Weekly Science Report

June 5, 2020
 
“Time’s always moving on. Nothing can stop it. The question is whether we use our time well
or not. We can't do anything about the past, but what happens in the future depends on what
we do now. We can create a happier future by remembering that in being human we are all
the same.”
Dalai Lama
 

Introduction
 
Steve Detwiler created this publication with the support of Graham Hancock and the late John
Anthony West to share news and information on various disciplines to include but not limited to
paleontology, space sciences, genetics and archaeology.  His goal behind sharing this publication
has always been very simple, by sharing knowledge we can make our world a better place.  This
publication is Mr. Detwiler’s contribution to bring people together and share ideas and discoveries
with his fellow humans.
 
I hope you enjoy this publication and that the content challenges and inspires you!
 
The Weekly Science Report is also on social media at:
 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/weeklysciencerpt/
 Twitter: https://twitter.com/wklysciencerpt
 

News Articles
 
Paleontology, Evolution and Prehistoric Studies
 
Oldest cousin of Native Americans found in Russia
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/05/oldest-cousin-native-americans-found-russia
 
When Did Homo Sapiens First Appear?
https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/when-did-homo-sapiens-first-appear
 
Rio Tinto blasts 46,000-year-old Aboriginal site to expand iron ore mine
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/may/26/rio-tinto-blasts-46000-year-old-
aboriginal-site-to-expand-iron-ore-mine
 
The world's oldest temple was built along a grand geometric plan
https://www.livescience.com/amp/gobeklitepe-built-with-geometry.html?__twitter_impression=true
 
DNA evidence increases our understanding of contact between Stone Age cultures

https://phys.org/news/2020-06-dna-evidence-contact-stone-
age.html

 
A study proposes the low genetic diversity of the Neanderthals as the principal cause of their
extinction
https://phys.org/news/2020-06-genetic-diversity-neanderthals-principal-extinction.html
 
Researchers document the first use of maize in Mesoamerica
https://phys.org/news/2020-06-document-maize-mesoamerica.html
 
Neanderthals, Denisovans, humans genetically closer than polar bears, brown bears
https://www.upi.com/Science_News/2020/06/03/Neanderthals-Denisovans-humans-genetically-
closer-than-polar-bears-brown-bears/6821591204002/?sl=1&ur3=1
 
Did Neanderthals draw? This B.C. researcher is going to test DNA in old cave art to find out
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/petzinger-genetic-testing-art-1.5586533?cmp=rss
 
Occupation of the last Neanderthal groups in the Cantabrian region
https://phys.org/news/2020-05-occupation-neanderthal-groups-cantabrian-region.html
 
Z Marks the Spot

https://www.archaeology.org/issues/380-2005/digs/8603-digs-
kurdistan-neanderthal-burial
 
Ancient DNA provides new insights into the early peopling of the Caribbean

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-06/uoct-
adp060420.php
 
The Continuously Evolving Picture of the World’s Largest Raptor
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/utahraptor-largest-raptor-180974954/
 
A Comet May Have Destroyed This Paleolithic Village 12,800 Years Ago
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/comet-upended-life-paleolithic-village-12800-
years-ago-180974575/
 
 
 

History
 
Annie Glenn, widow of astronaut and U.S. Senator John Glenn, dies of coronavirus complications
at age 100
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/annie-glenn-died-widow-astronaut-senator-john-glenn-dead-age-
100-cause-of-death-coronavirus/?ftag=CNM-00-
10aab6a&linkId=88973500&fbclid=IwAR2tPBPmLasTBrH-
ru_OQuk7VwncqGDM9lRKdQpRaW0IjZC-4oWDGMsGqq8
 
A boy chosen as the Panchen Lama disappeared in 1995. China says he's now a college grad with a
job
https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/20/asia/china-tibet-panchen-lama-dalai-lama-intl-hnk/index.html
 
‘A resting time for the art’: with museums shut, US conservators seize on strategies to safeguard
their collections
https://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/a-resting-time-for-the-art-with-museums-shuttered-us-
conservators-seize-on-strategies-to-safeguard-their-collections
 
Larry Kramer, Pioneering AIDS Activist And Writer, Dies At 84
https://www.npr.org/2020/05/27/512714500/larry-kramer-pioneering-aids-activist-and-writer-dies-
at-84?sc=18&f=1001
 
This newspaper has never forgotten the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre — and its fight continues
https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-05-22/one-newspaper-never-forgot-the-tulsa-
race-massacre
 
Remains of 'Lady in the Well' in Turkey reveal Asia to Med migration began 4,000 years ago
https://www.dailysabah.com/life/history/remains-of-lady-in-the-well-in-turkey-reveal-asia-to-med-
migration-began-4000-years-ago
 
Study explores how Native Americans used sea otters
https://phys.org/news/2020-06-explores-native-americans-sea-otters.html
 

Spain’s mysterious mummies

http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20200528-the-guanches-
spains-mysterious-mummies
 
4,000 years of contact, conflict and cultural change had little genetic impact in Near East
https://phys.org/news/2020-05-years-contact-conflict-cultural-
genetic.html

Jews and Arabs Share Genetic Link to Ancient Canaanites,

Study Finds
https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-jews-and-arabs-share-genetic-link-to-ancient-
canaanites-1.8871073
 
 

Archaeology
 
Holy Jewish site of Esther and Mordechai set ablaze in Iran - reports
https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/holy-jewish-site-of-esther-and-mordechai-set-ablaze-in-iran-
reports-628165
 
