UPI;

DNA sequences dating back 2 million years, the oldest ever obtained, suggest that the northeastern tip of Greenland was once home to a forested ecosystem unlike any now found on Earth.

The sequences were obtained from frozen soil and indicate that the region, was once home to mastodons and reindeer. The area is now barren and home to hare, musk ox and few plants.

“No one would have predicted this ecosystem in northern Greenland at this time,” said Eske Willerslev, a paleogeneticist at the University of Copenhagen who co-led a study published Wednesday in Nature describing the ancient-DNA findings.[…]

Greenland was much warmer then, but the researchers did not expect the DNA sequences to reveal forests of poplar, spruce and yew trees such as those now typically found at much lower latitudes, alongside sedges, shrubs and birch-tree species that still grow in Greenland, according to Nature.
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“Reindeers, according to paleontologists, should not have survived; they shouldn’t even exist at that time,” Willerslev said. Mastodons were thought to have lived in North American forests, and their remains have never been found in Greenland.

Homo naledi may have lit fires in underground caves at least 236,000 years ago.

Researchers have found remnants of small fireplaces and sooty wall and ceiling smudges in passages and chambers throughout South Africa’s Rising Star cave complex, paleoanthropologist Lee Berger announced in a December 1 lecture hosted by the Carnegie Institution of Science in Washington, D.C.

“Signs of fire use are everywhere in this cave system,” said Berger, of the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.

H. naledi presumably lit the blazes in the caves since remains of no other hominids have turned up there, the team says. But the researchers have yet to date the age of the fire remains. And researchers outside Berger’s group have yet to evaluate the new finds.

H. naledi fossils date to between 335,000 and 236,000 years ago (SN: 5/9/17), around the time Homo sapiens originated (SN: 6/7/17). Many researchers suspect that regular use of fire by hominids for light, warmth and cooking began roughly 400,000 years ago (SN: 4/2/12).

Such behavior has not been attributed to H. naledi before, largely because of its small brain. But it’s now clear that a brain roughly one-third the size of human brains today still enabled H. naledi to achieve control of fire, Berger contends.

Daily Mail:

At least two new minerals never seen on Earth have been identified within a 14-ton meteorite found in Somalia two years ago.

The minerals were found in a single two-ounce slice of the space rock, which was sent to the University of Alberta, believed to have discovered a potential third new mineral.

The two newly discovered minerals have been named elaliite and elkinstantonite, but no other details have been released.

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Trust the Evidence- Breast Implants: Deadly Devices

In the 1890s, paraffin was injected into breasts to increase their size. But the paraffin leaked, and the technique was abandoned. In the 20s and 30s, surgeons tried transferring fat – also not a good idea. And in the 50s, cartilage, wood, and even glass balls were used – the side effects were disastrous. In 1962, Timmie Jean Lindsey, in Houston, Texas, was the world’s first to undergo breast augmentation surgery using silicone implants.

They thought the age of exploration in this field was over – The astonishing tale of Homo naledi (50 minutes)

Stories you won’t find at Justin’s media.

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