Trudy Myers's Blog, page 3
May 29, 2025
Humans reach southern South America
DNA from 139 Indigenousgroups reveal that humans reached southern South America by 14,500 years ago.
A new genetic analysisreveals that humans crossing from Asia along the Bering Land Bridge during thelast ice age underwent three major population splits as they traveled throughthe Americas. This journey has been identified as the longest human migrationout of Africa. Eventually, a group settled in the southern part of SouthAmerica some 14,500 years ago.
An international teamof scientists analyzed 1,537 genomes of people from 139 different ethnic groupsto identify genetic characteristics of the earliest Americans.
The GenomeAsia 100Kconsortium collected the genetic material, including some from Asianpopulations whose ancestors made early migrations into the Americas. Thescientists were able to identify the genetic background of indigenous peoplethroughout the Americas. They pinpointed three key time periods when thelong-distance travelers split up.
The first populationsplit occurred between 26,800 and 19,300 years ago during the Last GlacialMaximum. This was when Indigenous Americans split from North Eurasian people.These dates are consistent with a Native American presence at White Sands inNew Mexico, as evidenced by ancient footprints and vehicle drag marks dated to23,000 to 21,000 years ago.
The next majorpopulation split happened between 17,500 and 14,600 years ago. The indigenouspopulation in North America split, and some made their way south. ThisMesoamerican group then split rapidly into four native genetic lineages around13,900 years ago. These groups were ancestral Pueblo peoples in the southwestUS, as well as Amazonians, Andeans and Patagonians in South America.
This estimationactually fits well with the archaeological records, which indicate that peoplewere living in the furthest southern reaches of the South American continent byabout 14,500 years ago.
As people made theirway into the new land tens of thousands of years ago, they experienced areduction in their genetic diversity. First it was because of geographicbarriers. Later, the populations were decimated after the arrival of Europeancolonists.
One key loss was in thevariation in human leukocyte antigen (HLA) genes. A high diversity of HLA genesis important for immune system health. In regions such as Southeast Asia with ahigh number of disease-causing organisms, previous studies found a highdiversity of HLA genes. But in the Indigenous South American genomes, there wassignificantly lower diversity in the HLA genes. This may have led to thesepeople being more vulnerable to novel pathogens.
One of the researchers’aims is to emphasize the special medical needs of contemporary Indigenouspeoples. Some have gene variants associated with problems like adverse drugreactions.
May 22, 2025
What Was the Earth Like?
We’ve examined some ofthe creatures that existed before the dinosaurs, but what was the Earth likeway back then?
From 354 to 290 millionyears ago was the Carboniferous Period. Hot and humid conditions covered thenorthern landmass, while the southern lands were much colder. Large clubmosses, tree ferns, and horsetails grew in swamps and estuaries, along withseed-bearing plants. Some plants were up to 100 feet tall.
The insect populationwas quite varied, with millipedes, dragonflies, and other bugs. Some flyinginsects had wingspans up to two feet wide! Around the middle of the period,reptiles evolved as the first land-dwelling animals, and sharks and bony fishesreplaced the jawless agnathans and armored placodems in the seas. Starfish,gastropods, sea urchins, and other marine invertebrates flourished on thereefs.
Approximately 350million years ago, coal forests began to form in wetlands at the edges ofcontinents. The submerged plant matter did not decompose completely and endedup being buried. This eventually transformed into coal.
The early reptiles hadsimilar skeletal features to those of amphibians, but there were differences intheir skulls and vertebrae that signified their relationship to later reptilessuch as turtles and dinosaurs.
Then came glaciations,a decrease in sea levels, and the formation of Pangaea, when the continentsjoined together. A minor extinction event of both marine and land life happenedat the end of the period due to climate change. This is known as theCarboniferous rainforest collapse.
May 16, 2025
Pre-Dinosaurs Prehistoric Animals
Dinosaurs wandered theEarth for millions of years, searching for food and defending theirterritories. They roamed the world from 252- to 66-million years ago. But whatabout before the dinosaurs? It turns out that Earth’s creatures were highlydiverse, as well as enormous. Let’s take a look at 9 massive prehistoricanimals that lived before dinosaurs.
Scutosaurus
This “shield lizard”arose around 298 million years ago. It was among the largest reptiles at thetime. It features a 20-inch spiked skull and an armor-plated body that couldgrow over 10 feet. It was hulking and intimidating, but research suggests itwas a slow, heavy-footed herbivore that walked for miles through its deserthabitat looking vegetation. It was vulnerable to predators, like theGorgonopsids.
