[SES1066]

'Firsts' in this field, are, at best, a contemporary guesstimate pending further research and discovery. When I recall my College Anthropology texts from the 1970s and their, ever so certain, dates of human migrations, I have to laugh! Like so many other items of scientific certainty, the proclaimers need to maintain a healthy sense of humility and avoiding hubris.

I refer one and all to the late, but still great, Arthur C. Clarke and his Three Laws, in particular for this case, Law #1: "When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong."

Note please that I am NOT criticizing or disparaging these researchers or this article, just pointing out the habits of the media and others in assigning laudatory adjectives that the researchers would probably disclaim. Any mention of 'settled science' or other such wordage / concept should be at the reader's discretion!

[SunkenCiv]

The only time the term "settled science" is used is by people who reject science (which is a method, not a body of knowledge) -- and around here, that doesn't mean some leftist dingbat.