IN SPITE OF GREAT ADVANCES IN FORMAL METHOD IN SOCIAL SCIENCE, MUCH OF THE UNDERSTANDING OF PERSISTING AND GENERAL RELATIONSHIPS DEPENDS UPON A GRASP THAT IS TOTALLY INDEPENDENT OF SOME FORMAL METHOD. IN ADVANCING SOCIAL SCIENCE, WE INVENT AND PRACTICE TECHNIQUE AND CULTIVATE A HUMANISTIC ART. (Robert Redfield)
Driven by these questions, filmmaker and artist Yann Arthus-Bertrand spent three years collecting real-life stories from 2,000 women and men in 60 countries.
Working with a dedicated team of translators, journalists and cameramen, Yann captures deeply personal and emotional accounts of topics that unite us all; struggles with poverty, war, homophobia, and the future of our planet mixed with moments of love and happiness.
After nearly a century of speculation and theories, an international team of geneticists has obtained conclusive evidence proving that the Incas and Iroquois are closely related to people of Altai, a Siberian region that borders China and Mongolia.
The study proves how ancient Aztec’s, Incas, possibly Pre-Inca cultures, Iroquois and other natives of the Americas are closely related to people near the villages of Altai in Russia.
According to a study performed by a group of international geneticists, ancient civilizations such as the Aztecs, the Incas, Iroquois and other American cultures are closely related to villages of Altai, a Russian region located between Siberia, China, and Mongolia. However, the idea that these people are related isn’t a new theory and has already been considered as a possibility by numerous researchers dating back a century at least.
The idea that people from Siberia and surrounding area migrated through northeastern Russia and Alaska, to America, is something that has been suspected for a century by numerous researchers. However, until today, no one had managed to prove it. Now, thanks to Russian geneticist Oleg Balanovski, this migratory theory has been scientifically corroborated.
Dr. Balanovsky’s research also proved that some Native Americans have kinship with the indigenous populations of Australia.
“The current study confirms the theory that the Altai peoples are closely related to Native Americans,” said geneticist Valery Ilyinsky at the RAS Institute of General Genetics. ”We now have clear proof, and it is useless to contest it.”
Through the comparative study of Native Americans and their Siberian ancestors, contrasted with the rest of the world, researchers were able to establish that the ancestors of Aboriginal peoples, like the Aztec and Inca, arrived at the ‘New World’ possibly over 30 thousand years ago, from Siberia.
However, the results of the study led to another great discovery:
“Besides Siberian ancestors, some Native Americans showed a puzzling relation to the indigenous peoples of Australia and Melanesia in the Pacific Ocean,” remarked Dr. Balanovsky. “This is astounding because they are located in an almost opposite part on the planet.”
It is somewhat surprising, as these regions are almost diametrically opposed, “says Balanovski.
A HUGE landbridge connecting continents
According to rbth.com, Scientists already know how humans traveled to the Americas from Altai. “Instead of the Bering Strait there was a land bridge [30,000 years ago], because during the Ice Age much water was locked in glaciers and the level of the world’s oceans was lower,” Dr. Balanovsky explained.
He added that it’s still not clear whether migration from Australia and Melanesia to the Americas was direct across the ocean, or by going up along the coast and via the Aleutian Islands. Archaeologists continue to study this issue.
Clouds of alien life forms are sweeping through outer space and infecting planets with life. The idea that life on Earth came from another planet has been around as a modern scientific theory since the 1960s when it was proposed by Fred Hoyle and Chandra Wickramasinghe. At the time they were ridiculed for their idea -- known as panspermia. But now, with growing evidence, it's back in vogue and even being studied by NASA.
The Hidden Truth About Human Origins & History - Michael Cremo.
Cremo states that the book has "over 900 pages of
well-documented evidence suggesting that modern man did not evolve from
ape man, but instead has co-existed with apes for millions of
years!",and that the scientific establishment has suppressed the fossil
evidence of extreme human antiquity. Cremo identifies as a "Vedic
archeologist", since he believes his findings support the story of
humanity described in the Vedas. Cremo's work has garnered interest from
Hindu creationists, paranormalists and theosophists. He says a
knowledge filter (confirmation bias) is the cause of this suppression.
