A bit of archeology
"… Here at this place, on the territory of present-day Russia, about 4000 years ago, teenagers ate dogs or wolves to become warriors," ScienceNews magazine reports (August 7, 2017) in an article dedicated to animal remains found in the southwestern part of Russia, which, according to scientists, were eaten during initiation ceremonies back in the Bronze Age.
It turns out that in those distant times, people of the so-called Srubnaya culture (XVIII-XII centuries BC, according to other estimates - XVI-XII centuries BC) believed that children, after the ceremony of symbolically eating meat of sacrificial animals, seemed would turn into dogs or wolves, and then gain the right to become real warriors, archaeologists David Anthony and Dorcas Brown of Hartwick College, New York believe.
This type of initiation is quite in line with the myths recorded already in a later, written era, namely in the oldest texts written in Indo-European languages about two thousand years ago and found among many peoples who lived in the vastness of Eurasia, ScienceNews states.
In these myths, there is a connection between the words "wolf" and "dog" on the one hand and the concepts of "belligerence", "war" and "death" on the other. That is why, as the analysis of ancient texts shows, in ancient times young warriors tried to choose names for themselves with the root "dog" or "wolf".
During excavations carried out from 1999 to 2001 near the village of Krasnosamarskoye in the Samara region, bones of dogs and wolves were found. Archaeologists have noticed an interesting feature: as a result of microscopic analysis, it was found that ritual animals were almost always sacrificed during the cold season. Thus, the initiation took place in late autumn or winter, ScienceNews reports.
And one more significant event from the world of archeology. Amateur collectors, brothers Masatoshi and Yasuji Kera, while walking near one of the reservoirs, discovered the remains of a bird, which was later recognized as the oldest fossil bird ever discovered in Japan, according to the Museum of Nature and Science. Perot (Perot Museum of Nature and Science) in Dallas, Texas.
Scientists from Hokkaido University date the find to the Late Cretaceous period, with the bones being about 84-90 million years old. This fossil bird, according to scientists from the Perrault Museum, is a representative of a long-extinct order of seabirds with the difficult to pronounce name "hesperornis-like", the remains of which, moreover, are rare in Asia, and in Japan such a unique and oldest specimen is found for the first time.
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Studying such an unusual and long-extinct order of birds, according to Dr. Fiorillo of the Pero Museum, will help deepen our understanding of the various forms of life in the North Pacific Ocean in those prehistoric times when dinosaurs roamed the Earth.
An unusual property of the brain
It turned out that the sleeping brain is capable of learning. True, this ability is observed during the REM sleep phase, which is characterized by increased brain activity and is suppressed during slow wave sleep, reports The Scientist (08 August, 2017).
Sleep in the workplace
To better understand a person's ability to learn during sleep, a research team led by Thomas Andrillon from Ecole Normale Supérieure de Paris observed 20 volunteers. Then, the scientists played various sound sequences to the participants in the experiment, namely: during wakefulness and at different stages of sleep (during the phases of REM sleep and deep sleep), and in the morning they tested the ability of these volunteers to identify sounds. And now, based on the data obtained, scientists concluded that a sleeping person may well remember new information, however, as already mentioned, during the REM sleep phase.
Fotolia, sakkmesterke
According to Adrillien, the results of the experiment will help to understand two hypotheses about the relationship between memory functioning and sleep. According to the first, sleep actively contributes to strengthening memory. According to the second, sleep helps maintain the body's homeostasis. And, of course, the research done by Adrillien's group will prove useful in the application area of sleep management - nothing more, nothing less, says The Scientist.
Medicine: good news
Scientists at Ohio State University have developed a new technology called "tissue nanotransfection" (TNT), which can be used to generate any kind of cells in a living organism, according to Wexner Medical Center at Ohio State University - by the way, one of the best in the United States (Aug 7, 2017). TNT technology can be successfully used to restore damaged or fading tissues of the human body, for example, human internal organs, blood vessels and even - which is absolutely fantastic - nerve cells!
TNT technology, based on the use of nanochips, will be able to produce complete or partial replacement of damaged human organs in the near future, according to Dr. Chandan Sen of the Ohio State Center for Regenerative Medicine and Cellular Therapy.
Scientists have already tested the TNT technique in mice and pigs. In the course of the experiments, it was possible, so to speak, to "reprogram" the skin cells of these mammals and obtain vascular cells from them. Scientists went further and, imagine, they even managed to replace the vessels located on the heavily damaged lower limbs of animals. After two weeks, these limbs began to move normally, according to Wexner Medical Center.
But that's not all: in the course of experiments, it turned out to be possible with the help of TNT-technology to reprogram skin cells of experimental animals, turning them into nerve cells, and then injecting them into the brains of mice suffering from a stroke.
An interesting feature of TNT technology is that no complicated laboratory techniques are required to implement it. In addition, this procedure is non-invasive, which in plain language means: no scalpel is needed and nothing needs to be cut.
Wexner Medical Center is encouraging: Scientists plan to begin clinical trials of tissue nanotransfection, or TNT, as early as next year. Well, let's wait!
