Ancient Roman Ship Coating Reveals Secrets Hidden for 2,200 Years

By Frontiers, May 2, 2026

https://scitechdaily.com/ancient-roman-ship-coating-reveals-secrets-hidden-for-2200-years/

View of the excavation of the bow area of the Ilovik-Paržine 1 shipwreck. In the foreground, the cargo of logs and amphoras can be seen. Archaeologists are working near the structure of the bow complex. 

Credit: Adriboats © L. Damelet, CNRS/CCJ

A new study of a 2,200-year-old Roman shipwreck reveals that ancient sailors used sophisticated organic coatings to waterproof their vessels.

Since the earliest seafaring journeys, people have needed ships that could resist saltwater, stay watertight, and endure damage from marine organisms such as worms. Despite this long history, research into non-wood materials used in ship construction received little attention until the mid-20th century, and waterproofing materials remain poorly studied today.

A new study published in Frontiers in Materials focuses on the protective coating of the Roman Republic shipwreck Ilovik–Paržine 1, which sank about 2,200 years ago off the coast of present-day Croatia. Researchers from France and Croatia analyzed the ship’s surface layers to better understand ancient waterproofing methods.

“In archaeology little attention is paid to organic waterproofing materials. Yet they are essential for navigation at sea or on rivers and are true witnesses of past naval technologies,” said first author Dr. Armelle Charrié, an archaeometrist at the Laboratory of Mass Spectrometry of Interactions and Systems in Strasbourg. “Studying the coatings, we found two different kinds on this vessel: one made of pine tar, also called pitch, and the other of a mixture of pine tar and beeswax. Analysis of pollen in the coating made it possible to identify the plant taxa present in the immediate environment during the construction or repairs of the ship.”

Resin and wax

Discovered in 2016, the wreck and its cargo have been examined several times. This study is the first to combine pollen data with molecular analysis to identify both the composition of the coating and the surrounding vegetation at the time it was produced and applied. The research was carried out through a collaboration between the Croatian Conservation Institute’s Department for Underwater Archaeology and the ADRIBOATS program at Aix-Marseille University in France.

“Some regions throughout the Adriatic have particular characteristics that led local populations to develop a specific shipbuilding style,” said Charrié. “Only studies like ours offer an overview of these traditions, which bear witness to genuine know-how and diverse traditions.”

The team used structural, molecular, and pollen-based techniques, including mass spectrometry, to identify and measure the components of the organic mixtures.

Analysis of 10 coating samples revealed their biological origins. The molecular “fingerprint” pointed to compounds typical of pine, showing that heated conifer resin or tar, known as pitch, was the primary ingredient. One sample differed, containing a blend of beeswax and tar. This mixture – known to Greek shipbuilders as zopissa – is more flexible and easier to apply when heated.

Trapped in pitch

Because pitch is sticky, it can capture and preserve pollen from nearby plants. By studying these microscopic grains and their abundance, researchers could estimate where the materials were produced and later reapplied during repairs.

The pollen data showed a wide range of environments. These included Mediterranean and Adriatic coastal areas and inland valleys, with holly oak and pine forests, as well as matorral – a type of Mediterranean shrubland – where olive and hazel trees grow. Alder and ash indicated vegetation near rivers and shorelines, while smaller amounts of fir and beech pointed to mountainous regions typical of the northeastern Adriatic, including areas near Istria and Dalmatia.

The findings also suggest the ship received four to five separate coating applications over time. The stern and central sections shared the same material, while three distinct layers were identified at the bow. This pattern indicates repeated repairs using resources gathered from different parts of the Mediterranean.

Earlier studies of the ship’s ballast linked its construction to Brundisium, now Brindisi, on Italy’s southeastern coast. The pollen evidence supports this, suggesting some coatings were applied in that region. Other layers, however, appear to have been added along the northeastern Adriatic coast, where the wreck was eventually found.

“While it seems obvious that ships sailing long distances need repairs, it’s simply not easy to demonstrate this,” concluded Charrié. “Pollen has been very useful in identifying different coatings where the molecular profiles were identical.”

The Life of Earth

https://chuckincardinal.blogspot.com/

Enormous Prehistoric Insects Puzzle Scientists

By Arizona State U. May 2, 2026

https://scitechdaily.com/enormous-prehistoric-insects-puzzle-scientists/

Giant prehistoric insects may not have depended on high oxygen levels after all. Scientists now think something else must explain their massive size.

 Credit: SciTechDaily.com

The true reason ancient insects grew so huge just got a lot more mysterious.

Three hundred million years ago, Earth looked nothing like it does today. The continents were joined into a single landmass called Pangaea. Around the equator, vast coal-swamp forests dominated the landscape. Oxygen levels in the atmosphere were much higher than they are now, and wildfires occurred frequently.

Life was thriving in every environment. Oceans were filled with fish, while land was home to amphibians, early reptiles, crawling arthropods, and even giant cockroaches. Above it all, insects ruled the skies, and some reached extraordinary sizes.

Giant Dragonflies and Griffinflies

Among these flying insects were mayfly-like species with wingspans of 17 inches (45 cm) and dragonfly-like giants stretching up to 27 inches (70 cm). These massive insects, often referred to as “griffinflies,” were first identified from fossil impressions preserved in fine-grained sedimentary rock in Kansas nearly a century ago.

