>
> Oh, and while we're on matters historical, has anyone heard anything about
> a huge, almost humanity-ending cosmic or geological event around 540 AD?
> Apparently geological and archeological evidence agrees pretty compellingly
> that 'the dark ages' were introduced by a cataclysmic disaster of some
> sort. Heard it in a half-sleep, and then heard no more of it.
>
Yeah, this theory was put forwarded by some guy who argued that a big eruption at Krakatoa caused the dark ages. The theory then proceeded to get junked by everyone with any credibility, but I don't recall who exactly was involved.
Peter -- Peter van Heusden <pvh at egenetics.com> NOTE: I do not speak for my employer, Electric Genetics "Criticism has torn up the imaginary flowers from the chain not so that man shall wear the unadorned, bleak chain but so that he will shake off the chain and pluck the living flower." - Karl Marx, 1844