The purpose of this blog is the creation of an open, international, independent and free forum, where every UFO-researcher can publish the results of his/her research. The languagues, used for this blog, are Dutch, English and French.You can find the articles of a collegue by selecting his category. Each author stays resposable for the continue of his articles. As blogmaster I have the right to refuse an addition or an article, when it attacks other collegues or UFO-groupes.
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Deze blog is opgedragen aan mijn overleden echtgenote Lucienne.
In 2012 verloor ze haar moedige strijd tegen kanker!
In 2011 startte ik deze blog, omdat ik niet mocht stoppen met mijn UFO-onderzoek.
BEDANKT!!!
Een interessant adres?
UFO'S of UAP'S, ASTRONOMIE, RUIMTEVAART, ARCHEOLOGIE, OUDHEIDKUNDE, SF-SNUFJES EN ANDERE ESOTERISCHE WETENSCHAPPEN - DE ALLERLAATSTE NIEUWTJES
UFO's of UAP'S in België en de rest van de wereld Ontdek de Fascinerende Wereld van UFO's en UAP's: Jouw Bron voor Onthullende Informatie!
Ben jij ook gefascineerd door het onbekende? Wil je meer weten over UFO's en UAP's, niet alleen in België, maar over de hele wereld? Dan ben je op de juiste plek!
België: Het Kloppend Hart van UFO-onderzoek
In België is BUFON (Belgisch UFO-Netwerk) dé autoriteit op het gebied van UFO-onderzoek. Voor betrouwbare en objectieve informatie over deze intrigerende fenomenen, bezoek je zeker onze Facebook-pagina en deze blog. Maar dat is nog niet alles! Ontdek ook het Belgisch UFO-meldpunt en Caelestia, twee organisaties die diepgaand onderzoek verrichten, al zijn ze soms kritisch of sceptisch.
Nederland: Een Schat aan Informatie
Voor onze Nederlandse buren is er de schitterende website www.ufowijzer.nl, beheerd door Paul Harmans. Deze site biedt een schat aan informatie en artikelen die je niet wilt missen!
Internationaal: MUFON - De Wereldwijde Autoriteit
Neem ook een kijkje bij MUFON (Mutual UFO Network Inc.), een gerenommeerde Amerikaanse UFO-vereniging met afdelingen in de VS en wereldwijd. MUFON is toegewijd aan de wetenschappelijke en analytische studie van het UFO-fenomeen, en hun maandelijkse tijdschrift, The MUFON UFO-Journal, is een must-read voor elke UFO-enthousiasteling. Bezoek hun website op www.mufon.com voor meer informatie.
Samenwerking en Toekomstvisie
Sinds 1 februari 2020 is Pieter niet alleen ex-president van BUFON, maar ook de voormalige nationale directeur van MUFON in Vlaanderen en Nederland. Dit creëert een sterke samenwerking met de Franse MUFON Reseau MUFON/EUROP, wat ons in staat stelt om nog meer waardevolle inzichten te delen.
Let op: Nepprofielen en Nieuwe Groeperingen
Pas op voor een nieuwe groepering die zich ook BUFON noemt, maar geen enkele connectie heeft met onze gevestigde organisatie. Hoewel zij de naam geregistreerd hebben, kunnen ze het rijke verleden en de expertise van onze groep niet evenaren. We wensen hen veel succes, maar we blijven de autoriteit in UFO-onderzoek!
Blijf Op De Hoogte!
Wil jij de laatste nieuwtjes over UFO's, ruimtevaart, archeologie, en meer? Volg ons dan en duik samen met ons in de fascinerende wereld van het onbekende! Sluit je aan bij de gemeenschap van nieuwsgierige geesten die net als jij verlangen naar antwoorden en avonturen in de sterren!
Heb je vragen of wil je meer weten? Aarzel dan niet om contact met ons op te nemen! Samen ontrafelen we het mysterie van de lucht en daarbuiten.
10-03-2020
Coronavirus Could Give Us an Idea What Will Take Place When ET Life Reaches Earth
Coronavirus Could Give Us an Idea What Will Take Place When ET Life Reaches Earth
President Nixon talking to the Apollo 11 crew members (left to right: Neil A. Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Buzz Aldrin Jr.) while the astronauts were in quarantine after returning to Earth from their trip to the moon.
It would be nice to find life on other worlds, no doubt about it! However, it may be wise to reconsider this entire thing. If we indeed find alien life, can we handle it epidemiologically, biologically, and emotionally?
We are currently in the middle of an alarming worldwide situation with previously unknown disease COVID-19. As of this writing, confirmed cases reach close to 90,000 in 68 countries, leading to over 3,000 deaths. Tokyo Olympics are threatened to be postponed, flights have been grounded, major international gatherings canceled, and a global recession looms. In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had its worst week since the 2008 and 2009 recession, shedding one-third of its gains since the 2016 election. Most of these are due to fears of the negative impact of COVID-19.
Humanity is suffering the effects of the disease, but the Chinese and Asian-looking people are taking the big blow. The virus started in Wuhan, China, and ugly behaviors have surfaced around the world. At a California high school, an Asian-American 16-year old was assaulted and accused of carrying the virus. There’s an underlying anti-Chinese sentiment in South Korea, with some shops posting signs not allowing Chinese. In Vancouver, a Chinese boy playing at a school playground was taunted as being a virus carrier.
COVID-19 has nothing to do with space, as it is an entirely terrestrial problem. But the thing is, even its terrestrial origin, it leads to thousands of deaths around the world. What more if the virus came from the space? NASA is poised to launch in July a new rover to Mars that will hunt for microbial life and collect some soil and rock samples that will be bought to Earth. These samples are potentially containing that microbial life.
NASA has a long history of protecting the Earth from biohazards from other planets and vice versa, according to a column in Space.com. The agency has one division solely formed for that goal, which is formally known as the Office of Safety and Mission Assurance (OSMA) and commonly known as the Planetary Protection office.
Still, the risk exists. Even the strictest labs always have a non-zero chance that something could escape. Imagine it will, and many people will become infected. Aside from the impact of their health, they would not only be racialized but also extraterrestrialized, in the sense that they are not even fully human anymore.
The battle against SARS-CoV-2 shows that humanity can have a unified effort, and it will be the same if one of those alien living things threatens us all. Collectivism is among our highest qualities. On the other hand, the othering, racializing, directed at people of Chinese descent, is one of our lowest qualities.
On February 6, weather stations recorded the hottest temperature on record for Antarctica, 64.9°F (18.3°C). The warm spell caused widespread melting on nearby glaciers
These images show melting on the ice cap of Antarctica’s Eagle Island. They were acquired by NASA’S Landsat 8 satellite on February 4 and February 13, 2020.
On February 6, 2020, weather stations recorded the hottest temperature on record for Antarctica. Thermometers at the Esperanza Base on the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula reached 18.3°C (64.9°F) – around the same temperature as Los Angeles that day. The warm spell caused widespread melting on nearby glaciers.
The warm temperatures arrived on February 5 and continued until February 13, 2020.
Mauri Pelto, a glaciologist at Nichols College, observed that during the warming event, around .9 square miles (1.5 square km) of snowpack became saturated with meltwater (shown in blue above). According to climate models, Eagle Island experienced peak melt – 1 inch (30 millimeters) – on February 6. In total, snowpack on Eagle Island melted 4 inches (106 millimeters) from February 6-February 11. About 20 percent of seasonal snow accumulation in the region melted in this one event on Eagle Island.
The heat is apparent on this map, which shows temperatures across the Antarctic Peninsula on February 9, 2020. The map was derived from the Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS) model, and represents air temperatures at 2 meters (about 6.5 feet) above the ground. The darkest red areas are where the model shows temperatures surpassing 50°F (10°C).
I haven’t seen melt ponds develop this quickly in Antarctica. You see these kinds of melt events in Alaska and Greenland, but not usually in Antarctica.
He also used satellite images to detect widespread surface melting nearby on Boydell Glacier.
Pelto noted that such rapid melting is caused by sustained high temperatures significantly above freezing. Such persistent warmth was not typical in Antarctica until the 21st century, but it has become more common in recent years.
The warm temperatures of February 2020 were caused by a combination of meteorological elements. A ridge of high pressure was centered over Cape Horn at the beginning of the month, and it allowed warm temperatures to build. Typically, the peninsula is shielded from warm air masses by the Southern Hemisphere westerlies, a band of strong winds that circle the continent. However, the westerlies were in a weakened state, which allowed the extra-tropical warm air to cross the Southern Ocean and reach the ice sheet. Sea surface temperatures in the area were also higher than average by about 2-3°C (about 3.5-5.5 F).
Dry, warm foehn winds also could have played a part. Foehn winds are strong, gusty winds that cause downslope windstorms on mountains, often bringing warm air with them. In February 2020, westerly winds ran into the Antarctic Peninsula Cordillera. As such winds travel up the mountains, the air typically cools and condenses to form rain or snow clouds. As that water vapor condenses into liquid water or ice, heat is released into the surrounding air. This warm, dry air travels downslope on the other side of the mountains, bringing blasts of heat to parts of the peninsula. The drier air means fewer low-lying clouds and potentially more direct sunlight east of the mountain range.
Rajashree Tri Datta, an atmospheric researcher at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, said:
Two things that can make a foehn-induced melt event stronger are stronger winds and higher temperatures.
With warmer air in the surrounding atmosphere and ocean, the conditions were conducive this month for a foehn wind event.
This February heatwave was the third major melt event of the 2019-2020 summer, following warm spells in November 2019 and January 2020. Pelto said:
If you think about this one event in February, it isn’t that significant. It’s more significant that these events are coming more frequently.
Bottom line: In February 2020, weather stations recorded the hottest temperatures on record for Antarctica. The warm spell caused widespread melting on nearby glaciers.
Ever wonder what kinds of unusual objects pilots see from the air?
With a truly unique vantage point, they've reported a range of strange sightings, including UFOs, geoglyphs, and drones. But they've also had unobstructed views to some of nature's most incredible sights.
Here are 10 wild things that pilots have seen while flying.
1. Several pilots have claimed to have seen UFOs.
We might not have confirmation of any UFOs, but pilots have seen something. shanecotee/ iStock
Pilots have claimed to see UFOs (unidentified flying objects) for decades – sightings usually involve bright lights or objects flying in a formations. In June 1947, for example, pilot Kenneth Arnold said he saw nine glowing blue objects flying in a V over Mount Rainier in Seattle, Washington. In November 2018, pilots reported seeing UFOs off the coast of Ireland.
A satellite image shows Hurricane Florence off the eastern coast of the United States on Thursday, September 13, 2018. NOAA via AP
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Pilot Terry Lynch recalled his experience of flying near a hurricane to Popular Mechanics.
"I could see the lights of Charleston going out, and I knew they were catching hell down there. I'd much rather be in the air. When the wind pushes, a plane gives," he said of flying over the South Carolina coast during Hurricane Hugo in 1989.
