Report: 70% of Moroccans that Invaded Spanish Ceuta Claim to be 'Gay' in Asylum Requests

Nice try!

"Unnamed sources from Spain’s National Police disclosed to the newspaper ABC on Friday they have detected a not-so-discrete shift in how the invading migrants are trying to seek asylum in Ceuta. ..."

Report: 70% of Moroccans that Invaded Ceuta Claim to be 'Gay' in Asylum Requests "Seventy percent of the asylum requests filed by the illegal migrants that invaded the Spanish exclave of Ceuta are now alleging persecution on the basis of their recently discovered homosexual orientation, a new report states."

La Policía descubre un cambio de patrón en Ceuta: el 70% de los marroquíes dice ser gay y pide asilo "Solo cinco inmigrantes que entraron en la invasión a Ceuta han conseguido que se acepte su condición de refugiado por ser perseguidos por su orientación sexual"

Police discover a change in pattern in Ceuta: 70% of Moroccans say they are gay and request asylum

Only five immigrants who entered Ceuta during the invasion have managed to have their refugee status accepted due to persecution for their sexual orientation

Neanderthals were skilled woodworkers, first-of-its-kind tool trove in Spain reveals

Amazing stuff!

"Home decorating isn’t unique to Homo sapiens. More than 40,000 years ago, bands of Neanderthals turned a spacious rock shelter in the mountains of Spain into a cozy home, fashioning wood into tools and windbreaks and burning it for heat and light. That picture comes from a first-of-its-kind trove of Neanderthal wooden artifacts from a domestic space, found at a cliffside site called Abric Romaní, 50 kilometers west of Barcelona. ...

Added to even older evidence from sites in Germany and Italy, the tools from Abric Romaní provide strong evidence that our ancient hominin cousins were craftspeople roughly on par with our own species ..."

From the abstract:

"Wood technology likely played a key role in human evolution, yet it remains poorly documented because organic materials rarely preserve in archaeological contexts.

The Middle Palaeolithic site of Abric Romaní (Capellades, Barcelona) provides exceptional evidence of Neanderthal woodworking preserved through travertine incrustation.

We document 597 wooden imprints and charred wood remains recovered from 16 archaeological levels dated between ∼62,000 and 40,000 years ago.

The assemblage includes wood imprints, charred wood imprints, and charred macroremains, among which several anthropogenic objects can be identified.

These include tools and weapons, domestic artifacts, and structural elements, revealing a wide range of woodworking activities.

Key discoveries include wooden spears, pointed sticks, and domestic objects such as trays and tripods. A club-like artifact recovered from level P represents a unique object with no clear parallel in the prehistoric record. The Abric Romaní assemblage highlights the importance of wood within Neanderthal technological systems and provides previously unknown insights into the role of organic materials in Middle Palaeolithic societies."

Neanderthals were skilled woodworkers, first-of-its-kind tool trove reveals | Science | AAAS "Find in Spanish cave provides rare window into the domestic lives of our closest relatives"

Exploring the Wood Technology of the Neanderthals of the Abric Romaní (Capellades, Barcelona) (original news release)

Més enllà de la pedra: l’Abric Romaní mostra un univers neandertal fet també de fusta (original news release)

Neanderthal woodworking at Abric Romaní: Insights into the role of wood in a Middle Palaeolithic domestic context (open access)

Fig. 1. Trays crafted from bark that have been preserved in a carbonized state, recovered from levels H and O.

Osteoporosis fractures fall by 94% in small first-in-human stem cell trial with a single intravenous infusion

Good news!

"... A recent study published in Cell explored a novel stem cell therapy for advanced osteoporosis that cleverly uses a patient's own stem cells as a biological targeting tag, binding to blood vessels in the bone marrow and guiding the infused stem cells directly to damaged bone tissue.

In a first-in-human trial, 10 women over 50 with advanced osteoporosis received an infusion of the specially engineered repair cells via a single intravenous (IV) drip.

In the first two years after treatment, fractures caused by weakened bones fell by 94%, from eight fractures per year to 0.5 fractures per year, across the group.

Post-treatment bone biopsies showed that the mean bone tissue area nearly doubled in just four months. Most patients also reported less pain after receiving the infusion, with a 34% reduction at month 24. ..."

