Mitchell Langbert's Blog: Farmers Find Hayseed (Really) Solution to Oil Spill
simple lets... see if we can support these guys
Dao Dude //
simple lets... see if we can support these guys
simple lets... see if we can support these guys
The discovery of DNA variability, holographic blueprints and the symphony of life
2006 12 04
By Mike Adams | newstarget.com
Announced with great fanfare in late November, 2006, scientists have discovered that human DNA is far more variable than previously thought. Contrary to previous beliefs, as much as 10 percent of human genes vary wildly from one person to the next. The mainstream press is hailing the discovery and some sort of breakthrough that will shed light on so-called "incurable" diseases and give researchers the ability to create more targeted medicines. (There's always a pro-Pharma slant in the mainstream media isn't there?) In reality, this new DNA discovery explains why most pharmaceuticals don't work for most people.
More importantly, this discovery humbles us, and shows us that even our top scientists know less about human DNA than they once thought. Researching DNA is a lot like researching astronomy: the more we learn, the less we realize we know. It's as if every newly discovered fact unveils the existence of ten new questions we never knew existed.The mainstream media, in its usual limited view, is reporting this discovery as a breakthrough that will help scientists develop new drugs to treat disease. Every "Eureka!" moment having anything to do with the genetic code seems to lead the mainstream media to the same advertiser-pleasing conclusion, but they haven't even begun to realize the big story here. The real news in this discovery, you see, has nothing to do with pharmaceuticals or even medical science. It is larger and more profound than any of us could have possibly imagined.
Allow me to explain...
Where are all the missing blueprints?
Until today, it was widely believed that individual genes directly controlled physical traits in the human body (and even mental and behavioral traits, according to some), but now it turns out that a surprisingly large number of individuals have wild variations in their genetic code, such as multiple copies of the same gene or even entire genes that are missing from their DNA. And yet they're not walking around without a kidney, for example, or missing their left eyeball.
It's all quite shocking and rather difficult to explain from a Western point of view where scientists believe that DNA is like a computer program containing sequential instructions for building a physical organism. Truth is, there aren't enough genes in the human genome to even build a human being in the first place. A human has about 30,000 genes, yet an adult human has trillions of specialized cells governed by millions of different chemical reactions. How do 30,000 genes control all this?Only a few years ago (2001), humans were believed to have 100,000 genes while all simple life forms contained far fewer. But this assumption of humans being some "advanced" life form turned out to be utterly false. It turns out that the mustard weed contains the same number of genes as humans, and even the common mouse has nearly as many. From certain types of worms to common trees, there are many organisms on the planet that have very nearly the same number of genes as human beings (and some have more).
Even more surprising to most, human beings appear to actually be human-bacteria hybrids. We are not all human, in other words. At least 200 genes in our genetic code were mysteriously borrowed from bacteria, we now know. Nobody is sure how they got there (did early humans mate with bacteria? Odd...), but we are sure that they exist.
Furthermore, if you look at the composition of cells in the typical human body, and you start counting them all, you realize that most of the cells in the typical human body are not human. Read that again, if you need to. It's a shocking statement, but it's entirely true. The vast majority of cells contained in the human body are bacteria cells -- about 100 trillion of them for a typical human being.
In other words, when you walk around, most of the cells you're carrying with you are not even you. The importance of this is in understanding that the human organism does not exist in isolation to the world around it. Regardless of what we believe, we are all closer to nature than we think. In fact, we are literally living with nature inside us, permeating our cells and accounting for more of us than us ourselves.
Epigenetic factors
There's also no mention of epigenetics in all this news about the human genome. As recently understood -- to the great surprise of the hard science community, no doubt -- epigenetic factors control the expression of genes, activating or deactivating them based on environmental factors such as nutrition or exposure to synthetic chemicals.
Epigenetic factors are inherited, too, and passed from one generation to the next, meaning that if one woman suffers from chronic nutritional deficiencies when she conceives a child, the detrimental side effects of that nutritional deficiency will be passed down through multiple generations (at least four generations, according to Pottenger, but perhaps as many as seven according to others).So DNA is not the only archive of information that's passed from mother to child. Even if we understood everything about DNA, we would still lack the big picture unless we also understood epigenetic factors -- and most old-school researchers and Western scientists don't even believe in epigenetic factors, adhering to the outdated point of view that genes alone control everything, and that all disease is predetermined, with environmental factors having little or no effect.
