Ancient teeth from Indonesia may show betel-nut use 25,000 years ago, pushing a widespread mind-affecting habit deep into humanity’s hunter-gatherer past. Researchers found deep, unusual grooves and chemical traces in ancient teeth from Sulawesi, an island in modern-day Indonesia. They say the evidence fits decades of sucking betel nuts. The remains date as far back […] The post Ancient teeth suggest betel-nut use in Indonesia 25,000 years ago appeared first on American Almanac .
Ancient teeth from Indonesia may show betel-nut use 25,000 years ago, pushing a widespread mind-affecting habit deep into humanity’s hunter-gatherer past. Researchers found deep, unusual grooves and chemical traces in ancient teeth from Sulawesi, an island in modern-day Indonesia. They say the evidence fits decades of sucking betel nuts. The remains date as far back as 25,000 years. If the researchers are right, the discovery captures an early form of a habit now practiced by about 600 million people. A second set of teeth, found about 20 miles east, carried similar marks. Those teeth may be up to 8,000 years old. The research, led by Griffith University archaeology professor Adam Brumm, was published in Science Advances. The team…Open
We need to trust The Science TM. So naturally, I will also trust the data we have on group disparities. Yet for some reason people don't like that one. This video is a brief analysis of the data we do have on the interplay between genetics and group-averages, dealing with the simulated examples, named the Squares, Triangles and Circles. Covered in this video: - How geography and long isolation shape populations - What the Fixation Index actually measures - Why “it’s only skin-deep” does not survive genetic data - Why different people built such different social orders - Why there's no one true universal social order for all peoples. - What happens genetically and socially when distant groups intermarry #politics #biology #realism…
A hunter-gatherer who lived in Indonesia as early as 25,000 years ago may have regularly sucked on betel nuts to release their psychoactive properties.
Scientists have found smallpox viruses in the remains of people in Chile from around 500 years ago, revealing how the virus may have evolved into a global killer.
The oldest known evidence of the plague, which sparked deadly outbreaks dating back about 5,500 years ago is more than 200 years earlier than previously thought.
The oldest known evidence of the plague, which sparked deadly outbreaks dating back about 5,500 years ago is more than 200 years earlier than previously thought.Open
Gene editing offers many transformative medical benefits. However, uncertainties concerning safety, ethical snares, and risks of inequality and unintended societal impacts demand caution.
