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☆ Read Everest-scaling mountaineer George Mallory’s last letters, digitized for the first time
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-26 | by ( Mindy Weisberger | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest, leading up to the last days before he disappeared while heading for its peak. Mallory’s words, however, are now available to read online in their entirety for the first time. The college will display a selection of Mallory’s letters and possessions in the exhibit “George Mallory: Magdalene to the Mountain,” opening June 20. APThe Everest letters outline Mallory’s meticulous preparations and equipment tests, and his optimism about their prospects. Magdalene College/APOther letters Mallory exchanged with Ruth were written at the time of their courtship, while he was serving in Britain’s artillery regiment during World War I.

Persons: CNN — George Mallory, Mallory, Andrew Irvine, George Mallory, Magdalene, Irvine, Ruth, ” Mallory, ”, Katy Green, ” Green, “, Green, Jochen Hemmleb, alpinist, Hemmleb, —, Conrad Anker, Anker, Sir George Everest, Noel Odell, Odell, ” Hemmleb, Tenzing Norgay, Sir Edmund Hillary, ” Anker, Edward Norton, Edward Norton’s, ‘, ” Mindy Weisberger Organizations: CNN, Magdalene College , Cambridge, College, Magdalene College, AP, Irvine Research Expedition, Royal Geographical Society, Everest, Geographical Society, Scientific Locations: Nepal, Mallory, Irvine, Tibet, China, India, Everest’s, British, summiting

☆ Foxes were once humans’ best friends, study says
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-11 | by ( Mindy Weisberger | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Archaeologists originally uncovered the near-complete D. avus skeleton buried alongside a human at Cañada Seca, a site in northern Patagonia, in 1991. Parts of the D. avus specimen were buried alongside a human at Cañada Seca, a site in northern Patagonia. D. avus lived from the Pleistocene Epoch (around 2.6 million to 11,700 years ago) into the Holocene, becoming extinct about 500 years ago. With a similar diet to D. avus, dogs may have helped speed the foxes’ extinction by outcompeting them. Dogs could also have carried and transmitted diseases that sickened the foxes, Lebrasseur added.

Persons: wasn’t, Ophélie, avus, Francisco Prevosti “, Dusicyon avus, ”, Lebrasseur, Cinthia, ” Lebrasseur, Dr, Aurora, d’Anglade, ‘, Francisco Prevosti, it’s, ” Mindy Weisberger Organizations: CNN, Wellcome Trust, Archaeology Research, University of Oxford’s School of Archaeology, Royal Society Open Science, Argentina’s, Technical Research, Universidade, Oxford, Scientific Locations: what’s, Argentina, South America, Cañada Seca, Patagonia, United Kingdom, Europe, Asia, Spain, Patagonia . Hunter

☆ George Washington family secrets revealed by DNA from unmarked 19th century graves
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-28 | by ( Mindy Weisberger | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Another key component was DNA from a living descendant of Samuel Washington. Samuel Washington, George Washington's younger brother, was buried in an unmarked grave at the cemetery at his Harewood estate (an interior view is pictured above) near Charles Town, West Virginia. Fortunately for the authors of the new study, “DNA analysis has come a long way since the early 2000s,” Cavagnino said. Further details came from 95,000 SNPs, an enormous volume of data targeting autosomal DNA (DNA that isn’t attached to sex chromosomes). “The search for Samuel Washington’s grave is no longer underway,” Marshall said.

Persons: George Washington’s, Samuel, Samuel Washington, ”, Charla Marshall, George, Courtney L, George Washington, Cavagnino, George Washington's, Harewood, Frances Benjamin Johnson, Samuel Washington’s, ” Cavagnino, Lucinda “ Lucy ” Payne, George Steptoe Washington Jr, Samuel Walter Washington, Dr, Lucy Payne, Connie J, Mulligan, —, ” Mulligan, “, that’s, — “, Augustine Washington, ” Marshall, Marshall, ” Mindy Weisberger Organizations: CNN, US Department of Defense DNA, West Virginia . Records, US Armed Forces DNA, Library, Zion Episcopal Church, Genomics, University of Florida, Scientific Locations: Washington, Harewood, Charles Town, West Virginia, Mount Vernon , Virginia, Zion

