understand

Historians have been trying to understand Hitler for decades. DNA just gave us a clue about your sex life

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“We didn’t know what we were going to find. It could have been the most boring genome on the planet, but it turned out amazing.” As if the promise of new (and morbid) revelations about Hitler weren’t enough to grab the world’s attention, that phrase of Turi Emma Kinga famous geneticist, has helped the documentary ‘Hitler’s DNA’ generated a huge stir even before its premiere. Logical. After all, the work is based on scientific research that reveals that the Nazi leader suffered from a genetic disorder that affected his sexuality. And that is just one of his many conclusions. Yes, Hitler again. The 20th century was prolific in wars, milestones and historical figures, but probably few arouse the fascination of Adolf Hitler. For his disastrous role as fuhrer but also because of the enormous amount of conspiracy theories and hoaxes that surround his figure. About his death, your habits and tasteshis supposed Jewish ancestry and his equal alleged offspring So many pages have been written that they would cover (several times) the bunker in which he committed suicide on April 30, 1945 with a sip of cyanide and/or a bullet. So it’s no surprise that any new revelation about him generates considerable excitement. Especially if it is one like the one that promises ‘Hitler’s DNA’a documentary produced by Channel 4 and which boasts of having thoroughly studied the DNA of the Nazi dictator. The piece premiered yesterday, Saturday, but its authors have taken it upon themselves to air their main conclusions in advance to warm things up. And although there are those who question their rhetoric or the solidity of some of their statements, one thing is clear: they have not done badly in their endeavor. Adolf Hitler’s DNA? Exact. To understand how the producers obtained a genetic sample from Hitler, we must go back to May 1945, shortly after the Nazi leader’s suicide. Among the allied soldiers who were able to access the Führerbunker There was one especially clever one, Roswell P. Rosengren, who came up with an idea: Why not take proof of the very couch on which the dictator had taken his life? No sooner said than done. The American officer cut off a blood-stained scrap and took it home. The piece was guarded by his family until 2014, when it passed to the Gettysburg History Museum. There the producers of Channel 4 found him, who had to face the following challenge: Was that really Hitler’s blood? Was there some way to establish the link, beyond Rosengren’s story? The answer was yes, although it forced them to take a new time jump (this much shorter one) to 2008, when the journalist Jean-Paul Mulders obtained a DNA sample from a relative of Hitler, a person with whom he shared paternal ancestors. Mulders’ purpose was to investigate the rumor of an alleged illegitimate son of Hitler, but in the end it served the creators of the documentary to compare the sample with the blood on the couch. The result: a perfect match. Double check which reinforced the conviction that the cloth contained Hitler’s DNA. “I thought about it a lot”. The next mission was to sequence that DNA to find out everything it hid about its owner, another far from easy task. Not so much because of the technical complexity itself but because of the enormous controversy that accompanies Hitler. In fact The Times assures that there were several laboratories that refused to collaborate in the documentary. Professor Turi Emma King, the lead geneticist on the research, also had her reservations when it was proposed. “I thought about it a lot,” recognize to the British newspaper the scientist, known for identifying years ago the remains of King Richard III. If he decided to embark on the project it was for two reasons: first, why not do it when the DNA is already being used for historical research it would mean giving a prominent role to Hitler; second, by the conviction that sooner or later someone would do it. “We wanted to make sure it was done methodically and rigorously.” So King decided to join the other main expert in the investigation, Dr. Alex Kayexpert on Nazi Germany and professor at the University of Potsdam. Clearing up unknowns. The experiment did not disappoint. As King acknowledges, the team risked not getting convincing results or anything substantial to justify the effort. Quite the opposite happened: the DNA analysis yielded some surprising conclusions that help debunk myths and expand the keys to understanding the Nazi leader. “We didn’t know what we were going to find. It could have been the most boring genome on the planet, but it turned out incredible,” relates. One of their most interesting findings is that the rumors about Hitler’s Hebrew ancestry appear to be basically that: rumors. At the time, there was speculation that the dictator’s paternal grandfather could have been Jewish (Hitler’s father, Alois, was an illegitimate son), a theory so deep-rooted that in 2022 it came to light. share it publicly Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. He was wrong. Channel 4 analysis reveals that Hitler was of Austro-German descent and supports the family tree drawn up by the Nazis. “Confirms that the story of Jewish ancestry through his parents is false,” concludes King on CNN. Kallman syndrome. If there is a revelation that has generated interest and grabbed headlines, however, it is the one that tells us about a much more personal aspect of Hitler: his physiology. Scientists claim to have found solid evidence that Hitler suffered from some form of Kallman syndromea genetic disorder that affects the development during puberty and of sexual organs. The most common thing is that the syndrome causes hypogonadism (insufficient production of testosterone during adolescence), but as the British press has been responsible for reminding these days, it has another peculiarity: up to 10% of those who have the disorder have micropenis. Beyond the obvious morbidity of this revelation, the data is interesting because of the stories that … Read more

