texascavers Digest 25 Mar 2010 16:37:44 -0000 Issue 1010

Thu, 25 Mar 2010 09:37:56 -0700 (PDT) 

texascavers Digest 25 Mar 2010 16:37:44 -0000 Issue 1010

Topics (messages 14208 through 14226):

Paging Orion Knox
        14208 by: Mark.Alman.l-3com.com

Honey Creek Weekend Update
        14209 by: ellie :)

repeling in caves ?
        14210 by: David
        14211 by: Rod Goke
        14212 by: tbsamsel.verizon.net

repeling in caves
        14213 by: Mixon Bill
        14215 by: Stephen Fleming
        14217 by: tbsamsel.verizon.net

Re: Bee die off smoking gun...
        14214 by: Mark Minton
        14220 by: Dave H. Crusoe

TSA Spring Convention Schedule, March 26-28th, 2010
        14216 by: ellie :)
        14218 by: ellie :)

New Lithium Battery Technology
        14219 by: Mark Minton

Fossil finger points to new human species
        14221 by: Diana Tomchick
        14223 by: tbsamsel.verizon.net
        14224 by: Diana Tomchick

Volunteers needed for TCMA Robber Baron open house
        14222 by: Joe & Evelynn Mitchell

Re: OT Fwd: Bee die off smoking gun...
        14225 by: Brian Riordan

controversy over unknown hominin
        14226 by: Diana Tomchick

Administrivia:

To subscribe to the digest, e-mail:
        <[email protected]>

To unsubscribe from the digest, e-mail:
        <[email protected]>

To post to the list, e-mail:
        <[email protected]>


----------------------------------------------------------------------
--- Begin Message --- 
Orion,

 

 

Could you give me a shout?

 

The email address I have for you, [email protected], keeping
bouncing back into my face.

 

 

 

Thanks,

 

Mark

 

 

 

 

 

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE

This electronic mail transmission is confidential, may be privileged and
should be read or retained only by the intended recipient. If you have
received this transmission in error, please immediately notify the
sender and delete it from your system.

--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message --- 
At 9:30pm on Saturday, March 20th, James Brown, Jean Krejca, Aaron Wertheim,
and Kurt Menking entered the shaft entrance at Honey Creek Cave and headed
off towards the sump. Thanks to the help of many cavers last weekend, only a
small team was needed to support James and Jean's dive.
The focus of Saturday was the dive but 13 other cavers, led by Don
Broussard, had the pleasure of doing the through trip from the shaft to the
natural entrance. Nick Arburn and Ellie worked the surface and made sure all
cavers were prepared and accounted for. Don Broussard said that the water on
the through trip was the highest he's ever seen it. He said for a long time
they had their lips to the ceiling. Then at Whistler's Mother they had to
free dive about 4 feet. Everyone did fine, even though some of the people
haven't done much caving. All 13 cavers came back from the through trip
around 6:30pm.

Aaron and Kurt came out the shaft around 7pm after they had waited about an
hour after the divers left through the sump. Unfortunately, due to high
current flow, the divers were going through their gas faster than expected
and chose to abort the dive.

The final dive is rescheduled for Friday, April 2nd and we need a team of 6
people to support the divers that Friday. The previously scheduled
"haul-out" is still set for Saturday, April 3rd and about 20 have already
signed up to help. If you would like to participate in this effort, please
sign up with Bill Steele at [email protected]

--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message --- 
http://www.ktvq.com/news/angelas-adventures-caving/

--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message --- 
Gee, I always thought that repelling in caves was what cavers did to each other 
during long trips without adequate access to showers or deodorants and that it 
had nothing to do with rappelling or other rope techniques. If you Google 
"repelling knots", however, you'll find that quite few people have other ideas 
about repelling with ropes. Then when you've just about convinced yourself that 
"repelling knots" are the same as "rappelling knots", try Googling 
"self-repelling knots", and you'll see how knots can be related to repelling 
even when they have nothing to do with rappelling. So does repelling result 
from misspelling rappelling, or knot?   ;-)

Rod

-----Original Message-----
>From: David <[email protected]>
>Sent: Mar 24, 2010 12:31 AM
>To: Cavers Texas <[email protected]>
>Subject: [Texascavers] repeling in caves ?
>
>http://www.ktvq.com/news/angelas-adventures-caving/
>
>---------------------------------------------------------------------
>Visit our website: http://texascavers.com
>To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected]
>For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected]
>

--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
I've known a few repulsive cavers.
 
