mystery

The extinction of Neanderthals has always been a mystery. Science now believes that they are still with us

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For decades, the disappearance of Neanderthals has been one of the biggest mysteries of human evolution. It happened about 40,000 years ago, suspiciously coincident with our species Homo sapiens to Eurasia… But now we are thinking that they did not become extinct. What was thought. Classical theories paint a replacement scenario: either we wiped them out in direct competition, or they couldn’t withstand brutal climate change. But now a study published in Scientific Reports offers a much more fascinating answer: we absorb them among ourselves. And the key to all this is genetic dilution. The hypotheses. To go deeper, the competition hypothesis suggests that Homo sapiens We were simply superior: we had better hunting strategies, a broader diet or more advanced social structures that allowed us to monopolize all the resources, driving the Neanderthals to extinction. On the other hand, the environmental hypothesis blames the drastic climate changes that occurred just at that time. According to this idea, Neanderthals could not adapt to extreme fluctuations and their populations fragmented until they disappeared permanently. However, the new study presents a mathematical model that leaves both factors aside and focuses on the most basic of all: demographics and sex. The new model. The authors of the study propose an analytical model that demonstrates how Neanderthals could disappear without the need for the Homo sapiens had any selective advantage over them. The model does not require “catastrophic events” or cognitive superiority. Instead, it relies on a concept called “species-neutral drift” and a key factor: small, recurring immigrations of Homo sapiens in Neanderthal territories. There were many more of us. One of the first ideas pointed out in this case is that the population Homo sapiens that left Africa was much larger in number than the Neanderthal, acting as a “practically infinite demographic reservoir.” By going together, because friction makes affection, and between the species they began to intersect and had very fertile offspring. The model assumes that this was not a one-time event, but rather a “sustained gene flow” that occurred every time a small group of modern humans arrived in an area. So, adding that the Neanderthal population was much smaller and there was a constant influx of genes from Homo sapiensthe result is the dissolution of the gene pool. It’s literally like pouring a glass of Neanderthal water into an ocean of Homo sapiens. In the end his presence is completely diluted. The time. The most powerful thing about the study is that its calculations fit with the archaeological record. The mathematical model shows that this process of “almost complete genetic replacement” could have occurred within a period of 10,000 to 30,000 years, something that aligns with the long period of coexistence that both species had in Eurasia. Were they extinct? This is the question we ask ourselves. Know if the word ‘extinction’ is appropriate for this paradigm. This model offers what scientists call a “parsimonious explanation” (the simplest). In words we understand, it does not deny that other factors, such as competition or weather, could have contributed. But it shows that this genetic dissolution alone is something that may have explained the disappearance of the Neanderthals. That is why, rather than an extinction, we speak of a fusion by absorption. This perfectly explains why the Neanderthals disappeared as a genetically distinct group, but their legacy endures: modern humans of Eurasian ancestry conserve in our DNA a small percentage of their genetic heritage (although very diluted). Images | mostafa meraji In Xataka | Human evolution has not stopped: in fact, there are reasons to think that it is more accelerated than ever

This is how science has unraveled the mystery of Lake Tefé

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The historic drought and heat wave that hit the Amazon in 2023 caused extreme warming and unprecedented in its waters, with devastating consequences that we are seeing today. A new study published in Science details how water temperatures in key lakes reached lethal levels, causing high mortality in fish and especially river dolphins. Very high temperatures. A priori we may think that heat waves just as they come will go away without leaving any consequences. But the reality is very different, since in the Amazon, of the ten lakes that were monitored, five exceeded 37ºC during the day and there was one that reached 41ºC as if it were a spa pool. This extreme heat wasn’t just skin deep; It penetrated the entire water column, approximately 2 meters deep, eliminating any fresh refuge for aquatic life. It was literally left uninhabited. Epicenter of the tragedy. Lake Tefé, which is normally more than 7 km wide, became the focus of national and international attention after its surface area will be reduced by 75% between September and October 2023. It is literally a consumption never seen before that surprised the inhabitants of the area and also the animals. This drastic reduction in water coincided with a “massive and unprecedented mortality” of river dolphins. In a short interval, 209 dolphin carcasses were found (both from the Amazon River and Tucuxi). And precisely, the study points out that only on September 28, 2023, when temperatures reached 39.5 °C for the first timeseventy dolphin carcasses were found. The researchers also observed extreme daily temperature variation of up to 13.3°C, meaning the water went from hot tub-like heat during the day to drastically cooling at night. completely altering the conditions of the system. And living there becomes really complicated. What caused this extreme heat. The study used models to identify the culprits behind this warming. It was a “perfect storm” of factors that coincided such as high solar radiation due to completely clear skies that could not stop the sun. But the reduced depth of the water or the low wind speed also intervened, which generated less cooling due to evaporation. A long term problem. While the 2023 event was extreme, it is not an isolated incident. Study reveals worrying long-term warming trend in region, Based on satellite estimates, between 1990 and 2023, the lakes in the Amazon region have experienced a temperature increase of 0.6 degrees per decade. A great ecological crisis. The impact was not limited to the dolphins. The study also documents significant fish mortality. All because of the fact that they have a fairly narrow temperature tolerance range, meaning that the moment there is an increase, even a slight one, in temperature, they are finished off. For human populations, the consequences were equally serious. The drought and extreme heat managed to isolate thousands of people in riverside communities, leaving them without adequate access to food, drinking water and medicine because maritime transport is also severely affected. Images | Natalia Pedraza In Xataka | The Earth is headed for a new ice age, according to a Science study. And it is precisely because of global warming

