Free Republic

La Brújula Verde reports that the excavation of a necropolis in southwestern Italy by researchers from the Superintendence of Archaeology, Fine Arts, and Landscape for the Provinces of Salerno and Avellino has revealed 34 Samnite burials dated to between the fourth and third centuries B.C. The graves were grouped by family, and most of them consisted of a pit covered with tiles arranged like a small roof. Two of the burials had chambers lined with travertine blocks, while another had a tufa chamber. Graves holding the remains of men also contained spearheads or javelin points. Rings and brooches for fastening...

...the idea behind the Leonardo da Vinci DNA Project, which aims to accurately answer a simple question: since we couldn't sequence Leonardo's DNA in the 1500s, are his bones at Amboise Castle really his?To get there, the team plans to compare DNA from Leonardo's remains with profiles from his living relatives -- and, if the samples check out, assemble more of Leonardo's genome.Because the legendary Renaissance artist had no children, researchers Alessandro Vezzosi and Agnese Sabato of the Leonardo Da Vinci Heritage Association started with old-school genealogy, publishing Genìa Da Vinci. Genealogy and Genetics for Leonardo's DNA. Their tree follows...

Tradition holds that the eldest son of Genghis Khan, ruler of the Mongol Empire, founded the Golden Horde and was buried in Kazakhstan with his descendants. According to a statement released by the University of Wisconsin–Madison (UW–Madison), an international team of researchers led by Ayken Askapuli of UW–Madison analyzed genomes taken from remains found in four Golden Horde tombs in Kazakhstan, and determined that their ancestors could be traced to the Mongolian plateau through their Y-chromosomes. “We saw evidence that their Y-chromosomes are part of a branch of the C3* cluster,” Askapuli said. Some 20 years ago, fragments of DNA...

Centuries of British political tradition will end within weeks after Parliament voted to remove hereditary aristocrats from the unelected House of Lords.

New genetic research is reshaping how scientists understand ancient relationships between early humans and Neanderthals. A study published in Science suggests that mating between Homo sapiens women and Neanderthal men occurred more often than the reverse, leaving a lasting mark on the human genome. The finding helps explain a long-standing mystery in genetics. Modern humans carry small amounts of Neanderthal DNA across most of their genome, but almost none on the X chromosome. These gaps, known as Neanderthal deserts, puzzled scientists for years. Modern humans and Neanderthals split from a shared ancestor about 600,000 years ago. Human ancestors evolved in...

NEW YORK (AP) — Humans and Neanderthals cozied up from time to time when they lived in the same areas tens of thousands of years ago. But we don’t know much about who got with whom, or why. A new genetic analysis offers some ancient gossip: The pairings were more often female humans with male Neanderthals. How exactly this happened remains a huge question mark. Did human women venture into Neanderthal populations, or were the Neanderthal males drawn to larger human enclaves? Were these interactions peaceful, confusing, secretive or even violent? “I don’t know if we’ll ever get a definitive...

An Arizona couple allegedly found a pair of blood-stained gloves and a rock with a dried blood droplet in the desert a mile from Nancy Guthrie’s home — days after she was reported missing, according to a report. The couple, who asked to remain anonymous, stumbled upon the suspicious black gloves on the ground 10 feet apart off Campbell Avenue in the Catalina Foothills of Tucson on Feb. 11, KVOA reported on Friday. “Sure enough, it was a black glove in the desert. It appeared to have looked like it was ripped. It also appeared to look like it had...

“Investigators in Nancy Guthrie's case have turned their attention toward a pinky ring they believe her alleged abductor was wearing in chilling doorbell camera footage taken before she vanished. Meanwhile, TMZ announced on Wednesday that it has received a new 'sophisticated' ransom note in connection to missing Nancy, who is the mother of Today host Savannah Guthrie.“

A black glove found near the Arizona home of 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie appears to match those worn by the suspect seen in a doorbell camera video, according to the FBI.The glove, which contains DNA evidence, was one of approximately 16 gloves collected by investigators in various areas near the house. Most of those gloves belonged to searchers who discarded them while working the area, the FBI said."The one with the DNA profile recovered is different and appears to match the gloves of the subject in the surveillance video," the FBI said in a statement.

Nearly 44 years after 13-year-old Sarah Geer was brutally raped and strangled to death in a Cloverdale alley, the girl’s murderer has been convicted, the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office announced. On Friday, a Sonoma County jury found 66-year-old James Oliver Unick guilty of the May 23, 1982, murder and found true that he committed a sexual assault during the commission of murder. Unick was ultimately identified as the suspect and arrested on July 22, 2024, after a cigarette he had smoked was collected by FBI agents and analyzed to be a match of DNA evidence at the scene of...

