All articles tagged with #deep time
In 1962 Michel Siffre spent two months in a cave with no clocks or daylight, emerging convinced it was still August; the experiment showed the brain can run on an internal circadian clock independent of external cues, a finding later refined to an intrinsic ~24.18-hour cycle and echoed by subsequent long-duration cave studies that informed NASA and military planning.
Space Daily uses a calendar-year metaphor to fit 4.5 billion years of Earth into one year, placing Homo sapiens around 11:25–11:36 pm, agriculture about 11:58 pm, and written history in the final seconds, highlighting how recent and planet-scale our impact is; the exact times shift with the chosen origin date, while the first writing pushes the written record to roughly 35–39 seconds before midnight, painting history as a late, humbling chapter in a long planetary year.
Space Daily revisits Carl Sagan’s Cosmic Calendar, compressing 13.8 billion years into one year—Big Bang on January 1, recorded history ends in the final 12–13 seconds, and a human life is about 0.2 seconds. Ongoing JWST observations and cosmological simulations (COLIBRE/FLAMINGO) are refining the timeline, but the 14-second window remains the core takeaway for perspective on humanity’s place in the cosmos.
A comprehensive study on the evolutionary history of corals reveals their resilience and vulnerability to climate change and ocean chemistry changes over millions of years, highlighting both their past adaptability and current risks.
Elon Musk's recent statement that "may you live forever" is the worst possible curse once you understand deep time has sparked a debate within the longevity community. Musk has expressed his skepticism towards living forever, citing concerns about ossification of society and lack of new ideas. While some argue that living forever would be a curse, others advocate for the autonomy to choose when, how, and if they want to make use of life extension technologies. The conversation around longevity and life extension raises questions about ethics, meaning, and autonomy, and it is important to engage in thoughtful discussions to ensure a future where individuals have the opportunity to live fulfilling and self-determined lives for as long as they desire.