Computer Science: General Mathematics: General
Published

COVID calculations spur solution to old problem in computer science      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A mathematician was keen to forecast the evolution of the COVID epidemic. Instead, he ended up solving a problem which had troubled computer scientists for decades.

Computer Science: General
Published

Clinical trial results indicate low rate of adverse events associated with implanted brain computer interface      (via sciencedaily.com) 

There were no safety events that required removal of the device, no infections of the brain or nervous system, and no adverse events resulting in permanently increased disability related to the investigational device.

Computer Science: General
Published

Computers that power self-driving cars could be a huge driver of global carbon emissions      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new model quantifies emissions that will be generated by computers on fully autonomous vehicles. If self-driving cars are widely adopted, their emissions will rival those generated by all the data centers in the world today. Keeping emissions at or below those levels would require hardware efficiency to improve more rapidly than its current pace.

Computer Science: General
Published

Screen-printing method can make wearable electronics less expensive      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new study demonstrates that electrodes can be made using just screen printing, creating a stretchable, durable circuit pattern that can be transferred to fabric and worn directly on human skin. Such wearable electronics can be used for health monitoring in hospitals or at home. Current commercial manufacturing of wearable electronics requires expensive processes involving clean rooms. While some use screen printing for parts of the process, this new method relies wholly on screen printing, which can make manufacturing flexible, wearable electronics much easier and less expensive.

Anthropology: Cultures Anthropology: Early Humans Anthropology: General Archaeology: General Paleontology: Fossils
Published

Ethical ancient DNA research must involve descendant communities, say researchers      (via sciencedaily.com) 

The analysis of ancient DNA allows scientists to trace human evolution and make important discoveries about modern populations. The data revealed by ancient DNA sampling can be valuable, but the human remains that carry this ancient DNA are often those of the ancestors of modern Indigenous groups, and some communities have expressed concerns about the ethics of sampling by outside parties. A group of scientists make the case for involvement of descendant communities in all aspects of the research process.

Anthropology: Early Humans Anthropology: General Archaeology: General Biology: Evolutionary Paleontology: Fossils
Published

Smallpox has plagued humans since ancient Egyptian times, new evidence confirms      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Smallpox was once one of humanity's most devastating diseases, but its origin is shrouded in mystery. For years, scientific estimates of when the smallpox virus first emerged have been at odds with historical records. Now, a new study reveals that the virus dates back 2,000 years further than scientists have previously shown, verifying historical sources and confirming for the first time that the disease has plagued human societies since ancient times.

Anthropology: Cultures Anthropology: Early Humans Anthropology: General Paleontology: Fossils
Published

Study reveals average age at conception for men versus women over past 250,000 years      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Using a new method based upon comparing DNA mutation rates between parents and offspring, evolutionary biologists have revealed the average age of mothers versus fathers over the past 250,000 years, including the discovery that the age gap is shrinking, with women's average age at conception increasing from 23.2 years to 26.4 years, on average, in the past 5,000 years.

Anthropology: Cultures Anthropology: Early Humans Anthropology: General Archaeology: General Paleontology: General
Published

Archaeologists uncover oldest known projectile points in the Americas      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Archaeologists have uncovered projectile points in Idaho that are thousands of years older than any previously found in the Americas, helping to fill in the history of how early humans crafted and used stone weapons.

Anthropology: Early Humans Anthropology: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology
Published

Early humans may have first walked upright in the trees      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Human bipedalism -- walking upright on two legs -- may have evolved in trees, and not on the ground as previously thought, according to a new study.

Anthropology: Cultures Anthropology: Early Humans Anthropology: General Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
Published

Immune system of modern Papuans shaped by DNA from ancient Denisovans, study finds      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Modern Papuans' immune system likely evolved with a little help from the Denisovans, a mysterious human ancestor who interbred with ancient humans, according to a new study.