For many years, scientists believed these enormous insects could only exist because atmospheric oxygen levels were about 45% higher than today. That long-standing explanation is now being challenged by new research.

Comparison of an extinct griffinfly alongside one of the largest living dragonflies, the giant petaltail. (Griffinfly Credit: Estelle Mayhew, adapted from image by Aldrich Hezekiah. Giant petaltail 

Credit: Estelle Mayhew)



The Oxygen Theory of Insect Size

In the 1980s, scientists developed methods to reconstruct the composition of ancient atmospheres. These techniques revealed a period of elevated oxygen levels around 300 million years ago.

A 1995 study published in Nature connected this oxygen-rich period to the presence of giant insects. Researchers proposed that larger insects required more oxygen, and that higher oxygen concentrations in the atmosphere made their size possible.

This idea was based on how insects breathe. Instead of lungs, insects rely on a tracheal system, a network of branching air tubes that extend throughout the body and end in tiny structures called tracheoles. Oxygen moves through these tracheoles by diffusion, traveling down concentration gradients to reach the flight muscles.

Because diffusion becomes less efficient over longer distances, scientists reasoned that today’s lower oxygen levels would not support insects of such massive size. In other words, giant flying insects were thought to be impossible under modern atmospheric conditions.

Insect flight muscle, captured in fine detail with an electron microscope, showing the air-filled tracheoles that supply oxygen directly to the cells. 

Credit: Antoinette Lensink

New Study Challenges the Long-Held Explanation

A new study published in the latest issue of Nature offers a different perspective. Led by Edward (Ned) Snelling of the University of Pretoria, the research team used high-power electron microscopy to examine how body size relates to the number of tracheoles in insect flight muscles.

The researchers found that tracheoles occupy only about 1% or less of the flight muscle in most insect species. This pattern also appears to hold when applied to the massive griffinflies that lived 300 million years ago, including those measuring 2 feet and larger.

These findings suggest that insect flight muscles are not limited by atmospheric oxygen levels. Because tracheoles take up so little space, insects could potentially increase their number without major structural constraints.

Insect flight muscle (left) compared against mammalian cardiac tissue (right), contrasting the different size and space needed to accommodate the oxygen-supply structures of insects (tracheoles; profiles outlined in yellow) versus mammals (capillaries). 

Credit: Antoinette Lensink and Edward Snelling



Evidence From Modern Animals

“If atmospheric oxygen really sets a limit on the maximum body size of insects, then there ought to be evidence of compensation at the level of the tracheoles,” said lead author Edward (Ned) Snelling, associate professor, and Faculty of Veterinary Science at the University of Pretoria. “There is some compensation occurring in larger insects, but it is trivial in the grand scheme of things.”

Researchers also compared insects to vertebrates. In birds and mammals, capillaries in heart muscle occupy about ten times more space than tracheoles do in insect flight muscle.

“By comparison, capillaries in the cardiac muscle of birds and mammals occupy about ten times the relative space than tracheoles occupy in the flight muscle of insects, so there must be great evolutionary potential to ramp up investment of tracheoles if oxygen transport were really limiting body size,” said Professor Roger Seymour of Adelaide University.

A Mystery Still Unresolved

Some scientists argue that oxygen might still limit insect size in other parts of the body or earlier stages of oxygen transport. Because of this, the idea that oxygen constrains maximum insect size has not been completely dismissed.

However, the new findings clearly show that oxygen diffusion within flight muscle tracheoles is not the limiting factor. Researchers will need to investigate other explanations for why insects once grew so large.

Possible factors include increased predation by vertebrates or physical limits related to the strength of the insect exoskeleton. For now, the reason behind the rise and disappearance of giant insects remains an open and intriguing question.

The Life of Earth

https://chuckincardinal.blogspot.com/

Why Your Dreams Feel So Real Sometimes and So Strange Other Times

BY IMT SCHOOL FOR ADV. STUDIES LUCCA, MAY 2, 2026

https://scitechdaily.com/why-your-dreams-feel-so-real-sometimes-and-so-strange-other-times/

Dreams may feel random, but new research shows they are shaped by a powerful mix of personal traits and real-life experiences. 

Credit: SciTechDaily.com

Dreams are shaped by your personality, experiences, and even global events. Your brain transforms everyday life into vivid, often surreal stories while you sleep.

Why do some dreams feel vivid and lifelike while others seem disjointed or hard to understand? A new study from researchers at the IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca offers answers, showing that both personal traits and shared life experiences shape what we dream about.

Large Study Tracks Dreams and Daily Experiences

Published in Communications Psychology, the study examined more than 3,700 descriptions of dreams and waking experiences from 287 participants ranging in age from 18 to 70. Over a two-week period, participants recorded their experiences each day. Researchers also collected detailed data on sleep patterns, cognitive abilities, personality traits, and psychological characteristics.

AI Analysis Reveals Patterns in Dream Content

The team used advanced natural language processing (NLP) methods to analyze the meaning and structure of dream reports. This approach allowed them to study dreams in a systematic and measurable way. The results show that dreams are not random or chaotic. Instead, they reflect a complex interaction between internal factors such as mind-wandering tendencies, interest in dreams, and sleep quality, and external influences, including major societal events like the COVID-19 pandemic.

