The Silurian Hypothesis: Did an Ancient Industrial Civilization Exist Before Humans?
The Silurian Hypothesis (2020)
I explore the Silurian Hypothesis, a theory by Gavin Schmidt and Adam Frank suggesting an industrial civilization may have risen and fallen millions of years before us. Geological evidence like the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum could be the only trace left behind, much like our own future carbon signature. This idea, inspired by Dr. Who and ancient myths, challenges our assumption that humanity is the first to master technology on Earth.
Not the pyramids, not the skyscrapers, not Styrofoam, not Shakespeare—in the end, we will be known only by a change in the rock that marked the start of the Anthropocene.