science has solved the mystery of plasma rain

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Although it may seem incredible, it rains in the Sun. But it is not a rain of water like the one we know on Earth. It’s a rain of incandescent plasmaa phenomenon that for decades has baffled scientists by not understanding it. Now, a team from the University of Hawaii has solved the mysteryand the answer is completely changing our way of understanding the atmosphere of our ‘reference’ star. The discovery. Published in the prestigious magazine The Astrophysical Journal, not only explains why these spectacular plasma condensationsbut also gives us new tools to predict space weather that affects our technology here on Earth. The mystery. The “solar storm“, or more technically coronal rain, occurs in the corona, the outermost and hottest layer of the Sun. There, masses of denser and relatively “cold” plasma condense and fall back towards the solar surface, creating bright arcs and loops. And although we talk about ‘cold’, the reality is that we are talking about tens of thousands of degreescompared to the millions of degrees in the surrounding plasma. Although for us it would be something unthinkable. The big enigma was speed. Solar models predicted that this cooling and condensation process should take hours, or even days. However, observations showed that rain formed within minutes during solar flares. Something didn’t add up. Now the problem has been located in the models that were used. And they assumed that the chemical composition of the corona was static and uniform, a simplification that has undoubtedly resulted in us calculating the phenomena that occur in our star much worse. The key. The key breakthrough came when the researchers, led by graduate student Luke Fushimi Benavitz, decided to abandon that old assumption. They introduced into their simulations a factor that until now had been overlooked: the abundance of chemical elements varies in space and time without being static. And this is where physics gets very interesting. The mechanism. The first thing that happens in this case is a solar flare that heats the chromosphere (the layer below the corona). This impulsive heating causes a large amount of plasma in the chromosphere to “evaporate” and rise at high speed towards the coronal loops. This ‘new’ plasma will have a composition similar to that of the photosphere, which is the surface we see of the Sun. Once the plasma was already in the coronal loop, rich in materials such as iron or silicon, it is pushed and concentrated at the highest point of the arc, creating a ‘peak’ with these elements. One property of these elements is that they can radiate a lot of energy quickly and this causes the plasma to cool. And this sudden concentration at the apex of the loop acts as an ultra-powerful radiator, causing localized and very rapid cooling. Finally, this sudden cooling causes a pressure drop. As a result, more plasma from the surrounding area is sucked into that area, increasing the density. The most interesting thing is that the higher the density, the cooling becomes even more efficient and a ‘thermal runaway’ occurs. As its name indicates, the temperature will plummet and the plasma will condense, forming rain. The importance. For the first time, this model has done something that had not been achieved before: simulate the formation of rain on the Sun. And understanding it goes far beyond solving an old riddle, but it affects us completely. Most importantly for us, it improves our ability to predict space weather. solar flares They can launch enormous amounts of energy and particles into space which, upon reaching Earth, can damage satellites, disrupt communications and overload electrical networks. More precise models of the Sun’s behavior allow us to better anticipate these events that until now gave us very little preparation time. Rewriting. This discovery forces us to rewrite a fundamental part of solar physics. The idea that the composition of the solar atmosphere is dynamic and not static opens a large field of research ahead to understand exactly how energy moves through the star. Images | Javier Miranda In Xataka | As if nothing were going on, the Sun has just caused a radio blackout with its most powerful eruption of 2025

There is a mystery customer spending 10 billion on Broadcom chips. Nobody knows who he is and that should worry us

