Trudy Myers's Blog, page 4
March 21, 2025
Ancient Europeans were Dark
New research finds that most prehistoric Europeans had darkskin, hair, and eyes until about 3,000 years ago.
The genes that cause lighter skin, hair and eyes emergedamong early Europeans only about 14,000 years ago, during the Old Stone Age.But light features appeared only sporadically until relatively recently. If Ihad to guess, I would say that the genes for lighter features are recessive,and a person would have had to get the recessive genes from both mother andfather, which wouldn’t have happened that often.
Lighter skin may have had an evolutionary advantage forEuropeans because it enabled people to synthesize more vitamin D in Europe’sweaker sunlight. But lighter eye color, like blue or green, does not seem tohave any major evolutionary advantages, so its eventual emergence may have beendriven by chance or sexual selection.
Scientists analyzed 348 samples of ancient DNA fromarchaeological sites in 34 countries in Western Europe and Asia. The oldest,from 45,000 years ago, was from western Siberia, and another high-quality DNAsample came from a 9,000-year-old individual from Sweden. But many of the oldersamples were badly degraded, in which case the researchers estimated theirpigmentation using “probabilistic phenotype inference” and the HlrisPlex-Ssystem, which can predict eye, hair, and skin color from an incomplete DNAsample.
Palaeoanthropologists think the first Homo sapiens arrivedpermanently in Europe between 50,000 and 60,000 years ago, which meant theyweren’t far removed from African modern human ancestors. Therefore, earlyEuropeans initially only had genetics for dark skin, hair, and eyes. Thiscoloring relies on hundreds of interconnected genes.
The study showed that the frequency of people dark skin wasstill high in parts of Europe until the Copper Age, about 5,000 years ago. Insome areas, dark skin appeared frequently until even later.
Researchers found that light eyes emerged in Northern andWestern Europe between 14,000 and 4,000 years ago, even though dark hair andskin were still dominant at that time. There were those who bucked the trend;as a 1-year-old boy living in Europe about 17,000 years ago had dark hair andskin, but blue eyes.
The genetic basis for lighter skin seems to have emerged inSweden at about the same time as lighter eyes but initially remained relativelyrare. The research also showed a statistical “spike” in the incidence of lighteyes color at this time, which suggests that blue or green eyes were moreprevalent at that time than earlier or later.
So it looks like the Nazis were wrong. Instead of blondhair and blue eyes proving the owners were “pure”, these traits actually provedthese individuals were descended from “mutants”.
But then, all of us are, because that’s how evolutionworks.
March 13, 2025
A Radio Signal From 15 Billion Miles Away
An aging spacecraftturned on a radio transmitter it hasn’t used in decades.
47-year-old Voyager 1is back in touch with NASA. A technical issue caused a days-long communicationsblackout with the historic mission, which is 15 billion miles away, ininterstellar space. While engineers work to understand what went wrong, Voyageris now using a radio transmitter it hadn’t used since 1981.
Launched in September1977, the NASA team has slowly turned off components to conserve power. Thishas allowed the aging spacecraft to send back science data from time to time.
The probe is thefarthest spacecraft from Earth, now operating beyond the heliosphere, which isthe sun’s bubble of magnetic fields and particles that extends well beyondPluto’s orbit. Now Voyager’s instruments can directly sample interstellarspace.
The new problem is oneof many the vehicle has faced in recent months, but the Voyager’s team keepsfinding creative solutions.
Occasionally, engineerscommand Voyager 1 to turn on some heaters to warm components that havesustained radiation damage. The heat can help reverse the damage. Messages arerelayed to Voyager from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory through the Deep SpaceNetwork. A system of radio antennas on Earth helps facilitate communicationswith Voyagers 1 and 2, and other spacecraft. When Voyager 1 sends data abouthow it is responding to the commands, it takes about 23 hours for a message totravel one way.
But when a recentcommand to the heater was sent, something triggered the spacecraft’s autonomousfault protection system. If the spacecraft draws more power than it should,this system shuts off non-essential systems. The team discovered the latestissue when it didn’t get the response signal.