From the highlights and abstract:

"Highlights

• I.v. infusion of exofucosylated human mesenchymal stem cells (Fuc-autoBM-MSCs) is safe

• Single i.v. dose of Fuc-autoBM-MSCs lowers fragility fracture incidence in osteoporosis

• Volumetric bone mineral density increases after Fuc-autoBM-MSC i.v. infusion

• Changes in bone metabolism biomarkers are consistent with an osteoregenerative effect

Summary

Mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs) are osteoregenerative; however, their therapeutic efficacy for skeletal conditions is hampered by poor bone-homing (“osteotropism”).

In preclinical models, this deficit is correctable by MSC glycocalyx editing to enforce sialylated Lewis X (sLeX) expression, thereby programming osteotropism. We conducted a first-in-human clinical trial (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02566655) involving a single intravenous infusion of glycocalyx-edited autologous bone marrow-derived MSCs in ten women with advanced-stage osteoporosis.

The protocol-mandated evaluation spanned 2 years and included clinical assessments, radiographic studies, and measurements of bone turnover markers (BTMs), bone tissue area (BTA), and bone mineral density (BMD).

Thereafter, fracture and safety monitoring continued for >3 additional years for each patient.

No serious adverse events occurred. Fragility fractures were markedly and durably reduced, amidst increased osteoanabolic BTM levels, BTA, and volumetric BMD.

These findings indicate that glycocalyx editing effectuates MSC-based osteoporosis therapy and also refute notions that MSCs derived from older persons and/or diseased-tissue sites are biologically compromised."

Osteoporosis fractures fall by 94% in small first-in-human stem cell trial

Glycocalyx-edited mesenchymal stem/stromal cell therapy in advanced osteoporosis (no public access)

Graphical summary

50,000 to 160,000 in Madrid and plus more in other big cities of Spain protest Ceuta mass invasion

Good news!

Apparently, according to other news sources (e.g. here), the city of Madrid said it were 150,000 protesters.

"In lieu of festivities, tens of thousands of people took to the streets Wednesday across Spain to protest the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Ceuta, demanding solutions and blaming Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez for his government’s handling of it.

In Madrid, authorities said some 50,000 protesters turned out. After the demonstration ended, an Associated Press journalist heard shots and explosions. Spanish newspaper El País reported that police fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse crowds.

There were significant turnouts also in Barcelona, Valencia and Seville. ..."

Ceuta border crisis tensions overshadow annual public celebration | AP News

Silent artery plaques may appear in one in 13 adults before age 30 showing a systemic, progressive disease process

Concerning, if not shocking!

"... “These data from multiple locations support the concept of silent atherosclerosis as a systemic, progressive disease process,” ..."

"Atherosclerosis, the process underlying most cardiovascular diseases, begins long before the first symptoms appear.

An international study shows that the disease can already be detected in apparently healthy young adults and is much more common than previously thought. ...

that 57.1% of the more than 16,000 participants included in the study had atherosclerotic plaques, despite having no symptoms or previous diagnosis of cardiovascular disease. ...

The data come from the first phase of REACT, one of the largest studies conducted to date to map the presence of silent atherosclerosis throughout adult life. ...

In the first phase, 16,808 people ages 18–70 were recruited in Denmark and Spain. None of the participants had a known history of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Each participant underwent advanced imaging to detect atherosclerotic plaques in the carotid, femoral and coronary arteries. Cardiovascular risk factors, blood biomarkers, samples for omics studies and retinal images were also analyzed, generating one of the most comprehensive databases on atherosclerosis developed to date.

The results show that the disease is already present in very young adults. Approximately 1 in 13 people ages 18–29 had atherosclerosis in at least one artery. This proportion increased progressively with age, reaching 9 in 10 people ages 60–70. ...

The study also reveals important differences between women and men.

In men, prevalence began to increase at younger ages, with an atherosclerotic profile five–10 years ahead of that observed in women.

In women, the sharpest increase was observed between the ages of 40 and 60, a period that broadly coincides with the menopausal transition. ...

Another of the study's most relevant findings is that the conventional methods currently used to estimate cardiovascular risk, including risk scores such as SCORE2, identify only a small proportion of people who already have silent atherosclerosis. ..."

Silent artery plaques may appear in one in 13 adults before age 30

Early imaging of atherosclerosis identifies silent disease not captured by conventional risk assessment

REACT: Use of Imaging to Detect Silent Atherosclerosis in Early Adulthood

Prevalence of Silent Atherosclerosis across Adult Life (no public access)

Spain claims the sudden mass invasion of its exclave Ceuta was due to social media. Really!

