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drakytheyesterday at 4:23 PM4 repliesview on HN

Wait hang on, would they "control" file by finding natural sources (volcano, lightning strike wildfire, etc.) and then make use of that source for controlled sources of light/heat/etc? I guess I've always thought of "control" of fire including the intentional starting thereof.


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adgjlsfhk1yesterday at 4:37 PM

> Wait hang on, would they "control" file by finding natural sources (volcano, lightning strike wildfire, etc.) and then make use of that source for controlled sources of light/heat/etc?

Pretty much. Being able to transfer/build a fire is a lot easier than starting one. Fire starting requires bow/flint&steel and a lot of patience. Control basically means using simple torches to transfer fire from one place to another (where the initial source is either lightning/wildfire or embers of a previous fire).

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sethammonsyesterday at 9:17 PM

Firehawks spread fire to scare out game; that count?

https://wildlife.org/australian-firehawks-use-fire-to-catch-...

riffraffyesterday at 6:22 PM

ah, there's a very good movie about this exact topic (not scientifically accurate, one presumes, but still very good)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quest_for_Fire_(film)

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sophaclesyesterday at 4:45 PM

There's pretty strong evidence that the use of fire to cook food is what enabled modern humans, with their short (and relatively fragile) digestive systems and giant energy hungry brains to evolve. Cooking food makes more calories bio-available in food and also reduced the amount of energy the body needs to expend on that food to harvest calories... so there's more energy available for thinking (etc).

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