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Charlie Kawwas, president of semiconductors at Broadcom, confirmed yesterday that OpenAI is not the mysterious client who signed up to pay $10 billion in custom chips. In September the existence of that enigmatic client became known and there was unanimity assuming that it would be OpenAI. But it turns out it’s not OpenAI. “I would love to receive a purchase order for 10 billion from my good friend Greg,” Kawwas said. referring to Greg Brockman, president of OpenAI. “He hasn’t given it to me yet.” Why is it important. During the Cold War, nuclear installations could be counted from satellites. In the AI ​​race, someone may be building the computational equivalent of a nuclear arsenal and we have no way of knowing. AI chips are the new strategic weapons. And unlike enriched uranium, they travel discreetly in commercial containers. An entity with $10 billion to spend on custom semiconductors is building AI capability on a beastly scale. The candidates. The analysis rules out the usual suspects: Meta and Google They are already known Broadcom customers. amazon has its own chip strategy with AWS. Microsoft invest through your partner-friend-enemy OpenAI. More disturbing options remain: Gulf sovereign wealth funds with technological ambitions. Government entities Americans (NSA, classified projects). Chinese actors operating through intermediaries. Apple preparing a major play in AI. This last option would be the canary in the mine to anticipate Apple’s total immersion in AI, but the parakeet Gurman has not anticipated anything, so it sounds like a very remote option. The money trail. Broadcom does not announce the arrival of these types of customers by chance. In September, CEO Hock Tan mentioned this $10 billion order because it completely changed the company’s revenue projections for 2025. Broadcom shares are up more than 53% so far this year. And in 2024 they will already double their value. The market always values ​​these secret contracts even if it does not know who signs the check. In perspective. Opacity in AI infrastructure investments has become the norm. Companies treat their component strategies as classified information. OpenAI just announced 33 gigawatts of computing capacity between agreements with NVIDIA, AMD and Broadcom. One gigawatt can cost $50 billion. The figures are stratospheric, but at least we know who signs them. The alarm signal. When $10 billion in critical technology changes hands without identification, we have a problem because computational training capacity, in the age of AI, is geopolitical power. This case is also a message about the immediate future: the next technological revolution may be developing outside of any public scrutiny. Featured image | Xataka In Xataka | Broadcom is the other NVIDIA: it enters the select group of billion dollars and does not stop growing thanks to AI

In 1901, Russian explorers found the corpse of a frozen mammoth. What happened to his meat is a mystery

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Although we are trying to bring them backthousands of years ago mammoths disappeared from the face of the Earth. However, for centuries, humans fed on its flesh, created tools with their bones and were protagonists in the stories that were drawn on the walls. Now, although they disappeared about 4,000 years ago, there are stories that claim that less than 100 years ago, there were those who ate mammoth meat. Its flavor? Like a sirloin of the time. Of course, there is quite a bit of ‘sauce’ that masks this culinary story. The Berezovka mammoth. Otto Ferdinandovich Harz was a Russian-German naturalist who, at the beginning of the 20th century, participated in the famous Siberian excavation of 1901 in which the Berezovka mammoth. It is about one of the best preserved specimensif not the best, because he died when he was between 45 and 50 years old in the Permafrost, more than 44,000 years ago. That’s how they found it. The most superficial part, the skull, had been gnawed by wolves, but look at the state of the buried paw The peculiarity. This exposure to extreme temperatures allowed researchers to find a piece in enviable conditions. The wolves had eaten some of the meat, but the carcass was complete and even herbs in its mouth and 12 kilos of food in its stomach were recovered. The conditions allowed us to determine that the skin was a reddish brown color, with curly hair about 50 centimeters long, a 35 centimeter tail, a penis in good condition and a layer of fat nine centimeters thick, key to withstanding low temperatures. The size? 2.8 meters high by just over four meters long. Reconstruction of the mammoth at the time of its death “Appetizing“Unearthing the animal was not quick. The researchers set up a tent at the excavation point and got to work. Here we entered turbulent terrain because legends begin. Nobody was there on those cold Siberian nights to see what was being cooked, but there are those who point out that there was mammoth meat in that casserole. Due to the good conservation of the meat, the rumor was that the members of the expedition ate part of the mammoth to last the nights. But there’s a twist: it turns out that although it didn’t look bad, when it thawed, the smell could be nauseating. Even seasoned, it was too much for the human nose and, although jokingly they dared to try it (after a story which points to alcohol consumption as a trigger), it seems that in the end they gave it to the dogs at the camp. The Explorers Club. Another story goes in the opposite direction: after arriving at St. Petersburg Zoological Museumwhere you can see both the remains and a faithful representation of the mammoth at the time of its death, Otto began to sort through the remains and realized that the meat was of no use. Therefore, he organized a dinner for colleagues. The requirement? That these also carried something from prehistory. Evidence that they ate mammoth meat from 44,000 years ago? None, but the story is good. Same as that of New York Explorers Club. It turns out that, according to legends, the explorers of 1901 were not the only recent humans to have tasted mammoth meat. Founded in 1904, the Explorers Club of New York is a society dedicated to the exploration of land, sea, air and space (more recently, of course). It was created to support exploration exploits and has notable and honored members such as Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, Jane Goodall, Richard Garriott either James Cameronamong many others. Part of a room at the ‘Explorers CLub’. Humble. Myth. Anyone who makes a documented and outstanding contribution to scientific knowledge through field expeditions can be a member. Aside from that adventurous spirit, what its members share are annual banquets in which the menu is… exotic. has been eaten polar bear or seal babies (to comment on this), but also crocodile tail, caramelized yak and a large number of insects fried, in quesadillas, baked, or in dessert form. What if they didn’t eat dodo? It’s because there wasn’t, wow. Dinner at the club What they are said to have eaten was mammoth: woolly mammoth discovered in Alaska. Supposedly, it was Roosevelt and Armstrong who, at the 1951 dinner, tasted this ancient meat. They were going to eat meat megatheriumwhich was a kind of enormous sloth, but it seems that a misinterpretation by a magazine that covered the dinner led them to think that “megaterium” was another term for “mammoth”, so it went down in history as, that day, they ate mammoth at the prestigious event. The turn. It turns out, and here comes the twist, that a member of the club was not going to be able to attend and asked that they give him his portion in a jar so he could keep it. He put “megatherium meat” and took it to the Bruce Museum in Greenwich. He left it there, but fate wanted it to end up at the Peabody Museum of Natural History and, in 2014, some researchers performed DNA tests to see what the hell it was. It didn’t matter if it was a mammoth: the fact that in 1951 they had had megatherium for dinner would still be just as impressive. Well, neither a mammoth… nor a giant sloth: the analysis showed that it was turtle meat. And not a Pleistocene turtle, but a green sea turtle that, yes, is protected and in danger of extinction, but not extinct. The mammoth meatball. Legend pointed to this similarity between the modern sirloin and mammoth meat, but in the absence of documents, it seems that any consumption of mammoth in the last 4,000 years is difficult to believe. What is known is that, in 1979, a paleontologist who discovered a bison from 50,000 years ago He couldn’t resist the temptation of making a good stew with its meat. It wouldn’t smell … Read more