If you really want to understand China (and how it sees the future), it’s easy: read its five-year plans

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Today’s China bears little resemblance to that of the mid-20th century, when in the time of Mao Zedong the People’s Republic decided to promote its first five year plan. ran the year 1953 and the country was preparing for the Great Leap Forwardan attempt at industrial modernization that ended with a famine with tragic consequences. Since then China has chained almost uninterrupted five-year plans, documents that help understand its evolution. Its reading is interesting now that the Central Committee of the Communist Party has launched the machinery to provide a plan for 2026-2030. Playing short or long term? On Monday Isaac Stone Fish, founder of Strategy Risk, opened a debate interesting in X: What horizon does China use when drawing up strategies? Do you focus on the long term or do you think only a few years ahead? It is not a minor issue. Stone himself brought up the subject a video released by the White House, the fragment of an interview granted by Trump to CBS in which it was pointed out that the Chinese “are playing the long game.” Click on the image to go to the tweet. “A recommended read”. “Let’s stop saying that the Chinese are playing the long game. This is orientalist nonsense that we must eradicate from our discourse with China. Read the Five Year Plan from five years ago and you will see how different China has become from what its leaders predicted. The Chinese think, like the rest of the people, mainly about the challenges they will face today and in the years to come,” claims the analyst, who assures that long-term speeches have other purposes, such as the party’s self-reaffirmation. He is not the only one who believes it. “If you are interested in reality, read the Chinese five-year plans. They are instructive,” slid another user in X. “Read a plan from five years ago. It is recommended.” But what are five-year plans? Economic and social guides, five-year guidelines that the Chinese authorities set for themselves and that basically set objectives in terms of development, industry, innovation or well-being. Also the paths to reach them. The first dates back to 1953 and since then they have been happening (with almost no pauses) with greater or lesser success, but exerting a key influence on the national evolution of the last 70 years. In fact it is not strange to hear that the turning point in China’s modern development came in 1978, with the economic reform promoted by Deng Xiaoping, which was followed shortly after by a five-year plan for the period 1981-1985. “A macro guideline”. “The five-year plan serves as a way for leaders to take stock, examine challenges and tasks, set directions and move forward. It must be followed closely, as strategic thinking and planning have become a rarity among governments,” They explain to EFE Nomura analysts. “It is a macro-level instruction or guideline for the market to know, including investors, state-owned enterprises and the public, to have the correct expectation of what government policy will be in the future,” comment in AP Li Lun, professor at Peking University. Its role is important because, as remember Neil Thomasresearcher at the Asia Society Policy Institute, marks a key difference with Europe or the US “Western politics operates through electoral cycles, but Chinese policymaking operates through planning cycles.” In the focus. That the Chinese five-year plans are being talked about right now is no coincidence. The country is immersed in the preparation of the new roadmap that will mark its steps until 2030, a complex scenario marked by the real estate crisishe weakening of domestic consumptionthe trade tensionshe youth unemployment or the aging of the population, among other challenges. A few days ago the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party met behind closed doors to talk about the new five-year plan, a document that will not be approved until March 2026but the one that Beijing wanted advance some keys. Among other goals, the technological self-sufficiencymaintain at a level “reasonable” of manufacturing and raise life expectancy up to the 80 years. Why is it important? Because although there is still a long way to go for the approval of the new five-year plan, in the past this roadmap has been key to understanding the priorities of the Chinese Government. Also in its development. At the end of October Nick Mash published an analysis on the BBC in which he details three occasions in which the plans have influenced the world economy: the reformist and opening trend of 1981-1984, the commitment to “strategic emerging industries” during 2011-2015 and “high-quality development” (2021-2025). Images | Dominic Kurniawan Suryaputra (Unsplash) and Chinese Communist Party In Xataka | Xi Jinping wants two things: first, to create a global center that regulates AI. The second, that it is in Shanghai

