The First Potatoes

The mystery of potato evolution has been solved—and it involved a tomato.

The potato is a global food staple. It was first cultivated thousands of years ago in the Andes of South America before it spread worldwide starting in the 16^th century. But its evolution has long been a puzzle, until a recent analysis finally unraveled its origins.

Scientists say that the potato lineage emerged approximately nine million years ago in South America, through a natural interbreeding event between a wild tomato plant and a potato-like species. This discovery is based on the genomic analysis of 450 cultivated types of potatoes and 56 wild species.

This ancient hybridization event led to the appearance of the potato plant’s distinctive tuber—the enlarged structure housing nutrients underground. While the edible part of a tomato plant is its fruit, the potato’s value lies in this subterranean growth. Researchers also identified two crucial genes involved in tuber formation, which deepens our understanding of this crop.

Potatoes are one of the most remarkable food staples, combining versatility, nutritional value, and cultural ubiquity. Around the world, people eat potatoes using virtually every cooking method. Although stereotyped as carbohydrates, potatoes offer vitamin C, potassium, fiber, and resistant starch. They are gluten-free, low-fat, and satiating. They are a nutrient-dense calorie source.

Resistant starch is a type of carbohydrate that resists digestion in the small intestine and ferments in the large intestine. This means it feeds beneficial bacteria in the gut.

The scientific name for modern a potato plant is Solanum tuberosum. Its two parents were ancestors of a potato-like species now found in Peru named Etuberosum (which closely resembles the potato plant but lacks a tuber) and the tomato plant. These two plants shared a common ancestor that lived about 14 million years ago, so they were able to interbreed when the hybridization event occurred five million years after they had diverged.

The hybridization led to genes being reshuffled so that the lineage produced tubers, which allowed these plants to expand into the cold, dry habitats of the rising Andes mountain chain. During the rapid uplift of the Andes, the potato plant could adapt to the changing environment and thrive in the harsh conditions of the mountains. The tubers stored nutrients for cold adaptation and enabled asexual reproduction to counter the reduced fertility in cold conditions. Therefore, the plant could survive and rapidly expand.

The study’s findings may improve cultivated potato breeding to address environmental challenges that crops presently face. There currently are roughly 5,000 potato varieties. Potatoes are the world’s third most important food crop for humans, after rice and wheat. China is the world’s leading potato producer.

It is hard to remove all harmful mutations in potato genomes when breeding, but this study may show how to make a potato free of harmful mutations using the tomato as the chassis of synthetic biology. It may also lead to a new crop species that would produce tomato fruit above ground and potato tubers below ground.

The potato and tomato belong to the nightshade family of flowering plants, which also includes tobacco and peppers, among others. The study did not investigate the evolution of other tuberous root crops that originated in South America such as the sweet potato and yuca, which belong to different families of flowering plants.

Although the parts of the tomato and potato plants that people eat are quite different, the plants are very similar. If you look at the flowers or leaves of these plants, they are very similar. And if you let your potato plant produce fruits, those fruits look like little green tomatoes. But don’t try to eat them; they are pretty yucky.

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/the-mystery-of-the-first-potatoes-has-finally-been-solved-and-a-tomato-was-involved/ar-AA1JJN5G?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=a1e7bc6999b149a6a70e4275bd5155de&ei=68

Trash in a Cave

A spelunker found trash in a cave, but it was actually evidence of a lost civilization.

A professional cave explorer, on a mapping expedition in the Tlayococ cave in Mexico found a hidden chamber that contained evidence of an extinct civilization.

Yekaterina Katiya Pavlova went to a community in the Sierra de Guerrero to further map the Tlayococ cave. When Pavlova and her local guide reached the bottom of the cave, after exploring all that was already mapped, they opted to head into an unknown passage through a submerged entrance.

The passage led to a previously unseen room where two engraved shell bracelets sat atop stalagmites. They also found another bracelet, a giant snail shell, and pieces of black stone discs similar to pyrite mirrors. All of these things dated to more than 500 years ago.

When archaeologists later descended to the cave, they found more items; a bracelet fragment, a piece of burnt wood, and pieces of a total of eight stone discs (two of which were complete).

All of the bracelets were made from snail shells—probably a marine species—and were engraved with anthropomorphic symbols and figures. The engravings featured S-shaped symbols (known as xonecuilli), zigzagging lines, and circles to create human faces in profile. These designs could be meant to indicate deities.

The archaeologists estimate that the items were left in the cave between 950 and 1521 AD. At that time, the area was known to be populated by the now-extinct Tlacotepehaus ethnic group.

One archaeologist felt the items found could help with interpreting symbolic notions, cultural aspects, manufacturing, and trade of the pre-Hispanic societies in the Sierra de Guerrero.

The archaeologists also determined that the stalagmites were manipulated in pre-Hispanic times to give a more spherical finish, possibly to fit ritual needs. It is felt that the symbols and representations of characters on the bracelets may be related to pre-Hispanic cosmogony regarding creation and fertility. The sealed context helps them understand how the ancient inhabitants may have seen these caves—as portals to the underworld, or as sacred spaces connected to the Earth and the divine.

The black stone discs resemble others from nearby regions, such as El Infiernillo, as well as from distant cultures like Huasteca, Mayan states in east-central Mexico.

Historical reports say extreme cold forced the people living in the Sierra de Guerrero, which is located over 7,850 feet above sea level, to lower altitudes. Little is known about the Tlacotepheuas, other than some 16th-century historical mentions of their presence. The shell bracelets could help tell their story.

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/a-spelunker-thought-she-found-trash-in-a-cave-it-was-actually-evidence-of-a-lost-civilization/ar-AA1FF5eD?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=a1e7bc6999b149a6a70e4275bd5155de&ei=77

New Human Species

Scientists have discovered a new human species.

Only one species of hominin exists on the planet today, and that’s Homo sapiens. But throughout more geologically recent Earth history, the human family was a complex tableaux of members. Over the years, scientists have tried to get a clearer picture of that prehistoric story by excavating ancient human sites around the world.

Now anthropologists are illustrating a previously unknown chapter of that story with the introduction of a formerly uncatalogued human species, Homo juluensis.