Why was the Spanish socialist government so clueless about the pending mass invasion by over 50,000 individuals?

"... Spanish authorities have so far come to a far more pedestrian conclusion: It was spontaneous and spurred on by social media."

The Wall Street Journal What's news

Spain Has a Simple Explanation for Why Migrants Flooded Across Border "Spanish intelligence has so far concluded that the rush into Ceuta was spontaneous and fueled by social media"

Pedro Sánchez, Prime Minister of Spain and a fool?

How Western news media have spread disinformation about the sudden, mass illegal immigrant invasion of two exclave cities of Spain in Morocco

Today, I became for the first time fully aware of the huge scope of what went on in Ceuta and Melilla thanks to Tichy's Einblick.

The least part of the disinformation was to suggest the event happened in Spain! It did not!

Reportedly, within 24 hours an estimated 49,000 illegal immigrants descended on Ceuta (Spanish exclave located on the Mediterranean coast of Morocco). Most of them young men from the Maghreb and other African countries.

Were there no warnings about a pending invasion? Strange!

The exclave city of Ceuta (not Casablanca) in Morocco has only a population of about 89,000. Total area 18.5 km2 (7.1 sq mi).

Numerous crimes were committed. About 19 individuals died.

What did the government of Morocco know and do about this massive invasion? Who organized this invasion?

Apparently, during a similar incident in 2021, the Spanish intelligence service concluded that Morocco used mass invasion as a political weapon against Spain.

The right of free movement in the European Union is threatened as several EU countries indicated that they will close their borders in response to this mass invasion.

Tichys Einblick Newsletter

Invasion: Knapp 50.000 Menschen überrollen binnen 24 Stunden Ceuta

View of Ceuta (Source)

Socialist Spain for years a manufacturing 'Gateway' for Chinese Vehicles Flooding the European Union

A question of fair competition! Will a trade war between the EU and China develop?

Is China flooding the EU with consumer goods?

"The growing arrival and continued penetration of Chinese automakers in European Union markets is a now years-long phenomenon across the regional bloc. It is reportedly estimated Chinese brands represent a majority of the 27 new vehicle brands on sale in Spain and in other European countries, with Chinese vehicles accounting for nearly ten percent of all sales in Europe. ...

Although the E.U. imposed protective tariffs on Chinese Electric Vehicles (EVs) in recent years, Chinese carmakers are able to completely circumvent the tariffs by manufacturing its cars in European factories instead. ..."

Socialist Spain Now 'Gateway' for Chinese Vehicles Flooding Europe "Existing Chinese vehicle manufacturing plants in Spain have turned the country into a “gateway” for Chinese vehicles into Europe, local outlets stated."

Ripples of activity in the hippocampus prepare the brain for surprising visual events

Amazing stuff! However, it took almost 3 years for this research from preprint to be published as a journal article!

Ethical questions: The study apparently involved 17 patients with epilepsy, but that was not mentioned in the abstract.

"... Researchers ... recently carried out a study aimed at better understanding how the brain prepares for unexpected visual experiences. Their paper, published in Nature Neuroscience, suggests that fast, large-amplitude, brief bursts of oscillatory activity in the hippocampus (i.e., hippocampal ripples) influence how the visual cortex, the part of the brain responsible for processing visual information, responds to surprising stimuli after they appear. ...

This experiment involved 17 patients with epilepsy who had electrodes implanted in their brains as part of their treatment. ...

When participants were less certain about what image would next appear on screen, the team observed a greater frequency of specific patterns of activity in the hippocampus, called hippocampal ripples. Interestingly, these ripples of activity occurred more often and lasted longer before an unexpected stimulus appeared than before a familiar one. ..."

From the abstract:

"To encode information efficiently, our perceptual system should detect when situations are unpredictable (that is, informative) and modulate brain dynamics to prepare for encoding. Under uncertainty, there is an increased need to generate predictions about upcoming information, a process that has been proposed to require coordinated activity between the hippocampus and neocortex.

Here we show, with direct recordings from the human hippocampus and visual cortex, that after exposure to unpredictable visual stimulus streams, hippocampal ripple activity increases in frequency and duration before stimulus presentation.

Prestimulus hippocampal ripples suppress changes in visual cortex gamma activity associated with uncertainty and modulate poststimulus prediction error gamma responses in higher-level visual cortex to surprising stimuli.

