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Venturing into the new Laotian cave called tom Nune Suzoni and the team of scientists entered the realm of the distant past, time collapsed and the remnants of ancient floods became apparent. Deep in the cave, Geologist Philippe Duringer trained his head lamp on multiple thin layers of limestone and casing thick seams of sediment and rock, knowned as brescia. That flowstone took thousands of years to form, but the sediment flooded in here in a single event, maybe in

a single day, he said. Near the back of the cave, tiny shadows appeared on the wall, silhouettes of bones and ancient teeth sticking out of the brescia, still all entombed. On that day, more than five five fifty thousand years ago, Suzoni wriggled into the cave's deepest chamber on his back, his face inches from the fossil encrusted ceiling. Maybe, with a little luck, he would make another discovery that would change the map of human evolution. Reimagining how humans evolved.

Homo sapiens are a terminal species, meaning we are the only ones left from a group of multiple species that occasionally coexisted and sometimes even interbread. These separations and rejoinings of our various lineages have led some scientists to think of human evolution as less of a traditional family tree and more of a meandering, braided stream. Woodland dwellers called ardipiths, occasionally bipedal and with opposable big toes, yielded to Australopiths

as savannahs encroached on forests. Australopiths lived in many habitats, stretching from grasslands to forests, and eventually gave rise to hominins in the genus Homo robust Australopiths had strong jaws and large molars specialized for foods like grasses that were available in open habitats. Homo Sapiens are the only remaining humans are Genus Homo, features relatively larger brains full by padalism, and the ability to make tools. How early humans migrated

and mixed. Homo sapiens are the only humans left on Earth today, but at one point we shared the planet with other species of ancestral humans, collectively known as hominins. As climates and ecological opportunities shifted, hominins migrated out of Africa, reconnecting and inche breeding with the descendants of their relatives who had made similar journeys thousands of years before influence Neanderthals. Human Neanderthalensis lived and moved in a broad range of

environments from Europe to Siberia. Evidence in Graut Madarin, a cave in the south of France, suggests that they interbred with h. Sapiens. African dispersal. A Homo sapien's fossil was found at Jabel el Rode, Morocco and dated to around three hundred thousand years ago, implying that early populations were scattered throughout Africa. Species origin. Haminins originated in Africa, diversifying

into several species occupying different ecological niches. Most ancient Haminin fossils have been found in the Great Rift Valley and in Southern Africa Siberian lineage. The Denisovin genome was decoded in twenty ten from earlier finds of a finger bone

and a tooth in Denisova Cave in Russia. West Asian adaptation scientists proposed that before Homo sapiens spread across Europe and Asia, they might have lingered in the Arabian Peninsula and Iranian Plateau for thirty thousand years, slowly adapting to the new climate there. Far East. Evidence a skull found

in Harbin, China in nineteen thirty three, resurfaced in twenty eighteen. Homolonghi, or dragon Man, is roughly one hundred forty six thousand years old and likely the same species as the mysterious Denisovens Island Isolation. Haminin fossils found in Indonesia and the Philippines, such as the hobbit like Homo florenciensis and h. Luzonansis, suggest that isolation contributed to their small stature. Australian advances.

Homosapiens reached Australia around sixty five thousand years ago, while lower sea levels connected many islands, including Australia and New Guinea. Early humans would have needed watercraft to get there. Homoerectus leaves Africa. This hominin species that existed for more than a million years, left Africa about one zero point eight million years ago. Its descendants eventually became Homo Neanderthalensis in the west and diniz evens in the east, Homo sapiens emerges.