The human genome reflects the patterns of nature
Most Western scientists currently believe the human genome is sort of like a biological computer program; a series of instructions that tells the cells how to construct a complete organism containing trillions of new cells. Of course, there's no real explanation as to how a mere 30,000 genes could oversee the construction, maintenance and operation of such a highly complex organism. As Francis Collins, director of the National Human Genome Research Institute, said, "It's astounding that we get by with so few protein-coding genes, but that seems to be sufficient because here we all are." It's hard to argue with logic like that.
Indeed, it does work. But not in the way Western scientists believe. My own personal theory of the human genome takes special note of the multiple copies of many genes that have now been observed across a wide spectrum of the human population. Some people carry one, two, three or even four copies of the same gene.If you look around in nature, where else do you notice copies of the same information? In harmonics, of course. A complex sound such as a single note on a violin is not made up of a simple square wave tone, it's made up of highly complex harmonics which give the violin its own tone and timbre, a sort of auditory personality. On an oscilloscope, these often appear as copies of the same underlying waveforms.
They're also called "overtones," and they're present throughout the human experience. Simple saying the word, "we," for example, involves shaping the mouth and tongue into an arrangement that creates complex, high-frequency overtones. The "ee" sound is the highest multi-frequency overtone sound created in human speech, but every vowel sound has its own unique pattern of repeating information. From low to high, it's "uuu" "ooo" "aaah" "eh" "eee."
Physically, a human being is more like musical expression than a set of construction blueprints. The human body has near-perfect symmetry and economies of expression through fractal geometry that are quite evident in the structure of the circulatory system, for example, or the nervous system. Just look at a drawing of veins and arteries and you'll notice the fractal patterns of geometry -- the same patterns you'll see drawn in the underside of a leaf, by the way.
The same is also true with human hair and skin cells. Every police detective knows that the human fingerprint is made up of readily identifiable patterns that are connected through a sort of biological artistry. In any human fingerprint, you'll notice the loops, swishes and curves that give strong clues to the underlying fractal geometry. Fingerprints aren't built with cellular bricks, they're built with repeating patterns that give us strong clues about the true structure of our DNA.
(Fractal geometry is also the dominant form of physical structure in nature, by the way. In fact, it was the study of plant leaves and mollusk shells that led to the discovery of fractal geometry.)
Throughout the human body, from the lining of the cells of the stomach to the structure of the eye, you find patterns that go way beyond mere construction blueprints. The human body is a symphony, a grand musical masterpiece played out in billions of variations across the planet.
And the DNA, in my view, is a holographic reflection of the whole being. The repeating patterns of genes and the symmetry of the double helix are all expressions of music. The human genome is a symphony, and it is through this symphony that we play the music of life. Combined with environmental factors and energetic factors (such as parental love), the symphony of human DNA creates a physical being. But it doesn't stop there. It also helps create the framework for an emotional being, an energetic being and a spiritual being.
Some scientists see nothing but cold, hard construction blueprints in that DNA. Others see God in the symphony, or Mother Nature directing the orchestra. What I see is a miracle of life, created with such masterful poetry and music that it is something to behold, to honor and to be humbled by. It is the ultimate statement of our connection to nature, for everywhere you look in nature, you see the same patterns we express, carried out in a range of melodies through the plants, animals and even the waters and skies. Looking closely at ourselves, we cannot help but notice nature. If we are keen observers, that is.
Western scientists refuse to hear the music
For Western scientists to think they've figured out the Human Genome, and that they can now use it to design new synthetic drugs that hijack the biochemical orchestra of the human body, is the epitome of medical arrogance. They refuse to recognize the miracle of human life, believing instead in the superiority of Man over nature. They would destroy a thousand symphonies to sell another million dollars worth of pharmaceuticals. Every day, they pad their fragile egos with "heroic" surgical procedures and organ transplants that grind the orchestra to a halt.