The best-selling car in Spain is the Dacia Sandero. It is a completely irrelevant fact to understand Spain

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The Dacia Sandero was, in 2024, the best selling car in Spain. It was, in fact, in a total of five countries around the world. In addition to Spain, the Sandero repeated the throne in Bulgaria, Kosovo, Morocco and Portugal. This year we are on track to repeat it, with a Dacia Sandero that has added 28,765 units. Well above the MG ZS, the second best-selling car with 19,251 euros. The data tells us that among the best selling cars In our country the cheapest vehicles triumph. The Renault Clio is the third option. Despite having announced a new generation, it is still the third best-selling car in our country and can be found for prices starting at just over 16,000 euros. The Seat Ibiza is the fourth best-selling car and its starting price is just below the 15,000 euro border. Among the 10 best-selling cars we also find the Peugeot 208, which starts at 17,000 euros. Are we poor? This is what many responses on social networks affirm to each and every one of the lists of the best-selling cars in the world. The reactions compare us with the Nordic countries or Belgium, where the Tesla Model Y was the best-selling car last year. But… what if the statistics were distorted? Simply looking at which is the best-selling car by country gives rise to some paradoxes. France has a salary average of 44,968 euros, while in our country we move at 31,698 euros, according to data collected by Expansion. Despite this, the best-selling car in France in 2024 was the Renault Clio… followed by the Peugeot 208 and the Dacia Sandero. Photography is not very different from that of our country. Finland has an average salary of 52,893 euros, double the 25,198 euros in Greece. Both, however, share that the best selling car in their countries last year it was the Toyota Yaris Cross. The same car that repeated as the best-selling in Poland. Now, we can understand that the photograph may be somewhat distorted. Bestseller just means “bestseller” “The fact that sales were concentrated on that type of car (the Dacia Sandero) or on its price level, that it was the best-seller did not say anything about our purchasing capacity” Who maintains this is Manuel HidalgoDoctor in Economics from the Pompeu Fabra University and professor at the Pablo de Olavide University (Seville). He did it with a tweet on According to his calculations: 33,251 euros. That is the average price of cars bought in Spain. And the data even has nuances that would raise this figure. We might think that a very expensive car will undoubtedly raise the average price. For example, a Dacia Sandero sells for less than 15,000 euros, so a car worth 150,000 euros is equivalent to the registration of ten of these cars. Source: Manuel Hidalgo But Hidalgo has also crossed the frequency with which these cars are purchased. And in the graph above you can see that, indeed, there is a good number of vehicles sold at the average price of a Dacia Sandero and then there is a spike when the graph approaches 20,000 euros. However, most cars sold In our country they stand at 30,000 euros, very close to the average of 33,251 euros. From here, there is a marked drop. The professor and Doctor in economics explains that to obtain the data he has taken the data of the best-selling cars in our country between January and September 2025 (latest data available) and has crossed them with the RRP of the price at which each and every one of the cars in our country are sold. These data show that six times more cars are sold at the 30,000 euro border than at the 14,000 euro border where the Sandero starts. The leadership of the latter is based on the fact that it is the market reference among the cheapest cars. The options in this price range are also much more limited, so at higher prices sales are diversified and, therefore, it is more difficult for a car to gain points to appear among the 10 best-selling cars in our country. But, as we said, it is very likely that the average price we pay for our car in Spain be taller. We asked Manuel Hidalgo about this possibility and he confirmed it. It must be taken into account that the data shown is obtained with the RRP of the car but not with the expenditure that the private client makes on equipment or superior mechanics. And the basic versions of a car are, in many cases and more so in cheap vehicles like the Dacia Sandero, focused on large fleets. This explains that if the car is segmented between individuals and legal entities, the curve shifts to the right. Source: Manuel Hidalgo According to the data collected by Manuel Hidalgo, the average of the car purchased by an individual is higher than the average of the legal entity. Specifically, an individual spends 33,982 euros per vehicle, while an individual spends 32,376 euros. Looking at the graph above, we see that it is common to buy cars for very low priced fleets. So much so that the graphs between individuals and companies do not equalize until both reach 20,000 euros. Among individuals, the frequency of purchases between 20,000 and 30,000 euros shoots up earlier and it is evident that the final average price is driven by a rebound in purchases between 50,000 and 60,000 euros. Among individuals, it is evident that there is a purchase for fleets and work vehicles where the cheapest cars are sought. Then, the frequency shoots up again at the border of 30,000 euros, showing that it is the segment preferred by companies for cars used by their employees or by self-employed people who can deduct part of the fees. That is, yes, in Spain the most purchased car is the Dacia Sandero but the variables that must be taken into account to analyze the … Read more