Voyager 1 has beenusing its X-band radio transmitter for decades. Its second transmitter, calledthe S-band, hasn’t been used since 1981 because its signal is much fainter. Theteam believes the fault protection system shifted the spacecraft to the S-bandtransmitter, which uses less power.
The team won’t commandVoyager 1 to turn on the X-band transmitter until it figures out what happened,which could take weeks. They want to determine if there are any risks toturning on the X-band. But if the team can get the X-band working again, they mayget some data that reveals what happened.
In the meantime, theydon’t want to rely on the S-band for too long, because its signal is too weak.
You’ve got to give itto NASA, when they build something, they build it to last. Billions of milesfurther than a car would.
March 6, 2025
An Ice Age Infant
By analyzing the DNA ofa baby found in southern Italy, scientists have a striking picture of the youngboy. The poorly developed child lived during the Ice Age about 17,000 yearsago. He likely had curly dark hair, brown skin, and blue eyes.
In 1998, his remainswere discovered in the Grotta delle Mura cave in Monopoli, Puglia. The baby’sbones were carefully covered with rock slabs. With no grave goods, the simpleburial was the only grave in the cave.
The largely intactskeleton revealed the child was about 2.5 feet tall when he died. Recent dentalexamination revealed he was between 8 and 18 months old. Radiocarbon datingstated the remains were 16,910 to 17,320 years old, meaning he lived a fewcenturies after the Last Glacial Maximum, when glaciers covered a quarter ofthe planet’s land, some 20,000 years ago.
Ancient skeletons foundin warm climates are often too degraded for any significant genetic analysis.But the cave was so cool, the boy’s remains were well preserved. Researcherswere able to recover about 75% of the boy’s genome, which is remarkable.
His skin was darkerthan most modern Europeans’, but his pale blue eyes match those of otherwestern European hunter-gatherers. The infant appears to be related to theVillabruna cluster, a group of post Ice Age people who lived up to 14,000 yearsago. This suggests the Villabruna line began in southern Europe well before theend of the Ice Age.
Researchers alsodetermined his cause of death. He had an inherited condition that causes theheart muscle to thicken. This results in fatal congestive heart failure.
Nine accentuated linesmarking the baby’s teeth indicate “physiological stress events” that occurredbefore and after birth. Isotopes in the teeth suggest that his mother stayed inone area during pregnancy and may have been malnourished. His birth was likelydifficult, according to a fracture in the baby’s collarbone.
February 27, 2025
Super-Jupiter Found
The European SpaceAgency’s Gaia spacecraft was surveying the Milky Way and found a planet 12times more massive than Jupiter. This planet, which has been dubbed Gaia-4b, is244 light-years away and orbits a star smaller than our sun.
Gaia also discovered abrown dwarf, which is not quite a planet or a star. The brown dwarf is calledGaia-5b, is 134 light-years from Earth, and also orbits a star smaller than oursun.
The Gaia spacecraft wasrecently retired because it was running out of fuel. Both of the enormouscelestial objects were made official after confirmation from other instruments.These tidbits of information are an intriguing tease about what other data maybe released from the Gaia mission.
According to NASA, thenumber of confirmed exoplanets is over 5,800, with thousands more candidatesunder review. It is estimated that this number is a tiny sampling of planets inspace.
Gais-4b, thesuper-Jupiter, is a relatively cold gas giant that orbits its star once every570 Earth-days. Its star is estimated to be about 2/3 the mass of the sun. Gaia-4bis one of the biggest planets known to circle a small star.
A brown dwarf issometimes referred to as a failed star because it lacks enough mass to generateits own nuclear power. Gaia-5b orbits an even smaller star, about 1/3 of oursun’s mass, in slightly less than an Earth year. Although Gaia-5b didn’t makeit as a star, it’s about 21 times bigger than Jupiter. And Jupiter’s mass isabout equal to 318 Earths.
Gaia-4b is thespacecraft’s first success using the “wobble” technique. Launched in 2013, thespacecraft used a pair of optical telescopes to scan the sky. Because of itsprecision in tracking the motion of stars, it is believed its data may lead tothousands of new discoveries.