There is evidence that Homo sapiens first radiated out of Africa at least two hundred thousand years ago. Scientists believe most humans today are related to the last migration of as few as a thousand people. Next, finding the face of a lost past how a new image of a mysterious hominin was made for National Geographic Paleo art breathes life into scientific discoveries, giving us a rare glimpse into

prehistoric times. From Tyrannosaurus Rex's comically short arms to Neanderthal's prominent brow, the science based depictions of extinct creatures continue to captivate our imaginations, and paleo artist John Gershe is one of only a handful of artists of his kind who focus on our long vanished relatives, with his sculpture work appearing in the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural Histori's

Hall of Human Origins. As scientists continue to uncover more human species, their discoveries complicate our image of Homo sapiens. Guercio's models, which rely on fossil bones, help bring ancient humans into focus. Gruci's goroal was always clear to get as close as I could to looking into the eyes

of these extinct species. He first became enthralled with Denisovans several years ago when researchers published a paper speculating on the skull features based on recent genetic data from fossil fragments. He toiled on a three day model drawing on the researcher's projections, but it required a certain amount of guesswork. Then, in twenty twenty one, Chinese researchers unveiled the Harbin's skull, which some consider to be the most complete Dinizoban fossil

found to date. Whersche quickly it turned his artistic and scientific attention to this fascinating fossil, sporting a brain similar in size to a modern human's, but with a wider mouth and a more prominent brow. The resulting model based on the Harbin skull allows us to see a species. As more fossils are found in genetic testing is conducted on these new finds, This vision will likely evolved next The secret to a long healthy life, Your life span

is overrated. Its health span that really matters now by Dina Fine Marin. We're living much longer than our ancestors, but is that always a good thing. More of us are also spending a greater portion of our lives, sometimes over a decade, saddled with physical and mental health conditions that can make it challenging to accomplish the tasks of

daily life. To make sure we're getting the most out of our entire life span, biologists and longevities researchers are focusing more and more on ways to boost our number of disease free and active years. This idea is formerly

known as health span. Although it first appeared in medical journals more than thirty years ago, the concept has become increasingly mainstream among clinicians and patients alike, and its definition has broadened to stress adding more quality time to our later years when certain health conditions could severely impede routine activities treated. Hypertension, for example, wouldn't significantly affect your health span, but a stroke or dementia would, says Harvard Medical School Physicians.

Scientists share in Inoe, who studies aging issues. The targets of researchers like Inoe are numerous, understanding the underlying mechanisms of aging, working to identify health promoting genes, and zeroing in on steps to take in our daily lives to improve health span. But the overall data shows a fairly simple conclusion. It is absolutely possible to live healthier even as we live longer. Just look at the centenarians that researcher Near Barzilai works with at the Albert Einstein College

of Medicine in the Bronx, New York. In academic parlance, his healthy study participants have what's called compression of morbidity. They're sick for a very small portion of their lives. They don't just live longer, they live much healthier, says Barzilai. They got diseases fifty years after their friends and thirty years after their children's friends. Some centenarians thrive through sheer

good luck. They were likely born with envy worthy genes, but pinpointing which of those genes are like are linked to aging related disorders could lead to drugs that mimic their effects for people who were just lucky in the genetic lottery. Barzilai's research has concentrated on the genes that modulate our good cholesterol to help us a healthier in a variety of ways. His study participants are much more likely to have a specific variant of the cholesterol controlling

CETP gene. Those patients tend to live longer with better brain function, he says, emulating that gene's effects is now a target of ongoing research with such drugs in our arsenal in the future. Barsli says humans can and will improve their health span, particularly if they follow current recommendations

for modifying diet, exercise, and social interactions. Over All, the most cutting edge developments when it comes to health span depend on your perspectives, says Inoe, who also directs the Aging Brain Center at the Harvard affiliated nonprofit Hebrew Senior Life. If you talk with the longevity researcher, they will wax eloquent on the latest drugs being studied to enhance longevity, mostly in non human models or animals at this stage, she says. But to her, the most important work in

health span focuses on prevention. That includes, she says, eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables and low in carbs, avoiding tobacco and excess alcohol, and keeping mentally active and socially engaged with activities like volunteering and regular aerobic exercise. Recent research published in JAMMA Internal Medicine, where Anoa serves as editor in chief, shows that diet, exercise, brain games,

and other steps can significantly help preserve brain health. Barcela agrees, right now, without taking any drugs, we can basically maximize our exercise, our nutrition, our sleep, and our social connectivity. He says, those are the four things that anybody who wants to can do. Good sleep is essential, even if it's something you need to continually work on, advises longevity researcher Matt caber Line of the University of Washington and CEO of Seattle based optis Span, a biotech company that