How the Brain Reworks Reality During Sleep

By comparing descriptions of daily life with dream reports, researchers found that the brain does not simply replay waking experiences. Instead, it reshapes them. Familiar settings like workplaces, hospitals, or schools are not reproduced exactly. They are transformed into vivid scenes that often combine different elements and shift perspectives in unexpected ways.

This process suggests that dreams actively reconstruct reality. The mind blends memories with imagined or anticipated experiences, creating new scenarios that can feel immersive or even surreal.

Personality and Life Events Influence Dream Style

Dream experiences vary widely from person to person. Individuals who tend to mind-wander more often reported dreams that were fragmented and constantly shifting. In contrast, those who believe dreams are meaningful and important described richer and more immersive dream environments.

The study also explored how large-scale events affect dreaming. Data collected during the COVID-19 lockdown by researchers at Sapienza University of Rome, and later compared with findings from the IMT School team, showed that dreams during that period were more emotionally intense and frequently included themes of restriction and limitation. Over time, these patterns became less pronounced, suggesting that dream content changes as people psychologically adapt to major life events.

Dreams Reflect a Dynamic Mental Process

“Our findings show that dreams are not just a reflection of past experiences, but a dynamic process shaped by who we are and what we live through,” explains Valentina Elce, researcher at the IMT School and lead author of the paper. “By combining large-scale data with computational methods, we were able to uncover patterns in dream content that were previously difficult to detect.”

AI Opens New Possibilities for Dream Research

The study also highlights the growing role of artificial intelligence in understanding dreams. NLP models were able to capture the meaning and structure of dream reports with accuracy comparable to human independent evaluators. This opens the door to new ways of studying consciousness, memory, and mental health on a larger scale and with greater consistency.

The Life of Earth

https://chuckincardinal.blogspot.com/

Chuck's picture corner to Many 2 2026

Happy 'Naked gardening Day'.

I won't be participating. It's currently a rainy 6c at the moment, and temps are predicted to be below average every day for the next 2 weeks here in Cardinal. Lots more rain this week. After tonight's low of 1c I'll be putting seedlings out in the barn where they will have more space and harden off.

Ps. part of my picture corner strategy is to keep a personal record of the climate as told by the plants in the yard, this year is a fair bit colder than many.

shrubs in front starting to leaf out

lots of these guys about

tulips coming along

peonies opening their first leaves

this day lily variety is often used in commercial parking lot plantings, it flowers (yellow) all season long and is very hardy.

These orange daylilies are what I call ditch lilies they like wet in spring and dry in summer.

These raspberries (gifted from friends) are going crazy, I only got a few berries last year the year I planted them. The berries are great tasting.

daffodils still waiting to open.

another day is done

another rabbit looking for a place to nest on the other side of the yard.

sedum, close to the hot pavement of the driveway

another sedum beside the driveway pavement

this guy is 3 years old and not growing all that well

this is a very old variety of forsythia, I once worked for the head of Ottawa's experimental farm where the 'Ottawa' forsythia variety was born, (under his watch) they flower much more prolifically. 

The gang

the large leaf popular is leafing out

the moon is up early today

and so another day ends.

Enjoy the Day

https://chuckincardinal.blogspot.com/

Large Twin Study Reveals a Surprise About Narcissism

01 May 2026, By C. Cassella

https://www.sciencealert.com/large-twin-study-reveals-a-surprise-about-narcissism

(Karen Moskowitz/The Image Bank/Getty Images)

It's entirely normal and healthy to be a little self-involved from time to time. But for some individuals, a preoccupation with the self can become excessive, impacting daily life and relationships in pathological ways.

Narcissistic personality disorders are rare, yet their traits have long fascinated scientists.

Despite decades of research, it remains unclear what causes a grandiose view of the self and a strong sense of entitlement, whether it be family history, early childhood experiences, or a bit of both.

It's the classic nature-versus-nurture debate, and twin studies are among the best ways to untangle the complex knot of contributing factors.

Now, data from a large and extended twin family study in Germany suggests that narcissistic tendencies are impacted by genetics more than a shared family environment.

The findings challenge existing psychoanalytical explanations, which argue that 'cold', critical parenting, or praise that sets unrealistic expectations in childhood, play strong roles in driving the development of narcissistic personality traits.

"Narcissism runs in families," the researchers conclude, "but mainly due to genetics."

Their study considered the life experiences, personality traits, and genetics of more than 1,300 pairs of twins, plus their parents, partners, and any non-twin siblings in their families.

Each participant took a personality test, where they were asked how much they agreed or disagreed with a series of statements.

Adult participants were asked to rank, on a scale of 1 to 9, how much they agreed with statements like "I tend to want others to admire me"; "I tend to want others to pay attention to me"; and "I tend to seek prestige and status."

Younger participants ranked on a scale of 1 to 5 how much they agreed with things like "I am really a special person" and "I am good at getting people to do things my way."

Ultimately, parents and children were similar in their narcissism scores, but the authors of the study say this association was "entirely genetically driven".

Shared environmental factors, like parenting styles or socioeconomic status, played only a "minor role".

A Narcissus painting by Caravaggio. Narcissism gets its name from the Greek hero Narcissus, who was obsessed with his own reflection.

