Update

history.md

@@ -8,9 +8,11 @@ This is a brief summary of history of [technology](technology.md) and [computers
 
 { A curious pattern of history is that the civilization -- or maybe rather the dominating superpowers -- are moving to the west, kind of like: middle East -> Greece -> Rome -> Holy Roman Empire -> England/France/Spain -> America. ~drummyfish }
 
-The [Universe](universe.md) began in [singularity](singularity.md) and started to exist with the [Big Bang](big_bang.md) almost 14 billion years ago. It went through several epochs during which it underwent fantastic changes: first there was the epoch of rapid inflation, up to about 10^-32 seconds, during which it expanded extremely rapidly. After this the fundamental forces (strong, weak, electromagnetic and gravitational) started to become separate, the universe was cooling down. Then for a few eons nothing happen. After 200 million years, first stars started to form. After another 200 million years first galaxies started to form, including our own Milky Way galaxy. Our [Earth](earth.md) formed some 4.5 billion years ago, along with the [Moon](moon.md) (created by an impact of Earth with a large body called Theia). It seems [life](life.md) appeared about 3.8 billions years ago; about 600 million years ago multicellular life formed and 66 million years ago the dinosaurs went extinct after the devastating impact of the Chicxulub asteroid (probably more than 10 km in diameter), giving opportunity to mammals and eventually to us, humans, who would go on to conquer the planet thereafter.
+The [Universe](universe.md) began in [singularity](singularity.md) and started to exist with the [Big Bang](big_bang.md) almost 14 billion years ago. It went through several epochs during which it underwent fantastic changes: first there was the epoch of rapid inflation, up to about 10^-32 seconds, during which it expanded extremely rapidly. After this the fundamental forces (strong, weak, electromagnetic and gravitational) started to become separate, the universe was cooling down. Then for a few eons nothing happen. After 200 million years, first stars started to form. After another 200 million years first galaxies started to form, including our own Milky Way galaxy. Our [Earth](earth.md) formed some 4.5 billion years ago, along with the [Moon](moon.md) (created by an impact of Earth with a large body called Theia). It seems [life](life.md) appeared about 3.8 billions years ago; about 600 million years ago multicellular life formed and 66 million years ago the dinosaurs went extinct after the devastating impact of the Chicxulub asteroid (probably more than 10 km in diameter), leaving an opportunity to mammals and eventually to us, humans, who would go on to conquer the planet thereafter.
 