☆ Ancient giant dolphin discovered in the Amazon
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-26 | by ( Mindy Weisberger | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

And though there are Amazonian freshwater dolphin species alive today, they aren’t close kin to that ancient cetacean. There’s the South Asian river dolphin (Platanista genus) and the Amazon river dolphin (Inia genus), also known as the pink river dolphin, and the two groups include several species and subspecies. Researchers discovered the Amazonian dolphin fossil in 2018, near the Napo River in Loreto, Peru. At first, they thought it would turn out to be an ancient relative of modern Amazonian river dolphins. “That was a moment where everybody freaked out, because it wasn’t an Amazonian river dolphin,” Benites-Palomino said.

Persons: ”, Jorge Velez, ” Velez, Juarbe, Aldo Benites, Palomino, John J, Flynn, Palomino “, John, freaked, Benites, yacuruna, Rodolfo Salas, Gismondi, ” Benites, Pebanista, ” Mindy Weisberger Organizations: CNN, American Association for, Advancement of Science, Juarbe, of Los, International Union for, Nature, IUCN, University of Zurich’s Department of Paleontology, American Museum of, of, World Wildlife Fund, Velez, Scientific Locations: Peruvian, South Asia, America, of Los Angeles County, Loreto , Peru, New York City, Peru, of Lima, Amazonia

☆ Why don’t humans have tails?
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-23 | by ( Mindy Weisberger | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

One of those led to shorter tails; the more of that protein the genes produced, the shorter the tails. A tail as old as timeFor modern humans, tails are a distant genetic memory. While Alu’s role “seems to be a very important one,” other genetic factors likely contributed to the permanent disappearance of our primate ancestors’ tails,” Xia said. In their experiments, the researchers found that when mice were genetically engineered for tail loss, some developed neural tube deformities that resembled spina bifida in humans. “Maybe the reason why we have this condition in humans is because of this trade-off that our ancestors made 25 million years ago to lose their tails,” Yanai said.

Persons: —, Alu, AluY, Bo Xia, ” Xia, ”, Xia, Itai Yanai, ” Yanai, “, Bo, Yanai, TBXT’s, Liza Shapiro, ” Shapiro, africanus, Shapiro, spina, Mindy Weisberger Organizations: CNN, Gene, Broad Institute of MIT, Harvard University, Institute for Systems Genetics, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, University of Texas, Scientific Locations: Austin, Kenya

☆ First direct evidence of prehistoric facial piercing in southwest Asia found in Turkey
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-11 | by ( Mindy Weisberger | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —Archaeologists in Turkey have discovered groundbreaking evidence connecting prehistoric facial piercings to the bodies of the people who wore them. People of all ages were buried at Boncuklu Tarla, but the newly described ornaments were found only near the remains of adults. Shown here is one of the skulls from Boncuklu Tarla as it was found in the grave, with artifacts nearby. Emma L. Baysal‘Unbelievable’ quantityHunter-gatherers occupied Boncuklu Tarla from around 10,300 BC to 7100 BC, as people began to shift away from a nomadic lifestyle and form settlements. Archaeologists at Boncuklu Tarla in southeastern Turkey unearthed artifacts that were used as body piercings.

Persons: ”, Dusan Boric, Boric, Emma L, ” Baysal, “, Baysal, labrets, ” Dusan, “ It’s, Dusan, You’re, ’ ” Mindy Weisberger Organizations: CNN — Archaeologists, Sapienza Università, Roma, Tarla, Ankara University, CNN, Scientific Locations: Turkey, Asia, Boncuklu, Italy, Amazonia, Africa

☆ Star dunes: Ancient find helps scientists unravel secrets of mysterious sand structures
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-04 | by ( Mindy Weisberger | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Using radar scans and analysis of sand grains buried deep inside the star dune, scientists mapped the mound’s internal structure. “It’s moving about half a meter per year,” demonstrating that star dunes are about as active as most other dunes, Duller told CNN. A mystery solvedThe new findings also addressed a longstanding mystery for geologists: Where is all the ancient evidence of star dunes? Star dunes are so big; perhaps eroded parts of their preserved structures were previously identified as standalone remnants of other types of dunes, the study authors reported. “The fact that star dunes have not been identified very much in the stratigraphic record may partly be because many geologists were not very much aware of star dunes and only knew about longitudinal dunes and barchans (crescent-shaped dunes),” Goudie said.