 (Public Domain)



There are different types of narcissism, but traits often include an extreme sense of self-importance, a need for admiration and attention, and an inability to fully connect and empathize with others.

Psychologists often explain these traits by arguing that they cover up for insecurity or low self-esteem, developed during childhood. Treatment often includes 'talk therapy', aka psychotherapy. But perhaps these traits have less to do with learned behaviors than is assumed.

There needs to be a "fundamental shift in the search for the sources of narcissism – with regard to genetics, relevant environmental factors, and the interplay of genes and environments," write the authors of this new twin study, led by psychologist Mitja Back from the University of Münster.

To the team's knowledge, no genome-wide association studies have ever included measures of narcissism. This means we have little way to say how genetic variants may impact narcissistic traits.

A twin study from 1993 included just 175 pairs of twins, and it found that genetic heritability was estimated to be around 60 percent.

But this new study is much larger. It reveals that genetics and individual environmental factors (experiences not shared by both twins) each explain 50 percent of the variance in narcissistic traits.

For instance, interactions with peers at school during childhood are formative influences but often differ greatly between siblings.

In contrast, there was no evidence that shared environmental experiences, such as the home environment, were tied to narcissism. This could imply that parenting styles may not be a strong driving factor, after all – as long as they treat their kids the same way.

Further research needs to tease apart these various nuances.

"More detailed knowledge of genetic and environmental factors and their interplay that drive individual differences in narcissism will further transform our understanding of narcissism," the authors conclude.

"This will be essential for developing more effective means for dealing with narcissistic individuals in applied contexts, such as in psychotherapy, the workplace, and everyday life."

The birth of modern Man

https://chuckincardinal.blogspot.com/

Scientists Uncover “Astonishing” Hidden Property of Light

BY U. OF EAST ANGLIA, MAY 1, 2026

https://scitechdaily.com/scientists-uncover-astonishing-hidden-property-of-light/

Scientists have discovered that light can naturally develop a hidden “handedness” as it travels through empty space, without the need for special materials or lenses. 

Credit: SciTechDaily.com

A newly uncovered property of light suggests it may be far more self-sufficient than previously believed.

Researchers at the University of East Anglia have identified a previously unknown property of light that allows it to twist, spin, and behave in unusual ways – without the need for mirrors, materials, or specialized lenses.

In a finding that could reshape medical diagnostics, data transmission, and future quantum systems, scientists from the UK and South Africa demonstrated that light can be “programmed” by taking advantage of its inherent geometry.

This result challenges long-standing assumptions, showing that light can develop chiral behavior – meaning it can act like a left or right hand – while moving freely through space.

According to the team, this could eventually enable light to carry information, examine biological systems, manipulate matter, and safeguard quantum signals.

Why Chirality Matters

Chirality, or “handedness,” plays a key role in science. Many molecules, including those used in medicines, exist in left- and right-handed forms that appear nearly identical but can behave very differently in the body.

To distinguish between them, scientists typically rely on specialized light that rotates either clockwise or anticlockwise. Until now, generating and controlling this type of light required carefully designed surfaces, advanced materials, or intense focusing with powerful lenses.

The new research shows those steps may not be necessary.

“Our work shows that light can naturally develop this handed behavior all on its own,” said Dr. Kayn Forbes from UEA’s School of Chemistry, Pharmacy and Pharmacology.

“You just have to prepare it in the right way. Most people think of light as traveling in straight lines. But scientists can also create structured light – light whose brightness, shape, and direction are carefully arranged.”

Twisting, Spinning, and Emerging Effects

He continues, “One extreme example is light that twists as it travels, forming a corkscrew shape known as an optical vortex. Each twist can carry information, making this kind of light valuable for high-speed internet, secure communications, and advanced sensors.”

“Light can also spin as it travels, depending on how it is polarized. This spin can be left-handed or right-handed – another form of chirality.”

Previously, the interaction between light’s spin and its twisting motion was thought to be extremely weak and only observable under carefully controlled conditions. The UEA team found that when light is prepared in a precisely balanced state, its spin can emerge naturally as it travels through empty space.

“It starts off with no spin at all,” explained MSc student Light Mkhumbuza, who carried out key experiments. “But as the beam travels forward, spinning regions appear and separate out – almost as if the spin was hiding and then revealed itself.”

No mirrors. No special materials. Just light moving freely.

The Role of Topology

According to Dr. Isaac Nape at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, the explanation lies in topology – a branch of mathematics that studies properties that remain unchanged even when objects are stretched or reshaped.

“To explain it, imagine a mug and a doughnut,” he said. “You can morph one into the other without tearing it, because they both have one hole. That hole is a topological feature.”

A mug and a doughnut may look different, but in topology they’re identical: both have a single hole that defines their structure. 

Credit: Shutterstock



Light appears to have its own version of this “hole count” – a hidden topological signature embedded in the arrangement of its polarization. This feature persists as light travels and subtly directs how the beam evolves.

As the beam moves forward, this internal structure causes spinning behavior to emerge, giving researchers a new way to control light using geometry alone.

“This gives us a completely new tuning knob for light. By adjusting its topology, we can decide how and where chirality appears,” said Dr. Nape.