Memes have become so self-referential and I don’t understand that anyone has had an idea: a Great Reset

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Have you ever felt like you don’t understand memes like you used to? What the hell is that thing Italian Brainrot? No, wait, that’s already out of fashion and has been replaced by another even more cryptic and incomprehensible trend. If you have been on the internet for a few years, you undoubtedly miss the times of some sillier and simpler memes. Those who defend a Great Reset of Memes by 2026 also believe that. And return to the times of epistemological simplicity in memetics. The GMR is coming. In January 2026, an internet cultural phenomenon known as ‘The Great Meme Reset of 2026’ is planned. This viral phenomenon, originating mainly on TikTok, proposes that the online community reboot humor and memes, returning to the memorable classics of the 2010s, in particular the iconic memes of the second half. This is a reaction to the saturation and wear and tear of recent memes, which are perceived by many users as forced, uncreative and unfunny. What we know lately as “brainrot”, and which has a lot to do with automatic and somewhat artificial creativity of AIs. What is intended? The idea of ​​this restart is to leave behind the current landscape of “niche” memes that dominate platforms like TikTok and that, according to their critics, accelerate the lifespan of memes too quickly, which last only a few days. The reset advocates a return to memes considered “dank” or “pure”, such as shrek things, Big Chungushe Trospid Knuckles either the legendary Sanicthe Rage Comics (unequivocal symbol that you are of an age) or the so-called Montage Parodiespure angst generational in terms of image and sound, and that marked meme culture in its first digital years. How it started. The origin of the “Great Meme Reset of 2026” is in March 2025, within an increasingly frustrated digital community. The first and involuntary starting signal was given on TikTok, when @joebro909 posted a video which addressed a sort of meme “drought”, proposing a “great reset” to save meme culture. Although it did not specify the date of 2026 or a complete renewal towards classic memes, it introduced the idea to the community of meme creators as a Trojan Horse. This concept took shape and gained popularity on social networks throughout 2025. In April, on Reddit They began to allude to the need to make this reset a reality in meme culture, specifically citing the idea of ​​returning to old memes. In September the campaign took off in a more clear and organized waywith several videos on TikTok proposing December 31, 2025 as the deadline for modern memes, and hoping that classic memes from the early years of the internet would return in 2026. This launch was reaffirmed by a viral video by @golden._vr, which accumulated almost 370,000 likesin which it was announced that upon December 31, 2025, memes would “return from the grave” and meme culture would be restarted from scratch in 2026. It’s all a huge joke, of course, but it reveals a point of view and a generational conflict. Memetics as culture shock. There is a clear generational gap in the way humor is conceived and consumed on the internet: on the one hand, classic memes played with conciseness and standardized formats, templates; On the other hand, the current phenomenon of brainrot It is an uncontrolled torrent of self-referential content that devours itself, and that has a total disconnection from the previous humor. They are two ways of understanding not the digital, but directly the observation of reality. The millennials come the brainrot like the degeneration of humor: noise, worthless content, a sign of the damage that perverse overexposure to the Internet has done, and they demand meaning and coherence. Generation Z and Alpha find 2010s memes dated, slow, and too literal. He brainrot It is his way of reflecting the chaotic, fragmented and accelerated reality of the Internet, where logic is an obsolete concept. The joke is that there is no joke. And we are not going to agree on that, not even with a reset. In Xataka | Neither left nor right: Charlie Kirk’s murderer did so motivated by a labyrinthine subculture of memes

