What If Earth's History Happened in a Single Day?

Something I recently thought about. Let's imagine that the entire 4.5 billion-year (actually, 4.6 billion) timeline of Earth is condensed into a single 24-hour day. For this thought experiment, let's assume that Earth is static and stationary (no rotation or orbit) and that the Sun and Moon remain in a fixed position, as Earth's axial tilt and rotation determine the length of a solar day for Earth, so we need to eliminate those factors. We'll also assume that there are no clouds to block out sunlight, and that the sky is dark at night. This is purely for the sake of the thought experiment.<br><br>We'll set the clock at 12:00 A.M. on January 1st, 2024, marking the moment when the solar system first formed around 4.5 billion years ago, and 11:59:59.97 P.M. on December 31st, 2023, marking the present time (2024) on Earth's timeline. This gives us 23 hours, 59 minutes, and 59.97 seconds in total, with which we can calculate the passage of time as follows:<br><br>That's 4.5 billion years divided by 86,399.97 seconds (the number of seconds in a 24-hour day). This tells us that each second on December 31st, 2023, represents roughly 52,000 years of actual time. With this in mind, let's look at how human history and Earth's own history would unfold.<br><br>Let's consider Earth's formation as a planet (4.567 billion years old according to a NASA estimate) and give it an extra 56.7 million years to cool. We'll assume the first life forms (single-celled organisms) appeared 3.5 billion years ago, and the first multicellular life forms appeared around 2.1 billion years ago. With these milestones in mind, let's move on to how human history would play out within this compressed timeline.<br><br>We'll begin with the emergence of Homo sapiens (200,000 years ago) and conclude with the end of the Roman Empire (476 AD), which will be used as a proxy for the end of "ancient" human history. Let's calculate how events would unfold within this compressed timeline, from the first humans to the end of the Roman Empire, on December 31st, 2023.<br><br>First Humans (200,000 years ago): 11:59:37.34 P.M.<br>First Fire Use (70,000 years ago): 11:59:46.51 P.M.<br>First Stone Tools (2.6 million years ago): 11:58:37.34 P.M.<br>First Multicellular Life Forms (2.1 billion years ago): 9:39:39.08 P.M.<br>First Life Forms (3.5 billion years ago): 7:46:38.67 P.M.<br>Earth's Formation as a Planet (4.567 billion years ago): 5:05:04.95 P.M.<br>Sun's Formation (4.6 billion years ago): 4:57:56.15 P.M.<br><br>Now, let's look at how human events would unfold on this compressed timeline. We'll include the development of basic tools, the discovery of fire, and the emergence of Homo sapiens as a species.<br><br>Human Events:<br><br>End of the Roman Empire (476 AD): 11:59:59.69 P.M.<br>First Homo Sapiens (200,000 years ago): 11:59:37.34 P.M.<br>First Use of Fire (70,000 years ago): 11:59:46.51 P.M.<br>First Stone Tools (2.6 million years ago): 11:58:37.34 P.M.<br><br>What if early human societies started using fire around 70,000 years ago (which seems unlikely given our current knowledge, as fire use likely goes back further)? How would that affect the timeline of human societies? In a compressed timeline, human history and the emergence of Homo sapiens would happen almost simultaneously in the final minutes of the day, indicating that the events of human societies happened extremely recently in the history of Earth.<br><br>Human societies would seem to develop tools very quickly, considering that early humans may have used fire tens of thousands of years before the first Homo sapiens.<br><br>In contrast, the development of tools in the distant past before the emergence of Homo sapiens as a species suggests that early human societies may have been capable of using fire far earlier than we currently know, which could have a significant impact on our understanding of early human societies.