They are the music stoppers, the nature deniers... the rationalists. They believe all things are compartmentalized and separated. There is no connection between living things, according to the rationalists, and living creatures are nothing more than players in some cruel game called survival of the fittest.But I say we are all unique, creative expressions of the same universal tune. Even our very blueprint -- our DNA -- is a symphony of expression that will never be understood until researchers start to think holographically rather than sequentially. DNA is a wonderful mystery, as is any good symphony, or novel, or collection of poetry. And just as a novel is more than the sum of its words, a human being is more than the accounting of her DNA. Let me give you a simple example to make this all more apparent.
In the paragraph below, each word represents a gene. What is this paragraph trying to say?
a, a, a, above, air, all, almost, alone, and, and, and, anywhere, as, breadth, brought, by, cluster, color, combining, crate, crooked, dropped, evening, fine, first-water, follow, freedom, from, glossy, greater, hair, hazy, i, i, image, in, in, in, in, it, it, it, it, it, i've, i've, i've, jewel, later, little, luster, might, moon, moon, new, of, of, of, of, on, one, one, or, ornament, over, please, pulled, put, run, seen, shining, shining, slowly, some, sorts, start, the, the, the, the, the, the, tilted, tree-and-farmhouse, trees, tried, tried, try, walking, wallow, water, with, with, wonder, you, your.
Presented as such, it seems to be nonsense, right? This is the Western view of the human genome, where each "word" (or gene) stands on its own, existing in some isolated way for the purpose of governing the construction of some correlated physical structure. Western scientists even use the term, "words" to describe genes, and they describe the variation in the protein sequences as different "spellings" of those words. Yet they completely miss the grammar of those words: the music, the poetry, the linguistics.
So let's take those same words (genes) and rearrange them to create music. Or poetry, as it were, thanks to Robert Frost:
The Freedom of the MoonDo you see the difference? They are the same words as the nonsense paragraph shown earlier, but now suddenly the words create something far more complex and intelligent than the sum of their parts. Through the arrangement of the words, or the symphony of words, Robert Frost takes us on a journey that touches on the human experience, our relationship with nature and the meaning of life itself. All this has been brought forth by a set of words that seemed meaningless when read in isolated, absent the context of their interrelationships (or holographic relationships).I've tried the new moon tilted in the air
Above a hazy tree-and-farmhouse cluster
As you might try a jewel in your hair.
I've tried it fine with little breadth of luster,
Alone, or in one ornament combining
With one first-water start almost shining.I put it shining anywhere I please.
By walking slowly on some evening later,
I've pulled it from a crate of crooked trees,
And brought it over glossy water, greater,
And dropped it in, and seen the image wallow,
The color run, all sorts of wonder follow.DNA is poetry, you see. And as long as Western scientists continue to look at genes in isolation, they will only see a scramble of isolated words whose meaning remains forever elusive. But genuine, curious scientists who are true enough to their own hearts to take a leap of faith at believing in the symphony of nature will find something far different in human DNA. They will find poetry, symmetry, harmonics... and a song of life that, if truly understood, would humble even the most brilliant among us.
You see, this year's discovery of widespread variability in the genetic code -- and gene copies, and missing genes -- is not something to be viewed as a way to sell more drugs. That view is childish. It is insulting to nature herself. This discovery is far more profound. It gives us an important clue that can help humankind remember where it came from. It reminds us that we are part of nature, not its conquerors or masters. We are, in fact, an expression of the very phenomena we are attempting to understand, and if we read the poetry of DNA correctly, we will realize that life itself is not about the accumulation of wealth, or stuff, or power over others, but rather the discovery of self.
And "self" does not exist in isolation. We are, in every way imaginable, intertwined. We are all made of the same stuff, wrought from the same patterns of nature, and in fact, formulated from the same musical notes played out in five billion unique but compatible tunes. With this discovery, Western science has concluded we are all more different from each other than previously thought, but I believe it is evidence that we are all just unique verses of the same universal poem.
By the way, if you enjoyed this article, you may also enjoy a free report I've authored entitled, How to End Cruelty to Animals, People and Nature. - Mike
Article from: http://www.newstarget.com/021175.html
DeoxyriboNucleic Acid (DNA)
Phil your cup with some of this.