Commercial flights typically go higher in the air than a hurricane, so aircraft can sometimes just fly over them. Meteorologist and pilot James Aydelott told The Points Guy, "Each storm is different, but down low, near the eye, where the C-130 and P-3 'Hurricane Hunter' flights fly, there is often turbulence. High above, from all accounts I've seen, the ride is smooth. As far as flying goes, there should be no issues flying above a hurricane in an aircraft equipped to monitor radar echo tops."
3. NASA pilots have seen rectangular-shaped icebergs.
It is unusual to see an iceberg that shape. Mario Tama/Getty Images
NASA pilots spotted a rectangular iceberg while flying over the northern Antarctic Peninsula. Such icebergs look as if they have been purposefully cut, and they are rarely seen. Of the experience, one pilot told Mysterious Universe:
"I thought it was pretty interesting; I often see icebergs with relatively straight edges, but I've not really seen one before with two corners at such right angles like this one had."
4. Some lucky pilots get to fly over pink lakes as part of their day job.
So many people want to see pink lakes that scenic flights over them are now offered. The most famous is Lake Hillier in Western Australia. There are also pink lakes in British Columbia, Spain, and Canada. The lakes get their pink color from a high level of salinity along with algae that make carotenoids, or organic pigments, turning the water pink. These lakes create such great amounts of salt that locals harvest and use it.
5. Geoglyphs can also be seen from the sky.
Geoglyphs can only be seen from the air. lovelypeace/ iStock
Geoglyphs are designs built into the natural landscape via mounds of earth. Most geoglyphs are large crosses, squares, and rings. Some geoglyphs can be as wide as 1,300 feet. The structural designs can be found in northern Kazakhstan, Russia, Brazil, Peru, and other places.
6. Pilots have experienced lightning striking their planes.
Some planes can fly better during lightening storms than others. Jurkos/ iStock
It's not uncommon for a plane to get hit by lightning. Aircraft are made of aluminum, which conducts electricity, but their design ensures the lightning current stays on the outside of the plane. Some private planes are not made of the same materials as commercial planes, so pilots flying those aircraft need to be cautious about getting near thunderstorms.
NASA pilot Conway Roberts described flying a jet into a cold front to the New York Times:
''I was flying at about 40,000 feet over Amarillo, when I first started seeing lightning from this front several hundred miles away. The thunderstorms that the front was generating were just like a picket fence. They had very little depth and were shoulder-to-shoulder, hundreds of them, and they all had almost continuous lightning.''
7. St. Elmo's Fire is a phenomenon similar to lightning.
A phenomenon that only some pilots are lucky enough to see, St. Elmo's Fire is similar to lightning.
It's a branch-shaped discharge of atmospheric electricity into the sky that's caused by heavy thunderstorms in combination with a plane flying through an exceptionally high-intensity electric field.
But how exactly does this phenomenon happen? When there is a difference in the concentration of electrons between two objects, the potential difference induces an electric field. This electric field can become so strong that air can no longer suppress it and electrons jump through the air creating a visual spark. This occurrence happens on a lesser scale when you touch a doorknob and give yourself a minor shock. But because thunderstorms create such a powerful electric field, there becomes a dramatic difference in charge between the air and the pointed tip of an airplane, that a continuous spark is created, namely St. Elmo's Fire.
Unlike lightning, St. Elmo's Fire isn't the movement of electricity, but the shot of electrons into the air, aka a "corona discharge."
The flashes in the sky look like dancing lightning bolts. St. Elmo's Fire is usually blue or purple in color, but can also appear to be green. It can also be heard "singing" on the plane's radio — a hissing sound that goes up and down the musical scale.
8. Some claim they have flown over rainbows.
It is technically impossible for a rainbow to appear in front of a plane. undefined undefined/ iStock
People have claimed to have flown over rainbows, but the laws of physics tell us that this is not possible. Rainbows are formed when sunlight hits water. The water splits the light into its various colors, reflecting them at an angle of 42 degrees. Since the rainbow is only seen when that consistent angle is maintained, it's impossible to see a rainbow in front of you and then also fly over it. It is possible, however, for a rainbow to appear to the side of or below a plane.
9. Balloons have appeared at high altitudes.
Helium balloons have obstructed flight sensors. jakkapan21/ iStock
High-altitude balloons have caused trouble for pilots and airports, since they can obstruct flight sensors and create other problems. A passenger flight over London (flying 10,000 feet over the city) once hit a helium balloon, but it did not have any adverse effects on the flight. However, these high-altitude balloons could potentially cause a collision — they are certainly not something a pilot wants to see at eye level when mid-flight.
10. Drones have also been getting a little too close to planes, according to pilots.
There are strict laws for drones, but sometimes they aren't followed. Naypong/ iStock
Pilots have seen drones get very close to their planes. In London earlier this year, a pilot reported spotting a drone flying just 20 feet below the plane. There are strict regulations for drones in flight – they can't come within 50 meters of people or structures or within a kilometer of airports, and can't get higher than 400 feet. The pilot reported the following, which was announced by the UK Airprox Board, according to ITV:
"He had no doubt that it was being deliberately flown under the flight path in an attempt to collide with an aircraft."
“We warned at the start of ZetaTalk, in 1995, that unpredictable weather extremes, switching about from drought to deluge, would occur and increase on a lineal basis up until the pole shift. Where this occurred steadily, it has only recently become undeniable. ZetaTalk, and only ZetaTalk, warned of these weather changes, at that early date. Our early warnings spoke to the issue of global heating from the core outward, hardly Global Warming, a surface or atmospheric issue, but caused by consternation in the core. Affected by the approach of Planet X, which was by then starting to zoom rapidly toward the inner solar system for its periodic passage, the core was churning, melting the permafrost and glaciers and riling up volcanoes. When the passage did not occur as expected in 2003 because Planet X had stalled in the inner solar system, we explained the increasing weather irregularities in the context of the global wobble that had ensued – weather wobbles where the Earth is suddenly forced under air masses, churning them. This evolved by 2005 into a looping jet stream, loops breaking away and turning like a tornado to affect the air masses underneath. Meanwhile, on Planet Earth, droughts had become more intractable and deluges positively frightening, temperature swings bringing snow in summer in the tropics and searing heat in Artic regions, with the violence of storms increasing in number and ferocity.”
The wobble seems to have changed, as the temperature in Europe suddenly plunged after being like an early Spring, Alaska has its coldest temps ever while the US and much of Canada is having an extremely mild winter. India went from fatal cold spell to balmy again. Has the Earth changed position vs a vs Planet X to cause this?[and from another]Bitter cold records broken in Alaska – all time coldest record nearly broken, but Murphy’s Law intervenes[Jan 30]http://wattsupwiththat.com/2012/01/30/bitter-cold-records-broken-in-alaskaJim River, AK closed in on the all time record coldest temperature of -80°F set in 1971, which is not only the Alaska all-time record, but the record for the entire United States. Unfortunately, it seems the battery died in the weather station just at the critical moment. While the continental USA has a mild winter and has set a number of high temperature records in the last week and pundits ponder whether they will be blaming the dreaded “global warming” for those temperatures, Alaska and Canada have been suffering through some of the coldest temperatures on record during the last week.
There has been no change in the wobble pattern, the wobble has merely become more severe. Nancy noted a Figure 8 format when the Earth wobble first became noticeable, in early 2005, after Planet X moved into the inner solar system at the end of 2003. The Figure 8 shifted along to the east a bit on the globe between 2005 and 2009, (the last time Nancy took its measure) as Planet X came closer to the Earth, encountering the magnetic N Pole with a violent push earlier in the day. But the pattern of the Figure 8 remained essentially the same. So what changed recently that the weather patterns became noticeably different in late January, 2012?
The N Pole is pushed away when it comes over the horizon, when the noon Sun is centered over the Pacific. This regularly puts Alaska under colder air, with less sunlight, and thus the historically low temps there this January, 2012 as the wobble has gotten stronger. But by the time the Sun is positioned over India, the N Pole has swung during the Figure 8 so the globe tilts, and this tilt is visible in the weather maps from Asia. The tilt has forced the globe under the hot air closer to the Equator, warming the land along a discernable tilt demarcation line.
The next loop of the Figure 8 swings the globe so that the N Pole moves in the other direction, putting the globe again at a tilt but this time in the other direction. This tilt is discernable in weather maps of Europe, again along a diagonal line. Depending upon air pressure and temperature differences, the weather on either side of this diagonal line may be suddenly warm or suddenly cold. The tilt and diagonal line lingers to affect much of the US and Canada, but the Figure 8 changes at this point to be an up and down motion, pulling the geographic N Pole south so the US is experiencing a warmer than expected winter under a stronger Sun. Then the cycle repeats, with the magnetic N Pole of Earth pushed violently away again as the Sun is positioned over the Pacific.
Would the Zetas be able to let us know what is causing the early break-up of the Arctic Ice, the ice seems to have taken on a swirling pattern at the same time, would this be wobble related?[and from another]
The ice in Canada’s western Arctic ripped open in a massive “fracturing event” this spring that spread like a wave across 1,000 kilometres of the Beaufort Sea. Huge leads of water – some more than 500 kilometres long and as much as 70 kilometres across – opened up from Alaska to Canada’s Arctic islands as the massive ice sheet cracked as it was pushed around by strong winds and currents. It took just seven days for the fractures to progress across the entire area from west to east.[and from another]http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=80752&src=iotdrss A high-pressure weather system was parked over the region, producing warmer temperatures and winds that flowed in a southwesterly direction. That fueled the Beaufort Gyre, a wind-driven ocean current that flows clockwise. The gyre was the key force pulling pieces of ice west past Point Barrow, the northern nub of Alaska that protrudes into the Beaufort Sea.
The Figure 8 formed by the N Pole during the daily Earth wobble has shifted somewhat to the East, due to Planet X positioned more to the right of the Earth during its approach. This was anticipated, and well described in ZetaTalk, the Earth crowding to the left in the cup to escape the approach of Planet X, so the angle between these two planets would change slightly. This shift of the Figure 8 to the East is due to the push against the Earth’s magnetic N Pole occurring sooner each day than prior. Thus instead of occurring when the Sun is high over the Pacific, over New Zealand, it is now occurring when the Sun is high over Alaska. All the wobble points have shifted eastward accordingly.
This has brought a lingering Winter to the western US, and a changed sloshing pattern to the Arctic waters. Instead of Pacific waters being pushed through the Bering Straits into the Arctic when the polar push occurs, the wobble is swinging the Arctic to the right, and then later to the left, creating a circular motion in the waters trapped in the Arctic. Since the Earth rotates counterclockwise, the motion also takes this path. This is yet another piece of evidence that the establishment is hard pressed to explain. They are attempting to ascribe this to high pressure and wind, all of which are not new to the Arctic, but this circular early breakup of ice in the Arctic is new.