We reveal a function of hippocampal ripples in facilitating the propagation of visual stimuli based on the expected information gain.

These results, therefore, link hippocampal ripples with predictive coding accounts of neuronal message passing and precision-weighted prediction errors, revealing a mechanism relevant for perceptual synthesis and subsequent memory encoding."

Ripples of activity in the hippocampus prepare the brain for surprising events

Human hippocampal ripples tune cortical responses based on predicted uncertainty (open access)

Fig. 2: The frequency and duration of hippocampal ripples increase with uncertainty or expected information gain.

Fig. 5: Surprise-driven responses.

Space is sweet: interstellar sugars found in our Milky Way galaxy

Amazing stuff!

"Astronomers have found sugars in interstellar medium for the first time, suggesting an answer to a riddle about the origin of life.

Sugars are critical organic molecules. They form the backbone of DNA and RNA as well as playing a key role in metabolic processes.

Scientists have long wondered how sugars first formed on Earth. ..."

From the abstract:

"Sugars are essential biomolecules, serving as metabolic fuels, nucleic acid backbone components and structural or energy-storage polymers.

A central question in origin-of-life research is how monosaccharides formed on the primitive Earth, as laboratory experiments under prebiotic conditions yield insufficient concentrations.

The detection of ribose, glucose and other monosaccharides in asteroids and meteorites suggests an exogenous origin, possibly in the interstellar medium (ISM) before meteoritic parent-body formation. However, no sugar has been observed in the ISM so far.

Here we report the discovery of erythrulose, a chiral four-carbon ketose, in the ISM. The detection was achieved through ultrasensitive, broadband spectral surveys of the Galactic Centre molecular cloud G+0.693−0.027, using the Yebes 40 m and IRAM 30 m telescopes.

Erythrulose appears to be at least eight times more abundant than analogous three-carbon sugars, which remain undetected in our ultrasensitive observations. Quantum chemical and astrochemical models indicate that erythrulose forms efficiently on interstellar dust grains from simpler two-carbon aldehydes and alcohols.

As ketoses readily isomerize into aldoses in aqueous conditions, interstellar erythrulose could have contributed to the sugar inventory available for early metabolic and replication processes."

Space is sweet: interstellar sugars found | News | ConnectSci

Detection of a four-carbon sugar in interstellar space (open access)

Fig. 1: Brightest and most unblended transitions of erythrulose observed towards the G+0.693 molecular cloud.

A 6,000-year-old necropolis in central Spain is forcing a radical rethink of who built Europe's first megalithic tombs

Amazing stuff!

Too bad, the University of Salamanca (a very famous and very old university), Spain website is in Spanish only! I don't speak Spanish and I have no time to translate. And Google Translate failed (see screenshot below). Researchers from this university were involved in this study!

The other Spanish University website, i.e. University of Alcalá, was also not very helpful to find additonal information on this research! At least it offered EN translation! 

"... Archaeologists working in Toledo, central Spain, have discovered what they believe is the oldest documented monumental necropolis in the interior of the Iberian Peninsula. This ancient site dates back to about the end of the 5th millennium BC (about 4300 to 4000 BC) and challenges a long-held theory that megalithic funerary structures were initially restricted to the coastline before spreading inland. ...

The prehistoric site, called Valdelasilla, sits on a hill overlooking the town of Illescas. It was discovered in 2020 and excavated during that year. ...

The site contains a large circular chamber tomb measuring 6 meters across, surrounded by a large, ditched enclosure measuring roughly 36 meters in diameter. Around it are several smaller funerary chambers made from wood, clay, and compacted earth, and measuring 2 to 3 meters wide. Human remains from at least 46 individuals were found inside 11 of the funerary structures and dated using radiocarbon dating and computer modeling. ..."

From the abstract:

"This study presents an analysis of funerary practices at the site of Valdelasilla (Illescas, Toledo, Spain). The methodology integrates the morphological study of burial structures, anthropological analyses, a consideration of grave goods and the radiocarbon dating of human bone.

The chronological data indicate funerary activity at the site from the Late Neolithic to the Chalcolithic period. Bayesian modelling confirms the establishment of a planned cemetery by the end of the fifth millennium cal. bc, featuring small burial chambers organized around a larger tomb enclosed by a ditch. The burial chambers, which were constructed from wood, clay and small stones, created distinct spaces for the deceased.