The Hidden Truth About Human Origins & History - Michael Cremo
Forbidden Archeology.
The claim is that humans have lived on the
earth for millions of years and that the scientific establishment has
suppressed the fossil evidence of extreme human antiquity. Much of the
material used and many of the quotes given are taken from the end of the
19th century and the first half of the 20th. As well relying on older
more unreliable scientific work, the authors make arguments based on the
Veda. In contrast to the Christianity-based creation Science movement,
this book's style of creationism is based on steady state type of belief
which is viewed as being compatible with the Vedas, namely that humans
have existed in their current state for hundreds of millions of years.
What is the Federal Reserve system? How did it come into existence? Is it part of the federal government? How does it create money? Why is the public kept in the dark about these important matters? In this feature-length documentary film, The Corbett Report explores these important question and pulls back the curtain on America's central bank.
In this documentary we travel to the oldest place on Earth. Here
lies the largest, most intact virgin forest in the world, on the
Guayana Massif, in the south of Venezuela, along the Brazilian
border.
In the interior of this green world lost in time, live men
intimately adapted to their jungle environment which, though
fascinating, is full of dangers. They are the inhabitants of the
jungle, who live alongside and respect the endless different life
forms around them.
Their culture is ancient, almost as ancient as
the landscape in which it has developed.
Because anthropology involves a breakneck collision course between so
many different subjects, students with broad interests find it an
absolutely thrilling major.
Not like anyone can blame them, really; the multifaceted concepts
behind human evolution and culture open up some intriguing, sometimes
scary, truths about what it means to be a member of mankind. Seeing as
how TED just so happens to harbor similar goals, plenty of its famous,
stimulating Talks series feature lectures of interest to the
anthropological community. A small sample of its rich intellectual
bounty can be found here, but seeking out some of their other offerings
will do nothing but help supplement lessons and pique eager minds.
1) Zeresenay Alemseged looks for humanity’s roots:
This TED Talk sends viewers to Ethiopia on a paleoanthropological
journey digging for truths behind mankind’s ancient origins. Zeresenay
Alemseged shares the stunning true story of his team’s excavation of the
oldest known child skeleton. A discovery that might very well open more
doors toward better understanding our biological history.
2) Aubrey de Grey says we can avoid aging:
Step from humanity’s past to one option in its multiple-choice future,
courtesy of a respected Cambridge professor. Likening aging to a
degenerative disease, he believes that the right science can reverse,
even “cure,” the natural process, and describes the benefits of doing
so. Time will ultimately reveal this mindset’s true outcome, but it
certainly provides nourishing food for thought today.
3) Wade Davis on endangered cultures: An enviable position with National Geographic
granted Wade Davis the extraordinarily rare opportunity to immerse
himself in indigenous and marginalized societies worldwide. His
multimedia TED Talk exposes audiences to these threatened peoples, often
displaced and threatened thanks to imperialism and globalization. It’s a
somber look at a tragic anthropological reality for tens of millions
(if not hundreds of millions) worldwide.
4) Nicholas Christakis explains how social networks predict epidemics:
Today’s anthropologists should probably pay attention to the role
social media plays in forming cliques and subcultures. As Nicholas
Christakis’ thorough research reveals, mapping Facebook, Twitter, and
the like actually provides the quickest conduit for tracking the spread
of everything from diseases to creative ideas. Suffice it to say,
valuable (if not life-altering) applications for this technology exist
beyond the anthropological realm.
5) Jane Goodall discusses what separates us from apes:
Because biology and evolution make up a significant chunk of a future
anthropologist’s education, paying attention to one of the world’s most
pre-eminent primatologists is essential. After a lifetime among
Tanzanian chimpanzees, Jane Goodall marveled at the eerie parallels
between humans and their closest genetic relatives. But at least one
glaring departure exists, revolving around differences in language and
communication complexities.
