Mysterious Ancient Humans Now Have a Face

 Fifteen years after the discovery of a new type of human, the Denisovan, scientists discovered its DNA in a fossilized skull. The key? Tooth plaque.

When Qiaomei Fu discovered a new kind of human 15 years ago, she had no idea what it looked like. There was only a fragment of a pinkie bone to go on.

The fossil chip, found in a Siberian cave called Denisova, looked as if it might have come from a 66,000-year-old relative of today’s humans, or maybe a Neanderthal. But Dr. Fu, then a graduate student at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany, and her colleagues found DNA in the fossil that told a different story. The bone had belonged to a girl who was part of a third human lineage never seen before. They named her people the Denisovans.

In the years since, Dr. Fu has helped to discover more Denisovan DNA: in teeth and bone fragments from the Denisova cave, in the sediment of a cave floor in Tibet and even in people living today in Asia and the Pacific — evidence of interbreeding tens of thousands of years ago.

But without clues from a skeleton or a skull, the physical appearance of these humans remained a mystery, said Dr. Fu, now a geneticist at the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology in Beijing. “After 15 years, people want to know, who are the Denisovans?”

Now she can put a face to the name.

Dr. Fu and her colleagues announced Wednesday that a skull found in China contains both Denisovan DNA and Denisovan protein. “This moment is special to me,” Dr. Fu said.

Image

An illustrated reconstruction of the Denisovan’s face.

Credit...

Chuang Zhao

It’s all the more special because the skull was nearly lost to science. In 1933, a laborer in the city of Harbin, China, discovered it on a construction site and, suspecting it was valuable, hid it in an abandoned well. But he never returned to retrieve it and did not breathe a word of it until shortly before his death. He told his family about the skull, and they fished it out of the well in 2018 and donated it to Hebei GEO University.

There, Qiang Ji, a paleoanthropologist, and other scientists analyzed the chemistry of the fossil and concluded that it dated back at least 146,000 years — perhaps far longer.

After reconstructing the face of the Harbin skull, the scientists concluded that it belonged to an enormous male with flat cheeks, a broad mouth and no chin. An imposing brow hung over his deep-set eyes and bulbous nose. And within his massive skull was a massive brain, measuring about 7 percent larger than the average brain of a living human.

Dr. Ji and his colleagues concluded that the Harbin skull, with all its distinctive traits, belonged to a species of its own. In 2021, they named the species Homo longi, for Long Jiang, the region where the skull was found.

But some scientists, including Dr. Fu, wondered if it was a Denisovan. To find out, she got permission to study the Harbin skull. She had spent years inspecting skulls and other fossils in Chinese museums for Denisovan DNA but had come up empty every time.

To test the Harbin skull, Dr. Fu and her colleagues removed tiny samples from a tooth and from the bone that houses the inner ear — typically the best places in a skull to look for genetic material.

They found no ancient DNA. But the bone contained 95 proteins, a tremendous number for an ancient fossil and enough to determine what it was: a Denisovan.

As exciting as that discovery was, Dr. Fu said, their failure to find DNA “was still painful.” DNA is more complex than proteins, with the potential to reveal more secrets about the fossils it comes from.

So Dr. Fu decided to look once more for DNA, this time in the plaque on the Harbin skull’s teeth. As plaque builds up, it traps bacteria and, sometimes, also a few cells from the mouth. She knew it was a long shot but figured it was worth a try.

Image

Scientists at the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology in Beijing studied tiny samples from a tooth in the Harbin skull, and from the bone that encases the inner ear.Credit...Qiaomei Fu

When Dr. Fu and her colleagues inspected a sample of the dental plaque, they discovered DNA. As expected, most of it came from bacteria. But a tiny fraction came from the mouth’s cells. And when they analyzed that DNA, they discovered that it was Denisovan.

Janet Kelso, a geneticist at the Max Planck Institute who was not involved in the study, said the discovery was remarkable, because fossilized plaque harbors minuscule amounts of DNA at best.

“It is fascinating that the hardened plaque layer preserved enough of the DNA of the Harbin individual for them to successfully determine that the individual was Denisovan,” she said.

ohn Hawks, a paleoanthropologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said the studies delivered a definitive answer to the question of the Harbin skull’s identity. “Mystery solved,” he said.

The DNA in the Harbin plaque also allowed Dr. Fu and her colleagues to place the Harbin skull on a Denisovan family tree. Modern humans share a common ancestor with both Neanderthals and Denisovans that lived in Africa about 600,000 years ago. The forerunners of Neanderthals and Denisovans migrated out of Africa and then split into the two lineages about 400,000 years ago.

