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#11
Science / Re: Neanderthals in the News
Last post by Recusant - April 21, 2026, 10:17:53 PMIt's well known that certain groups of our species have engaged in cannibalism. It seems our Neanderthal relatives did the same.
Many years ago I was given The Iceman Inheritance to read. Essentially the author claims that Caucasians interbred with Neanderthals (at the time the book was written this was by no means confirmed) and certain racial traits came from that Neanderthal contribution to the DNA of Caucasians. It was an intriguing proposition but not particularly convincing, in my opinion. Those traits can be roughly characterized as "tendency to be territorial, possessive, and aggressive." Caucasians, because of their Neanderthal DNA according to the author, are less likely to play nice than the rest of the species.
Given what I know of history and science, I now go beyond skepticism regarding the author's assertions and reject them as bullshit.
Cruelty and aggression are common among all of our species and I don't think Caucasians can claim (or be branded with) a greater tendency and capacity in that direction. I think it's becoming clearer that Neanderthals were not any better or worse than our species when it comes to behavior.
"Neanderthals may have hunted and eaten outsiders, chilling cannibalism study finds" | ScienceDaily
The paper is open access.
"Highly selective cannibalism in the Late Pleistocene of Northern Europe reveals Neandertals were targeted prey" | Nature Scientific Reports
Many years ago I was given The Iceman Inheritance to read. Essentially the author claims that Caucasians interbred with Neanderthals (at the time the book was written this was by no means confirmed) and certain racial traits came from that Neanderthal contribution to the DNA of Caucasians. It was an intriguing proposition but not particularly convincing, in my opinion. Those traits can be roughly characterized as "tendency to be territorial, possessive, and aggressive." Caucasians, because of their Neanderthal DNA according to the author, are less likely to play nice than the rest of the species.
Given what I know of history and science, I now go beyond skepticism regarding the author's assertions and reject them as bullshit.
Cruelty and aggression are common among all of our species and I don't think Caucasians can claim (or be branded with) a greater tendency and capacity in that direction. I think it's becoming clearer that Neanderthals were not any better or worse than our species when it comes to behavior.
"Neanderthals may have hunted and eaten outsiders, chilling cannibalism study finds" | ScienceDaily
QuoteA new study of Neanderthal remains from a cave in Belgium is shedding light on a disturbing aspect of prehistoric life. Researchers analyzing human bones from the Troisième caverne of Goyet (Belgium) found evidence that Neanderthals engaged in selective cannibalism between 41,000 and 45,000 years ago. The remains show that adult women and children were the primary victims.
For the first time, scientists were able to build a biological profile of the individuals whose bones were found at the site. Their findings suggest these people did not belong to the local Neanderthal group living in the area. Instead, they likely came from elsewhere and were brought to the cave.
The condition of the bones provides key clues about what happened. Many show marks consistent with cutting, breaking, and processing, similar to the way animals were hunted and prepared for food. In particular, the lower limbs appear to have been selected, and the bones were deliberately broken open to extract nutrient-rich marrow.
This pattern strongly suggests the bodies were not treated in a ceremonial or ritual way. Instead, the evidence points to cannibalism for food. The same techniques used on animal prey were applied to these human victims, indicating they were processed as a source of nutrition.
[Continues . . .]
The paper is open access.
"Highly selective cannibalism in the Late Pleistocene of Northern Europe reveals Neandertals were targeted prey" | Nature Scientific Reports
QuoteAbstract:
The Troisième caverne of Goyet has yielded the largest assemblage of Neandertal remains in Northern Europe with clear evidence of anthropogenic modifications. However, its skeletal fragmentation has long limited detailed morphological and behavioural study on the assemblage.
In this study, we integrate palaeogenetic, isotopic, morphometric, and structural analyses of the long bones to assess the biological profiles of the Neandertals from Goyet and explore whether they present particularities that could shed light on the formation of this unique cannibalised assemblage. We identify a minimum of six individuals, including four adult or adolescent females.
Compared to Homo sapiens and Neandertals—including regional specimens—the females from Goyet display short statures and reduced diaphyseal robusticity of their long bones. They lack skeletal markers associated with high mobility despite isotopic evidence for non-local origins. The overrepresentation of short, morphologically gracile, non-local females, alongside two immature individuals, suggests a strong selection bias in the individuals present at the site.