This embryonic form of monumentalization, the funerary practices observed and the early chronology link Valdelasilla to other peninsular cemeteries associated with the emergence of megalithism, now identified for the first time on the plateau. The location of the necropolis offers new insights into the role of inland regions in the emergence of Iberian and European megalithism."

A 6,000-year-old necropolis in central Spain is forcing a radical rethink of who built Europe's first great tombs

New Dates for the Emergence of the Megalithic Phenomenon on the Iberian Plateau: The Funerary Practices of Valdelasilla, Toledo (Spain) (open access)

Location of the site in the Iberian Peninsula and aerial photograph taken during the excavation work.

Graves, enclosure and post-holes of upper area with the excavation sequence of each of them.

Figure 7.

Grave goods. 

(a) Hairpins next to the skull in VLD-T296; 

(b) stone beads from chamber VLD-T450;

(c) flint microliths from VLD-T520;

(d) flat rods from VLD-T452.

Pop singer Shakira acquitted of tax fraud, court orders Spain to hand back $70 million

Good news! Soak the rich by the socialist Spanish government failed?

Caveat: I am not familiar with the details of Shakira's case.

"Summary

• Spanish High Court acquits Shakira in 2011 case on appeal
• Court orders Treasury to reimburse her with $70 million, including interest
• Tax agency will appeal ruling, no repayment until appeal ends

Spain's High Court has acquitted ‌Colombian pop star Shakira of tax fraud and overturned the 55 million euro ($64 million) fine imposed in 2021 by the Spanish tax agency, according to a court document seen by Reuters on Monday.

Acting on an appeal ​by the "Hips Don't Lie" singer, the court ordered the Treasury to reimburse her with ​over 60 million euros ($70 million), including interest, Shakira's defence said.

The judge ruled ⁠that authorities had failed to prove that Shakira spent more than 183 days in Spain ​in 2011, as required by Spanish law to be considered a tax resident in the country. ​It does not affect tax years after 2011. ..."

Shakira acquitted of tax fraud, court orders Spain to hand back $70 million | Reuters

Credits: Der Tag beginnt mit NIUS

Shakira (Source)

Spain's government spent $2bn on Illegals, But Spent Just $70m on Border Protection in 2025

Headline of the day! Maybe the numbers are somewhat incorrect, but in general such a large spending gap is probably in the ballpark.

"... In contrast, the Spanish government spent just €60 million ($70m) to stop illegal migration, €20 million ($23.4m) of which was funded by a grant from the European Union’s Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex), making Madrid’s overall spending on protecting its borders even smaller.

Out of that €60 million, the Spanish Interior Ministry barely spent €20 million last year to reinforce border security. Of the € 1.8 billion spent to support migrants once they have arrived in Spain, the costs are widely spread across the state. ..."

Spain Gave $2bn to Illegals, But Spent Just $70m on Border Protection "The Spanish government spent over €1.8 billion of taxpayers’ money last year attending to the needs of illegal migrants in the country, while spending only a tiny fraction of that, €60 million, funding efforts to stop them from arriving in the first place."

Dopant boosts carbon nanotubes’ conductivity tenfold

Good news!

"Doping carbon nanotubes with tetrachloroaluminate ions can increase their electrical conductivity around tenfold without harming the nanotube structures, researchers in Spain have shown. The research helps explain the chemistry of nanotube doping, and could potentially lead to applications such as lighter, stronger cables for electricity distribution. ...

exposed commercial double-walled carbon nanotubes with an initial conductivity of around 1.4MS/m to an atmosphere of aluminium trichloride and excess chlorine for 24 hours, causing tetrachloroaluminate ions to diffuse into the structure. Spectroscopic analysis indicated that, rather than entering the nanotubes’ centres, the ions intercalated between the walls. The researchers observed no significant expansion of the nanotubes. They showed that the fact that the nanotubes are wrapped concentrically creates a greater gap between the carbon atoms than in multilayer graphene, ... ‘Therefore, it can host the dopant without distorting the bundle.’ ..."

From the editor's summary and abstract:

"Editor’s summary

Translating the outstanding individual properties of carbon nanotubes, such as their electrical and thermal conductivity, into bulk materials that retain those properties remains a challenge.

de Isidro-Gomez et al. demonstrated controlled vapor-phase intercalation of tetrachloroaluminate (AlCl₄−) ions within intertube channels to make macroscopic double-walled carbon nanotube fibers.