and that is helping us understand DNA

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Can a person end consuming cannabis in your life according to your DNA? This is the question asked by a research team from UC San Diego and the genetics company 23andMeand the response has been incredible: they have found a direct connection between our genome and cannabis consumption. The study. After analyzing the genetic data of 130,000 people, have managed to identify two specific genes like CADM2 and the GRM3which are not only linked to the probability of trying the substance, but also to the frequency of its consumption. But the most important revelation is how these genes correlate with more than 100 mental and physical health traits, including schizophrenia, impulsivity, diabetes and chronic pain. The ultimate goal: to finally find a way to prevent and treat cannabis use disorder by ‘attacking’ the DNA itself. Genetics of addiction. Cannabis is one of the most used substances in the world, but its long-term effects and the biological mechanisms that lead to cannabis use disorder remain largely unknown to science. The lead author of the study points out in this case that “although the majority of people who try cannabis do not develop a cannabis use disorder, some studies estimate that almost 30% will.” And in order to make a more correct estimate, the most powerful genetic tool available today was used: a genome-wide association study GWAS. The method. Using genetic data and surveys from 131,895 participants from the company 23andMe, the researchers looked for patterns. These were based on the premise that there are different genetic factors that influence people whether or not a person will try drugs, how often they will use them, and the risk of becoming addicted. But now they wanted to specifically identify the molecular systems that were connecting cannabis use to brain function and behavior. Two genes. The analysis identified two genes significantly associated with lifetime cannabis use. The first of them is CADM2, which includes how neurons connect and communicate in the brain. Previous research already pointed to a relationship between this gene and impulsivity, obesity and cancer metastasis. This new study confirms that it is also linked to both prove cannabis ever like frequency with which it is consumed. The second gene affected is GRM3, which influences neuronal communication and brain adaptation. Its involvement is notable, as it has previously been connected to serious psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Beyond cannabis. This is where the study becomes more complex. The researchers did not stop at those two genes, since a secondary analysis revealed another 40 genes associated with the use of this drug. But the most revealing thing was when they cross-referenced these genetic findings with two huge independent health databases (from the program All of Us from the NIH and the Vanderbilt Biobank). In this case, it was discovered that the genetic predisposition to cannabis consumption was correlated with more than 100 different traits such as: Psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia. Cognitive traits such as having low executive function. Have diabetes or chronic pain. Greater likelihood of using tobacco. Increased risk of having infectious diseases such as HIV. Treatment? This study is one of the first to genetically analyze behaviors previous to the development of a cannabis use disorder. In this way, before an addiction to this type of substance occurs, a genetic prediction can be made of how having specific genetics will directly affect the consumption of addictive substances. Currently, there are no FDA-approved drug therapies to treat cannabis use disorder. Although with these discoveries it is expected in the future to have treatments that can inhibit or attenuate this type of genes that reduce the behaviors that may arise from having this genetic predisposition. Images | Rick Proctor In Xataka | We believed that there was no drug more addictive and destructive than fentanyl. Until the nitazenos returned