Future Technologies and Impact

“The implications are wide-ranging,” said Dr. Forbes. “This work could lead to simpler and more sensitive medical tests, especially in drug development.”

He continues, “It could also be used to pack more information into laser beams – boosting data capacity for communications, including future quantum networks. And because the effect doesn’t rely on fragile materials or precision-engineered surfaces, it could be easier and cheaper to use in real-world technologies.”

“This research could lay the foundations for a new generation of light-based technologies, by showing that light’s behavior can be controlled using its own internal geometry,” he added.

Key future applications

:Simpler medical and pharmaceutical tests, using specially structured light to distinguish left- and right-handed molecules vital for drug safety and disease detection.

Compact optical sensors capable of identifying biological and chemical substances quickly, cheaply, and without laboratory-grade equipment.

More powerful communication technologies, where information is packed into multiple twisting and spinning states of light to boost data capacity and security.

Advanced tools for biology and nanotechnology, allowing tiny particles, cells, or molecules to be moved and rotated using light alone.

More robust quantum technologies, with topology helping protect delicate quantum information from noise and disruption.

The researchers say their findings challenge long-held ideas about what light can do on its own.

“For something so familiar, light is proving to be far richer, stranger, and more powerful than anyone imagined,” said Dr. Forbes.

“And astonishingly, this new behavior has been there all along — just waiting to be seen.”

The Life of Earth

https://chuckincardinal.blogspot.com/

7,000-Year-Old DNA Rewrites the Story of the “Neolithic Revolution”

By SciTechDaily.com, April 29, 2026

https://scitechdaily.com/7000-year-old-dna-rewrites-the-story-of-the-neolithic-revolution/

The Neolithic Revolution marks the major turning point in human history when societies shifted from hunting and gathering to farming and food production, beginning around 10,000 years ago. This transition led to the domestication of plants and animals, the rise of permanent settlements, and eventually the development of complex societies.

New genetic and archaeological evidence is reshaping the long-standing narrative of the Neolithic Revolution in North Africa.

For decades, archaeologists have debated how communities that once relied entirely on hunting and gathering began raising animals, cultivating crops, and producing food. This shift, known as the “Neolithic Revolution,” did not happen the same way everywhere. In North Africa, one of the main questions has been whether farming developed locally or arrived from outside.

A study published in Nature suggests that the rise of farming in the Maghreb was not the result of a single migration or a simple borrowing of ideas. Instead, it grew out of repeated contact among African hunter-gatherers, early European farmers, and East Saharan herders, whose interactions reshaped culture, daily life, and ancestry in North Africa between 5500 and 4500 BC.
Genetic Clues From Ancient Moroccan Sites

The 2023 study argues that neither explanation on its own is enough. Led by an international team that included researchers from the Universities of Cordoba, Huelva, and Burgos, along with the Moroccan Institute of Archaeology and Heritage Sciences (INSAP), the project points to a more complex process shaped by migration, cultural exchange, and local adaptation.

A major strength of the study is its analysis of ancient DNA from human remains at three Moroccan sites: Kaf Taht el-Ghar cave in Tetouan, Ifri n’Amr Ou Moussa in Khémisset province, and Skhirat-Rouazi south of Rabat.

At Kaf Taht el-Ghar, researchers identified people descended from European farmers who reached the region around 7,400 years ago. At Ifri n’Amr Ou Moussa, they found that a few centuries later, individuals with fully local ancestry were buried in a cave necropolis even though they were already using pottery and farming-related practices. This suggests that local hunter-gatherer groups did not simply disappear when new customs arrived. Some adopted them.

Researcher working. 

Credit: University of Cordoba
Migration, Mixing, and Cultural Exchange



At Skhirat-Rouazi, dating about 1,000 years later, the genomes point to ancestry linked to pastoralist groups whose roots lay in the Fertile Crescent. Archaeology had already suggested that such groups moved across North Africa, and the genetic evidence now supports that view.

The findings also show that the Maghreb was connected to surrounding regions much earlier than later historical periods might suggest. Long before Roman rule and long before the spread of Islam, people on both sides of the Strait of Gibraltar were already sharing knowledge, technologies, cultural traditions, and genes.

Rafael M. Martínez of the University of Córdoba said the study marks “a turning point in our understanding” of how the Neolithic spread in the region, adding that “the unidirectionality of the process now seems quite clear, probably from Iberia.” He also said the earliest stamped Moroccan ceramics belong to a wider Western Mediterranean tradition, while the pottery from Skhirat is different, with rope-pattern decoration linked to Saharan pastoralist groups.

Juan Carlos Vera of the University of Huelva said the genomic evidence confirms what archaeology had already suggested. Earlier work had uncovered ancient cereal and legume seeds in Moroccan Neolithic contexts, pointing to a diffusion process, but this new study now shows the immigrants’ “physical” arrival and “the projection of their genes.”

Lasting Impacts on North African Populations

Cristina Valdiosera of the University of Burgos, who co-directed the project with Mattias Jakobsson, said the findings have major implications for North African history. According to the study, the ancestry of later Maghreb populations, including the ancestors of the historical Berbers (Imazighen), was shaped by three main sources: African hunter-gatherers, European Neolithic farmers, and pastoralist groups that moved westward from the Fertile Crescent through Sinai.