'Kevin Costner, eat your heart out – you may want to start planning the prequel,' said the research team.
'Early Earth, home to some of our planet's first lifeforms, may have been a real-life "waterworld" – without a continent in sight.
'It may even have looked a bit like the post-apocalyptic, and land-free, future imagined in Costner's infamous film Waterworld.'
In the film, humanity struggles to survive after the ice caps melt and inundate the planet with water.
But, unlike in the movie, there were no fish – only tiny aquatic organisms called cyanobacteria.
A vista of the Panorama district looking down from the top of the ancient ocean crust to its base
The discovery, reported in the journal Nature Geoscience, is based on an analysis of rocks from Northwestern Australia's outback.
They date back to a period known geologically as the 'Paleoarchean' – spanning a period 3,600 million to 3,200 million years ago – when life consisted of nothing more complex than bacteria.
'The history of life on Earth tracks available niches,' said co-author Professor Boswell Wing, of the University of Colorado Boulder.
'If you've got a waterworld, a world covered by ocean, then dry niches are just not going to be available.'
It was identified from the chemical signatures of an ocean in a chunk of crust that's been turned on its side in the Panorama desert in the Aussie outback.
It is possible to walk across what used to be the hard, outer shell of the planet in the space of a day.
Benjamin Johnson inspects an outcrop in the Panorama district by what was once an ancient hydrothermal vent
It will take you from the base to spots where water once bubbled up through the seafloor via hydrothermal vents.
The researchers described it as a 'once-in-a-lifetime opportunity' to pick up clues about the ocean water from billions of years ago.
'Today, there are these really scrubby and rolling hills that are cut through by dry river beds,' said lead author Dr Benjamin Johnson, now at at Iowa State University.
'It's a crazy place. There are no samples of really ancient ocean water lying around, but we do have rocks that interacted with that seawater and remembered that interaction.'
He likened it to looking at coffee grounds to gather information about the water that poured through it.
US post-apocalyptic action film Waterworld depicts a future in 2500 where every continent on Earth is now underwater, due to a rise sea levels. This projected future could resemble an early Earth
The researchers analysed data from more than 100 rock samples from across the dry terrain.
They were looking, in particular, for two different flavours, or 'isotopes', of oxygen trapped in stone – Oxygen-18 and the slightly less heavy Oxygen-16.
The ratio may have been a bit off in seawater 3.2 billion years ago – with just a tiny bit more Oxygen-18 than you'd see today.
Professor Wing said these are 'super sensitive' to the presence of continents.
Today's land masses are covered by clay-rich soils that disproportionately take up heavier oxygen isotopes from the water – like mineral vacuums for Oxygen-18, he explained.
Nostoc, a genus of cyanobacteria, under microscopic view. Cyanobacteria would have inhabited the early 'waterworld' of Earth 3.2 billion years ago
There simply weren't any soil-rich continents around to suck the isotopes up, but there could have been tiny spots of land dotted about.
'There's nothing in what we've done that says you can't have teeny, micro-continents sticking out of the oceans,' Professor Wing said.
'We just don't think there were global-scale formation of continental soils like we have today.'
The researchers are now planning to scour other, younger rock formations at sites from Arizona to South Africa to see if they can find when the land masses we know today first roared onto the scene.
'Trying to fill that gap is really important,' said Dr Johnson said.
New research suggests that early humans in Africa interbred with a ghost population that likely split from the ancestors of humans and Neanderthals between 360,000 and 1.02 million years ago.
Homo rhodesiensis is an example of an archaic human.
One of the more startling discoveries arising from genomic sequencing of ancient hominin DNA is the realization that all humans outside Africa have traces of DNA in their genomes that do not belong to our own species.
The approximately six billion people on Earth whose recent ancestry is not from Africa will have inherited between 1% and 2% of their genome from our closest but now extinct relatives:the Neanderthals. East Asians and Oceanians have also inherited a small amount of ancestry from the Denisovans, another close relative of Homo Sapiens.
Now a new study, published in Science Advances, suggests that early humans living inside Africa may also have interbred with archaic hominins. These are extinct species that are related to Homo sapiens.
The interbreeding outside Africa happened after our Homo sapiens ancestors expanded out of Africa into new environments. It was there they had sex with Neanderthals and the related Denisovans.
This led to new discoveries. Early genetic studies of people from across the globe had previously suggested that our current distribution was the result of a single expansion out of Africa around 100,000 years ago. But the identification of Neanderthal and Denisovan ancestry in modern Eurasians complicated things.
We still think that most – anywhere between about 92% and 98.5% – of the ancestry in people not living in Africa today does indeed derive from the out-of-Africa expansion. But we now know the remainder came from archaic species whose ancestors left Africa hundreds of thousands of years before that.
What was happening inside Africa?
Insights into interbreeding have been driven by the much greater availability of modern and ancient genomes from outside of Africa. That’s because the cold and dry environments of Eurasia are much better at preserving DNA that the wet heat of tropical Africa.
But our understanding of the relationship between ancient human ancestors within Africa, and their connection with archaic humans, is beginning to deepen. A 2017 study of ancient DNA from southern Africa investigated 16 ancient genomes from people alive over the last 10,000 years. This showed that the history of African populations was complex. There wasn’t just a single group of humans around in Africa when they expanded out 100,000 years ago.
It’s a result that was supported earlier this year by a paper examining ancient DNA from four individuals from what is now Cameroon. Taken together, this research suggests there were geographically diverse groups in Africa well before the main expansion out of the continent. And many of these groups will have contributed to the ancestry of people alive in Africa today.
In addition, it now appears that there was potentially gene-flow into ancient African Homo sapiens populations from an archaic ancestor. One way in which this could happen is for people to expand out of Africa, have sex with Neanderthals, and then migrate back into Africa. Indeed, this has been demonstrated in one recent study.
The new paper provides evidence that there may also have been gene-flow into the ancestors of West Africans directly from a mysterious archaic hominin. The researchers compared Neanderthal and Denisovan DNA with that from four contemporary populations from West Africa. Using some elegant mathematics, they then built a statistical model to explain the relationships between the archaic hominins and modern Africans.
Interestingly, they suggest that 6%-7% of the genomes of West Africans is archaic in origin. But this archaic ancestry wasn’t Neanderthal or Denisovan. Their model suggested the additional ancestry came from an archaic population for which we don’t currently have a genome.
This ghost population likely split from the ancestors of humans and Neanderthals between 360,000 and 1.02 million years ago. That was well before the gene-flow event that brought Neanderthal DNA back into West Africa around 43,000 years ago – although the value of this could be anywhere between 0 and 124,000 years ago.
These dates position this ghost species as something akin to a Neanderthal, but that presumably was present within Africa, during the last 100,000 years. An alternative explanation is that the archaic hominin was present outside of Africa and interbred with populations there before they migrated back in.
Despite a raft of analyses that show that this result is not an artifact of either their methodology or some other genetic process, the authors are cautious about this result. They call for further analysis of both contemporary and ancient DNA from diverse populations in Africa.
Nevertheless, this research contributes to the ever-growing canon of research demonstrating the promiscuous, species-crossing and complicated behaviors of the ancestors of all of us.
Bottom line: New research suggests that early humans in Africa interbred with a ghost population that likely split from ancestors of humans and Neanderthals.
Nothing scares the powers that be who create the power that’s being consumed by everyone more than free power for all. Well, if you’re one of those powers, get ready for the non-electrical shock of your life … engineers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst have invented a generator that runs on air. Air is still free … right? Better start filling up some balloons, just in case.
“It’s the most amazing and exciting application of protein nanowires yet.”
Who knew there were ANY applications for protein nanowires? This is truly a ‘making something from almost nothing’ story from the very beginning. As described in an article in the journal Nature, electrical engineer Jun Yao and microbiologist Derek Lovely were actually working on something else two years ago when a graduate student working with protein nanowires in their lab noticed that nanometer-width rod-shaped proteins called Geobacter sulfurreducens (created by the bacteria Geobacter) seemed to be emitting electrical current without being connected to a power source. These Geobacter sulfurreducens had a truly humble beginning – they were first isolated in Norman, Oklahoma, from materials found around the surface of a contaminated ditch.
After further experimentation, Yao and Lovely determined that the nanowires were pulling moisture from the air and pushing it through a film of nanowires pressed between two electrodes. That push varied the amount of electrical charge in the film, which generated a charge that the electrodes picked up. The team found that between 40-50 percent relative humidity is ideal for the nanowire generators, but they can produce detectable voltages between 20-100 percent relative humidity (even the Sahara Desert falls in that range). According to their summary in Device & Materials Engineering, one pair of electrodes generates .5 volts and a string of five puts out 2.5 volts. Would that scale hold true if thousands or even millions were chained together?
Yes … provided that could find sufficient amounts of Geobacter sulfurreducens nanowires. There aren’t enough contaminated ditches in Norman, so Lovely is leading separate research to use E. coli for something good for a change – growing protein nanowires. So far, the E. coli nanowires are as conductive as those produced with G. sulfurreducens. With E. coli everywhere, how far are we from giant air-sucking generators?
“The ultimate goal is to make large-scale systems. For example, the technology might be incorporated into wall paint that could help power your home. Or, we may develop stand-alone air-powered generators that supply electricity off the grid. Once we get to an industrial scale for wire production, I fully expect that we can make large systems that will make a major contribution to sustainable energy production.”
Lovely predicts this will happen soon. The team is so confident, they’ve already named the environmentally-friendly nanowire device “Air-gen.” All they need now is funding for the development, funding for the marketing and funding for the inevitable lawsuits by the conventional non-renewable energy power companies.
Did the whale oil makers sue when oil was discovered? Probably.
It's summer in Antarctica, which means record-high temperatures, jarring glacial melt and — in a very metal symbol of our changing climate — a bit of blood-red snow spattered across the Antarctic Peninsula.
Over the past several weeks, the ice around Ukraine's Vernadsky Research Base (located on Galindez Island, off the coast of Antarctica's northernmost peninsula) has been coated in what researchers are calling "raspberry snow." A Facebook post by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine shows the scene in full detail: streaks of red and pink slashing across the edges of glaciers and puddling on the frosty plains.
Blood-red algae blanket the snow near Antarctica's Vernadsky Research Base. (Image credit: Andriy Zotov)
That blood (or "jam" as the researchers whimsically call it) is actually a type of red-pigmented alga called Chlamydomonas Chlamydomonas nivalis, which hides in snowfields and mountains worldwide. The algae thrive in freezing water and spend winters lying dormant in snow and ice; when summer comes and the snow melts, the algae bloom, spreading red, flower-like spores.
This phenomenon, which Aristotle noticed way back in the third century B.C., is known as "watermelon snow," "blood snow" and a host of other less poetic names.
