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Scientists can extract surprising information about the past from a grain of bone.
Analysis of ancient DNA extracted from human remains has illuminated the characteristics and ancestors of historical individuals such as a mummified iceman, a Chinese emperor or a legendary composer.
As techniques improve, researchers are taking advantage of this invaluable tool to investigate human remains from multiple burial sites, resulting in large data sets that will help them better understand the dynamics of entire communities.
The results are particularly exciting when applied to the empires of obscure peoples without any written records, such as the Avars.
dig this
Known mainly from accounts of Byzantine enemies, the Avars were formidable horse warriors who suddenly arrived in Central and Eastern Europe in the sixth century.
The origins of the empire and its people remained unclear until a groundbreaking study in April 2022 revealed that they came from the Mongolian steppes.
Now, a new analysis of the unearthed remains of 424 people from cemeteries in Hungary has provided details about Avar family and social life, and how the newcomers interacted with the population of their adopted homeland.
The findings revealed a close-knit population with marriage practices that are not common today.
All Over the Universe
Humanity’s most distant spacecraft has reconnected with Earth. For the first time in five months, NASA engineers received consistent data from Voyager 1.
The probe, now about 15 billion miles (24 billion kilometers) away and 46 years old, has shown numerous quirks and signs of aging in recent years.
The latest problem experienced by Voyager 1 was first revealed in November 2023, when the flight data system’s telemetry modulation unit began sending an undecipherable repeating code pattern.
The fix was the result of clever trial and error and solving the mystery that led the team to a single chip.
month update
The closest flyby of Jupiter’s moon Io in more than 20 years has captured high-resolution images showcasing the celestial body’s volcanic plumes, mountain peaks and a glass-smooth lake of cooling lava.
NASA’s Juno spacecraft, which first arrived to study Jupiter and its moons in 2016, flew within about 930 miles (1,500 kilometers) of the lava world’s surface in December and February to capture the first detailed images of Io’s northern latitudes.
“Io is full of volcanoes, and we caught a few of them in action,” Scott Bolton, Juno’s principal investigator at the Southwest Research Institute, said in a statement.
Bolton described Io as the “tortured moon of Jupiter” because of the brutal forces it regularly encounters.
discoveries
On June 8, 1924, a teammate spotted George Mallory and fellow climber Andrew Irvine from a distance as the men headed for the summit of Mount Everest; no one ever saw them alive again.
But Mallory’s words from the mountain can now be read in their entirety online for the first time. Hundreds of pages of correspondence and other documents written and received by Mallory were recently scanned by Magdalene College, Cambridge, in the United Kingdom, where she studied.
The letters outline Mallory’s meticulous preparations, equipment testing, and his optimism about their future. But the letters also show the dark side of mountaineering: bad weather, health problems, setbacks and doubts.
Days before his disappearance, Mallory wrote in his last letter to his wife, Ruth, dated May 27, 1924, that the odds were “50 to 1 against us.”
Once upon a time a planet
Naturalists have detected the first arrivals of this spring’s historic cicada duo.
The insects will infiltrate a much larger geographic area than similar events in other years because they are part of a simultaneous emergence of two specific periodic cicada broods that have not appeared together since 1803.
More than a dozen states in the South and Midwest will experience the majestic and mysterious natural phenomenon when it is in full swing.
Experts have some tips on what to expect and how to prepare. And more importantly, for those who find cicadas a noisy, anxiety-inducing nuisance, here are the steps to take if you’re not a bug fan.
discoveries
Check out these mind-expanding stories.
— After long delays, Boeing and NASA have decided to hold the historic crewed launch of a new spacecraft.
– Surgeons completed the first transplant combining a mechanical heart pump with a genetically modified pig kidney.
— Which foods contain the most plastic? You may be surprised.
— The Hubble Space Telescope has captured an image of a bright nebula ejected from a dying star that may also show evidence of stellar cannibalism.
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