Police escort student out of class after refusal to recite Pledge of Allegiance
A middle school teacher in Montgomery County, Maryland, will have to apologize to a 13-year-old student after yelling at her and having her escorted out of class by school police when the student refused to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.
According to the ACLU of Maryland, a 13-year-old female student at Roberto Clemente Middle School in Germantown refused to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance on Jan. 27. The teacher reportedly ordered the girl out into the hallway, where he threatened the girl with detention and then sent her to the school counselor's office.
The next day, when the student again refused to stand for the pledge, the teacher called school officers to remove her from the classroom and take her to the counselor's office once again.
"When the student%u2019s mother reached out to an assistant principal for help in dealing with the teacher%u2019s abusive and improper actions, the official said her daughter should instead apologize for her 'defiance.' The student did apologize, twice," the ACLU states.
The right to sit silently during the Pledge of Allegiance has been held up by the US Supreme Court, and is enshrined in Maryland state law and Mongtomery County Public Schools' own policies, reports the Washington Post.
Story continues below..."No one will be permitted to intentionally embarrass you if you choose not to participate," says the school district's handbook, according to TheGazette.net in Maryland.
The ACLU and the girl's mother declined to identify the girl. They say the student, now 14, has been "traumatized" by the experience, including taunting from fellow students, and has not returned to the school since the incident.
Neither the ACLU nor the school district would identify the teacher involved.
The girl's mother says the way the teacher "bellowed" at her daughter was inappropriate and the school should take disciplinary action against the teacher, reports TheGazette.net.
"It's an even bigger problem because he did it to a child in front of a group of other children," the mother said. "On top of that, the school didn't protect her. I thought they would protect her, and that's why I let her go to that school. I was disappointed."
The turning point evidently came when the ACLU of Maryland sent a letter (PDF) to the school district asking for an apology.
"Expression of patriotism in unsettling times certainly is a worthy and understandable emotion," the letter stated. "But, as the Supreme Court recognizes, that expression is best honored by venerating the civil liberties and freedoms enshrined in the Constitution and not by losing patience with those whose views or actions do not conform to those of the majority."
The teacher's actions were "a violation of our regulations, and we're in the process of rectifying the situation," Montgomery Public Schools spokesperson Dana Tofig told TheGazette.net. Tofig said the teacher would apologize to the student, but would not say if any disciplinary action would be taken against the teacher.
The president of the county's teachers' union, Doug Prouty, told the Washington Examiner that he supports the move to have the teacher apologize.
"My initial thought is yes, but we would need to know all of the details," Prouty said.
School officials say several conflicts involving the Pledge of Allegiance arise every year in Maryland, but most are resolved quietly.
Share this article:
SPONSORED BY:
History in the Remaking
A temple complex in Turkey that predates even the pyramids is rewriting the story of human evolution.
Berthold Steinhilber / Laif-ReduxA pillar at the Gobekli Tepe temple near Sanliurfa, Turkey, the oldest known temple in the worldBy Patrick Symmes | NEWSWEEKPublished Feb 19, 2010From the magazine issue dated Mar 1, 2010
Email To A Friend
Please fill in the following information and we'll email this link.
SPONSORED BY
They call it potbelly hill, after the soft, round contour of this final lookout in southeastern Turkey. To the north are forested mountains. East of the hill lies the biblical plain of Harran, and to the south is the Syrian border, visible 20 miles away, pointing toward the ancient lands of Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent, the region that gave rise to human civilization. And under our feet, according to archeologist Klaus Schmidt, are the stones that mark the spot%u2014the exact spot%u2014where humans began that ascent.
Standing on the hill at dawn, overseeing a team of 40 Kurdish diggers, the German-born archeologist waves a hand over his discovery here, a revolution in the story of human origins. Schmidt has uncovered a vast and beautiful temple complex, a structure so ancient that it may be the very first thing human beings ever built. The site isn't just old, it redefines old: the temple was built 11,500 years ago%u2014a staggering 7,000 years before the Great Pyramid, and more than 6,000 years before Stonehenge first took shape. The ruins are so early that they predate villages, pottery, domesticated animals, and even agriculture%u2014the first embers of civilization. In fact, Schmidt thinks the temple itself, built after the end of the last Ice Age by hunter-gatherers, became that ember%u2014the spark that launched mankind toward farming, urban life, and all that followed.