The fibers showed high electrical conductivity approaching 40% of the value of copper at room temperature.

On a per-weight basis, the cables exceeded both the conductivity and strength of conventional overhead cables. Furthermore, they showed excellent dry stability and reasonable moisture tolerance when protected by a polymer sheath. ...

Abstract

Translating the conductivity of individual carbon nanotubes into practical, macroscopic conductors remains a challenge.

We report highly aligned fibers of double-walled carbon nanotubes intercalated with chains of tetrachloroaluminate anions (AlCl4−) in the intertube channels. The AlCl4− intercalant acts as a noncovalent dopant, accepting 0.65 electrons per anion, mostly from the outer nanotube layer.

Combined with a 17% intercalant volume fraction, it produces an increase in room-temperature conductivity to values as high as 24.5 mega-Siemens per meter, which is 41% of that of copper.

Specific conductivity values reach 17,345 Siemens-meter squared per kilogram, which is superior to that of metals.

These fibers are five times stronger and half the weight of conventional overhead cables while remaining stable in dry conditions and retaining 80% of their conductivity protected from moisture by a cable polymer sheath."

Dopant boosts carbon nanotubes’ conductivity tenfold | Research | Chemistry World

Intercalated carbon nanotube fibers with high specific electrical conductivity (no public access)

The tetrachloroaluminate ions are positioned in interstitial channels between the double-walled carbon nanotubes

President Trump says ‘probably’ when asked if he might pull US troops out of Italy, Spain and Germany

Good news! Bravo! Please go ahead President Trump!

Since about 1945, Europe has a free rider on US military power!

Let the European countries build their own NATO!

"... Trump has harshly criticized NATO allies ​for not sending their navies to help open the Strait of Hormuz, which was closed to global shipping following the start of a U.S.-Israeli air war against Iran on February 28. He has also said that he is considering withdrawing the United States from the alliance. ..."

Trump says ‘probably’ when asked if he might pull US troops out of Italy, Spain

New study identifies a key brain interhemispheric circuit for spatial memory in mice

Good news!

"A team ... has identified a brain circuit essential for spatial memory. The study ... describes for the first time a connection between the two hippocampal hemispheres, in which neurons in the CA1 region of the right hemisphere send projections to the left hemisphere, specifically to the subiculum.

The results show that this communication is necessary for navigation and remembering locations. Moreover, the study reveals that this circuit is altered in mice carrying a genetic mutation associated with schizophrenia. ...

In this work, the team identified one of these connections: a neuronal projection linking the CA1 region of the right hemisphere with the subiculum of the left hemisphere. To do this, the researchers used neuronal tracing techniques that allow them to follow the path of connections between neurons. ..."

From the highlights and abstract:

"Highlights

• CA1 pyramidal neurons project to contralateral subiculum

• This projection from the right CA1 supports spatial cognition in mice

• The Df16(A)+/− mouse model of 22q11.2 deletion syndrome exhibits impaired spatial cognition

• Df16(A)+/− mice exhibit impaired projections from dCA1 to the contralateral dorsal subiculum

Summary

Mapping hippocampal connectivity is essential to understand the neural mechanisms of learning and memory, yet interhemispheric connections between hippocampal formations remain poorly defined.

In rodents, two main commissural pathways are known: dentate gyrus hilar mossy cells project to the inner molecular layer of the contralateral dentate gyrus, and CA2/CA3 pyramidal neurons send collaterals to contralateral CA3, CA2, and CA1 regions. By contrast, commissural outputs from CA1 remain largely unexplored.

Here, we show that dorsal CA1 (dCA1) pyramidal neurons located in the right hemisphere project to contralateral dorsal subiculum (dSUB) in addition to contralateral dCA1.

We then assess the function of the projection from the right dCA1 to the left dSUB and find that this interhemispheric pathway supports spatial memory and spatial working memory, two cognitive functions altered in the Df16(A)+/− mouse model of 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11.2DS) associated with schizophrenia. Notably, the right-to-left dCA1 interhemispheric projections are disrupted in Df16(A)+/− mice, suggesting that dysregulation of this circuit may contribute to 22q11.2DS-related cognitive deficits."

New study identifies a key brain circuit for spatial memory in mice

Interhemispheric CA1 projections to the subiculum support spatial cognition and are affected in a mouse model of the 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (open access)

Graphical abstract

Very old loom found on the Iberian peninsula about 3450 years old

Amazing stuff!

