3.8 billion years ago, primitive life was born on a beautiful blue planet in the habitable zone of the solar system. This planet is the earth. After billions of years of long evolutionary evolution, life on earth finally gave birth to intelligent life mankind millions of years ago.
In the 3.8 billion years of life, the evolutionary path of life has not been smooth sailing, but has experienced countless ups and downs and disasters, and experienced five major biological extinctions and numerous small extinctions. Every biological extinction is a major renewal of life. The old life is extinct and disappears, and a new life is born.
Throughout the earth’s 3.8 billion years of long life history, no creature can span endless years and continue to the present. The beginning of each age of life also means that the future will usher in its end and be replaced by a new age of life. The earth 300 million years ago was the age of giant insects, with huge insects everywhere, and insects dominate the earth.
After the end of the era of giant insects, the age of dinosaurs has arrived. Another 160 million years have passed. 65 million years ago, an asteroid hit the earth and drove the dinosaurs from the overlord throne on the earth. Only after the extinction of the dinosaurs did the mammals rise, and the humans were born millions of years ago. So, in a sense, the birth of mankind is thanks to the asteroid 65 million years ago.
Mankind has replaced dinosaurs and become the overlord of the new life age. The life age mankind lives in is different from other life ages, because we are intelligent life, relying on wisdom to become the new master of the earth, and through wisdom, mankind has embarked on the path of technological development. , Stepped out of the earth with the help of science and technology, and began to explore the universe.
Although human beings are very great, through the law of life evolution and the law of entropy increase, no age of life can be eternal, and sooner or later the earth will usher in the sixth mass extinction. In the new mass extinction of life, human beings as the masters of the earth may not be spared, and will also embark on the same fate as the dinosaurs. If mankind disappears, how to prove that mankind ever existed?
After the disappearance of human beings, after a long period of evolution, a new intelligent civilization may appear on the earth. Can the new intelligent civilization know that human beings once existed? Perhaps in many people’s eyes, years are a ruthless knife that can erase all traces of life. Thousands of years can turn a glorious civilization into dust. If mankind disappears, after a long period of time, the existence of human beings The traces of the past may have basically disappeared. How can the new civilization prove that humans once existed?
In fact, it is necessary to prove that an age of life has appeared, and there are many ways to achieve it. Especially for a technological civilization like human beings, even if it disappears for a long time, it will leave some traces. So what traces will prove that humans have existed?
1. Fossils
We study the life history of the earth mainly by exploring fossils, which is the most direct proof. The reason why mankind has a lot of understanding of the life history of the earth is because scientists have discovered fossils of various life ages all over the world. Through these fossils, we can “shuttle through time and space” and understand a part of life history.
The brilliant era of dinosaurs 65 million years ago was because scientists discovered a large number of dinosaur fossils all over the world, so that they knew that before the birth of mankind, there was a brilliant era of dinosaurs that existed for 160 million years. Under natural conditions, the preservation period of fossils is beyond your imagination. In theory, they can be preserved for billions of years. The oldest fossil found on earth by mankind is a microbial fossil, about 3.77 billion to 4.29 billion years ago.
If humanity disappears, the huge human population will inevitably leave behind a large number of bone fossils, and these fossils are sealed underground, and there is no problem at all for hundreds of millions of years. When a new civilization discovers humanity Fossils, then we can know that there was once a glorious human civilization on the earth.
2. Electromagnetic waves
I believe you are not unfamiliar with electromagnetic waves. After human beings entered the era of technology, the application of electromagnetic waves has become more and more in-depth, especially in the past 100 years. The stronger the civilization, the stronger the development of electromagnetic waves. Electromagnetic waves are a broad and powerful energy. When human beings entered the space age, a large number of electromagnetic wave signals spread from the earth to the universe.
Human science and technology activities have formed a “radio layer” centered on the earth. Within this “radio layer”, wireless electromagnetic waves are constantly transmitting at all times. Even if human beings disappear, these wireless electromagnetic waves will exist in the universe for a long time. If a new civilization enters the age of technology, it is possible to receive these signals from humans and know that there is still a civilization before them. On the road of technology.
3. Interstellar probe
In 1977, scientists successively launched Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 into the universe, both of which carried a golden record of human information. The goal of the Voyager spacecraft is to move forward outside the solar system until it stops unexpectedly. At the speed of Voyager 1, it will take tens of thousands of years to get out of the solar system, and at least hundreds of thousands of years to reach the nearest star system.
After human beings disappear, the interstellar probes launched by these scientists will not disappear, and they will continue to advance in the universe. When the newly born civilization enters the space age and has the ability to get out of the solar system, these two probes may be found. The golden records left on the probes know their origins, and that humans once existed.
In addition to the above three human traces, there are other traces of human existence that can also be preserved for a long time, such as nuclear reactors. The decay cycle of uranium can reach hundreds of millions of years. After hundreds of millions of years, the traces will not disappear. As long as a new civilization discovers these decayed uranium, it will be able to know the existence of human beings.
The stronger the human science and technology, the stronger the traces of civilization left behind, and the longer it can be preserved. Therefore, after the disappearance of human beings, it will be difficult for the years to completely erase all traces, and there will be proof that humans existed. Just like this, many people deny the existence of prehistoric civilization. We must know that if a powerful prehistoric civilization really existed, how could it not leave a trace?
We can’t find any traces of prehistoric civilization. It can only show that there is no prehistoric civilization. Human beings are the only intelligent civilization that has appeared on earth to this day. Although we know that the final outcome of human civilization will end and disappear, humanity still has to work hard to develop rapidly. Only if the technological strength is strong enough to spread its footsteps to all corners of the universe, will human civilization last longer.
If you keep shrinking on a small earth, it is too risky for mankind. Any disaster from the universe can easily wipe mankind from the earth. Only by going to the starry sky and putting eggs in different blues, will the survival and continuity of human civilization be stronger and be able to continue for a longer period of time.