Homo juluensis means “big head”. This species thrived in eastern Asia from about 300,000 years ago to around 50,000 years ago but then died out. According to the researchers, they likely hunted wild horses, fashioned stone tools, and processed animal hides to survive frigid winters. The breakthrough for discovering this possibly new species came when a team began devising a new system for organizing fossil evidence. They did not expect to propose a new human ancestor species and then to organize hominin fossils from Asia into different groups. But their study clarifies a hominin fossil record that has tended to include anything that could not easily be assigned to Homo erectus, Homo neanderthalensis, or Homo sapiens.

One possible member of the Homo juluensis species isn’t exactly a newcomer. Denisovans were first identified in 2010 by way of DNA extracted from a young girl’s fingerbone found in Siberia, but have not been given a species classification. They could belong to this new species.

Homo juluensis may also solve another mystery of the Xujiayao hominin fossils. These fossils have long perplexed researchers, as the remains display a mix of Homo erectus and Homo sapiens features. These remains have been confused for a variety of taxonomic representations, but scientists note that differences in the (big) cranium, the teeth, jaws, and a few other features indicate a new species. These fossil remains include Penghu 1 (jawbone), Xiahe (mandible), Xuchang (partial crania), and a variety of Denisova fossils.

Although this is a convincing argument that these particular specimens belong to a previously unknown human species, more research is needed. But since these fossils still defy any other species classification, it may only be a matter of time before the human tribe increases by at least one species.

 

Giant Alien Planet

Astronomers have detected a hidden planet by examining the orbits of the known worlds in the star system known as Kepler-139. The newfound alien planet, Kepler-139f, is a gigantic world roughly twice the mass of Neptune and 35 times the mass of Earth. It takes 355 days to orbit its star. Despite its giant size, Kepler-139f had evaded detection until now.

NASA’s Kepler space telescope discovered nearly 3,000 planets in the nine years it operated. But it relied on worlds transiting, that is, passing between their star and Earth. When they do that, the resulting dimming of the star allowed astronomers to identify planets and calculate their size. But Kepler couldn’t see planets traveling above or below the wedge of space between it and the star, so any outliers remained unseen.

But when the hidden world is part of a multiplanet system, astronomers could maybe find it despite its inclined orbit. And Kepler-139 has three rocky transiting super-Earths; later a fourth gas giant was discovered. Gaps between their orbits suggested that other worlds might be present. Precise measurements of the orbits allowed the astronomers to infer the existence of at least one more planet. It seems the problem is not exactly in finding non-transiting planets, but in finding situations where they can deduce where the non-transiting planet is located.

After Kepler initially identified a world, observations from the ground often followed. By using a planet’s radial velocity, astronomers could measure the amount the planet tugged on its star, which allowed them to determine the planet’s mass. Radial velocity measurements could also reveal new worlds, which is what happened with the outermost gas giant, Kepler-139e.

Each planet is pulled not only by its star but also by other planets in the system, even if that planet cannot be seen from Earth. These pulls can affect how swiftly a planet transits, which creates ‘transit timing variations’. Such variations can reveal worlds that don’t cross the star.

Scientists looked for gaps in known systems. Then they used both radial velocity and transit timing variation measurements to hunt for a missing planet. While the radial velocity observations did not conclusively point toward another planet, when combined with the transit timing variations they revealed a fifth planet in the system, Kepler-139f, which was between the outermost super-Earth and the gas giant.

The discovery of Kepler-139f helped answer a question about Kepler-139c, the outermost super-Earth. Originally, the reports for 139c showed an unusually large density for a sub-Neptune-sized planet. Because the scientists didn’t yet know about 139f, they had attributed some of its pull on its star to 139c. But the new data suggests a more typical density for 139c while leaving the densities for 139d and 139b unchanged. These revisions provide indirect evidence for 139f.

It is possible that there may be other hidden worlds around Kepler-139. For instance, there is a prominent gap between 139b and 139c.

Both Kepler and NASA’s more recent exoplanet hunting mission (the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) were sensitive to planets orbiting close to their star. Inner worlds made more transits, which allowed scientists to confirm the planet’s existence. But transiting planets with wider orbits made fewer passes in front of their sun, so they were harder to observe and confirm.

In addition, the radial velocity method tends to find larger planets, because massive worlds tug stronger on their stars. Also, the closer a planet is to its sun, the stronger its tug. That’s why so many of the discovered exoplanets were Jupiter-sized worlds whose orbit only took a few days.

All of these factors mean it’s harder to discover smaller planets that are farther away, especially if they don’t transit their star. But by combining various methods, astronomers can find smaller worlds orbiting farther from their star.

And soon it will be harder for those planets to hide. In 2026, the European Space Agency will launch the Planetary Transits and Oscillations of Stars (PLATO) mission. It will conduct its own survey of transiting planets, as well as revisit Kepler’s field. By providing additional transit times for planets detected by Kepler more than a decade earlier, PLATO will enable the discovery of more misaligned worlds.

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/astronomers-discover-giant-alien-planet-35-times-more-massive-than-earth-hiding-in-a-known-star-system/ar-AA1IE595?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=feaec06498da45f787cb55fd4cd8125e&ei=15

FOUND: the Universe’s Missing Matter

There are two kinds of matter in the universe. There is dark matter, which is invisible to us. It is known only because of its gravitational effects on a grand scale. And there is ordinary matter, which we are all familiar with; it makes up gases, dust, stars, planets, and earthly things like cake batter and camping gear.

Scientists have estimated that ordinary matter makes up only 15% of all matter. But they have struggled to document where all of the matter is located, since only about half of it is accounted for. Now, with the help of powerful bursts of radio waves emanating from 69 locations in the cosmos, researchers have found the “missing” matter.

It was primarily hiding as thinly distributed gas spread out in the vast expanses between galaxies and was detected because of the effect the matter has on the radio waves traveling through space. This tenuous gas is the intergalactic medium, a sort of fog between galaxies.

Scientists had previously determined the total amount of ordinary matter using a calculation involving light observed that was left over from the Big Bang. But they could not actually find half of this matter.

Researchers found that a smaller slice of the missing matter resides in the halos of diffuse material surrounding galaxies, including our Milky Way.

Ordinary matter is composed of baryons, which are the subatomic particles needed by protons and neutrons to build atoms. Dark matter, on the other hand, is a mysterious substance. Scientists do not know what new particle or substance makes up dark matter.

How did so much ordinary matter end up in the middle of nowhere? Vast amounts of gas are ejected from galaxies when massive stars explode as supernovas of when supermassive black holes inside galaxies “burp,” expelling material after consuming stars or gas.