The gravity of orbitingplanets can cause host stars to wobble. Planet hunters are adept atinterpreting this data. But confirmation from other telescopes is key, becausethere are other possible reasons for the motion.
February 6, 2025
Neanderthals’ Mysterious Extinction
Neanderthal DNA reveals50,000-year-old viruses that could help explain their extinction. In a study ofancient Neanderthal DNA, researchers found traces of 3 viruses that causecolds, cold sores, genital warts, and cancer.
Ancient humans mighthave been responsible for spreading these bugs, but I don’t think we need toblame only homo erectus, for there were several types of ancient humansaround at the same time as Neanderthals.
Most experts think theNeanderthal species went extinct from a variety of causes, including changingclimate, low fertility rates and human interactions. As can be seen fromillnesses that swept through American Natives after the arrival of Europeansettlers, trying to recover from unfamiliar illnesses introduced by distantcousins wouldn’t have helped. Poor health can have a negative impact onsurvival.
Not only could theseancient viruses help explain the Neanderthals’ extinction, but they might helpus better understand the modern versions that still infect humans today.
About 54,000 years ago,a group of Neanderthals lived in Chagyrskaya Cave in Southern Siberia.Researchers studied the DNA data of two people from the cave to look for 3viruses: adenovirus, herpesvirus, and papillomamirus. Adenovirus can causecolds and flu, herpesviruses can cause cold sores or genital warts, and somecancers are linked to papillomavirus.
A 2021 study discoveredadenovirus in 31,600-year-old human teeth from Siberia. This more-recent studyis nearly 50,000 years old. Some experts estimate humans and Neanderthalsinterbred between 60,000 and 50,000 years ago. Besides DNA, they probably passedaround diseases.
A 2016 study suggestedthat breeding with Neanderthals may have boosted humans’ immunity to previouslyunknown diseases. But the Neanderthals may have been less lucky. A cold doesnot have to be fatal to decrease hunting efficiency or other abilities. With analready small population, getting sick might have contributed to Neanderthals’extinction roughly 40,000 years ago.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/othe...
February 1, 2025
ASD
It’s called Accumulated Stress Disorder. At least, that’swhat I call it. It’s symptoms are continued fatigue, a disinterest in doingpretty much everything, and a severe disinterest in the idea of ‘adulting’.That’s what I’ve been dealing with for a couple of weeks now.
I’ve been sleeping about 12 hours at night, and sometimes Ilay down for a 2-hr nap in the afternoon. A lot of days, 90% of my to do listfor that day gets shunted to the next day. I don’t want to drive anybody to thedoctor’s office, not even myself. I don’t want to go shopping or picking upmeds or even just leave the house.
But some things can’t be procrastinated, like doctor’sappointments, grocery shopping and picking up meds. So I do them, and when Iget home, I try taking a nap. That can help calm me down for the rest of theday, but it’s the sleeping for 12 hours that seems to help tamp down theaccumulated stress.
My counselor suggests I book one day a week as ‘Me’ time. Aday with no appointments, no errands, just me at home, writing on my latestWork in Progress. I love the idea. I have said many times that writing helps mestay sane. I used to think the weekends were ideal for this, but this weekend,I ran errands for the family on Saturday, and on Sunday, John decided he wantedto go to Walmart, so I drove him there and home again. Then I took a 2-hr napto calm down and washed the dishes. Thus, the weekend was full of adulting.
But Thursday was empty. I kept it empty so I could spend theday writing. Well, I had to adult for quite a bit of the day, but I did get 3hours of writing in the afternoon! I wrote over a thousand words, so I washappy about that.
January 11, 2025
Colorado 'swamp dweller' mammal
Working near Rangely,Colorado, paleontologists have uncovered an unknown state resident—a fossilmammal about the size of a muskrat that may have scurried through swamps duringthe Age of Dinosaurs.
