Brown dwarf actually brown dwarfs; the adaptability of ice-age humans; archaeologists excited

This week, researchers discovered a near-Earth microquasar that sheds new light on sources of relativistic outflows. Doctors reported finding a triphallic gentleman. And neuroscientists reported on modest cognitive boosts from short (or “acute,” in clinical jargon) bursts of exercise.

Additionally, there were headlines about the survival of ice age humans, an unexpected solution to a brown dwarf mystery, and an archaeological discovery at the shooting site of an Indiana Jones film that could itself be the plot of an Indiana Jones film:

Humans like snow

By studying historical refugia, locations where species retreated to survive, an international team of researchers reports that ancient humans—like their cousins and rivals, the wolves and bears—had no problem at all dealing with climate change during the last ice age 20,000 years ago.

The review encompassed genetic histories for 23 common mammals in Europe, including rodents, red squirrels, insectivores, wild boar and bears. Refugia comprises areas of high genetic diversity, indicating long occupation by species, areas that were more hospitable during the ice age, where it was warmer and easier to forage. Following the ice age, there are detectable patterns of migration away from refugia.

However, some species were already widely distributed across Europe during the last glaciation and did not retreat to refugia, including humans, bears and wolves. Although it’s not clear why ancient humans tolerated the changing climate so well during the last ice age, the researchers speculate that it was due to a confluence of traits including omnivorousness and technological capabilities, including making shelters and clothing. The researchers believe their study could prompt a rethink about habitability in the modern era of climate change.

Substellar object has secret companion

Gliese 229B, the first known brown dwarf star, was first observed in 1995. Brown dwarfs, or “brown dwarves,” if you’re into J.R.R. Tolkien, are substellar objects with higher mass than the largest gas giants, but which are not massive enough to achieve hydrogen fission.

Anyway, for decades, Gliese 229B posed a mystery for astronomers: An object of its mass should have higher brightness. Researchers at Caltech, whose Palomar Observatory first observed the object, now report that Gliese 229B is actually a pair of brown dwarfs in a tight mutual orbit.

Over five months, the astronomers made interferometry observations with the GRAVITY instrument of the Very Large Telescope in Chile, combined with spectral observations using the CRIRES+ instrument, also of the Very Large Telescope, a one-stop shop for urgent stellar resolution needs. By measuring the Doppler shift of molecules in the atmosphere of the two objects, the astronomers established that one object was headed toward Earth while the other moved away as they swung around one another in their 12-day orbital period.

Site notable

In 1812, a Swiss geographer traveling through Jordan discovered the ancient archaeological site called Petra, famous for architecture carved into sandstone cliffsides. It was constructed by the people of the Nabatean Kingdom around 1 AD. One of the most elaborate of its rock-cut structures, Al-Khazneh—often called “the treasury,” but which was likely a mausoleum—was a featured location in “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade,” one of the lesser Indiana Jones films. Look, I’m not going to fight about this. Yes, Ford and Connery had good chemistry. River Phoenix was great. But the script was terrible and all of this is beside the point.

Recently, while conducting a noninvasive remote sensing project to enhance flood control, researchers from the University of St. Andrews detected underground chambers in and around the mausoleum. After receiving permission for excavation, they found a tomb with human remains in their original locations.

Professor Richard Bates from St. Andrews School of Earth and Environmental Science said, “The discovery is of international significance, as very few complete burials from the early Nabataeans have ever been recovered from Petra before. The burials, their goods and the human remains can all be expected to help fill the gaps in our knowledge of how Petra came to be and who the Nabataeans were.”

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