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In the early Middle Ages, nearly one out of every thousand people in the world lived in Angkor, the sprawling capital of the Khmer Empire in present-day Cambodia. But by the 1500s, Angkor had been mostly abandoned—its temples, citadels, and complex irrigation network left to overgrowth and ruin. Recent studies have blamed a period of unstable climate in which heavy floods followed lengthy droughts, which broke down the infrastructure that moved water around the massive city.
But it turns out Angkor’s waterworks may have been vulnerable to these changes because there was no one left to maintain and repair them. A new study suggests that Khmer rulers, religious officials, and city administrators had been steadily flowing out of Angkor to other cities for at least a century before the end.
They should have given the Sewer Workers Local the raise they were asking for.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 28 2019, @07:42PM (1 child)
Modded flamebait, but parent has a point. California is still at its peak for hi tech, but there are most certainly cracks in it. Is Silicon Valley today like Detroit in 1960? Only time will tell. Is Apple's new, round HQ like GM's round HQ? Public unions bankrupted Vallejo. The police unions put the squeeze on San Jose after it tried to prevent the drain. Entry level cops earn 3X what entry level military earn, doing a job that's often less dangerous. Some California cities are doing alright with infrastructure so far, like Napa which just recently weathered a storm very well due to the construction of a flood-water bypass system. Others not so much, like the Oroville dam and San Jose's Coyote Creek which is *not* ready for the next flood. All it takes is a few good earhquakes and storms. Everybody will use those as the excuse, but there's a good chance the political climate will have been driving people away for decades. It's one-party rule here. One party, and everybody's invited--including unvetted foreigners. Up north we've got anti-vaxxers too. Teachers in Oakland on strike... most of the parents joining in "solidarity", yeah... because they know their kids will get a C if they don't play ball. A lot of people are getting sick and tired.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 28 2019, @07:46PM
You forgot to mention the high speed rail fiasco.