They identified thecreature from a piece of jawbone and 3 molar teeth, and named it Heleocolapiceanus. It lived in Colorado roughly 70 to 75 million years ago, at a timewhen an inland sea covered large portions of the American West. “Heleocola”roughly translates to “swamp dweller” in Latin.
Said one team member, “Coloradois a great place to find fossils, but mammals from this time period tend to bepretty rare. So it’s really neat to see this slice of time preserved inColorado.”
Compared to the muchlarger dinosaurs living at the time, like tyrannosaurs or horned ancestors ofTriceratops, this new fossil might seem tiny and insignificant. But it wassurprisingly large for mammals at the time.
This discovery helpspaint a more complete picture of a Colorado that would be all butunrecognizable to residents today. Seventy million years ago, this area waswhere land met water. Creatures like turtles, duck-billed dinosaurs and giantcrocodiles may have flourished in marshes and estuaries, gorging themselves onwetland vegetation and fish.
The bit of mammal jawemerged from a slab of sandstone that was collected from the site in 2016. Thefossil measured about an inch long.
Before an asteroid killedoff the non-avian dinosaurs 66 million years ago, mammals tended to be small—aboutthe size of today’s mice or rats. They are largely identified from the tinyteeth they left behind.
In comparison, this onewas positively huge. A cousin to modern-day marsupials, this animal weighed 2 poundsor more. But it’s not quite a record. The Didelphodon, another fossil mammalfrom the same period, may have weighed as much as 11 pounds. H. piceanus’ teethindicate it dined on plants, with a few insects or small animals mixed in.
January 4, 2025
Review of a Sweet Potato Pie
I decided to trysomething new this week; review a food item. I don’t normally do this. Inormally just eat and make a mental note whether I would eat it again or not.But this was my first Sweet Potato Pie we had this holiday season, and Ithought I would try my hand at reviewing it.
I didn’t grow up withsweet potato pie being offered at the holiday table. We had sweet potatoes. Theywere cooked, mashed with brown sugar and thrown in the oven with a layer of marshmallowson top. Sort of a sweet potato casserole, I guess. And I loved that, but once Ibecame diabetic, I had to give that up.
This year, we stoppedat a store we don’t often shop at to look for a dessert, because I’d forgottento pick up dessert at our regular store. And they had plenty of pies to choosefrom; blueberry, peach, apple, cherry, sweet potato and pumpkin. I was tryingto decide between the fruit pies (I’m not a big fan of pumpkin pie), when myhusband suggested a sweet potato pie. He always says I never try anything new,so it surprised him when I agreed. He snatched up a sweet potato pie and headedfor the register.
When the time came fordessert on Christmas Day, I took a closer look at that sweet potato pie. Itlooked a lot like a pumpkin pie, only yellow, not orange. And I didn’t see anylittle specks of spice in it, like you sometimes see in a pumpkin pie. I cut itinto pieces and served it with some whipped cream.
The crust was notreally flaky, just a layer of flour crust. The whipped cream was typical, sweetand creamy foam. The filling was creamy, like the filling of a pumpkin pie, butit tasted like sweet potatoes. Like a baked sweet potato, not with the brownsugar and marshmallow sweetness of my childhood sweet potato casserole. So Iate it, but I thought it could have used some cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice,even though that would make it more like the pumpkin pie I’m not that fond of.
Would I eat it again?Probably. If it was a choice between it or pumpkin pie. Or mincemeat pie. But I’min no hurry to learn how to make it.
December 27, 2024
The Cro-Magnon People
I remember when I was ayoung girl, one of my older sisters did a project for the school science fair.She was comparing 3 types of early humans; Neanderthals, Cro-Magnons and modernhumans. I was fascinated by the display she made, and that was probably whatstarted my attraction to all things pre-historic. But people don’t speak ofCro-Magnons anymore, and I finally found out why.
Human evolution isfilled with terms and names related to past humans that can get quiteconfusing. Cro-Magnons are an example of that. They lived in Europe around thetime of the last Ice Age, from 40,000 to 10,000 years ago. They were initiallynamed after the Cro-Magnon rock shelter in France where the first of theirskeletons were discovered in the 1860s. Now, however, scientists refer to themas Early Modern Humans or Anatomically Modern Humans.
