna Kea means “white mountain” in ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi, the Hawaiian language. The rational of the U.S. government is that the Carrington Event affected the world greatly when electricity was in its infancy, therefore how much greater would it affect the modern world with the knowledge that many objects during the modern day are connected to the internet and/or are electrical in some capacity. The Carrington Event is the first mass coronal ejection reported in history

The Origin of the Christian Halo

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The halo is not a Christian construct as in early depictions, Jesus Christ had a wand to perform miracles. The halo was put forth because as Christian artwork grew in its characters depicted, Christ needed to appear more divine and stand out which is why he was provided a halo. Paegan’s borrowed the halo from Apollo, and the Christians borrowed the halo from the Paegan’s. The halo started off as lines coming from the head much like the look of the Statue of Liberty during the modern day. The spikes of the halo were designed to represent Christ’s solar divinity

The Earliest Discovered Sewing Tools for Surgery and Textiles

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The earliest discovered eyed needles designed for surgery are from 30,000 B.C. This specific artifact was discovered within a cave located in Aurignacia, France. Additionally, other ancient needles have been uncovered within the region of Altai Krai, Russia, specialist needles without an eye but with a split head designed to grip the thread. These tools which are crafted from bird bone by the Denisovans, date back to 40,000 B.C. – 30,000 B.C. Both discoveries indicate that early human beings had developed sophisticated tools and techniques for sewing, tools which could have been used for many tasks ranging from textile repairs to complex tasks like surgery

The Dietary Abstentions of Hindus, Muslims, and Buddhists

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Hindus do not consume beef because the cow is considered sacred within the Hindu religion. Those who are Muslim, do not consume pork because the pig is considered to be impure. Buddhists tend to avoid all variations of meat

The Etymology of “Curry Powder”

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The term “kaṟi”, referred to during the modern day as “curry”, is described within a mid 17th century Portuguese cookbook entitled the “East Indian Cookery Book” which was written by members of the British East India Company who traded with Tamil merchants along the Coromandel Coast of southeast India. Curry powder is referred to as such because one of the spice blends in the book which contains 2 or more spices is referred to as “kari podi” which has been Romanized to read as “curry powder”

The Accidental Discovery of Tea and the Agricultural Advents Developed by Chinese Emperor Jiang Shinian

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Tea was discovered entirely by accident. The first emperor of ancient China, Emperor Jiang Shinian (Shen Nung or Shennong) was boiling water in his palace courtyard when a tea leaf fell from above, and into the boiling pot. Due to the pleasant scent, Jiang ingested the water as it cooled and by coincidence discovered the activity of tea consumption. The name Jiang Shinian directly translates to mean “Devine Husbandman” within Mandarin, as it is believed Jiang developed multiple Chinese agricultural advents (e.g. crop cultivation for medicinal herbs, soil managment strategies, irrigation etc.). It should be noted, this account of the discovery of tea is believed to most likely be fictitious and mythological in origin by Chinese historians during the modern day

The Reason The Ganges River is Considered a Living Goddess Within Hinduism

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In Hinduism it is believed that Lord Shiva, one of the most important gods in Hinduism, absorbed the powers of the goddess Ganga as she fell from the heavens, and through the locks of his hair. This is why the Ganges River is believed to be a living goddess, with the power to wash away the sins of a lifetime. It is written in Hindu mythology that Ganga will cease to exist in the Age of Downfall which seems to be the case as the glaciers which feed the Ganges River have been retreating at a steady pace

The Reason No World Flag Uses the Color Purple

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No country on Earth has purple within their national flag.  This is because until the modern day, acquiring purple dye was immeasurably difficult, derived from specialized snails found only in Algeria, with 1 gram of dye taking 10,000 snails to be killed and harvested

The Period When Classical Artwork Transitioned From 2 Dimensions (2D) to 3 Dimensions (3D)

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Art broke away from being two dimensional caricatures with the invention of the camera obscura which had the painter sit in a dark room, with the window blocked out with a small hole in it. Doing so would cause the image outside the window to be projected into the room of the painter and onto the canvas, which could then be traced. The image, as with cameras and the human brain is brought in upside down, so the painter would be forced to trace upside down. During the Tudor period, lenses were developed for the first time which allowed artists to learn to paint with realism because after tracing and creating the minute details of each face correctly, they could focus on light and shadow. The camera obscura acted as a starting point to stencil a face. Boards were put down the back of the person sitting so that they would sit perfectly still allowing the painter to sketch them in perfect render. This technology acted effectively the first camera and in that, the first glimmer of Renaissance artwork

How the Rabies Virus Pathogen Infects and Propagates Within Mammalian Hosts

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The rabies virus causes hostility within its host because aggressive behavior (e.g. biting etc.) is crucial for the transmission of the pathogen due to the fact that the virus is primarily secreted within the saliva of its hosts, although it can be present within and therefore transmitted via other tissues as well (e.g. infected brain tissue coming into contact with the open wound of a host etc.). The rabies virus primarily affects the central nervous system of its host, involving both the brain and spinal cord, causing inflammation of the brain referred to as “encephalitis”, and triggering various other neurological symptoms which help aide propogation (e.g. aggression, confusion, hallucinations etc.). The rabies virus travels along nerves from the wound site of the infection to the brain, where it then replicates and causes inflammation. Once the rabies virus reaches the brain, it can spread rapidly throughout the body via the central nervous system, leading to severe neurological symptoms and death in 100% of cases if left untreated