Dated between 41,000 and 45,000 years ago, a period marked by Neandertal cultural diversity, biological decline and the arrival of Homo sapiens in Northern Europe, the cannibalised female and juvenile Neandertals from Goyet indicate exocannibalism, possibly linked to inter-group conflict, territoriality, and/or specific treatment of outsiders.
#12
Miscellaneous / Re: bees
Last post by Icarus - April 21, 2026, 05:45:00 AMI have never encountered a miner bee as far as I know. Perhaps they do not thrive in Florida.
I do have a burrowing insect called Rinoceros beetle. They are large burrowing critters that true to their name, have a long horn protruding from their head. They are harmless except for the holes they dig in the ground. The holes are usually about an inch in diameter and go down only a few inches. I ignore them and they eventually go away or hibernate or whatever it is that they do.
I do have a burrowing insect called Rinoceros beetle. They are large burrowing critters that true to their name, have a long horn protruding from their head. They are harmless except for the holes they dig in the ground. The holes are usually about an inch in diameter and go down only a few inches. I ignore them and they eventually go away or hibernate or whatever it is that they do.
#13
Miscellaneous / Re: bees
Last post by Recusant - April 20, 2026, 05:58:11 AMI was curious about that too. The females of the ground nesting bees do sting but according to what I found, it's not a particularly painful sting. As for aggressiveness, I've never been stung by one as far as I know, and I've spent most of my life outdoors. Been stung by other flying beasties a fair number of times--mostly yellowjackets I'd say. Very similar to the European common wasp, but a different species. 
Ground nesting bees might sting if their burrow is stomped on, but you won't get a swarm of them because there's only one bee per burrow. Still, if allergic to stings it doesn't matter whether it's a painful sting or not. Males don't sting but might appear aggressive.
They're generally beneficial as far as humans are concerned. They pollinate of course, but they also aerate the soil.
I checked a few different sources for the above. Here's one of them.
Ground nesting bees might sting if their burrow is stomped on, but you won't get a swarm of them because there's only one bee per burrow. Still, if allergic to stings it doesn't matter whether it's a painful sting or not. Males don't sting but might appear aggressive.
They're generally beneficial as far as humans are concerned. They pollinate of course, but they also aerate the soil.
I checked a few different sources for the above. Here's one of them.
#14
Miscellaneous / Re: bees
Last post by Icarus - April 19, 2026, 04:48:46 AMare those bees dangerous if disturbed?
#15
Sports / Re: World Cup - 2026
Last post by zorkan - April 18, 2026, 01:15:45 PMJust when you thought getting to the ground would at least be cheap.
https://afroballers.com/article/fifa-slams-135-train-fares-as-world-cup-2026-attendance-threat
https://afroballers.com/article/fifa-slams-135-train-fares-as-world-cup-2026-attendance-threat
#16
Religion / Re: Who Would Have Thought?
Last post by zorkan - April 18, 2026, 12:34:16 PMTrump could be another incarnation of god.
The first was a guy called Jesus.
The second also brought chaos to the world.
Hong Xiuquan claimed to be the younger brother of Jesus Christ and started the Taiping Revolt at Nanjing in 1851.
It led to and estimated 20 million deaths, some claim 100 million.
A precedent that Trump might be trying to follow.
It only needs time, mythology, revision and reinterpretation for him to be worshipped by future generations.
Pictures will be everywhere showing an AI image with long fair hair.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/trump-posts-bizarre-image-of-himself-as-jesus-christ-the-whole-world-has-gone-crazy/ar-AA20KiIO?ocid=BingNewsSerp
The first was a guy called Jesus.
The second also brought chaos to the world.
Hong Xiuquan claimed to be the younger brother of Jesus Christ and started the Taiping Revolt at Nanjing in 1851.
It led to and estimated 20 million deaths, some claim 100 million.
A precedent that Trump might be trying to follow.
It only needs time, mythology, revision and reinterpretation for him to be worshipped by future generations.
Pictures will be everywhere showing an AI image with long fair hair.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/trump-posts-bizarre-image-of-himself-as-jesus-christ-the-whole-world-has-gone-crazy/ar-AA20KiIO?ocid=BingNewsSerp
#17
Laid Back Lounge / Re: Doesn't fit under any othe...
Last post by Icarus - April 18, 2026, 08:22:46 AMa little humor ?..........
#18
Miscellaneous / Re: bees
Last post by Recusant - April 18, 2026, 07:47:58 AMSome native American bees doing well it seems. At least in a graveyard in New York.