Persons: ” Andrew Goudie, Goudie, ”, Geoff, “, Lala Lallia, Charles Bristow, ” Bristow, Chebbi, Charlie Bristow, Bristow, ” Goudie, ” Mindy Weisberger Organizations: CNN, University of Oxford, Aberystwyth University, sedimentology, Birkbeck College, University of London, University of London's Birkbeck, Google, Scientific Locations: Erg Chebbi, Morocco, United Kingdom, Wales, Aberystwyth, Scotland

☆ Scientists are building tunnels under South Dakota for a $3 billion experiment that could solve some of the universe's grandest mysteries
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-29 | by ( Jenny Mcgrath | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Estimated to cost at least $3 billion, the project DUNE (Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment), is led by scientists at the US Department of Energy's Fermilab. AdvertisementCavern excavation at the Sanford Underground Research Facility in South Dakota began in 2017. The beam will then travel underground for 800 miles to the detectors at the South Dakota Sanford Underground Research Facility. The Sanford Underground Research Facility is located at a former gold mine. Stephen Kenny, Sanford Underground Research FacilityIn 1987, astronomers witnessed a bright supernova exploding closer than any had in about 400 years.

Persons: —, Mary Bishai, Reidar Hahn, Bishai, Matthew Kapust, Stephen Kenny, Maximilien Brice, Albert Einstein's, Jim Shultz, It's Organizations: Service, US Department of Energy's Fermilab, Sanford Underground Research, South Dakota Researchers, Fermilab, South Dakota Sanford Underground Research, CERN, Japan Proton Accelerator Research, PARC, European Organization for Nuclear Research, Scientific Locations: Illinois, South Dakota, Chicago , Illinois, Minnesota, Fermilab, South

☆ Romantic kissing’s earliest record dates to 4,500 years ago, scientists say
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-13 | by ( Mindy Weisberger | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Romantic kisses have long been celebrated in songs, poems and stories, commemorated in art and film. Modern scholars therefore concluded that romantic kisses likely originated in India. Across thousands of cuneiform tablets kissing isn’t the most mentioned topic, “but it is attested regularly,” he said. But Arbøll and Rasmussen suspected that romantic kissing became accepted in Bronze Age Europe, and not because of migration alone. Even today, many cultures shun romantic kissing, Arbøll and Rasmussen reported.

Persons: CNN —, ”, Guy de Maupassant, Troels Pank, Assyriology, Justin R, Garcia, ” Garcia, de Maupassant, Arbøll, Dr, Sophie Lund Rasmussen, ” Arbøll, “, primatologist Frans B.M, De, Rasmussen, isn’t, It’s, ” Mindy Weisberger Organizations: CNN, University of Copenhagen, Indiana University, Kinsey Institute, Oxford University, Emory University, Scientific Locations: Mesopotamia, Bloomington, India, De Waal, Atlanta, Europe, Russia

☆ Bring Office Cubicles Back; Improve Employee Productivity, Hybrid Work
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-05 | by ( Kelli María Korducki | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

In a memorable montage from the 1999 workplace satire "Office Space," Peter Gibbons, a fed-up office drone, decides to take a stand. For years, the office cubicle was the four-walled avatar of corporate disaffection. Late '90s films like "Office Space," "Fight Club," and "The Matrix" enshrined its detested status. The tech boom arrived, bringing with it open office plans and a Silicon Valley-led gloss of egalitarianism, epitomized by Google's high-profile headquarters redesign in 2005. The top comment on the "Office Space" cubicle clip on YouTube captures the irony of this shift: "I would have killed for a cubicle," the commenter wrote.

