For some reason, discussion on this topic is focused on cellphones and the internet. I guess that makes some sense -- they're familiar and amazing and this is

For some reason, discussion on this topic is focused on cellphones and the internet. I guess that makes some sense -- they're familiar and amazing and this is Hacker News, after all -- but talk about the latest and greatest in consumer electronics is kind of pathetic when... Well, just think for a minute about the results being produced by the brand-new science of paleopathology. Now that we can do autopsies on 5000 year old Egyptian mummies, we know that [1]: - malaria, tuberculosis, severe ear infections, a variety of intestinal worms and kindred parasites, silicosis (a lung disorder caused by inhaling sand over a long span of time) [were all widespread], as well as perhaps smallpox, polio, and gout... - severe tooth loss, common to all classes ... resulting from the infiltration of windblown sand into granaries and kitchens. The teeth of pharaohs and commoners alike were steadily worn down, often nearly to the gums, leading to ... CHRONIC TOOTH AND GUM INFECTIONS THAT COULD IN SOME CASES BE FATAL. - bone growth patterns disclose a chronic pattern of malnutrition... - [besides schistosomiasis, one specimen's] body was a beehive of various parasites ... had he lived on into EARLY ADULTHOOD, he might well have contracted such degenerative diseases as ARTERIOSCLEROSIS and ARTHRITIS. We tend today to associate these with middle or old age... [1] Hollister & Rogers, Roots of the Western Tradition. Emphasis is mine.