If the universe were a more boring place, or the laws of physics were different, ordinary matter would all fall into galaxies, cool down and form stars until every proton and neutron were a part of a star.

Thus, these violent processes throw ordinary matter across immense distances and consign it to the cosmic wilderness. This gas is not in its usual state; it is in the form of plasma, with its electrons and protons separated.

The missing ordinary matter was detected and measured by using phenomena called fast radio bursts, or FRBs. These are powerful pulses of radio waves emanating from faraway points in the universe. Their exact cause remains mysterious, but a leading hypothesis is that they are produced by highly magnetized neutron stars, which are compact stellar embers left over after a massive star dies in a supernova explosion.

As light in the radio wave frequencies travels from the source to Earth, it becomes dispersed into different wavelengths, just like a prism turns sunlight into a rainbow. The degree of dispersion depends on how much matter is in the light’s path. This provides the mechanism for pinpointing and measuring matter where it otherwise would remain unfound.

Scientists used radio waves traveling from 69 FRBs. Of these, 39 were discovered using a network of 110 telescopes located at Caltech’s Owens Valley Radio Observatory near Bishop, California, which is called the Deep Synoptic Array. The remaining 30 FRBs were discovered using other telescopes.

The FRBs were located at distances up to 9.1 billion light-years from Earth, which is the farthest of these on record. A light-year is the distance light travels in a year (5.9 trillion miles/9.5 trillion km).

With all the ordinary matter accounted for, researchers were able to determine its distribution. About 76% resides in intergalactic space, approximately 15% in galaxy halos, with the remaining 9% concentrated within galaxies as stars or gas.

Now they can move on to other mysteries regarding ordinary matter. And beyond that, they still don’t know the nature of dark matter.

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/astronomers-locate-universe-s-missing-matter/ar-AA1GPaMp?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=c615a1d5e8e948159c93cc31030732f0&ei=41

Mythical or Real? Part 5

 This week, we visit an ancient trading center and a Biblical pool.

8. Steinkjer, Norway -

Norse sagas tell of an ancient trading center that was, briefly, the largest in the Viking world, but no one knew where or if it had actually existed. In 2013, archaeologists found some intriguing evidence during an archaeological investigation conducted near Steinkjer. Researchers uncovered two separate boat graves associated with a wide variety of high-status trade goods, such as a silver button, a set of balance scales, imported jewelry, and amber beads.

These findings add to the area’s rich archaeological record, which includes twenty-two examples of a special trade-related Viking-age sword. Taken together, these artifacts suggest that Steinkjer was the major trading city described in the Norse sagas, and that its center was likely where its modern church stands today.

 

9. Pool of Siloam, Jerusalem – 700 BCE

In the New Testament, Jesus returns sight to a blind man at the Pool of Siloam in Jerusalem. Christians searched for the site for centuries before repair work on a water pipe south of the Temple Mount in 2004 revealed two ancient stone steps.

During the archaeological investigation that followed this find, researchers discovered a 2,000-year-old, 225-foot-long trapezoidal pool, which they believe to be the site where Jesus conducted his miracle. In addition to being an important part of early Jerusalem’s water system, the architectural feature was also likely a ritual bath used by visiting pilgrims.

Careful extraction and restoration work over the past twenty years have preserved the ancient Pool of Siloam. It was opened to the public as part of the City of David National Park.

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/tripideas/nine-mythical-places-archaeologists-think-may-have-actually-existed/ar-AA1pZfYc?ocid=mailsignout&pc=U591&cvid=81421580eeb740c9bf0eb1832cd5508b&ei=66

Mythical or Real? Part 4

This week, we look into a famous temple and an infamous labyrinth.

6. Ain Dara (Solomon’s Temple), Syria – 1000 BCE

Armed conflict destroyed Ain Dara in northwestern Syria in 2018. In the 1980s, some archaeologists had identified it as the 3,000-year-old temple mentioned as Solomon’s Temple in the Bible. The ancient site shared more features with the temple described in the Book of Kings than any site uncovered before or since. It included walls carved in reliefs of lions and cherubs, a courtyard paved in flagstones, a monumental staircase guarded by sphinxes, and a multistory hallway. Even its location—on a raised platform overlooking a city—echoes the temple’s depiction in the Bible.

Although the bombing and plundering of the site prevents archaeologists from finding any more evidence of its history, some of its most important artifacts can be seen at the National Museum of Aleppo.

 

7. Kastelli (Minotaur’s Labyrinth), Greece – 2000 BCE

While building a new airport on the island of Crete, workers uncovered something unexpected. With a central circular building surrounded by eight stone rings intersected by walls, the site resembled the style of tomb constructed by the Minoan civilization around 2000 to 1700 BCE. But to anyone familiar with Greek mythology, it also looked like the Minotaur’s labyrinth.

The Minotaur was a ferocious creature with the head of a bull and the body of a man who was trapped in a maze built by the Greek architect Daedalus. Every seven years, Athens sacrificed seven young men and seven young women to the monster until Theseus, a prince of the city, volunteered to kill the creature. Marking his route with a ball of thread, Theseus made his way through the labyrinth, murdered the beast, rescued the not-yet-dead victims, then followed the thread back to safety.

Although archaeologists are still studying Kastelli, its architectural similarities to the mythical maze, combined with evidence of ceremonial offerings and communal feasting that was found at the site, suggest that it was part of the story’s origin.

Kastelli is not open to the public, but Knossos, the ancient palace that was previously believed to be the site of the Minotaur’s labyrinth, is.

Mythical or Real? Part 3

 This week, we explore an abandoned Norse settlement in North America and a ‘Lake of Gold’ in South America.

4. L'Anse Aux Meadows (Vinland), Newfoundland – 1000 CE

For a long time, explorers searched for evidence of Vinland, a place described in the 13^th century Greenlanders’ Saga as having lush meadows, teeming salmon and wild grapes. If the legend was true, the site was briefly settled by Leif Erikson and his crew around 1000 CE. That would make it the first place “discovered” by Europeans in the New World. That settlement preceded the arrival of Christopher Columbus by almost 500 years. When they found evidence of Norse-designed sod-walled buildings on the far north coast of Newfoundland in Canada in the 1960s, archaeologists were hopeful that, at long last, Vinland had been found.

