Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
Toggle light / dark theme

Blog – Page 5

Get the latest international news and world events from around the world.

Log in for authorized contributors

Brain Abnormality in Modern Humans Linked to Ancient Neanderthal DNA

Significant brain defects known as Chiari malformations could be down the genes some of us have inherited from Neanderthals, according to a new study, causing a mismatch between brain shape and skull shape.

The study focuses on Chiari malformation type I (CM-I), where the lower part of the brain extends too far into the spinal cord – typically linked to having a smaller-than-normal occipital bone at the back of the skull. It can lead to headaches, neck pain, and more serious conditions, and is thought to affect up to 1 in 100 people.

Several other ancient human species had different skull shapes to our own, and a previous study published in 2013 put forward the idea that interbreeding between Homo sapiens and these other hominins may be a root cause of Chiari malformation type I (CM-I), the mildest type of the group.

Cheese and milk in Italy show alarming levels of microplastic contamination

Researchers found microplastics in nearly all Italian supermarket milk, fresh cheese, and ripened cheese samples, with ripened cheese containing the highest levels. The study highlights how dairy processing and packaging steps increase microplastic contamination in common foods.

LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA detect most massive black hole merger to date

The LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA (LVK) Collaboration has detected the merger of the most massive black holes ever observed with gravitational waves using the LIGO observatories. The powerful merger produced a final black hole approximately 225 times the mass of our sun. The signal, designated GW231123, was detected during the fourth observing run of the LVK network on November 23, 2023.

LIGO, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory, made history in 2015 when it made the first-ever direct detection of , ripples in space-time. In that case, the waves emanated from a black hole merger that resulted in a final black hole 62 times the mass of our sun. The signal was detected jointly by the twin detectors of LIGO, one located in Livingston, Louisiana, and the other in Hanford, Washington.

Since then, the LIGO team has teamed up with partners at the Virgo detector in Italy and KAGRA (Kamioka Gravitational Wave Detector) in Japan to form the LVK Collaboration. These detectors have collectively observed more than 200 in their fourth run, and about 300 in total since the start of the first run in 2015.