Archive for August, 2008
New evidence debunks ’stupid’ Neanderthal myth
(University of Exeter) Research by UK and American scientists has struck another blow to the theory that Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis) became extinct because they were less intelligent than our ancestors (Homo sapiens). The research team has shown that early stone tool technologies developed by our species, Homo sapiens, were no more efficient than those used by Neanderthals. Published today in the Journal of Human Evolution, their discovery debunks a textbook belief held by archaeologists for more than 60 years.
Boris Johnson
According to Brand Republic "London Mayor Boris Johnson rambling through his family history on BBC One’s ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’ pulled in 6.8m viewers last Wednesday night to win the prime-time slot, according to unofficial figures.
The second episode of the series, which saw Johnson tracking down his great-grandfather, a radical Turkish journalist, and investigating the supposed French aristocracy of his granny, attracted 28.5% of the 9pm-10pm audience."
Personally I was irritated by Johnson’s faux boyish charm and inability to string a sentence together or indeed use a comb, but everybody else I’ve met thought the episode was fascinating and the Mayor was on good form.
‘We go way back’
Meet Manfred, who claims to have the ultimate family tree
Potential Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s Cure Found In Century-old Drug
A century-old drug, methylene blue, may be able to slow or even cure Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. Used at a very low concentration — about the equivalent of a few raindrops in four Olympic-sized swimming pools of water — the drug slows cellular aging and enhances mitochondrial function, potentially allowing those with the diseases to live longer, healthier lives.
Highs and lows
I was pleased to see that Saturday’s Guardian newspaper had a story based on Chris Pomery’s piece in August’s issue on the abandonment of the General Register Office’s plans to digitise the birth, marriage and death certificates at a cost of £16m. The Guardian story is at http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/aug/16/genealogy.records. Meanwhile Guy Kawaski a partner at Garage Technology Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm, and formerly "chief evangelist of Apple" (the mind boggles at the job description), has contacted me to say that this blog has been added to http://genealogy.alltop.com which is a well laid out list of mainly American genealogical blogs, which was nice. Incidentally we have a survey of genealogical blogs and podcasts in the October issue on sale on 4 September – reserve your copy now. But of course there always has to be downside. I was checking out the new search engine cuil (pronounced cool) at http://www.cuil.com and typed in "Simon Fowler" as one does. The result caused consternation in the Ancestors’ office. Try it for yourself: look at the photograph next to a link to an article in Wikipedia. Joking aside it is an interesting attempt to rival Google.
Ratings gold
According to Digitalspy website: "The return of celebrity genealogy series Who Do You Think You Are? was ratings gold for the BBC last night (Wednesday 13 August). The first episode of a new eight-part series, which saw actress Patsy Kensit investigate her villainous ancestry, brought in 6.85m (29.9%) to BBC One in the 9pm hour. The figure is up on the 4.05m (19.1%) who watched Crimewatch in the same slot last week and is also an improvement on the 6.5m (29.5%) for the debut of the last series in September 2007." I enjoyed the programme, and as I know a bit about criminal and military records, I was particularly impressed with the research which turned up Ms Kensit’s ancestors. However, I didn’t realise how emotional genealogy is because she kept breaking into tears. Is this a regular occurence in the reading rooms?
Humans Implicated In Prehistoric Animal Extinctions With New Evidence
Scientists sheds new light on the role that our ancestors played in the extinction of Australia’s prehistoric animals. Their study suggests that the mass extinction of Tasmania’s large prehistoric animals was the result of human hunting, and not climate change as previously believed.
New evidence implicates humans in prehistoric animal extinctions
(University of Exeter) Research led by UK and Australian scientists sheds new light on the role that our ancestors played in the extinction of Australia’s prehistoric animals. Their study suggests that the mass extinction of Tasmania’s large prehistoric animals was the result of human hunting, and not climate change as previously believed.
DNA defense
Immune cell expels its mitochondrial DNA to keep invaders at bay
Friday, August 8
Scientists have sequenced mitochondrial DNA taken from a 38,000-year-old Neanderthal bone. “For the first time, we’ve built a sequence from ancient DNA that is essentially without error,” said Richard Green of the Max-Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
Who would win the most Olympic events: Homo sapiens, Neanderthals, or Australopithecus afarensis?
The fourteenth-century palace of the governor of [...]