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A CLUE FROM OUR MYSTERIOUS RELATIVES

Tuesday, May 17, 2022

In today’s newsletter, we discover new territory for ancient humanoids, talk with an artist who remakes faces of fossilized remains, find green ways to mine critical metals for renewable energy … and get tips on exploring safely outdoors, without snake or squirrel bites.

PHOTOGRAPH BY FABRICE DEMETER AND CLÉMENT ZANOLLI

By Victoria Jaggard

A colleague once joked that if you want to help archaeologists, stop brushing your teeth. That’s because chemical clues in preserved plaque and enamel reveal so much about the lives of fossilized humans. Similarly, shape and wear patterns can indicate which species once sported particular teeth and what they were likely eating. That’s why scientists are abuzz this week over the discovery of a partial molar (pictured above) from a cramped cave in the mountains of Laos.

If they are correct, it’s the southernmost fossil evidence yet from a group of mysterious human relatives called the Denisovans.

Based on robust DNA data, Denisovans mingled with early modern humans more than 130,000 years ago—most modern people of Asian descent bear their genetic fingerprints. But fossil evidence had been found in only two sites—one in Siberia; one on the Tibetan Plateau.

The latest discovery indicates Denisovans had a much wider range, Maya Wei-Haas and Michael Greshko report. The exciting find also underscores the scientific importance of Laos’s fossil-rich caves (pictured below). “I do have to say, we’re so proud,” says Souliphane Boualaphane with Laos’s Ministry of Information, Culture, and Tourism.

Read the full story here.

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PHOTOGRAPH BY FABRICE DEMETER

STORIES WE’RE FOLLOWING

PHOTOGRAPH BY MELISSA FARLOW, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION

6 Southern parks that explore ecological marvels, civil rights heroes, and Indigenous heritage (Pictured above, Georgia’s Cumberland Island National Seashore)

Want to help put more trees on our warming planet? Here’s where to start

Beyond snakes: How to explore safely outdoors

Descending into the world’s deepest caves

Intact Viking ship held riches—and a surprising mystery

Diving along the world's best coral reefs

SMARTER PLANET

PHOTOGRAPH BY BING GUAN, BLOOMBERG/GETTY IMAGES

Greener mines? Let’s face it: Digging stuff up from the ground is intrinsically dirty—and can mess up our land and streams. Yet, even as we cut fossil fuels, we’re going to need critical minerals for renewables and our EVs and smartphones. One greener idea: extracting lithium needed for renewable batteries from geothermal brines. Those hot, mineral-rich waters already are tapped into by geothermal energy plants, Nat Geo reports. (Pictured above, a geothermal plant in Calipatria, California.)

PHOTO OF THE DAY

PHOTOGRAPH BY DIANE COOK AND LEN JENSHEL, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION

Big cypress: The Montezuma cypress in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca is wide enough—38 feet in diameter—to accommodate 15 students in a line. The image, which appeared in a 2017 story about famous trees around the world, was recently selected for our Photo of the Day archival feature. Like monumentally distinguishing trees? Nat Geo has more where that came from right here.

Related: How to photograph a tree

19 ICONIC TREES

OVERHEARD AT NAT GEO

PHOTOGRAPH BY OSCAR NILSSON

Bringing the dead to life: The first humans to arrive in Europe don’t look like today’s Europeans. History “detective” Oscar Nilsson’s job is to re-create what the long-dead looked like when they were here on Earth. As a sculptor and an archaeologist, Nilsson draws on both those skills to show us what people looked like many years ago. Above, a reconstructed bust of a woman who lived 1,200 years ago near Huarmey, Peru. On the latest episode of our Overheard podcast, hear how Nilsson reconstructs people from the past.

Related: See more of Oscar Nilsson’s reconstructions

IN A FEW WORDS

I visited my grandparents’ home in south India during a drought. I had to stand in line to get our daily supply of water. I realized that it wasn’t just India that was suffering from drought. I saw people’s wells ran dry, leaving them completely waterless in California.

Shreya Ramachandran

Creator of The Grey Water Project; Nat Geo Young Explorer

Watch: Young climate hero focuses on water

FUTURE FORWARD

PHOTOGRAPH BY STÉPHAN GLADIEU

Garbage to garb: Awash in tires, exhaust pipes, foam, plastic bottles, antennas, tins, feathers, or rubber slippers? Why not use those classic materials for art and dress? Artists in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, tired of seeing their nation used as a dump site for global waste, have created vibrant, imaginative works from the waste, Nat Geo reports. (Pictured above, an artwork titled “Plastic Man” by Bestaguy Bayoka.)

This was edited and curated by Monica Williams, Heather Kim, and David Beard. Have an idea or a link for us? Let us know at [email protected]. Have a good week ahead!

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