Neanderthals spread from the Middle East to Western Europe, while Denisovans spread from Siberia eastward. Over thousands of generations, the Denisovans split into new branches.

Dr. Fu and her colleagues found that the Harbin skull belonged to the same branch as the oldest Denisovans found in the Denisova cave, whose fossils dated back about 200,000 years. A separate branch gave rise to the 66,000-year-old Denisovan girl whose pinkie bone was found there.

Given all the genetic diversity documented in Denisovan DNA, Dr. Fu can’t say whether the Harbin skull reveals a typical Denisovan face. “For now, it’s just one case,” she said.

She hopes to inspect more fossils found in China and other parts of Asia to search for Denisovan DNA and proteins. “If in the future we can get additional skulls, we’ll be able to understand what the common Denisovans looked like,” she said.

For now, the discovery leaves scientists divided about what to call the lineage that includes the Harbin skull and the girl from Denisova. “Homo longi is the appropriate species name for this group,” said Chris Stringer, a paleoanthropologist at the Natural History Museum in London who was not involved in the study.

But Dr. Hawks still calls them Denisovans. The fact that they could interbreed with our own ancestors, he argues, makes them a lineage in our own species, along with Neanderthals.

“I’m pretty confident saying these are all Homo sapiens,” he said.

The Horror of Trump Cutting USAID. Can't George Bush Speak UP?????

 Where is George Bush? 

Is he so cowardly he cant stand up for  what he STOOD for?

Senator Padilla says what needs to be said....

 

A Gritty, REALISTIC Thriller with Realistic Tension

 

5.0 out of 5 stars on Amazon

challengeer007

A Gritty, REALISTIC Thriller with Realistic Tension

Reviewed in the United States on June 11, 2025

Beyond the Black Stump delves into a world where political corruption exists, murder is a transaction in the shadows, and morals become secondary to loyalty and betrayal. Considered part of the *Life in the Shadows* series, Mahaney's potentially legit assessments of things going on with the SAS, the extensive international conspiracy, and the attempted assassinations against the Royal Family ensure grit, suspense and pacing. Mahaney's acknowledgment page adds a layer of realism to the historically based albeit fictional story—and a twist—along with Mahaney's speculation attesting to his country's military involvement in such disasters makes this harsh reality all the more painful because one would think that allies would stand by one another. But nothing is guaranteed. Those interested in geopolitical thrillers will enjoy this as a suspenseful, insane read.

http://tiny.cc/tr0n001

California Governor Newsom Speaks the Truth - Video

 See video

Ukraine’s Warning to the World’s Other Military Forces

 

Expensive planes, tanks, and ships can be destroyed on the cheap.

By Phillips Payson O’Brien

Atlantic Magazine

Relying on its own resources, Ukraine has just carried out what might be the most complex, elaborately planned, and cost-effective military operation of its current war with Russia. Yesterday, the Ukrainians used drones to attack, almost simultaneously, at least four Russian airfields separated by thousands of miles. Among them were two airfields just inside Russia, but the targets also included Olenya air base, above the Arctic Circle, and, remarkably, Belaya air base, in Siberia, which lies just over the border from Mongolia.

The attack showed how much audacity, ingenuity, and effectiveness the Ukrainians can bring to their own defense when Western leaders aren’t pressuring them to hold back. It also revealed the vulnerability of the large, expensive planes and other hardware treasured by major powers around the world.

Images circulating immediately after the attacks appeared to show that Russian aircraft had been hit with remarkable accuracy at some of their most vulnerable points. The Ukrainians seem to have placed relatively small drone swarms in cavities built into the top of trailer trucks. Then, when the trucks were close to the targets, the trailer roofs opened up, and the swarms of drones flew out, surprising and overwhelming Russian defenses. Even how the drones themselves were operated represents something notable. In many cases, they seem to have been flying courses preprogrammed via the open-source software ArduPilot, which has proved effective in navigating unmanned aerial vehicles for hundreds of miles and precisely reaching targets.

Although details remain limited, the operation testifies to how rapidly drone technology is evolving. Human operators might well have been observing some of yesterday’s flights and been in a position to take control if necessary, but some of the vehicles may have operated outside of human authority, flying preprogrammed courses. Ukrainian officials have said that some of the drones were basically AI-trained to recognize the most vulnerable parts of Russian aircraft and automatically home in on those areas.