Gorgonopsids
Named after the Greek Gorgon,this group of saber-toothed mammals had narrow skulls and elongated teeth,which they used to slash and stab. They were vicious hunters. They would takechunks out of their target and retreat until it was so weak, they couldn’tavoid the final, killing bite. Gorgonopsids may have begun relatively small butevolved to bear sized. They became apex predators in area of Tanzania, Zambia,and Malawi.
Pterygotus
This sea scorpion wasan enormous predatory aquatic arthropod. It reached almost 6 feet and lived onEarth’s oceans, hunting other creatures, such as fish. I had no stinger, buthad behemoth claws and would wait in ambush for its prey, when it would graband puncture them with its pincers. The first Pterygotus fossils were found inearly Devonian deposits in Scotland and Western England. Some of its featuresare recognizable in modern sea creatures, but sea scorpions no longer exist.
Dimetrodon Angelensis
Although this creaturelook reptilian, it’s not related to dinosaurs. It’s more closely related tomammals, though it’s not a mammal. It belongs to a group of advancedcarnivores. Its most prominent feature is a sizeable spine sail, supported byspines extending from its vertebrate. I walked on 4 legs, had a curved skull,and large teeth. Its fossils have been found in southwestern US, in Oklahomaand Texas.
Jaekelopterus
This was another giantscorpion living during the Devonian Period 390 million years ago. It was thebiggest arthropod ever, growing over eight feet long. This scorpion developedin freshwater systems like rivers, where it was an apex predator. Research suggestsit chased its prey in lagoons and estuaries with much maneuverability andagility.
Arthropleura
Gigantic millipedearthropods roamed the forests of North America and Europe 345 million yearsago. They were the largest land invertebrates ever and wouldn’t have had manypredators. They grew over 7 feet and could stand upright and spray acid at anythreat. These millipedes were some of the first plant-eaters. Their powerfuljaws were used to break down tough vegetative matter.
Meganeura
This was the largestflying insect and resembled a modern dragonfly. It inhabited the forestsalongside the Arthropleura and mainly consumed other insects. Its wingspanreached 25.6 inches. Its larvae was at least 12 inches long. It spent much ofits time in the air, looking for food. Scientists first discovered it fossil inFrance in 1880.
Titanichthys
This was a giantarmored fish from the late Devonian Period. It lived I shallow seas. Scientistsbelieve it was the first large vertebrate filter feeder, using its mouth toinhale small fish. It could reach a length of 16 feet, had a huge mouth, andblunt teeth.
Aegirocassis
This creature lived 480million years ago. It was the largest animal to exist at the time and theearliest giant filter feeder. This arthropod most closely resembled a prawn. Itreached 7 feet long and had swimming flaps and a filtering mesh that helpedguide food into its mouth. It lived in a shallow sea that covered what is todaythe Sahara Desert.
May 8, 2025
Lost Mayan City Found
Archaeologists werescanning through jungle terrain when they stumbled on what could have been animportant Maya location. They discovered a mysterious structure built under aball court, which was popular in large Maya cities. Other discoveries includedpyramids and evidence of drainage systems. Most of the findings have beencalculated to have been used between 200 AD to 1000 AD.
The height of the Mayakingdom stretched from 250 to 900 AD. The rise of the Maya Ballgame, sometimescalled pitz, saw the building of ball court structures in the center ofmajor cities. These courts were a symbol of wealth and power, hence their primeplacement.
Not only was one ofthese courts found in a Mexican jungle, but also uncovered was a crypticconstruction under the court, leading to questions about the structure’s use.
Archaeologists wereexploring light detection and ranging (lidar) readings in the Mexican stateCampeche when they noticed unique shapes in a roughly 54-square-mile section ofthe Balam Ku Biosphere Reserve. The shapes were actually modest-sizedsettlements with a few larger buildings. There were practically no standingwalls, and no key architectural decoration.
The impression was thatthe Maya culture of this region was less elaborate than those in other regions.
While excavating theball court, the team discovered parts of a building covered with remnants ofpainted stucco located beneath. Because ball courts were typically built at thecenter of cities, speculation is that the building had some prominence as well.But speculation is all they have for now. It is estimated that the buildingdates somewhere between 200 and 600 AD.
