Tag Archives: Civilizations

Global Warming and Drought: The Factors Behind the Indus Civilization’s Collapse

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Indus Valley Civilization ruins in Moenjodaro, Pakistan

Sergey-73/Shutterstock

A changing climate and intense droughts significantly impacted the Indus Valley Civilization, a remarkable urban society that thrived approximately 4,000 years ago in present-day Pakistan and India.

This civilization established settlements along the Indus River and its tributaries, extending their reach beyond other prominent ancient cultures like those in Egypt and Mesopotamia. Known as the Harappan civilization, they constructed various cities, with Harappa being a notable hub housing around 35,000 residents.

While their writing system remains largely undeciphered, the Harappans excelled in water management, featuring extensive cisterns and a complex sewage system made of terracotta pipes and brick channels. Unfortunately, these advancements could not endure the prolonged hot and arid conditions over millennia.

“There were four significant droughts between the pre-Harappan and late Harappan periods,” says Vimal Mishra, a researcher at the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar. “This led to ongoing migrations to regions with more reliable water sources.”

Prior studies indicated that a global drought 4,200 years ago weakened monsoon rains in the Indus Valley, contributing to the civilizations’ downfall. However, Mishra and his colleagues posit that the decline was a more gradual process.

Using three climate models, the researchers estimated rainfall patterns in the area, validating their conclusions with data from stalactites, stalagmites, and lake sediments.

The findings revealed that from 4,400 to 3,400 years ago, the Indus Valley Civilization experienced four prolonged droughts, each lasting at least 85 years, accompanied by a temperature increase of about 0.5°C.

Additional modeling suggested a drop in the Indus River’s water levels. It is believed that the Harappans honored the river and relied on its annual floods for irrigation of crops such as wheat and barley, congregating around waterways. Continued droughts ultimately forced them to abandon their cities and resettle in the foothills of the Himalayas and the Ganges plains.

Research indicates that warming and drying trends may have been initiated by natural climate cycles such as El Niño and the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation, along with feedback mechanisms including vegetation loss and dust pollution.

This study stands out for its innovative integration of modeling and proxy measurements; however, it advocates for future research to consider evapotranspiration (the transfer of water from land to the atmosphere), particularly significant in hot climates. According to Sebastian Breitenbach from Northumbria University, UK, the current pace of climate change outstrips that of the Harappans, necessitating that policymakers explore adaptive strategies, including improved water storage systems and groundwater conservation.

“These studies serve as a cautionary tale,” Breitenbach remarks, “providing insights into potential future scenarios.”

Cairo and Alexandria: The Cradle of Ancient Science in Egypt

Embark on an extraordinary voyage through Cairo and Alexandria, two of Egypt’s most legendary cities, where ancient history intertwines with contemporary allure.

Topics:

  • climate change/
  • archeology

Source: www.newscientist.com

Foreign Civilizations Could Be Monitoring Us: Here’s How

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Future research indicates that even with equivalent technological advancement, radio signals from Earth’s airports could be detected by alien astronomers.

Radar systems employed to monitor aircraft in major hubs like London’s Heathrow and New York’s JFK emit radio waves as formidable as those produced by extraterrestrial civilizations from 200 light years away, according to researchers.

The study, led by University of Manchester doctoral candidate Ramilo Kais Said, explored how radio signals from both civilian and military radar operations disperse as they exit Earth, predicting their appearance as they approach nearby stars.

Recent preliminary results revealed at the National Astronomical Conference in Durham, UK, indicate that radar stations at global airports are transmitting signals at a remarkable total of 2,000 trillion watts.

This intensity is sufficient for the most sensitive telescope on the planet, Green Bank Telescope, to detect an alien planet located 200 light years away.

Within our solar neighborhood is a system containing over 1,000 stars, with the nearest, Proxima Centauri, being just 4.2 light years distant.

However, whether alien astronomers can interpret these signals remains uncertain.

As Earth’s rotation reveals various airports, the signal strength fluctuates within a 24-hour cycle, making it clear that it is not of artificial origin.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpg50ktszj4

What does radar from Earth’s airports look like to aliens on planets around the AU microscope 32 light years away?

