Cool science stuff

A new paper that might interest those who dig reading about the Black Death, the Mongol Empire, or historical epidemiology. The whole thing is free to read through December 31.

Abstract
The Black Death, often called the largest pandemic in human history, is conventionally defined as the massive plague outbreak of 1346 to 1353 c.e. that struck the Black Sea and Mediterranean, extended into the Middle East, North Africa, and western Europe, and killed as much as half the total population of those regions. Yet genetic approaches to plague’s history have established that Yersinia pestis, the causative organism of plague, suddenly diverged in Central Asia at some point before the Black Death, splitting into four new branches—a divergence geneticists have called the “Big Bang.” Drawing on a “biological archive” of genetic evidence, I trace the bacterial descendants of the Big Bang proliferation, comparing that data to historical human activities in and around the area of plague’s emergence. The Mongols, whose empire emerged in 1206, unwittingly moved plague through Central Eurasia in the thirteenth, not the fourteenth, century. Grain shipments that the Mongols brought with them to several sieges, including the siege of Baghdad, were the most likely mechanism of transmission. The fourteenth century plague outbreaks represent local spillover events out of the new plague reservoirs seeded by the military campaigns of the thirteenth century.

Four Black Deaths

 

Fascinating! Thanks TB!

 

Think of how different world history would be if the discovery had been made that moldy bread cured the plague in the 1300s.

 

Thirty-six hundred of the satellites floating around Earth are dead. There are also a half-million pieces of space debris bouncing around, including over 20,000 larger than a softball, and most of that is whizzing about faster than 17,500 mph. Turns out that’s a problem, both in orbit and when they finally burn up while reentering the atmosphere.

 

You can’t unsee Tedlexa, the Internet of Things/AI bear of your nightmares

 

Instead of a home run with a metal satellite, Japanese satellites will just pop up a bloop single behind first base.

 

We are not alone?

Harvard Professor Says Alien Technology Visited Earth in 2017

 

I am interested in and involved a little bit in nature conservation, and so have actually followed these specific rhinos. Their story is known and familiar to me, and I thought this was a good read. So, if you're not up on them, and you're so inclined, reading this NYT story would be worth the time.

The Last Two Northern White Rhinos On Earth

 

SpaceX’s Starship SN9 test mule may be making a 12.5km test flight this afternoon. No idea if they’re going to crash this one.

 

SpaceX is apparently going to try again, this time without Monday’s gusty winds.

Roads in the Boca Chica area are already closed and a village near the SpaceX test site has been evacuated. Does seem to be some question whether all the FAA approvals are in place.

 

And we’re scrubbed for today.

 

Newly discovered fossils indicate humans left Africa far earlier than previously thought.

Oldest Human Fossils Outside Africa Push Back Our Timeline...Again

The earliest modern humans outside Africa | Science