Jul 16, 2025 08:38 PM
Interbreeding with Neanderthals may be responsible for modern-day brain condition, SFU study finds
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1091465
INTRO: A new Simon Fraser University-led study reveals interbreeding between humans and their ancient cousins, Neanderthals, as the likely origin of a neurological condition estimated to impact up to one per cent of people today.
The study, published this week in the journal Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health, was led by Kimberly Plomp, a recent postdoctoral fellow at SFU and Mark Collard, the Canada Research Chair in Human Evolutionary Studies and a professor in the Department of Archaeology.
Their findings suggest that Chiari Malformation Type 1, a serious and sometimes fatal neurological condition, may be linked to Neanderthal genes that entered the human gene pool through interbreeding tens of thousands of years ago.
Chiari Malformation Type 1 occurs when the back of a human’s skull is too small to properly hold the brain, causing part of the base of the brain to herniate out of the skull and into the spinal canal. This can cause the herniated part of the brain to be pinched, leading to symptoms such as headaches, neck pain, dizziness and, in severe cases, death if too much of the brain herniates out.
“In medicine, as in other sciences, clarifying causal chains is important. The clearer one can be about the chain of causation resulting in a medical condition, the more likely one is to be able to manage, or even resolve, the condition,” says Collard. “The hypothesis needs to be tested further, but our study may mean we are one step closer to obtaining a clear understanding of the causal chain that gives rise to Chiari Malformation Type 1.” (MORE - details, no ads)
Scientists just showed how alien life could emerge in Titan’s methane lakes
https://www.zmescience.com/science/chemi...les-titan/
EXCERPTS: . . . On Earth, these pre-life vesicles like these formed in water from soap-like molecules. They trap ingredients in a pocket, protecting them, allowing chemistry to get organized. Meanwhile, on Titan, the storms (methane storms) could be doing the work. Raindrops hit hydrocarbon lakes and throw up a spray of tiny droplets. According to the researchers, these droplets can carry thin coatings of special molecules called amphiphiles — chemical “double agents” with one end that avoids methane and one end that clings to it.
When the coated droplets fall back into the lake, the outer layers merge, forming a sealed bubble. Voilà, you have a vesicle, the right type of structure to kickstart life.
These vesicles aren’t alive, but you can think of them as the opening act. Of course, we don’t have confirmation that they actually exist. The researchers in this study did not conduct new laboratory experiments or direct observations of Titan. Instead, they proposed a mechanism for the formation of this type of structure on Titan. But if such vesicles can truly emerge on Titan, by themselves, this would be exciting news.
In Titan’s lakes, vesicles might form again and again with each storm. Some would dissolve but others might persist. especially if they’re made of more stable amphiphiles. Over time, the more robust vesicles could accumulate the most resilient molecules, becoming more stable, more complex. In the long run, they could start to “evolve,” in a rough sense. Basically, they could be selecting for better structures, like a Darwinian game played out in methane.
This slow accumulation of stability and complexity is eerily similar to the earliest steps of life on Earth. But this study doesn’t claim life exists on Titan. Instead, this research significantly broadens our understanding of where life might originate. It suggests that life doesn’t necessarily need liquid water, as on Earth but could emerge in other liquid environments, like Titan’s hydrocarbon lakes... (MORE - missing details)
PAPER: https://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1473550425100037
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1091465
INTRO: A new Simon Fraser University-led study reveals interbreeding between humans and their ancient cousins, Neanderthals, as the likely origin of a neurological condition estimated to impact up to one per cent of people today.
The study, published this week in the journal Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health, was led by Kimberly Plomp, a recent postdoctoral fellow at SFU and Mark Collard, the Canada Research Chair in Human Evolutionary Studies and a professor in the Department of Archaeology.
Their findings suggest that Chiari Malformation Type 1, a serious and sometimes fatal neurological condition, may be linked to Neanderthal genes that entered the human gene pool through interbreeding tens of thousands of years ago.
Chiari Malformation Type 1 occurs when the back of a human’s skull is too small to properly hold the brain, causing part of the base of the brain to herniate out of the skull and into the spinal canal. This can cause the herniated part of the brain to be pinched, leading to symptoms such as headaches, neck pain, dizziness and, in severe cases, death if too much of the brain herniates out.
“In medicine, as in other sciences, clarifying causal chains is important. The clearer one can be about the chain of causation resulting in a medical condition, the more likely one is to be able to manage, or even resolve, the condition,” says Collard. “The hypothesis needs to be tested further, but our study may mean we are one step closer to obtaining a clear understanding of the causal chain that gives rise to Chiari Malformation Type 1.” (MORE - details, no ads)
Scientists just showed how alien life could emerge in Titan’s methane lakes
https://www.zmescience.com/science/chemi...les-titan/
EXCERPTS: . . . On Earth, these pre-life vesicles like these formed in water from soap-like molecules. They trap ingredients in a pocket, protecting them, allowing chemistry to get organized. Meanwhile, on Titan, the storms (methane storms) could be doing the work. Raindrops hit hydrocarbon lakes and throw up a spray of tiny droplets. According to the researchers, these droplets can carry thin coatings of special molecules called amphiphiles — chemical “double agents” with one end that avoids methane and one end that clings to it.
When the coated droplets fall back into the lake, the outer layers merge, forming a sealed bubble. Voilà, you have a vesicle, the right type of structure to kickstart life.
These vesicles aren’t alive, but you can think of them as the opening act. Of course, we don’t have confirmation that they actually exist. The researchers in this study did not conduct new laboratory experiments or direct observations of Titan. Instead, they proposed a mechanism for the formation of this type of structure on Titan. But if such vesicles can truly emerge on Titan, by themselves, this would be exciting news.
In Titan’s lakes, vesicles might form again and again with each storm. Some would dissolve but others might persist. especially if they’re made of more stable amphiphiles. Over time, the more robust vesicles could accumulate the most resilient molecules, becoming more stable, more complex. In the long run, they could start to “evolve,” in a rough sense. Basically, they could be selecting for better structures, like a Darwinian game played out in methane.
This slow accumulation of stability and complexity is eerily similar to the earliest steps of life on Earth. But this study doesn’t claim life exists on Titan. Instead, this research significantly broadens our understanding of where life might originate. It suggests that life doesn’t necessarily need liquid water, as on Earth but could emerge in other liquid environments, like Titan’s hydrocarbon lakes... (MORE - missing details)
PAPER: https://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1473550425100037