"Scientists Found 5.5 Million Bees Living Beneath a New York Cemetery" | ScienceAlert
The paper is open access:
"Emergence dynamics and host-parasite associations in a large aggregation of Andrena regularis (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Andrenidae)" | Apidologie[/url]
"Scientists Found 5.5 Million Bees Living Beneath a New York Cemetery" | ScienceAlert
QuoteMillions of buried creatures burst forth each spring from beneath the soil of a cemetery in Ithaca, New York.
It's not the return of the living dead; it's one of the world's largest aggregations of ground-nesting bees, ravenous for pollen.
Entomologists at Cornell University estimate that East Lawn Cemetery is home to around 5.5 million individual regular miner bees (Andrena regularis), a species that does not live in a colonial hive, as honeybees do, but instead spends most of its life in solitude in underground burrows.
And though A. regularis was already a known inhabitant of the cemetery, with records of the species' presence dating back to 1935, it wasn't until 2021 that the full scale of this nearby bee aggregation became apparent.
Rachel Fordyce, a technician at a Cornell entomology lab, discovered the massive nesting aggregation after finding a sneaky free parking spot a few blocks from campus.
While crossing the cemetery grounds on her way to work one spring day, she was able to capture a jarful of bees to show her colleagues that this site might be worth checking out.
In New York, A. regularis emerges from the ground around April each year to eat pollen, mate, and, for females, to dig brood burrows in which their larvae, well-stocked with pollen and nectar, can spend the winter growing in preparation for next spring's flight.
"This species overwinters as adults, which is relatively rare, and that's part of the reason why they come up out of the ground so early in the spring, timed to the apple bloom," says biologist and the paper's first author Steve Hoge, a Cornell undergraduate student at the time of the research.
The research team began fieldwork in the spring of 2023, setting up 10 emergence traps: tents measuring 36 square centimeters (5.6 square inches), open at the bottom, placed over the bees' nests, which funnel insects into a plastic collection jar, trapping them in 70 percent ethanol.
Each collection jar provided a small snapshot of the ecosystem, from which the entomologists could extrapolate. They collected these emergence samples over 48 days, yielding a total of 3,251 insects from 16 species.
Bee density varied widely between traps, and extrapolations from small datasets are always an imperfect way of gauging population size.
Nonetheless, this field survey suggests the East Lawn Cemetery has an average of 853 A. regularis bees nesting in every square meter (10.8 square feet) of its sandy loam soil.
[Continues . . .]
The paper is open access:
"Emergence dynamics and host-parasite associations in a large aggregation of Andrena regularis (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Andrenidae)" | Apidologie[/url]
QuoteAbstract:
Ground-nesting solitary bees play a vital role in pollination, yet many aspects of their nesting ecology remain understudied, including population dynamics and interactions with brood parasites. We used emergence traps to estimate population size, emergence dynamics, sex ratio, and brood parasitism in a large aggregation of the ground-nesting solitary bee Andrena regularis Malloch at East Lawn Cemetery in Ithaca, NY.
Over the course of the study, conducted from March 30th through May 16th, 2023, we collected 3251 individuals representing 16 species of bees, flies, and beetles, with A. regularis being the dominant species. Using emergence trap capture data over a 41-day emergence period, we document emergence phenology, sex ratio, and parasitism rate for A. regularis and its most abundant brood parasite, Nomada imbricata Smith.
Our results provide insights into the population size, sex ratio, and timing of male and female emergence in a solitary, ground-nesting bee and its brood parasites. Our study demonstrates the effectiveness of emergence traps for studying existing ground-nesting bee populations. This study contributes to our knowledge of bee ecology and emphasizes the potential importance of cemeteries as refugia for ground-nesting bee populations.
#19
Religion / Re: Who Would Have Thought?
Last post by Dark Lightning - April 17, 2026, 03:32:24 PMMore like Constantine sowing death, destruction and Xianity at sword's point.
#20
Religion / Re: Who Would Have Thought?
Last post by zorkan - April 17, 2026, 03:16:27 PMThat's what the Romans said about Jesus.
When Trump passes there might be an epiphany.
Disciple A: "He was truly the son of god".
Disciple B: "He has brought peace to the world. and His name will live forever more."
When Trump passes there might be an epiphany.
Disciple A: "He was truly the son of god".
Disciple B: "He has brought peace to the world. and His name will live forever more."