Africans are more genetically diverse than the inhabitants of the rest of the world combined, according to a sweeping study that carried researchers into remote regions to sample the bloodlines of more than 100 distinct populations.
The report, published yesterday in the journal Science Express, suggests that, because of historical migrations and genetic mixing across the continent, it will be hard for African Americans to trace their ancestry in fine detail. African American genealogies are increasingly popular and commercialized, but the authors of the new study cast doubt on how precise such searches can be, given the complexity of the genetic makeup of Africans.
Science & Technology
© Ryan Hanyok and the NSWC photographic team led by Peter Congedo.
Orion mockup, used for tests of ocean splashdowns. Orion was originally expected to be capable of coming down on dry land.
Orion mockup, used for tests of ocean splashdowns. Orion was originally expected to be capable of coming down on dry land.
Gina Sunseri, reporting for us from Houston, sends the following note:
"Weight limitations have forced NASA to limit seating on the Orion Capsule from six astronauts to four. Orion will eventually replace the space shuttle -- the shuttle quits flying next year and there will probably be a five year gap before Orion, its replacement, is ready.
© NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Smithsonian Institution/Carnegie Institution of Washington
The Rembrandt impact basin was discovered by MESSENGER during its second flyby of Mercury in October 2008. Images show that the Rembrandt basin is remarkably well preserved.
The Rembrandt impact basin was discovered by MESSENGER during its second flyby of Mercury in October 2008. Images show that the Rembrandt basin is remarkably well preserved.
The photos show a giant impact crater that spans a length equivalent to the distance between Washington, D.C., and Boston.
MESSENGER (MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging spacecraft) made its second close-approach flyby of Mercury in October 2008, after being launched in 2004. The spacecraft is the first to visit the diminutive planet since the Mariner 10 spacecraft's sojourn in the 1970s.
Until recently, scientists say the closest planet to the sun remained the least understood of the four terrestrial planets - Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. For a long time it was thought to be very similar to Earth's moon in composition, since both worlds have a similar gray, pockmarked appearance.
© UCLA/ETC
Digital recreation shows what Karnak probably looked like in ancient times.
Digital recreation shows what Karnak probably looked like in ancient times.
The result is Digital Karnak, a high-tech model that runs in real time and allows users to navigate 2,000 years of history at the popular ancient Egyptian tourist site near modern-day Luxor, where generations of pharaohs constructed temples, chapels, obelisks, sphinxes, shrines and other sacred structures beginning in the 20th century B.C.
Developed by UCLA's Experiential Technologies Center - which has helped pioneer the digital reconstruction of historical sites, including the innovative Rome Reborn, released in 2006 - the Karnak model and a host of additional digital resources are now available for educators, students, scholars and the public to explore for free HERE.
© Kari Britt Schroeder/UC Davis
A distinct DNA signature was found among all but one of the populations shown as points 32 to 53 on this map. (The Fox tribe, point 48, was the exception. But DNA samples of only 2 people were tested, too few to provide a valid result.) The signature was absent in all Asian groups sampled, points 1-32.
A distinct DNA signature was found among all but one of the populations shown as points 32 to 53 on this map. (The Fox tribe, point 48, was the exception. But DNA samples of only 2 people were tested, too few to provide a valid result.) The signature was absent in all Asian groups sampled, points 1-32.
Now, after painstakingly comparing DNA samples from people in dozens of modern-day Native American and Eurasian groups, an international team of scientists thinks it can put the matter to rest: virtually without exception, the new evidence supports the single ancestral population theory.
"Our work provides strong evidence that, in general, Native Americans are more closely related to each other than to any other existing Asian populations, except those that live at the very edge of the Bering Strait," said Kari Britt Schroeder, a lecturer at the University of California, Davis, and the first author on the paper describing the study.
© Colin Anderson / Photographer's Choice / Getty
Does any one country or organisation control the internet?
Does any one country or organisation control the internet?