Persons: Peter Gibbons, Google's, weren't, Nikil Saval, Slack, hasn't, Joseph Country, Heather Chapman, Chapman, Sydney Baker, there's, Baker, Thomas Roulet, Roulet, somethings, it's, Kevin Kelley, Shook Kelley, Kelley, cubicles, hewing Organizations: Toyota Corolla, Porsche, Workers, YouTube, Research, Harvard Business School, Environmental Psychology, University of Cambridge Locations: Silicon, Michigan, Louisville , Kentucky, —, Charlotte , North Carolina

☆ Napoleon stranded a bunch of scientists in Egypt and now we have modern archaeology
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-30 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | Jenny Mcgrath | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Napoleon Bonaparte brought engineers, architects, and scientists when he invaded Egypt. In three stages, these "savants" meticulously illustrated the ruins of ancient Egypt. But one of his lesser-known offenses — abandoning a crew of scholars and scientists in Egypt — led to the unexpected byproduct of formal archaeology as we know it today. AdvertisementIt divided Egypt into ancient and modern times, and launched the modern vision of ancient Egypt as we know it today. The structures, symbols, and images of ancient Egypt became fashionable features of European art and architecture.

Persons: Napoleon Bonaparte, —, Egypt —, Ridley Scott, Napoleon, Mohamed Abd El Ghany, Nina Burleigh, Dominique, Vivant, Denon, savants, Napoleon's savants, Burleigh Organizations: Service, Scientific, Art Media, Egyptian Ministry of Tourism Locations: Egypt, France, Upper Egypt, Kings, Luxor, Karnak, Thebes, Edfu, Upper, Lower Egypt, Egyptian, Europe

☆ 29 million-year-old grasshopper nest found intact with eggs, study says
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-16 | by ( Mindy Weisberger | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

The eggs and overall nest construction closely resemble the eggs and pods of modern grasshopper species. Insect eggs are extremely rare in the fossil record, and intact egg cases are even rarer. This wasn’t just a cluster of eggs — it was a type of subterranean egg pod called an ootheca, with the eggs cradled by a protective layer that had mineralized into a stony rind. So Lee consulted a global insect egg database, containing more than 6,700 living species, to identify the eggs in the fossil pod. The virtually pristine specimen also speaks to the level of preservation in the national park site’s fossil beds, Famoso added.

Persons: ”, Jaemin Lee, Nick Famoso, Famoso, Ricardo Pérez, la Fuente, Christopher Schierup, Schierup, “, Lee, Angela Lin, ” Famoso, ” Lee, ” Mindy Weisberger Organizations: CNN, Parks Stewardship, University of California, National Parks Service, University of Oxford’s, University of Oregon’s, Imaging, Scientific Locations: Oregon, Berkeley, Mitchell , Oregon, United Kingdom, Eugene

☆ Alaska's once crystal-clear rivers now resemble dirty orange soda, puzzling researchers
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-15 | by ( Jenny Mcgrath | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The melting permafrostEven before researchers knew about the orange waters, they realized northern Alaska was rapidly changing. The Arctic Inventory and Monitoring Network mapped locations of orange streams, and aerial photos show how easy they are to spot because of their brightness. When scientists went to the orange streams to count fish, insects, algae, and other aquatic life , "biodiversity just crashed," biologist Mike Carey told Scientific American . Advertisement"The fish were totally gone," Koch told BI. The streams Koch monitors near the Brooks Range are fairly remote, but the rivers they feed into provide fish for human communities in this region.

Persons: John McPhee, Joshua Koch, It's, —, Michael Carey, Koch, Carson Baughman, Kenneth Hill, Mike Carey Organizations: Service, US Geological Survey, Koch, Survey, Geological Survey, National Park Service, University of California, Davis , Alaska Pacific University, University of Alaska, Scientific, BI Locations: Salmon, Beaufort, Kobuk, , Alaska, Davis ,, Anchorage —, Alaska

☆ Birdlike footprints from Triassic mystery animals precede earliest bird fossils by 60 million years
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Mindy Weisberger | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

The footprints, found at several sites in southern Africa, were recently identified as the oldest birdlike tracks ever found, preceding the earliest known skeletal fossils of avians by about 60 million years. Some called the tracks birdlike, but others weren’t so sure. Ellenberger may have muddied the waters by assigning many differently shaped tracks to the ichnogenus, “and not all of them are birdlike,” Abrahams said. They could belong to other reptiles or cousins of dinosaurs that evolved birdlike feet,” Clarke said. During a trip to Maphutseng, a fossil locale in Lesotho, the team found a number of birdlike tracks from the Triassic Period.

