The sands of frozen time
QUESTION What is the most unusual object revealed by the constantly moving sands of the Sahara?
The Sahara is the largest hot desert in the world. Its shifting sands have swallowed animals, people and entire cities over the centuries.
In 2010, satellite images revealed more than 100 ancient fortified settlements in southern Libya. These were built by the Garamantes, who ruled the area for nearly 1,000 years until their empire fragmented in AD 700.
Many interesting meteorites have been discovered in the Sahara, including erg Chech 002, which was forged within the crust of an ancient proto-planet. It offers an unprecedented glimpse of planetary formation in the early solar system.
The desertification of the Sahara is cyclical. In 6,500 BC, the area was covered in lush forest.
Satellite images from 2015 revealed that under the parched sands of Mauritania is a vast river network that once carried water across the western Sahara.
In Wadi Al-hitan (Whale Valley) in egypt, some extraordinary fossils have been discovered, including the erroneously named Basilosaurus (king lizard), a 60 ft whale with rudimentary limbs that lived 35 million years ago.
The Sahara has revealed the answer to a wartime mystery. On June 28, 1942, Flt Sgt Dennis Copping was flying a damaged P-40 Kittyhawk over the egyptian desert when he disappeared.
In May 2012, a Polish oil company worker was on an expedition in Al-Wadi al-Jadid, 200 miles from the nearest town, when he discovered the mostly intact aircraft. There was evidence of a parachute having been used to create a shelter.
The plane was taken to el Alamein Museum and restored.
Ian Murray, Inverness.
QUESTION Why does the U.S. have a statute of limitations whereby criminals can escape justice after a certain amount of time?
A STATuTe of limitations dictates the time period within which a legal proceeding must begin.
Its purpose in a criminal case is to ensure the prompt prosecution of criminal charges and thereby spare the accused of the burden of having to defend themselves against stale charges after memories may have faded or evidence been lost.
Of particular concern is relevant eyewitness testimony, especially if no formal statement was made by a witness at the time of the alleged offence.
In the u. S., there is no statute of limitations for federal crimes punishable by death, certain crimes of terrorism or some sex offences.
In Britain, most civil actions are subject to statutes of limitations. Six years for debt and negligence claims; three years for personal injury; and one year for defamation and malicious falsehood.
There have been statutes of limitations throughout history. In Ancient Greece, every crime except for murder was subject to a five-year statute of limitations. Similar statutes were found in Roman law.
english law, on which most modern Western jurisprudence is based, did not begin to codify statutes of limitations until the 17th century.
A. E. Ryan, London W4.
QUESTION Did Scottish fruit grower Patrick Matthew discover evolution by natural selection several decades before Darwin?
PATRICK MATTheW was a Perthshire agriculturalist whose ideas on natural selection were published in On Naval Timber And Arboriculture in 1831. It predated Charles Darwin’s On The Origin Of Species by almost 30 years.
Darwin was unaware of the work before he made his discoveries, but when it was pointed out to him, he freely acknowledged Matthew’s ideas. unlike Matthew, Darwin systematically proved his theories over decades of research.
Matthew’s pamphlet was concerned with the care and cultivation of woodlands in order to build Royal Navy vessels. he noted those trees that were not strong enough would ‘fall prematurely without reproducing’ and would be replaced by fitter specimens.
he speculated this might result in speciation: ‘The progeny of the same parents, under great difference of circumstance, might, in several generations, even become distinct species, incapable of co-reproduction.’
Such ideas foreshadow Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace, a naturalist and geographer who described natural selection independently of Darwin.
Matthew’s and Darwin’s theories do differ. Matthew was a catastrophist who believed the earth had periodically been rocked by upheavals, which left an ‘unoccupied field . . . for new diverging ramifications of life’.
Darwin focused on competition occurring within populations relatively free from ecological disturbances.
he paid tribute to the earlier work: ‘I freely acknowledge that Mr Matthew has anticipated by many years the explanation which I have offered of the origin of species, under the name of natural selection.’
Matthew always believed he deserved credit for the theory of evolution and had ‘Discoverer of the Principle of Natural Selection’ printed on his calling cards.
Edward French, Ipswich, Suffolk.
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