Not that it is an easy issue to define. The internet is, essentially, a group of protocols by which computers communicate, and innumerable servers and cables, most of which are in private hands. However, in terms of influence, the overwhelming balance of power lies with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, based in Marina Del Rey, California.
ICANN is a not-for-profit organisation that regulates online addresses, known as domain names, and their suffixes, such as ".com" and ".org". Since ICANN reports to the US government's Department of Commerce, the domain name process is effectively overseen by the US government. China, Russia and Europe have all expressed concern at this situation because it means the US has leverage over the global coordination of the internet. "It has a role that is different from the role of all other governments," says Massimiliano Minisci, a regional manager at ICANN. "That's a concern around the world."
© ImageSource / Getty
The internet's network structure is similar to that of the human brain.
The internet's network structure is similar to that of the human brain.
In engineering terms, it is easy to see qualitative similarities between the human brain and the internet's complex network of nodes, as they both hold, process, recall and transmit information. "The internet behaves a fair bit like a mind," says Ben Goertzel, chair of the Artificial General Intelligence Research Institute, an organisation inevitably based in cyberspace. "It might already have a degree of consciousness".
Not that it will necessarily have the same kind of consciousness as humans: it is unlikely to be wondering who it is, for instance. To Francis Heylighen, who studies consciousness and artificial intelligence at the Free University of Brussels (VUB) in Belgium, consciousness is merely a system of mechanisms for making information processing more efficient by adding a level of control over which of the brain's processes get the most resources. "Adding consciousness is more a matter of fine-tuning and increasing control... than a jump to a wholly different level," Heylighen says.
Real-time web search - which scours only the latest updates to services like Twitter - is currently generating quite a buzz because it can provide a glimpse of what people around the world are thinking or doing at any given moment. Interest in this kind of search is so great that, according to recent leaks, Google is considering buying Twitter.
One of the worst fears of infectious disease experts is that the H5N1 avian influenza virus now circulating in parts of Asia will combine with a human-adapted flu virus to create a deadly new flu virus that could spread around the world.
That could happen, scientists predict, if someone who is already infected with an ordinary flu virus contracts the avian virus at the same time. The avian virus has already caused at least 48 confirmed human illness cases in Asia, of which 35 have been fatal. The virus has shown little ability to spread from person to person, but the fear is that a hybrid could combine the killing power of the avian virus with the transmissibility of human flu viruses.
Now, rather than waiting to see if nature spawns such a hybrid, US scientists are planning to try to breed one themselves - in the name of preparedness.
That could happen, scientists predict, if someone who is already infected with an ordinary flu virus contracts the avian virus at the same time. The avian virus has already caused at least 48 confirmed human illness cases in Asia, of which 35 have been fatal. The virus has shown little ability to spread from person to person, but the fear is that a hybrid could combine the killing power of the avian virus with the transmissibility of human flu viruses.
Now, rather than waiting to see if nature spawns such a hybrid, US scientists are planning to try to breed one themselves - in the name of preparedness.
This 11-metre-tall, 750-kilogram rocket took off on Saturday from a field outside of Price, Maryland
A 1/10th-scale model of a NASA Saturn V rocket launched successfully on Saturday, becoming what is thought to be the largest amateur rocket ever to take off and be safely recovered. The feat could herald the arrival of the first amateur rockets to reach orbit.
The 11-metre-tall, 750-kilogram rocket took off on Saturday from a field outside of Price, Maryland, near the eastern shore. It flew for roughly 20 seconds to an altitude of more than 1300 metres before segmenting and falling back to Earth beneath multiple parachutes.
The rocket, built by rocket hobbyist Steve Eves, replicates the look of the Saturn V rocket used to loft Apollo crew capsules into space. But its interior boasts newer electronics and significantly less fuel.
A rocket only slightly larger than the scale model actually made it into orbit around the Earth nearly 40 years ago. In 1971, the 13-metre-long British Black Arrow rocket lofted a small science satellite called Prospero into orbit, says engineer Henry Spencer, an amateur space historian based in Toronto, Ontario.