6) Dan Dennett: Cute, sexy, sweet, funny:
Such simple, though often subjective, concepts like those in the title
actually involve some seriously complex social and biological
constructs. Though, scarily enough, the latter doesn’t always exactly
gel with the former. In fact, sometimes one’s physical wiring declares
the exact opposite of the philosophical.
7) Nina Jablonski breaks the illusion of skin color: In a TED Talk sure to spark some controversy and discussion, Skin
author Nina Jablonski harnesses NASA’s TOMS7 satellite to draw
conclusions about pigmentation and UV exposure. She notes some
interesting points about UV rays’ role in darkening skin, and believes
that the phenomenon eventually infiltrated humans at the genetic level.
It’s compelling science, to be certain, and one anthropology students
should keep in mind as their studies progress.
8) A.J. Jacobs’ lives biblically for a year:
Anthropology majors nurturing a healthy interest in religion and its
role in inspiring humanity toward both good and evil will undoubtedly
find this particular lecture fascinating. Here, they can explore one
journalist’s attempts to spend an entire year following the Bible
literally, and the resulting internal and external stresses. Considering
the topical nature of fundamentalism and ensuing cultural and political
controversies, his insight might very well prove beneficial in the long
run.
9) Chris Abani muses on humanity: This Nigerian activist’s modus operandi
is simple, straightforward, and noble: “to chronicle, to share and to
document stories about people.” This also happens to be the core goal of
the entire anthropological community. Chris Abani collects stories the
way some people collect baseball cards, and he shares some here that
uphold humanity’s dignity without paying lip service to its more
sinister corners.
10) Spencer Wells builds a family tree for humanity:
Even though the human race boasts incredible genetic diversity these
days, that coding had to start programming itself somewhere. This TED
Talk by Spencer Wells, the National Geographic Society’s genographic
project head, discusses how he’s currently working backwards to discover
the biology every human on earth currently shares. For anthropology
students and anyone else fascinated by the life sciences, his lecture is
a satisfying mental treat.
11) Rodney Brooks says robots will invade our lives:
Because mankind’s machines have left an indelible impact on its
evolutionary, social, and cognitive development since pretty much the
beginning, it stands to reason that they’ll continue to do so forever.
These days, robots infiltrate so many facets of daily life in the First
World, many people can’t visualize a future without them. And though
this TED Talk hails from the dark ages of 2003, much of what it has to
offer still applies to contemporary times.
12) Louise Leakey digs for humanity’s origins:
Another amazing anthropological lecture inquiring about the beginnings
of modern humans, this time coming from the Rift Valley and Lake
Turkana. Here, mysteries about Homo erectus and other species
who may have eventually spawned us battle it out for scientific
dominance. After all, “until 30,000 years ago, at least three upright
walking apes shared the planet Earth,” so right now, the real ancestor
could be any one of them, or one that continues to remain unknown.
13) Kevin Bales advises us how to combat modern slavery:
Slavery has plagued humanity since ancient eras, and continues netting
millions of billions of dollars annually, particularly when it comes to
labor and sex. Kevin Bales’ research, which he shares here, exposes the
tragic, inhumane reality behind some of the world’s wealthiest
industries. And then he tells viewers exactly what needs doing to ensure
equitable economic treatment for all the world’s peoples.
14) Amber Case claims we are all cyborgs now:
Technological advances in communications, particularly cell phones and
the internet, will inevitably lead to evolutionary changes to
accommodate them more and more in our daily lives. Whether or not this
turns humanity into “Terminator” or useless blobs with “external brains”
is anyone’s guess, but anything’s possible. Regardless, though,
anthropologists will inevitably end up dealing with the aftermath, so
they may as well start preparing now.
15) Robert Sapolsky shares the uniqueness of humans:
TED frequently shares its favorite videos from around the web, and one
particularly human-centric example comes straight from Stanford
University’s Class Day in 2009. Primatologist Robert Sapolsky
hilariously skewers the human animal and its often inexplicable behavior
patterns. It certainly makes you wonder what the rest of the world’s
biomass makes of such curious bipedal creatures.
