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The origins of early Homo Sapiens in Europe have been further revealed in new DNA exploration of skeletal remains, exposing a sudden “genetic turnover” roughly 4,500 years ago that indicates a massive population change. Previously, scientists had believed European settlers had arrived roughly 7,500 years ago and modern Europeans descended from them; however, research led by the University of Adelaide indicates a mysterious event more than four millennia ago saw that group wiped out and replaced with the true European ancestors, origins unknown.

“The population moves in around 4,000 to 5,000 years ago, but where it came from remains a mystery” director of the Australian Centre for Ancient DNA, Alan Cooper, said of the findings, published in Nature Communications this week. “We can’t see anything like it in the areas surrounding Europe.”

The study used extracted mitochondrial DNA from 39 skeletons that had been found in central Germany and Italy, ranging from as young as 2,500 years old, to as old as 7,500 years. From those samples, comparisons with the “haplogroup H” mutations found in up to 45-percent of modern Europeans were made.

Previous theory had led to expectations that the mutations would be widely carried. However, in actual fact there was evidence of multiple waves of different groups, shaking up a period that had hitherto been presumed to be stable. Genetic markers from earlier remains did not match up with counterparts in modern groups.

“We don’t know what happened or why, and [the mid-Neolithic] has not been previously identified as [a time] of major change,” Cooper said of the surprise findings. However, other researchers – not connected with this study – have pointed out that there are many archeological changes approximately 4,000 years ago.

That includes less evidence of the sort of long structures the older settlers preferred, and changes in the tools they used.

“What is intriguing is that the genetic markers of this first pan-European culture,” Cooper said, “which was clearly very successful, were then suddenly replaced around 4,500 years ago, and we don’t know why.” One possibility is climate change, though Princeton University archeologist Peter Bugucki argues it’s unlikely to be the sole cause.

“It looks like the whole system of agricultural settlement that got established with the [original settlers] ran its course through the fifth millennium and something caused people to change” he told National Geographic. After that point, further genetic diversity was introduced as “a series of incoming and expanding cultures from Iberia and Eastern Europe” arrived, Dr Wolfgang Haak, co-author of the study, said, “through the Late Neolithic [period].”

[via National Geographic; via BBC]

Europe’s genes reveal mysterious “genetic turnover” 4,500 years ago is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Scientists have been studying the planet Jupiter to determine why the atmosphere over the planet’s southern hemisphere contains more water than the atmosphere over the northern hemisphere of planet. The scientists used data collected from the Herschel space observatory to determine that the southern hemisphere of the atmosphere contains more water.

Using the data collected, the scientists have theorized that the source of the increased water in the planet’s upper atmosphere has to be from external regions. Specifically, the scientists believe that the extra water in the upper atmosphere was caused by the impact of the Shoemaker-Levy 9 comet with the surface of the planet back in 1994. Considering that comets are made out of ice and rock, a comet impact would certainly have the potential to release large amounts of water into the upper atmosphere of the planet.

Study lead Thibault Cavalie says that the difference in water between the two hemispheres suggests that the extra water in the southern hemisphere was delivered during a single event. That would rule out the water coming from other sources such as icy rings or moons orbiting the planet. Cavalie says that the team’s model indicates that as much as 95% of the water in the stratosphere of Jupiter was put there by the impact of the comet in 1994.

The scientists also point out that it’s not uncommon for other planets in our solar system to have water in their atmospheres. The odd thing about Jupiter was one hemisphere having more water than the other. The water in the atmosphere also wasn’t aligned to the poles of the planet.

Cavalie said, “The asymmetry between the two hemispheres suggests that water was delivered during a single event and rules out icy rings or moons as candidate sources…Local sources would provide a steady supply of water, which over time would lead to a hemispherically symmetric distribution in the stratosphere. Depending on whether the chemical species are transported in neutral or ionized form, local sources of water would result in higher concentrations either at the poles or along the equator, but not in a north-south asymmetry.”

[via Latinospost]

Scientists link water in Jupiter’s atmosphere to Shoemaker-Levy 9 impact is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Even if they aren’t mutated into teenage ninjas, turtles might one day be a viable alternative to drones for espionage and surveillance. They come already armor-plated, they’re amphibious, they’re powered by plants, and thanks to their natural desire to avoid obstacles, researchers have found a clever way to even make them remote controllable. More »

The condition commonly known as lazy eye has an official medical name, amblyopia. However, most people know what lazy eye is, it’s a medical condition where one eye doesn’t move in the same manner as the other, and it can lead to vision loss. Canadian doctors believe they found a new way to treat lazy eye and it involves playing the video game Tetris.

Researchers at McGill University discovered that Tetris could help train both eyes to work in unison. The researchers conducted a small study involving 18 adults who played the game instead of using traditional treatments. Traditional treatments involve covering the good eye to make the weak eye work harder.

The researchers discovered that playing Tetris was more effective than using that traditional patch treatment. The team now wants to test if playing the video game can also help treat the condition in children. The experiment the researchers used involved a special pair of video goggles making both eyes work as a team.

Nine volunteers that suffered from lazy eye wore the goggles for an hour a day over a two-week period while playing Tetris. The special goggles used allowed one eye to see blocks falling down the screen and the other can only see the blocks that accumulate on the ground. Another group of nine used for comparison in the experiment more similar goggles, but had the good eye covered with a patch and viewed the game using only the lazy eye. At the end of the two-week period, the group use both eyes had better improvement in their vision than the group that used the patch.

[via BBC]

Doctors say Tetris could fix lazy eye is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Science has a long history of making breakthroughs accidentally. The number of breakthroughs in the scientific world that came about from scientists and researchers trying to accomplish some unrelated task is surprising. A group of Japanese scientists were attempting to scan fruit fly larva using an electron microscope.

The problem with scanning fruit fly larva using an electron microscope is that the larva had to be placed into a space-like vacuum. Once in that vacuum, the fruit fly larvae quickly dehydrated and died within minutes. To be able to study the larva, the scientists had to come up with some way to protect the tiny bugs from the vacuum. The resulting quest led to the scientists developing a type of nano-suit that enveloped the fruit fly larva’s body.

According to the scientists, not only did this incredibly thin nano-suit protect the larva from the vacuum, the suit also withstood physical touches. The researchers say that the nano-suit is only 50 to 100-billionths of a meter thick and was flexible enough to allow the larva to move. While this should allow the larva to move, it was strong enough to keep gasses and liquids from escaping.

This breakthrough has some potential beyond the world of studying insect larva and could in the future lead to incredibly thin spacesuits for astronauts. The nano suit is so thin it’s almost like wearing nothing. The scientists created the artificial nano-suits by dunking mosquito larvae into a pool of water mixed with a chemical called Tween 20. The chemical is non-toxic and is commonly found in detergents, cosmetics, and hard candy. Once dipped in the chemical, the larva were showered with plasma allowing the Tween 20 to polymerize and become a nano-suit. Once enveloped in the nano-suit, the scientists say that the mosquito larvae can withstand vacuum for about 30 min.

[via ScienceMag]

Nano-suit research could lead to spacesuits that are barely there is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.