The bones of the firstCro-Magnon specimens were discovered in 1868 during road construction in theDordogne Valley in southwestern France. The remains were of 4 adults and aninfant. The rock shelter where they were found showed clear signs of occupation,including ornaments such as pendants and necklaces made from shells and animalteeth. This led researchers to believe the occupants had been deliberatelyburied in the shelter as a single grave.
Scientists compared theskeletons to those of Neanderthals that had been discovered in England andlater in France. They came to the conclusion that the Cro-Magnons were distinctenough to warrant their own designation. However, advances in anthropology andgenetics eventually established that these people were fully modern humans,indistinguishable from people today. Therefore, the term ‘Cro-Magnon’ was phasedout by the end of the 20th century, as they were recognized as partof a larger population of early modern humans who migrated across Europe, Asia,and Africa during the Upper Palaeolithic era.
Another reason why thename was changed was because ‘Cro-Magnon’ did not refer to a specific taxonomy;it was the name of a cave and was considered inappropriate for palaeontology.
The individuals foundat Cro-Magnon were anatomically similar to people living today. They had highforeheads, prominent chins and slight brow ridges. They were generally tallerthan Neanderthals, sometimes by as much as a foot. And their skeletons indicatethey lived tough, physically demanding lives.
The skull of Cro-Magnon1, an adult man found at the cave, shows signs of a fungal infection, whilesome of the others had fused vertebrae in their necks, which would have likelycome from traumatic injuries. And one of the females found at the site appearsto have lived with a fractured skull.
Despite living throughextremely difficult conditions, the ‘Cro-Magnon’ people lived in complex socialstructures. Archaeologists have recovered sophisticated tools made from bone,stone, and antlers. They also had artistic creations such as cave paintings,jewelry, decorated artifacts, and carvings. They are recognized for creating someof the earliest depictions of animals and human figures, as well as abstractpatterns.
So, it appears that,rather than being very distant relatives like the Neanderthals, the ‘Cro-Magnons’are simply a part of the human family. I can’t blame my sister for having erroneousinformation in her project, considering she put it together in the late 1950swith the best information she could find in the small town where we lived. AndI’m still fascinated with pre-history.
December 20, 2024
Armored Dinosaur had a Bulletproof Vest
Many dinosaurs reliedon plate armor to keep them safe from predators. But one went so far as to growa ‘bulletproof vest’ over its plate armor. The best-preserved dinosaur fossilon record is a type of ankylosaur called a nodosaur. The nodosaur was a herbivorethat grew 18 feet long and lived 110 to 112 million years ago. One of thesefossils was so well preserved, scientists were able to determine the strengthof its keratin plates and the bony spikes that covered them. It is estimatedthat the nodosaur could survive a crash with an F150 pickup that was going atspeed.
Usually, only the bonyspikes remained on other armored dinosaur fossils, because keratin (dead cellsthat form structures like hair and fingernails) doesn’t fossilize well. So whenpaleontologists studied armored dinosaurs in the past, they assumed the mainprotection came from the bony structures, which they thought might have beencovered by a thin layer of keratin like a turtle shell.
In 2017, anexceptionally well-preserved fossil was discovered in a mine in Alberta,Canada. The fossil was so well preserved that researchers could analyze thecolor of its armor and even look into its stomach to see its last meal.
There was a keratinlayer over the bones, but it was much thicker than anticipated. It was over 6inches thick in some places. The keratin sheath over a modern cattle horn isonly 0.6 inches thick. The keratin sheath would allow for flexibility and couldeasily be removed if it got damaged. It would be like trimming a broken nailinstead of needing to heal a broken bone.
This armor couldwithstand much more force than predators of the time could deliver, whichsuggests the armor may have been used during fights between males who werevying for female mates.
This research alsoreveals new insight into dinosaur armor in general. It is likely that otherarmored dinosaurs also had thick keratin sheaths. And those with armored andweaponized faces and heads were probably using a lot more keratin than is normallymodeled.