A separate Nature study published in 2025 suggests the Neolithic transition did not unfold the same way across North Africa. While the 2023 study found stronger evidence of migration and mixing in the western Maghreb, the later paper showed that communities in the eastern Maghreb remained far more genetically continuous even as they adopted some Neolithic practices.

Together, the studies suggest there was no single North African path to farming. In the west, migration and admixture played a larger role. In the east, local groups kept most of their ancestry while selectively adopting outside ideas, animals, and technologies. Rather than a simple story of replacement or independent invention, the spread of farming appears to have followed different regional trajectories.

The birth of modern Man

https://chuckincardinal.blogspot.com/

Brain Scans Reveal a Surprise About Neanderthal Intelligence

28 April 2026, ByC. Cassella

https://www.sciencealert.com/brain-scans-reveal-a-surprise-about-neanderthal-intelligence

Neanderthal skull discovered in 1908 in France. 

(Luna04/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 3.0)

In 1857, the German anatomist Hermann Schaaffhausen analyzed a human fossil with "an extraordinary form" that he had never seen before – not in "existing European stocks", he wrote, or "even in the most barbarous races."

The curious cranium had been unearthed the year before, just east of Düsseldorf, in Germany's Neander Valley.

The remains were to become known as the world's first Neanderthal. From the very start, Schaaffhausen decided the skull was at a "low stage of development".

For more than a century, that stigma has stuck. Even today, a commonly accepted hypothesis is that humans outsurvived Neanderthals because of our better brains.

An international team of anthropologists has now found evidence to the contrary.

They have compared brain scans from two populations in the US and China to show that regional volume differences in modern humans are greater than those between Neanderthals and us.

The volume differences that separate Neanderthal and modern human brains are extremely small.

"If the Neanderthal differences are held to be cognitively and evolutionarily relevant, then similar neuroanatomical differences commonly found between modern human populations would also need to be considered cognitively and evolutionarily relevant," the authors point out.

But cognitive ability is only very weakly associated with brain anatomy in modern humans, if at all, the researchers explain, after reviewing the existing literature.

"If we reject the idea that these modern human populations are cognitively different in an evolutionarily meaningful way, then it would undermine any argument that Neanderthal differences should be considered so," they conclude.

When Schaaffhausen first published his opinion on the Neanderthal cranium in the mid-1800s, there was little evidence to suggest that humanity was any older than about 6,000 years.

What's more, it would be two more years before Charles Darwin published his seminal book, On the Origin of Species, in which he shared his theory of evolution with the larger scientific community.

The initial assumptions made by Schaaffhausen and his colleagues are clearly outdated.

In recent years, scientists have found evidence that while modern humans thrived and Neanderthals went extinct, that was not necessarily due to our brains.

Archaeological evidence is stacking up to show that Neanderthals were smarter than we once assumed, even though the shape and size of their brains differed from our own.


There are compelling signs that these ancient humans were swimming for shells on the ocean bottom, using tools to make fire, brewing antibacterial medicines, glue, or water-repellent substances, tailoring their own clothes, and even creating abstract art.

Oftentimes, Neanderthals were partaking in these practices well before modern humans.

A human skull (left) and a Neanderthal skull (right).

 (hairymuseummatt/DrMikeBaxter/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 2.0/Canva Pro)

Some evidence from their skulls even suggests that Neanderthals were capable of human-like speech, although that is very hard to garner from a few very old bones that once surrounded the ear.

"Speculation on Neanderthal cognition based on archaeological and paleoneurological research has frequently concluded they were likely cognitively challenged," write the authors of the recent brain analysis.

"Putting estimated Neanderthal differences into the context of modern human variation does not support this view."

Plus, it's worth remembering that Neanderthal skulls can only tell us so much about the intricate organ that they once housed. Even bones can be misinterpreted.

In recent years, some scientists have disputed the whole idea that Neanderthals were stooped, brutish cavemen who resembled apes more than humans.

Their posture was actually quite upright, according to recent analyses of their rib cages and hips, and at least in some cases, they seemed to have similarly sized chests.

Today, some scientists hypothesize that Neanderthals never actually went extinct, at least not in the genetic sense. Instead, they may have been close enough to modern humans to be considered the same species.

We certainly seem to have reproduced with each other for thousands of years. It's possible that our 'cousins' simply became subsumed within our own lineage. Hence why so many of us today still carry Neanderthal genes.

If we continue to assume that Neanderthals were dim-witted and slow, incapable of speech or abstract thought, we only underestimate our own ancestry.

In many ways, we are one and the same.

The birth of modern Man

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100,000-Year-Old Neanderthal Fossils in Poland Reveal Unexpected Genetic Connections

BY U. OF BOLOGNA, APRIL 28, 2026

https://scitechdaily.com/100000-year-old-neanderthal-fossils-in-poland-reveal-unexpected-genetic-connections/

Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis) were an extinct group of archaic humans who lived across Europe and western Asia until about 40,000 years ago, adapting to diverse and often harsh Ice Age environments. Genetic and archaeological evidence shows they were skilled toolmakers, capable of symbolic behavior, and interbred with modern humans. 

Credit: Shutterstock

A new genetic analysis of Neanderthal remains from Stajnia Cave offers an unusually detailed glimpse into a small group that lived together roughly 100,000 years ago.