The Ukrainians have claimed that more than 40 advanced Russian aircraft were hit and that at least 13 were destroyed. How much of the damage is reparable is not yet clear. Kyiv boasted of destroying more than a third of Russia’s large Tu-95 bombers, which have been a primary launch system for the large volleys of missiles that regularly strike Ukrainian cities. The Tu-95s are literally irreplaceable: Russia has no production facilities making more of these aircraft, and it has not yet designed a successor to the model. Yesterday’s attack also appears to have damaged a large number of Tu-22 M3 bombers and probably one A-50 command aircraft, the Russian equivalent of a U.S.-made airborne warning and control aircraft. The total cost of Russian losses likely runs into several billion dollars.

In contrast, the cost of one of the Ukrainian drones used in yesterday’s attack has been estimated at about $1,200—so that even if the airfields were attacked with 100 drones each (a seemingly high estimate), the total cost of the drones used would have been less than $1 million. I struggle to think of a recent military operation where one side suffered so much damage at so little cost to the other.

In one sense, the Ukrainian attack represents a culmination of what we have seen happen since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022: Seemingly outmatched by Russia’s much larger military, Ukraine has used drones and other improvised equipment to destroy tanks, large warships, bombers, and other large legacy systems. Military planners and many outside commentators have been too slow to acknowledge the significance of Ukraine’s defensive tactics, but the most recent attacks plainly show the need for major changes in how all militaries are constructed and trained.

For the United States and other major Western militaries, Ukraine’s use of trucks parked outside secure areas near military sites will pose uncomfortable questions. How closely do they—or can they—monitor all the truck traffic that streams past their bases? Do they know what happens in every nearby property from which an adversary could hide drone swarms and then launch them with no warning? For many years now, for instance, Chinese interests have been buying large amounts of farmland right next to important U.S. military bases. They could be growing soybeans, but they could also be staging grounds for drone swarms that would make the Ukrainian attacks look minuscule.

Meanwhile, in Europe, military bases have in the past few years been regularly overflown by a large number of unknown drones, which are presumably gathering intelligence. Whichever power is responsible obviously has the ability to deploy a larger number of drones in kinetic attacks. The Ukrainians are showing U.S. and European militaries that better security against drone flights is long overdue.

For Ukraine’s doubters, these attacks should lead to a period of quiet reflection. President Donald Trump has insisted that Ukraine has “no cards.” The New York Times editorial board recently implied that Ukraine is unlikely to produce a military breakthrough that can change the basic course of the war. But pessimism about Ukraine’s capabilities is ahistorical and wrongheaded.

For three years, the Biden administration simultaneously supported Ukraine and discouraged major attacks on Russian soil, for fear of provoking Vladimir Putin too much. That constraint no longer exists, now that Trump has written off Ukraine and appears eager to end the war on Putin’s terms.

Until now, Ukraine has had only a limited ability to launch attacks as ambitious as the one it just executed. If Ukraine’s remaining allies help arm it properly to undertake similar operations at scale, it can still win the war.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Phillips Payson O’Brien

Phillips Payson O’Brien is a professor of strategic studies at the University of St Andrews, in Scotland. He is the author of The Strategists: Churchill, Stalin, Roosevelt, Mussolini, and Hitler—How War Made Them, and How They Made War.

What and when is Hajj?

 

An estimated 1.8 million Muslims are preparing to embark on the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca which begins on June 4.

By Alma Milisic and Alia Chughtai

Published On 30 May 202530 May 2025

An estimated 1.8 million Muslims are preparing to embark on the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca which begins on June 4.
The Hajj is the largest annual gathering of Muslims from all over the world and a once-in-a-lifetime journey for many.

In this visual explainer, we cover 10 frequently asked questions about the Hajj, providing insights into its significance, rituals and preparations.

1. What is the Hajj?

The Hajj is the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, and it is the fifth and final pillar of Islam, along with declaration of faith (shahada), five daily prayers, obligatory charity (zakat), and fasting during the month of Ramadan.

The word comes from the Arabic root “h-j-j”, which means “intending a journey” or “to set out for a definitive purpose”.

It is obligatory once in a lifetime for all adult Muslims who are physically and financially able to undertake the journey.

2. When is the Hajj performed?

The Hajj is performed between the 8th and 12th (or 13th) of Dhul-Hijjah, the 12th and final month of the Islamic calendar. The timing falls roughly 70 days after the end of Ramadan, though this can vary slightly depending on the lunar cycle.

In 2025, the Hajj will take place from June 4 to June 9, but many start arriving in the days and weeks ahead to prepare for the journey.

Because the Islamic calendar follows a lunar cycle, with months lasting 29 or 30 days, the Hajj shifts 10 to 12 days earlier each year in the Gregorian calendar. Notably, this year marks the last time for the next 16 years that the Hajj will fall.