Zaragoza trees are dawning full of bites. The mystery is not who does it but how to solve it

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The Ribera del Ebro as it passes through Zaragoza is filling with nibbled trees. Tens. Dozens of tens. It has been confirmed by the City Council itself, which has counted around 70 damaged specimens in different parts of the urban section of the river. Actually the phenomenon has little mysterious and there are less doubts about who is responsible. What is not so clear is how to avoid it. In Spring Environment he already launched a plan to protect his poplars and poplars, which has not avoided that he has to withdraw one. The key is in a particularly voracious rodent. What happened? That Zaragoza has encountered dozens and dozens of nibbled trees. Literally. The technicians of the Aragonese City Council have identified neither more nor less than with 70 trees with marks of dentelladas in several sections of the Ebro riverbank as it passes through the city. One of them, a black poplar (Populus nigra) Located in the parking lot, it is so deteriorated that the Consistory has come to the conclusion that he has no choice but to withdraw it. Is it so serious? Not all trees are equal to damaged, but in the specific case of the Park of the Eyes, municipal technicians have concluded that there is a “collapse risk”. “Being in an area of ​​playful use is a considerable risk for citizens,” Apostille The City Council. And as an image always says more than a thousand words has shared a photo in which it can be seen how the trunk is stripped of bark and shows a crescent -shaped gap on the side. Around it, the floor is full of splinters. Who is responsible? The Zaragozano Consistory has few doubts about it: The beavers. Moreover, its presence in the area and the damage they cause to trees are no novelty for technicians, who have been trying to protect the trees from the most punished parks for these large rodents. In March, the Ministry of Environment, hand in hand with the conservation unit of the natural environment, launched an initiative to ‘shield’ some specimens of the Ebro banks: it placed meshes so that the beavers had more difficult to reach the cortex. The works began on the left bank of the river, in the Blacón de San Lázaro, one of the affected areas. “For a few years the presence of beavers has been detected on the banks of the Ebro River, who would be demolishing trees to use them in the construction of their burrows and dams, or as food. In recent months the damages have been located in the trees of both margins of the Ebro riverbank and its tributaries” The City Council recountswhich has counted more than 70 affected specimens, especially in the section between the Ebro azud, the Yacht Club and the San Lázaro balcony. Traces have also been seen on the banks of the Huerva and Gállego. Castores in Aragon? Exact. And this is not the first time they jump to the headlines. A year ago the farmers of the Jalón River environment already They showed their suspicion Due to the impact of these rodents on their fruit trees, an issue that even came to Congress and led the Ministry for the ecological transition to confirm that there are indications that point to the presence of beavers in the region since 2019 corroborates in statements to eldiario.es. But … where do they come from? The story From the European beaver it is quite long. And complex. It is known that Fiber castor It was well distributed by Europe and that at the end of the 19th century it was almost on the edge of extinction, with just 1,200 copiesdue to human harassment. As we altered their habitat or pursued them to get their skins, meats or even the glands (for the perfume industry), they losing ground. It is also known that they lived in the Iberian Peninsula, although there are different opinions about their history and the date of their collapse here. It is usually located towards the 18th, 18th or 19th century, although There are those who believe that there are hardly solid evidence that confirms the presence of rodents in Spain in recent centuries. About what there is more consensus is how they resurfaced in the peninsula: it is usually pointed to a unauthorized loose of 18 copies in the Ebro and Aragon rivers more than two decades ago. With the passage of time the species has been extending and experts have detected it in the Tormes River, more than 300 km from the populations that had already been identified in the Ebro, or in the Guadalquivir basin. What do we do with them? In The statement In which he informs of the nibbleed trees, the City of Zaragoza slides a key fact. Almost a paradox. While the species reintroduced without permission in the rivers of Spain, it is armored by Europe. “He Fiber Castor o European Castor is, according to the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, a native species of Spain that was extinguished for anthropic reasons and whose current presence is a consequence of an illegal reintroduction. Despite this, community regulations force their protection. “ The theme is complex because the liberation without permission from Castores, a practice known as ‘Beaver Bombing’ and that usually carry out activists convinced of the benefits of the species for the environment, does not fit the guidelines that usually follow species reintroductions. “As established by IUCN it is necessary to carry out a series of studies that are almost common sense”, emphasize in Climate Francisco José García, expert in Mammals of the SECEM. Why is it important? More graph was still the biologist Jacinto Román in 2023, in An interview with The country: “It is not that they are good or bad, but to know how a species that had been extinguished, studies are needed that, for now, do not exist. They cannot be made are visceral decisions.” … Read more