16) Stefana Broadbent discusses how the Internet enables intimacy:
Social media critics frequently lambast the isolationist components of
the Internet, but cognitive scientist Stefana Broadbent heartily
disagrees. Her two decades’ worth of research regarding communication
via cell phone, instant messaging, social networks, and more lead her to
believe that they actually encourage individuals to stay connected with
one another. Loved ones separated by distance or time can use these
available tools to foster closeness rather than staying apart or
constantly waiting for correspondence.
17) Aaron Huey looks at America’s native prisoners of war:
America’s inhumane, brutal treatments of indigenous peoples is a
well-known, but tragically under-addressed, atrocity. Aaron Huey’s
photographs of the shocking, impoverished conditions at the Pine Ridge
Indian Reservation showcase how such historical injustices continue
stretching into contemporary times. The suffering of the Lakota people
summarizes how horrifically imperialism’s marginalization hits native
civilizations and serves as a clarion call toward social action.
18) Devdutt Pattanaik: East vs. West — the myths that mystify:
Despite frequent interactions (and an extended period of British
exploitation), India and “Western” society still manage to perpetuate
myths and misunderstandings about one another. Drawing from his
experiences as Future Group’s Chief Belief Officer, Devdutt Pattanail
explains that these assumptions likely stem from religious roots.
Although this TED Talk expresses a businessman’s perspective, his
insights resonate far beyond the boardroom.
19) James Watson on how he discovered DNA:
James Watson and Francis Crick built upon Rosalind Franklin’s research
to unlock the scientific reality of DNA — although only the first two
received any sort of recognition for it. Nevertheless, the story remains
one of the most important in life science history, and its relevance to
anthropology should be self-evident. Majors and non-majors alike should
still sit and marvel over the triumphs, drama, and tragedies behind
piecing together the mysteries driving living matter.
20) Adam Ostrow: After your final status update:
Archaeologists and anthropologists of the past (and today, obviously)
dig through ancient dirt to discover as many truths about human culture
and evolution as they can. Those in the future will have completely
different territory to excavate: the digital landscape. Social media
sites unwittingly serve as virtual memorials to the deceased, providing a
first-person view of contemporary cultural memes.
Hosted by Morgan Freeman, Through the Wormhole will explore the deepest mysteries of existence - the questions that have puzzled mankind for eternity. What are we made of? What was there before the beginning? Are we really alone? Is there a creator? These questions have been pondered by the most exquisite minds of the human race. Now, science has evolved to the point where hard facts and evidence may be able to provide us with answers instead of philosophical theories. Through the Wormhole will bring together the brightest minds and best ideas from the very edges of science - Astrophysics, Astrobiology, Quantum Mechanics, String Theory, and more - to reveal the extraordinary truth of our Universe.
The Bhopal disaster (also referred to as the Bhopal gas tragedy) is the world's worst industrial catastrophe. It occurred on the night of December 2--3, 1984 at the Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) pesticide plant in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India. A leak of methyl isocyanate gas and other chemicals from the plant resulted in the exposure of hundreds of thousands of people. Estimates vary on the death toll. The official immediate death toll was 2,259 and the government of Madhya Pradesh has confirmed a total of 3,787 deaths related to the gas release. Other government agencies estimate 15,000 deaths. Others estimate that 3,000 died within weeks and that another 8,000 have since died from gas-related diseases.[3][4] A government affidavit in 2006 stated the leak caused 558,125 injuries including 38,478 temporary partial and approximately 3,900 severely and permanently disabling injuries.
UCIL was the Indian subsidiary of Union Carbide Corporation (UCC). Indian Government controlled banks and the Indian public held 49.1 percent ownership share. In 1994, the Supreme Court of India allowed UCC to sell its 50.9 percent share. The Bhopal plant was sold to McLeod Russel (India) Ltd. UCC was purchased by Dow Chemical Company in 2001.
