Fossil skull suggests human ancestors emerged 200,000 years earlier than thought

This newly discovered fossil is a hugely important find, say scientists. It means that one of our earliest ancestors possibly originated in southern Africa. Read more Source: https://earthsky.org/human-world/fossil-skull-human-ancestors-emerged-200000-years-earlier…

Ancient 4-limbed fish reveals origin of human hand

The origin of digits in land vertebrates is hotly debated, but a new study suggests that human hands likely evolved from the fins of the Elpistostege, a fish that lived more than 380-million-years ago. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/elpistostege-ancient-4limbed-fish-fin-origin-human-hand…

Pier 1 Files For Bankruptcy, Warns of Dangers In Handful of Online Vendors Dominating Retail Sales

Pier 1 Imports filed for bankruptcy Monday (Warning: source paywalled; alternative source), “a victim of changing consumer tastes and an unforgiving retail environment,” reports The Wall Street Journal. “Unlike many other retailers that have sought bankruptcy in recent years, the publicly traded Pier 1 — with assets of $426.6 million and listed total debt of $258.3 million — isn’t weighed down…

Chinese New Year 2020 falls on January 25

Chinese New Year 2020 falls on January 25 in Asia (January 24 in the west), beginning the Year of the Rat. China’s public holiday will be January 24-30. In Beijing this week, Chinese health officials expressed concerns about a coronavirus now spreading during this heavy travel season in Asia. Source: https://earthsky.org/human-world/chinese-new-year-lunar-new-year…

The RIPE NCC Has Run Out of IPv4 Addresses

Kelerei writes: The RIPE NCC, the regional internet registry for Europe, West Asia, and the former USSR, has allocated the final /22 remaining in their address pool, and has stated that they have now run out of IPv4 addresses. RIPE will continue to recover IPv4 addresses from organisations that go out of business, close, or that return them due to lack…

Arctic ice loss exposes sea mammals to deadly virus

Scientists have linked melting Arctic sea ice to the emergence of a deadly virus among sea lions, ice seals, sea otters and other marine mammals. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/arctic-ice-loss-exposes-sea-mammals-to-deadly-virus…

The Cost For Each SLS Launch Is Over $2 Billion

Acting director of the White House budget office Russell Vought said in a letter that the cost estimate to build and fly a single NASA large Space Launch System rocket in a given year is “more than $2 billion.” “The article then notes how this cost is affecting the Europa Clipper mission, which has three launch options, with SLS mandated by…

Origin of Modern Humans ‘Traced To Botswana’

dryriver shares a report from the BBC: Scientists have pinpointed the homeland of all humans alive today to a region south of the Zambesi River. The area is now dominated by salt pans, but was once home to an enormous lake, which may have been our ancestral heartland 200,000 years ago. Our ancestors settled for 70,000 years, until the local climate…

Near-Earth asteroids spectroscopic survey at the Isaac Newton telescope

The study of near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) is driven by both scientific and practical reasons. Because of their proximity to our planet, they can provide key information regarding the delivery of water and organic-rich material to the early Earth, and the subsequent emergence of life. On the other hand, these small bodies of the Solar System have non-negligible long-term probabilities of colliding…

HSE and Coursera Announce Russia’s First Top-Tier Online Master’s in Data Science

By Dil Sidhu, Chief Content Officer at Coursera In a digital-first world, Russia is uniquely poised to benefit from learning technology and data science skills, delivered online to meet the needs of learners anywhere. According to McKinsey, over 50% of work activities are at the risk of automation in Russia. This, coupled with demographic challenges […]
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