Neanderthals disappeared from Earth more than 20,000 years ago, but figuring out why continues to challenge anthropologists. One team of scientists, however, now says they have evidence to back climate change as the main culprit. The Iberian Peninsula, better known as present-day Spain and Portugal, was one of the last Neanderthal refuges. Many scientists have thought that out-hunting by Homo sapiens and interbreeding with them brought Neanderthals to their demise, but climate change has also been proposed. Francisco Jiménez-Espejo, a paleoclimatologist at the University of Granada in Spain, says a lack of evidence has left climate change weakly supported-until now. ‘We put data behind the theory,’ he said, filling in a large gap in European climate records when Neanderthals faded out of existence. The scientists’ study is detailed in a recent issue of Quaternary Science Reviews. Cold spell To figure out the temperature, water supply, and windiness of Iberia from 20,000 to 40,000 years ago, the scientists looked at sediments on the ocean floor off Spain and Portugal. Because wind or water erode rocky minerals differently, the pebbles and fragments wash into the sea in different ratios, creating a steady track record of land conditions […]
SAN FRANCISCO — Caucasians carrying a common genetic variant are up to 60 percent more likely to develop heart disease than those who don’t, regardless of lifestyle, according to two new studies. The studies, involving about 40 000 people in four countries, indicate that genetic factors can play a role in whether a person develops heart disease beyond smoking, diet, exercise or other well-established risk factors. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in Western countries. About 25 percent of people of European origin carry this genetic variant, which appears on a region of chromosome 9, the researchers reported. ‘If we can identify genetic factors which influence heart disease risk over and above known risk factors, we can do a better job of identifying those people who will benefit most from early intervention to reduce their risk,’ said Ruth McPherson, director of the University of Ottawa Heart Institute Lipid Research Laboratory and lead author of one of the studies. McPherson and colleagues scanned the DNA of 1 300 heart patients and 1 500 healthy people in Ottawa for genetic variants. The results were checked against other large-scale genetic heart studies in the United […]
Along with being the nation’s capital, Washington D.C. leads the country when it comes to pavement: It has the least amount of open space between roads of any U.S. county. By contrast, the study finds that Keweenaw County in Michigan offers the most room between the roads of all U.S. counties. Counties with the least space: * Washington, D.C * Saint Louis City, Missouri * Kings County (Brooklyn) Counties with the most space: * Keweenaw County, Michigan * Saint Bernard Parish, Louisiana * Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana With more than 4 million miles of roads in the United States, the farthest you can venture from a road is 22 miles (unless you’re wandering around Alaska or the swamps of Louisiana). The only place you can be 22 miles away from road in the contiguous states is a spot in the southeast corner of Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. Roadless space Roads are critical to providing people with access to natural resources and services like stores, schools and hospitals. […]
CAMPAIGNERS last night warned couples ‘not to play God’ with a revolutionary home test that reveals an unborn baby’s sex at six weeks. They fear the £189 kit will create a massive leap in abortions if would-be parents are not having the gender they want. Michaela Aston, spokeswoman for the charity LIFE, said: ‘This test is very dangerous. It could lead to babies being aborted simply for being the ‘wrong’ sex.’ And Julia Millington, of the Prolife Alliance, said: ‘There is a real risk that some people would choose to abort babies of a certain gender.’ The earliest couples had previously known the gender of their baby was at the 20-week scan - four weeks before the legal limit for an abortion. But some health authorities have already stopped revealing that information for fear of ‘wrong-sex’ terminations. The Pink or Blue Early Test Kit, launched on the internet this week by DNA Worldwide, is claimed to be 98 per cent reliable. Mums-to-be prick a finger to give a small blood sample. They put this on a filter paper and send it to a lab for testing. Lab technicians determine the sex by […]
WASHINGTON — The Senate cleared the way yesterday for the likely adoption of a measure that would legalize the reimportation of lower-cost prescription drugs from Canada and other countries, a move supporters say would save consumers $50 billion over 10 years. Ignoring a White House veto threat, lawmakers voted 63 to 28 to move to a final vote on adding the drug provision to a larger bill on the operations of the Food and Drug Administration. ‘There is a pricing problem with prescription drugs,’ said Sen. Byron L. Dorgan (D-N.D.), who co-sponsored the amendment with Sen. Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine). ‘The identical drug, FDA-approved, the same pill, put in the same bottle, made by the same company, is set virtually every other place in the world at a lower price. And the American consumer is told, ‘You know what, we have a special deal for you: You get to pay the highest price in the world.’ ‘ Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), one of the lead sponsors of the FDA bill, opposed the amendment, saying the FDA has enough trouble determining whether domestic drugs are safe. ‘I’m baffled that we want to take on all the hard […]
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Remote Viewing the Year 2060