Other major finds includea main plaza surrounded with elongated structures. The plaza features a pyramidand a drainage channel. The team believes the site was occupied from 600 to1000 AD.
Another discovery is a52-foot-tall pyramid near a water reservoir, complete with the remains ofofferings atop the structure. The offering remnants included ceramic fragments,a flint point, and an animal leg, likely of an armadillo or large rodent. Thescientists believe this find dates from 1250 to 1524 AD and that it shows thepresence of humans in the area even after the height of the Maya civilizationand before the arrival of the Spanish.
May 2, 2025
What Existed Before The Big Bang
Our universe began withThe Big Bang. But what existed before the Big Bang?
From the University ofTexas at Austin, researchers propose that dark matter might have been createdduring a brief, explosive period of expansion called “Cosmic Inflation,” whichoccurred just before the Big Bang. The universe, at that point, would haveconsisted of mostly dark matter, completely undetectable to our eyes.
Scientists believe thatdark matter makes up roughly 85% of all matter. This study suggests that thesubstance existed before the event that many consider the beginning of time.
The model for the studyassumes that dark matter is successfully produced during inflation. In mostmodels, anything that is created during inflation is thinned away by theexpansion of the universe until there is essentially nothing left.
The research introducesa mechanism called WIFI (Warm Inflation Freeze-In), which suggests that darkmatter could have been generated during the universe’s earliest moments throughrare interactions within an incredibly hot and energetic environment.
Cosmologists understandthe universe’s beginning was more complex than a simple explosive moment.Before the Big Bang, matter and energy were compressed into an incredibly densestate that physicists struggle to describe. A fraction of a second of rapidexpansion preceded the Big Bang, setting the stage for everything that wouldfollow.
In this new model, thequantum field driving inflation loses some energy to radiation, which thenproduces dark matter particles through a process called ‘freeze-in’. Accordingto this research, all the dark matter that exists today could have been createdduring that brief inflationary period.
The study focused onthe production of dark matter, but WIFI suggests the production of otherparticles that could play a role in the early universe’s evolution.
Although currentlyunconfirmable through direct observation, the theory opens exciting new avenuesfor exploring the universe’s fundamental building blocks. The researchers areoptimistic that upcoming experiments studying the Cosmic Microwave Backgroundand large sale universal structures could provide validation.
April 24, 2025
Life on Mars?
Do you believe therewas past life on Mars? Here’s what new NASA evidence indicates.
Dry, cold and barren.Mars doesn’t seem like a haven for life—at least not the kind humans arefamiliar with.
Scientists havewondered for decades if microbial life could have inhabited Mars in the distantpast. One study, based on data collected by NASA’s Curiosity rover, is peelingback a layer of the mystery. Researchers measured the isotopic composition ofcarbon-rich minerals found in Gale Crater. This region is laced with driedrivers and gullies and was explored by the rover.
The findings Curiositysent to Earth were not optimistic about the potential for life above ground.But that doesn’t rule out the possibility of an underground biosphere or even asurface biosphere that began and ended before the carbonates were formed.
This suggests twopossible ways carbon-rich minerals could have form at Gale crater: a series ofalternating wet and dry periods or salty-ice conditions. These two climatescenarios could be called ‘bleak’ and ‘bleaker’ when it comes to supportinglife.
In an environment thatswings from wet to dry, the region would shift from more habitable to lesshabitable. In the frigid temperatures near Mars’ equator, that environmentwould be hostile for life because most water would be frozen and inaccessiblefor chemistry or biology. Plus, what water was there was extremely salty, notpleasant for life.
This isn’t the firsttime scientists have theorized these climate scenarios for ancient Mars.Previous computer models have indicated these conditions before, but now theyhave isotopic evidence from Martian rocks.
Scientists have soughtlife on Mars since the first spacecraft touched down there in 1976. Mountingevidence from robotic explorers has shown the Red Planet to have been warmerand wetter, perhaps more than 3 billion years ago.
The Perseverance rover discovereda spotted rock with compelling signs of ancient dead Martian life, but a samplewould need to be shipped to Earth for confirmation. A research team alsoreported evidence of a vast ocean of water below the planet’s surface. OnEarth, where there’s water, there’s often life.
Scientists areinterested in Mars’ carbon-rich rocks because they can hold clues about theenvironment in which they formed, such as the temperature and acidity of thewater, and ingredients in the water and air.
