Kon-Tiki theory floats again after 50 years April 07 2002 at 02:16PM Guimar, Canary Islands - Thor Heyerdahl's theories on ancient seafarers spreading civilization were initially ridiculed by scientists, but a younger generation is studying his ideas from five decades ago as the basis for new ideas about early cultural exchanges. Robson Bonnichsen, who studies how the American continent became populated, calls Heyerdahl "a visionary ahead of his time". Bonnichsen, director of the Centre for the Study of the First Americans at Oregon State University, said that many experts now give serious consideration to the idea that people in boats...