PHOTOS
Global Greats
With pundits speculating about the end of American global dominance, a look back on the rise and fall of the world's great powers.
G�bekli Tepe%u2014the name in Turkish for "potbelly hill"%u2014lays art and religion squarely at the start of that journey. After a dozen years of patient work, Schmidt has uncovered what he thinks is definitive proof that a huge ceremonial site flourished here, a "Rome of the Ice Age," as he puts it, where hunter-gatherers met to build a complex religious community. Across the hill, he has found carved and polished circles of stone, with terrazzo flooring and double benches. All the circles feature massive T-shaped pillars that evoke the monoliths of Easter Island.
Though not as large as Stonehenge%u2014the biggest circle is 30 yards across, the tallest pillars 17 feet high%u2014the ruins are astonishing in number. Last year Schmidt found his third and fourth examples of the temples. Ground-penetrating radar indicates that another 15 to 20 such monumental ruins lie under the surface. Schmidt's German-Turkish team has also uncovered some 50 of the huge pillars, including two found in his most recent dig season that are not just the biggest yet, but, according to carbon dating, are the oldest monumental artworks in the world.
The new discoveries are finally beginning to reshape the slow-moving consensus of archeology. G�bekli Tepe is "unbelievably big and amazing, at a ridiculously early date," according to Ian Hodder, director of Stanford's archeology program. Enthusing over the "huge great stones and fantastic, highly refined art" at G�bekli, Hodder%u2014who has spent decades on rival Neolithic sites%u2014says: "Many people think that it changes everything%u2026It overturns the whole apple cart. All our theories were wrong."
Schmidt's thesis is simple and bold: it was the urge to worship that brought mankind together in the very first urban conglomerations. The need to build and maintain this temple, he says, drove the builders to seek stable food sources, like grains and animals that could be domesticated, and then to settle down to guard their new way of life. The temple begat the city.
- 1
- 2
- 3
- Next Page �
BLACK CIVILIZATIONS OF
ANCIENT AMERICA (MUU-LAN),
MEXICO (XI)
Gigantic stone head of Negritic African
during the Olmec (Xi) CivilizationBy Paul Barton
The earliest people in the Americas were people of the Negritic African race, who entered the Americas perhaps as early as 100,000 years ago, by way of the bering straight and about thirty thousand years ago in a worldwide maritime undertaking that included journeys from the then wet and lake filled Sahara towards the Indian Ocean and the Pacific, and from West Africa across the Atlantic Ocean towards the Americas.
According to the Gladwin Thesis, this ancient journey occurred, particularly about 75,000 years ago and included Black Pygmies, Black Negritic peoples and Black Australoids similar to the Aboriginal Black people of Australia and parts of Asia, including India.
Ancient African terracotta portraits 1000 B.C. to 500 B.C.
Recent discoveries in the field of linguistics and other methods have shown without a doubt, that the ancient Olmecs of Mexico, known as the Xi People, came originally from West Africa and were of the Mende African ethnic stock. According to Clyde A. Winters and other writers (see Clyde A. Winters website), the Mende script was discovered on some of the ancient Olmec monuments of Mexico and were found to be identical to the very same script used by the Mende people of West Africa. Although the carbon fourteen testing date for the presence of the Black Olmecs or Xi People is about 1500 B.C., journies to the Mexico and the Southern United States may have come from West Africa much earlier, particularly around five thousand years before Christ. That conclusion is based on the finding of an African native cotton that was discovered in North America. It's only possible manner of arriving where it was found had to have been through human hands. At that period in West African history and even before, civilization was in full bloom in the Western Sahara in what is today Mauritania. One of Africa's earliest civilizations, the Zingh Empire, existed and may have lived in what was a lake filled, wet and fertile Sahara, where ships criss-crossed from place to place.