The phenomenon's red color comes from carotenoids (the same pigments that make pumpkins and carrots orange) in the algae's chloroplasts. In addition to their crimson hue, these pigments also absorb heat and protect the algae from ultraviolet light, allowing the organisms to bask in the summer sun's nutrients without risk of genetic mutations.
That's good for the algae but not great for the ice. According to the Ukrainian researchers, it’s easy for these blooms to kick off a runaway feedback loop of warming and melting.
"Snow blossoms contribute to climate change," the team wrote in the Facebook post. "Because of the red-crimson color, the snow reflects less sunlight and melts faster. As a consequence, it produces more and more bright algae."
The more heat the algae absorbs, the faster the surrounding ice melts. The more ice that melts, the faster the algae can spread. That, in turn, leads to more warming, more melting, and more algal blooming.
A similar feedback process is driving more extreme algal blooms in oceans all over the world, resulting in surreal scenes like an invasion of sea foam in Spain and blue, bioluminescent "tears" clinging to China's coasts. While watermelon snow has existed for millions of years, algal blooms thrive in warm weather, meaning we can probably expect to see more events like this as the climate changes.
The year 2020 has not started off well for the continent of Antarctica. In early February, the highest temperature in recorded history was reached 64.9 degrees Fahrenheit (18.3 degrees Celsius). A few days later, an iceberg the size of the U.S. city of Atlanta broke off of the Pine Island Glacier – one of the most watched chunks of ice on the planet because it has been calving frequently and these plus future icebergs are raising the ocean level. If that weren’t enough, this week the Ukrainian Antarctic station “Academician Vernadsky” was hit by the classic Fortean phenomena of blood red snow. Are these signs? Should we be worried? Who do we believe?
“For a few weeks, the Ukrainian Antarctic station “Academician Vernadsky” has been otočena… raspberry snow!” (Google translation)
The Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine posted pictures and information about the red snow on its Facebook page on February 24. (Other pictures here.) To prevent any panic or misinterpretation of the “raspberry” snow and ice, the Ministry gave the biological explanation for the phenomena.
“Our scientists have identified them under a microscope as Chlamydomonas nivalis chlamydomonas.”
“Because, besides green pigment – chlorophyll, their cells contain also a red carotene layer, red spots occur on snow as if from raspberry jam. By the way, this layer protects algae from ultraviolet radiation.”
Chlamydomonas nivalis chlamydomonas
Yes, red snow is a good thing … at least for the algae giving it that color. Summer is nearing an end in Antarctica, so the algae needs all the red color it can generate to protect itself. That’s especially true this summer with the record high temperatures. Climate change?
“”Blossom” of snow contributes to climate change. Because of red-raspberry coloring, snow less hitting sunlight and melts faster. As a result, it forms more bright seaweed.”
It’s both a cause and effect of climate change. If anyone would know this, it’s the scientists at Vernadsky Research Base, the only Ukrainian Antarctic station, whose mission is research geophysics, meteorology, and ionospherics using meteorology, upper atmospheric physics and studies of geomagnetism, ozone, seismology, glaciology and more. The 12-person base was opened by the UK in 1947 as Faraday Station and is a center for long-term temperature studies. According to a 2013 report on daily observed temperatures from 1947 to 2011, we’ve got bigger problems than raspberry snow.
“Faraday/Vernadsky is experiencing a significant warming trend of about 0.6°C/decade (1.1°F) over the last few decades. Concurrently, the magnitude of extremely cold temperatures has reduced.”
So yes, the red snow is biological, not Fortean, and it’s a sign.
Researchers at Tel Aviv University (TAU) have discovered a non-oxygen breathing animal. The unexpected finding changes one of science’s assumptions about the animal world.
A study on the finding was published on February 25 in PNAS by TAU researchers led by Prof. Dorothee Huchon of the School of Zoology at TAU’s Faculty of Life Sciences and Steinhardt Museum of Natural History.
TEM image of H. salminicola mitochondrion-related organelle with few cristae.
Credit: TAU
The tiny, less than 10-celled parasite Henneguya salminicola lives in salmon muscle. As it evolved, the animal, which is a myxozoan relative of jellyfish and corals, gave up breathing and consuming oxygen to produce energy.
“Aerobic respiration was thought to be ubiquitous in animals, but now we confirmed that this is not the case,” Prof. Huchon explains. “Our discovery shows that evolution can go in strange directions. Aerobic respiration is a major source of energy, and yet we found an animal that gave up this critical pathway.”
Some other organisms like fungi, amoebas or ciliate lineages in anaerobic environments have lost the ability to breathe over time. The new study demonstrates that the same can happen to an animal — possibly because the parasite happens to live in an anaerobic environment.
Its genome was sequenced, along with those of other myxozoan fish parasites, as part of research supported by the U.S.-Israel Binational Science Foundation and conducted with Prof. Paulyn Cartwright of the University of Kansas, and Prof. Jerri Bartholomew and Dr. Stephen Atkinson of Oregon State University.
The parasite’s anaerobic nature was an accidental discovery. While assembling the Henneguya genome, Prof. Huchon found that it did not include a mitochondrial genome. The mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell where oxygen is captured to make energy, so its absence indicated that the animal was not breathing oxygen.
Until the new discovery, there was debate regarding the possibility that organisms belonging to the animal kingdom could survive in anaerobic environments. The assumption that all animals are breathing oxygen was based, among other things, on the fact that animals are multicellular, highly developed organisms, which first appeared on Earth when oxygen levels rose.
“It’s not yet clear to us how the parasite generates energy,” Prof. Huchon says. “It may be drawing it from the surrounding fish cells, or it may have a different type of respiration such as oxygen-free breathing, which typically characterizes anaerobic non-animal organisms.”
According to Prof. Huchon, the discovery bears enormous significance for evolutionary research.
“It is generally thought that during evolution, organisms become more and more complex, and that simple single-celled or few-celled organisms are the ancestors of complex organisms,” she concludes. “But here, right before us, is an animal whose evolutionary process is the opposite. Living in an oxygen-free environment, it has shed unnecessary genes responsible for aerobic respiration and become an even simpler organism.”
American Friends of Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University
Publication:
A cnidarian parasite of salmon (Myxozoa: Henneguya) lacks a mitochondrial genome Dayana Yahalomi, Stephen D. Atkinson, Moran Neuhof, E. Sally Chang, Hervé Philippe, Paulyn Cartwright, Jerri L. Bartholomew, Dorothée Huchon.. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2020; 201909907 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1909907117
One hundred million years ago, a bee got trapped in tree resin. Over time, geological forces converted the resin to amber. Now a scientist arrives on the scene, to tell us this bee’s story.
Primitive bee trapped in amber. It lived in a tropical jungle 100 million years ago, when flowering plants were just beginning to diversify. It’s thought that bees and flowering plants co-evolved. This specimen has traits from modern bees and their evolutionary ancestors, the carnivorous apoid wasps.
About 100 million years ago, a femalebeewith young beetle larvae crawling all over her body flew haplessly into a glob of sticky tree resin where she became trapped. Over time, the resin fossilized to become amber, preserving the bee and its parasites in exquisite detail within the clear honey-colored rock. As rare as it is, this fossil bee isn’t the first to be found entombed in amber. But it is the only known known amber-encased bee that has pollen on it. And it’s the only fossil bee with parasites, providing a fascinating glimpse into a predator-prey relationship that continues to this day. And the entomologist who studied this doomed bee? He is George Poinar Jr. of Oregon State University (OSU), whose work helped inspire the movie “Jurassic Park.”
Poinar’s work also showed that the bee – which he named Discoscapa apicula – belonged to a new family, genus, and species. His findings were published in the January 29, 2020, issue of BioOne Complete.
George Poinar, Jr. is a renowned expert in animals and plants fossilized in amber. He’s also credited with popularizing the idea of extracting DNA from these primitive insects. This idea received widespread attention when Michael Crichton incorporated it into his blockbuster Jurassic Park franchise. In the movie, dinosaur blood is extracted from mosquitoes encased in amber from the age of dinosaurs, and DNA in the blood is used to clone living dinosaurs.
In the real world of science, researchers study insect pollinators, such as bees, because they’re critically important to the reproduction of flowering plants, some of which are key to humans’ food supply.
There are more than 16,000 known bee species worldwide, from seven taxonomic families. Bees feed primarily on nectar and pollen, in contrast to their evolutionary ancestors, apoid wasps, that preyed on other insects.
A new species of bee, trapped in amber for about 100 million years. Can you spot the parasitic beetle larvae it carried?
The newly studied bee fossil, from Myanmar, dates to the mid-Cretaceous period. This bee’s world was a tropical forest of mostly conifers, ferns, cycads, ginkgo, and horsetails. Angiosperms – flowering plants – were just beginning to diversify, along with the primitive bees that pollinated their flowers. These ancient bees shared traits seen in both modern bees and their evolutionary forebearers, apoid wasps.
In a statement about this new research, Poinar commented on one of the most interesting features of the bee:
Something unique about the new family that’s not found on any extant or extinct lineage of apoid wasps or bees is a bifurcated scape.
The scape is a base section of the antenna, closest to the bee’s head. In this bee, it branches into two sections, one ending as a small spur. This feature has never before been seen in either living or fossil bees.
An image of the “scape” on one of the bee’s antennae, divided into 2 parts. This bifurcated scape has not seen before, in any known fossil or living bee. The scape is labeled “Sc” and appears divided into 2 branches, with 1 side ending as a small spur, labeled “S.” Other labeled parts are “T” for torulus (basal socket joint that allows antenna movement), “R” for radicle (antenna joint attached to the head), and “P” for pedicle (antenna segment that creates an elbow-like joint with the scape).
The fossil record of bees is pretty vast, but most are from the last 65 million years and look a lot like modern bees. Fossils like the one in this study can tell us about the changes certain wasp lineages underwent as they became palynivores, or pollen eaters.
There were pollen grains on the bee, indicating it had visited some flowers not long before it died.
Also present were very young beetle larvae on the bee. These parasitic larvae were not feeding on it, but were hitching a ride from one of the flowers visited by the bee to its nest. At the nest, the parasitic beetle larvae would continue to develop, feeding on bee larvae and the food left by the adult bee.
Microscopic imaging reveals pollen on the bee’s pollen-catching hairs. It had visited flowers shortly before becoming trapped in tree resin.
Additional evidence that the fossil bee had visited flowers are the 21 beetle triungulins – larvae – in the same piece of amber that were hitching a ride back to the bee’s nest to dine on bee larvae and their provisions, food left by the female.
It is certainly possible that the large number of triungulins caused the bee to accidently fly into the resin.
One of the young larval beetles. Poinar counted a total of 21 larvae on this bee. These larvae are carried by the adult bee from a flower to the nest, where the larvae parasitize bee larvae and eat the food collected by the adult bee.
Bottom line:A bee that lived during the age of dinosaurs became entombed in tree resin about 100 million years ago. It was identified as a species new to science, and is the only known fossil bee encased in amber to carry parasitic beetle larvae and pollen.