Europe looks to Spain to understand the agriculture of the future

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In just a decade, has grown by 3,000% and has generated more than 200,000 direct and indirect jobs throughout Spain. We are talking about pistachio: the ‘green gold’ that, despite initial skepticism, has radically changed hectares and hectares of the heart of the country. But we have known all this for years. What we did not know is that this agricultural boom was going to lead to an entire agrotechnological revolution. The epicenter of “pistachotech”. With 80% of the Spanish pistachio, Castilla-La Mancha has taken a step further to become the European epicenter of this “pistachio technological wave”: from “laboratory” rootstocks and new less common varieties to drones, precision irrigation and sterile insect programs. However, that is not the most interesting thing. As the Nobel Prize winners recently reminded us, what is interesting about this technological boom is the cultural change towards an innovative agricultural environment. But let’s go in parts. What is really happening in Castilla La Mancha? As explained in Enclave ODSAccording to Ángel Minaya (director of Agróptimum), the ultimate idea is to “control the entire process from the origin: the seed, the tree, the management and, subsequently, the industry.” This has led a group of researchers, businessmen and producers to start – often separately – an authentic revolution that goes from genetics to industrial organization. Let’s talk about the seed… This has been one of the first battles, for years California has led the creation of varieties with vigor and high tolerance to pests, salinities and low temperatures. And places like Cuenca have been key in its widespread adoption. They are true all-rounders that also reduce harvesting (alternation of crops) and improve harvesting performance than traditional varieties. They produce more, in a more stable way and are collected with fewer resources. …but it’s not just a seed thing. The truth is that, even having the best seed in the world, the genetic approach is not enough. And it is even less so in areas like Spain where water tensions and the pressure of desertification processes are the order of the day. Therefore, beyond grafts and varieties, precision irrigation and nutrition, computerized phenology, drones and their new remote sensing systems and the mechanization of harvesting have a central role in pushing the countryside towards a techno-digital era that has not quite come to fruition. Until now. And the best example of this is the speed with which the Spanish countryside is considering putting into practice sterile insect techniques that, although they are not yet fully necessary due to the youth of the plantations, are the gold standard of pest management. Good news. After all, the pistachio depends to open and close the harvest window properly and, above all, to process the harvest quickly. Without an extensive technical and industrial infrastructure, it is an almost impossible mission. An ecosystem in full growth. In a context in which agriculture needs massive amounts of genetic engineering, automation and data in real time, the configuration of a high-tech hub in the heart of Castilla La Mancha is excellent news. It not only seems an excellent tool to establish population and develop Empty Spain, but it is beginning to be configured as the great opportunity for the Spanish agricultural industry to reinvent yourself. Image | Christopher Burns | Christopher Balz In Xataka | The best pistachio, the one from Madrid: this is how the capital of Spain wants to become the capital of nuts

There is nothing to make blue in blue eyes. If we want to understand why, we have to resort to physics

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Many of us learned first genetics lessons through peas and eye color. But there is more science when Explain the color that acquire our eyes. Not only does physics intervene but also a somewhat more complex biology than we believed in the beginning. Nature and blue. The blue color It is not one of the most frequent In nature. Perhaps that is why exceptions such as the flowers of this color, the plumages of some birds or the wings of certain insects are striking. A reason is in the optimization of resources. Blue pigments are molecules that reflect light in certain segments of the electromagnetic spectrum, those of blue tones, giving color to an object. The problem with these molecules is that They usually have a large size. This makes them difficult to synthesize by living beings so, if they do not offer a significant evolutionary advantage, they will not be created by our body. It is not chemical, it is physical. That is why when we see the blue color in nature, it is likely that its origin is not in a chemical compound but in some physical phenomenon. This is what happens, for example, in the case of the plumage of some birds, whose origin is in nanostructures whose shape is responsible for reflecting the light in short lengths of the visible spectrum, those of blue color. And it is also the case with blue eyes. Absence of pigmentation. Only that in the case of blue eyes it is not about the nanostructures but of the iris and of the Tyndall effectan effect similar to the person responsible for seeing the blue sky (and the red sunsets), Explain in an article in The conversation Davinia Beaver, expert in regenerative medicine of the Bond University, in Australia. When the light enters our eye, the suspended particles found in it interact with the shortest spectrum lengths, causing them to disseminate more, “bouncing” thus part of the blue color of the waves outside. The brown, quite the opposite. This effect does not occur among people with brown eyes because there is a pigment in this. This “catch” part of the light causing it not to escape so easily from the eye, giving darker tones. The pigment in question: melaninthe same responsible for darker skin tones. There are more eyes colors, such as green or “hazelnut color” eyes. These colors can be seen as the combination of the dispersion of the light of the Tyndall effect, modulated by a certain presence of melanin, either in small quantities or concentrated in some regions of the iris. Genetics is not so simple. The genetics we study in our school stage, of course, is simple, a simplified version of what we know about this field of biology. A field, in addition, that has been advancing over time, becoming more complex as we detract more and more details about its operation, Beaver remembers. Point out, for example, there are several genes that affect the appearance of our eyes, so family ins and outs that lead to one or another eye color may not be as perceptible as we believe. Eye color can also change as a result of other factors such as our age, as melanin accumulates in our eyes, which usually happens during growth. Certain medical conditions, Beaver adds, can also influence this color. In Xataka | We have been trying to decipher if all humans see the colors the same. We still have no response Image | Michael Morse