Civil and criminal cases are pending in the United States District Court, Manhattan and the District Court of Bhopal, India, involving UCC, UCIL employees, and Warren Anderson, UCC CEO at the time of the disaster. In June 2010, seven ex-employees, including the former UCIL chairman, were convicted in Bhopal of causing death by negligence and sentenced to two years imprisonment and a fine of about $2,000 each, the maximum punishment allowed by law. An eighth former employee was also convicted but died before judgment was passed.
1. K-T Asteroid Theory of Dinosaur Extinction (1980)
Walter Alvarez postulates that high levels of iridium found in rock core samples around the world provide evidence that an asteroid impact caused the extinction of dinosaurs. Iridium, a common mineral found in asteroids, was discovered in the clay layer at what is known as the K-T boundary. This layer, at 65 million years, lies between the rocks of the Cretaceous and the Tertiary periods and coincides with the mass extinction of dinosaurs.
2. First Dinosaur Fossils Identified (1820s -- 1840s)
In 1822, geologist William Buckland uncovers some really big teeth in England. At the time, there is no word to describe his finds. Twenty years later, in 1842, Sir Richard Owen comes up with the word "dinosaur" to describe several spectacular creatures whose fossils are discovered across England. Megalosaurus is the first dinosaur ever named.
3. Potential for Life Created (1953)
Graduate student Stanley Miller, combining the ideas of other scientists, reproduces the early atmosphere of Earth by creating a chamber containing only hydrogen, water, methane and ammonia. He boils the water and exposes the elements to an electric discharge like lightning, simulating Earth's early processes. After a week, Miller finds organic compounds have formed, including some amino acids, the "building blocks of life."
4. New Life-forms Discovered Around Hydrothermal Vents (1977)
Bob Ballard and the crew of the submersible Alvin find amazing new life-forms living completely independent of the sun's energy around deep-sea, hydrothermal vents. These undersea geysers form along volcanic mid-ocean ridges, where cold seawater penetrates deep into cracks in the Earth's crust. Heated water rises back out and the scalding vent water mixes with cold ocean-bottom seawater, creating a rising plume of warm, black fluid filled with mineral particles. The chemicals support a thriving ecosystem on the ocean floor.
5. The Burgess Shale (1909)
Charles Walcott exposes a mother lode of Cambrian fossils high in the Canadian Rocky Mountains, providing a glimpse of what life was like on Earth more than 500 million years ago. He collects more than 65,000 specimens and classifies each, discovering that the fossils are ancestors of living animals.
6. Classification of Species (1735)
Carl Linnaeus, considered the "father of taxonomy," develops a system for naming, ranking and classifying all forms of life that is still in use today (although many changes have been made). The Linnaean system, based on shared physical characteristics, uses a hierarchy starting with kingdoms divided into classes, then into orders, families, genera and species.
7. Theory of Natural Selection (1858)
Charles Darwin publishes On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, in which he challenges contemporary beliefs about the creation of life on Earth. Darwin had served as an unpaid naturalist on the HMS Beagle, which set out on a five-year scientific expedition to the Pacific coast of South America in early 1832. The data he collected on the expedition, especially specimens from the Galapagos Islands, was the inspiration for his theories on evolution by the mechanism of natural selection. His work has been at the center of controversy ever since it was published.
8. Australopithecus Afarensis or "Lucy" (1974)
Donald Johanson discovers the partial skeleton of a 3.2 million-year-old female hominid in Ethiopia. Johnson dubs his find "Lucy" after the Beatles' song Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds, which was playing on the radio as the team celebrated the find.
9. Laetoli Footprints (1978)
A team led by Mary Leaky discovers fossilized Australopithecus footprints in Laetoli, Tanzania. The footprints, dated to 3.5 million years ago, were formed when two individuals walked over wet volcanic ash that had hardened like cement. These human ancestors had perfect, two-footed strides, indicating that the hominids walked upright.
10. Toumai skull (2002)
Michel Brunet unearths the oldest hominid fossil to date in the desert of the central African nation of Chad. The fragments of this 6 to 7 million-year-old skull, with characteristics resembling humans, were found outside eastern and southern Africa, suggesting human evolution may have been taking place all across the continent.
