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The origin of the hominines is among the most hotly debated topics in paleoanthropology. The traditional view, ever since Darwin, holds that hominines and hominins originate in Africa, where the earliest hominins are found and where all extant non-human hominines live. More recently a European origin has been proposed, based on the phylogenetic analysis of late Miocene apes from Europe and Central Anatolia1,2,3 The fossils described here attest to a lengthy history of hominines in Europe, with multiple taxa in the eastern Mediterranean known for at least 2.3 Ma4,5,6,7 Our phylogenetic analysis, based on the new specimens described here and a large sample of other fossil and extant hominoids (Supplementary Note 1, Tables 1, 2), supports previous research confirming the hominine status of the eastern Mediterranean apes2,3,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20 Our most parsimonious phylogenetic results suggest that hominines in the eastern Mediterranean evolved from dryopithecins in central and western Europe, though there are alternative interpretations21,22,23,24. Either way, the oldest known hominines are European. They may have dispersed into Europe from ancestors in Africa, only to become extinct22 However, the more likely and more parsimonious interpretation is that hominines evolved over a lengthy period in Europe and dispersed into Africa before 7 Ma.

For some time, the only known late Miocene ape from Anatolia was Ankarapithecus, which is alternatively described as a stem hominid or a pongine25,26,27, but not a hominine. It is easily distinguished from Our anopithecus and Graecopithecus from Greece and Bulgaria25,26,27 In 2007, a new species of Our anopithecus was described from Çorakyerler in central Anatolia28. Since then, thousands of vertebrate fossils have been recovered at Çorakyerler, including a well-preserved ape partial cranium29 (Fig. 1) The O. turkae holotype, a fragmented palate, was originally distinguished from O. macedoniensis in its shorter premaxilla, narrower palate, morphologically similar (homomorphic) upper premolars (as opposed to P3 being more triangular than P4), smaller male canines and possibly larger size28. However, recovery of the new cranium and our reanalysis of the published material requires a reassessment of this conclusion and justifies the naming of a new genus of Miocene hominine.

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A team of physicists and geologists at CEA DAM-DIF and Universit´e Paris-Saclay, working with a colleague from ESRF, BP220, F-38043 Grenoble Cedex and another from the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, has succeeded in synthesizing a single-crystalline iron in a form that iron has in the Earth’s core.

In their published in the journal Physical Review Letters, the group describes how they used an experimental approach to synthesize pure single-crystalline ε-iron and possible uses for the material.

In trying to understand Earth’s internal composition, scientists have had to rely mostly on seismological data. Such studies have led scientists to believe that the core is solid and that it is surrounded by liquid. But questions have remained. For example, back in the 1980s, studies revealed that seismic waves travel faster through the Earth when traveling pole to pole versed equator to equator, and no one could explain why.

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New bionic hand with better move of fingers.

Successful testing of the bionic hand has already been conducted on a patient who lost his arm above the elbow.

In a world first, surgeons and engineers have developed a new bionic hand that allows users with arm amputations to effortlessly control each finger as though it was their own body.

The innovation could revolutionise the way prosthetic limbs are designed and used, with scientists hailing it as a “major breakthrough”.

Continue reading “New bionic hand allows amputees to effortlessly control fingers” | >

How looks life with na implant in brain.

Brain-computer interface technology is a fast-growing field but how does it feel to live with an implant inside of you?

In 2014, Ian Burkhart looked down at his hand and imagined closing it. To his astonishment, his hand did just that.

This was the first time a paraplegic person had regained the ability to move his arm by the sheer force of his thought, assisted by an implant in his brain.

Continue reading “How does it feel to live with a cerebral implant?” | >

The viral ALS Ice Bucket Challenge a few years ago raised major funding that resulted in the discovery of new genes connected to the disease. One of those genes is NEK1, in which mutations have been linked to as much as 2% of all ALS cases, making it one of the top-known causes of the disease.

But it wasn’t known how the mutated gene disrupts the function of the motor neuron and causes it to degenerate and die.

Northwestern Medicine scientists have discovered for the first time how this mutated gene leads to ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis).

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We know that humans are an intelligent species. But this biologist breaks down the intelligence of each of our cells — and it will blow your mind.

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Michael Levin, a developmental biologist at Tufts University, challenges conventional notions of intelligence, arguing that it is inherently collective rather than individual.

Levin explains that we are collections of cells, with each cell possessing competencies developed from their evolution from unicellular organisms. This forms a multi-scale competency architecture, where each level, from cells to tissues to organs, is solving problems within their unique spaces.

Continue reading “Can cells think? | Michael Levin” | >

The company achieved proof-of-concept with trastuzumab, an anti-HER2 antibody. Preclinical studies show Multilink increases cytotoxicity and improves tumor regression.

In mouse studies, tumor volume after 49 days was approximately half its original size with Trastuzumab Multilink (T-Multilink) with mertansine (DM1), but had grown four-fold when treated with the same compound without the linker. Comparable studies with T-Multilink-auristatin F showed complete tumor regression by about day 25, while treatment without the linker allowed the tumor to approximately triple in size.

“Multilink is a powerful technology to tackle cancers with low antigen expression,” Marx says. Debiopharm is using it to develop “novel, potent, stable, and safe ADCs for various antibodies.”

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