Thursday, May 14, 2020

Hot air: On lethal weather and human evolution

New light shed on the fate of the early Christians farming the desert, giant viruses and the disposition of squids
Haaretz Archaeology & Science
View in browser
A lower molar that belonged to the oldest known modern human in Europe, some 45,000 years ago
Ruth Schuster  
Ruth Schuster
 
 
Lethal heat and humidity isn’t futuristic, it’s already here and no, I am not talking about the heat wave about to bake Israel this weekend. A new study identified thousands of brief but brutal bouts of weather approaching unsurvivability in all the continents except the Antarctic. And no, the Middle East won't be blessedly cooled by the breeze of El Niño storms predicted to revive in the Indian Ocean.

Apropos unsuspected new truths, exactly one tooth found in Bulgaria may change the paradigm regarding the prowess of the Neanderthal. Maybe we can retain our crown as the acme of the Homo line after all, though to be human is also to err, as we learn from the evolution of, and corrections to, biblical texts in antiquity. While on new insights, manuscripts from the Second Temple Period too brittle to even touch and gummy to boot (really) may be deciphered using cutting-edge physics. 

This week Haaretz also dived through the stargate in the giant virus, and while you read all about it, a word of helpful advice: think twice about getting a pet squid. As an extraordinary fossil from 200 million years ago shows, they never did brim with bonhomie.
 
 
 
 
The virtually unwrapped Ein Gedi scroll compared to the size of a penny. The original scroll is on the right.

Particle Accelerator to Help Read Dead Sea Scrolls Too Fragile to Unroll

Ariel David | 05.05.2020
 
 
 

Israeli Scholars Discover Corrections, Erasures, Revisions in Oldest Biblical Manuscript

Nir Hasson | 14.05.2020
 
 
 
A smoggy sunrise, Mexico City, May 8, 2020.

Deadly Heat and Humidity Emerging Decades Ahead of Forecasts

Ruth Schuster | 12.05.2020
 
 
 
Close-up of the damaged head and body of the proto-herring with the arms of the squid clamped around

Fossil of Moment Jurassic Squid Attacked Fish Found in England

Ruth Schuster | 08.05.2020
 
 
 
Shivta

A Perfect Storm: How Early Christian Farming in the Negev Collapsed

Ruth Schuster | 12.05.2020
 
 
 
A lower molar that belonged to the oldest known modern human in Europe, some 45,000 years ago

A Tooth Changes Everything We Know About Humans Reaching Europe

Ariel David | 13.05.2020
 
 
 
When hares get hungry...

What Happened to Neolithic China's Farmers? Bad Hare Days

Ruth Schuster | 12.05.2020
 
 
 
The fourth coin minted by the Bar Kochba to be found in Jerusalem

War Trophy of a Roman Soldier? Rare Bar Kochba Coin Found in Jerusalem

Ruth Schuster | 12.05.2020
 
 
 
Mimivirus, the first giant virus ever found, in 2003, inside an amoeba living in a water tower in Bradford.

Mystery of the Giant Virus' 'Stargate' Solved

Ruth Schuster | 14.05.2020
 
 
 
a tsunami floods over the breakwater protecting the coastal city of Miyako at Heigawa estuary area after northeastern Japan was hit by a powerful earthquake.

Build Hills Instead of Seawalls to Defend Against Tsunamis, Team Suggests

Ruth Schuster | 06.05.2020
 
 
 
The sunset clam

Forecasting Dissolving Clams, and What Does Warren Buffett Know?

Ruth Schuster | 03.05.2020
 
Haaretz.com - הארץ
Facebook Twitter RSS Newsletter Apple Android
For more Haaretz newsletters, click here.
Unsubscribe from mailing list.
or contact support: digital-english@haaretz.co.il
All rights reserved © Haaretz Daily Newspaper Ltd.
Shvil Hameretz 2, Tel Aviv, 61350, Israel.
Company Registration No. 51-001544-9 | Database No: 1091365.

No comments:

Post a Comment