T


Mar 24, 2010 02:40:48 AM, [email protected] wrote:
Gee, I always thought that repelling in caves was what cavers did to each other during long trips without adequate access to showers or deodorants and that it had nothing to do with rappelling or other rope techniques. If you Google "repelling knots", however, you'll find that quite few people have other ideas about repelling with ropes. Then when you've just about convinced yourself that "repelling knots" are the same as "rappelling knots", try Googling "self-repelling knots", and you'll see how knots can be related to repelling even when they have nothing to do with rappelling. So does repelling result from misspelling rappelling, or knot? ;-)

Rod

-----Original Message-----
>From: David
>Sent: Mar 24, 2010 12:31 AM
>To: Cavers Texas
>Subject: [Texascavers] repeling in caves ?
>
>http://www.ktvq.com/news/angelas-adventures-caving/
>
>---------------------------------------------------------------------
>Visit our website: http://texascavers.com
>To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected]
>For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected]
>


---------------------------------------------------------------------
Visit our website: http://texascavers.com
To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected]
For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected]


--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message --- Unfortunately, writing about something you know absolutely nothing about is the lot of newspaper and TV reporters. At least she never used the gerund, so perhaps we can at least hope she would have spelled it "repelling." -- Mixon 
----------------------------------------
Nature is a hanging judge.
----------------------------------------
You may "reply" to the address this message
came from, but for long-term use, save:
Personal: [email protected]
AMCS: [email protected] or [email protected]

--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message --- 
On Wed, Mar 24, 2010 at 07:04, Mixon Bill <[email protected]> wrote:

> Unfortunately, writing about something you know absolutely nothing about is
> the lot of newspaper and TV reporters.
>


This was written by a pilot concerning a news article about a aircraft
accident. Insert your favorite topic to make it applicable to any issue....

"Aviation news occurs when the uniformed are interviewed by the unqualified
to produce drivel for the uneducated." -- John D. Marlin III

-- 
____________________________________________
Stephen Fleming
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
Poor New Mexico! So far from Heaven; so close to Texas.

   Manuel Armijo
   Governor of the Department of New Mexico
   1827-29, 1837-44, 1845-46

--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---

I can’t decide if I like it better as “uniformed” or “uninformed.” 

Or if there’s a difference.

T


Mar 24, 2010 10:55:10 AM, [email protected] wrote:
On Wed, Mar 24, 2010 at 07:04, Mixon Bill <[email protected]> wrote:
Unfortunately, writing about something you know absolutely nothing about is the lot of newspaper and TV reporters.


This was written by a pilot concerning a news article about a aircraft accident. Insert your favorite topic to make it applicable to any issue....

"Aviation news occurs when the uniformed are interviewed by the unqualified to produce drivel for the uneducated." -- John D. Marlin III

--
____________________________________________
Stephen Fleming
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
Poor New Mexico! So far from Heaven; so close to Texas.

   Manuel Armijo
   Governor of the Department of New Mexico
   1827-29, 1837-44, 1845-46


--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message --- Forward from another list. Not directly caving related, but potentially related to White Nose Syndrome. There are a scary number of pesticides out there! 

