RP176 Prehistoric Art

 RP176 Prehistoric Art

Prehistoric art is art from cultures that did not yet have a written language. The first pieces of artwork are about 40,000 years old, though experts don't agree on exactly when humans started to make art. The earliest clear works of art come from the Upper Paleolithic era (from 10,000 to 40,000 years ago). Most art from this era is of three types: stone figurines, cave paintings, and etchings or carvings.

Stone figurines are some of the oldest kinds of art. In fact, the oldest known piece of art is a stone figurine called a Venus figurine. Venus figurines are small stone sculptures of women. This particular sculpture has beautiful round curves but is not very detailed. Several figurines like this have been found. Almost all of these sculptures have no facial features but very detailed bodies.

Prehistoric cave paintings have been found in several parts of the world. The oldest cave paintings are in Europe, with many in Spain and France. The paintings often show animals, especially buffalo. They also show hunting scenes. Early painters had only five colors to use: white, black, red, brown, and yellow. But with these colors, they created lasting works of art.

Etchings and carvings are also common prehistoric types of art. Prehistoric humans cut pictures into the walls of caves with tools. Like the paintings, these pictures are often of animals or hunts. Some carved deer bones were found in Korea. They may be up to 40,000 years old, which would make them some of the oldest known art in the world.

Though the tools prehistoric people had were basic, the art they made still looks fresh and meaningful. Even 40,000 years ago, human beings wanted to have beauty in their lives. Perhaps we aren't so different from them.

RP175 Whales' Silent Tears

 RP175 Whales' Silent Tears

We humans think more and more about the effect of our actions on our environment. We are starting to understand how destroying animal populations can have far-reaching effects on our planet. We' re even starting to consider the rights of animals as we think about hunting them. However, we rarely discuss how our actions affect animals' psychological states.

Whales are very intelligent and social. They behave in complex, moral ways. They babysit young whales while their mothers look for food. They can be grateful for being rescued. One whale, after being freed from a net, didn't swim away but instead approached and touched every diver who had helped save her.

Whales need company to thrive. They play and interact with many of their species as they travel through the water. Now, however, there are far fewer animals in many whale species. One French naturalist, Yves Paccalet, believes that whales are getting lonely. He thinks that the effect hunting has on whales affects not only their bodies, but their minds as well. The small numbers of whales left behind are confused. They may not understand where the other whales have gone or why. Paccalet warns that lonely, depressed whales could lose their will to live. That means that they don't care about living anymore. They may stop eating or do other unhealthy things. He thinks that when whales get too lonely, they may stop breeding.

It's not only hunting that lowers whale populations. Net s and other dangerous fishing gear, environmental pollution, and the use of sonar (using sound waves to navigate) are all creating a new, frightening environment for whales. They may decide that they just don't want to live in it anymore. Then, unfortunately, whales themselves will finish the job that overhunting started.RP175 Whales' Silent Tears

We humans think more and more about the effect of our actions on our environment. We are starting to understand how destroying animal populations can have far-reaching effects on our planet. We' re even starting to consider the rights of animals as we think about hunting them. However, we rarely discuss how our actions affect animals' psychological states.

Whales are very intelligent and social. They behave in complex, moral ways. They babysit young whales while their mothers look for food. They can be grateful for being rescued. One whale, after being freed from a net, didn't swim away but instead approached and touched every diver who had helped save her.

Whales need company to thrive. They play and interact with many of their species as they travel through the water. Now, however, there are far fewer animals in many whale species. One French naturalist, Yves Paccalet, believes that whales are getting lonely. He thinks that the effect hunting has on whales affects not only their bodies, but their minds as well. The small numbers of whales left behind are confused. They may not understand where the other whales have gone or why. Paccalet warns that lonely, depressed whales could lose their will to live. That means that they don't care about living anymore. They may stop eating or do other unhealthy things. He thinks that when whales get too lonely, they may stop breeding.

It's not only hunting that lowers whale populations. Net s and other dangerous fishing gear, environmental pollution, and the use of sonar (using sound waves to navigate) are all creating a new, frightening environment for whales. They may decide that they just don't want to live in it anymore. Then, unfortunately, whales themselves will finish the job that overhunting started.

RP174 A Chinese Legend

 RP174 A Chinese Legend

Laozi is something of a legendary figure in Chinese culture. He is known as the father of Daoism and the author of the philosophy's central text, the Dao De Jing.

Some of the stories told about Laozi are pretty incredible. It's said that he remained in his mother's womb for 81 years. And when he was finally born, he came out a grown man with a full grey beard and long ears.

We can be fairly certain that this story is fanciful. But the facts about the real Laozi's life still remain a mystery.

The first biography of Laozi was written several centuries after he is thought to have lived. It is included in the Records of the Grand Historian, written in the first century BC. According to the Records, Laozi was a librarian at the royal court of Zhou and a contemporary of Confucius. As the state of Zhou began to break down, however, Laozi decided to leave. At the entrance to a mountain pass, he gave a guard a book that revealed the secrets of living a good life— the Dao De Jing. However, in addition to this story, two other conflicting accounts of Laozi's life are given in the Records. This has caused a lot of confusion, leaving people unsure which Laozi was the real one.

Many modern scholars doubt whether Laozi actually existed at all. The Dao De Jing, they suggest, may actually be a collection of the teachings and ideas of various ancient Chinese thinkers.

For many followers of Daoism, however, this is all beside the point. The truth of the teachings, they say, is what really matters, not the man said to be behind them.

