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☆ DNA analysis sheds light on how Neanderthals disappeared
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-31 | by ( Katie Hunt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

The analysis, published July 12 in the journal Science, showed that the two groups exchanged DNA at multiple points over the past 250,000 years, shedding light on how Neanderthals disappeared and potentially rewriting the story of how and when our Homo sapiens ancestors left Africa. Genetic detective workDuring the two earlier waves of interbreeding, the Neanderthal population absorbed human genes and the offspring stayed within Neanderthal groups, according to the new study. Russian archeologists digging inside Denisova cave located in the the Altai mountains that's been home to Neanderthals, early modern humans and the Denisovans. A skull found in Qafzeh Israel is believed to have belonged to an early modern human. The researchers’ analysis suggests that the Neanderthal population size at the time was 20% smaller than previously thought.

Persons: ”, Joshua Akey, Sigler, ” Akey, Nobel, Svante Pääbo, Laurits Skov, wasn’t, Akey, “, Homo sapiens, Eddie Gerald, Alamy, Chris Stringer, “ I’ve, ” Stringer, De Agostini, Stringer Organizations: CNN, Lewis, Sigler Institute, Princeton University, University of California Locations: Africa, University of California Berkeley, Vindija, Croatia, Altai, East, Europe, London, Cave, Greece, Israel

☆ How seaweed shaped the past and could shape our future
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-21 | by ( Katie Hunt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —Too often seaweed is portrayed as a slimy, smelly nuisance that disrupts beach trips and ocean swims. In fact, seaweed, officially a type of marine algae, is an untapped resource that could transform the planet and our health. Farmer Jean-Marie Pedron picks edible seaweed along a beach of Le Croisic in western France in March 2021, for a three-starred chef. As well as offering hope for the future, seaweed indelibly shaped our past, as a fascinating finding released this week has revealed. Hassanain Qambari & Jayden Dickson/Nikon Small World Photomicrography CompetitionCaffeine crystals in a kaleidoscope of color.

Persons: CNN —, Farmer Jean, Marie Pedron, Loic Venance, Vincent Doumeizel, Karen Hardy, —, James Webb, Luke Farritor, Salvatore Laporta, ”, papyrologist Michael McOsker, Farritor, Svante Pääbo, hominins, Hassanain Qambari, Jayden Dickson, Mona Lisa ”, Leonardo da Vinci, Ashley Strickland, Katie Hunt Organizations: CNN, Getty, United Nations, Telescope, National, AP, University of Nebraska, University College London, Diabetes, Nikon, Lions Eye Institute, CNN Space, Science Locations: Le Croisic, France, AFP, Orkney, Scotland, Mount, Naples, Italy, Europe, Altai, Central Asia, Australia, Alaska

☆ Nobel in medicine goes to 2 scientists whose work enabled creation of mRNA vaccines against Covid
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-02 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Katalin Karikó,(right) PhD, is a biochemist and researcher, best known for her contributions to mRNA technology and the COVID-19 vaccines. Two scientists won the Nobel Prize in medicine on Monday for discoveries that enabled the development of mRNA vaccines against COVID-19. Paabo's father, Sune Bergstrom, won the Nobel Prize in medicine in 1982. The prizes carry a cash award of 11 million Swedish kronor ($1 million). The money comes from a bequest left by the prize's creator, Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel, who died in 1896.

Persons: Drew Weissman, Karikó, Katalin, Thomas Perlmann, Gunilla Karlsson, Svante Paabo, Paabo's, Sune Bergstrom, Alfred Nobel Organizations: COVID, Sagan's University, University of Pennsylvania, Nobel Assembly Locations: Hungary, Swedish, Oslo, Stockholm

And I told her that many, many scientists work very, very hard," Kariko added. BioNTech said in June that about 1.5 billion people across the world had received its mRNA shot, co-developed with Pfizer (PFE.N). [1/11]Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman win the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden October 2, 2023. The medicine prize kicks off this year's Nobel awards with the remaining five to be unveiled in coming days. The prizes, first handed out in 1901, were created by Swedish dynamite inventor and wealthy businessman Alfred Nobel.

Persons: Weissman, Katalin Kariko, Drew Weissman, Kariko, BioNTech, Rickard Sandberg, Susan Francia, immunologist, ”, Sir Andrew Pollard, Alfred Nobel, Swede Svante Paabo, Alexander Fleming, Karl Landsteiner, Niklas Pollard, Johan Ahlander, Ludwig Burger, Terje Solsvik, Andrew Cawthorne Organizations: Medicine, Nobel, Sweden's Karolinska Institute, University of Szeged, University of Pennsylvania, Pfizer, Karolinska Institute, TT News Agency, REUTERS Acquire, Boston University, Oxford University, AstraZeneca, Moderna, Thomson Locations: STOCKHOLM, COVID, Hungary, Pennsylvania, Szeged, U.S, Stockholm, Sweden, Frankfurt, Krisztina, Budapest, Oslo

In the past few months alone, researchers have linked Neanderthal DNA to a serious hand disease, the shape of people's noses and various other human traits. Research shows some African populations have almost no Neanderthal DNA, while those from European or Asian backgrounds have 1% to 2%. For example, Neanderthal DNA has been linked to auto-immune diseases like Graves’ disease and rheumatoid arthritis. The list goes on: Research has linked Neanderthal genetic variants to skin and hair color, behavioral traits, skull shape and Type 2 diabetes. Researchers found the skulls of domesticated dogs in Homo sapiens sites much further back in time than anyone had found before.