Mark Minton
We all know the bee die offs started about the same time as white nose appeared. Back then Tom Barton became really curious if it was a new pesticide that was contributing to the problem. A new pesticide link has been found with the Bee die offs. Not saying this is a silver bullet in the coffin, but something is making this fungus supper lethal.
For the curious, my normal honey supplier lost his hives over the winter along with one of my neighbors who lost all her hives. To quote her, her hives failed to thrive last summer. 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100324/ap_on_sc/us_food_and_farm_disappearing_bees

Some notable quotes:
MERCED, Calif. – The mysterious 4-year-old crisis of disappearing honeybees is deepening. A quick federal survey indicates a heavy bee die-off this winter, while a new study shows honeybees' pollen and hives laden with pesticides. 

snip...
Among all the stresses to bee health, it's the pesticides that are attracting scrutiny now. A study published Friday in the scientific journal PLOS (Public Library of Science) One found about three out of five pollen and wax samples from 23 states had at least one systemic pesticide — a chemical designed to spread throughout all parts of a plant. 

snip...
Bayer Crop Science started petitioning the agency to approve a new pesticide for sale in 2006. After reviewing the company's studies of its effects on bees, the EPA gave Bayer conditional approval to sell the product two years later, but said it had to carry a label warning that it was "potentially toxic to honey bee larvae through residues in pollen and nectar." 

-Kevin


Please reply to [email protected]
Permanent email address is [email protected]
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message --- As a beekeeper (in a residential part of CT), I can attest to the destructive might of pesticides on hives.
Two points of information - first, I'm not convinced of any link between WNS and CCD (colony collapse disorder); and second, bee hives are also tough to overwinter in cold places (we lost 1 of 3 hives).
With that said, our neighbors routinely spray ethylmethyl-badstuff on their grass and flower beds (to rid themselves of ticks). While the pesticide doesn't do much to disappear ticks, we typically notice significant colony collapse (20-50% or so) after sprayings, unless we cover the hives during and after (until after the next rain). Our state agricultural agency has little control over what people do/don't spray, and mentioned this gross pesticide as a possibility. There's little they can do to help.
Swinging back to bats, and keeping OT, Thomas Kunz mentioned (2009 presentation to us @ Boston Grotto) some research indicated a massive die-off (50% or so) of moths and other insects in NY that might a) be due to pesticide spraying for west nile and b) result in a huge reduction of bats' available food supply.
However, since my memory has been negatively impacted by the pesticide- laden honey I've been eating, I'll do my best to find & post a link to the presentation so that it's not heresay. 

... erm... what was I writing about again?
--Dave










On Mar 24, 2010, at 11:32 AM, Mark Minton wrote:
Forward from another list. Not directly caving related, but potentially related to White Nose Syndrome. There are a scary number of pesticides out there! 

Mark Minton
We all know the bee die offs started about the same time as white nose appeared. Back then Tom Barton became really curious if it was a new pesticide that was contributing to the problem. A new pesticide link has been found with the Bee die offs. Not saying this is a silver bullet in the coffin, but something is making this fungus supper lethal.
For the curious, my normal honey supplier lost his hives over the winter along with one of my neighbors who lost all her hives. To quote her, her hives failed to thrive last summer. 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100324/ap_on_sc/us_food_and_farm_disappearing_bees

Some notable quotes:
MERCED, Calif. – The mysterious 4-year-old crisis of disappearing honeybees is deepening. A quick federal survey indicates a heavy bee die-off this winter, while a new study shows honeybees' pollen and hives laden with pesticides. 

snip...
Among all the stresses to bee health, it's the pesticides that are attracting scrutiny now. A study published Friday in the scientific journal PLOS (Public Library of Science) One found about three out of five pollen and wax samples from 23 states had at least one systemic pesticide — a chemical designed to spread throughout all parts of a plant. 

snip...
Bayer Crop Science started petitioning the agency to approve a new pesticide for sale in 2006. After reviewing the company's studies of its effects on bees, the EPA gave Bayer conditional approval to sell the product two years later, but said it had to carry a label warning that it was "potentially toxic to honey bee larvae through residues in pollen and nectar." 

-Kevin


Please reply to [email protected]
Permanent email address is [email protected]

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Visit our website: http://texascavers.com
To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected]
For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected]

--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message --- 
Hello all!

Getting excited about this weekend's convention? I am!!

