nok-ind:

World’s languages traced back to single African mother tongue: scientists.

New Zealand researchers have traced every human language — from English to Mandarin — back to an ancestral language spoken in Africa 50,000 to 70,000 years ago.

Scientists say they have traced the world’s 6,000 modern languages — from English to Mandarin — back to a single “mother tongue,” an ancestral language spoken in Africa 50,000 to 70,000 years ago.

New research, published in the journal Science, suggests this single ancient language resulted in human civilization — a Diaspora — as well as advances in art and hunting tool technology, and laid the groundwork for all the world’s cultures.

The research, by Quentin Atkinson from the University of Auckland in New Zealand, also found that speech evolved far earlier than previously thought. And the findings implied, though did not prove, that modern language originated only once, an issue of controversy among linguists, according to the New York Times.

Before Atkinson came up with the evidence for a single African origin of language, some scientists had argued that language evolved independently in different parts of the world.

Atkinson found that the first populations migrating from Africa laid the groundwork for all the world’s cultures by taking their single language with them. “It was the catalyst that spurred the human expansion that we all are a product of,” Atkinson said, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Atkinson traced the number distinct sounds, or phonemes — consonants, vowels and tones — in 504 world languages, finding compelling evidence that they can be traced back to a long-forgotten dialect spoken by our Stone Age ancestors, according to the Daily Mail.

Atkinson also hypothesized that languages with the most sounds would be the oldest, while those spoken by smaller breakaway groups would utilize fewer sounds as variation and complexity diminished.

The study found that some of the click-using languages of Africa have more than 100 phonemes, or sounds, whereas Hawaiian, toward the far end of the human migration route out of Africa, has only 13, the Times reported. English has about 45 phonemes.

The phoneme pattern mirrors the pattern of human genetic diversity as humans spread across the globe from sub-Saharan Africa around 70,000 years ago.

Source: http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/business-tech/science/110415/language-science-linguistics-mother-tongue-english-chinese-mandarin-africa

laughingsquid:

Various Fruits and Their Personal Problems

fastcompany:

Since its inception, SoundExchange, the organization that collects royalty payments from digital music services like Pandora, has brought in more than $900 million—$292 million of which it collected last year alone. But how much of a cut does SoundExchange take for itself? Nothing, other than for operating and administrative costs.

Artists: SoundExchange Has Free Money For You, No Nigerian Princes Involved

bliptv:

Today we’re excited to announce a feature that both web series creators and web series viewers (pictured above) have been clamoring for. 

Subscriptions.

The very nature of web series demands them. If you enjoy an episode of a show, you’re going to want to watch more. But sometimes you’re just too busy, forgetful, or lazy, to keep track of every last awesome show you see. As people who watch a lot of this stuff, this is a problem we at blip thoroughly understand. And that’s why we’ve gone out of our way to make this really, really easy.

Last week, we placed big, blue “subscribe” buttons just about everywhere on blip.tv. Click the button and you’re routed through a simple registration process (Log in with your Facebook ID, grant permissions and you’re done.  No new password to remember. WIN!).  Once subscribed, you’ll be notified when new episodes are available via your personalized Subscriptions link in the blip.tv masthead. You’ll also receive a weekly email listing all new episodes from the last seven days. Pretty easy right? 

So let’s review. Web series are awesome. We’d all watch more of them if it were easier. Starting today, it is easier. So let’s start subscribing. 

…wait. What? You don’t know which web series to subscribe to? Hmmm….that is a problem. What if Senior Director of Network Programming Eric Mortensen were to recommend great web series based on your favorite TV shows and films? That sounds like a good idea. Let’s do that. 

All day today (Monday), you can send a tweet w/ #ILoveBlip & the name of your favorite TV show and Eric will personally recommend at least one great web series based on your tastes. 

futuresagency:

laughingsquid:

Julian Assange: The Rolling Stone Interview