Soon, they identified European artifacts; a bronze cloak pin, a spindle whorl, a gilded fragment of brass, and a place for smelting and working iron. Scholars were convinced that they’d stumbled upon the fabled Vinland. They still continue to study the long-held secrets of this site today. It is called the L’Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site, and it includes reconstructions of the original dwellings where Vikings lived (on-and-off) for about twenty years.

 

5. Lake Guatavita (El Dorado), Colombia – 1541 CE

Spanish conquistadors first described a mythical South American kingdom of unfathomable riches ruled by El Rey Dorado in 1541. According to what they said, this chief’s initiation rites included covering himself in gold dust and ceremonially dropping treasure into the center of a sacred lake. In the centuries that followed, explorers searched for the kingdom of “El Dorado” throughout Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana and Brazil, but never found it. Eventually, they gave up.

But that doesn’t mean the story is completely false. Juan Pablo Quintero-Guzman, an archaeologist and the curator at Colombia’s Museum of Gold, says that “All lakes in the Muisca territory were places of offering.” He believes that similar rituals were carried out in some lakes but that Lake Guatavita was, from 600 to 1600 CE, the place where this ritual was performed the most often.

For the past 400 years, numerous artifacts have been pulled from Lake Guatavita. These artifacts include tumbaga (an alloy of gold and copper), emeralds, human-like clay vessels, hair, cotton, and animal skulls. Quintero-Guzman has evidence that rituals were taking place at the water’s edge, possibly at a temple or a ceremonial site intended for making offerings. His findings do not definitively prove that Lake Guatavita was the site spoken of by the conquistadors, but they do not contradict the possibility, either. At least for now, the chiefdom of Guatavita seems to be the most likely origin of the myth.

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/tripideas/nine-mythical-places-archaeologists-think-may-have-actually-existed/ar-AA1pZfYc?ocid=mailsignout&pc=U591&cvid=81421580eeb740c9bf0eb1832cd5508b&ei=66

Mythical or Real? Part 2

This week, we have a cave and a castle to explore.

2. Gorham’s Cave (Medusa’s Cave), Gibraltar – 600 BCE

As far as ancient mariners knew, Gorham’s Cave, a natural cavern at the base of the Pillars of Hercules in the Strait of Gibraltar, was the edge of the known world. But a study published in 2021 suggests that the cave may have played an even greater role in Greek mythology. Deep inside the cave, archaeologists found fragments from the head of a large, ceramic Gorgon dating to about the sixth century BCE. According to legends, the Gorgons were three monstrous sisters who terrorized Greek sailors by turning them to stone with a single look. Their lair was supposed to be near the Rock of Gibraltar. It was in their lair that Perseus beheaded the snake-haired Medusa—the most evil of the siblings—while she slept.

Other Medusa figures have been found in the region, but this was the first to be discovered inside a cave. By combining archaeological evidence, historical accounts, geography, and myth, researchers have concluded that Gorham’s Cave was likely the site that early seafarers believed to have been the home of the Gorgons, and the site of Medusa’s defeat. Visitors can examine the cave’s entrance on biweekly summer tours offered at the British territory of Gibraltar’s Gorham’s Cave Complex World Heritage Site, a limestone ridge off the southern tip of Spain.

Now, it’s my understanding that a cave in Gibraltar—possibly Gorham’s Cave—was inhabited by Neanderthals during the last ice age, and that stone tools, human and animal remains had been found in the cave.

 

3. Tintagel Castle (King Arthur’s Castle), England – 1203 CE

Writer Geoffrey of Monmouth described Tintagel Castle as the place of King Arthur’s conception. Since then, the 13^th-century fortress on the rocky coast of Cornwall, England, has been associated with Arthur’s legend. But until recently, no one knew that beneath the ruins of Tintagel Castle lay an even older settlement with features that could correspond to the legendary leader. It appears that the older settlement was an exceptional place, with goods and luxury commodities arriving from the Mediterranean world in great numbers. Although archaeologists can’t say for sure who ruled the earlier site, King Arthur fits the profile.

Whether he was actually there or not, King Arthur has very much become a part of the story that’s been handed down over generations. Tintagel Castle was built around 1203 CE by Richard, the Earl of Cornwall. It had no military value, but was constructed, in part, at least, to draw a connection between his authority and the legendary King Arthur.

Arthur’s myth is not the only one that haunts Tintagel Castle. There’s also a Celtic legend retold in the 12^th century as a story of forbidden love in which the knight Tristan fell in love with Princess Isolde even though she was set to marry King Mark of Cornwall. There are several places around Cornwall that are associated with King Mark, Tristan, and Isolde. Their story was circulating around Europe at the same time as King Arthur’s. But somehow, the ruins of Tintagel Castle became known at King Arthur’s home.

Mythical or Real? Part 1

This will be a continuing series for a while. I want to explore nine mythical places that archaeologists think may have actually existed.

History is rife with mythical lands, from the homes of legendary kings to the earthly abodes of gods and monsters. Past civilizations have dreamed of extraordinary places hiding in plain sight.

But while many people believe it unlikely that either Atlantis or Shangri-La was real, other myths may have more truth to them than anyone realized. A growing body of archaeological research suggests certain places—the Minotaur’s maze from Greek mythology; Vinland, the first North American Viking settlement mentioned in Norse sagas; Solomon’s Temple described in the Bible; and others—could have been more than fables.

From western Turkey to Jerusalem, and from coastal England to the Colombian Andes, evidence indicates that these nine mythical places may have really existed.

Let’s look at the first one today.

1. Troy, Turkey – 1200 BCE

The city of Troy was at the heart of Homer’s Iliad and Virgil’s Aeneid. It is one of the most legendary sites of classical Greek mythology. Fantastic details are woven into the tales such as; the interference of the gods in the Trojan War, the half-divine heritage of the Spartan hero Achilles, and the gift of a wooden horse filled with Greek soldiers. But these days, archaeologists believe some aspects of the stories were true.

Nearly 150 years of excavations at the site of Troy in modern Turkey have revealed that it was occupied for 4,000 years. Also, during the Late Bronze Age (when Homer’s Trojan War allegedly took place), the Trojans began to prepare for an insurgence from outside.

Researchers are still looking for proof of the battle that raged outside the city’s walls for ten years. If it’s there, it’s buried under 65 feet of sediment, which built up alongside the shifting Scamander (now the Karamenderes) River. It’s the mouth of that river that makes Troy so important in the first place. Troy was settled over and over again because if you controlled the harbor, you controlled the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas.