Trying to understand why human beings like alcohol so much, these scientists have just found a fundamental clue: drunken monkeys

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More than two decades ago, Robert Dudley wondered how it was possible that we liked alcohol. In 2014, the evolutionary biologist of the University of California in Berkeley published “El Mono drunk”, a book where he explored The evolutionary roots of that transcultural hobby to alcohol. According to Dudley, it is the fans of primates to fermented fruits (rich in sugars and with a very light alcoholic content) what is behind all this. The problem, as with all the hypotheses of evolutionary biology, was to demonstrate it. Now we have found some tests. Because Science Advance magazine He has just published a study which shows that wild chimpanzees consume the alcoholic equivalent to one or two human cups. That is, exposure to this substance is regular and “probably” was also in our past as a kind, as Dudley said. How have you discovered it? The team analyzed the fruits consumed by the wild chimpanzees in Uganda and in Ivory Coast. Thus, they discovered that these 21 species had a concentration of 0.3% alcohol on average. To the extent that these animals consume about 4.5 kilos of fruit, the amount of ethanol consumed daily is more than the 14 grams that has a standard glass in the US. Of course, “by adjusting for body weight, which in chimpanzees is around 40 kilos in front of about 70 in humans, the exposure equals almost two glasses,” Explain in SINKSEY MARO, main author of the study. It is true, however, that as consumed throughout the day, researchers have not found signs of drunkenness in chimpanzees. So drink alcohol is something natural? This is a usual confusion when we put on the table lAs evolutionary explanationsbut evidently it is not prices. To start because there is nothing ‘natural’ per se. The Natural-artificial ‘distinction It is something that has very little scientific, philosophical or social basis. We have reached a point where everything is artificial. But, on the other hand, the world has changed a lot. Although the hypothesis can explain the origin of the taste for alcohol in all human societies, constant exposure to alcohol of great concentration such as the one we suffer today has nothing to do with that of our ancestors. Therefore, our taste for alcohol may have a certain evolutionary base; The abuse of ethanol and the health problems it causes are something else. Something much more dangerous. Image | Adam Wyles In Xataka | The greatest fear of the alcohol industry is summarized in just five words: being abstemious is fashionable

74,000 years ago, a volcanic eruption led humanity to the edge of extinction. We begin to understand how we survive

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74,000 years ago, in a remote lake north of Sumatra, a volcano erupted. But it wasn’t a normal volcano. According to archaeologist Jayde N. Hiniak“The Toba expelled 2,800 cubic kilometers of ash to the stratosphere, created a crater of 1,000 soccer fields” and caused a global winter. That could take our species to the edge of extinction: for more than half a century, many anthropologists are convinced that it was that eruption (one of the greatest known eruptions) that reduced the human population to about 10,000 fertile couples. It would be the most critical moment of Homo Sapiens since it arose. It is true that the theory is controversial and the debate around the real climate change that the Toba created is still very alive; However, no one doubts that what happened that day in Sumatra was a huge catastrophe. And that can be seen in archaeological remains. As Hiniak pointed out“Most archaeological sites show a history of resistance.” In areas such as South Africa or the lowlands of Ethiopia these climatic changes led to the adoption of technological innovations such as the development of arches and arrows. In much closer places (such as Indonesia, India or China), the population also suffered deep changes that allowed him to survive. All this can be known because the Toba left many geological samples distributed throughout the world. Studying the deposits before and after the ash of the volcano gives a lot of information on how these societies changed socio-technologically. The flexibility was key. Regardless of what Toba will cause (or not) drastic reduction Of the population, what is clear is that it allows us to draw conclusions about what was the fundamental feature that explains the survival of human communities: behavioral flexibility. Something that allows Image | Tetiana Grypachevska In Xataka | When Newton reached the fundamental laws of physics there was already a sign that said “Leonardo was here”

Canopo’s decree is one of the greatest mysteries to solve the ancient Egypt. And finally we have a key track to understand it