RP173 The Wild Amazon

 RP173 The Wild Amazon

Step inside, and the air is rich and heavy, full of oxygen that the plants breathe out. Everything is green. The light comes down through the leaves of the trees high above. Growing things pile on top of each other—vines on trees, moss on vines, fungi and flowers everywhere. Animals large and small hide in the tangled plants. It seems quiet, but the air is actually full of the sound of leaves and insects moving. This is the Amazon rain forest.

The Amazon rain forest covers most of the Amazon Basin of South America. It covers five and a half million square kilometers, mostly in Brazil but reaching into some other countries as well. It is ancient, at least 55 million years old. It is full of fresh water from its many rivers.

The Amazon rain forest has the most animal and plant species in one place in the world. One in 10 living species of plants or animals make their home in the Amazon. One in five of all birds live in the Amazon. It is incredibly rich, and we have discovered and documented only a small part of it.

That is why the destruction of the Amazon is so frightening and so serious. Deforestation—cutting down forests for farming or pasture—is a major threat. Though the deforestation rate has slowed, the Amazon still loses many miles of forest every year. For every mile lost, we may lose valuable plants and animals. We also depend on the plants in the Amazon for oxygen. killing them may accelerate global warming.

The Amazon is one of the world's few remaining wild, mysterious places. Let's protect it before it's too late.

RP172 Look Away From the Light

 RP172 Look Away From the Light

Smartphones have changed the way we live. We use them for just about everything now— communicating, learning, laughing, and even getting around our cities. But not all the changes have been good ones. One negative consequence of our smartphone use is that it's breaking havoc on our bodies' natural cycles.

The problem has to do with the blue light given off by smartphones and other electronics. Blue light has a very short wavelength, and produces a higher amount of energy than normal light. Smartphone producers favor it because it matches the brightness of sunlight. This makes it easier to read what's on your smartphone screen in daylight.

But it's this very similarity to sunlight that causes our bodies problems. The human body normally releases a chemical called melatonin after the sun goes down. This chemical tells us it's time to go to sleep. But here's where your smartphone comes in. Imagine a normal evening of riding the bus home, cooking dinner, and then going to bed. You' re probably checking your smartphone the whole time, right? Well, all that blue light is tricking your body into thinking that it's still daytime. As a result, your natural cycle is disturbed and it's harder to get a good night's sleep!

A disturbed sleep cycle has been proven to lead to other health problems. In one study, researchers linked working a night shift to increased chances of diabetes and heart disease.

Luckily, we' re not totally powerless. There are some things we can do to beat blue light. Try to avoid using your smartphone for an hour or two before bed. There are also special glasses you can buy to block out blue light. And you could always just stop using your smartphone altogether. Good luck with that one!

RP171 Desertification

 RP171 Desertification

Some people say desertification is the biggest environmental problem for our planet. What is desertification? Why does it happen? How can we stop it?

Desertification is what happens when dry areas become very damaged. These areas can be very delicate. Natural events or human activities can change the important balance of water in dry land areas. When the plants dry up and the ways to hold water in an area are gone, the land becomes what we would call a desert. Desertification is bad for agriculture and biodiversity.

Desertification has always happened in the world. Natural events like long droughts can cause desertification. But now, human activity causes most desertification. Slash-and-burn agriculture, in which trees are cut and burned to clear land for farming, can lead to desertification, as roots stop soil from eroding. Overgrazing—when animals eat too much grass in an area—can also cause it. Planting non-native plants in dry areas can change the balance of the ecosystem and lead to desertification. Then there is more poverty, less food, and more hunger for people in the area.

So how can we stop desertification? Most importantly, we need to prevent it from starting. It is easier to protect dry lands than to restore them. Preventing soil from eroding is very important for preventing desertification. Simple things like putting stones around tree trunks can help, because the stones collect dew for the tree's roots. Living trees are important for holding on to soil. Even after lands have been degraded, they can still be helped. Reforestation—planting new forests—is one solution.

Desertification is happening fast and affecting many people. We must learn how desertification happens and how to prevent it, or we will face more pain and poverty.

RP170 Charlie Chaplin, a Serious Man

 RP170 Charlie Chaplin, a Serious Man

When you think of Charlie Chaplin, you probably think of his expressive face or his funny, penguin-like waddle. Charlie Chaplin was very good at making people laugh, but he had a serious side, too. Chaplin was passionately anti-Nazi and urged the rest of the world to take the Nazi threat seriously. Later, he made antiwar statements in some movies. While he was beloved for his silly antics, his serious political views sometimes got him into trouble.

The Great Dictator was the only film of its time to make fun of Adolf Hitler and the Nazis. Chaplin mock s Hitler but uses a speech at the climax of the movie to push America into the war. While telling his soldiers (Hitler's soldiers, in the metaphor) not to be used by a dictator, he at the same time repeatedly asks the world to fight for democracy, peace, and freedom. The speech was a brave statement, but America was not at war with Germany then. Many people wanted to stay out of the fight. Chaplin began to be watched by some authorities.

If Chaplin was too pro-war in 1940, authorities found him to be too antiwar later during the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States. Movies like Monsieur Verduex made antiwar statements, causing authorities in the United States to harassment Chaplin. Authorities followed and searched Chaplin many times without ever finding hard evidence.

Chaplin went from being America's darling to being harassed and threatened for his political views, but he didn't stop doing what he thought was right. Chaplin, despite all the trouble, ended up as well loved as ever. Those who opposed him, however, are either forgotten or ashamed.