Ancient DNA, the Cambodian Tailorbird and Russian Meteors

Ancient horse DNA
Genetic material has been extracted from a 700,000 year old fossilised horse bone preserved in the Canadian permafrost. Older, by half a million years, than any other sequenced DNA, this opens up the possibility of extending our understanding of animal and hominin evolution to the ancient past.

Russian meteorites
Two huge cosmic impacts have made recent scientific news. Material recovered from the largest historical impact, in Siberia in 1908, is identified as meteor dust. Meanwhile, data from the sonic boom of a meteor fall over Russia earlier this year, was detected as a super-low-frequency echo that travelled twice around the globe.

Solar Max
The eleven year cycle of solar activity is reaching its maximum this year. Coronal mass ejections – huge bubbles of plasma eruption from the Sun, can generate severe geomagnetic storms. In the past these have caused power outages and communications disruption. What might happen if a solar magnetic superstorm hits Earth again? Lucie Green discusses ‘severe space weather’ and the steps being taken by UK industry to minimise the risks.

(Image: Ancient horse bone fragment. Credit: Dr Ludovic Orlando)