Please follow the links to the current program and schedule. Thanks to Diana
Tomchick and Bill Steele for lining up such an impressive line-up of talks.

http://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0BzP7GaKdftjDMmI0MGI1ZjUtNGM3Mi00NmViLWExMGUtODFhNTFhZDQ3MmUy&hl=en

http://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0BzP7GaKdftjDZTJhNmJjZTItN2Q1OC00NGFjLTgwODEtYzY1ZDBhOGViZDJk&hl=en

See you all soon!

Ellie

--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message --- 
Both links should work now.

http://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0BzP7GaKdftjDMmI0MGI1ZjUtNGM3Mi00NmViLWExMGUtODFhNTFhZDQ3MmUy&hl=en

http://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0BzP7GaKdftjDZTJhNmJjZTItN2Q1OC00NGFjLTgwODEtYzY1ZDBhOGViZDJk&hl=en

--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message --- New research has produced a lithium-ion battery potentially able to deliver far more energy than the current best. <http://www.wiley-vch.de/vch/journals/2002/press/201010press.html> Of course there are many such breakthroughs announced which never make it into a commercial product, so don't hold your breath. 

Mark Minton

Please reply to [email protected]
Permanent email address is [email protected]
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message --- A fossil finger excavated from Denisova Cave in Siberia finally reveals its secrets: the evidence for a new human species that co- existed with Neanderthals and modern humans in central Asia approximately 30,000 to 50,000 years ago. 

http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100324/full/464472a.html

and

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/24/AR2010032401926.html?hpid=topnews

Diana

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Diana R. Tomchick
Associate Professor
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Department of Biochemistry
5323 Harry Hines Blvd.
Rm. ND10.214B   
Dallas, TX 75390-8816, U.S.A.   
Email: [email protected]
214-645-6383 (phone)
214-645-6353 (fax)

--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
An anthro friend in the UK says they're either rolling out the Piltdown again or a new source for the Yeti/Sasquatch.
 
T


Mar 24, 2010 06:06:58 PM, [email protected] wrote:
A fossil finger excavated from Denisova Cave in Siberia finally
reveals its secrets: the evidence for a new human species that co-
existed with Neanderthals and modern humans in central Asia
approximately 30,000 to 50,000 years ago.

http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100324/full/464472a.html

and

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/24/AR2010032401926.html?hpid=topnews

Diana

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Diana R. Tomchick
Associate Professor
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Department of Biochemistry
5323 Harry Hines Blvd.
Rm. ND10.214B
Dallas, TX 75390-8816, U.S.A.
Email: [email protected]
214-645-6383 (phone)
214-645-6353 (fax)


---------------------------------------------------------------------
Visit our website: http://texascavers.com
To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected]
For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected]


--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message --- Anyone who has doubts about this study (the methods used, the conclusions reached) can contact me and I will send them the original Nature article as a PDF attachment to the e-mail message. 

Diana

On Mar 25, 2010, at 6:17 AM, [email protected] wrote:
An anthro friend in the UK says they're either rolling out the Piltdown again or a new source for the Yeti/Sasquatch. 

T


Mar 24, 2010 06:06:58 PM, [email protected] wrote:
A fossil finger excavated from Denisova Cave in Siberia finally
reveals its secrets: the evidence for a new human species that co-
existed with Neanderthals and modern humans in central Asia
approximately 30,000 to 50,000 years ago.

http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100324/full/464472a.html

and

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/24/AR2010032401926.html?hpid=topnews

Diana

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Diana R. Tomchick
Associate Professor
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Department of Biochemistry
5323 Harry Hines Blvd.
Rm. ND10.214B
Dallas, TX 75390-8816, U.S.A.
Email: [email protected]
214-645-6383 (phone)
214-645-6353 (fax)


---------------------------------------------------------------------
Visit our website: http://texascavers.com
To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected]
For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected]



* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Diana R. Tomchick
Associate Professor
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Department of Biochemistry
5323 Harry Hines Blvd.
Rm. ND10.214B   
Dallas, TX 75390-8816, U.S.A.   
Email: [email protected]
214-645-6383 (phone)
214-645-6353 (fax)

--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message --- TCMA is hosting a fundraiser and open house at Robber Baron Preserve on Saturday, April 10. Its a chance for members of the public to explore a cave and for TCMA to raise awareness and hopefully raise some money as well. We are still in need of 10-15 volunteers to help out with this event. If you are able to come, please let me know. The event runs from 9am - 3pm and after its over, you are welcome to play around in the cave. If you are coming from out of town and need a place to stay, let me know so accommodations can be arranged. 

