Somewhat related... Oracle has a feature called "Flashback" that leverages the transaction log to query the state of data for any table at a point in time using the "AS OF TIMESTAMP" clause of the SELECT statement. I can see how this could come in handy for quickly viewing past modifications when change data capture isn't implemented, or even recoving data without going to backup.

SELECT * FROM employees

AS OF TIMESTAMP (SYSTIMESTAMP - INTERVAL '60' MINUTE);

What do you think?