A secretive group who spent four years tunnelling into the side of a country road in search of a mythical race of pre-Polynesian giants' skeletons have called off their dig.
But one of the diggers, who has revealed his identity via Facebook, has warned a "reiki protection is on the cave dig".
The diggers have excavated a tunnel bout 14 metres into the hillside.
Photo: Supplied
Last week, RNZ revealed iwi, academics and the landowner were concerned by the anonymous group's dig in the Waikaretu Valley, west of Huntly.
The group say this bone belongs to a giant pre-Polynesian human and could be more than 2500 years old. Experts say it's likely from a moa.
Photo / Supplied
The group, who updated their progress on a blog, were searching for evidence of pre-Polynesian inhabitants of New Zealand.
They believed they had found a bone in the tunnel that belonged to a giant human up to 2500 years old.
But after viewing photos and a video of the bone, multiple experts told RNZ it likely belonged to a moa.
The dig was done without the consent of the landowner, or consultation with iwi who have tīpuna and taonga buried in the north west Waikato area's limestone caves.
Archaeologist Dr Siân Halcrow expressed concern that the group's fossicking behaviour could damage the archaeological record.
In a blog post on Saturday, the group announced they would abandon the dig, writing that the world will "now never know for sure if this cave was filled by hand specifically to hide some fourteen 8'+ pre-Polynesian skeletons."
In the post, the group said they would focus on three other locations in their search for proof that a race of eight foot humans beat Polynesians to become the first humans in Aotearoa, which they told RNZ would be "the most talked about worldwide story of the millennium."
Today, Rodney Davidson, a reiki practitioner from Northland, confirmed he was involved in the dig.
He posted a warning on Facebook: "Be aware that a Reiki protection is on the cave dig and has been since the start too. It has made it,s [sic] presence felt on at least two occasions to great benefit in fact. Abuse it in anyway and there will be a ' result ' ! I have no control over this so all your choice!"
There is no evidence of human habitation of Aotearoa New Zealand prior to the arrival of Polynesians.
The pervasive myth that an earlier population of Moriori was displaced by Māori has been repeatedly rejected by academics.
The 1916 and 1946 editions of the School Journal taught generations of school children many myths about Moriori. They include that they were wiped-out by Māori during an 1835 invasion, and that they were conquered due to their inferiority.
A true account of the history of the iwi is about to be entrenched in law.
Other alternative histories suggest that prior to the arrival of Polynesians, the country was settled by Egyptians, Celts, Greeks, Chinese, Melanesians, or Phoenicians.
Halcrow said "conspiracy theories" about the settlement of New Zealand by non-Polynesians were "grounded in racist ideologies."
She raised concerns about the number of people following the group's blog, saying, "It does really highlight what some New Zealanders think, in terms of pre-Māori conspiracy theories, with really racist undertones. It's not grounded in fact, so people should be aware."
Eru Whare of Ngāti Taahinga, chairman of Pukerewa Marae which is near where the group was digging, said, "I wouldn't put it down to racism. I think it would be a lack of education and understanding of cultural values."
"It's very hard for our people to try and decipher why people would do such things. And whether they are looking for, you know, big giants or moas. I mean I can understand... But for guys just going in there without any consultation. Well, that's something else. That's a pretty disturbing approach."
University of Waikato teaching fellow Dr M Dentith, who studies conspiracy theory, fake news, and secrecy, said theories about pre-Polynesian inhabitants of New Zealand were often used to make some variation of the claim, "'Well, if white people were here first, then the Treaty is null and void', or 'We did to Māori only what they did to our distant ancestors'".
“(The world will) now never know for sure if this cave was filled by hand specifically to hide some fourteen 8’+ pre-Polynesian skeletons.”
There’s a mini war of sorts underway in New Zealand over … giants! A reporter for Radio New Zealand (RNZ) has brought to light a hunt that has been underway for some time for evidence of giants that the searchers believe lived on the island prior to the Polynesians who arrived between 1250 and 1300 and developed the Māori culture. The group calls itself Tangata Whenua (Māori for “people of the land”) and, according to its website, has been secretly digging (often at night) a cave or tunnel since 2016 in the Waikato region in northern New Zealand for evidence of the 8-foot tall giants that they believe have been found before in 16 locations. The website states that the group knows of four of these sites and, earlier this month, they found what they claim is part of a femur from what would have been a being 7’10” to 8’4″ tall and lived 2500 years ago. (You can read the account and see a photo here.)
“But after viewing photos and a video of the bone, multiple experts told RNZ it likely belonged to a moa.”
Moa
RNZ reporter Susan Strongman has been reporting on the secret dig that has annoyed the landowner, who says they never asked permission, and archeologists and indigenous people, who say the hunters are not archeologists and risk harming historical artifacts and human remains. Strongman raised the heat on the group by revealing the name of one member — Rodney Davidson, a reiki practitioner from Northland. In a response on the group website and on his Facebook page, he defended the hunt, criticized Strongman and admitted that the group has stopped looking in that area, so no one will ever know for sure in the cave has giant skeletons in it. He said they will continue their clandestine searches in the other caves whose locations are apparently still secret.
“Be aware that a Reiki protection is on the cave dig and has been since the start too. It has made it,s [sic] presence felt on at least two occasions to great benefit in fact. Abuse it in anyway and there will be a ‘ result ‘ ! I have no control over this so all your choice!”
Along with the warning that a reiki aura or shield is protecting the cave, Davidson also gave out her twitter and email addresses for his supporters to send their responses – supporters whose numbers he claims have risen since she broke the story.
Meanwhile, experts like Otago University associate professor of bioarchaeology Dr Siân Halcrow agree that the bone is probably from a moa (a large extinct flightless bird resembling the emu), there is no evidence of any humans or human-like species of any size on New Zealand prior to the Māori (thus, no evidence that the Māori killed them off – a popular but unproven theory), and any searches for pre-Polynesian giants are disconcerting.
“It does really highlight what some New Zealanders think, in terms of pre-Māori conspiracy theories, with really racist undertones. It’s not grounded in fact, so people should be aware.”
Māori
Archaeologist Sian Keith told RNZ that archeologists seek evidence and are passionate and thorough, so talk of coverups and secrecy in his field are upsetting. That may be true among his own colleagues, but there are plenty of stories from Egypt, Central America and other archeology sites that would disagree.
As with any war of words, deep-seated beliefs, secrecy, conspiracy theories and conflicting information, this one is far from over.
KLIMAATVERANDERING: ZOU DE ZON DE BOOSDOENER KUNNEN ZIJN?
KLIMAATVERANDERING: ZOU DE ZON DE BOOSDOENER KUNNEN ZIJN?
Caroline Kraaijvanger
De aarde warmt op. En volgens sommigen is dat het resultaat van de zonne-activiteit. Is dat denkbaar?
In de jaren zeventig ontdekt paleo-ecoloog Bas van Geel in een veenkolom uit Engbertsdijksveen een klimaatomslag. Veen dat ten tijde van het Subboreaal onder relatief droge omstandigheden was gegroeid, maakte ten tijde van het Subatlanticum (ca. 800 voor Christus) plaats voor veen dat onder zeer natte omstandigheden was ontstaan. De oorzaak bleef onbekend. Tot het eind van de twintigste eeuw. Dan ontdekt Van Geel dat de klimaatomslag samenvalt met een plotselinge afname in de activiteit van de zon. Een ontdekking die zijn professionele leven verandert. “Ik ontpopte mezelf tot een klimaatscepticus.”
Zonne-activiteit Van Geel is geen klimaatscepticus in de traditionele zin van het woord. Zo ontkent hij zeker niet dat de aarde de laatste eeuw is opgewarmd. Wel betwijfelt hij of de rol die CO2 hierin speelt, werkelijk zo omvangrijk is als momenteel wordt aangenomen. Een deel van de opwarming die nu aan CO2 wordt toegeschreven, is volgens hem namelijk niet te herleiden naar onze uitstoot van dit bekende broeikasgas, maar naar de activiteit van de zon. “Ik denk dat we de rol van de zon onderschatten.”
Activiteit op de zon.
Afbeelding: NASA / GSFC / Solar Dynamics Observatory.
Onze actieve moederster Wie wel eens plaatjes van het oppervlak van de zon heeft gezien, weet dat het er aldaar vurig aan toe kan gaan. Onze moederster kan zonnevlammen genereren en coronale massa-ejecties uitspugen. Kortom: onze zon is actief. Maar de mate van activiteit fluctueert. Daarin is – grofweg – een elf jaar durende cyclus te onderscheiden die gekenmerkt wordt door een zonneminimum (een periode met weinig zonneactiviteit) en een zonnemaximum (een periode met veel zonneactiviteit). “De verschillen tussen de energie die een actieve zon afgeeft en de energie die een inactieve zon afgeeft, zijn niet zo groot,” erkent Van Geel. Sterker nog: ze zijn te klein om de klimaatomslagen – zoals bijvoorbeeld die ten tijde van het Subatlanticum – te kunnen verklaren. “Er moeten dan ook versterkingsmechanismen zijn,” denkt Van Geel. Mechanismen die ervoor zorgen dat het geringe verschil tussen een actieve en inactieve zon toch een enorme impact heeft op ons klimaat. Maar wat voor mechanismen zijn dat dan? Er zijn twee hypothesen, aldus Van Geel. De eerste draait om kosmische straling. “Kosmische straling speelt een rol bij wolkenvorming: watermoleculen condenseren door kosmische straling. Als de zon heel actief is, is er weinig kosmische straling in het zonnestelsel.” En zouden dus minder wolken ontstaan. En omdat wolken zonlicht reflecteren (en het aardoppervlak koelen) zou een actieve zon – met enige vertraging – resulteren in een opwarming van dat aardoppervlak. “En dan is er nog een hypothese waar ik persoonlijk wat meer in geloof. Deze hypothese stelt dat de verschillen tussen de energie van een actieve en de energie van een inactieve zon misschien klein zijn, maar dat de veranderingen in de afgegeven UV-straling wel groot zijn.” Tijdens een zonneminimum neemt de UV-straling afkomstig van de zon sterk af en wordt minder ozon gevormd. En dat merken we op aarde, doordat ozon energie absorbeert en in die hoedanigheid dus gezien kan worden als een broeikasgas. Tijdens een zonneminimum wordt er minder van gegenereerd en koelt de aarde dus af.