specializes in identifying health span improvements. Getting less than seven hours a night as an adult in increases the risk of developing numerous disorders, including type two diabetes. High blood pressure, heart disease, poor mental health, and even early death. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the broad strokes of a healthy diet are well documented, but

different strategies work for different people. Caber Line says, whether it's a Mediterranean diet which is high in fruits, veggies, and whole grains, or approaches such as intermittent fasting or a low carb, high fat catogenic diet, he says, there always should be a focus on what feels right for you. Caber Line argues that a lot of progress in health span could be made by better monitoring of baseline health

data such as vitamin hormone and blood sugar levels. Asking your doctors to measure those indicators in your thirties or forties could inform what actions to take later in life and let you know if urgent interventions are needed, though caver Line notes that often such testing isn't covered by

health insurance in the United States. At the same time, simply popping a daily multivitamin to stave off or address unknown vitamin deficiencies is not a good idea, he cautions, since it doesn't allow people to know if they truly have deficiencies, and if they do, multivitamins may not have the appropriate level of supplements to treat an individual's specific need. The key pillar of connecting with other people to expand your health span sounds easy, but it's something many tend

to neglect. This can cause issues over time because people's friend circles naturally tend to shrink as they age. Even if you retenely interact with at least one person you live with like a spouse. Other social relationships and experiences remain important in old age because they can offset loneliness and keep you mentally sharp for a sum that may

still require working on yourself first. If you struggle with interpersonal relationships, Caterbine says you can focus on inner peace and wellness, such as meditation and mindfulness practices, which you should still try to make friends because the benefits often compound in other healthy ways. Once you get started, joining a group focused on in activity you already enjoy walking, for instance, can make you healthier, according to the National

Institute on Aging. Unsurprisingly, the benefits are myriad for mental and physical health, and may include lowering risks of dementia, heart disease, and stroke. Being out in the world. The benefits just walking a dog has also been shown to provide exercise and broost your overall happiness. Helping in the community, tutoring, or other meaningful pursuits that keep our brains active and involve social interactions can be personally fulfilling, and their linked

to improved memory and reduce stress. It turns out that the secret to living a long, healthy life is also the secret to living a good one. Next The Mystery of the Rings by Veronique Greenwood. When hundreds of eerily perfect circles were discovered on the ocean floor, theories abounded about what they could mean. Four years of underwater research

revealed a lost world. On a bright, hot day in mid September twenty eleventh, a marine biologist named Christine pegant Martini was hunkered down inside the cabin of a small research vessel, a ninety seven foot long catamaran, cruising through the Mediterranean Sea about twelve miles off the coast of Corsica. Outside the ship's windows, the sun glinted off the dark blue water, but pegant Martini ignored the waves. She was

more interested in what lay beneath them. A monitor in front of her displayed images from the vessel's on board sonar system, which was omitting a series of short acoustic pulses to reveal the underwater topography about four hundred feet below. The ocean scientist was nearing the last day of a month long mission with a small all crew, including her husband, oceanographer Gerrard Peargent, and a graduate student from the University of Corsica, Pascual Pioli. Hergent Martini had been mapping the

seafloor in this region. The seemingly simple goal actually targeted one of oceanography's major blind spots. The Mediterranean Sea covers about a million square miles, stretching from the Strait of Gibraltar in the west to Lebanon in the east. While its surface has been traversed since ancient times by everything from Greek trirems to Etruscan warships, its depth are mysterious

to modern science. Much of its sea floor exists in something of a liminal zone, too shallow and close to the shore to draw interest from deep sea mining companies, but still too deep to be reachable by conventional scuba divers. Hergent Martini and her colleagues wanted to learn more about what lived on the bottom at these depths. At first, the day was no different from any other. As the boat moved across the water, the scientists watched a series

of predictable, grainy, black and white images appear on screen. Sand, small rocks, more sand. It was all stuff they'd seen before. But then something truly bizarre scrolled into view. A perfect circle, then another, then another. They were all about the same size, around sixty seven feet in diameter, with a distinct outline in striking symmetry. Weirder still, almost every ring had a