Persons: “, ”, Miengah Abrahams, Abrahams, Paul Ellenberger, Ellenberger, ” Abrahams, Julia Clarke, ” Clarke, there’s, Morphotype, paravians, —, ” Mindy Weisberger Organizations: CNN, University of Cape, University of Texas, Scientific Locations: Africa, University of Cape Town, South Africa, Austin, archosauria, Maphutseng, Lesotho

☆ Rare fossil reveals behavior dinosaurs may have had in common with birds
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-20 | by ( Mindy Weisberger | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

That’s what scientists have interpreted from the pose of the dinosaur’s fossil skeleton. The study authors identified it as an alvarezsaurid, a type of small theropod (bipedal meat-eating dinosaur) with a long tail and legs and short front limbs. Alvarezsaurids are part of a larger dinosaur group called maniraptorans, which includes birds and birdlike dinosaurs that were their closest relatives. (A) A photo of the fossil skeleton found in the Gobi Desert in Mongolia. Kohta KuboThe new fossil suggests that this sleeping behavior may have been more common than expected among the non-avian relatives of the earliest birds, the researchers reported.

Persons: Sinornithoides, Jaculinykus yaruui, Kohta Kubo, “, ”, Dr, Jingmai O’Connor, ” O’Connor, ” Kubo, Jaculinykus, Shuvuuia deserti, Kubo, Kobu, ” Mindy Weisberger Organizations: CNN, Field, Paleobiology Research, Hokkaido University, Scientific Locations: Mongolia, Chicago, Jaculus, yaruu, Japan, alvarezsaurs

☆ Newly identified species could shed light on evolution of prehistoric ‘sea monsters’
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-02 | by ( Mindy Weisberger | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Paleontologists recently described the previously unknown mosasaur from fossils found near the North Dakota town of Walhalla. The town’s name comes from Valhalla, the feasting hall of Norse mythology where dead heroes gather, so the scientists dubbed the mosasaur Jormungandr walhallaensis. When the scientists examined the skull, they quickly realized they had something unusual on their hands. This combination of traits convinced the researchers that what they were looking at was a new genus and species. Here is a line drawing of the skull of the Jormungandr walhallaensis.

Persons: Amelia Zietlow, Richard Gilder, Jormungandr, Zietlow, “ He’s, ” Zietlow, Henry Sharpe, Takuya Konishi, Jormungandr walhallaensis, “, it’s, Konishi, walhallaensis, ” Konishi, Clint Boyd, ”, ” Mindy Weisberger Organizations: CNN, American Museum of, American Museum, Natural, Richard Gilder Graduate, North, North Dakota Geological Survey, American, of, University of Cincinnati, Scientific Locations: North Dakota, Walhalla, Valhalla, New York City, Clidastes, United States

☆ Why we don't have fusion power plants yet, and what it'll take to get clean, limitless energy to market
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-29 | by ( Jenny Mcgrath | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Two experts explain how long it could take until fusion power plants are possible. Fusion plants could theoretically produce almost 4 million times as much energy as burning coal or oil — with none of the carbon emissions. It's what Andrew Christlieb, who is part of a US Department of Energy fusion project at Michigan State University, calls "step zero." The US Department of Energy's Fusion Energy Sciences program has a $763 million budget for 2023, which could grow to over $1 billion next year. Achieving commercial fusion power in two decades won't be quick enough to address many countries' goals of adapting clean energy and limiting global warming by 2035.

Persons: It's, Andrew Christlieb, Christlieb, Michael Livingston, PPPL, Jean, Paul Pelissier, it's, Jason Laurea, Lawrence, Jonathan Menard, Menard, Bill Gates, Sam Altman Organizations: Service, Ignition, NIF, US Department of Energy, Michigan State University, Royal Society, Reactor, REUTERS, European Union, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Princeton Plasma Physics, US Department of Energy's Fusion Energy Sciences, Fusion Industry Association, Tech Locations: PPPL, Saint, Durance , Southern France, US, China, Russia, Lawrence Livermore, Princeton

☆ Long-lost Roman forts spotted in declassified spy satellite photos
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-25 | by ( Mindy Weisberger | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

That survey was among the first to photograph archaeological sites from the air, and in 1934 Poidebard reported finding 116 Roman forts. But nearly a century later, mapping Poidebard’s forts to satellite photos was challenging. Those forts were aligned north to south along what was once the easternmost boundary of the Roman Empire, according to Poidebard. But Poidebard’s survey provided only a partial view of Rome’s ancient infrastructure, the researchers found. While Poidebard’s row of forts along the Roman Empire’s eastern front looked like a military fortification, this new evidence suggested that the forts collectively served a different purpose.