An international team has analyzed ancient mitochondrial DNA from eight Neanderthal teeth recovered in Stajnia Cave in Poland. The study, published in Current Biology, offers something rarely possible in Neanderthal research: a genetic look at multiple individuals from the same place and the same broad time period.

The teeth belonged to at least seven Neanderthals who lived about 100,000 years ago, north of the Carpathian Mountains.

“This is an extraordinary result because, for the first time, we are able to observe a small group of at least seven Neanderthals from Central-Eastern Europe who lived around 100,000 years ago,” says Andrea Picin, professor at the University of Bologna and coordinator of the research. “In most cases, Neanderthal genetic data come from single fossils or from remains scattered across different sites and periods. At Stajnia, by contrast, it has been possible to reconstruct a small group of individuals, providing for the first time a coherent genetic picture of Neanderthals in this part of Europe.”

The study presents the results of the analysis of ancient mitochondrial DNA obtained from eight Neanderthal teeth discovered in Stajnia Cave, Poland. 

Credit: M. Żarski, Polish Geological Institute



A Rare and Cohesive Genetic Snapshot

“We had known for some time that Stajnia Cave preserved exceptional evidence, but these results exceeded our expectations,” say Wioletta Nowaczewska of the University of Wrocław and Adam Nadachowski of the Institute of Systematics and Evolution of Animals of the Polish Academy of Sciences, co-authors of the study. “Being able to identify such an ancient small group of Neanderthals in such a complex site is an important achievement for Polish research and for the study of Neanderthals in Europe.”

The findings also shed light on how a specific Neanderthal maternal lineage spread across western Eurasia. The mitochondrial DNA from the Stajnia individuals belongs to the same branch identified in Neanderthals from the Iberian Peninsula, southeastern France, and the northern Caucasus.

This pattern suggests that the lineage was once widespread before later being replaced by genetic lines seen in more recent Neanderthals.

For the first time, the research reconstructs the genetic profile of a small group of Neanderthals from the same site, north of the Carpathians, who lived during the same ancient chronological phase.

 Credit: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology

Clues of Family Ties

“A particularly fascinating aspect is that two teeth belonging to juvenile individuals and one belonging to an adult share the same mitochondrial DNA,” adds Mateja Hajdinjak, co-author of the article and researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. “This suggests that these individuals might be closely related to each other.”

The study also compares these remains with the Neanderthal fossil known as Thorin, discovered in Mandrin Cave in France. Thorin carries a mitochondrial genome similar to the Stajnia group and has been dated to about 50,000 years ago.

“Our study is a reminder that the oldest chronologies must be treated with great caution,” explains Sahra Talamo, professor at the University of Bologna and co-coordinator of the study. “When radiocarbon values approach the limit of calibration, it is essential not to assign more precision than the data can actually support. In such cases, the comparison between archaeology, radiocarbon dating, and genetics becomes crucial.”

From an archaeological perspective, the findings support the idea that Central Eastern Europe played an important role in Neanderthal history rather than serving as a peripheral region. Stajnia Cave and southern Poland offer a valuable setting for exploring how Neanderthals moved, interacted, and shared technologies across large parts of Europe.

The birth of modern Man

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Ancient DNA Study Reveals Human Evolution Is Happening Faster Than We Thought

By Harvard Medical School, April 28, 2026

https://scitechdaily.com/ancient-dna-study-reveals-human-evolution-is-happening-faster-than-we-thought/

A massive ancient-DNA dataset reveals that subtle evolutionary forces have been steadily reshaping human populations since the Ice Age.

 Credit: Stock



New research challenges long-standing assumptions about human evolution, revealing that natural selection has been more active—and more recent—than once believed.

A sweeping analysis of ancient DNA from nearly 16,000 people is reshaping how scientists understand human evolution. By tracking genetic changes across more than 10,000 years in West Eurasia, researchers found that natural selection has been far more active in recent human history than once believed.

For years, evidence for directional selection was surprisingly limited. Only about 21 clear cases had been identified. This process occurs when a specific gene variant provides a survival or reproductive advantage and becomes more common over time, such as the ability to digest milk into adulthood. Because so few examples were known, scientists assumed that this type of evolution played only a minor role after humans spread out of Africa roughly 300,000 years ago.

By analyzing a vastly expanded dataset and applying new statistical tools, researchers uncovered hundreds of gene variants that rose or fell in frequency over time. The findings suggest that human evolution did not slow down in recent millennia. In some ways, it sped up.

Links to Traits and Health

Many of the genetic variants identified in the study are tied to complex traits seen today, including risks for type 2 diabetes and schizophrenia. Exploring how these traits evolved could improve understanding of human biology and disease, and may eventually guide medical research.

At the same time, the authors caution that modern trait definitions do not always apply to ancient populations. For example, measures like household income have no direct equivalent in prehistoric societies, making it difficult to determine why certain variants were originally advantageous.

The study, led by researchers at Harvard University, was published in Nature.

“With these new techniques and large amount of ancient genomic data, we can now watch how selection shaped biology in real time,” said Ali Akbari, the study’s first author. “Instead of searching for the scars natural selection leaves in present-day genomes using simple models and assumptions, we can let the data speak for itself.”