Een kritische blik op de versterkingsmechanismen “Al achttien jaar proberen we een manier te vinden waarop de vrij kleine waargenomen solaire variaties van de afgelopen dertig jaar versterkt kunnen worden,” vertelt professor Werner Schmutz, directeur van het Physikalisch-Metorologisches Observatorium in Davos, aan Scientias.nl. “Fluctuaties in de hoeveelheid UV-straling die van invloed zijn op ozon in de stratosfeer lijken daarbij het meest veelbelovend.” Maar de hamvraag is natuurlijk: oefent een actieve zon via ozon daadwerkelijk invloed uit op ons klimaat? Schmutz en collega’s zochten dat in 2013 uit en moesten in het resulterende paper concluderen dat het vermeende versterkingsmechanisme eigenlijk geen naam mocht hebben. Oefent de zonne-activiteit dan misschien een effect uit op ons klimaat via kosmische straling? De hypothese klonk professor Terence Sloan, verbonden aan de University of Lancaster, plausibel in de oren. En dus besloot hij dat in 2008 eens uit te zoeken. Het leidde tot een serie papers, waarvan het laatste deel in 2013 gepubliceerd werd. “We ontdekten dat het effect te klein was om te detecteren,” zo vertelt Sloan aan Scientias.nl. “En dus sprake was van een verwaarloosbaar effect op de opwarming van de aarde.” De benodigde, hypothetische versterkingsmechanismen lijken in recente studies dus geen stand te houden.
“DE ZON KAN ZEER ZEKER UITGESLOTEN WORDEN ALS DE OORZAAK VAN DE OPWARMING DIE DE AARDE IN DE LAATSTE VIJFTIG JAAR HEEFT DOORGEMAAKT”
Stralingssterkte Speelt de zonne-activiteit dan helemaal geen rol in het klimaat? Zover willen de meeste onderzoekers ook weer niet gaan. Schmutz grijpt opnieuw terug op zijn studie uit 2013 die het versterkingsmechanisme omtrent UV-straling en ozon praktisch van tafel veegde, maar wel enige invloed van de zon op het klimaat bespeurde. “Als de zon inderdaad, zoals wij vermoeden, van invloed is, dan lijkt dat aan het einde van al onze studies simpelweg toe te schrijven te zijn aan variaties in de totale stralingssterkte van de zon (dus variaties in de hoeveelheid energie die de zon afgeeft).” Die fluctuaties in de intensiteit van het zonlicht dat de aarde bereikt, zijn klein. En het Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change stelt dan ook dat recente zonne-activiteit geen noemenswaardige impact heeft gehad op het klimaat. Schmutz is het daarmee eens. “De zon kan zeer zeker uitgesloten worden als de oorzaak van de opwarming die de aarde in de laatste vijftig jaar heeft doorgemaakt, omdat de stralingssterkte stabiel was. En als we wat verder inzoomen, zien we zelfs dat de stralingssterkte sinds de jaren veertig ietsje is afgenomen en in de huidige elf jaar durende cyclus zelfs heel duidelijk is afgenomen.” Vandaar dat klimaatmodellen de huidige opwarming ook niet kunnen reproduceren als ze onze uitstoot van broeikasgassen buiten beschouwing laten en zich alleen laten leiden door natuurlijke fluctuaties, zoals veranderingen in de zonne-activiteit.
Het verleden en de toekomst Maar hoe zit het dan met die opmerkelijke perioden in het verleden, zoals het Maunder Minimum (1645-1715)? Een tijdvak waarin de zonne-activiteit uitzonderlijk laag was, net als de temperatuur op aarde? “Er was een minimale zonne-activiteit in de zeventiende eeuw en die viel samen met een historisch koude periode waarin zelfs de rivier The Theems bevroor,” vertelt Sloan. “Maar niemand kan je vertellen waarom een afname in zonnevlekken een koude periode op aarde veroorzaakt.” “We hebben eigenlijk alleen in het verleden maar goede correlaties gezien tussen zonne-activiteit en een dalende temperatuur,” voegt Schmutz toe. “Aangezien we de stralingssterkte van de zon pas sinds 1978 vanuit de ruimte meten, beslaan onze observaties nog maar een korte tijd. En in die tijd is de zon niet veel veranderd, in ieder geval duidelijk niet genoeg om van invloed te kunnen zijn op het klimaat. En dat betekent dat er op dit moment twee mogelijkheden zijn. De eerste: de zon heeft in ongeveer dertig jaar het volledige scala aan mogelijke variaties laten zien. In dat geval moet de zon uitgesloten worden als een drijvende kracht achter historische klimaatveranderingen.” Een andere optie is dat we in deze dertig jaar – een tijdvak van niks, als je spreekt over een ster die al 4,5 miljard jaar meegaat – eigenlijk nog niets gezien hebben en de zon op grotere tijdschalen tot veel grotere variaties in staat is. “Dan is de zon de belangrijkste verdachte op het gebied van historische klimaatveranderingen.” In andere woorden: op lange termijn zou de zonne-activiteit dus wel een effect kunnen hebben op het klimaat. Maar in welke mate, is onduidelijk. Schmutz en collega’s verkenden dat heikele vraagstuk recent in dit onderzoeksproject. Op basis van modellen – die speculatief van aard zijn en ervan uitgaan dat ons een periode van sterk verminderde zonne-activiteit te wachten staat “Niemand weet zeker of de zon de komende 50 tot 100 jaar in een Grand Minimum belandt, maar we verwachten het” – voorspellen ze dat de zon er de komende eeuw voor kan zorgen dat de temperatuur op aarde 0,5 graden lager uitvalt dan het geval zou zijn als de zonne-activiteit niet sterk zou verminderen. “Als hun model klopt, kan die 0,5 graad afkoeling de effecten van broeikasgassen verminderen,” merkt Sloan op. Maar wederom kan de zon niet het verschil maken. Want de door menselijk handelen aangedreven opwarming van de aarde gaat aanzienlijk sneller dan de voorspelde en zeer speculatieve afkoeling die de zon zou kunnen veroorzaken. Als we niks doen, zitten we aan het eind van de rit dus – ongeacht of de zon nu voor een beetje verkoeling zorgt of niet – met een planeet die enigszins over de kook is.
Van Geel wacht ondertussen rustig de komende jaren af. “De zonneactiviteit loopt nu terug en de vraag is: wat doet het klimaat? Ik denk echt dat we richting afkoeling gaan.” En als dat niet zo is? “Dan heb ik ongelijk en ben ik dom geweest. Maar als ik twijfelde, zou ik niet naar buiten treden.” Sloan en Schmutz zien het op basis van hun onderzoek allemaal heel anders. Het feit dat de aarde opwarmt, kunnen we volgens hen niet afschuiven op de zon. Als de zon al een rol speelt, dan is deze nihil in vergelijking met de rol die onze eigen activiteit speelt. Tegelijkertijd sluiten de onderzoekers nog niet uit dat de zon op lange termijn wel impact kan hebben op het aardse klimaat. Maar hoe dan precies en in welke mate: dat blijft voorlopig in nevelen gehuld. Het lijkt voor het klimaatdebat allemaal niet zo heel relevant, zo benadrukt Schmutz. “Het is in mijn optiek onmogelijk dat huidige, natuurlijke effecten de invloed van ons mensen domineren.”
Bronmateriaal:
Interviews met Bas van Geel, Werner Schmutz en Terence Sloan Afbeelding bovenaan dit artikel: PublicDomainPictures / Pixabay
NASA geeft toe dat de klimaatverandering natuurlijk is en veroorzaakt wordt door de zon
NASA geeft toe dat de klimaatverandering natuurlijk is en veroorzaakt wordt door de zon
Al meer dan 60 jaar weet de National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) dat veranderingen in de weersomstandigheden op de planeet volkomen natuurlijk en normaal zijn. Maar het ruimteagentschap heeft, om welke reden dan ook, besloten om de zogenaamde door de mens veroorzaakte opwarmingszwendel te laten voortbestaan en zich te laten verspreiden, ten koste van de menselijke vrijheid.
Activiteit op de zon.
Afbeelding: NASA / GSFC / Solar Dynamics Observatory.
Het was in 1958, om precies te zijn, toen NASA voor het eerst opmerkte dat veranderingen in de zonnebaan van de aarde en veranderingen in de helling van de aarde verantwoordelijk waren voor wat klimaatwetenschappers vandaag de dag “opwarming” (of “afkoeling”, afhankelijk van hun agenda) noemen. Met andere woorden, op geen enkele manier verwarmt of koelt de mens de planeet door verbrandingsmotor-voertuigen te rijden of rundvlees te eten.
In 2000 publiceerde NASA op zijn website van het Earth Observatory informatie over de klimaattheorie van Milankovich, waaruit blijkt dat de planeet in werkelijkheid door externe factoren veranderd die absoluut niets met menselijke activiteiten te maken hebben. Maar ook deze informatie is na 19 jaar nog steeds niet in de mainstream media terechtgekomen en daarom beweren “klimaatbeschermers” nu dat we eigenlijk nog maar 18 maanden of 12 jaar over hebben voordat de planeet sterft aan een overschot aan kooldioxide (CO2).
Maar de waarheid is veel meer in overeenstemming met wat de Servische astrofysicus Miloetin Milankovitsj, naar wie de klimaattheorie van Milankovitsj is genoemd, heeft gesuggereerd over hoe de seizoensgebonden en latitudinale variaties in zonnestraling, die de aarde op verschillende manieren en in verschillende tijden raken, de grootste invloed hebben op de veranderende klimaatpatronen van de aarde.
De volgende twee afbeeldingen (door Robert Simmon, NASA GSFC) helpen dit illustreren, de eerste toont de Aarde in een baan dicht bij nul (Excentriciteit: van excentrisch, afwijkend van het centrum) en de tweede toont de Aarde in een baan van 0,07. Deze orbitale verandering wordt weergegeven door de excentrische, ovale vorm in het tweede beeld, die opzettelijk is overdreven om de massale verandering in de afstand tussen de aarde en de zon te laten zien, afhankelijk van of het in het perihelium of het aphelium is.
“Zelfs de maximale excentriciteit van de baan van de aarde – 0,07 – zou niet representatief zijn bij de resolutie van een website”, merkt de Hal Turner Radio Show op.
“Desalniettemin, bij de huidige excentriciteit van 0,017 in het perihelium, is de aarde vijf miljoen kilometer dichter bij de zon dan in het aphelium.”
De grootste factor die het klimaat op aarde beïnvloedt is de zon
Wat betreft de helling van de aarde of de verandering in de axiale helling, laten de twee onderstaande afbeeldingen (Robert Simmon, NASA GSFC) zien hoeveel de aarde kan verschuiven, zowel op haar as als rond haar rotatieoriëntatie. Bij hogere neigingen worden de seizoenen van de aarde veel extremer, terwijl ze bij lagere neigingen veel milder worden. Op dezelfde manier kan de draaias van de aarde een sterke invloed hebben op de seizoensgebonden extremen tussen de twee hemisferen, afhankelijk van welke hemisfeer in het perihelium is uitgelijnd met de Zon.
