The word Neanderthal is an insult still thrown around to suggest that someone is stupid and lacking knowledge and conscience. But the more we learn about our Stone Age cousins, the more it seems to be the opposite.
Neanderthals weren’t brutal cave dwellers, they made sophisticated tools, wire and art, and buried their dead carefully.
A new discovery in a Siberian cave this week reveals an intimate portrait of Neanderthal family life and shows that it may be time for Homo sapiens to abandon this superiority complex once and for all.
we are family
Scientists have discovered the oldest known family group using ancient DNA samples from Neanderthals who lived in Chagyrskaya Cave in southern Siberia, Russia.
The riverside hunting camp, which dates to about 54,000 years ago, was home to a restricted community of about 20 Neanderthals, including a father and his teenage daughter, a young man who could have been a nephew or cousin, and an adult woman who was a second-degree relative, perhaps an aunt or grandmother.
The researchers also detected an unexpected pattern of female migration between different segments of genetic ancestry.
The most likely explanation for this was that most of the Neanderthal women in the small Chagyrskaya group came from another community – perhaps to join their mate’s family.
Long ago
If you lived in London during the Black Death, the chances of beating the bubonic plague weren’t good – the disease killed 50% of Europe’s population over seven years.
The lucky survivors of the Black Death that ravaged Europe had, in part, their genes to thank, according to new research. Using DNA extracted from teeth, scientists were able to identify a key genetic difference that influenced who survived and who died from the disease.
This genetic legacy still affects the human immune system today, according to the researchers, but in a less desirable way when it comes to certain autoimmune diseases.
Consequences

Shipwrecks exert a unique pull on our collective imagination – the pull of sunken treasures and war battles won and lost. But while vessels long lost to the ocean floor can function as artificial reefs and have tremendous narrative value, they can also pose a risk to the marine ecosystem.
A World War II ship is still leaking explosive compounds and other toxic elements to the bottom of the North Sea more than 80 years after it sank, according to a new study that analyzed samples collected from the ship’s steel hull as well as sediment. around.
The samples revealed heavy metals such as nickel and copper, as well as arsenic and explosive compounds.
The researchers involved in the study estimated that the shipwrecks from both world wars – found in Earth’s oceans – contain between 2.5 million and 20.4 million metric tons of petroleum products.
across the universe

One of the most powerful explosions in the universe was detected on October 9. The gamma-ray burst, witnessed as a long, bright pulse of light, was the birth cry of a black hole.
It occurred when a massive star in the constellation Sagitta, about 2.4 billion light-years away, collapsed in a supernova, forming the new black hole.
Billions of years after traveling through space, the colossal explosion of the black hole’s detonation has finally reached our corner of the universe, and scientists say this presents a rare opportunity to explore long-standing questions about this type of explosion.
Meanwhile, the James Webb Space Telescope has captured a spectacular image of the mysterious columns of cosmic dust and gas that mark the beginning of a stellar life cycle.
ocean secrets

The carcass of a giant sunfish was discovered floating in the seas surrounding the Portuguese archipelago of the Azores in December. Weighing nearly three tons, it is believed to be the heaviest bony fish in the world.
A new study has revealed that the animal had a bruise that could offer clues to its death. The researchers found traces of red paint – used to coat the keels of boats – embedded in the wound. However, it is unknown whether the impact happened before or after the creature’s death.
The discovery was a “sign that the oceans are still healthy enough to support the heaviest species in existence,” said José Nuno Gomes-Pereira, a postdoctoral researcher at the Atlantic Naturalist Association, “but it does call for more conservation. in terms of pollution and boat traffic near ocean islands”.
explorations
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Source: CNN Brasil

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