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The Micah Hanks Program is a weekly podcast that covers science, space exploration, UFOs and SETI, archaeology, A.I. and the mysteries of our universe. The show features commentary and interviews with guests that include authors, researchers, and science educators from a variety of different fields, and takes a critically minded approach to the study of our universe. For more information about Micah Hanks, you can visit his website here. 

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Aug 27, 2019

On this edition of The Micah Hanks Program, after a re-cap of Micah's recent visit to a Bigfoot conference, we touch on the fires that have been devastating the Amazon jungles for the last several weeks, as well as NASA's investigation of what could be the first crime committed in space. Also, we report on RNA that was recently sequenced from a wolf-hybrid puppy that lived more than 14,000 years ago, and why it has become the latest landmark achievement in genetic science. 

Then getting into the discussion of anomalies in archaeology, we begin with a look at a peculiar story about a Wisconsin lake, which involves many local divers who, for decades now, have said they have observed a series of pyramid-like stone structures at the bottom of Rock Lake. The archaeological community has dismissed the stories, noting the likelihood that these are merely stones piles that were deposited at the end of the last ice age; but has the potential for actual structures of unknown provenance been completely ruled out? 

This leads us to the Rock Lake enigma's connection with a nearby archaeological site called Azatlan, which shares its name with the fabled original homeland of the Aztecs. Some look at this aspect of the Aztec mythology as being similar to the fabled Atlantis, which philosopher Plato wrote about centuries ago; but whether or not Atlantis really existed, there are some remarkable archaeological discoveries being made today which suggest that people in the ancient world were far more well-traveled than we once thought.

Curious legends like those of the pre-Inca tradition of "Viracocha" have perplexed scholars with their hinting at possible interactions between different cultures in the ancient world. Such stories were also what fueled Thor Heyerdahl to sail across the Pacific Ocean, to prove that ancient people might have done the same. Could early migrations into the Americas have occurred much earlier than once thought, and perhaps with the help of ancient sailing vessels? And if so, where did some of those early arrivals come from originally? 

Below are links to stories discussed on this week's program:

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