ANCIENT AFRICAN KINGDOMS PRODUCED
OLMEC TYPE CULTURESThe ancient kingdoms of West Africa which occupied the Coastal forest belt from Cameroon to Guinea had trading relationships with other Africans dating back to prehistoric times. However, by 1500 B.C., these ancient kingdoms not only traded along the Ivory Coast, but with the Phoenicians and other peoples. They expanded their trade to the Americas, where the evidence for an ancient African presence is overwhelming. The kingdoms which came to be known by Arabs and Europeans during the Middle Ages were already well established when much of Western Europe was still inhabited by Celtic tribes. By the 5th Century B.C., the Phoenicians were running comercial ships to several West African kingdoms. During that period, iron had been in use for about one thousand years and terracotta art was being produced at a great level of craftsmanship. Stone was also being carved with naturalistic perfection and later, bronze was being used to make various tools and instruments, as well as beautifully naturalistic works of art.
history o history
Every dolphin's gone surfin'! Stunning pictures as hundreds play among some monster waves
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 10:41 PM on 17th February 2010These huge breakers would put the fear of God into most surfers. But when you're a dolphin, they can only mean one thing: Playtime.
Gliding effortlessly through the ocean these masters of the ocean made light work of waves up to 25 feet high.
In pods of up to 400, the creatures crowded into the swell of the water as it broke. And with seemingly little effort they tore through the surf, leaping high in the air as they went.
Formation fins: The dolphins form a line as the wave builds up heading towards the shore in South Africa
On a crest of a wave: In pods up to 400-strong, these surfing dolphins made light work of monster waves up to 25 feet high
At points some of the more daring dolphins achieved jumps up to 20 feet high, appearing to spring straight over the powerful walls of water. Others burst through the wave in perfect formation.
Photographer Greg Huglin snapped these incredible pictures on the south coast of South Africa.
The 57-year-old dad-of-two, from Santa Barbara in California, said: 'The first time I saw dolphins surfing the waves I was completely blown away.
'I was in South Africa filming white sharks and happened to stop in a small town where a shop was advertising dolphin and whale watching boat tours.
'I went along and after that I spent three months every year for the next six years filming and photographing the dolphins.
Leaping high: At points some of the more daring dolphins achieve jumps up to 20 feet, appearing to spring straight over the powerful walls of water
Snap: Professional photographer and film-maker Greg Huglin snapped these incredible pictures on the south coast of South Africa
Surf's up: Like humans, it is possible the dolphins take to the surf for pure enjoyment
Masters of the ocean: The dolphins are clearly having fun as another giant wave builds up
'You can see them surfing any time during the day. Sometimes an entire pod is asleep and suddenly they all wake up and go ballistic.
'I've seen them go from practically dormant to having 200 of them frantically trying to escape a pod of approaching orcas.
'The transition from sleep to panic takes only seconds.'
Like humans, it is possible the dolphins take to the surf for pure enjoyment.
Solo flight: Mr Huglin has built a huge collection of breathtaking photographs and film, which show the animals in action
A packed ocean: The huge collection of dolphins playing off the shoreline
But Mr Huglin believes there could be other reasons behind their attraction to the waves.
He said: 'I believe they do it for fun but it may also have something to do with mating and chasing potential partners.
'It might also be something to do with hiding from predators - the wave sounds help mask their location.'
Mr Huglin has built a huge collection of breathtaking photographs and film, which show the animals in action.
He said: 'I can't ever get enough of filming dolphins. They're so unpredictable and move so fast.
'Getting shots of them surfing waves is really difficult but I love it.'
Share this article:
Add your commentsComments (50)
Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below, or debate this issue live on our message boards.
The comments below have not been moderated.
So long, and thanks for all the fish!
- Calvin Davis, Glenwood, AR. U.S.A., 19/2/2010 04:24
Love these pics! So glad that photographer was there to catch this awesome event. Thank you!
Cheers from the U.S.
- Michelle L., Massachusetts, U.S.A., 19/2/2010 04:12
I'm with Gary from the U.K. To have the intelligence (maybe more) of a human, to explore the oceans and play in the surf, what a life it would be. Beautiful pics, thank you.
- Zampan0, westerville u.s.a., 18/2/2010 21:15
How proud I'd be if I could capture anything nearly as beautiful myself! Beautiful.
- Erin, London, 18/2/2010 17:04
These must be some of the greatest picture's taken of Dolphin's playing at their best. I would like to thank you for sharing these exquisit picture's with us all. Most Sincerely, Alan.