The hypothesis that the mystery can solve

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In the confines of the solar system, more than 1.4 billion kilometers away, Orbit Titanthe Saturn’s biggest moon. A satellite with a dense and orange atmosphere with temperatures that are around -180 ºC, but despite this, it stands out for having clouds, rain, rivers, lakes and seas. Now we have on the table the first theories of how life would be forming there. A first solid theory. For years, Scientists have wondered if in this exotic environment life could arise. Now, A new study Published in the International Journal of Astrobiology proposes a detailed and plausible mechanism on how the first precursor structures of life or Protocamples in its icy methane lakes. The first ingredient of life. For life to begin, you need a border. Something that separates a chemical ‘inside’ from a chaotic ‘outside’. In the case of humans, that border is the cell membrane, A lipid bilayer that delimits the formation of vesicles. Something that according to scientific consensus is a key step and price to the appearance of life. The big question is whether something similar could happen in a place without liquid water like Titan. The answer, according to the authors of the study, is a resounding yes. A key molecule. To affirm something so categorically the most important thing are some Amphiphilic molecules. They are compounds with a polar head and a non -polar tail, like the lipids of our membranes. In this way, this structure allows self -assembly forming the membranes that give rise to vesicles. In Titan’s atmosphere, solar radiation and energy particles constantly bombard nitrogen and methane, creating a complex organic molecules soup. Among them are organic nitriles that have precisely this amphipatic nature and could act as the bricks of these original membranes in a non -polar environment such as liquid methane. A simple mechanism. The study not only posture that these membranes can exist, but also proposes a surprisingly simple and elegant mechanism for their formation, driven by the Titan climate itself. This process begins when the amphipatic compounds created in the atmosphere fall and accumulate on the surface of the methane lakes, forming a thin one -layer film, as if it were oil on the water. When methane rain drops hit the surface of the lake, it causes splashes. They throw aerosols or small secondary drops of the lake itself that fall into the lake itself. Upon contact, its wrapping of a layer merges with the movie of a layer of the side that was already present and what we were looking for is formed: the double layer membrane. In this way, a perfectly formed gallbladder is created that is dispersed in liquid methane, already these hypothetical titan vesicles have been called ‘D endosomas‘. Of unstable bubbles to primitive evolution. Initially, these vesicles would be only ‘kinetically stable’, that is, temporary. But this is where the process becomes even more fascinating, since the study posture that once these vesicles would begin to interact with other organic molecules dissolved in the lake. Those vesicles that by chance capture and integrate other amphiphils in their membrane that make them more stable, will survive more time. This would lead to a kind of natural selection at the molecular level: the most stable vesicles of vesicles would last and accumulate, while the least stable would get rid of. This competition and selection process could lead to a primitive form of evolution, where vesicles develop a “compositional memory” based on molecules that make them more robust. It is a gigantic step that could lead to increasingly complex and functional structures, authentic protocamples. How we will find them. All this is a brilliant hypothesis, but you have to check if it is true. The answer is in future space missions. One of the hopes is put In NASA’s great dragonfly missiona drone of the size of a car that will fly through the atmosphere of Titan from the mid -2030s to analyze different places of its surface. With advanced technology. The authors propose an ideal instrument to conduct this research: a laser device. Ideally, it would be Raman spectroscopy, A technique that analyzes the chemical composition of the molecules. Using metal nanoparticles to amplify the signal in a massive way, it could identify the exact nature of the amphipatics that form vesicles, even in very low concentrations. I should also have Combined light dispersion. A technique that allows you to point a laser to the liquid and measure how the light is dispersed, detect the presence of suspended particles, determine its size and, observing how they settle over time, differentiate the vesicles of dust or ice particles. History in astrobiology. If a mission like Dragonfly found these vesicles, it would be one of the most important discoveries in the history of astrobiology. I would not confirm the existence of life, but would demonstrate that the first steps towards complexity and order, the previous conditions for life (abiogenesis), can occur in the universe in radically different conditions to those of the earth. Images | Alessandro Ferrari In Xataka | In 1995, NASA began to drug spiders with amphetamines, marijuana and the most devastating: caffeine

