The invention of the ox-drawn plough was a turning point in the #prehistory of #agriculture because it was the first time food production was decoupled from human labour (doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2019.105).

This is why, from Medieval Europe to the ancient Near East, farms were measured by the number of oxen (later horses etc.) working it, not people (doi.org/10.1002/9781118970959.…)

Yet it's surprisingly difficult to pinpoint when this actually happened.

#Archaeology #History #Economics #EconomicHistory

A team of scientists from the University of Bristol recently released research that pushed the date of our Last Universal Common Ancestor (LUCA) back to about 4.2 billion years ago.

This suggests that the life that is in each of us, and in each of the organisms that make up our very large extended family, runs in an unbroken chain backward for 4.2 billion years.

That’s a pretty considerable investment by the universe in every living thing.

Perhaps we should reflect on that a little more as we continue to muck around on this planet.

It might be time to start fitting in.

aspenproposal.org

#sustainability #philosophy #ClimateChange #biodiversity #nature #politics #economics #religion #Science

“When a new technology becomes cheaper than the old one & can do all the same stuff, people switch…

1. The EV revolution will help save the planet’s environment bc it’ll allow us to electrify most of transportation, which accounts for ~1/4 of global CO2 emissions. 2. It’ll give us cheaper transportation than before, which will boost economic growth & make life easier for lots of people.”

Excellent explainer of why “EVs will win” by @noahpinion noahpinion.blog/p/all-the-argu… #climatechange #economics

All the arguments against EVs are wrong

EVs are just going to win.

^{Noah Smith (Noahpinion)}