-The earliest known appearance of technology related to humans may likely be the use of **[stone](rock.md) tools** by hominids in Africa some two and a half million years ago (newest encyclopedia Britannica states even 3.3 million years ago) -- this is even before the appearance of modern humans, homo sapiens, that emerged roughly 600000 years ago. Learning to start and control **[fire](fire.md)** was another key invention of the earliest men; this probably happened hundreds of thousands to millions years ago, even before modern humans. Around 8000 BC the **[Agricultural Revolution](agricultural_revolution.md)** happened: this was quite a disaster -- as humans domesticated animals and plants, they had to abandon the comfortable life of hunters and gatherers and started to suffer the life of a farmer, full of extremely hard [work](work.md) in the fields (this can be seen e.g. from their bones). Around 4000 BC sailing ships were used on the Nile river. Permanent farmer settlements led to the establishment of first cities that would later become city states (as the name says -- something between a city and a state, i.e. greatly independent cities with their own laws etc.). Some of the first such cities were Ur and Uruk in Mesopotamia, since around 5000 BC. Primitive **writing** can be traced to about 7000 BC to China. **[Wheel](wheel.md)** was another crucial piece of technology humans invented, it is not known precisely when or where it appeared, but it might have been some time after 5000 BC -- in Ancient Egypt **The Great Pyramid** was built around 2570 BC still without the knowledge of wheel. Around 4000 BC **history starts with first written records**. Humans learned to smelt and use [metals](metal.md) approximately 3300 BC (**Bronze Age**) and 1200 BC (**Iron Age**). **[Abacus](abacus.md)**, one of the simplest [digital](digital.md) devices aiding with computation, was invented roughly around 2500 BC. However people used primitive computation helping tools, such as bone ribs, probably almost from the time they started trading. Babylonians in around 2000 BC were already able to solve some forms of **[quadratic equations](quadratic_equation.md)**.
+Incredibly, a tree that lived 60 million years ago is still surviving to this day, or at least "in a sense" -- a small forest of Wollemi pines in Australia comes from an original single tree that keeps clonning itself since the time of dinosaurs, creating genetically identical trees over and over, and so we can still witness today "in a sense" the same tree that was around back then, just reincarnated countless times. A little later on, some 54 million years ago, a primitive species of gecko got trapped in an amber and got preserved in a near-perfect state until its discovery in 2005.
+
+The earliest known appearance of technology related to humans may likely be the use of **[stone](rock.md) tools** by hominids in Africa some two and a half million years ago (newest encyclopedia Britannica states even 3.3 million years ago) -- this is even before the appearance of modern humans, homo sapiens, that emerged roughly 600000 years ago. Learning to start and control **[fire](fire.md)** was another key invention of the earliest men; this probably happened hundreds of thousands to millions years ago, even before modern humans. Around 8000 BC the **[Agricultural Revolution](agricultural_revolution.md)** happened: this was quite a disaster -- as humans domesticated animals and plants, they had to abandon the comfortable life of hunters and gatherers and started to suffer the life of a farmer, full of extremely hard [work](work.md) in the fields (this can be seen e.g. from their bones). Around 4000 BC sailing ships were used on the Nile river. Permanent farmer settlements led to the establishment of first cities that would later become city states (as the name says -- something between a city and a state, i.e. greatly independent cities with their own laws etc.). Some of the first such cities were Ur and Uruk in Mesopotamia, since around 5000 BC. In 2832 BC a tree came to life that would survive until our current day -- its name is Methuselah and can be found in California. Primitive **writing** can be traced to about 7000 BC to China. **[Wheel](wheel.md)** was another crucial piece of technology humans invented, it is not known precisely when or where it appeared, but it might have been some time after 5000 BC -- in Ancient Egypt **The Great Pyramid** was built around 2570 BC still without the knowledge of wheel. Around 4000 BC **history starts with first written records**. Humans learned to smelt and use [metals](metal.md) approximately 3300 BC (**Bronze Age**) and 1200 BC (**Iron Age**). **[Abacus](abacus.md)**, one of the simplest [digital](digital.md) devices aiding with computation, was invented roughly around 2500 BC. However people used primitive computation helping tools, such as bone ribs, probably almost from the time they started trading. Babylonians in around 2000 BC were already able to solve some forms of **[quadratic equations](quadratic_equation.md)**.
 
 In Greece many city states, such as Athens, Delphi and Sparta formed -- Ancient Greek [culture](culture.md) would be seen as the golden age of civilization that would lay foundations to everything we now take for granted; Greeks to some extent advanced technology (e.g. architecture) but especially cultivated [art](art.md), philosophy and [politics](politics.md) -- Athens are credited for inventing [democracy](democracy.md) (though an "early" version, they still had slaves and many classes of citizens without voting power). In 8th century BC Homer created the epic poems Iliad and Odyssey. In 6th century BC Pythagoras describes the [Pythagorean theorem](pythagorean_theorem.md). After 600 BC the Greek [philosophy](philosophy.md) starts to develop which would lead to strengthening of rational, [scientific](science.md) thinking and advancement of [logic](logic.md) and [mathematics](math.md). Some of the most famous Greek philosophers were [Socrates](socrates.md), [Plato](plato.md), [Aristotle](aristotle.md) and [Diogenes](diogenes.md). Around 400 BC **[camera obscura](camera_obscura.md)** was already described in a written text from China where **[gears](gear.md)** also seem to have been invented soon after. Around 300 BC Euklid wrote his famous *Elements*, a mathematical work that proves theorems from basic [axioms](axiom.md). Ancient Greeks could communicate over great distances using **Phryctoria**, chains of fire towers placed on mountains that forwarded messages to one another using light. 234 BC Archimedes described the famous [Archimedes screw](archimedes_screw.md) and created an **[algorithm](algorithm.md) for computing the number [pi](pi.md)**. In 2nd century BC the **Antikythera mechanism, the first known [analog](analog.md) [computer](computer.md)** is made to predict movement of heavenly bodies. Romans are known to have been great builders, they built many roads and such structures as the Pantheon (126 AD) and aqueducts with the use of their own type of **concrete** and advanced understanding of physics.