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July 2024

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Emergency Preparedness: Are You Ready?
05/28/2024

Farewell from the 2023/24 Social Work Interns
05/28/2024

Gina on the Horizon
05/28/2024

Mark Your Calendars for the Healthy Aging Research California Virtual Summit
05/28/2024

Meet Our New Development Associate
05/28/2024

Putting the Strategic Plan into Practice
05/28/2024

Washington Park: Pasadena’s Rediscovered Gem
05/28/2024

Introducing Civil Rights Discussions
05/22/2024

Rumor of Humor #2416
05/14/2024

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Rumor of Humor #2417
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Rumor of Humor #2418
05/14/2024

Springtime Visitors
05/07/2024

Freezing for a Good Cause – Credit, That Is
05/02/2024

No Discussion Meeting on May 3rd
05/02/2024

An Apparently Normal Person Author Presentation and Book-signing
05/01/2024

Flintridge Center: Pasadena Village’s Neighbor That Changes Lives
05/01/2024

Pasadena Celebrates Older Americans Month 2024
05/01/2024

The 2024 Pasadena Village Volunteer Appreciation Lunch
05/01/2024

Woman of the Year: Katy Townsend
05/01/2024

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Science: Telescopes, Columbian Exchange

By Bob Snodgrass
Posted: 10/16/2021
Tags:
I also get the Wilson center emails and have attended two of their webinars, which were policy focused. Tonight I will zoom into the von Karman lecture at CalTech which relates to the advantages of infra-red telescopes, a subject very interesting to me.

There’s also a very interesting article about evidence for human tobacco use 12,000 yrs ago in what is now Utah, . The second may require a subscription- for those wanting it I can email a copy of the original paper.

This inevitably brings up the question which was more important for prehistoric humans, tobacco or cannabis? It’s interesting to me to think of the so-called Columbian exchange:  Tomatoes, potatoes, corn, chocolate and many other foods changed the European diet forever. Asia had no spicy peppers before Columbus, and they became important. Tobacco was a commercially important import to Europe. It's use was initially frowned on but it soon grew in use and importance.    Spaniards brought cannabis plants to South America.


The oldest real evidence for cannabis use is in ancient china, 6-8,000 years ago. It probably originated in China where hemp was used extensively for rope, clothing, shoes and sometimes parts of walls. Hindu culture acquired cannabis from China and soon incorporated its use into religious rituals. In the Atharva Veda, for instance, cannabis is lauded for being a cure to illnesses, and also for fighting off demons.


So the Americas gave potatoes, chocolate and tobacco to the old world and got diseases, cannabis and sugar in return.


European diseases were acquired from hogs, cattle, and chickens. These diseases passed back and forth between Europeans and animals, because they lived close to each other. Both developed immunities. Amerindians had no immunities. They had no similar diseases that developed with animals, because Native Americans had no similar relationship with animals.

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