Persons: Rather, Jesse Casana, ” Casana, Casana, Father Antoine Poidebard, Poidebard, Father Antoine Poidebard's, —, ” Mindy Weisberger Organizations: CNN, United, Corona, Dartmouth College, Tell, Antiquity, Scientific Locations: United States, Iraq, Syria, New Hampshire, “, Iran, French, Qreiye, Roman, Birke, Mosul, Ninawa, ”, Rome

☆ Scientists test Fukushima fish after nuclear plant water release
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Eugene Hoshiko/Pool via REUTERS Acquire Licensing RightsIWAKI, Japan, Oct 19 (Reuters) - A team of international scientists collected fish samples from a port town near Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear plant on Thursday, seeking to assess the impact of the plant's recent release of treated radioactive water into the sea. Scientists from China, South Korea and Canada observed the collection of fish samples delivered fresh off the boat at Hisanohama port, about 50 kilometres south of the plant which was destroyed in the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. The samples will be sent to laboratories in each country for independent testing, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said. Before being released, the water is filtered to remove isotopes, leaving only tritium, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen that is hard to separate, plant operator Tepco says. Reporting by Reuters staff; Writing by John Geddie; Editing by Bernadette BaumOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Eugene Hoshiko, Paul McGinnity, John Geddie, Bernadette Baum Organizations: International Atomic Energy Agency, REUTERS Acquire, Rights, IAEA, Tepco, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Hisanohama Port, Iwaki, Japan, Rights IWAKI, Japan's, China, South Korea, Canada

☆ Runestones from Denmark praising a Viking queen hint at her power
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-13 | by ( Mindy Weisberger | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Both Jelling runestones also named a royal figure: Queen Thyra, mother of then-reigning King Harald Bluetooth. In recent years, archaeologists have revised prior interpretations of Viking warrior burials as exclusively male, finding that Viking women were fighters, too. The new findings add to the picture of influential Viking women holding prominent roles in statecraft as well as on the battlefield. Fewer than 10 runestones in Denmark from the pre-Christian era mention women at all — and four of those are of Queen Thyra. “Runestones in Denmark were mostly erected in honour of men, but Thyra is commemorated on more runestones than any other person in Viking Age Denmark,” Imer said.

Persons: CNN —, —, Thyra, “, ”, Katherine Cross, ” Cross, King Harald Bluetooth, King Gorm, Harald, Lisbeth, Imer, ” Imer, Queen Thyra, ” Mindy Weisberger Organizations: CNN, telltale, John University, National Museum of Denmark, Museum of, National Museum of, Scientific Locations: Denmark, Sweden, York, Europe, Jelling, Copenhagen, Museum of Denmark, National Museum of Denmark, dak, DAK, statecraft, Viking

☆ Over 10,000 pre-Columbian earthworks are still hidden in the Amazon, study finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-10 | by ( Mindy Weisberger | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Known as earthworks, they were shaped by indigenous peoples who lived in the area around 500 to 1,500 years ago. Many Amazonian earthworks that predate the arrival of European colonizers are revealed in deforested areas. Heckenberger, who was not involved in the study, has conducted research in the Brazilian Amazon since the 1990s, working with indigenous peoples of the Xingu region. These findings further demonstrate that the cultural heritage of indigenous peoples in the Americas and elsewhere is “remarkably dynamic and innovative,” he added. So the scientists also mapped 937 known earthworks, instructing the model to highlight locations for potential earthworks that shared similar topographic features with previously detected sites.