The unknown male DNA profile on a glove found two miles from the home of Nancy Guthrie has been run through the FBI’s DNA database – and did not result in any hits, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos told Fox News chief correspondent Jonathan Hunt in an interview on Tuesday. DNA recovered from Guthrie's home also did not match records in the FBI database, Nanos said. The sheriff confirmed that the DNA on the glove was different from the DNA found inside the home. The FBI confirmed the news to Fox News Digital on Tuesday. The sheriff's department later provided...

The mystery DNA found on a potentially crucial glove found near Nancy Guthrie’s Arizona home — as well as other genetic material in her house — do not match any records in the FBI’s database, officials said Tuesday.

INDIANAPOLIS — The man who raped, stabbed and murdered a 19-year-old Indianapolis woman over 30 years ago will now spend nearly 50 years behind bars. Dana Shepherd, 53, was sentenced on Friday to 45 years in prison. Van Huss was raped and stabbed 61 times by a man who broke into her studio apartment. After first being discovered by her father, police said they found her nude body lying in a large pool of blood. “We hope after all this time people understand how violent my sister’s murder was,” Jimmy Van Huss said in 2024. “She was raped and stabbed...

RIO RICO, AZ — A man who says he was detained by Pima County Sheriff's deputies for "kidnapping" Nancy Guthrie spoke exclusively to ABC15 following his release. On Tuesday night, authorities confirmed that they had detained a man during a traffic stop in a location south of Tucson, the source said, and law enforcement is preparing to search a location associated with the individual They didn't even tell me what's going on until the detectives got here... They told me I was being detained for kidnapping, and I asked them, "Kidnapping of who?"" In the exclusive interview, the man, who...

Detective Shaun McCarthy has worked on a lot of cases in his more than 40 years with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. “I was 10 years as a street gang detective, and now I’m in my 23rd year as a homicide detective,” he said. “So, a total of 33 years as a detective.” These days, he devotes his time to the cases that remain unsolved. “To solve a homicide and prosecute somebody who committed the worst crime, there is nothing higher than that.” This is why he says he said couldn’t fully retire. McCarthy, like many others in the...

According to a statement released by the University of Vienna, an international team of researchers has identified a rare genetic condition in the remains of a mother and daughter who were buried in an embrace in the same grave more than 12,000 years ago. The burial was discovered in 1963 at Grotta del Romito in southern Italy. Romito 1, the remains of a woman who stood under five feet tall, held the remains of Romito 2, an adolescent girl with pronounced limb shortening, and an estimated height of about 3.5 feet. DNA analysis also showed that the daughter carried two...

Many factors influence how long you live, such as diet, exercise, smoking, drinking, environment and other variables. It also helps not to get hit by a dump truck. But what about your genes? That has been a contentious question for decades. A new study points to a larger role for genetics than previous research had indicated, estimating the contribution of genes to determining human lifespan at about 50 per cent. That is roughly double what prior research concluded, and it mirrors the findings of lifespan studies in laboratory animals. "Lifespan is undoubtedly shaped by many factors, including lifestyle, genes and,...

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX) — After over 45 years of uncertainty, the families of Lynn Vest and her 2-year-old nephew, Jeremy Pickens, finally have answers. The pair disappeared in November 1980 after going out to run errands, last seen at Hamilton and Main in Whitehall, and were found dead in the trunk of Vest's car, four miles away at Kelton and Main Streets. The father of Vest, a CPD robbery detective at the time, had reported them missing. Lynn had been strangled, and Jeremy suffocated. Missing from the scene were Lynn's credit card, some money, and her wedding ring. On Friday,...

Embark on a fascinating journey through Scotland's genetic history, spanning 12,000 years! Discover how waves of migration - from Mesolithic hunter-gatherers to Vikings and Normans - have shaped Scottish DNA. Learn about groundbreaking studies revealing unexpected connections to Siberian tribes and North African genes. We'll explore regional genetic clusters, the origins of Scottish surnames, and even uncover some royal DNA! Scotland's Ancient DNA Revealed | 16:49 The History Hub | 165K subscribers | 1,137,164 views | September 15, 2024 dna scotland [YouTube search]

European researchers have achieved a milestone in paleogenomics by sequencing RNA from a woolly mammoth specimen dating back approximately 39,000 to 40,000 years, roughly three times older than the previous record for ancient RNA. The RNA was recovered from a well-preserved juvenile mammoth known as Yuka, discovered in northern Siberian permafrost in 2010, according to Love Dalén, a professor of evolutionary genomics at Stockholm University and lead author of a study published in the journal Cell. Dalén told the Wall Street Journal that the findings could aid in identifying the genetic traits responsible for the mammoth’s distinctive woolly coat. The...