Thanks!
Joe Mitchell
210-859-2105

--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message --- 
I just moved out of my apartment into a house, and for the last couple
months I've noticed an alarming number of bees laying dead in the grass and
all along the sidewalk out to my car.  In response to CCD and WNS, I've
decided with my new land to start a couple hives and (hopefully) kick-start
a bat colony.  This bee/bat die-off is a double wammy for agriculture - bees
being the chief pollinators and bats beeing the chief pesticide.

I've ordered 6 lbs of bees and two queens and am currently building hives.
As for the bat boxes, I have NO idea how to encourage a colony to live in my
bat box, and the bat box plans i've seen online seem extrodinarily small and
don't seem designed for much thermal insulation.  I live about 30 miles West
of Houston- does anyone have any recommendation for plans specific to the
region/typical regional bat or any tips on how to encourage a sizeable
sustainable colony?  Unfortunately you can't order 6 lbs of bats that I'm
aware of...

-B

On Wed, Mar 24, 2010 at 5:35 PM, Dave H. Crusoe <[email protected]>wrote:

> As a beekeeper (in a residential part of CT), I can attest to the
> destructive might of pesticides on hives.
>
> Two points of information - first, I'm not convinced of any link between
> WNS and CCD (colony collapse disorder); and second, bee hives are also tough
> to overwinter in cold places (we lost 1 of 3 hives).
>
> With that said, our neighbors routinely spray ethylmethyl-badstuff on their
> grass and flower beds (to rid themselves of ticks). While the pesticide
> doesn't do much to disappear ticks, we typically notice significant colony
> collapse (20-50% or so) after sprayings, unless we cover the hives during
> and after (until after the next rain). Our state agricultural agency has
> little control over what people do/don't spray, and mentioned this gross
> pesticide as a possibility. There's little they can do to help.
>
> Swinging back to bats, and keeping OT, Thomas Kunz mentioned (2009
> presentation to us @ Boston Grotto) some research indicated a massive
> die-off (50% or so) of moths and other insects in NY that might a) be due to
> pesticide spraying for west nile and b) result in a huge reduction of bats'
> available food supply.
>
> However, since my memory has been negatively impacted by the
> pesticide-laden honey I've been eating, I'll do my best to find & post a
> link to the presentation so that it's not heresay.
>
> ... erm... what was I writing about again?
> --Dave
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Mar 24, 2010, at 11:32 AM, Mark Minton wrote:
>
>       Forward from another list.  Not directly caving related, but
>> potentially related to White Nose Syndrome.  There are a scary number of
>> pesticides out there!
>>
>> Mark Minton
>>
>> We all know the bee die offs started about the same time as white nose
>>> appeared. Back then Tom Barton became really curious if it was a new
>>> pesticide that was contributing to the problem. A new pesticide link has
>>> been found with the Bee die offs. Not saying this is a silver bullet in the
>>> coffin, but something is making this fungus supper lethal.
>>>
>>> For the curious, my normal honey supplier lost his hives over the winter
>>> along with one of my neighbors who lost all her hives. To quote her, her
>>> hives failed to thrive last summer.
>>>
>>>
>>> http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100324/ap_on_sc/us_food_and_farm_disappearing_bees
>>>
>>> Some notable quotes:
>>>
>>> MERCED, Calif. – The mysterious 4-year-old crisis of disappearing
>>> honeybees is deepening. A quick federal survey indicates a heavy bee die-off
>>> this winter, while a new study shows honeybees' pollen and hives laden with
>>> pesticides.
>>>
>>> snip...
>>>
>>> Among all the stresses to bee health, it's the pesticides that are
>>> attracting scrutiny now. A study published Friday in the scientific journal
>>> PLOS (Public Library of Science) One found about three out of five pollen
>>> and wax samples from 23 states had at least one systemic pesticide — a
>>> chemical designed to spread throughout all parts of a plant.
>>>
>>> snip...
>>>
>>> Bayer Crop Science started petitioning the agency to approve a new
>>> pesticide for sale in 2006. After reviewing the company's studies of its
>>> effects on bees, the EPA gave Bayer conditional approval to sell the product
>>> two years later, but said it had to carry a label warning that it was
>>> "potentially toxic to honey bee larvae through residues in pollen and
>>> nectar."
>>>
>>> -Kevin
>>>
>>
>> Please reply to [email protected]
>> Permanent email address is [email protected]
>>
>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
>> Visit our website: http://texascavers.com
>> To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected]
>> For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected]
>>
>>
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> Visit our website: http://texascavers.com
> To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected]
> For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected]
>
>