dark spot directly in the center. They looked like fried eggs, per Gent Martini thought, and there appeared to be several dozen of them. The scientists looked at each other. We had no idea what it was, Pergent Martini says. Her team carefully logged their location and used a remotely operated vehicle to gather images. Still, the mystery only deepened. They captured video footage of the circles, but the view was too murky to confirm much more than the fact that

this wasn't sunk in cargo. When the researchers presented their findings at a twenty thirteen scientific meeting, they were still in search of answers about the nature of the rings. Even a follow up study with a submarine in twenty fourteen didn't answer all their questions. In time, researchers would count more than thirteen hundred of these circles over a nearly square six square mile area. After years of applying for grants to study the rings more closely, the parshens

reached a dead end. It was very difficult to obtain money. Piergant Martini said, the presents are specialists in seagrass meadows and this was a bit outside their focus. We had no way to go farther than just the right person got in touch. In the world of under sea exploration, Lorent Bellesta is known for going to extremes. A photographer, marine biologists, and technical diver, he co runs and Ramday Oceanalogi, a company that leads scientific missions to document some of

the world's most inaccessible places. These undertakings often reach choir, specialized equipment and elaborate dive plans. In Antarctica, for instance, he once used a bespoke system of cables to photograph

the underside of an iceberg. In South Africa. He has explored deep underwater caves to capture images of rare cologuts, which were thought to be extinct for millions of years before small fragile populations were rediscovered, and in French Polynesia, he's used to customized customize rebreather system to stay underwater for twenty four hours of a time to observe the hunting habits of gray reef sharks. As chronicled in a twenty eighteen story for National Geographic, Blesta and his team

are always on the hunt for their next target. He also had a connection to the pear gents. He'd studied under them while working towards his master's degree, so when he read his former teacher's scientific paper about the mysterious pock marked sonar scans, he was riveted. Some organisms have been known to to grow in circular formations corals make atolls, for example, but these rings repeated with an eerie regularity.

How is this possible? He remembers, thinking perhaps they were craters caused by erupting underwater vents or a strange geological formation. Pergent Martini and her husband had a different hunch. Based on their submersible explorations. They believed the rings were coraline algae, algae growing in a previously unknown shape. Another theory put forth by some scientists was that they were craters left by unused World War Two bombs jettisoned by US plains

returning to their bases on Corsica. With the Peargent's approval, Bollesta decided to pick up where they'd left off in hopes of solving the mystery, using their data to locate the rings. In July twenty twenty, Billesta and two other divers from Andromeday Oceanalogy arrived above the rings in their own research vessel and donned scuba gear to descend into

the abyss. While they quickly sank to the bottom, they stayed there only about thirty minutes because they had to account for at least several hours of decompression time on the way back to the surface. Equipped with a waterproof camera and lights, the team swam down through the bright upper waters of the ocean, the daylight gradually dimming to twilight. In less than two minutes, they were approaching their destination,

nearly four hundred feet below the waves. I stopped before I reached the bottom some twenty or thirty meters up, says Bullesta, because I saw the rings. They loomed out of the darkness, alien enormous. They'd resembled gigantic platters etched onto the seafloor. After he snapped some photos, Bilesta dived to the bottom and approached one ring. At its center was a large knob made by redc Calcarrius algae, measuring around three feet high and several feet across, with swaying

fanlike growths atop it. The knob was surrounded by a fast wasteland of pale, scream like debris, and slightly downhill. About thirty feet beyond the center was the dark outer ring, a circular perimeter that appeared to be made up of rodoliths a collection of craggy, firm, pebble sized algae. Looking at the structure, Bilester realized that the Parsians were right.

It was alive, he says. After twenty minutes on the bottom, Bilesta and his crew spent nearly five hours gradually rising to decompress safely, allowing their bodies to equalize to the shifting pressure. Long before he got back to the boat, Bilesta was convinced he had to return. I didn't need twenty seven minutes, he says about his time on the seafloor.