 

3. Why do Muslims perform the Hajj?

Muslims believe that the Hajj is a direct commandment from Allah (God), as outlined in the Muslim holy book, the Quran.

It was affirmed during Prophet Muhammad’s “farewell pilgrimage” in 632 AD, in the 10th year of the Islamic calendar.

Islamic tradition holds that the Kaaba, a stone structure draped in black silk at the centre of Mecca’s Grand Mosque where many Hajj rituals take place, was built by Prophet Abraham (Ibrahim) and his son Ishmael (Ismaeel) under God’s command. This marks the origins of the Hajj, which was instituted as a divine ritual for the first time.

The journey is a spiritual one, and it is considered to allow Muslims to seek forgiveness, purify their souls and demonstrate their submission to God. The word Hajj is mentioned 12 times across the Quran, including one chapter named after it.

Hajj also serves as a reminder of the Day of Judgement, and by performing it, Muslims follow the example of Prophet Abraham and his family, whose actions are commemorated during the pilgrimage rituals. Ultimately, it is a way to fulfil a key religious obligation and strengthen one’s faith.

4. How long does the Hajj last?

The Hajj lasts five to six days, depending on how it is performed. It begins on the 8th of Dhul-Hijjah, a day known as Tarwiyah, when many pilgrims travel to Mina, a desert valley located about 8 kilometres (5 miles) from Mecca, where they spend the night in preparation for the next day’s rituals.

It ends with Tashreeq days, where pilgrims return to Mina for the symbolic stoning of the Devil at a site called Jamarat, after which they perform final rituals to symbolise the end of the Hajj. Some may leave on the 12th if they complete their rites early, while others stay until the 13th.

5. What is the difference between the Hajj and Umrah?

While the Hajj is a compulsory pilgrimage for all able-bodied Muslims once in their life, Umrah is a recommended smaller and simpler pilgrimage that Muslims can perform any time throughout the year.

The graphic below shows some of the key differences between the Hajj and Umrah:

6. Which key rituals do Muslims perform during the Hajj?

Muslims perform many rites and rituals during the days of the Hajj, which can be explained in the following steps.

. What is not permitted during the Hajj?

The etiquette of the Hajj bans several actions that are otherwise permitted in Islam, including sexual relations (and anything leading to it, like embracing or kissing), cursing, arguing, hunting, shaving or cutting hair and nails, using perfume, arranging or conducting a marriage, wearing stitched clothes (for men), covering the head (for men), and covering the face (for women).

If a pilgrim unintentionally or unknowingly does something prohibited during the Hajj, there are usually specific actions and steps to rectify their situation. This often involves repentance, as well as making up for the mistake by offering charity or an animal sacrifice.

Trump’s Vicious Attack on the American Mind

 

He wants America to be ignorant because ignorance is the handmaiden of tyranny

ROBERT REICH JUN 3

"Friends,

Why is Trump trying to cancel “Sesame Street,” which has helped children learn to read and count for over half a century?

Why is he seeking to destroy Harvard University?

Why is he trying to deter the world’s most brilliant scientists from coming to the United States?

Because he is trying to destroy American education — and with it, the American mind. 

Throughout history, tyrants have understood that their major enemy is an educated public. Slaveholders prohibited enslaved people from learning to read. The Third Reich burned books. The Khmer Rouge banned music. Stalin and Pinochet censored the media.

And Trump, like past authoritarians, wants to control not just what we do, but also how and what we think. 

He has embraced one of the mottos from George Orwell’s 1984: “Ignorance is strength.” He knows that an uninformed public is easier to divide and conquer.

There are five facets to Trump’s authoritarian attack on the American mind:

1. Rewrite history

The protagonist of 1984 works in the so-called Ministry of Truth, where he’s made to literally rewrite history because Big Brother knows that he “who controls the past controls the future.”

That’s chilling in a dystopian novel. It’s far scarier in real life, where Trump and his MAGA cronies are making schools whitewash slavery and segregation, cover up the genocide of Native Americans, and erase the LGBTQ+ rights movement.

Authoritarians know that if they can convince us our country has never been wrong, they can make us believe our ruler is always right. 

If they can make us forget how brave activists fought for change in the past, they can stop us from seeking change in the future.

Trump wants us to forget (or never know) that he lost the 2020 election and then instigated a coup against the United States. 

He even claimed last weekend that former President Joseph R. Biden was “executed in 2020” and replaced by a robotic clone. 