Troy isn’t the only mythological site discovered in the region. Apollon Smintheion is an imposing temple built for the god Apollo on top of a settlement from the sixth century BCE. Antandros was an ancient shipbuilding settlement. These and the sacred forests of Mount Ida are all historical sites that correspond to places mentioned in the Ilied and Aeneid. Together, they now make up Turkey’s Aeneas Route, a tourist corridor following the epic journey taken by Aeneas, the father of Rome, after he escaped Troy’s sacking by the Greeks.

Proofreading

I reached a point earlier this year where I needed to make some extra money, in order to pay off some bills. The local fast-food restaurants were hiring, but I did that as a teenager, and I didn’t want to go backwards. I retired from my day job in 2011, and I was used to staying home, or going out to run errands, whenever I wanted. I wanted something part-time that I could do at home.

After looking around at various possibilities, I decided to take some training on how to proofread other people’s work. I felt I was halfway there already, since a typo or misplaced word always made me stop reading to figure out what was amiss.

I worked my way through the lessons, and the quizzes at the end of each lesson. Most of the lessons I was familiar with, but I even mastered the quizzes having to do with punctuating dependent clauses and participial phrases, when one or the other was all I had to worry about. I got through all the lessons and then downloaded 40 practice essays to proofread and 2 worksheets to do. These are to be done before I take the final exam. I have worked my way through half of them so far.

The actual proofreading is not as easy as I thought it would be, even though I can (and should) do as much research as I need to do. I always have the Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS), a dictionary, and Google open and ready on my computer when I start to proofread. And still I make mistakes.

First, CMOS is not the easiest manual to figure out. Sometimes I can’t find anything on the problem I’m looking for, possibly because I don’t know what kind of sentence I’m looking at. Is one of the clauses dependent? Is one of these clauses actually a participial phrase? I’ve decided to go back and restudy the lessons on these sentence parts before I attempt to proofread any more practice essays.

Second, some of the subject matter (like music), I don’t know anything about, and that makes it hard to catch misspelled words. In another essay, it mentioned a Japanese management method, and it capitalized the name. The name wasn’t in the dictionary, but Google knew what it was, and it capitalized the name every time, even in the middle of a sentence. So I didn’t correct it, only to be told that it should have been uncapped and italicized, as a foreign word.

Third, there are a lot of times when I don’t think 2 words should be joined as one word, but the dictionary says they are. I catch some of them, but frequently, I don’t catch them all. I have to be more diligent in looking up 2 words that might be joined into one word.

No, it’s not as easy as I thought it would be. I always go through these essays 3 and 4 times, trying to catch all the mistakes. But that just means that once I start proofreading for real, I will earn every penny I charge.

On the upside, I dug out my old college textbook from my English class. I started a ‘cheat sheet’ on parts of sentences to help me figure out if I’m looking at a clause or just a phrase, and how to punctuate it. I read that cheat sheet every day to remind myself what’s on it, and it has become another resource I have ready and at hand when I’m proofing. My number of mistakes has gone down, and they are rarely mistakes about where to put a comma. So I’m making progress.

Humans reach southern South America

DNA from 139 Indigenous groups reveal that humans reached southern South America by 14,500 years ago.

A new genetic analysis reveals that humans crossing from Asia along the Bering Land Bridge during the last ice age underwent three major population splits as they traveled through the Americas. This journey has been identified as the longest human migration out of Africa. Eventually, a group settled in the southern part of South America some 14,500 years ago.

An international team of scientists analyzed 1,537 genomes of people from 139 different ethnic groups to identify genetic characteristics of the earliest Americans.

The GenomeAsia 100K consortium collected the genetic material, including some from Asian populations whose ancestors made early migrations into the Americas. The scientists were able to identify the genetic background of indigenous people throughout the Americas. They pinpointed three key time periods when the long-distance travelers split up.

The first population split occurred between 26,800 and 19,300 years ago during the Last Glacial Maximum. This was when Indigenous Americans split from North Eurasian people. These dates are consistent with a Native American presence at White Sands in New Mexico, as evidenced by ancient footprints and vehicle drag marks dated to 23,000 to 21,000 years ago.

The next major population split happened between 17,500 and 14,600 years ago. The indigenous population in North America split, and some made their way south. This Mesoamerican group then split rapidly into four native genetic lineages around 13,900 years ago. These groups were ancestral Pueblo peoples in the southwest US, as well as Amazonians, Andeans and Patagonians in South America.

This estimation actually fits well with the archaeological records, which indicate that people were living in the furthest southern reaches of the South American continent by about 14,500 years ago.

As people made their way into the new land tens of thousands of years ago, they experienced a reduction in their genetic diversity. First it was because of geographic barriers. Later, the populations were decimated after the arrival of European colonists.

One key loss was in the variation in human leukocyte antigen (HLA) genes. A high diversity of HLA genes is important for immune system health. In regions such as Southeast Asia with a high number of disease-causing organisms, previous studies found a high diversity of HLA genes. But in the Indigenous South American genomes, there was significantly lower diversity in the HLA genes. This may have led to these people being more vulnerable to novel pathogens.

One of the researchers’ aims is to emphasize the special medical needs of contemporary Indigenous peoples. Some have gene variants associated with problems like adverse drug reactions.

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/humans-reached-southern-south-america-by-14-500-years-ago-genomes-from-139-indigenous-groups-reveal/ar-AA1ER86r?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=e2137095d6244d2d9b66aa91eafcef03&ei=65

What Was the Earth Like?

We’ve examined some of the creatures that existed before the dinosaurs, but what was the Earth like way back then?

From 354 to 290 million years ago was the Carboniferous Period. Hot and humid conditions covered the northern landmass, while the southern lands were much colder. Large club mosses, tree ferns, and horsetails grew in swamps and estuaries, along with seed-bearing plants. Some plants were up to 100 feet tall.

The insect population was quite varied, with millipedes, dragonflies, and other bugs. Some flying insects had wingspans up to two feet wide! Around the middle of the period, reptiles evolved as the first land-dwelling animals, and sharks and bony fishes replaced the jawless agnathans and armored placodems in the seas. Starfish, gastropods, sea urchins, and other marine invertebrates flourished on the reefs.