-- 
Brian Riordan
979-218-8009 (Mobile)
[email protected]

--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message --- OK, I don't have oodles of time today to get embroiled in this controversy, but some people have written to me and pointed out that there are some anthropologists who dispute the claim about the recently published (in this week's Nature) discovery of an unknown hominin from the mitochondrial DNA of a finger bone found in a cave in Siberia. Many of these anthropologists are getting upset about the claim that these people have discovered a new "species."
Much to the horror of some people on this listserve, I am going to attach a very small figure to this e-mail message that is from the original article.
Now that you have recovered from the shock of receiving an attachment, let us peruse the above results and make some observations as well as ask some questions (the "Denisova-human" is the DNA from the aforementioned finger bone).
1) It would seem that the difference in mitochondrial DNA sequence between Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis) and modern humans (Homo sapiens) is considerably less than the difference between the DNA of the Denisova-human and the Neanderthal-human. 2) There is an even larger difference in mitochondrial DNA between modern humans and the Denisova-human. 3) Why is there a bimodal distribution for modern human mitochondrial DNA? (don't ask me the answer to this question, but if you know the answer I'd love to hear it--though I expect the answer is just "that's what is observed"). 4) Did Neanderthals and Pleistocene humans ever mate and produce fertile offspring? There is some nuclear DNA evidence that they might have done so, and that Homo neanderthalensis is a subspecies of Homo sapiens--but this remains controversial. 5) Did the Denisova-humans mate with Neanderthals and/or Pleistocene humans and produce fertile offspring? Not enough evidence is available at this time to answer this question. 
6) What does it mean to be a different species?
The last question is akin to asking the question, "how long is a piece of string"? Traditional anthropologists will answer the question one way and require more fossil evidence. Animal husbandry experts will cite the fact that mating a horse and a donkey produces the infertile mule offspring, thereby establishing that horses and donkeys are different species. Modern-day microbiologists will tell you that our concept of a species is in flux, primarily due to their analysis of the burgeoning amount of DNA sequence data for bacteria. The fact is that the authors of the paper never once claim that they have discovered a new species, but instead claim that this is an "unknown hominin." (The title of the paper is "The complete mitochondrial DNA genome of an unknown hominin from southern Siberia.") And yes, the author of the Nature News article (a professional journalist) uses the term, "new species" when describing the results of the paper. Relax a bit and realize that (as my father used to always say), you can't always believe what you read in the newspaper, because journalists aren't experts in any field except reporting other people's results, and often they do it badly.
Once again, if you'd like to read the original paper, I can send it to you as a PDF. 

Diana

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Diana R. Tomchick
Associate Professor
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Department of Biochemistry
5323 Harry Hines Blvd.
Rm. ND10.214B   
Dallas, TX 75390-8816, U.S.A.   
Email: [email protected]
214-645-6383 (phone)
214-645-6353 (fax)

--- End Message ---

Reply via email to