Er moet worden vermeld dat “klimaat” in het Nederlands “gesteldheid” betekent. Het woord is gekozen omdat de hele dagzijde van de aarde gelijkelijk door de zon wordt bestraald, maar de opwarming hangt uitsluitend af van de invalshoek, de helling van de stralen ten opzichte van het aardoppervlak. Op de warme evenaar is de hoek ongeveer 90%; op de koude polen is hij veel vlakker.
Milankowitsch was in staat om uit deze verschillende variabelen een uitgebreid wiskundig model te ontwikkelen dat de oppervlaktetemperaturen op de aarde ver terug in de tijd kan berekenen, en de conclusie is eenvoudig: het klimaat op aarde is altijd al aan het veranderen geweest en is in een staat van constante verandering, zonder onze tussenkomst als mens.
Toen Milankovitsj zijn model voor het eerst presenteerde, werd het bijna een halve eeuw lang genegeerd. Vervolgens, in 1976, bevestigde een studie in het tijdschrift Science dat de theorie van Milankovich inderdaad juist was en dat deze overeenkwam met verschillende perioden van klimaatverandering die zich in de loop van de geschiedenis hebben voorgedaan.
In 1982, zes jaar na de publicatie van deze studie, accepteerde de National Research Council van de Amerikaanse National Academy of Sciences de theorie van Milankovich als reëel en verklaarde deze waar:
“… orbitale variaties blijven het meest grondig bestudeerde mechanisme van klimaatverandering op tijdschalen van tienduizenden jaren en zijn veruit het duidelijkste geval van een direct effect van veranderende zonnestraling op de lagere atmosfeer van de aarde.”
Als we het geheel in één simpele zin zouden moeten samenvatten, zou het zo zijn: De grootste factor die het weer- en klimaatpatroon op aarde beïnvloedt is de zon, of beter gezegd de periode van de zon. Afhankelijk van de positie van de aarde ten opzichte van de centrale ster op een bepaald moment, zullen de klimaatomstandigheden dramatisch variëren en zelfs drastische anomalieën veroorzaken die alles wat mensen dachten te weten over hoe de aarde werkt op de proef stellen.
Maar in plaats van dit feit te accepteren, dringen de huidige klimaat “wetenschappers”, samen met de linkse, en steeds meer rechtse politici, en natuurlijk de massamedia, erop aan dat niet-herbruikbare boodschappentassen in de supermarkt en geen elektrische voertuigen de planeet snel zullen vernietigen, en dat we absoluut een globale klimaatbelasting als oplossing moeten invoeren.
“Het klimaatdebat gaat niet over wetenschap. Het is een poging om de bevolking politiek en economisch te controleren door de elite”, schrijft een commentator op de Hal Turner Radio Show.
“En het is een andere manier om de bevolking te verdelen tegen zichzelf, waarbij sommigen geloven in de door de mens veroorzaakte opwarming van de aarde en anderen niet geloven, dat wil zeggen verdeel en heers.”
Het lijkt erop dat de woorden “opwarming van de aarde” onlangs zijn vervangen door “klimaatverandering”, en degenen die niet geloven in, of twijfelen over het verband tussen “klimaatverandering” en “kooldioxide” worden “klimaatontkenners” genoemd, wat naar mijn mening een heel slecht gekozen woord is, omdat ik denk dat niemand ontkent dat er een klimaat is. De … Meer lezen over Een nieuwe studie toont aan dat de klimaatverandering niet afhankelijk is van de menselijke CO2-uitstoot
The above graph compares global surface temperature changes (red line) and the Sun's energy received by the Earth (yellow line) in watts (units of energy) per square meter since 1880. The lighter/thinner lines show the yearly levels while the heavier/thicker lines show the 11-year average trends. Eleven-year averages are used to reduce the year-to-year natural noise in the data, making the underlying trends more obvious.
The amount of solar energy received by the Earth has followed the Sun’s natural 11-year cycle of small ups and downs with no net increase since the 1950s. Over the same period, global temperature has risen markedly. It is therefore extremely unlikely that the Sun has caused the observed global temperature warming trend over the past half-century.
Canadian paleontologists have identified a new tyrannosaur species, identified from fossils found in southern Alberta. It’s a large bipedal carnivorous dinosaur that lived about 79 million years ago, making it the oldest known tyrannosaur in northern North America (the previous record holder was aged at 77 million years). Details about this new dinosaur and its evolutionary relationship to other tyrannosaurs were published in the journal Cretaceous Research.
John De Groot, a farmer and amateur paleontologist, found the creature’s fossilized jawbone in 2010 while he was hiking along the Bow River shoreline near the town of Hays, about 120 miles (200 km) southeast of Calgary. It had fallen to the ground from a nearby cliff. In a statement from the Royal Tyrrell Museum, De Groot said:
The jawbone was an absolutely stunning find. We knew it was special because you could clearly see the fossilized teeth.
John De Groot holding casts of Thanatotheristes degrootorum‘s jaw bones. The new dinosaur species was named after him.
Scientists named the new tyrannosaur Thanatotheristes degrootorum. They picked a genus name apt for an apex predator, Thanatotheristes, after Thanatos, the Greek god of death, and theristes, which means one who reaps or harvests.
The dinosaur’s species name, degrootorum, was in honor of John De Groot. Sandra De Groot, his wife, commented:
John always said that one day he would find a dinosaur skull. Finding the jaw was exciting. Hearing that it is a new species, and seeing it given our family name, was beyond belief.
The fossils – pieces of the tyrannosaur’s skull and its upper and lower jaw bone – stayed tucked away in a drawer at the Royal Tyrrell Museum, in Drumheller, Alberta, until the spring of 2019. That’s when University of Calgary’s Jared Voris began to study it.
In a statement from the University of Calgary, Voris, the paper’s lead author, said:
We found features of the skull that had not been seen before in other tyrannosaurs. The fossil has several physical features, including ridges along the upper jaw, which clearly distinguishes it as being from a new species.
Voris thinks that Thanatotheristes was about 26 feet (8 meters) in length, and likely preyed on large plant-eating dinosaurs like Xenoceratops and Colepiocephale.
Vertical ridges along the length of Thanatotheristes degrootorum‘s upper jaw indicated that it was a new tyrannosaur species.
When most people think of tyrannosaurs, it’s the iconic Tyrannosaurus rex that springs to mind. T. rex is engrained in our popular culture, in books and movies, toys and artwork, and lately, in people who run around in inflatable T. rex suits. T. rex lived in present day western North America, around 68 to 66 million years ago. But there are other tyrannosaur species as well, identified from fossils in North America, and paleontologists are trying to understand their evolutionary story.
In their study, the scientists found that Thanatotheristes degrootorum was closely related to two other tyrannosaur species, Daspletosaurustorosus and Daspletosaurus horneri. This trio had common skull features: they had deeper longer snouts and more teeth in their upper jaws than their southern relatives which Voris described as having shorter, bulldog-like faces.
The scientists think that differences in tyrannosaur species – in body shape and size – are adaptations to their environment. Voris said:
Some species are better suited to certain environments. This reduces competition and gives species a better chance at survival.
The next step is to test that hypothesis further and compare how tyrannosaur species from various geological regions differed.
Artist’s depiction of Thanatotheristes degrootorum.
Image via Julius Csotonyi.
Bottom line:Scientists have identified a new tyrannosaur species, Thanatotheristes degrootorum, from fossils found in southern Alberta, Canada. It lived about 79 million years ago, making it the oldest known tyrannosaur in northern North America.
What is this mystery skull found on a Lincolnshire beach? ( Supplied )
A mysterious skull which appears to have no eye sockets has washed up on a beach in Lincolnshire sparking debate as to what kind of animal it might have belonged to.
The skull, which was discovered at the Gibraltar Point National Nature Reserve, was found by a woman who was walking her dog and picking up litter, according to the Lincolnshire Echo.
When she found the grisly specimen she reportedly “couldn’t believe her eyes”.
“I think it's definitely a washed up seal skull that's been bashed about by the tide,” the woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, said.
“The top part of the jaw is missing and the bottom jaw is out of place by the looks of it.”
She posted photographs of the grisly remains online, with several people trying to work out what it was.
Initial inquiries by The Independent included the suggestion from a London veterinarian that the skull could be the remains of a brachycephalic dog, such as a French bulldog or a pug, which have flat faces and short snouts.
They said from the photographs the creature appeared to have canines, indicating it was from a carnivorous animal. The lack of any discernible eye sockets, led to the suggestion it could have been a malformed puppy.
The plot thickened as the vet said the reddening of the skull could be due to haemorrhage which would suggest evidence of a head trauma, but she also noted the reddening of the skull can also happen after death if the body is left lying on one side so the blood pools.
However, the plot then thinned somewhat after experts from the Natural History Museum and the Grant Museum positively identified the specimen.
The mystery skull (Supplied)
The mystery animal from the sea is none other than a common seal.
A spokesperson for the Natural History Museum said: “According to our principal curator of mammals, Richard Sabin, it is a seal skull and it is missing the front part of the skull which holds the upper dentition.
“According to Richard, it’s tricky to identify species from the single photograph online, but the shape of the check teeth appears consistent with the common seal, Phoca vitulina. Common seals are known to occur at Gibraltar Point.”
Experts at UCL’s Grant museum concurred. Zoology curator Tannis Davidson said: "I’ve taken a look at this and its looks like a seal skull: Phoca vitulina.
“The front of the cranium is broken so only the posterior part of the orbit is visible with lack of post-orbital processes suggesting that it is a seal rather than a dog."
She added: “The alignment of the teeth in the mandible are typical of Phoca vitulina as well as the dental morphology.”
The woman who found the skull told The Independent: “I was litterpicking and just walking my dog on the beach. I do a lot of regular litterpicks.
“I suspected it was a seal skull and it does appear to be one.”
She added: “It's quite common for bones and strange things to wash up on our coast just not every day you find a seal skull but loads do get washed up.”
Evidence of an unknown species of human ancestor has been found hiding in the DNA of West African people.
Experts made the finding by analysing the human genome, looking for strings of genetic information that were out of place.
This revealed an inheritance of markers from an unidentified human-like species, some of which may be of benefit to their descendants - including one which suppresses the development of tumours.
Researchers believe an ancient species of hominin, known as Homo heidelbergensis, may be the most likely candidate for the 'ghost' species.
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Mysterious evidence of an unknown species of human ancestor has been found hiding in the DNA of West African people. Homo heidelbergensis (artist's model) was an early human ancestor that experts believe may be the most likely candidate
The finding was made by Arun Durvasula and Sriram Sankararaman, researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles.
They devised a statistical method able to highlight abnormal genetic code without needing the genome of the species it was inherited from.
This bypasses the need for DNA extracted from extinct African hominins as a basis of comparison.
The hotter and wetter climate on the African continent tends to destroy any preserved DNA, unlike samples of human-like species the Neanderthals and Densiovans uncovered in Europe and Asia.
The statistical technique was applied to the DNA of 50 modern Yoruba who had their genetic information sequenced as part of the 1,000 Genomes Project.