"When a fire ripped through a wealthy Iberian village 3450 years ago, it left behind heaps of rubble that trapped tools, pots, and jewelry—and, archaeologists argue in a new Antiquity study, one of the oldest looms ever found. The charred, meter-long pine beams, stone weights, and fiber cords open a window on an ancient economy, and perhaps on Bronze Age fashion.

Beginning around 2000 BCE, written sources from Mesopotamia, Mycenae, Egypt and elsewhere indicate that looms and weaving had become a part of daily life. But because they were made of perishable wood, finding an actual loom from prehistoric Europe is extremely rare. “What we find in archaeology is usually just the loom weights, because everything else decays ,”  ... “To find a loom like this, just as it was standing there 3500 years ago, is really remarkable.”

Archaeologists found the loom’s wooden frame when they excavated a site near modern-day Alicante, Spain, in 2008. Close by lay nearly 50 clay loom weights, along with tough grass fibers probably used to lash the frame together—key clues the structure was used for weaving, rather than being simply debris from the collapsed house, the new paper argues. The weights were unusually light, potentially suggesting the weavers were working with delicate material such as sheep’s wool, which would have been a relatively new material in the region."

From the abstract:

"The deep history of weaving is attested by spindle whorls and loom weights, so the evolution of techniques may be tracked through changes in these durable artefacts; however, wooden looms rarely preserve.

Here, the authors document a series of loom weights and associated charred timbers and fibres that represent the remains of a Bronze Age warp-weighted loom, uncovered at the settlement of Cabezo Redondo in south-eastern Spain. Based on the number, weight and size of the weights, hypothetical reconstructions of loom setup and resultant textile products are proposed, revealing possible diversification of weaving processes in the mid-second millennium BC."

ScienceAdvisor

Evidence of a warp-weighted loom in the Bronze Age settlement of Cabezo Redondo (south-east Spain) (open access)

Figure 1. Location of Cabezo Redondo: a & b) aerial views; c) plan of the site. The red arrow and dot indicate the location of the raised platform on which the loom was documented

Figure 5. Different views of the loom timbers during excavation

New study maps where wheat, barley and rye grew before the first farmers found them

Recommendable!

"Using advanced machine learning and climate models, researchers have shown that the ancestors of crops like wheat, barley, and rye probably were much less widespread in the Middle East 12,000 years ago than previously believed. This challenges traditional assumptions about the geography of early plant domestication and agriculture. ..."

From the abstract:

"This paper presents the first continuous, spatially-explicit reconstructions of the palaeodistributions of 65 plant species found regularly in association with early agricultural archaeological sites in West Asia [Middle East], including the progenitors of the first crops. We used machine learning to train an ecological niche model of each species based on its present-day distribution in relation to climate and environmental variables. Predictions of the potential niches of these species at key stages of the Pleistocene–Holocene transition could then be derived from these models using downsampled data from palaeoclimate simulations. Our models performed well against independent contemporary test data, but their ability to predict the occurrence of specific species at archaeological sites was much more variable, probably reflecting a tendency of the method to underestimate the species’ fundamental niche. Nevertheless, the majority of species are predicted to have had more restricted geographic distributions under past climate conditions compared to today. Crop progenitors and several wild food species are modelled to have been concentrated in the Levant and, to a lesser extent, Cyprus and Western Anatolia, suggesting these regions may have served as glacial refugia. The average size of species’ niche shrunk by an average of c. 25% from the terminal Pleistocene to the Early Holocene, indicating that economically significant plants were adapted to cryo-arid conditions and did not, as often assumed, initially respond positively to the ‘ameliorated’ climate of the Holocene."

New study maps where wheat, barley and rye grew before the first farmers found them

New study maps where wheat, barley and rye grew before the first farmers found them (original news release)

Biogeography of Crop Progenitors and Wild Plant Resources in the Terminal Pleistocene and Early Holocene of West Asia, 14.7–8.3 ka (open access)

Figure 1 Map of the study region (West Asia, grey box) with locations of Late Epipalaeolithic and Pre-Pottery Neolithic archaeobotanical assemblages.

Intense backlash after radical leftist Spanish government legalises 500,000 illegal aliens

An insane measure by the leftist government! The requirements are ridiculously low!

Spain Plans to Grant Legal Status to 500,000 illegal immigrants with Palki Sharma

Certainly, a bold step! Will it attract more immigrants?