Low Solar Activity, Winter Flu Conditions, Pandemics and Sex Wars: A Holistic View of Human Evolution
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.23756/sp.v8i1.514Abstract
The current spread of coronavirus has caught our modern world by surprise, which leads to widespread panic, fear and confusion. However, if we view the unfolding of these events from a scientific historical perspective of past human evolution, we may discover the reoccurring patterns of the environmental conditions that give rise to such epidemics. Hence, we can figure out better methods to prepare and react to the infectious agents that spread diseases that have shaped the course of human history before. Here, I propose a holistic view of human evolution, with an interdisciplinary approach that studies how cyclic variation in solar UV energy affects the evolution of viruses and shapes the symbiotic dynamics of human life on earth.
Downloads
References
Barzilai, R. (2019). Solar cycles, light, sex hormones and the life cycles of civilization: Toward integrated chronobiology. Science & Philosophy, 7(2). doi: 10.23756/sp.v7i2.483
Brockhurst, M. A., Chapman, T., King, K. C., Mank, J. E., Paterson, S., & Hurst, G. D. D. (2014) Running with the Red Queen: the role of biotic conflicts in evolution. Proceedings.
Biological Sciences, 281(1797), 20141382. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2014.138 Buonanno, M., Ponnaiya, B., Welch, D., Stanislauskas, M., Randers-Pehrson, G., Smilenov, L.,
Lowy, F. D., Owens, D. M., & Brenner, D. J. (2017). Germicidal efficacy and mammalian skin safety of 222-nm UV light. Radiation Research Society 187(4), 483-491. doi:
1667/RR0010CC.
Callaway, E. (2015). Genghis Khan‘s genetic legacy has competition. Nature website. https://www.nature.com/news/genghis-khan-s-genetic-legacy-has-competition-
16767?WT.mc_id=TWT_NatureNews
Eldredge, N., Gould, J. (1972). Punctuated equilibria: An alternative to phyletic gradualism. In Schopf, Thomas J. M. (ed.) Models in Paleobiology, 82-115. Freeman, Cooper and Company.
Foster, H. (2014). The reason for the season: why flu strikes in winter. Blog post. Harvard University, The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences website.
http://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2014/the-reason-for-the-season-why-flu-strikes-in-winter/
Gemmell, P., Hein, J., & Katzourakis, A. (2015). Orthologous endogenous retroviruses exhibit directional selection since the chimp-human split. Retrovirology, 12, 52. doi: 10.1186/s12977-015-0172-6
Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. (2020). Francis Bacon (1561-1626). https://www.iep.utm.edu/bacon/
Morran, L. T., Schmidt, O. G., Gelarden, I. A., Parrish, R. C., & Lively, C. M. (2011). Running with the Red Queen: Host-parasite coevolution selects for biparental sex. Science. 333(6039), 216–218. doi: 10.1126/science.1206360
Philips, T. (2009). How low can it go? Sun plunges into the quietest solar minimum in a century.
NASA website. https://www.nasa.gov/topics/solarsystem/features/solar_minimum09.html
Putnam, A. E., Putnam, D. E., Andreu-Hayles, L., Cook, E. R., Palmer, J. G., Clark, E. H.,...Broeckerb, W. S. (2016). Little Ice Age wetting of interior Asian deserts and the rise of the Mongol Empire. Quaternary Science Reviews, 131(Part A), 33-50. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2015.10.033
Sagripanti, J. L., & Lytle, C. D. (2007). Inactivation of influenza virus by solar radiation. Photochemistry and Photobiology, 83(5), 1278-1282. doi: 10.1111/j.1751-1097.2007.00177.x
Sarchet, P. (2016). 125-year mini ice age linked to the plague and fall of empires. New Science website. https://www.newscientist.com/article/2076713-125-year-mini-ice-age-linked-to-the-plague-and-fall-of-empires/
Spiney, L. How pandemics shape social evolution. (2019). Nature, 574, 324-326. doi:10.1038/d41586-019-03048-8
Svensmark, H. (2007). Cosmoclimatology: A new theory emerges. Astronomy & Geophysics, 48(1), 1.18–1.24. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-4004.2007.48118.x
Taubenberger, J. K. (2006). Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, 150(1): 86-112.
University of Georgia. (2002, August 2). Retroviruses Shows That Human-Specific Variety
Developed When Humans, Chimps Diverged. ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/08/020802075138.htm
Welch, D., Buonanno, M., Grilj, V., Shuryak, I., Crickmore, C., Bigelow, A. W.,…Brenner, D. J. (2018). Far-UVC light: A new tool to control the spread of airborne-mediated microbial diseases. Scientific Reports 8, Article 2752. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-21058-w
Wheelis, M. (2002). Biological Warfare at the 1346 Siege of Caffa. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 8(9), 971-975. doi: 10.3201/eid0809.010536
Wickramasinghe, N., Steele, E., Wainwright, M., Tokoro, G., Fernando, M., & Qu, J. (2017).
Sunspot cycle minima and pandemics: A case for vigilance at the present time. Journal of Astrobiology & Outreach, 5. doi: 10.4172/2332-2519.1000159
Zeh, D. W., Zeh, J. A., & Ishida, Y. (2009). Transposable elements and an epigenetic basis for punctuated equilibria. BioEssays, 31(7), 715-726. doi: 10.1002/bies.200900026
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge. The journal is committed to real and immediate open access for academic work. All of the journal articles are free to access immediately from the date of publication. There are no charge for readers to download articles and reviews for their own scholarly use. Benefits of open access for authors, include:
- Free access for all users worldwide
- Increased visibility and readership
- Rapid publication
- No spatial constraints
- Authors can share their research papers on their personal web-pages (i.e. ResearchGate, etc.)
Copyright and Licensing Terms
SCIENCE & PHILOSOPHY publishes open access articles under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) License. The Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY) allows users to copy, distribute and transmit an article, adapt the article and make commercial use of the article. The CC BY license permits commercial and non-commercial re-use of an open-access article, as long as the author is properly attributed. Copyright on any research article published by SCIENCE & PHILOSOPHY is retained by the author(s). Authors grant SCIENCE & PHILOSOPHY a license to publish the article and identify itself as the original publisher. Authors also grant any third party the right to use the article freely as long as its original authors, citation details and publisher are identified.
For further information visit: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/. The following logo will appear in any paper that will be published from the volume number 31/2016 onwards:
![]()