Posted on 06/27/2018 1:36:25 PM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
Scientists hope the pea-sized blobs can help explain the rise of modern humans.
Neanderthals went extinct about 40,000 years ago, but thanks to cutting-edge science, there is now a lab in California that has petri dishes filled with pea-sized versions of the cavemen's brains.
Why are researchers cultivating and studying these minibrains? The reason, they say, is that these small neural lumps may reveal why Neanderthals died out and Homo sapiens went on to conquer much of the planet.
"Neanderthals are fascinating because they shared Earth with us, and there is now genetic evidence we actually bred with them," study leader Alysson Muotri, director of the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) Stem Cell Program.
Perhaps genetic differences between Neanderthal and human brains explain their demise and our success, Muotri said. In other words, it's possible that humans achieved great technological advancements because we have sophisticated neural networks, while Neanderthals didn't.
(Excerpt) Read more at nbcnews.com ...
I was thinking they were growing brains for Dems...and you posted Maxine...great minds think like...
Wouldn’t you know this is California. Perhaps some of these mini-brains escaped the lab and are now populating the CA legislature.
I'm sure it would improve things.
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