Category Archives: News to use

Useful news for all to advance knowledge of the world and how it works

Neanderthal extinction not caused by brutal wipe out – BBC News

Archaeologists found fossil evidence from several layers at the site. The lower they dug, the further back in time they were able to see. The lowest layers showed the remains of Neanderthals who occupied the area for about 20,000 years.

But to their complete surprise, the team found a modern human child’s tooth in a layer dating back to about 54,000 years ago, along with some stone tools made in a way that was not associated with Neanderthals.

The evidence suggests that this early group of humans lived at the site for a relatively brief period, of perhaps about 2,000 years after which the site was unoccupied. The Neanderthals then return, occupying the site for several more thousand years, until modern humans come back about 44,000 years ago.

Source: Neanderthal extinction not caused by brutal wipe out – BBC News

Indian government bows to pressure, repeals farm laws

The laws evoked strong protests from farmers and farmer organisations, particularly from the states of Punjab, Haryana and parts of Uttar Pradesh, on three major grounds. First, the farmers feared that increased private sector participation in agriculture trade would result in the withdrawal of the minimum support prices offered by the government for agricultural commodities. Second, they feared that the law would lead to the corporate takeover of the Indian agriculture sector. Third, the farmers contended that they were not consulted at the drafting stage of the laws.  Source: Indian government bows to pressure, repeals farm laws

Pastelería Ideal, un recinto con tradición, historia y sabor

Santiago Galicia Rojon Serrallonga

SANTIAGO GALICIA ROJON SERRALLONGA

Derechos reservados conforme a la ley/ Copyright

Con mucha amabilidad, una persona me regaló una caja con galletas. En cuanto la recibí, de inmediato reconocí el dibujo de la tapa -un horno con tres hombres elaborando pan y la inscripción “Alemania, 1794”- y los detalles laterales e inconfundibles -cuadros de talavera- de Pastelería Ideal, establecimiento fundado por don Adolfo Fernández Cetina, en los días de 1927, en la Ciudad de México.

Mientras saboreo una taza con café y deleito mi paladar con el inigualable sabor de las galletas de Pastelería Ideal, acuden a mi memoria imágenes de mi niñez, cuando acompañaba a mi padre al centro de la Ciudad de México, donde realizaba una multiplicidad de actividades y trámites relacionados con sus funciones y responsabilidades; pero también recuerdo las conversaciones amenas de mi madre, quien solía relatarme historias de personajes y negocios de épocas pasadas.

Fotografía:…

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A Genetic Chronicle of the First Peoples in the Americas – SAPIENS

Central Beringia is mainly underwater today, but it was a substantial land connection between 50,000 and 11,000 years ago. The term “Bering Land Bridge” gives the impression that people raced across a narrow isthmus to reach what is today Alaska. But the oceanographic data clearly show that during the LGM, the land bridge was twice the size of Texas.

If the “Out of Beringia” model is correct, Beringia wasn’t a crossing point but a homeland. It was a place where people lived for many generations, sheltering from an inhospitable climate and slowly evolving the genetic variation unique to their Native American descendants.

Either just before or shortly after the start of their period of isolation, the Beringians split into several groups: the Ancestral Native Americans, who would move south, below the ice sheets, and become ancestors of the First Peoples; the Ancient Beringians, who would stay behind in Beringia; and a mystery group (Unsampled Population A) known to us only indirectly from the traces of ancestry it contributed to some Mesoamerican populations.

Source: A Genetic Chronicle of the First Peoples in the Americas – SAPIENS

Het einde van onze ijstijd

Alowieke

The end of our ice time

Economische efficiëntie ligt als een kille ijsmassa over het land. Kan het smelten? En wat gebeurt er dan?

Liever luisteren? Klik op de knop onderaan de tekst.

Rather listen? Click on the button at the and of the tekstfor the english translation.

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Afbeelding: Alowieke van Beusekom

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Zompig is de grond onder mijn klompen. Ik loop licht en voorzichtig, om geen diepe gaten in de bodem te maken. De paadjes worden steeds drassiger. Hoe dichterbij de lente, hoe natter de klei. Op sommige plekken is er alleen nog modder. Er steken een paar zielige grasprietjes bovenuit. Toch weet ik, daaronder zit het nog vol wortels. Straks wordt alles weer groen. Dan komen ook de paardebloemen weer, waar Jochums land vol mee staat. Groen met gele sterren, zo zal het zijn, zoals elke lente, zodra de zon hoger komt. Maar nu is er…

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Do You Remember Your First Education Essential Worker? 👩🏽‍🏫

From Behind the Pen

people sitting on blue carpet
Image Credit: CDC

“Education is for improving the lives of others and for leaving your community and world better than you found it.” — Marian Wright Edelman

Teachers. Education. Learning.

Even though it is shocking, it comes as no surprise to me that there is a severe shortage of teachers and educators everywhere. I am from a family of education essential workers, you know, those educators who looked out for the health and welfare of their students back in the day. Education was not an option for me but an essential part of my life, and my mother made sure of that. For centuries, many of my ancestors were forbidden to learn to read without harsh repercussions. So, trust me, I don’t assume or take this privilege for granted.

Looking at what many public school teachers are faced with nowadays, low pay, poor benefits, and overworked with lesson plans out of…

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