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Ancient Russian Skeleton Uncovered- Report Says

November 7, 2014 By Brian Galloway Leave a Comment

Researchers extracted DNA from a man who lives approximately 37,000 years ago in Russia. The DNA offered some really significant information regarding the genetic history of Europeans.

The most important thing that DNA reveals is the early interbreeding of man with the Neanderthals. Neanderthals lived in Europe nearly 54,000 years ago.

Experts make use of the DNA from the left tibia of that man in order to classify the genome of the most ancient man of Europe.

The scientists named that man “Kostenki”. Kostenki is the name of a Russian village from where the skeleton was discovered around 60 years ago. It makes easier for scientists to figure out when Homo sapiens and Neanderthals interbreed.

Moreover, it offers a few evidence of interaction between people of Middle East and European hunter gathers. This proof indicates towards the exact time when man lived in Kostenki village that is 36,200 to 38,700 years ago.

Till that time the people of western Eurasia broke up with the people of East Asia. Afterwards they left for different continents, as per the reports of genetic makeup.

This study permits experts to solve the mystery if modern human populations. This skeleton is the second oldest genome ever found of the modern man.

Ramus Nielsen, Professor of computational biology stated that scientists are aware of the fact that this individual is connected to modern Europeans. They also know that a large number of genetic structures of Europe are associated with the time period of this skeleton.

Archaeologists Perplexed by the Massive ‘Big Circles’ in Jordan

November 2, 2014 By Germaine Hicks Leave a Comment

Archaeologists delve into the remains of massive ‘Big Circles’ discovered in the Middle East–monstrous stone circles that were built thousands of years ago.

Recently, researchers working in Jordan took to the skies to get a better look at these circles, taking aerial photographs of 11 of these stone rings. The largest circle found to have a diameter of more than 1,300 feet.

Still, archaeologists are uncertain of exactly why these stone circles were built, but hopes are high that studying them from the air will help shed some light on the mystifying constructs. It has been believed that the Big Circles were once associated together based on the similarity of the rings share with each other.

Certainly, the circles were built of stone in low walls and have shown no proof of gaps or openings. With low walls, researchers believe that it’s a safe bet that anyone who wanted to get inside these circles would have simply hopped over one of the walls. Though, the mystery of why these circles were built still remains unresolved.

After analyzing the images, researchers revealed that the circles were constructed about 2,000 years ago. Though, this date is a contentious one; some of the researchers think that the rings could be even older, pre-dating agricultural civilization by several thousand years.

An archaeology professor at University of Western Australia and the lead researcher who involved in investigating these sites, David Kenney said, “It’s vital to collect as much information on these sites as possible in order to make them known to the scientific community and the public. We are working together with aerial photographers and also gathered satellite data from websites such as Google Earth to glean as much information as possible from the sites.”

Kennedy, an old hand at archaeological research in the region, is no stranger to aerial photography. He was a co-director for the Aerial Photographic Archive for Archaeology in the Middle East.

Scientists Sequenced A 45000-Year-Old Man’s Genome

October 23, 2014 By Rebecca McGhee Leave a Comment

The DNA of a 45000 year old bone of a Siberian man has been recently examined by the researchers to find out when human and Neanderthals first interbred. On record, this is an oldest genome sequence of Homo sapiens exposing a mysterious population that may once have spanned northern Asia. The study is published in the Nature journal.

The oldest human genome also revealed that the closest extinct relatives of the modern humans were the Neanderthals who lived in Europe and Asia and vanished around 40,000 years ago. The Neanderthals interbred with ancestors of modern humans when modern humans began spreading out of Africa and today 1.5 to 2.1 percent of the DNA of anyone living outside Africa is Neanderthal in origin, study reveals.

“It remains vague when interbreeding between Neanderthals and modern humans happened. But it probably ranged between 37000 to 86000 years ago,” researchers stated.

The researchers examined the bone (human left femur), discovered by Nikolai Peristov, an artist and mammoth ivory collector on the left bank of the river Irtysh near the settlement of Ust’-Ishim in western Siberia in 2008. The age of the man’s bone to be is about 45,000 years old, researchers stated.

Janet Kelso, co-author of the study and a computational biologist at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, told Live Science, “This is the earliest directly dated modern human outside of Africa and the Middle East, and the oldest modern human [genome] to have been sequenced.”

Formerly, the researchers had proposed modern humans firstly populated Asia by traveling towards southern, coastal route that gave rise to the present-day people of Oceania, while a later, more northern migration, gave rise to mainland Asians. Kelson stated, “the researchers’ evidence for the modern human presence in Siberia 45,000 years ago specifies that the early modern humans were not just migrated to Eurasia through a southern route as previously suggested.”

