Quote Of The Day

They say that science progresses one funeral at a time. But it’s no longer true. Because the first generation of string theorists has raised their students who are now continuing the same stuff. And why would they not, these are cozy jobs, and there is nothing and no one that could stop them. So yeah, Siegfried is right. String theory is not dead. It’s undead, and now walks around like a zombie eating people’s brains.

From Sabine Hossenfelder's Youtube video String Theory Isn’t Dead about the article that Peter Woit discussed here.

Ancient DNA From Siberia As A Source For Modern Populations

Different strains of Siberian ancestry spread east to the New World and west to Scandinavia.

Human populations across a vast area in northern Eurasia, from Fennoscandia to Chukotka, share a distinct genetic component often referred to as the Siberian ancestry. Most enriched in present-day Samoyedic-speaking populations such as Nganasans, its origins and history still remain elusive despite the growing list of ancient and present-day genomes from Siberia. 

Here, we reanalyze published ancient and present-day Siberian genomes focusing on the Baikal and Yakutia, resolving key questions regarding their genetic history. First, we show a long-term presence of a unique genetic profile in southern Siberia, up to 6,000 yr ago, which distinctly shares a deep ancestral connection with Native Americans. Second, we provide plausible historical models tracing genetic changes in West Baikal and Yakutia in fine resolution. Third, the Middle Neolithic individual from Yakutia, belonging to the Belkachi culture, serves as the best source so far available for the spread of the Siberian ancestry into Fennoscandia and Greenland. These findings shed light on the genetic legacy of the Siberian ancestry and provide insights into the complex interplay between different populations in northern Eurasia throughout history.

Haechan Gill, Juhyeon Lee, Choongwon Jeon, "Reconstructing the Genetic Relationship between Ancient and Present-Day Siberian Populations" 16(4) Genome Biology and Evolution evae063 (March 25, 2024) https://doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evae063

Shifts In IQ Over Time

The chart, via Razib Khan, is based upon polygenetic scores calculated based upon ancient DNA.