Approximately 350 million years ago, coal forests began to form in wetlands at the edges of continents. The submerged plant matter did not decompose completely and ended up being buried. This eventually transformed into coal.

The early reptiles had similar skeletal features to those of amphibians, but there were differences in their skulls and vertebrae that signified their relationship to later reptiles such as turtles and dinosaurs.

Then came glaciations, a decrease in sea levels, and the formation of Pangaea, when the continents joined together. A minor extinction event of both marine and land life happened at the end of the period due to climate change. This is known as the Carboniferous rainforest collapse.

 

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Pre-Dinosaurs Prehistoric Animals

Dinosaurs wandered the Earth for millions of years, searching for food and defending their territories. They roamed the world from 252- to 66-million years ago. But what about before the dinosaurs? It turns out that Earth’s creatures were highly diverse, as well as enormous. Let’s take a look at 9 massive prehistoric animals that lived before dinosaurs.

Scutosaurus

This “shield lizard” arose around 298 million years ago. It was among the largest reptiles at the time. It features a 20-inch spiked skull and an armor-plated body that could grow over 10 feet. It was hulking and intimidating, but research suggests it was a slow, heavy-footed herbivore that walked for miles through its desert habitat looking vegetation. It was vulnerable to predators, like the Gorgonopsids.

Gorgonopsids

Named after the Greek Gorgon, this group of saber-toothed mammals had narrow skulls and elongated teeth, which they used to slash and stab. They were vicious hunters. They would take chunks out of their target and retreat until it was so weak, they couldn’t avoid the final, killing bite. Gorgonopsids may have begun relatively small but evolved to bear sized. They became apex predators in area of Tanzania, Zambia, and Malawi.

Pterygotus

This sea scorpion was an enormous predatory aquatic arthropod. It reached almost 6 feet and lived on Earth’s oceans, hunting other creatures, such as fish. I had no stinger, but had behemoth claws and would wait in ambush for its prey, when it would grab and puncture them with its pincers. The first Pterygotus fossils were found in early Devonian deposits in Scotland and Western England. Some of its features are recognizable in modern sea creatures, but sea scorpions no longer exist.

Dimetrodon Angelensis

Although this creature look reptilian, it’s not related to dinosaurs. It’s more closely related to mammals, though it’s not a mammal. It belongs to a group of advanced carnivores. Its most prominent feature is a sizeable spine sail, supported by spines extending from its vertebrate. I walked on 4 legs, had a curved skull, and large teeth. Its fossils have been found in southwestern US, in Oklahoma and Texas.

Jaekelopterus

This was another giant scorpion living during the Devonian Period 390 million years ago. It was the biggest arthropod ever, growing over eight feet long. This scorpion developed in freshwater systems like rivers, where it was an apex predator. Research suggests it chased its prey in lagoons and estuaries with much maneuverability and agility.

Arthropleura

Gigantic millipede arthropods roamed the forests of North America and Europe 345 million years ago. They were the largest land invertebrates ever and wouldn’t have had many predators. They grew over 7 feet and could stand upright and spray acid at any threat. These millipedes were some of the first plant-eaters. Their powerful jaws were used to break down tough vegetative matter.

Meganeura

This was the largest flying insect and resembled a modern dragonfly. It inhabited the forests alongside the Arthropleura and mainly consumed other insects. Its wingspan reached 25.6 inches. Its larvae was at least 12 inches long. It spent much of its time in the air, looking for food. Scientists first discovered it fossil in France in 1880.

Titanichthys

This was a giant armored fish from the late Devonian Period. It lived I shallow seas. Scientists believe it was the first large vertebrate filter feeder, using its mouth to inhale small fish. It could reach a length of 16 feet, had a huge mouth, and blunt teeth.

Aegirocassis

This creature lived 480 million years ago. It was the largest animal to exist at the time and the earliest giant filter feeder. This arthropod most closely resembled a prawn. It reached 7 feet long and had swimming flaps and a filtering mesh that helped guide food into its mouth. It lived in a shallow sea that covered what is today the Sahara Desert.

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/9-massive-prehistoric-animals-that-lived-before-dinosaurs/ar-BB1pX9NZ?ocid=mailsignout&pc=U591&cvid=4b29427ca0eb40e9a777238542e8cbdc&ei=39

Lost Mayan City Found

Archaeologists were scanning through jungle terrain when they stumbled on what could have been an important Maya location. They discovered a mysterious structure built under a ball court, which was popular in large Maya cities. Other discoveries included pyramids and evidence of drainage systems. Most of the findings have been calculated to have been used between 200 AD to 1000 AD.

The height of the Maya kingdom stretched from 250 to 900 AD. The rise of the Maya Ballgame, sometimes called pitz, saw the building of ball court structures in the center of major cities. These courts were a symbol of wealth and power, hence their prime placement.

Not only was one of these courts found in a Mexican jungle, but also uncovered was a cryptic construction under the court, leading to questions about the structure’s use.

Archaeologists were exploring light detection and ranging (lidar) readings in the Mexican state Campeche when they noticed unique shapes in a roughly 54-square-mile section of the Balam Ku Biosphere Reserve. The shapes were actually modest-sized settlements with a few larger buildings. There were practically no standing walls, and no key architectural decoration.

The impression was that the Maya culture of this region was less elaborate than those in other regions.

While excavating the ball court, the team discovered parts of a building covered with remnants of painted stucco located beneath. Because ball courts were typically built at the center of cities, speculation is that the building had some prominence as well. But speculation is all they have for now. It is estimated that the building dates somewhere between 200 and 600 AD.

Other major finds include a main plaza surrounded with elongated structures. The plaza features a pyramid and a drainage channel. The team believes the site was occupied from 600 to 1000 AD.

Another discovery is a 52-foot-tall pyramid near a water reservoir, complete with the remains of offerings atop the structure. The offering remnants included ceramic fragments, a flint point, and an animal leg, likely of an armadillo or large rodent. The scientists believe this find dates from 1250 to 1524 AD and that it shows the presence of humans in the area even after the height of the Maya civilization and before the arrival of the Spanish.

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/archaeologists-found-the-lost-remnants-of-a-maya-civilization-hiding-in-the-jungle/ar-BB1q5oE3?ocid=mailsignout&pc=U591&cvid=12b3e586097c4b7aaa0255d8b328da29&ei=46

What Existed Before The Big Bang

Our universe began with The Big Bang. But what existed before the Big Bang?

