​Writing appeared at least 20,000 years ago ● First dinosaur-bird hybrid discovered ● Travel as much as possible, it’s good for your health!

Writing may have originated at least 20,000 years ago

More than 400 caves with rock paintings, led by Altamira, Lascaux or Chauvet, also include in their artistic inventory non-figurative signs such as lines, dots, the Y sign and others. Well, it is these signs that cause scientists to question, and none of them (among scientists) has yet offered a 100% scientifically accepted hypothesis as to their purpose.

Here’s a new, and to say the least, interesting explanation comes from a study published today, January 5, 2023, in the Cambridge Archeology Journal. Among the signatories I will mention Paul Pettitt, one of the greatest prehistorians, and his name alone would have given weight to a scholarly article, if nothing else. By the way, Paul Petitt, you didn’t know, but he also did research in Romania about two or three years ago. This is a detail.

The interpretation proposed by the authors of the study is new. They say that the signs in question may represent … proto-literature that illustrates how people of the time understood local animal species, periods of the race, fictitious births. In essence, this would be a form of non-verbal communication.

The fact that these signs are repeated in most of the caves mentioned, or that they never appear in groups larger than 13, may even suggest a counting system or a possible calendar. Another interesting fact pointed out by the above-mentioned researchers is that these signs tend to become common by the end of the Upper Paleolithic, a fact that can be translated into their entry into the widespread practice of human groups at that time.

Obviously, not all scientists agree with this interpretation. But this should be remembered. However, the authors of the study say that it is still at an early stage and they want to analyze absolutely all the signs found in the caves and find a general pattern. If they succeed, we may have a major paradigm shift in the study of prehistory.

The first hybrid of a dinosaur and a bird has been discovered

The fact that birds evolved from dinosaurs is already a known fact. To be a little proud, I will also say that one of the pioneers of the idea was from Transylvania. His name was Franz Nopca, he was a baron and also the first person to describe the pygmy dinosaurs from Șara Hațegului. This, yes, as additional information.

The problem with the evolution of birds from dinosaurs is that we didn’t have samples to show us what and how it happened and how some of them evolved into birds. Here the Chinese are bringing us out of the darkness of uncertainty, that they are unearthing new dinosaurs with a conveyor belt.

In this case, it is a bizarrely beautiful specimen with legs on its back, which lived about 120 million years ago. What is interesting about the animal in question is that it has a tyrannosaurus skull but a bird-like body. Like I said, beauty!

This specimen, named Cratonavis zhui, is the missing link between the first dinosaur forms thought to become birds, namely Archeopteryx, and the forms that evolved later. The only problem now that we have the link and clear evidence for evolution is that we still need to figure out what specific mechanisms drove these transformations and this terrible evolutionary step.

But boys and girls from the world of paleoanthropology are the main ones, don’t lose your patience! And as they decide, go to us, promptly and conscientiously, with information!

Travel as much as possible, it’s good for your health!

People who frequently travel at least 15 miles from home tend to have better health than those who rarely leave their place of origin. This is what some London researchers say in a study published in the journal Transport & Health.

In order to reach this conclusion, they asked several people, 3,014 in number, to fill out a questionnaire in which they provided data on regular trips, distances traveled, health status, things related to the pandemic, restrictions. … of them. As I said, or as they themselves said, this is what they got in the final settlement.

Namely, people who travel more and over long distances have better health, look more optimistic, blush in the face, etc. It is mainly observed in people over 55 years old. The authors of the study say that, leaving home, elderly people have the opportunity to visit their relatives, meet new people and places, which significantly increases their well-being.

In summary, here’s what you need to do if you don’t want to end up looking like a sofa at home or an armchair in the office or even getting sick. Please, research is not a big discovery, but welcome. Take a few steps every day or even hop on a car, train or bus and go see new places. You will remember these people with their research!

By the way, for more information from the world of science, and so that you don’t have to search for it among news from other fields, you can also find us on our Facebook page, recently launched, fresh off the shelf, really hot… HotNews Science .

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