Persons: it’s, ”, Vinicius Peripato, Peripatos, Michael Heckenberger, ” Heckenberger, Peripato, ” Peripato, lidar, Dr, Juan Carlos Fernandez Diaz, ” Fernandez Diaz, “, Mindy Weisberger Organizations: CNN, Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research, University of Florida, Brazilian Amazon, University of Houston, Scientific Locations: São Paulo, Brazilian, Americas, Brazil, Amazonia

☆ Mysterious ‘fairy circles’ of Namibia and Australia aren’t so rare after all, study says
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-28 | by ( Mindy Weisberger | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —Round discs of barren dirt known as “fairy circles” look like rows of polka dots that can spread for miles over the ground. Fairy circles were previously spotted only in the arid lands of Southern Africa’s Namib Desert and the outback of Western Australia. The results showed 263 dryland locations where there were circular patterns similar to fairy circles in Namibia and Australia. Fairy circles’ mysterious originsThe study authors also compiled environmental data where circles were spotted, collecting evidence that might hint at what causes them to form. But the question “What shapes fairy circles?” is complex, and factors that create fairy circles may differ from site to site, the study authors reported.

Persons: ”, Emilio Guirado, Guirado, “, Stephan Getzin, Getzin, Fiona Walsh, Walsh, ” Walsh, ” Guirado, Mindy Weisberger Organizations: CNN, National Academy of Sciences, Multidisciplinary Institute, Environmental Studies, University of Alicante, University of Göttingen, University of Western, “, Scientific Locations: Southern, Western Australia, Spain, Namibia, Australia, Africa, Western Sahara, of Africa, Madagascar, Midwestern Asia, Southwest Australia, Germany, University of Western Australia, Northern Territory

☆ An Iowa nonprofit suffered nearly $1 million in flood damages. The woman who runs it shares the long road to recovery.
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-21 | by ( Jacob Zinkula | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Worst of all for her, the ruinous flooding meant Operation Threshold, which helps thousands of low-income individuals and families across three Iowa counties become self-sufficient, couldn't operate. Operation Threshold"So many of the families that flooded were people that we normally serve," Grant, executive director of Operation Threshold, said. The Operation Threshold office building was inundated. In the aftermath of the flooding, Grant said the plethora of paper documents in the office wouldn't dry enough to shred. The organization also received a loan from a local credit union and pocketed roughly $12,000 by selling its secondary office building.

Persons: Barb Grant, Grant, she'd, —, Kim Reynolds, it's, Miriam Alarcón Avila Organizations: Pew Charitable, Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA Locations: Iowa, Waterloo , Iowa, Vermont, Waterloo, Mississippi, Waterloo —

☆ Explainer: The Fukushima water release plan
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

An aerial view shows the storage tanks for treated water at the tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Okuma town, Fukushima prefecture, Japan August 22, 2023, in this photo taken by Kyodo. Water containing tritium is routinely released from nuclear plants around the world, and regulatory authorities support dealing with the Fukushima water in this way. When ingested at levels above those in the released water it can raise cancer risks, a Scientific American article said in 2014. SAFETYJapan and scientific organisations say the released water is safe, but environmental activists argue that all the possible impacts have not been studied. The latest import restrictions were imposed in July after the IAEA approved Japan's plans to discharge the treated water.

Persons: Masanobu Sakamoto, Katya Golubkova Organizations: Kyodo, REUTERS Acquire, Rights, Tanks, Electric Power Company, Tepco, International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, Greenpeace, World Health Organization, South, National Federation of Fisheries Cooperative Associations, Tokyo, Thomson Locations: Okuma, Fukushima prefecture, Japan, Fukushima, China

☆ Ancient reptile was riddled with parasites, fossilized poop reveals
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-09 | by ( Mindy Weisberger | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Researchers didn’t find the parasites in phytosaur bones or teeth; rather, they retrieved them from a nugget of fossilized feces, known as a coprolite. For example, certain fish with spiraling intestines poop out what eventually become spiral-shaped coprolites, according to Nonsrirach. “Studying the remains of parasites in coprolites is important since it provides us with rare insights into ancient parasite-host relationships,” Qvarnström said. “This event raises interesting questions about how prey animals and parasites interact with each other. It suggests that parasites may have been inside the bodies of prey before they were eaten,” Nonsrirach said.

Persons: didn’t, ”, Thanit Nonsrirach, “, Nonsrirach, Coprolites, Martin Qvarnström, Qvarnström, ” Qvarnström, ” Nonsrirach, ” Mindy Weisberger Organizations: CNN, Mahasarakham, Uppsala University, University of California Museum of Paleontology, Scientific Locations: Thailand, Asia, Kham Riang, Sweden, Berkeley, coprolites

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