New research has shown that our early ancestors almost went extinct some 900,000 years ago. Using a new method called FitCoal (fast infinitesimal time coalescent process), researchers analysed the likelihood of present-day genome sequences to project current human genomic variation backwards in time. They applied the technique to the genomes of 3,154 people from 10 African and 40 non-African populations, and found a massive crash in genetic diversity during the transition between the early and middle Pleistocene. “Results showed that human ancestors went through a severe population bottleneck with about 1,280 breeding individuals between around 930,000 and 813,000 years ago,” the study authors wrote in the journal Science. “The bottleneck lasted for about 117,000 years and brought human ancestors close to extinction,” they say. Wiping out roughly 98.7 percent of the ancestral human population, “the bottleneck could also have increased the inbreeding level of our ancestors, thus contributing to the 65.85 percent loss in present-day human genetic diversity,” explained the researchers. This probably happened because of changes in the global climate as short-term glaciations became longer-lasting, triggering a drop in ocean temperatures, prolonged drought, and the loss of large numbers of species that humans might have relied on for food. Then, around 813,000 years ago, populations finally recovered, with a 20-fold increase in numbers because of fire combined with the return of warmer temperatures, researchers reckon. What a near miss, eh? Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

A key inflation measure used by the US Federal Reserve to set interest rates eased further last month amid declining energy and goods prices, according...

Google on Wednesday unveiled its latest lineup of hardware products, including its first foldable phone and a new tablet, as well as plans to roll out new AI features to its search engine and productivity tools.

Apple has revealed an updated version of its MacBook Pro, featuring new chips and a new colour. The new computer was launched at its ‘Scary Fast’ event. The only other launch from the event was an update to the iMac, which was first released in 2021, which receives a new processor but no other changes. Both the new laptops and the updated iMac are powered by Apple’s new M3 chip. That is the third generation of the company’s own Apple Silicon chips, since it began producing them in 2020. Apple said that the M3 chip was around 15-30 per cent faster than the previous M2. But it preferred to compare its performance with the Intel chips that it used in its computers until 2019, in what appeared to be a gesture of humility about the changes in the new line-up. As well as the base version of the M3, which will go into the new 24-inch iMac and 14-inch MacBook Pro, Apple launched the more powerful M3 Pro and M3 Max. It is the first time that Apple has unveiled three chips at once – in previous generations, Apple launched the base version of the processor before higher-powered versions some months later. In addition to the new chip, Apple announced a new “space black” colour for the MacBook Pro. It specifically pointed out that it used a particular kind of aluminium that would not pick up fingerprints. The updated 14-inch MacBook Pro received a price cut from $1,999 to $1,599. All of the updated computers will go on sale next week, with the exception of the MacBook Pro with M3 Max, which will arrive later in November. Those three announcements – a new family of chips, alongside a new iMac and two versions of the MacBook Pro to put them in – were the only announcements from the event. Apple also removed the 13-inch version of the MacBook Pro from its line-up, but did not announce it during the event. It lasted only 30 minutes, unusually short for an Apple event. Apple chief executive Tim Cook closed the event by suggesting there would be no more major announcements for the rest of the year. The livestreamed launched had been odd from the beginning. Apple held it at night time rather than its standard morning launch, as well as holding it much later in the year than usual, and announced it with relatively little preparation. Read More Apple is about to launch new products at a shock event - follow live How Apple gave people a library of classical music – and made it accessible Apple is about to add a host of new features to the iPhone

The 23rd-ranked Tennessee Volunteers will be faced with a crossroads just four weeks into the season

Scientists have found that one of the key pillars of theory around how life works – that it depends on carbon – may not be the case on other planets. Here on Earth, life depends on organic compounds which are composed of carbon, and often involve other elements such as sulphur, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen and phosphorus. With organic compounds, life is partly sustained by chemical interactions called autocatalysis, which are self-sustaining. That means they produce molecules which then enable the reaction to happen again, and do not need any outside influence to keep going on. In the new study, scientists looked for autocatalysis in non-organic compounds. The theory is that if autocatalysis helps drive a process called abiogenesis – the origin process for life – then this origin process could also come from non-organic matter. Betül Kaçar, an astrobiologist, bacteriologist and evolutionary biologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, told news outlet Space.com: “It's important to explore these possibilities so that we have an idea of what all forms of life can look like, not just Earth life.” "One of the major reasons that origin-of-life researchers care about autocatalysis is because reproduction — a key feature of life — is an example of autocatalysis. “Life catalyses the formation of more life. One cell produces two cells, which can become four and so on. “As the number of cells multiply, the number and diversity of possible interactions multiplies accordingly.” The scientists searched in a huge trove of existing scientific documents for examples of autocatalysis, and found 270 different cycles of the reactions. Most of the 270 examples did not feature organic compounds, but rather elements which are rare in life forms such as mercury, or the radioactive metal thorium. “It was thought that these sorts of reactions are very rare,” Kaçar said in a statement. “We are showing that it's actually far from rare. You just need to look in the right place.” Now, it means scientists can test these cycles to get a better understanding of how autocatalysis can work. “The cycles presented here are an array of basic recipes that can be mixed and matched in ways that haven't been tried before on our planet,” said study author Zhen Peng, also an evolutionary biologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “They might lead to the discovery of completely new examples of complex chemistry that work in conditions where carbon- or even silicon-based cycles are too either combusted or frozen out.” The scientists published their findings in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Two people have been detained in China after allegedly damaging a section of the Great Wall in the northern Shanxi province with an excavator, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

Heuermann looked up child pornography 'thousands of times' even as he tracked the Gilgo Beach murders' case updates online

Valorant Episode 7 Act 3 starts on Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2023, as new Agent, Iso, joins the game, along with a fresh Battle Pass.

United Airlines Holdings Inc. discovered dubious parts in two aircraft engines, adding to the list of carriers worldwide

The Los Angeles Lakers have a big decision to make with Mo Bamba, betting on his potential or clearing cap space to pursue a more sure thing.Mo Bamba was recently seen working out at the Lakers training facility, ahead of the June 29 deadline for them to decide whether to guarantee his contract ...

The Chicago Cubs got off to a strong start this year, but a familiar foe came into town and took two of three this week. Two losses to the Cardinals have the Cubs down at 18-19 as they head to face the Minnesota Twins in this interleague series. The Twins are 21-17 and just won a series over the Pad...