The sampled rocksindicate lots of evaporation, suggesting a climate that could only supporttransient liquid water—that is, ice that melts when temperatures rise and thesurface pressure is right.
The heavy isotopevalues in the rocks are much higher than what’s seen on Earth. They are theheaviest carbon and oxygen isotope values recorded for any Martian materials.Although evaporation can cause oxygen isotope changes on Earth, the changes inthe Martian samples were two to three times greater.
But this doesn’t negatethe possibility of life. Mars has a network of deep caves formed by ancientvolcanic vents. Within the caves could be liquid water, traces of long-deceasedbacteria or fungi, or perhaps even existing microbial life.
Caves can host complexecosystems, including extremophiles that munch on rocks and convert thematerial into energy for life. So, many astrobiologists want to go spelunkingon Mars. Would you like to join them?
April 17, 2025
Lost Temple of Poseidon
After 2,600 years, thelost Temple of Poseidon has been found, and it is even bigger than expected.
It seemed obvious thatthere would be a temple dedicated to Poseidon, the ancient Greek god of water.But the temple was lost for a long time and re-discovered recently. The ruinswere found in Elis, Greece, and identified as the Temple of Poseidon ofSamikon, which was described by the ancient Greek geographer Strabo.Archeologists now say the temple is even larger than they thought.
Scientists had searchedfor the lost temple for over a century in the area’s marshlands and found it in2022. It sits in Samikon in the Peloponnese peninsula. It is hoped thediscovery would shed light on the political and economic importance of the 6thcentury BC amphictyony, which is an association of neighboring states to defenda common religious center. The temple formed the center of the town’s culturaland religious identity.
Excavations in 2023revealed more parts of the temple, indicating the size of the temple was largerthan initial investigations had predicted. The building now measures around 28meters long and over 9 meters wide. It has two interior rooms, a vestibule anda rear hall or shrine. The function of the two rooms is unclear. Some suggestit could be a double temple, where two deities were worshipped. Or one roomcould be a meeting room to discuss important matters.
This Archaic templeconsists of two main rooms. A central row of two columns was found in the firsthall supported a large roof covered with tiles. There may have also beensimilar columns in the second room. The ground plan of the temple is unusual,and archeologists know of no comparable buildings so far.
Research shows therewere two construction phases. In the second half of the 4th or firsthalf of the 3rd century BC, the original temple was remodeled. Aspart of the process, the old roof tiles were applied as a subfloor for the newfloor, where they served as insulation against groundwater and to stabilize thefloor. Where tiles are missing, the ground is damp and muddy. These datescorrespond to pottery found at the site, such as drinking cups and roof tiles.
The excavations arepart of a five-year project. Strabo, an ancient Greek geographer, had suggestedthe temple would be near the coast, in a grove of wild olive trees, withlagoons, coastal marches and swamps. Because of his writings, and technologicaladvancements, researchers found the temple 2,600 years after it was built.
The team wants to findout more about the sanctuary and its dimensions. Are other temple buildings,altars, houses, a processional route or treasuries still hidden under theearth?
April 10, 2025
How Life on Earth Could Have Started
Scientists redid anexperiment and found a new possibility of how life on Earth could have started.
In the 1931 movie“Frankenstein,” Dr Henry Frankenstein howled his triumph as massive bolts oflightning crackled and Frankenstein’s monster stirred on a laboratory table,its pieced-together corpse brought to life by the power of electricity.
Electrical energy mayhave also sparked the beginnings of life on Earth billions of years ago. Earthis around 4.5 billion years old, and the oldest direct fossil evidence ofancient life is stromatolites, microscopic organism preserved in layers known asmicrobial mats. These are about 3.5 billion years old. However, some scientistssuspect life originated even earlier, emerging from accumulated organicmolecules in bodies of water, a mixture sometimes referred to as primordialsoup.
But where did thatorganic material come from? Decades ago, researchers proposed that lightningcaused chemical reactions in the oceans, and spontaneously produced organicmolecules.
New research suggeststhat fizzes of barely visible “microlightning,” generated between chargeddroplets of water mist, could have cooked up amino acids from inorganicmaterials. Amino acids are life’s most basic building blocks and would havebeen the first step forward in the evolution of life.
For amino acids toform, they needed nitrogen atoms that could bond with carbon. Freeing up atomsfrom nitrogen gas requires severing powerful molecular bonds and takes anenormous amount of energy. Even microlightning has enough energy to breakmolecular bonds.
