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The Summary Many people have a tiny slice of Neanderthal DNA, evidence of interbreeding between the species and ancient human ancestors. Two new studies suggest that interbreeding occurred during a limited period of time as ancient humans left Africa. Clarifying that timeline narrows the possible range of time when humans spread to new continents. A little fragment of Neanderthal DNA that remains tens of thousands of years after the extinction of the species is hidden in the genetic codes of many humans, posing a conundrum that has long fascinated scientists. About 1% to 2% of the DNA of most non-Africans can be traced back to Neanderthal ancestors. The specifics of that evolutionary history, however, are yet unknown. How frequently did Neanderthals and ancient humans bre...

According to a recent complaint, an 80-year-old woman passed away a month after her Sleep Number Bed unexpectedly moved and imprisoned her against a wall for two days last year. According to a complaint filed Tuesday by her daughter, Angela Moan, Rosalind Walker became imprisoned on March 1, 2023, when her Sleep Number Bed, which had its adjustable base at a higher position, suddenly descended and trapped her between the bed and the wall of her bedroom. According to the lawsuit, Walker was trapped and unable to release herself when the bed abruptly dropped with such force. She stayed trapped in that position in her Godfrey, Illinois, bedroom until emergency responders eventually freed her on March 3, 2023. According to the complaint, she was brought home on hospice after being taken to a h...

Taylor Swift visited with young patients and hospital personnel at a children's hospital in Kansas City a few days after wrapping up her Eras Tour in Vancouver. Swift was pictured on social media Thursday at Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri, smiling with kids, staff, and a golden retriever. According to fan stories, she FaceTimed with family members during her stay and gave away gifts, such as signed Eras Tour booklets. Swift also made films with her followers and posed for selfies. Swift commemorated a patient's final chemotherapy session in one video. In a different video, Swift stated that she would wait for a Swiftie patient's mother to arrive at the hospital so she could pay her a visit. When one admirer gave her their Kansas City Chiefs-themed blanket, which feature...

He's not Santa. According to a news release from the Fall River, south of Boston, police department, a man from Massachusetts who was evading police on a rooftop Tuesday night invoked the essence of the seasonal icon and hid in a chimney before becoming stuck and requiring assistance to escape. According to the department, local emergency personnel saved the 33-year-old guy. The department shared body camera footage that showed firefighters hauling the man out after removing a portion of the chimney at its base. According to the agency, he was taken into custody on suspicion of narcotics possession and outstanding warrants. Before the attempted escape, authorities were carrying out a search warrant at a home residence in the about 93,000-person city, the report stated. With less fanfare, a...

Bill Belichick, the recently hired football coach at the University of North Carolina, said on Thursday that he is committed to the collegiate game and is not searching for a way back to the professional ranks. A large portion of the football community was taken aback this week when the University of North Carolina hired Belichick, whose stellar NFL career contrasts sharply with a bare collegiate curriculum. The six-time Super Bowl winning coach told reporters in Chapel Hill, "I didn't come here to leave." "I m here to do the best I can for the University of North Carolina and the program." The University's Board of Trustees and Board of Governors must approve Belichick's five-year deal. "We've been playing football at Carolina since 1888 and I suspect that in those 136 years, there are fe...

Donald Trump, the president-elect, stated on Thursday that he concurs with Sarah McBride, the incoming representative and the first transgender member of Congress, that politicians ought to concentrate on more significant matters than deciding which restrooms transgender people should be permitted to use. Trump's remarks coincide with a continuing debate on whether transgender individuals should be allowed to use restrooms in the Capitol building that correspond to their gender identity. When Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., proposed a resolution last month to forbid House members and congressional staff from using single-sex facilities other than those that correspond to their biological sex, the controversy got underway. Mace then informed reporters that McBride, who was elected to Congress las...

Washington To support an extension of President-elect Donald Trump's tax code next year, a group of House Republicans from high-tax states are calling for an increase in the federal deduction for state and local taxes, or SALT. The $10,000 cap on state and local tax deductions, which Republicans imposed in a 2017 tax reform law, is the main point of contention. California, New Jersey, and New York were the states most affected by the policy. Additionally, several Republicans in those states say they will use their influence to increase the tax relief for their people, given that the GOP is expected to have a razor-thin House majority of 220–215. Eight or ten very salty Republicans, a two-seat majority? A supporter of a larger SALT deduction, Rep. Nick LaLota, R-N.Y., told NBC News, "You ...

The Missouri man who was imprisoned in Syria after he claimed to have entered the country on a "pilgrimage" to Damascus was praised by his family and friends on Thursday for his remarkable recovery, calling it a "Christmas miracle" after a period of seven months without communication. "We're very blessed that he is safe, that he is good, that he is protected," Pixie Rogers said of her brother, Travis Timmerman. "And I saw on the news that he got fed." Originally identifying himself as "Travis" in a video that surfaced overnight, Timmerman, 29, from Urbana, Missouri, a small town north of Springfield, was mistakenly recognized by some as missing American journalist Austin Tice, 43. Despite not knowing he was in Syria, Timmerman's family claimed he had also gone missing. Rogers remarked, "I'...

Two years ago, on a frigid morning, Boston Police Officer John O. Keefe was discovered unconscious in the front yard of another officer's suburban residence. Shortly after his death, his girlfriend, Karen Read, was accused of killing him. The 44-year-old Read asserted her innocence and said that there was a large-scale plot by police to blame her in the murder. Jurors were unable to reach a consensus following a nine-week trial and five days of deliberations in a Norfolk County courthouse located just outside of Boston. On July 1, a court ruled a mistrial. A new trial was set for April 1 after prosecutors promised to retry Read. Read was accused of driving under the influence, leaving the scene of a collision that resulted in death, and second-degree murder. According to court documents, j...

The journey from Nikki Giovanni's house in Christiansburg, Virginia, to Washington, D.C., which Kwame Alexander had made many times, felt different on Thursday morning. He had been at Giovanni's deathbed three days earlier, together with her family and a few close friends, as the renowned poet and campaigner drew her final breath. At the age of 81, Giovanni passed away on Monday due to complications from lung cancer. During the week, Alexander assisted with funeral preparations alongside her spouse, Virginia C. Fowler, and other individuals. But as he drove home alone, Alexander thought back on the special relationship he and Giovanni had formed over the years and how it encapsulated the influence she had on the lives of many Black writers. Alexander, a 56-year-old young adult fiction auth...