A more distinct signal could arise from military radar. While these signals are generally weaker than those from airport facilities, they are more focused and likely to flash in a manner resembling lighthouses, thus appearing unnatural.

Nonetheless, the primary limitation on who can observe our air traffic is not the radar systems’ power but rather the laws of physics. The earliest radar systems made their debut in 1935. Since radio waves travel at the speed of light, even these early, weaker signals only covered a distance of 90 light years through space.

This research also aids those on Earth in their quest for signs of extraterrestrial intelligence, helping to gauge the extent to which civilizations similar to ours can be detected.

“Our findings suggest that radar signals unintentionally generated by any planet with advanced technology and complex aviation systems could serve as a universal indicator of intelligent life,” said Caisse Saide.

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Source: www.sciencefocus.com

Civilians and Military Radar Leakage Exposes Our Presence to Extraterrestrial Civilizations, Studies Indicate

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A recent study by researchers at the University of Manchester explored Earth’s radar systems as a potential technological signature detectable by extraterrestrial observers. While SETI typically emphasizes intentional transmissions, this study focused on the unintended electromagnetic emissions from civilian and military radar systems at airports. These technologies constitute vital components of advanced civilizations and produce radio emissions that can be identified across interstellar distances. The authors investigated how the global distribution of radar installations influences the temporal characteristics of Earth’s radio signatures as viewed from six specific star systems: Bernard Star, HD 40307, AU Microscope, HD 216520, and LHS 475. The results indicate that radar systems represent one of the most detectable and unintended technological signatures of advanced civilizations, paving the way for the possible detection of extraterrestrial intelligence.

Ramiro Saide et al. examined how extraterrestrial leaks are concealed from Earth up to 200 light-years away if they possessed a radio telescope similar to ours. Image credit: Gemini AI.

“Our investigation revealed that the airport radar systems, which manage air traffic, emit a staggering total of 2×1015 radio signals,” stated Ramilo Kais Said, a student at the University of Manchester.

“To provide context, the nearest potentially habitable exoplanet beyond our solar system is Proxima Centauri B, located four light-years away.”

“These signals will continue to reach spacecraft utilizing current technology for thousands of years.”

Military radar systems, which are more focused and directional, create unique emissions akin to lighthouse beams that illuminate specific fields of view.14

“To observers at interstellar distances with advanced radio telescopes, these emissions would obviously appear artificial,” remarked Kaisse Saide.

“Indeed, these military signals can appear up to 100 times more intense from a particular vantage point in the universe, contingent on the observer’s location.”

“Our findings indicate that radar signals unintentionally produced by any technologically advanced civilization with complex aviation systems could serve as a universal sign of intelligent life.”

This research not only guides the search for extraterrestrial civilizations by pinpointing promising technological signatures but also enhances our understanding of how human technology is perceived from space.

“Insights into how our signals propagate through space offer valuable lessons on safeguarding our radio spectrum for communication and designing future radar systems,” stated Professor Michael Garrett from the University of Manchester.

“The methods we developed for modeling and detecting these faint signals hold promise for applications in astronomy, planetary defense, and assessing the impacts of human technology on the space environment.”

“Thus, our work contributes to scientific endeavors addressing the question, ‘Are we alone?'” Kaisse Saide noted.

The researchers presented their results today at the National Astronomical Conference of the Royal Astronomical Society 2025 in Durham, England.

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Ramiro Saide et al. investigate airport civilian and military radar emissions as detectable markers for extraterrestrial civilizations. NAM 2025

Source: www.sci.news

Ancient Ice Age civilizations constructed elaborate fireplaces primarily fueled by wood burning

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Archaeologists discovered and analyzed three hearths at the Upper Paleolithic site of Korman ‘9 (45,000-10,000 years ago) on the right bank of the Dniester River in Ukraine. Their findings show that ice age humans built different types of hearths, using mostly wood, but perhaps using bones and fat to burn fire.

Murphy et al. Provides a high-resolution Earth Character Study on three combustion features related to the profession of Epigravet on the Kolman 9 site in Ukraine, with age dropping to the last glacial maximum.