This established that roughly eight per cent of their DNA comes from a yet unknown 'ghost' species.
Ancestor species like the Neanderthals and Denisovans have been ruled out of the equation, as we already have their DNA and there is no evidence to suggest they lived in Africa. The journey of Neanderthals and the evolution of Homo sapiens was intertwined for thousands of years
While Homo sapiens may be the only hominin species alive today, tens of thousands of years ago the planet was home to a variety of human and protohuman species.
As the result of interspecies breeding, some of these species' DNA has been passed down to modern humans.
Traces of Neanderthal DNA are still found in people of non-African descent and Denisovan DNA lives on in people of Asian heritage.
Researchers also learned in 2016 that the DNA of an unknown population of archaic hominins continues to exist in Pacific Island peoples.
The Neanderthals and Denisovans have been ruled out of the equation, as we already have their DNA and there is no evidence to suggest they lived in Africa.
WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE HUMAN ANCESTOR SPECIES HOMO HEIDELBERGENSIS?
Homo heidelbergensis lived in Africa, Europe and western Asia between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago.
It was an early human ancestor that went extinct long before modern humans migrated to Eurasia from Africa.
Hundreds of thousands of years ago, the ancestors of modern humans diverged from a lineage that gave rise to Neanderthals and Denisovans.
Research published by scientists from the University of Utah in August 2017 now suggests that Neanderthals and Denisovans diverged from each other around 744,000 years ago - around 300,000 earlier than previously believed.
This implies that Homo heidelbergensis may have been an early Neanderthal.
Researchers have previously suggested that, between 400,000 and 300,000 years ago, a group of heidelbergensis migrated into Europe and West Asia via yet unknown routes and eventually evolved into Neanderthals
Homo heidelbergensis' evolutionary tree has largely baffled scientists due to scarce fossil records.
The similarity between Neanderthal, Homo heidelbergensis and Homo sapien fossils means researchers previously thought heidelbergensis fossils were simply variants of Homo sapiens.
Modern-day pygmies, who may have interbred with the Yoruba people have also been eliminated from the process, as their DNA has been sequenced and it is not a match.
A small-brained hominin that could be found roaming around the South African plains 250,000 years ago, Homo naledi, is a possible but unlikely contender.
Researchers believe they were too different from us genetically to be able to mate and reproduce successfully
'I would be amazed if there was anything of them in us,' said Mark Thomas of University College London, who was not involved in the study, speaking to New Scientist about the finding.
Experts made the fining thanks to a statistical method which is able to highlight abnormal genetic code without needing the genome of the species it was inherited from. This established that 8% of Yoruba DNA comes from a yet unknown 'ghost' species
Homo heidelbergensis was a more advanced hominin living in Africa around 200,000 years ago and a more probable candidate.
It could also be that the mystery DNA came from an isolated group of Homo sapiens or population of hominins that are as yet unknown to researchers.
Whatever the answer turns out to be, the study is a reminder that our species did not emerge from a single founding population, Professor Thomas told New Scientist
The full findings of the study are available in a paper published in the online print repository bioRxiv.
WHEN DID HUMAN ANCESTORS FIRST EMERGE?
The timeline of human evolution can be traced back millions of years. Experts estimate that the family tree goes as such:
55 million years ago - First primitive primates evolve
15 million years ago - Hominidae (great apes) evolve from the ancestors of the gibbon
7 million years ago - First gorillas evolve. Later, chimp and human lineages diverge
A recreation of a Neanderthal man is pictured
5.5 million years ago - Ardipithecus, early 'proto-human' shares traits with chimps and gorillas
4 million years ago - Ape like early humans, the Australopithecines appeared. They had brains no larger than a chimpanzee's but other more human like features
3.9-2.9 million years ago - Australoipithecus afarensis lived in Africa.
2.7 million years ago - Paranthropus, lived in woods and had massive jaws for chewing
2.6 million years ago - Hand axes become the first major technological innovation
2.3 million years ago - Homo habilis first thought to have appeared in Africa
1.85 million years ago - First 'modern' hand emerges
1.8 million years ago - Homo ergaster begins to appear in fossil record
800,000 years ago- Early humans control fire and create hearths. Brain size increases rapidly
400,000 years ago - Neanderthals first begin to appear and spread across Europe and Asia
300,000 to 200,000 years ago - Homo sapiens - modern humans - appear in Africa
50,000 to 40,000 years ago - Modern humans reach Europe
The 'Ghosts' of 2 Unknown Extinct Human Species Have Been Found in Modern DNA
The 'Ghosts' of 2 Unknown Extinct Human Species Have Been Found in Modern DNA
MICHELLE STARR
When modern humans started emerging from Africa and spreading throughout Eurasia, they found many places already occupied by older hominins such as Neanderthals and Denisovans. As humans do, we got rather friendly with our new neighbours: evidence of that hanky pankylives on in our DNA today.
But we're also starting to find glimpses of something strange in our neighbourhoods - traces of ancient, unknown hominins that we've never seen before.
"These archaic groups were widespread and genetically diverse, and they survive in each of us. Their story is an integral part of how we came to be."
After closely analysing the existing literature, Teixeira and his colleague biologist Alan Cooper have identified two such 'ghost' ancestors in modern DNA. The first, identified in Eurasian DNA with the help of artificial intelligence, was widely reported earlier this year.
The second, however, was reported last year, a detail that flew under the radar in a larger paper: a mysterious, and inconclusive, genetic signature exclusively found in the population of Flores, Indonesia. It appears to be as divergent from modern human DNA as Neanderthal or Denisovan DNA is.
By carefully analysing these genetic signatures, the biologists have been able to trace when and where these interbreeding events may have occurred.
"For example, all present-day populations show about 2 percent of Neanderthal ancestry," Teixeira said, "which means that Neanderthal mixing with the ancestors of modern humans occurred soon after they left Africa, probably around 50,000 to 55,000 years ago somewhere in the Middle East."
As the modern humans moved farther east, across into islands of Southeast Asia, they seem to have run into more groups.
"At least three other archaic human groups appear to have occupied the area, and the ancestors of modern humans mixed with them before the archaic humans became extinct," Teixeira said.
One of those groups was the Denisovans. The other two remain a mystery.
The first unknown extinct hominin - named EH1 - was roughly genetically equidistant from Denisovans and Neanderthals. The ancestor of all Asian and Australo-Papuan populations bred with EH1, resulting in 2.6 to 3.4 percent shared EH1 ancestry.
(João Teixeira)
It's less strong now, but that genetic signal can still be detected in the DNA of Aboriginal Australians, East Asians and Andaman Islanders. This led the researchers to tentatively conclude that EH1 likely occupied a region in northern India, where a group of modern humans - the migration branch that went on to Asia, Australia and the Papuan islands - encountered them (1 on the map above).
Modern humans also seemed to have interbred with Denisovans in a number of locations, such as East Asia, the Sunda Shelf, and the Philippines (2, 3, and 4 on the map).
Evidence for EH2 - the extinct hominin that interbred with modern humans on Flores - is a little less clear. It only appears in short-statured people that live near Liang Bua Cave - where Homo floriensis was discovered. So it's highly localised, and has somehow remained contained for the roughly 50,000 years since the two groups met (5 on the map).
Further research is obviously required into this phenomenon. But it certainly seems to point to a very tangled human history.
"We knew the story out of Africa wasn't a simple one, but it seems to be far more complex than we have contemplated," Teixeira said.
"The Island Southeast Asia region was clearly occupied by several archaic human groups, probably living in relative isolation from each other for hundreds of thousands of years before the ancestors of modern humans arrived."
Sadly, it also looks like the arrival of modern humans was pretty closely followed by the extinction of the archaic hominins in each area. Talk about being ghosted.
DNA ancestry tests were a popular Christmas gift in 2018 but not so much during the 2019 holidays, according to the latest reports. While the general public (at least in the U.S.) have moved on to the next shiny object (concerned about the privacy and lack of real usefulness of the tests), a group of West Africans who participated in a worldwide genome project searching for evidence of ancient ancestors in modern humans learned that they possess a “ghost DNA” of a mysterious, ancient hominin … one who apparently had a lot of interbreeding relations with the ancestors of modern humans. Could this explain everything? Anything? Will it help sales of DNA tests?
“While introgression from Neanderthals and Denisovans has been documented in modern humans outside Africa, the contribution of archaic hominins to the genetic variation of present-day Africans remains poorly understood. We provide complementary lines of evidence for archaic introgression into four West African populations. Our analyses of site frequency spectra indicate that these populations derive 2 to 19% of their genetic ancestry from an archaic population that diverged before the split of Neanderthals and modern humans.”
In a study published in the journal Science Advances, Sriram Sankararaman, an assistant professor at UCLA in the Computer Science and Human Genetics departments, explains how he and his team examined the genomes of 405 West Africans currently living in Nigeria, Gambia, and Sierra Leone using DNA in collected between 2008 and 2015 as part of the 1,000 Genomes project to find genetic variants with frequencies of at least 1% in the populations studied. While they knew that modern West Africans do not have any Neanderthal or Denisovan ancestry, they were shocked to find a single mysterious ancient hominin whose DNA made up as much as 19% of the genes of those tested.
“We don’t have a clear identity for this archaic group. That’s why we use the term ‘ghost.’ It doesn’t seem to be particularly closely related to the groups from which we have genome sequences from.”
Sankararaman told NPR this interbreeding occurred about 50,000 years ago, after humans and Neanderthals split and the latter left for Europe. The ghost group then split of from humans and did some interbreeding before they disappeared, either becoming extinct or being completely assimilated into the human group. Some of the West Africans tested showed minute percentages of Neanderthal DNA, but the researchers believe this came from later Neanderthals who moved back to Africa or modern humans who have interbred with Neanderthals in Europe and then returned to Africa. That’s a LOT of interbreeding. Does it mean anything?
“Are they just randomly floating in our genomes? Do they have any kind of adaptive benefits? Do they have deleterious consequences? Those are all questions which would be fantastic to start thinking about.”
According to his interview in Inverse, Sankararaman isn’t sure. In fact, he’s uncertain if this was one ghost group or many, nor does he know what happened to them. Unlike the Neanderthals and Denisovans, fossil evidence of these species has not been found – even in fossil-rich Africa where so many remnants of ancient human ancestors have been discovered.
A skull would help
What’s known for certain from this ghost DNA Is that this mysterious group played a big part in the early history of at least four groups of modern West Africans. That’s the kind of information that made DNA testing interesting to begin with.
Would you want to find out your ancestors were a mysterious group that liked to play the ancient field?
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Over mijzelf
Ik ben Pieter, en gebruik soms ook wel de schuilnaam Peter2011.
Ik ben een man en woon in Linter (België) en mijn beroep is Ik ben op rust..
Ik ben geboren op 18/10/1950 en ben nu dus 75 jaar jong.
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