These discarded objects will form humanity’s lasting geological footprint, paleontologists say

Scientists make grim prediction about humanity's legacy in the future: 'The first step to fossilization'

Future civilizations trying to find traces of how today's population lived are likely to find "technofossils" made up of plastic bags, cheap clothes, and aluminum cans, The Guardian reported. This legacy of non-disintegrating waste, while unsavory to some, is nevertheless becoming an undeniable reality. What's happening? While humans who are buried have "taken the first step to fossilisation," scientists predicting which objects from our technol…

By Katie Hunt, CNN Imagine the planet tens of millions of years from now. Homo sapiens as a species will likely no longer exist, wiped out by a mass extinction it helped trigger. What traces will humanity leave embedded in ancient rock strata for future paleontologists to spot, study, and ponder? It's a question two scientists seek to answer in a new book. The defining testimony of humanity will be drastically different from the skeletons, bones…

These discarded objects will form humanity’s lasting geological footprint, paleontologists say

(CNN) — Imagine the planet tens of millions of years from now. Homo sapiens as a species is likely long gone, wiped out by a mass extinction it helped unleash.

When Homo sapiens inevitably self-destructs and takes much of the world with it, what will be left behind? Legos and sloths, some predict.

About 60,000 to 70,000 years ago, a major event occurred in the history of humanity: part of the Homo sapiens population left Africa. This episode marked the beginning of a wave of migration that shaped the course of our evolution. Yet, despite the importance of this period, many [...]