From the University of Texas at Austin, researchers propose that dark matter might have been created during a brief, explosive period of expansion called “Cosmic Inflation,” which occurred just before the Big Bang. The universe, at that point, would have consisted of mostly dark matter, completely undetectable to our eyes.

Scientists believe that dark matter makes up roughly 85% of all matter. This study suggests that the substance existed before the event that many consider the beginning of time.

The model for the study assumes that dark matter is successfully produced during inflation. In most models, anything that is created during inflation is thinned away by the expansion of the universe until there is essentially nothing left.

The research introduces a mechanism called WIFI (Warm Inflation Freeze-In), which suggests that dark matter could have been generated during the universe’s earliest moments through rare interactions within an incredibly hot and energetic environment.

Cosmologists understand the universe’s beginning was more complex than a simple explosive moment. Before the Big Bang, matter and energy were compressed into an incredibly dense state that physicists struggle to describe. A fraction of a second of rapid expansion preceded the Big Bang, setting the stage for everything that would follow.

In this new model, the quantum field driving inflation loses some energy to radiation, which then produces dark matter particles through a process called ‘freeze-in’. According to this research, all the dark matter that exists today could have been created during that brief inflationary period.

The study focused on the production of dark matter, but WIFI suggests the production of other particles that could play a role in the early universe’s evolution.

Although currently unconfirmable through direct observation, the theory opens exciting new avenues for exploring the universe’s fundamental building blocks. The researchers are optimistic that upcoming experiments studying the Cosmic Microwave Background and large sale universal structures could provide validation.

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/scientists-may-finally-know-what-existed-before-the-big-bang/ar-AA1vY9Mf?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=51d4d625bcc24515f51422de711080a7&ei=66

Life on Mars?

Do you believe there was past life on Mars? Here’s what new NASA evidence indicates.

Dry, cold and barren. Mars doesn’t seem like a haven for life—at least not the kind humans are familiar with.

Scientists have wondered for decades if microbial life could have inhabited Mars in the distant past. One study, based on data collected by NASA’s Curiosity rover, is peeling back a layer of the mystery. Researchers measured the isotopic composition of carbon-rich minerals found in Gale Crater. This region is laced with dried rivers and gullies and was explored by the rover.

The findings Curiosity sent to Earth were not optimistic about the potential for life above ground. But that doesn’t rule out the possibility of an underground biosphere or even a surface biosphere that began and ended before the carbonates were formed.

This suggests two possible ways carbon-rich minerals could have form at Gale crater: a series of alternating wet and dry periods or salty-ice conditions. These two climate scenarios could be called ‘bleak’ and ‘bleaker’ when it comes to supporting life.

In an environment that swings from wet to dry, the region would shift from more habitable to less habitable. In the frigid temperatures near Mars’ equator, that environment would be hostile for life because most water would be frozen and inaccessible for chemistry or biology. Plus, what water was there was extremely salty, not pleasant for life.

This isn’t the first time scientists have theorized these climate scenarios for ancient Mars. Previous computer models have indicated these conditions before, but now they have isotopic evidence from Martian rocks.

Scientists have sought life on Mars since the first spacecraft touched down there in 1976. Mounting evidence from robotic explorers has shown the Red Planet to have been warmer and wetter, perhaps more than 3 billion years ago.

The Perseverance rover discovered a spotted rock with compelling signs of ancient dead Martian life, but a sample would need to be shipped to Earth for confirmation. A research team also reported evidence of a vast ocean of water below the planet’s surface. On Earth, where there’s water, there’s often life.

Scientists are interested in Mars’ carbon-rich rocks because they can hold clues about the environment in which they formed, such as the temperature and acidity of the water, and ingredients in the water and air.

The sampled rocks indicate lots of evaporation, suggesting a climate that could only support transient liquid water—that is, ice that melts when temperatures rise and the surface pressure is right.

The heavy isotope values in the rocks are much higher than what’s seen on Earth. They are the heaviest carbon and oxygen isotope values recorded for any Martian materials. Although evaporation can cause oxygen isotope changes on Earth, the changes in the Martian samples were two to three times greater.

But this doesn’t negate the possibility of life. Mars has a network of deep caves formed by ancient volcanic vents. Within the caves could be liquid water, traces of long-deceased bacteria or fungi, or perhaps even existing microbial life.

Caves can host complex ecosystems, including extremophiles that munch on rocks and convert the material into energy for life. So, many astrobiologists want to go spelunking on Mars. Would you like to join them?

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/past-life-on-mars-here-s-what-new-nasa-evidence-points-to/ar-AA1rWIgJ?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=5432d20e554e4f3ea664d26edcf277ee&ei=74

Lost Temple of Poseidon

After 2,600 years, the lost Temple of Poseidon has been found, and it is even bigger than expected.

It seemed obvious that there would be a temple dedicated to Poseidon, the ancient Greek god of water. But the temple was lost for a long time and re-discovered recently. The ruins were found in Elis, Greece, and identified as the Temple of Poseidon of Samikon, which was described by the ancient Greek geographer Strabo. Archeologists now say the temple is even larger than they thought.

Scientists had searched for the lost temple for over a century in the area’s marshlands and found it in 2022. It sits in Samikon in the Peloponnese peninsula. It is hoped the discovery would shed light on the political and economic importance of the 6th century BC amphictyony, which is an association of neighboring states to defend a common religious center. The temple formed the center of the town’s cultural and religious identity.

Excavations in 2023 revealed more parts of the temple, indicating the size of the temple was larger than initial investigations had predicted. The building now measures around 28 meters long and over 9 meters wide. It has two interior rooms, a vestibule and a rear hall or shrine. The function of the two rooms is unclear. Some suggest it could be a double temple, where two deities were worshipped. Or one room could be a meeting room to discuss important matters.

This Archaic temple consists of two main rooms. A central row of two columns was found in the first hall supported a large roof covered with tiles. There may have also been similar columns in the second room. The ground plan of the temple is unusual, and archeologists know of no comparable buildings so far.

Research shows there were two construction phases. In the second half of the 4^th or first half of the 3^rd century BC, the original temple was remodeled. As part of the process, the old roof tiles were applied as a subfloor for the new floor, where they served as insulation against groundwater and to stabilize the floor. Where tiles are missing, the ground is damp and muddy. These dates correspond to pottery found at the site, such as drinking cups and roof tiles.

