Romania ancient human Neanderthal ancestor DNA

A 40,000-year-old person had a recent Neanderthal ancestor

≈11% Neanderthal DNA

DNA from a person who lived in Romania about 40,000 years ago was roughly 11% Neanderthal. The amount and pattern of that DNA suggest that one of the person's ancestors was a Neanderthal only four to six generations earlier.

Earth's magnetic bubble is much longer on one side

~10 vs >200 Earth radii

On the side facing the Sun, Earth's magnetic region reaches about 10 Earth radii into space. On the other side, the solar wind stretches it into a long tail more than 200 Earth radii long. Earth's magnetic surroundings are therefore far from symmetrical.

Greek writing added letters for vowel sounds

The Phoenician writing system used letters for consonants, but not vowels. When the Greeks adapted it, they reused some letters for vowel sounds. Greek became the earliest alphabet in the strict sense: a writing system with letters for both vowels and consonants.

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Romania ancient human Neanderthal ancestor DNA

A 40,000-year-old person had a recent Neanderthal ancestor

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