Received this from a friend?
Sign up now to get every issue direct to your inbox each weekday

Ancient DNA has revealed new insights into how the Neanderthals lived. Plus: can a slew of nuclear fusion start-ups deliver unlimited clean energy?

Skov et al.

At home with the Neanderthals

Ancient DNA from a group of Neanderthals who lived together has given us an unprecedented glimpse of the social structure of these extinct human relatives. Researchers extracted DNA from 11 individuals who lived in Chagyrskaya cave in Siberia sometime between 51,000 and 59,000 years ago. Many of them were related, and the DNA reveals very high levels of inbreeding. The group’s mitochondrial DNA, inherited from the mother, was much more diverse than the group’s Y chromosomes, inherited from the father, which suggests that women moved between groups while the men stayed put. Read more

Stretchy protons

The proton is stretchier than we thought, according to new measurements. Protons contain three smaller particles called quarks, which are held together by other particles called gluons, as well as very short-lived “virtual” particles. When a proton is exposed to electric and magnetic fields, these internal constituents move about according to their charge, causing the proton to deform, or stretch. But this behaviour isn’t well understood, and a new measurement only adds to the confusion. Physicists are divided on whether this anomaly will persist in future measurements or if our fundamental understanding of the proton’s structure will need to change. Read more

Discover how hacking your metabolism can help you burn fat and prevent disease...

Explore how a portable device called Lumen promises to enable your body to burn fats more efficiently, part of a new trend for “metabolism hacking”- which may even help you run for longer, have better skin and reduce the risk of conditions like diabetes. Read more

Get access to this article and more when you subscribe with a 12-week introductory offer for just £13.75.

More headlines

• Ebola: Officials in Uganda have introduced a 21-day lockdown in the districts Mubende and Kassanda in a bid to tackle the ongoing outbreak.
• Smoking: Altering the gut microbiome could help reduce the harmful effects of nicotine on the liver.
• Pillars of Creation: The James Webb Space Telescope has taken a star-studded new version of the classic Hubble image. 
• Mechanical AI: A purely mechanical neural network composed of beams, motors and sensors could lead to aircraft wings that morph during flight to maintain efficiency or minimise turbulence.

David Parker/Science photo library

Nuclear fusion is a hugely attractive prospect because in principle it can produce vast amounts of clean energy with very little waste. Though it has been a dream for decades, a clutch of start-ups are now working on small, innovative new fusion reactor designs - and promising they can produce commercial power within a decade. They may have a lot of investment behind them, but fusion is famously difficult to tame. So is there any reason to believe they can pull it off? Read more

Thursday, 10 November 2022 | 6-7pm GMT | 1-2pm EDT

How do our brains store—and then conjure up—past experiences to make us who we are? Why can memories feel so real? Are there such things as ‘true’ and ‘false’ memories?

In this talk, psychiatrist Veronica O’Keane will draw examples of the broken memories of psychosis to illuminate the integrated human brain, offering a new way of thinking about our own personal experiences.

Julian Togelius at New York University says the success of AIs in a tournament of Diplomacy, a strategy game, demonstrates how AIs will need to use human-like strategies to best cooperate with people. 

Thank you for reading and have a great Thursday.

Sam Wong

Assistant news editor, New Scientist

Email me at [email protected]

Received this from a friend? Sign up here

For the latest science and technology news, in-depth articles and video, visit newscientist.com