Saving Chaco: As coronavirus consumes New Mexico, drilling threatens sacred land
https://grist.org/justice/saving-chaco-as-coronavirus-consumes-new-mexico-drilling-threatens-
sacred-land/?fbclid=IwAR2PytbtWLfBWgBRQYzDvMxeYYacW1EQgsbQruvZwUWLGfdU-
9QP8pnxwA0
 
Endangered cultural heritage on the seafloor: Underwater archaeology in the North and Baltic Seas
https://phys.org/news/2020-05-endangered-cultural-heritage-seafloor-underwater.html
 
Dig near Jerusalem's Western Wall yields 'puzzling' chambers
https://phys.org/news/2020-05-jerusalem-western-wall-yields-puzzling.html
 
Titanic salvage firm gets approval for controversial plan to cut into wreck, retrieve telegraph
machine
https://www.foxnews.com/science/titanic-salvage-approval-controversial-plan-retrieve-telegraph-
machine
 
German warship wreck off Kent coast given heritage protection
https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2020/jun/05/german-warship-wreck-off-kent-coast-given-
heritage-protection
 
With St. Amand's matrix, town planners can ID at-risk archaeological sites 
https://phys.org/news/2020-06-st-amand-matrix-town-planners.html
 

Evidence of rare Neolithic textiles discovered in Orkney

https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/uk/evidence-of-rare-
neolithic-textiles-discovered-in-orkney-39253768.html
 
15 sites of prehistoric petroglyphs identified in northwest Iran
https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/448468/15-sites-of-prehistoric-petroglyphs-identified-in-
northwest-Iran
 
8,000-year-old shell mound relic unearthed in east China
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2020-05/30/c_139101178.htm
 
New research reveals Cannabis and Frankincense at the Judahite Shrine of Biblical Arad
https://phys.org/news/2020-05-reveals-cannabis-frankincense-judahite-shrine.html
 
INSIDE THE INCREDIBLE EFFORT TO RECREATE HISTORIC JEWISH SITES
DESTROYED YEARS AGO
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/diarna-jewish-sites-not-seen-generations-visit-from-
home-180974875/
 
Aerial Survey Identifies Oldest, Largest Maya Structure Ever Found in Mexico

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/largest-and-
oldest-maya-structure-found-mexico-lidar-180975037/

 
Egyptology
 
Nothing to report
 
 
 
 

General Science
 
Lightning fast algorithms can lighten the load of 3D hologram generation
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-06/tmu-lfa060220.php
 
 

Physics, Earth and Space Sciences

 
8.8 billion habitable Earth-size planets exist in Milky Way alone
https://www.nbcnews.com/sciencemain/8-8-billion-habitable-earth-size-planets-exist-milky-way-
8C11529186
 
Colonizing Mars may require humanity to tweak its DNA
https://www.space.com/mars-colony-human-genetic-engineering-tardigrades.html
 
NASA human spaceflight chief Doug Loverro resigns on eve of historic SpaceX launch
https://www.space.com/nasa-human-spaceflight-chief-doug-loverro-resigns.html
 
How do we protect planets from biological cross-contamination?
https://engineering.stanford.edu/magazine/article/how-do-we-protect-planets-biological-cross-
contamination
 
NASA announces international Artemis Accords to standardize how to explore the Moon
https://www.theverge.com/2020/5/15/21259946/nasa-artemis-accords-lunar-exploration-moon-
outer-space-treaty
 
Ultra-bright X-ray source awakens near a galaxy not so far away
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-06/ras-uxs060320.php
 
Eclipse data illuminate mysteries of Sun's corona
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-06/uoha-edi060520.php
 
Chance of finding young Earth-like planets higher than previously thought
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-06/uos-cof060420.php
 
The Mariana Trench Is 7 Miles Deep: What’s Down There?
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-mariana-trench-is-7-miles-deep-whats-down-there/
 
 
 
 
 

Environment, Climate Change and Alternative Energy

Sources
 
America Just Made a Huge Investment in Next-Gen Nuclear Power
https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a32598099/advanced-nuclear-power-tiny-reactors/
 
Record ozone hole over Arctic in March now closed: U.N
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-environment-ozone/record-ozone-hole-over-arctic-in-march-
now-closed-u-n-idUSKBN22D56N
 
Cop26 climate talks in Glasgow likely to be delayed by a year
https://amp.theguardian.com/environment/2020/may/26/cop26-climate-talks-in-glasgow-likely-to-
be-delayed-again
 
Mangroves at risk if carbon emissions not reduced by 2050, international scientists predict
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-06/ntu-mar060420.php
 
Thousands of tons of ocean pollution can be saved by changing washing habits
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-06/nu-tot060520.php
 
 
 

Biological, Genetics and Medical Sciences

 
China’s Farms Are Petri Dishes of Antibiotic Resistance
https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/05/21/china-farms-antibiotic-resistance-antimicrobial-amr/
 
Cancer cells cause inflammation to protect themselves from viruses
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-06/tfci-ccc060120.php
 
Terahertz radiation can disrupt proteins in living cells
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-06/r-
trc060120.php

Plant detectives develop new way to trace global spread of

major plant disease

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-06/osu-
pdd052920.php

Other
 
Nothing to report
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Additional Informational
 
Help Preserve Underwater Tribal Heritage
https://heritagecoalition.org/help-preserve-underwater-tribal-heritage/?fbclid=IwAR1QQZ4Nn0Xl-
yArQNk-fC-RKdaUeoruOPjFQvJvFyosiUal7xzg25sFtVs
 
Election 2020: What's at Stake for Historic Preservation Webinar, June 17
https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/3019899252500006672