What We Read Today 21 June 2014

Econintersect: Every day our editors collect the most interesting things they find from around the internet and present a summary “reading list” which will include very brief summaries of why each item has gotten our attention. Suggestions from readers for “reading list” items are gratefully reviewed, although sometimes space limits the number included.

• As Sunnis, Shiites Battle, Are Iraq’s Kurds Preparing to Declare Independence? (Robert Windrem, NBC News) A new independent country of Kurdistan is a possibility but a confederation within a restructured Iraq with two or more autonomous regions is still a possibility. One thing is likely, however, and that is that the Kurds will control a larger area in the future and will strengthen their autonomy, if not complete independence.

• Neanderthal ancestors in Spain point to “Game of Thrones” era of human prehistory (Joel Achenbach, The Washington Post) and Neanderthal evolution in Spain ‘just like Game of Thrones’, scientists say (news.com.au) Anthropological evidence from 430,000 years ago recovered from a cave in northern Spain indicates that the species they belonged to a predecessor to the Neanderthal of 100,000 years ago. This predecessor had split off from the African ancestors of homo sapiens some point even earlier in history. What these new discoveries emphasize is that there appear to have been many competing unique and often isolated human species in deep history. When contact did occur there were competitive confrontations, probably often violent, hence the reference to Game of Thrones. The following graphic from the National Geographic gives a conceptual framework and timeline. See Science for the research article: Neandertal roots: Cranial and chronological evidence from Sima de los Huesos

• Debunked: 5 Lightning Myths That Could Kill You (Jonel Aleccia, NBC News) You don’t have to be in a storm to be in danger. If you can hear thunder get into shelter. And ground lightning is just as dangerous as a strike from the air. Read the detailed list of five myths.

Today there are 7 articles discussed ‘behind the wall’.

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