“This work allows us to assign place and time to forces that shaped us,” said senior author David Reich.
10,000 ancient genomes, new computational methods

Since 2010, when scientists first recovered genome-wide data from ancient human remains, the field has transformed our understanding of how populations are related across time and geography.

Still, researchers have struggled to track how natural selection influenced genetic variation over the past 10,000 years, even though DNA from this period is often well preserved.

This study overcame that challenge through two major advances.

First, Reich’s team spent seven years assembling a large and detailed dataset of ancient DNA from West Eurasia, covering present-day Europe and parts of the Middle East. The effort involved more than 250 archaeologists and anthropologists and produced new genetic data from 10,016 ancient individuals. These were combined with 5,820 previously published ancient genomes and 6,438 modern samples.

“If the goal is to uncover changes in the frequency of genetic variants in the last ten millennia that are greater than can be expected by chance, then we need to detect subtle effects, which requires having thousands of genomes spanning that time period,” Reich explained.

“This single paper doubles the size of the ancient human DNA literature,” he added. “It reflects a focused effort to fill in holes that limited the power of previous studies to detect selection.”

The regions from which ancient and recent human DNA samples were studied in this work.

 Credit: Akbari A et al., “Ancient DNA reveals pervasive directional selection across West Eurasia,” Nature (2026)

The second advance was a set of computational methods developed by Akbari to separate true signals of directional selection from other influences on gene frequency, such as migration, population mixing, and random fluctuations in small populations.

“Ali developed a powerful technique that could zoom in on the patterns that actually mattered,” said Reich.

Even with these tools, the signal was faint. The researchers estimate that directional selection explains only about 2 percent of all genetic changes observed.

What has natural selection selected for?

That small percentage still represents a significant portion of the genome. The team identified 479 gene variants, or alleles, that were strongly favored or disfavored in West Eurasian populations.

They also traced when and where some of these variants rose or declined. The results show that selection intensified after farming emerged, likely because new diets, environments, and lifestyles created different evolutionary pressures.

More than 60 percent of the selected variants are linked to traits seen in people today, including

:Light skin tone

Red hair

Risk of celiac disease and Crohn’s disease

Immunity to HIV infection and resistance to leprosy

Lower chance of male-pattern baldness

Lower risk of rheumatoid arthritis and alcoholism

Having the B version of the proteins on red blood cells that confer A, B, and O blood types and influence resistance to infection with bacteria and viruses

In some cases, groups of SNPs were under selection together to influence polygenic traits. Some changes raised the frequency of beneficial traits, including some that are interpreted today as

:“Health span” traits such as faster walking pace

Measures of behavioral and social status or cognitive functions, such as scores on intelligence tests, household income, and years of schooling

Other changes reduced the frequency of harmful traits, such as those that are interpreted today as

:Reduced risk of bipolar disorder and schizophrenia

Lower body fat percentage, waist-to-hip ratio, and body mass index

Less susceptibility to tobacco smoking

Some variants rose in frequency and later declined, reflecting shifting environments. For instance, genes linked to susceptibility to tuberculosis and multiple sclerosis showed changing patterns over time.

Not all results are straightforward. One example is a major genetic risk factor for gluten intolerance that became more common after wheat farming began.

Interpreting the Results

The researchers stress that these associations must be interpreted carefully.

A gene’s link to a modern trait does not mean that trait drove its spread in the past. Traits like education level or income did not exist in ancient societies, so they cannot explain why certain variants were favored.

Some variants affect multiple traits, and current databases may not capture their full effects. In other cases, a variant may have increased in frequency simply because it is located near another gene under selection.

It is also possible that some traits influenced by these variants remain unknown today.

Another key point is that these findings are not limited to West Eurasia. The same methods can be applied to other populations with sufficient ancient DNA data to determine which patterns are shared and which are unique.

Reich expects future work to reveal that some selective pressures acted on common traits across different human groups, even as populations spread and adapted to new environments.

What comes next

The researchers have made their data and methods publicly available to support further studies.

One next step is to investigate more than 7,600 additional genetic locations that may represent cases of directional selection. Akbari said these sites have better than a 50 percent chance of “being real examples of directional selection” and deserve closer examination.

Applying the methods to other regions and older time periods is another priority.

“To what extent will we see similar patterns in East Asia or East Africa or Native Americans in Mesoamerica and the central Andes?” Reich asked. “If we can’t use ancient DNA to study the most important period in human evolution 1 million to 2 million years ago, then at least we can study selective pressure on human genomes during more recent periods of change and learn broader principles.”

Further laboratory studies will also be needed to understand how these genetic changes affect health.

The findings could help identify new factors involved in disease, improving risk prediction and treatment. They may also inform gene therapy research. For example, targeting a gene that has been strongly favored by evolution could carry risks.

“You could speculate that if the variant someone wants to knock out was strongly selected for, it’s probably not the best idea,” he said.

Scientists could also use the new methods to study natural selection in other species. Such work could uncover alleles that have made cattle or chickens well-suited to domestication, Akbari suggested, or that have helped animals adapt to changes in climate.

The possibilities are enticing for deepening our appreciation of human diversity, history, and health, Reich said.

“This paper shows how complex selection can be and provides an opportunity to consider the richness of variation in human populations,” he said.

The Life of Earth

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