The First Ladies of the Earth: An Anthropological Study

 

Dr. Alice C. Linsley

My second book, The First Ladies of the Earth, is available on Amazon. Discover the culture, social structure, and influence of biblical women from the historical Eve to the Virgin Mary.  

The astonishing contributions and enduring influence of the Hebrew wives and daughters come alive for the reader of this sequel to The First Lords of the Earth: An Anthropological Study.

The book presents neglected aspects of the cultural milieus of the women of the Bible, including the Women of Noah's Household and evidence that Tamar was Judah's wife. The chapters present evidence of their high status, ministries to women, entrepreneurial successes, and the balance of authority between them and their Hebrew husbands.


“Alice's analysis of the kinship pattern of the biblical Hebrew opened my eyes to understand not just Genesis and not just the Pentateuch, but the whole diacronic layers in all of the Old Testament." - Shalom Rutgaizer, Israeli archaeologist and Old Testament scholar



“In terms of tertiary studies, I learned Old Testament from 'extreme liberals' as well as 'moderate conservatives.' Then for years I felt satisfied that, although by no means a specialist, I had worked out a sensible approach to the Old Testament that was authentically Christian while avoiding the pitfalls of fundamentalism, Marcionism and liberalism . . . especially with regard to the Book of Genesis.

That was until I found Alice Linsley's work. Her biblical, historical, theological, cultural, anthropological and archaeological research takes the reader into fascinating areas which really make sense and have caused me to change quite a number of my previously held views!" - David Chislett SSC, former Anglican Bishop of the Traditional Anglican Church


Related reading: Reading the Bible in a Different Way; Symbols of Authority Among the Early Hebrew; Just Genesis: Binary Reasoning and Gender Balance; The Hebrew Selection of Marriage Partners

Bianfu Cave

 

Bianfu Cave in Yunnan Province, China, has yielded fossil remains of at least three Denisovan humans who lived between 167,000 and 134,000 years ago. Denisovan fossils have been identified in only five places: China, Laos, Russia, Siberia and Tibet. The fossils found in the Bianfu Cave are the southernmost Denisovan remains found to date. Read what John Hawks has to say about this recent discovery.

"The site of Bianfu Cave provides evidence that this group spanned all of China during the later Middle Pleistocene." (1) New Denisovans from China’s southwest - John Hawks

"Explosive outbreak" of Measles in South Carolina and Utah

 

The number of measles cases in the United States has officially outstripped last year’s 33-year high. And the USA may lose it elimination status.

By July 24, 2026, health officials have recorded 2,318 cases. That surpasses the 2,289 cases documented in 2025. Many of this year’s cases have come from an explosive outbreak in South Carolina and one simmering in Utah. Another 41 states, as well as New York City and Washington, D.C., have also reported cases.

Read more here: Measles cases in the U.S. hit a new 34-year high

High Tectonic Stress in Southern California

 

San Andreas Fault 

The San Andreas fault and a neighboring fault in Southern California have reached their highest levels of tectonic stress in 1,000 years, and a rupture at one fault could propagate to the other, researchers found.

The results of a study published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, suggest the San Andreas and San Jacinto faults are primed for an Earth-shattering rupture, which may involve the earthquake gate at Cajon Pass opening to unleash more destruction than a single-fault event would on its own.

Cajon Pass, where the San Andreas and San Jacinto faults connect, is an "earthquake gate" that can facilitate the spread of ruptures.

The San Andreas and San Jacinto faults have caused 36 earthquakes with magnitudes of 6.4 or above in the past 1,000 years. Southern California's last "big one" was a magnitude 7.9 event in 1857, when a 205-mile (330 kilometers) segment of the San Andreas fault slipped horizontally between Parkfield and Cajon Pass. That rupture did not propagate through Cajon Pass, but a similar megaquake in 1812 did, suggesting this could happen again in what is now a much more built-up and densely populated environment, according to the study.

Read more here: 'The system is critically stressed': San Andreas and San Jacinto faults scarily close to major earthquake, study finds | Live Science

Moon Station by 2032

The far side of the Moon experiences 14 days of continuous sunlight, 

followed by 14 days of total darkness.

NASA is building a permanent base at the lunar South Pole. The project utilizes commercial landers like Blue Origin’s and rovers from companies such as Astrolab and Lunar Outpost. The goal is to achieve early, semi-permanent habitation capability by 2029, and a continuous human presence by 2032.

NASA is procuring the technologies required to sustain a sprawling, miles-long base in a dark, extremely cold environment at the Moon's South Pole. NASA believes that this region of the Moon's surface presents the best access to water ice and minerals. The base will be a hub for mining and processing local resources for long-term habitation and fuel production.

The initial phase involves a rapid series of robotic and cargo missions to scout the South Pole, test technologies, and prepare for human surface operations. Commercial payloads are being delivered using landers with proven heritage to reduce risk for future crewed landings.

Read more here: 2-building-the-moon-base.pdf

Hydrogen from Breadcrumbs?

 

Bread, the staff of life. Christ, the Bread of Life. 

From Bread comes life supporting hydrogen.

Breadcrumbs from food waste could replace fossil fuels as a source of hydrogen in one of the most common chemical reactions used in chemical manufacturing, new research suggests.

The new process, reported Feb. 23 in the journal Nature Chemistry, combines natural fermentation processes in bacteria with metal catalysis to generate an array of valuable chemical products from simple food waste. Calculations showed that this hybrid procedure was carbon negative overall, and the authors think it could be the first step in reimagining chemical manufacturing as a more sustainable industry.

Read about it here: Chemists make hydrogen from breadcrumbs in groundbreaking reaction that could replace some fossil fuels | Live Science

Chinese Produce Hexagonal Diamonds

 

Vredefort Crater Dome in South Africa seen from space with the Operational Land Imager on Landsat 8, 27 June 2018. The largest known meteor crater on earth.

Chinese researchers claim to have made the first samples of pure hexagonal diamond or lonsdaleite. Lonsdaleite is a rare, ultra-hard carbon allotrope found in meteorite impact sites and synthesized in lab. It's hexagonal crystal structure makes it theoretically up to 58% harder than regular cubic diamonds. It is highly prized for potential industrial applications in cutting and drilling due to its superior stiffness, stability, and hardness.

The biggest challenge in identifying lonsdaleite is the lack of pure samples; in many cases, it is mixed with cubic diamond, graphite and other minerals. This makes it difficult ‪—‬ or even impossible ‪—‬ to test and measure its unique properties.

The new study, published March 4 in the journal Nature, addressed this problem by creating several pure hexagonal diamond samples about 0.06 inches (1.5 millimeters) in diameter ‪—‬ big enough to measure the samples' material properties. The team found that hexagonal diamond is both stiffer and harder than cubic diamond, and that it resists oxidation much more than cubic diamond does.

Read more here: Chinese scientists create rare 'hexagonal diamond' that's harder than natural diamond | Live Science