During centuries Galicia was a thriving land of olive groves with unique varieties in the world. What changed it is still a mystery

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If you think of Galicia, in their landscapes, probably the first thing that comes to mind is your sinuous coastline, your beaches and cliffsserpentant channels such as the Sil River as it passes through the Ribeira Sacra, castrosleafy Atlantic forests, grasslands with cattle … The list is extensive (and diverse), but probably the olive groves are not included, a stamp that usually associates more to the peninsular south. It was not always the case. There are indications that Galicia had an interesting relationship with the cultivation of the olive trees that can go back to the times of Gallaecia. When that link declined and what were the causes of the sunset and that the olive tree does not prosper are issues that still generate debate among experts. Olivos in Galicia? Yes. And its relationship comes from afar, it is rich and has inspired researchers who have identified in Galician lands A wide catalog of unique native olive varieties in the world. The indications are suggestive, although I recognized years ago The historian Lourenzo Fernández during a days held in Pontevedra and focused precisely on the olive trees, shadows are still in that bond. “There is no specific historical, nor bibliographic research that will address the presence of Olivos in Galicia,” explained. Looking at the Roman Gallaecia. The link between Galicia and the olive tree can be traced at least Roman Gallaecia. In the middle of the last century, during an excavation in an area of ​​Vigo that is called precisely Oliveira, archaeologists discovered a Roman deposit which included bricks, bases, a mortar, mills, amphorae … and an oil press, among other vestiges. “It is thought that it could be a villa or factoring by the oleic press found, the only example appeared in Galicia. The possible relationship between the obtaining of oil and the olive tree in Vigo was also pointed out, in ancient times, with the activity that would give name to the place,” Explain The Quiñones de León Museum, where the remains rest, although those responsible recognize that the scarcity of remains of oil and amphorae lamps in the environment can be interpreted as a “lack of consumption.” Leaving its mark. Vigo’s is not the only proof of the interesting historical link between Olivo and Galicia. There are ethnographic studies that show that in the region there are dozens and tens of place names related to olive trees, olive groves, oil and similar references. Years ago at least 70 were counted. The CSIC has also identified about twenty varieties of native olive trees, unique in the world, and there is a record of specimens standing from the 18th century, the oldest in the community that are still alive, according to a analysis done years ago. A “very present” crop in Galicia. The presence of olive trees in Galicia put it in value since The industry itself to the organisms public. “The olive culture was very present in Galicia since the time of the Romans. The primitive settlers ate olives, although they did not know the methods of extraction of the oil. The Romans are those that introduce the knowledge of these methods that are transmitted by the territory. Galicia became one of the conquered territories of which the most oil went out to Rome in the second and second centuries.” They detail From Ribeira Sacra tourism. In the community it is not strange either find References of traditional oil mills in which the fruit was used. “In Galicia there were olive plantations, in some cases, of large dimensions, that if we follow some sources they would have been possible thanks to the introduction of this crop in our land by the Romans,” historian Felipe Aira explained in January An article of The voice of Galicia that he remembers how the Jews and Judeoconvers used the ‘liquid gold’ in their kitchens and at least part of the olive trees were preserved in the properties of the church, even after their decline in Galicia, for their value for the elaboration of the liturgical oils. And the great unknown arises. All The chronicles that tell the link between the Olivos and Galicia end up reaching the same question: what explains that their cultivation ends up losing weight? Why Galicia It ceased to be an olive grove? Or even simpler … Why didn’t they remain expanding until they occupy a relevant weight in the Galician fields? As Lourenzo remembered in 2018, shadows are still and a long way to explore “about the presence of Olivos in Galicia. His story is splashed with legends and inaccuracies, he said recently A chronicle Fiftymil, but is usually pointed to a complex sum of political, economic, demographic reasons and the reality of agricultural farms. Click on the image to go to Tweet. Of the Catholic Monarchs to Count Duke of Olivares. When the history of olive tree is explained in Galicia there are two names that are usually repeated: the first, the Catholic Monarchs; The second, Count Duke of Olivares. An extended theory ensures that the former, Fernando II of Aragon and Isabel I of Castilla, adopted a series of decisions about taxes and reorganization that punished the Galician plantations and favored that olive trees be started in the region. But … why? There are those who say that the purpose was to favor the repopulation and crops of the newly reconquered lands of the Peninsular South. Others argue that in their decision, more political factors would have weighed and that when the Galician olive trees sought to penalize the territory and their aristocracy. The “Doma and castration from Galicia, “said the intellectual of the twentieth century, Alfonso Daniel Rodríguez Castelao about the policies of the Catholic Monarchs. The context is key and was marked by the defeat of Juana la Beltraneja, and therefore of the nobility that supported her in her cause, and the Irmandiños rebellion that developed in Galicia. The shadow of olive groves. The theory is even more extended that if there … Read more