It is widely assumed that an important tool for human survival, especially in cold weather, is the ability to create, maintain and use fires.

Many literature provides data on the benefits of fire use regarding human evolution and its fundamental function in everyday life.

More recent research also shows the labor-intensive nature of using fireworks. The implication of fire use was not only an essential survival tool, but also played an important role in the way hunter-gatherer groups organize themselves.

This includes how hunter-gatherers acquire resources such as wooden fuel, how to initiate and maintain a fire if they store or cache fuel materials for future use, or how sites and activities are organized around the combustion function.

“The fire didn’t just keep it warm. It was also essential for cooking, making tools and social gatherings,” said Dr. Philip R. Nigust, an archaeologist at the University of Vienna.

“We know that fires have spread around this period, but there is little evidence from the height of the ice age,” added Dr. William Murfrey, an archaeologist at the University of Algarve.

In the current study, the researchers focused on the archaeological site of Komann 9 in Ukraine.

“Korman ‘9 is an Upper Paleolithic site on a north facing terrace on the right bank of the Dniester River in Ukraine,” they said.

“This site was discovered in 2012 while researching a site along the Dniester River.”

Through microstratigraphic analysis, microtransfer and colorimetric analysis, scientists have identified three flat wood furnaces.

One interesting discovery to come is that these fires have reached temperatures above 600 degrees Celsius, demonstrating a sophisticated mastery of fireworks even in the face of extreme environmental stresses.

The analysis also shows that humans use wood as the main fuel during peak ice ages, and charcoal analysis indicates spruce wood. However, other fuels such as bones and fat may be used.

“Some of the animal bones found on the site were burned in the fire at temperatures above 650 degrees Celsius,” said Dr. Majolaine D. Bosch, a museum of the University of Vienna zoo physician, Austrian Academy of Sciences and the Museum of Natural History.

“We are currently investigating whether they are being used as fuel or if they were accidentally burned.”

All three fireplaces are open and flat. However, the new results suggest that fire use was refined as it is likely that fireplaces were constructed and used in different ways each season.

One of the three fireplaces is large and thick, suggesting that a higher temperature was achieved here.

“People had full control over the fire and knew how to use it in a variety of ways depending on the purpose of the fire,” Dr. Nigust said.

“However, our results also show that these hunter-gatherers used the same location at different times of the year during their annual migration.”

Survey results Published in the journal Geography.

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William Chase Murfrey et al. 2025. The use of fires during the last Glacier largest era: evidence from the epigravet of Kolmann 9 in the Middle Donierster Valley in Ukraine. Geography 40(2): E70006; doi: 10.1002/gea.70006

Source: www.sci.news

The ghost cities of Amazon are reshaping civilization’s history

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Sasithorn Puapangkasemsuk/Getty Images

When you imagine an environment that has been largely untouched by humans, the Amazon rainforest might come to mind. After all, most of this South American landscape is covered with dense vegetation, suggesting a corner of the world that humans never had control over. Here, there must have been no deforestation, no agricultural revolution, no cities. It seems like a pristine environment.

At least, that's what we thought. But a very different picture is emerging. Archaeologists working with indigenous communities are being shown the remains of crumbling cities, and remote sensing techniques such as lidar are revealing traces of vast ghost cities. With so much evidence of ancient human activity, it is believed that millions of people lived in the pre-Columbian Amazon, some of them in large urban centres complete with road networks, temples and pyramids.

But this study reveals more than that. It also provides evidence that, paradoxically, conventional views of the Amazon are not entirely off the mark. For example, although ancient Amazonians managed the land intensively, they did not deforest. And, although they developed complex societies, they never underwent a major agricultural revolution. This may suggest that pre-Columbian Amazonians broke the mold of human cultural development traditionally thought of as an inexorable progression from hunting and gathering to agriculture to urban complexity. The truth is more surprising. In fact, we are now coming to understand that there was no such mold. Civilizations arose in different ways. What seems like an anomaly in the Amazon is actually a shining example of a process as vibrant and diverse as the rainforest itself.

in spite of…

Source: www.newscientist.com