The excavations are part of a five-year project. Strabo, an ancient Greek geographer, had suggested the temple would be near the coast, in a grove of wild olive trees, with lagoons, coastal marches and swamps. Because of his writings, and technological advancements, researchers found the temple 2,600 years after it was built.

The team wants to find out more about the sanctuary and its dimensions. Are other temple buildings, altars, houses, a processional route or treasuries still hidden under the earth?

How Life on Earth Could Have Started

Scientists redid an experiment and found a new possibility of how life on Earth could have started.

In the 1931 movie “Frankenstein,” Dr Henry Frankenstein howled his triumph as massive bolts of lightning crackled and Frankenstein’s monster stirred on a laboratory table, its pieced-together corpse brought to life by the power of electricity.

Electrical energy may have also sparked the beginnings of life on Earth billions of years ago. Earth is around 4.5 billion years old, and the oldest direct fossil evidence of ancient life is stromatolites, microscopic organism preserved in layers known as microbial mats. These are about 3.5 billion years old. However, some scientists suspect life originated even earlier, emerging from accumulated organic molecules in bodies of water, a mixture sometimes referred to as primordial soup.

But where did that organic material come from? Decades ago, researchers proposed that lightning caused chemical reactions in the oceans, and spontaneously produced organic molecules.

New research suggests that fizzes of barely visible “microlightning,” generated between charged droplets of water mist, could have cooked up amino acids from inorganic materials. Amino acids are life’s most basic building blocks and would have been the first step forward in the evolution of life.

For amino acids to form, they needed nitrogen atoms that could bond with carbon. Freeing up atoms from nitrogen gas requires severing powerful molecular bonds and takes an enormous amount of energy. Even microlightning has enough energy to break molecular bonds.

In 1953, chemists Stanley Miller and Harold Urey combined ammonia, methane, hydrogen and water inside a glass sphere to mimic the atmosphere of ancient Earth. They then jolted that atmosphere with electricity, producing simple amino acids. This experiment supported the theory that life could emerge from nonliving molecules.

Scientists revisited the 1953 experiment but directed their attention toward electrical activity on a smaller scale. They looked at electricity exchanged between water droplets measuring between 1 micron and 20 microns in diameter. (The width of a human hair is 100 microns.) The big droplets were positively charged. The little droplets were negatively charged. When oppositely charged droplets are close together, electrons can jump from the negative charge to the positively charged.

The researchers mixed ammonia, carbon dioxide, methane and nitrogen in a glass bulb, then sprayed the gases with water mist. A high-speed camera captured faint flashes of microlightning in the vapor. When they examined the bulb’s contents, they found organic molecules, including the amino acid glycine and uracil, a nucleotide base in RNA.

For the first time, scientists have seen that little droplets of water emit light and a spark. And that spark causes all types of chemical transformations.

Lightning is a dramatic display of electrical power, but it sporadic and unpredictable. Lightning may have been too infrequent to produce amino acids in quantities sufficient for life. Water spray, however, would have been more common than lightning. It is more likely that mist-generated microlightning constantly zapped amino acids into existence from pools and puddles, where the molecules could accumulate and form more complex molecules.

However, questions remain about life’s origins. An alternative abiogenesis hypothesis proposes that Earth’s first amino acids were cooked up around hydrothermal vents on the seafloor. Yet another hypothesis suggests that organic molecules didn’t originate on Earth at all. Rather, they formed in space and were carried here by comets or fragments of asteroids, a process known as panspermia.

What do you think is a likely explanation?

 

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Viking Skeletons

Viking skeletons over 1,000 years old buried with a crystal and other treasures.

Archaeologists found Viking skeletons over 1,000 years old buried with a crystal and other treasures.

Near the village of Asum in Denmark, people had no idea they were standing on the well-preserved graves of 50 Viking-era skeletons. Archaeologists happened upon the graves during a routine survey in preparation for a construction project.

Normally, they would be lucky to find a few teeth in the graves, but here they had entire skeletons. They dated the burial site to the 9^th or 10th centuries, more than 1,000 years ago.

In addition to the skeletons, they uncovered rare trinkets and treasures buried with the bodies. For example, sone of the jewelry did not originate in Denmark. As the scientists suspected, the graves told them story of people connected to international trade routes.

These routes provided avenues to exchanging goods, allowing the wealthy to acquire rare and prized items from distant lands. They also helped establish nearby Odense, the third largest city in Denmark.

Some days I regret that I never had the chance to dig in the dirt and happen across such grisly remains.

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/archaeologists-found-viking-skeletons-over-1-000-years-old-buried-with-a-crystal-and-other-treasures-they-re-improving-our-understanding-of-how-wealthy-vikings-once-lived/ss-AA1snO4V?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=ed46623d933043f19069e3bf9a8f9350&ei=38

Message from Mars

Father and daughter decipher message coming from Mars.

Ken and Keli Chaffin, a father/daughter team from the US, have deciphered a simulated “extraterrestrial” message that was transmitted in May 2023 via a radio signal sent by the European Space Agency’s ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter. The message was intercepted by three observatories on Earth. It was part of a project which aimed to engage citizen scientists in decoding an alien message.

The Chaffins realized that the message contained a diagram that represented the structures of five amino acids, the fundamental building blocks of life. According to specialists, the Chaffins conducted hours-long simulations every day and ultimately organized the bits into coherent structures using computer simulations and reversible cellular automata.

The simulated signal was received on Earth 16 minutes after it was sent. A worldwide community of over 5,000 citizen scientists went to work on the raw data and managed to extract the signal within ten days. This extraction of the encrypted message from the raw radio signal showcases the potential of global collaboration

The project, called “A Sign in Space”, was initiated by artist Daniela de Paulis in collaboration with the European Space Agency, the SETI Institute, the Green Bank Observatory in West Virginia, and the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics. It was conceived to test which methods might be useful for decoding transmissions from extraterrestrial civilizations.

According to the European Space Agency, the results of the project showed that if humanity ever receives a signal from real extraterrestrials, citizen scientists could play a crucial role in deciphering it. The involvement of so many amateur scientists and the success of the Chaffins demonstrate the power of collaborative efforts and diverse approaches.

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/father-daughter-duo-decipher-message-coming-from-mars/ar-AA1tpWJl?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=6fc7dd98f17b42d8852b3bbcb7f5d7c6&ei=69