The old notebook with some past info about the Pleistocene mass extinction turned out to be my original attempt from the South American Archaeology class I took in 2002. There's a nice list of articles and books on the subject - and a 22 page handwritten rough draft - not to mention a relatively decent outline. Granted, it was focused primarily on the Americas but also is quite detailed. Also went to the Carnegie's exhibit on Strange Beasts: Past and Present - it was interesting - though I disagree with some of the explanations and assumptions about some of the animals. Most of the animals were from the Eocene, Oligocene, or much older - except for modern animal oddities.

Another interesting idea occurred to me while studying for the upcoming oceanography exam. The text mentions the peopling of the Pacific islands - like Polynesia and how many scientists and scholars have difficulty figuring out how exactly those ancient folks travelled so far between islands - especially Easter Island and Hawaii. The thing that occurred to me was that most of these scholars are in agreement that during the mid to late Pleistocene the sea level worldwide was significantly lower allowing people to cross the Bering Land Bridge. This lower sea level would also make more of the current seamounts and atolls emerge as additional islands - making island hopping much easier than current conditions would make possible. To test this hypothesis - we would merely have to find some evidence of ancient human habitation on some of these seamounts and atolls. Firepits among other things that might be preserved even after having been submerged for millenia. If this evidence is found - it would also force back the dates of earliest settlement of these islands - which still looks like guesswork at this point anyway.

Another bit to mention is that I have developed an interst in antiques over the years and was thinking about what to collect and specialize in first. Well, being a scientifically minded person - I was thinking of collecting old scientific tools, equipment, etc.- even antique models and books. Old spyglasses, sextants, globes, etc. - this sounds like a fun and challenging hobby. I'll have to see what's out there to be collected. Hopefully, I'll come across some intersting finds. And off I go!