Blunderov
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"We think in generalities, we live in details"
  
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Ancient 'X-woman' discovered in Siberia
« on: 2010-03-29 18:21:35 » |
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[Blunderov] Mother Russia strikes again. The attached item presents cause for pause for Creationists and everybody knows just how well that delights the Communist heart. I'm confident though, that Creationism will rise up as one man away from this new challenge*; but just how many men did God create on the 7th day? And women? Enlightenment. We await it.
And who said scientists are a humourless bunch? "Because it's mitochondrial and we want to take a feminist tack on this". A rich living on the stand-up comedy stage beckons the author of this frank expression - should that tenure ever fail to come through. </chortle>
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=588&art_id=vn20100328075939215C773147
Ancient 'X-woman' discovered in Siberia
March 28 2010 at 11:04AM
A mysterious species of ancient human has been discovered in a cave in Siberia.
Scientists say the human, nicknamed X-Woman, lived alongside our ancestors tens of thousands of years ago.
The discovery, which could rewrite our family tree, was made after analysis of DNA from a fossilised finger bone.
Experts believe the finger belonged to a child who died 48 000 to 30 000 years ago.
It was thought only two species of early humans lived at that time, ancestors of modern man and the Neanderthals, who died out soon afterwards.
But the DNA evidence published in the journal Nature reveals a third species.
The latest study was based on an analysis of mitochondrial DNA, a genetic code passed from mothers to children.
Researcher Dr Svante Paabo said the code was different from that of Neanderthals and modern humans and was "a new creature that's not been on our radar screens so far".
The scientists are unable to say what X-Woman looked like and are even unsure if the finger belonged to a male or a female, but Dr Paabo said they named her X-Woman "because it's mitochondrial and we want to take a feminist tack on this".
It follows the controversial discovery of another "new" species of pygmy human called the Hobbit on an Indonesian island in 2004.
Although many researchers have dismissed the Hobbit, claiming the bones came from a modern human with a growth disorder, it raises the intriguing possibility that up to four different ancient human species lived just a few thousand years ago.
"Whoever carried this mitochondrial DNA out of Africa one million years ago is a new creature that's not been on our radar screens," Dr Paabo said.
"This also suggests that there were at least three forms of humans in this area 40 000 years ago - and also the Hobbits in Indonesia." - Daily Mail
This article was originally published on page 29 of Tribune on March 28, 2010
*Betting is now open for "DNA is is a test from God to see if we are truly faithful". Available at 11/2 on. Step right up.
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