Anthropology: Early Humans Anthropology: General
Published

How intensive agriculture turned a wild plant into a pervasive weed      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Agriculture is driving rapid evolutionary change, not just on farms but also in wild species in surrounding landscapes, new research has found.

Anthropology: Cultures Anthropology: Early Humans Anthropology: General Paleontology: Fossils
Published

Jawbone may represent earliest presence of humans in Europe      (via sciencedaily.com) 

For over a century, one of the earliest human fossils ever discovered in Spain has been long considered a Neanderthal. However, new analysis from an international research team dismantles this century-long interpretation, demonstrating that this fossil is not a Neanderthal; rather, it may actually represent the earliest presence of Homo sapiens ever documented in Europe.

Anthropology: Early Humans Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology
Published

DNA sequence enhances understanding origins of jaws      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers have discovered and characterized a DNA sequence found in jawed vertebrates, such as sharks and humans, but absent in jawless vertebrates, such as lampreys. This DNA is important for the shaping of the joint surfaces during embryo development.

Anthropology: Cultures Anthropology: Early Humans Anthropology: General
Published

Human evolution wasn't just the sheet music, but how it was played      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A team of researchers has identified a group of human DNA sequences driving changes in brain development, digestion and immunity that seem to have evolved rapidly after our family line split from that of the chimpanzees, but before we split with the Neanderthals.

Anthropology: Early Humans Archaeology: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Paleontology: Fossils
Published

Footprints claimed as evidence of ice age humans in North America need better dating, new research shows      (via sciencedaily.com) 

The preserved footprints found in New Mexico's Lake Otero Basin would upend scientific understanding of how, and when, humans first arrived in North America, if they are accurately dated. A new study brings the age claim into question.

Anthropology: Early Humans Anthropology: General Archaeology: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology
Published

Oldest evidence of the controlled use of fire to cook food, researchers report      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The remains of a huge carp fish mark the earliest signs of cooking by prehistoric human to 780,000 years ago, predating the available data by some 600,000 years, according to researchers.

Anthropology: Cultures Anthropology: Early Humans Archaeology: General
Published

Ancient DNA analysis sheds light on the early peopling of South America      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Using DNA from two ancient humans unearthed in two different archaeological sites in northeast Brazil, researchers have unraveled the deep demographic history of South America at the regional level with some surprising results. Not only do they provide new genetic evidence supporting existing archaeological data of the north-to-south migration toward South America, they also have discovered migrations in the opposite direction along the Atlantic coast -- for the first time. Among the key findings, they also have discovered evidence of Neanderthal ancestry within the genomes of ancient individuals from South America.

Anthropology: Cultures Anthropology: Early Humans Archaeology: General
Published

Ancient genomes reveal hidden history of human adaptation      (via sciencedaily.com) 

The use of ancient DNA, including samples of human remains around 45,000 years old, has shed light on a previously unknown aspect of human evolution.

Anthropology: Cultures Anthropology: Early Humans Archaeology: General
Published

UK's oldest human DNA obtained, revealing two distinct Palaeolithic populations      (via sciencedaily.com) 

The first genetic data from Palaeolithic human individuals in the UK -- the oldest human DNA obtained from the British Isles so far -- indicates the presence of two distinct groups that migrated to Britain at the end of the last ice age, according to new research. Published today in Nature Ecology and Evolution, the new study by UCL Institute of Archaeology, the Natural History Museum and the Francis Crick Institute researchers reveals for the first time that the recolonisation of Britain consisted of at least two groups with distinct origins and cultures.

Anthropology: Cultures Anthropology: Early Humans Archaeology: General
Published

Meet the first Neanderthal family      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers have managed to sequence multiple individuals from a remote Neanderthal community in Siberia. Among these thirteen individuals, the researchers identified multiple related individuals -- among these a father and his teenage daughter. The researchers were also able to use the thirteen genomes to provide a glimpse into the social organization of a Neanderthal community. They appear to have been a small group of close relatives, consisting of ten to twenty members, and communities were primarily connected through female migration.