half a century later, the mystery is complicated

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Almost half a century after the Big Ear Radio Coats captured an enigmatic signal of 72 seconds from space, the mystery, far from resolving, has become more complex. An exhaustive analysis of the original 1977 data, which were believed, has revealed that the legendary signal “wow!” It was considerably stronger than was thought, and moved towards us at a much higher speed than it had been calculated. A little context. On August 15, 1977, American astronom characters sequence “6equj5”an extraordinarily intense narrow band radio signal. His surprise was such that he surrounded the code with a circle and wrote “Wow!” On the margin. Thus was born one of the greatest enigmas of modern astronomy and the most famous candidate to be an extraterrestrial transmission. Now, a Preliminary study posted at Arxiv.org Rewrite almost everything we knew about her. Rescuing a treasure of 75,000 pages. New research has been an almost archaeological job. For decades it was thought that the detailed data surrounded by the ‘Wow!’ They had been lost forever, especially after Ohio’s Big Ear Observatory was dismantled in 1998 to build a golf course. Fortunately, a group of volunteers rescued most of the telescope records. Now, researchers of the Project “Arecibo Wow!”led by Abel Méndez of the planetary habitability laboratory of the University of Puerto Rico, have digitized and analyzed more than 75,000 pages of the original forms with optical recognition technology of characters (OCR) and human supervision. This monumental effort has allowed, for the first time, to apply advanced computational methods to the original signal, revealing details that had been overlooked for almost 50 years. The “Wow!” Signal signal Next to the scribble of astronomer Jerry Ehman Strong, more precise, faster. The new analysis correctly corrects and refines the signal parameters, shedding new light on its possible nature. The previous estimates placed the intensity of the signal (their flow density) between 54 and 212 janskys. Corrected calculations raise that figure to a minimum of 250 janskys, confirming that It was even more powerful than was thought. Few sources of known astrophysical radio emit with that intensity, which makes it a truly exceptional event. The frequency has also been corrected at 1,420,726 MHz, which suggests that the object was moving to us at 74 km/s, a speed that does not fit with the normal rotation of the objects of our galaxy. On the other hand, the study reduces the search area in two thirds, refining the coordinates to two possible locations slightly displaced from the previous estimates, which could explain why decades of monitoring searches did not serve to detect it again. Neither humans, nor comets. With these new data, researchers have been able to discard many of the proposed explanations over the years. The study rules out almost completely human origin. There were no known satellites in that position and the moon was on the opposite side of the earth, so it was not a reflection of terrestrial transmissions. The television stations of the time could not generate a harmonic in that frequency. The form of the signal, which fits perfectly with the expected pattern of a punctual source through the telescope beam, is another argument against a local interference. The theory that the mysterious signal “wow!” It was caused by the passage of a kitewhich at the time seemed to solve the enigma, has also been weakened with the new analysis. The extreme power and the characteristics of the reviewed signal do not fit well with the hydrogen cloud that surrounds a kite. So what was? They were probably aliens either. Researchers point to a natural astrophysical event, but extremely rare. As I pointed out an earlier study that we cover in Xatakathe signal could come from a neutral hydrogen cloud. These clouds are common, but normally do not emit such intense and narrow band signals. The new proposal is that the signal ‘wow!’ It was the result of a phenomenon known as Astronomical Mass Flare or an overradication outbreak from one of these clouds. Something similar to a natural microwave laser, a transitory and powerful event that would explain both the intensity of the signal and the fact that it has never been repeated again. Images | Big Ear Observatory In Xataka | Every time we tried to contact extraterrestrial life