Persons: We’re, ”, Mary Prendergast, Hugo Zeberg, Svante Paabo, Zeberg, It's, Graves, Homo sapiens, Chris Stringer, “, Rick Potts, Paabo, ” Zeberg, Raghavan, Potts, Denisovans, sapiens, Eleanor Scerri, Prendergast, Janet Young, Pat Shipman, John Hawks Organizations: Rice University, Karolinska, Research, Smithsonian Institution, University of Chicago, Germany’s Max Planck Institute, Geoanthropology, Canadian Museum, University of Wisconsin -, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group, AP Locations: Sweden, Melanesia, New Guinea, Fiji, Africa, Europe, Asia, London, Eurasia, Germany’s, University of Wisconsin - Madison

Our species, Homo sapiens — with our complex thoughts and deep emotions — were the only true humans to ever walk the Earth. A study last week found early humans were building structures with wood before H. sapiens evolved. This ability to read ancient DNA revolutionized the field, and it is constantly improving. He specializes in creating lifelike models of ancient humans for museums, including the Smithsonian and the American Museum of Natural History, in hopes of helping public perception catch up to the science. They haven't been able to gather much ancient DNA from Africa, where H. sapiens first evolved, because it has been degraded by heat and moisture.

Persons: ”, Chris Stringer, ” Stringer, sapiens, Rick Potts, naledi, heidelbergensis, John Shea, “, Svante Paabo, Paabo, Bence Viola, Potts, Shea, ’ ” Shea, let’s, Janet Young, Young, John Gurche, Gurche, ” Gurche, “ They’re, they’re, it’s, haven't, we’ll, Mary Prendergast Organizations: Stony Brook University, University of Toronto, Canadian Museum, Smithsonian, American Museum of, Rice University, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group, AP Locations: Africa, Europe, Indonesia, Asia, Swedish, East, Southeast Asia

☆ Fact Check- Image does not show ‘last Neanderthal giant’
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

A fabricated image of a giant man towering above a crowd of people is being shared alongside false claims that it shows the “last Neanderthal giant”, but the image was likely generated using artificial intelligence, experts said. A Facebook post sharing the image states: “This is the last know human Giant Neanderthal!” and adds that Neanderthals “died out” thousands of years ago, so “no Neanderthal's DNA is found in modern times” (here). Contrary to the online claims, Neanderthal DNA has been extracted from these skeletal remains and analysed extensively. The earliest version of the image of a purported “Neanderthal giant” that Reuters could find appears on the official subreddit for Midjourney, an AI-based system that generates images based on text prompts entered by users (bit.ly/423OozQ). The image does not show the last Neanderthal giant, it is likely AI-generated.

☆ Factbox: Winners of 2022 Nobel prizes
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Nobel Prize for Peace - Jailed Belarusian activist Ales Byalyatski, Russian rights group Memorial and Ukraine's Center for Civil Liberties won the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize amid a war in their region that is the worst conflict in Europe since World War Two. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterNobel Prize for Literature– French author Annie Ernaux won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Literature for "the courage and clinical acuity" in her largely autobiographical books examining personal memory and social inequality. Nobel Prize in Chemistry - Scientists Carolyn Bertozzi, Morten Meldal and Barry Sharpless won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for discovering reactions that let molecules snap together to create new compounds and that offer insight into cell biology. Nobel Prize in Physics - Scientists Alain Aspect, John Clauser and Anton Zeilinger won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physics for experiments in quantum mechanics that laid the groundwork for rapidly-developing new applications in computing and cryptography. Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine - Swedish geneticist Svante Paabo won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries that underpin our understanding of how modern day people evolved from extinct ancestors at the dawn of human history.

☆ 3 U.S.-based economists given Nobel Prize for work on banks
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-10 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

STOCKHOLM — This year’s Nobel Prize in economic sciences has been awarded to the former chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve, Ben S. Bernanke, and two U.S.-based economists, Douglas W. Diamond and Philip H. Dybvig, “for research on banks and financial crises.”The prize was announced Monday by the Nobel panel at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm. Last year, half of the award went to David Card for his research on how the minimum wage, immigration and education affect the labor market. The Nobel Economics Prize was awarded to a US trio for their contributions on explaining the role of banks in the economy. French author Annie Ernaux won this year’s Nobel Prize in literature Thursday. The Nobel Peace Prize went to jailed Belarus human rights activist Ales Bialiatski, the Russian group Memorial and the Ukrainian organization Center for Civil Liberties on Friday.

☆ Meet the 2022 Nobel Prize winners
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-07 | by ( Jeremy Schultz | ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Paabo, 67, said he thought the call from Sweden was a prank or something to do with his summer house there. "So I was just gulping down the last cup of tea to go and pick up my daughter at her nanny where she has had an overnight stay," Paabo said. "And then I got this call from Sweden and I of course thought it had something to do with our little summer house ... I thought the lawn mower had broken down or something." REUTERS/Lisi NiesnerClose

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