The researchers further examined the carbon and nitrogen isotopes present in the man’s bone proposes that he ate C3 plants, which rule cooler, wetter, cloudier regions such as garlic, eggplants, pears, beans and wheat as well as animals that also dined on C3 plants. Though, the study analysis reveals that he might have eaten aquatic foods like fresh water fish.

The DNA analysis of mans’s bone revealed that the he was closely related to present-day Asians and to early Europeans. “From this we conclude that the population to which the Ust’-Ishim individual belonged diverged from the ancestors of present-day Europeans and Asians before, or at around the same time as, these groups diverged from one another,” Kelso said.

The researchers believed that 45,000 years old man carried a similar level of Neanderthal ancestry as present-day Eurasians and the Neanderthal genes moved into the ancestors of this man 7,000 to 13,000 years before he lived.

The results of the study propose that modern humans and Neanderthals interbred around 50,000 to 60,000 years ago, “which is close to the time of the major expansion of modern humans out of Africa and the Middle East,” Kelso added.

DNA Reveals, Neanderthals & Modern Humans First Mated 50000 years ago

October 22, 2014 By Germaine Hicks 3 Comments

Recently, the researchers examined the DNA of a 45000 year old bone of a Siberian man in order to find out when human and Neanderthals first mated.

Though, the modern humans are the only humans surviving human ancestry, others once lived on Earth. The closest extinct relatives of the modern humans were the Neanderthals who lived in Europe and Asia and vanished around 40,000 years ago. According to the recent study, the Neanderthals mated with ancestors of modern humans when modern humans began spreading out of Africa and today 1.5% to 2.1% of the DNA of anyone living outside Africa is Neanderthal in origin.

The researchers said, “it remains vague when interbreeding between Neanderthals and modern humans happened. But it probably ranged between 37000 to 86000 years ago.”

In order to resolve this mystery, the researchers examined the shaft of a thighbone, which is discovered by Nikolai Peristov, an artist and mammoth ivory collector on the left bank of the river Irtysh near the settlement of Ust’-Ishim in western Siberia in 2008. The age of the man’s bone to be is about 45,000 years old, researchers stated.

In the past, the researchers had proposed modern humans firstly populated Asia by traveling towards southern, coastal route that gave rise to the present-day people of Oceania, while a later, more northern migration, gave rise to mainland Asians. Kelson stated, “the researchers’ evidence for the modern human presence in Siberia 45,000 years ago specifies that the early modern humans were not just migrated to Eurasia through a southern route as previously suggested.”

The bone’s genetic analysis revealed that the man was closely related to present-day Asians and to early Europeans. “From this we conclude that the population to which the Ust’-Ishim individual belonged diverged from the ancestors of present-day Europeans and Asians before, or at around the same time as, these groups diverged from one another,” Kelso said.

The Siberian man carried a similar level of Neanderthal ancestry as present-day Eurasians and the Neanderthal genes moved into the ancestors of this man 7,000 to 13,000 years before he lived, researchers revealed.

The results of the study propose that modern humans and Neanderthals mated around 50,000 to 60,000 years ago, “which is close to the time of the major expansion of modern humans out of Africa and the Middle East,” Kelso said.

The study is published in the Nature journal.

GOP Continues Pursuit Of Obama Over Middle East

September 13, 2014 By Rebecca McGhee 1 Comment

As if things weren’t bad enough for the White House regarding the new threat of war in the Middle East, the GOP continues to badger the President over what his plans are regarding the Islamic State militants.

The problems are that the GOP has been gnawing at the White House regarding the exact plans Obama has to handle the threat. The US, now tired of constant war and failing miserably at recovering from its own collapsing infrastructure is being worn down by no concrete data from the White House regarding the issue. Senate Democrats are worried that any decisions or actions will jeopardize their hold in the upcoming elections and a failure at this time by Obama could wipe out any chance of Democratic supremacy come Autumn.

Both sides are cautious regarding making so many definitive statements as any foul ups could jeopardize either side. The GOP is hoping the White House will foul up and give them easy victories and the Democrats are hoping the White House can fend off Republican attacks, growing public disapproval, and any military mistakes before election time or the Democratic hold on the Senate will be sunk.

Obama’s present strategies seem to be working with air strikes and arming Syrian rebels with major gains against ISIS in Iraq. Republicans are cautious not to be too critical but Obama’s reluctance to send in armed troops has so far proven effective. Americans want no more war and casualties and definitely don’t want to spend more money on the Middle East conflicts as poverty is running rampant with little or no hope for future recovery as long as they’re involved in Middle East conflicts.

That being said, as time grows short, more members of both political parties will have to make more stronger stances on their viewpoints and positions as the crisis continues. By the time of the November elections there will be a clear cut look ahead at victory and a stronger support of Democrats or a prolonged and drawn out series of conflicts that won’t do well for the Democrats.

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