After the first minute, I knew. Julie Deeter, a marine ecologist who was waiting for the team back on the ship deck, saw the excitement on their faces the moment they surface. Usually, by the time divers complete their long, monotonous ascent, the thrill has faded, but they were still very marked by what they had seen. She says. There was still no explanation for why the rhodoliths would have

formed such perfect circles so many times over. Bileesta decided he needed to spend more time among the rings, which would require a way to stay longer in the depths. In July twenty twenty one, Bilesta returned to the waters north of Corsica with three divers, Roberto Rinaldi, teboat Robi and Antonine Guibert, and a bold plan that would give

them more time for exploration on the seafloor. They were inspired by divers on oil rigs who can quickly travel back and forth to the ocean bottom at the surface. Those rig divers live in sealed, pressurized chambers that match the conditions beneath the sea where the pressure can increase by ten or more times. They can then rapidly ascend and descend in a diving bell without having to slowly adjust to the change in pressure inside their own chamber.

At the surface, Blesta and the others would live a bit like astronauts. Food would be passed in through an air lock. When they were ready to descend, they'd suit up in sik squeeze into the diving bell that would take them down to the sea bed. The team had expected to spend three weeks exploring the rings and nearby reefs, but the weather turned against them. Heavy wind and rays rocked the boat, leaving the chamber dangerous on several occasions.

For multiple days, the four men were trapped, unable to see out of their increasingly humid chamber, which barely held their small beds in the dining table. Bilesta's voice turns bitter as he recalls this period. Time for exploration was precious, and they were spending it reading novels. Finally, the weather shifted, offering them the chance to drop down through the elevator chamber. We found ourselves in another universe, says Guibert. This time

the crew could spend hours exploring it all around. The divers marveled at the abundance of life. As they made more dives when weather conditions allowed. They found rarely seen yellow corals in the deep canyons. There were also squat lobsters and colorful small fish hiding among pale, pink gorgonians, the sort of fan like soft corals that are usually seen in deep Mediterranean canyons. At one point, Blest spotted a blue sea slug wandering about and took a photo.

It was the first still photograph taken of this species by a diver. Bilesta invited the Parshents to monitor their progress aboard this support ship. They looked very happy and touched that their discovery made this project happen, he says, because of the Pargans work, He and his colleagues were exploring a christine and unusual ecosystem. But Bilesta knew this little universe was in a precarious position. It existed under

shipping lanes and commercial ships. Dropping anchor could pulverize everything. Anchors can destroy all the rings very easily. Billsta says the threat fueled a sense of urgency. The more they could learn about the rings, the better chance Bilesta might have of getting French authorities to protect them. Bilesta and his team made a total of six descents from their pressurized chamber to the rings. They focused their attention on drilling cores of the rings central knobs, which were then

sent for carbon dating analysis. The hope was that knowing the rings age could help solve the mystery of what formed them and how. When the results came back, the team was shocked. The most ancient material deep in the center of the knobs was about twenty one thousand years old. For those who studied climate history, that particular era represents a moment of profound planetary change. It's the last glacial maximum, says paleoclimatologist Eduard Barde of the Correege de France, who

organized the carbon dating. That was the peak of the Last ice Age. Back then, the Mediterranean was colder and far shallower, and the place where the rings are today would have been less than sixty five feet from the surface, bathed in sunlight. In the summer of twenty twenty three, the lest A return to the rings, this time with a support wart vessel capable of launching two submarines to allow ocean and climate experts, including Bard, to make their

own extended voyages into the ecosystem. The effort, which received funding from the National Geographic Society, was intended to form a scientifically rigorous hypothesis of exactly how the circles emerged. On one dive, Bollsta swam alongside the submersible as it scooted above the seabed. Acting as a tour guide. He showed the scientists inside various aspects of the rings and their surroundings. There were underwater caves nearby set into a

small cliff. The divers had found several caverns with layers of sediment that confirmed the area had once been situated above the ancient coastline. The voids may have been first cut through erosion as water washed against the cliffs some twenty one thousand years ago. This concludes readings from National Geographic Magazine for today. Your reader has been Marcia. If you have enjoyed hearing this content, please give us a call at eight five nine four two two six three

nine zero. Thank you for listening, and have a great day.