- ALAN BUNTNG, ALFRETON, ENGLAND, 18/2/2010 16:07
Outstanding photo work, and such a great subject does not hurt at all. Thank you GH for the images.
- LobsterD, Point Lookout, NY,USA, 18/2/2010 12:59
The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.
Add your comment
Ads By Google
Tamarindo Surf VacationsSurf Adventures, Surf Camps, ToursAnd More. Call Today To Reserve.www.puramar.com/KellysSurfVacations
Eli Howard Surf SchoolSurfing Lessons & Surf Camps innorth San Diego county, Californiawww.elihoward.com
Picture SurfingClipArt - PicturesPicture Surfingwww.Bing.com
Dolphin surfin... yeeee
David Johnson, Author of the Month for February 2010
Beneath The Nasca Lines and Other Coastal Geoglyphs of Peru and Chile
By David JohnsonThe Forum and Message Boards at Grahamhancock.com welcomes as February 2010 Author of the Month, educator, researcher and author David Johnson. David's decade of research in Peru and the coastal region of South America have gone a long way to solving the long standing mystery of the Nasca Lines. Welcome David and we look forward to an interesting discussion of your fascinating findings. A full bio of David can be found at the end of his article.
In August of 1995, when I first arrived in Nasca, Peru, I never imagined it would be a life changing experience that would take me on an odyssey for the next eleven years, and continue to lure me back to Peru for the rest of my life. What is most intriguing is how fast things transpired from the time I entered Nasca as a tourist, to the first discoveries and then the transition into a major project involving the academic community. What began as a project to help Nasca find additional water sources quickly evolved into a new interpretation of the geology and hydrology of the Andean watershed, and the discovery of groundwater sources beneath the Atacama Desert, which were unknown to its modern inhabitants.
These discoveries were quickly followed by the revelation that the Nasca Lines were associated with them, and, as incredible as it sounds, the ancient inhabitants had documented these features. Once the correlation was made, the Nasca Lines were a hieroglyphics waiting to be read. Once the interpretation of various geometric shapes became clear, I was even more surprised to find that the Nasca Lines were only a part of a much greater text, the coastal geoglyphs of Peru and Chile. During the course of my investigation, coastal geoglyphs at various sites along 1,200 mi / 1,931 km of Peru and Chile's coastal desert were surveyed, and the results were the same. The geoglyphs mapped the groundwater resources of the desert. This interpretation of the coastal geoglyphs is the only one that is currently being implemented today, as it was in the past, to assist residents of the driest desert of the world, find the most important component needed to support life in this parched environment, water.
Nasca is located in the Rio Grande de Nasca drainage along the southern coast of Peru. In 1996 I began my research by surveying the communities known water sources. I was surprised to learn that ancient aqueducts (infiltration galleries) known locally as puquios, provided the community with one of the most reliable water sources. Therefore I began my study of the Nasca Valley by examining the ancient puquios. Historically the puquios have provided a reliable source of fresh water, even in the driest years when many wells failed. Previous studies, such as Schreiber and Lancho (1995), concluded the puquios received water from the rivers. Observing the location of the puquios along the upper Nasca Valley I wondered why most of them paralleled the east-west flow of the river rather than cross it. Considering the scarcity of water in this region one might theorize they were constructed to capture the highest rates of flow. Thus, if this theory were correct, the aqueducts should be perpendicular to the river's subterranean flow and not parallel like most of them. I began to wonder if an alternative water source was an option. It was this thought that lead me to the aquifers intersecting the valleys from the sides and eventually several were identified.
Where aquifers flowed and surface soils were not disturbed by alluvial flooding, agriculture or construction, there were geoglyphs. Geoglyphs consist of giant stone drawings that literally stretch for miles on the surface of the ground from the Andean foothills, across the pampa (desert) to the coast. This collection of geometric shapes and figures are known as the "Nasca Lines". As I identified the source and width of the aquifers I realized various geoglyphs corresponded to my calculations. If this is true, the ancients had identified and marked where the aquifers emerge from the mountains and cross the pampa. I compared specific data from aquifers, faults, archaeological sites and various geoglyphs and realized they consistently correlated with one another. Eventually I was able to associate various geoglyph shapes with aquifers and geological features. For example, a geoglyph system consisting of a variety of geoglyphs was associated with each fault and aquifer. Trapezoids were located directly above an aquifer marking its width. A zig zag pattern located along the boundary of a geoglyph system indicated there was no water beyond at that point. Triangles pointed to the water source and where the aquifer intersected the valley while spirals indicated where an aquifer's course changed directions.