In 1953, chemistsStanley Miller and Harold Urey combined ammonia, methane, hydrogen and waterinside a glass sphere to mimic the atmosphere of ancient Earth. They thenjolted that atmosphere with electricity, producing simple amino acids. Thisexperiment supported the theory that life could emerge from nonlivingmolecules.
Scientists revisitedthe 1953 experiment but directed their attention toward electrical activity ona smaller scale. They looked at electricity exchanged between water dropletsmeasuring between 1 micron and 20 microns in diameter. (The width of a human hairis 100 microns.) The big droplets were positively charged. The little dropletswere negatively charged. When oppositely charged droplets are close together,electrons can jump from the negative charge to the positively charged.
The researchers mixedammonia, carbon dioxide, methane and nitrogen in a glass bulb, then sprayed thegases with water mist. A high-speed camera captured faint flashes ofmicrolightning in the vapor. When they examined the bulb’s contents, they foundorganic molecules, including the amino acid glycine and uracil, a nucleotidebase in RNA.
For the first time,scientists have seen that little droplets of water emit light and a spark. Andthat spark causes all types of chemical transformations.
Lightning is a dramaticdisplay of electrical power, but it sporadic and unpredictable. Lightning mayhave been too infrequent to produce amino acids in quantities sufficient forlife. Water spray, however, would have been more common than lightning. It ismore likely that mist-generated microlightning constantly zapped amino acidsinto existence from pools and puddles, where the molecules could accumulate andform more complex molecules.
However, questionsremain about life’s origins. An alternative abiogenesis hypothesis proposesthat Earth’s first amino acids were cooked up around hydrothermal vents on theseafloor. Yet another hypothesis suggests that organic molecules didn’toriginate on Earth at all. Rather, they formed in space and were carried hereby comets or fragments of asteroids, a process known as panspermia.
What do you think is alikely explanation?
April 3, 2025
Viking Skeletons
Viking skeletons over1,000 years old buried with a crystal and other treasures.
Archaeologists foundViking skeletons over 1,000 years old buried with a crystal and othertreasures.
Near the village ofAsum in Denmark, people had no idea they were standing on the well-preservedgraves of 50 Viking-era skeletons. Archaeologists happened upon the gravesduring a routine survey in preparation for a construction project.
Normally, they would belucky to find a few teeth in the graves, but here they had entire skeletons.They dated the burial site to the 9th or 10th centuries, more than1,000 years ago.
In addition to theskeletons, they uncovered rare trinkets and treasures buried with the bodies.For example, sone of the jewelry did not originate in Denmark. As thescientists suspected, the graves told them story of people connected tointernational trade routes.
These routes providedavenues to exchanging goods, allowing the wealthy to acquire rare and prizeditems from distant lands. They also helped establish nearby Odense, the thirdlargest city in Denmark.
Some days I regret thatI never had the chance to dig in the dirt and happen across such grislyremains.
March 27, 2025
Message from Mars
Father and daughterdecipher message coming from Mars.
Ken and Keli Chaffin, afather/daughter team from the US, have deciphered a simulated “extraterrestrial”message that was transmitted in May 2023 via a radio signal sent by theEuropean Space Agency’s ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter. The message was interceptedby three observatories on Earth. It was part of a project which aimed to engagecitizen scientists in decoding an alien message.
The Chaffins realizedthat the message contained a diagram that represented the structures of fiveamino acids, the fundamental building blocks of life. According to specialists,the Chaffins conducted hours-long simulations every day and ultimately organizedthe bits into coherent structures using computer simulations and reversiblecellular automata.
The simulated signalwas received on Earth 16 minutes after it was sent. A worldwide community ofover 5,000 citizen scientists went to work on the raw data and managed toextract the signal within ten days. This extraction of the encrypted messagefrom the raw radio signal showcases the potential of global collaboration
The project, called “ASign in Space”, was initiated by artist Daniela de Paulis in collaboration withthe European Space Agency, the SETI Institute, the Green Bank Observatory inWest Virginia, and the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics. It wasconceived to test which methods might be useful for decoding transmissions fromextraterrestrial civilizations.
According to theEuropean Space Agency, the results of the project showed that if humanity everreceives a signal from real extraterrestrials, citizen scientists could play acrucial role in deciphering it. The involvement of so many amateur scientistsand the success of the Chaffins demonstrate the power of collaborative effortsand diverse approaches.
