DNA testing, the dark side. I keep hoping I’ll run across one of my (supposed) half-siblings but so far no luck.
http://www.vox.com/2014/9/9/5975653/with-genetic-testing-i-gave-my-parents-the-gift-of-divorce-23andme//cdn.embedly.com/widgets/platform.js
I keep expecting to see a similar article about other groups. Back in the 90s there was an article by a mathematician (not a geneticist) that claimed everyone of English descent is (probably) no more than 30th cousins to everyone else of English descent, and everyone descended from pre-1850 American immigrants is (probably) about 13th cousins to everyone else.
http://news.yahoo.com/oy-vey-european-jews-30th-cousins-study-finds-154451884.html//cdn.embedly.com/widgets/platform.js
“For years, the favored recipe for making a modern European was this: Start with DNA from a hunter-gatherer whose ancestors lived in Europe 45,000 years ago, then add genes from an early farmer who migrated to the continent about 9000 years ago. An extensive study of ancient DNA now points to a third ingredient: blood from an Asian nomad who blew into central Europe perhaps only about 4000 or 5000 years ago. This third major lineage originated somewhere in northwestern Asia, perhaps on the steppes of western Asia or in Eastern Europe. This is a “ghost lineage,” because no pureblood member of this group survives today.”
http://www.sciencemag.org/content/345/6201/1106.short//cdn.embedly.com/widgets/platform.js
Something like this goes around every few years, and I never cease to be amazed. #habsburg
Originally shared by Abroad in the Yard
The divine genetics of aristocracy – family tree shows how the Spanish Hapsburg dynasty interbred to extinction.
The old idea was that the Anglo-Saxons invaded Britain, pushing out the native people. It’s been known for some time now that this view is simplistic, shaped by the propaganda of Gildas. This article puts some hard numbers to the problem. Out of a population of 1 million, the invaders were probably about 200 thousand between 500 and 600 CE.
http://www.medievalhistories.com/anglo-saxons-peaceful-immigrants-barbaric-warriors///cdn.embedly.com/widgets/platform.js