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What's really amazing is to think that it was only after grasses started taking over that very large land mammals could evolve on the vast marshy plains of Nort

What's really amazing is to think that it was only after grasses started taking over that very large land mammals could evolve on the vast marshy plains of North America and over 5 million years or so as sea levels rose due climate change become whales and other cetaceans. I wonder if humans will do the same, albeit in much less nutritious oceans that we are busily acidifying.

simonh 6y ago
We don’t need to evolve much in the way of new adaptations anymore, we have technology. That’s how come we can colonise environments from the frozen tundra, to tropical jungles, to the harshest deserts, and now even the vacuum of space.
- nurettin 6y ago
  Humans didn't need much technology to live in deserts and tundras. But what if they run out of earth metals to cycle? What if they can't build sustainable energy sources? Our top modern "tech" lasts a couple of hundreds of years before totally collapsing. Humans will eventually go back to simpler tools, be it 10 million years or 100. I give it a couple of hundred thousand.
  - simonh 6y ago
    We’ve essentially built the entire modern world in a bit over a century. The only way we’ll run out of metals to recycle is if we shoot it all out into space. Otherwise it’ll still be here in one form or another. I am concerned about the long term sustainability of our current phase of civilisation. I think our current way of life is largely doomed, but we will develop new ways of life. Tens of millions of years is a long time. Who knows?
    - nurettin 6y ago
      We live in a mildly corrosive atmosphere, doesn't help with the whole metallurgy venture. Recycling goes a long way, but it will eventually be over.
chansiky 6y ago
That's an interesting thought. I was running last week along the beach and was thinking about how early primates/hominids might have decided what plants could be eaten and what plants should be avoided when I saw a stalk of grass with its seeds/flowers. It seemed clear to me just looking at it that the seeds might be extremely edible, and I wouldn't be surprised if many other hungry hominids(and other herbivores) came to same conclusion. What I didn't know was how recent the first grass was nor did I realize how important it might have been for the evolution of land mammals. Here's an interesting fact about grass I just learned (from Wikipedia[1][2]): > They provide, through direct human consumption, just over one-half (51%) of all dietary energy; [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poaceae https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poaceae [2] http://www.fao.org/rice2004/en/f-sheet/factsheet3.pdf http://www.fao.org/rice2004/en/f-sheet/factsheet3.pdf

simonh 6y ago

We don’t need to evolve much in the way of new adaptations anymore, we have technology. That’s how come we can colonise environments from the frozen tundra, to tropical jungles, to the harshest deserts, and now even the vacuum of space.

nurettin 6y ago
Humans didn't need much technology to live in deserts and tundras. But what if they run out of earth metals to cycle? What if they can't build sustainable energy sources? Our top modern "tech" lasts a couple of hundreds of years before totally collapsing. Humans will eventually go back to simpler tools, be it 10 million years or 100. I give it a couple of hundred thousand.
- simonh 6y ago
  We’ve essentially built the entire modern world in a bit over a century. The only way we’ll run out of metals to recycle is if we shoot it all out into space. Otherwise it’ll still be here in one form or another. I am concerned about the long term sustainability of our current phase of civilisation. I think our current way of life is largely doomed, but we will develop new ways of life. Tens of millions of years is a long time. Who knows?
  - nurettin 6y ago
    We live in a mildly corrosive atmosphere, doesn't help with the whole metallurgy venture. Recycling goes a long way, but it will eventually be over.

chansiky 6y ago

That's an interesting thought. I was running last week along the beach and was thinking about how early primates/hominids might have decided what plants could be eaten and what plants should be avoided when I saw a stalk of grass with its seeds/flowers. It seemed clear to me just looking at it that the seeds might be extremely edible, and I wouldn't be surprised if many other hungry hominids(and other herbivores) came to same conclusion. What I didn't know was how recent the first grass was nor did I realize how important it might have been for the evolution of land mammals. Here's an interesting fact about grass I just learned (from Wikipedia[1][2]): > They provide, through direct human consumption, just over one-half (51%) of all dietary energy; [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poaceae https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poaceae [2] http://www.fao.org/rice2004/en/f-sheet/factsheet3.pdf http://www.fao.org/rice2004/en/f-sheet/factsheet3.pdf