2. Gut education

As Trump tries to abolish the Department of Education, he’s also proposing to cut funding for K-12 public schools and to force universities to let him influence student admissions, faculty hiring, and what is taught.

As a professor, I know firsthand how education empowers young people’s minds. We can’t have a functioning democracy if people cannot deliberate critically about it. That’s why authoritarians replace education with indoctrination.

But the Trump regime doesn’t want a functioning democracy. 

Instead of teaching students to think for themselves, authoritarians seek to instill blind allegiance and suppress dissent. As Trump adviser Stephen Miller said: “Children will be taught to love America. Children will be taught to be patriots.”

This is why the Italian and German fascists of the 20th century immediately turned their countries’ educational systems into instruments of the party.

3. Dismantle science

By freezing university research grants and attacking the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, and USAID, Trump is stifling medical and scientific research. 

And his cuts to the Centers For Disease Control and the Food and Drug Administration put all of us at risk.

He’s also abducting and deporting international scientists who disagree with his administration. Can you imagine a crueler way to rob America of the global intellectual capital that has helped us become the world leader in scientific research?

He is now revoking visas of some Chinese college students. Some 277,000 students from China attended school in the United States last year, second only to the number of students from India. The United States employs tremendous numbers of scientific and technological experts originally from China. We need this continued pipeline of intellect and skill.

How can medical research and disease prevention be political? How can scientific research in general become political? Why is Trump afraid of science?

Because science acknowledges objective facts. Authoritarians insist that the ruler is more powerful than the facts. Trump wants to control the facts. 

As George Orwell wrote, “it means a loyal willingness to say that black is white when Party discipline demands this.”

4. Suppress the media

From suing ABC and CBS over their news coverage to threatening to strip network broadcast licenses to defunding PBS and NPR, Trump is trying to silence America’s sources of news. 

As Trump repeatedly says: “I call it the fake news media.”

He wants control over what information Americans can (or cannot) get.

His regime is even going through social media accounts of people seeking visas to the United States. 

A free press exists to question authority and help the public question it as well. But authoritarians insist that they must never be questioned.

Authoritarians want to consolidate state power over what the public can know.

5. Attack the arts

The arts exist to provoke us, challenge our thinking, and help us see beyond ourselves. 

They arts are an important and independent aspect of an educated society, which is why authoritarians have historically attacked them. 

So it’s no surprise that Trump is canceling grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, is dictating what’s displayed at the Smithsonian, and has installed himself as the chair of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

To limit art is to limit free speech and expression. It’s a crucial step that authoritarians use to silence anyone who dissents through creativity.

***

Added up, these five facets of Trump’s attack on the American mind render us less informed, less inspired, and easier to control.

They empower him to divide us with hatred and fear. 

And they prevent us from discovering that we have more in common with one another than with the authoritarians who try to rule us.

This attack on our minds reduces our capacity for self-government because ignorance is the handmaiden of tyranny.

What you can do: Please share this essay, and help spread the truth."

Sudden Termination of AmeriCorps Funding Leaves Programs and Community at Risk

 Birds Connect Seattle has been directly impacted by the reckless termination of the AmeriCorps program. This loss affects not only our organization, but also the countless communities and ecosystems that depend on the service, dedication, and talent of AmeriCorps members. 

AmeriCorps has been a cornerstone of civic engagement across the country, with members providing vital support in disaster relief, habitat restoration, conservation, education, and public health. Here at Birds Connect Seattle, AmeriCorps members have been instrumental in advancing our mission—leading programs like Young Birders, Seattle Bird Collision Monitoring Project, Climate Watch, and environmental education in classrooms. Their contributions are both practical and profound, enriching the lives of individual children, teens, and adults, and strengthening our collective stewardship of the natural world. 

Birds Connect Seattle has had the honor of hosting exceptional AmeriCorps members whose contributions have left lasting impacts on our organization through the years. Many states, including Washington state, have joined a multi-state lawsuit challenging the illegal executive order that terminated AmeriCorps grants. Until this comes to a resolution Birds Connect Seattle is facing uncertainty—both immediate and long-term—about how this abrupt discontinuation will affect our team, our programming, and our community partnerships. 

We are grateful for your continued support as we navigate this difficult moment. 

How You Can Help: 

1. Contact your federal and state elected officials and urge them to protect funding for AmeriCorps. Your voice can help restore this vital program. Find your elected officials. 
2. Share the importance of AmeriCorps with your networks. Public awareness is key to defending this critical service made possible through grant funding.  
3. Support organizations like Birds Connect Seattle through donations. Your generosity helps sustain our mission in the face of unexpected challenges. Make a gift.