David Talbott's film 'Symbols of An Alien Sky' goes far beyond merely identifying "the celestial provocation" of our true history.
Symbols resurrects and confirms the genius of Immanuel Velikovsky. With excruciating attention to detail Talbott rivals the intellectual obsession and integrity of the thousands of ancient chroniclers that are "urging us to remember."
The credibility of Symbols is uniquely formidable as it firmly connects the library of the Stone Age to the Modern Age cosmology of leading edge plasma physicists Anthony Peratt, Wal Thornhill and others.
With erudition Symbols defines an overdue and not-so-subtle challenge to modern institutional assumptions, promoted and guarded by the gamut from religion to politics to academia and beyond.
As such Talbott's most fundamental accomplishment in 'Symbols of an Alien Sky' is the reconnecting of global humanity to itself, to its true history, and what that reconnection implies for our future peace and well-being.
This site affirms the right to believe, not what we are told to believe, and not what we blindly consent to believe, but what we determine to be true and worth believing. It presents a way to undertake that “tedious and daunting task” by which we make ourselves accountable to truth itself.
Most often, making of a documentary is akin to the process of feature filming in the sense that ideas are preconceived, scripts are made in advance, shooting and editing are done accordingly. Most of the documentaries are meant to generate messages serving the ideologies of the funding sources. It is no surprise that the masses are averse to these packages of propaganda.
Ethnographic film as a genre seeks to reveal one society to another creating an environment for trans-cultural understanding. It is loosely bound by perspectives in anthropology and supposedly far from ethnocentrism and propaganda. Here, the camera becomes an instrument of observation and record in the hands of an anthropologist. Events and social cultural phenomena are candidly recorded and interpreted with knowledge gained from participant observation.
Visual Anthropology admits the validity of different documenting styles and objectives for a variety of purposes like research, teaching, broadcast etc. There is a tremendous need for the potential use of film and photography in anthropological research. Also, there is an urgent need to document the rapidly vanishing diverse tribal cultures.
A picture contains thousand words. It might represent an aspect of reality.But it is only a construction. A word is not the thing. It is only a representation. Symbols are not the things which they represent. And realities are relative. Absolute reality is beyond our intellectual enterprise. Physics proves that the deeper we penetrate the matter the far are we from the truth because our instrument of observation intrudes and alters the spontaneous behavior of the subject. As long as the observer is separate from the observed, the paradox remains. It is only when the observer ceases as a separate entity, the total understanding is possible.
It is evident today that ethnographies are not considered as scientific studies. They are also not fiction. These are the times when determinism in science is paving way to probability. As Nietzshe put it – there are no facts, only interpretations. Facts or symbols or representations – they never make sense when are in isolation. Integrating them is a creative process. Ethnography and art are creative constructions. They need not claim scientific objectivity. As Robert Redfield put it – in advancing social science, we invent and practice technique and cultivate a humanistic art.
Anthropology thrives on cultural relativity and holism. If not a "science" in traditional sense, it is a rational enterprise. It aims at uncovering the governing principles underlying human diversity. It seeks to comprehend the unifying features that constitute human nature. Visual Anthropology blurs the distinction between science and humanities. It paves way to an understanding of human cultures in a holistic way.
Many works of art are anthropological in this sense.
Aboriginal Tribes of India - Ethnographic Films
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. MARGARET MEAD (Anthropologist)
NOBODY STANDS TALLER THAN THOSE WILLING TO STAND CORRECTED. (William Safire)
A moving point generates a line
A moving line generates a plane
A moving plane generates a volume
A moving volume generates a hypervolume
The threshold movement is attained at the speed of light
At the speed of light mass becomes infinite and time ceases to be
A timeless, mass-less entity can travel to any point in the universe instantly
A timeless, mass-less entity can manifest to all points in the universe instantly
The mysterious aspect of a human, electromagnetic-ethereal, travels at or beyond the speed of light
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