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Egyptologists and especially those scholars dedicated to the study of hieroglyphs and The Ptolemaic dynasty They are in luck. And rightly. A team of archaeologists has located in the site of Tell el-Faran´inin the city of The Husseiniya (Sharqia), an unparalleled treasure in the last century and a half. Not because of the materials with which it is manufactured or its lavishness. No. The key is what he says, how he says it and above all what he does not say. What experts have found is neither more nor less than a famous stone trail Canopo decree. Of course, a very special. What is Canopo’s decree? A Egyptian decree promulgated by the king Ptolemy III Evergetes on a deck of 238 AC, in full Ptolomeics dynasty. The document was written after the high priests met in the city of Canopusto the east of Alexandria, to honor the monarch, his wife Berenice and the little daughter of both, who died by those same dates. It may sound boring, but the decree has been fascinating the Egyptologists. The text exalts the figure of the monarchs (“The benevolent gods”), their donations, campaigns and veneration in the temples. Also of more practical issues, such as the decision to lower taxes those years in which crops did not receive enough water from the Nile, or the creation of a new priestly range and a religious holiday. Another of the ads that it collects is the deification of the deceased daughter of Ptolemy III Evergetes and Berenice, which was called as her mother. Does it say anything else? Yes. Among other issues, the introduction of a new system of leap years which would add an extra day every four years to adjust it to religious rituals. Ptolemy III wanted that additional day to commemorate him and his wife, but the idea He didn’t finish curdling. Today it reminds us how advanced Egyptian astronomy was and how it advanced to Julian calendarintroduced by Julio César in the 46 AC replacing the Roman. Beyond what he says, the decree is valuable for how he says it. The document makes it clear that its content should be expressed in stelae that mixed three different writing systems: Egyptian hieroglyphs, The demotic and The Greek Koiné. The copies should also be distributed among the main temples for the edict to reach every corner of the kingdom. When in the nineteenth century the archaeologist Karl Richard Lepsius He discovered one of those specimens in Tanis, he found a valuable help to decipher the hieroglyphs. So or even more than Rosetta stone. How is the new wake? Of sandstone, 127.5 centimeters high and 83 wide, with a thickness of 48. Its upper part is rounded and, in addition to the registration of the central section, distributed over 30 hieroglyph lines carved in relief, the stone shows some interesting decorations. The design is crowned by a large winged solar disk flanked by two royal cobras that show the white and red crowns of Egypt, symbol of the union of the two lands. In the center, an inscription stands out in which “Di-Ank” can be read, a message that could be translated as “the one that gives life.” Why does the finding matter? Because the copies of Canopo decree do not abound. Or at least we have not found them. As remember The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities of Egypt, the wake found in Tell el-Faran´in will join the other six known and unearthed versions inKom el-hisn, Tanis either Tell enough. Some are complete. Another are just fragments. “This discovery is considered the most significant of its kind in more than 150 years, since since then no new and complete version of the decree has been found,” Underline. Does it differ in something? Yes. And that is one of the reasons why the wake recovered in Tell el-Faran´in has generated so much interest. Although the decree of Ptolemy III made it clear that it should be captured in stelae that combined the three writing systems (hieroglyphic, demotic and Greek), the specimen we just found shows only one. This was confirmed by Mohamed Ismail Khaled, of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, who Clarify that the wake is written “entirely in hieroglyphs”, which differentiates it from other previous trilingual versions. What is it for? Beyond the obvious historical, archaeological and patrimonial value of the finding, Tell el-Faran´in wake has a key utility. From the outset, it has served the Egyptian Minister of Antiquities, Sherif Fathy, to breastfeed for the “continuous achievements” of the archaeological missions of the country and the “support” of the government to the excavation campaigns, something that feels especially good in full controversy by the Tourist megaproject of the Sinai. Political issues apart, scholars are relying on squeezing the content of the wake. The authorities expect them to help them expand their knowledge about the real and religious documents of the Ptolemaic era and “enrich” the understanding of that historical period. If something has aroused interest, it is, however, that the stone includes a single writing system, which seems an exception to the norm that includes the decree. “Open new horizons for our understanding of the language and provides additional information about Ptolemaic decrees, as well as about real and religious ceremonial systems,” Add the government. Images | Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, Egypt government and Wikipedia In Xataka | A 2,000 -year -old cup has revealed an unexpected facet of the Egyptians: psychedelic cocktails

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