things that caught our eye in this week’s news
Rise and Fall of a Prime Minister How come intelligent hard-working people make dreadful, nation-changing errors? British PM Liz Truss must have had some of those qualities to reach as far as she did. We all need to learn from poor decision-making, wherever we live. So this article from The Conversation seemed entirely apposite:
First Family Once again the wonders of DNA technology leave us breathless. Not only does it take us parsecs beyond bone studies, but it gives us hints to the sociology of these early hunter gatherers, and close human relatives. Not bad! Nature, A Neanderthal Nuclear family
for the first time, researchers have identified a set of closely related Neanderthals: a father, his teenage daughter and two other more distant relatives. The discovery of the family and seven more individuals in Chagyrskaya Cave in southern Siberia, along with two more from a nearby site, nearly doubles the number of known Neanderthal genomes. Genetic clues found in the individuals’ DNA hint that the population of breeding adults was low, and that there was more diversity in maternally inherited mitochondrial genomes — suggesting that mothers left their communities to build new families.Nature | 6 min read
Reference: Nature paper
How far is justified? At LSS, we tend to take the view that any desecration of a work of art cannot be justified. Think ISIS and Taleban if you like. So we were horrified when climate activists threw soup over a painting in the UK’s National Gallery. But we ill offer you the case for their defence, if only because it’s made by George Monbiot, all round intelligent guy and good bloke.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/oct/19/van-gogh-sunflowers-just-stop-oil-tactics
Tiger Tiger, Tiger The Zoological Society of London, that august institution, has always been at the forefront of conservation efforts. Heartening then to see their efforts amply rewarded with the birth of three rare Sumatran tiger cubs, who should do much to boost their Covid-depleted coffers.
see you Monday!
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/oct/19/van-gogh-sunflowers-just-stop-oil-tactics
#liz truss #uk #politics #dna #neanderthal #climate change #protest #zsl
Learning, Science and Society 