The depths of Antarctica had always been a mystery, so far: 3,000 “mega -structures”

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An international team of scientists, with the researcher at the University of Barcelona David Amblàs at the head, He has revealed A much more complex and detailed map of the Antarctic Sea Fund. Using the most complete database to date, they have identified 3,291 individual cannons organized in 332 systems, some of which sink up to 4,000 meters deep and that act as supermarine superautistapistas that regulate the global climate, and at the same time, represent the Achilles heel of the gigantic glaciers of the icy continent. The map that has changed everything. Until now, our vision of the seabed surrounding Antarctica was blurred. The maps were based In low resolution data that barely suggested the largest structures. But everything has changed thanks to the new ‘International Bathymetric Chart of the Southern Ocean (IBCSO) V.2‘, a cartography that has combined thousands of ship polls with satellite data. Taking advantage of this “Google Maps” of the Antarctic Sea bed, scientists applied semi -automatic hydrological techniques, similar to those used to analyze river basins on the mainland. In this way, they managed to trace with amazing precision the entire network of “rivers” and “submarines” submarine that cross the continental margins of the continent. Two types of very different geographies. The finding with this system reveals two types of underwater geography. On the one hand, you have the ‘Eastern Antarctica‘Where very branched and -shaped cannon systems are found, which determines that its origin is very old. On the other hand, there is the ‘Western Antarctica‘Where shorter cannons predominate with abrupt slopes and V sections, which allows to see a more recent geological origin. For Amblàs, This difference so marked in geomorphology “It supports the hypothesis that the eastern ice layer is older and formed before the western one.” This is something that until now had only been able to intuit. Visual representation of the applied methodology for the extraction of the streams in the seabed. Water highways that decide our future. These cannons are not just a geographical accident. They are leading actors of climate change. On the one hand, they act as channels for the water of the continental platform, which when cooled and gain salinity, becomes very dense. . This water is precipitated by the cannons to the depths of the ocean, in a process that forms the Background Antarctic Water (AABW). This mass of cold and dense water is the engine of global oceanic circulation, a gigantic “conveyor belt” that distributes heat throughout the planet and kidnaps huge amounts of carbon dioxide in the deep ocean. The geometry of these cannons, therefore, is essential for climate regulation. The Achilles heel of the glaciers. On the other hand, these same cannons are an entrance door for the enemy. Allow him to Circumpolar deep water (CDW), a relatively warm mass of water (about 2 ° C above the freezing point) and saline, sneaks from the open ocean to the base of the ice platforms. This warm water flow is the main responsible for the basal melting of the glaciers, eroding them from below and accelerating their slide to the sea. The discovery of such a dense cannon network, especially in Eastern Antarctica (considered so far stable), suggests that The vulnerability of the continent The oceanic warming could be greater than what the models foresee. Regions such as the Amundsen Sea, home of the final judgment glacier, are full of these cannons that serve the warm water in tray. The great challenge: that our climatic models understand it. In addition, this discovery shows an important career: the climatic models that we currently use to project future scenarios are not able to simulate precisely. The topography is so rugged that the predictions on the dynamics of the oceans and the weather lose reliability, especially in areas as vulnerable as the Amundsen Sea. Therefore, the two authors of this study underline the urgency of continuing to invest in the high resolution mapping of these unexplored areas. The second researcher, Riccardo Arosio, concludes that “new cannons will surely be revealed” and each of them is essential to be able to make more precise climatic models that determine the future of the planet. Antarctica is a well of surprises. There are many investigations that focus on the planet’s location, and the conclusions are very interesting. We already know that in the past Where there is now ice was a real forestor that under its surface Something is sending a sign that science fails to clarify. And this has done that Tourism has arrived at this placesomething that is not sitting too well. Images | Cassie Matias In Xataka | Thousands of marine ecosystems depend on only one thing: the pis and the whale droppings

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