Additional studies of the Rio Grande de Nasca drainage came to the same conclusion: the Nasca Lines consistently map the source and course of aquifers. Five components were consistently present at each location, as if part of an equation: faults, aquifers, fresh water sources, geoglyphs and archaeological sites. Where one or more of these features are found there is a high probability the others are present. I realized the Nasca Lines are a text imprinted into the landscape providing the inhabitants of the region, both past and present, with the solution to their water problems. Unfortunately, daily, unprotected geoglyphs are being damaged by agriculture and construction. If this continues one of the greatest manuscripts of the ancient world will be erased forever.
For several decades people have theorized that some of the Lines of Nasca are associated with water resources. Aveni and others have suggested various geoglyphs "parallel the direction of surface water flow" (Aveni, 1990) or point to the mountain Cerro Blanco, which local legends claim is the source of water in the valley (Reinhard, 1985). These observations only considered surface water erosion patterns and not subterranean flows. My observations were the first to consider aquifers as an alternative to surface water.
Previous studies have concluded only a small percentage of sites in this region are associated with geoglyphs. Helaine Silverman's "Beyond the Pampa: the Geoglyphs in the Valleys of Nasca", National Geographic Research 6(4):435-456(1990), states "Of the 69 geoglyph sites identified on survey, 56 constitute discrete geoglyph sites that are isolated from or not directly related to other archaeological sites (habitation areas, cemeteries, etc.) even when these are nearby."
Between 1996 and 1998 I examined a total of eighty-seven archaeological sites (habitation and cemetery) throughout the Rio Grande de Nasca drainage and found the opposite to be true. Of these sites eighty had geoglyphs associated with them. Four geoglyph sites marked the course of aquifers; however there was no additional archaeological evidence present, inferring an unknown archaeological site could exist at these locations. One site consisting exclusively of animal burials was the only archaeological site without an aquifer and geoglyphs associated with it.
Frequently geoglyphs were located just beyond the perimeter of the archaeological site. Usually a cemetery or habitation site existed on the first terrace and geoglyphs on the second terrace or extending up the slope to the ridge. Often geoglyphs were not visible from archaeological sites and only became apparent once the second terrace was examined. It appears in most cases the geoglyphs were intentionally placed off site to prevent damage from burial excavations and construction. Geoglyphs were found within a few hundred meters of a site and along the course of an aquifer which intersects the site. This pattern has been consistent throughout the Rio Grande de Nasca drainage. The geoglyphs were used to map aquifers from the mountains and across the coastal desert to where they intersect the valleys. The ancients realized in the mountains and on the pampa the aquifers were too deep for wells and puquios, however in several locations where they intersect a valley bottom one can dig deep enough to reach them. Thus wherever a fault, aquifer and geoglyphs intersect a river valley one can expect to find an archeological habitation site, cemetery, fresh water and agricultural zone.
After studying the Rio Grande de Nasca drainage for two years I sought assistance from the scientific community to help prove my theory. In 1998, supported by grants from the National Geographic Research and Exploration Society, H. John Heinz III Trust, Healy Grant and Rotary International, an interdisciplinary study was conducted in the Rio Grande de Nasca drainage. Team members included myself, as Principal Investigator; Dr. Donald Proulx, Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of Massachusetts, specializing in Andean archaeology and Nasca ceramics and Dr. Steve Mabee, Assistant Professor, Department of Geosciences, University of Massachusetts, specializing in hydrology and geology. The Department of Geosciences provided a variety of scientific equipment including a seismic refraction unit, magnetometer, total station, electromagnetic induction logging unit, resistivity unit and an assortment of water analysis equipment.
Water Map in Dessert? Ancient Figure leads to water sources...
