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☆ Ancient DNA pulls back curtain on mysterious empire
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-27 | by ( Katie Hunt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Editor’s note: A version of this story appeared in CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Analysis of ancient DNA recovered from human remains has illuminated the traits and ancestry of historic individuals — be it a mummified iceman, Chinese emperor or legendary composer. The origins of the empire and its people remained obscure until a landmark April 2022 study found they hailed from the Mongolian steppe. Carolyn Kaster/APNaturalists have spotted the first arrivals in this spring’s historic cicada dual emergence. Sign up here to receive in your inbox the next edition of Wonder Theory, brought to you by CNN Space and Science writers Ashley Strickland and Katie Hunt.

Persons: It’s, Loki, Gerald Eichstädt, Thomas Thomopoulos, ”, Scott Bolton, Bolton, George Mallory, Andrew Irvine, Mallory, Ruth, Carolyn Kaster, haven’t, you’re, —, Ashley Strickland, Katie Hunt Organizations: CNN, of Archaeological Sciences, Eötvös Loránd University, Múzeum, NASA, Voyager, JPL, Caltech, Southwest Research Institute, Magdalene College , Cambridge, AP Naturalists, — Boeing, — Surgeons, Hubble, CNN Space, Science Locations: Rákóczifalva, Hungary, Central, Eastern Europe, Mount, United Kingdom, Macon , Georgia, South, Midwest

☆ Sex and marriage patterns in an ancient empire revealed by DNA
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-24 | by ( Katie Hunt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

With opulent graves but no written records, the empire and its people have remained largely in the shadows of history until recently. But a landmark April 2022 study involving ancient DNA taken from the graves of the Avar elite shed light on the empire’s far-flung origins. A tiny sample is drilled from a bone at the ancient DNA laboratory at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany. In the case of men, researchers found two partners in 10 cases, three partners in four cases and four partners in one case. “Polygamy (having multiple marriage partners), serial monogamous marriages and extramarital relations are all possible explanations,” she said.

Persons: ”, Zsófia Rácz, Rácz, aren’t, Guido Alberto Gnecchi, Max Planck, Eötvös Loránd University Múzeum Lara Cassidy, “, polygyny, Ruscone, Cassidy, Bryan Miller, wasn’t Organizations: CNN, of Archaeological Sciences, Eötvös Loránd, Múzeum, University’s, Archaeological Sciences, Max, Max Planck Institute, Eötvös Loránd University, Trinity College Dublin, Turks, Central, University of Michigan Locations: Central, Eastern Europe, Hungary, Rákóczifalva, Budapest, Leipzig, Germany, Europe, Mongolia, Caucasus, what’s, Constantinople, Byzantine, Eurasia

☆ Dogs can match some words with objects, study suggests
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-01 | by ( Issy Ronald | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —Dogs can understand that certain words refer to specific objects, according to a recent study, suggesting that they may understand words in a similar way to humans. As the study’s lead authors, they devised an experiment in which 18 dog owners said words for objects their dogs already knew. They said that the resulting brain activity was the same as those produced by humans in similar experiments. Researchers measured the dogs' brain activity. Previous experiments testing dogs’ understanding of nouns had involved them fetching specific objects when asked, according to a statement released by the Eötvös Loránd University.

Persons: ”, Lilla Magyari, Marianna Boros, Grzegorz Eliasiewicz, ” Boros, –, Magyari, ” Magyari, ” Clive Wynne, Oszkar Daniel Gati Organizations: CNN, Stavanger University, Eötvös Loránd University, Loránd University, Arizona State University Locations: Norway, Hungary

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