MI weekly selection #371
Elevated amyloid may predict Alzheimer’s in seniors
Researchers who used amyloid PET found that older adults with healthy cognition and elevated amyloid levels had poorer test scores and more reports of subtle daily cognition declines, compared with those with lower amyloid deposition. “These results support the hypothesis that elevated amyloid represents an early stage in the Alzheimer continuum and demonstrate the feasibility of enrolling these high-risk participants in secondary prevention trials aimed at slowing cognitive decline during the preclinical stages of AD,” researchers wrote.
Humans may have cultivated crops in Amazon 10K years ago
Researchers have found evidence that humans living in the Bolivian Amazon had cultivated plants more than 10,000 years ago. The team studied soil samples of so-called forest islands in the Llanos de Moxos region and found signs that inhabitants ate squash and cassava more than 10,000 years ago and maize 6,850 years ago.
Neanderthals may have crafted world’s oldest string
A piece of string dating back 50,000 years was likely created by Neanderthals twisting fibers together and is the oldest string ever found. “Twisted fibers are a foundational technology,” says study author Bruce Hardy.
Fossils suggest ancient primates crossed Atlantic
Fossilized teeth found in Peru likely came from a primate lineage that crossed the Atlantic Ocean from Africa to South America between 35 million and 32 million years ago. Researchers say the molars are similar to those of now extinct parapithecids, which lived in Northern Africa between 56 million and 23 million years ago.
Black hole observed bending light back into itself
A black hole has been observed bending light back into itself. “We observed light coming from very close to the black hole that is trying to escape, but instead is pulled right back by the black hole like a boomerang,” said lead author Riley Connors.