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ScienceDaily: Plants & Animals News |
| Posted: 06 Jan 2022 10:32 AM PST No longer solely in the realm of science fiction, the possibility of interstellar travel has appeared, tantalizingly, on the horizon. Although we may not see it in our lifetimes -- at least not some real version of the fictional warp-speeding, hyperdriving, space-folding sort -- we are having early conversations of how life could escape the tether of our solar system, using technology that is within reach. |
| Anthropologists study the energetics of uniquely human subsistence strategies Posted: 03 Jan 2022 11:55 AM PST Among our closest living relatives -- the great apes -- we humans are unique: We have larger brains, reproduce more quickly and have longer life spans. These traits are obviously valuable, but the extra energy required to sustain them is quite significant. So how did we manage to afford them? |
| Nits on ancient mummies shed light on South American ancestry Posted: 28 Dec 2021 07:08 PM PST For the first time, scientists have recovered ancient human DNA from the sticky glue head lice use to attach their eggs to their host's hair. The new technique was trialled on mummified remains and the DNA has revealed clues about how the people died and the movements of populations thousands of years ago. |
| How DNA is preserved in archaeological sediments for thousands of years Posted: 27 Dec 2021 12:43 PM PST The analysis of ancient DNA preserved in sediments is an emerging technology allowing for the detection of the past presence of humans and other animals at archaeological sites. Yet, little is known about how DNA is preserved in sediment for long periods of time. Scientists have now shed light on the matter by isolating DNA from solid blocks of undisturbed sediment that are embedded in plastic resin. The study reveals that ancient human and animal DNA is concentrated in small 'hot spots', particularly in microscopic particles of bone or feces. Micro-sampling of such particles can recover substantial amounts of DNA from ancient humans, such as Neanderthals, and other species and link them to archaeological and ecological records at a microscopic scale. |
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