Spencer Wells
@spwells.bsky.social
scientist • author • explorer
Lombok, Indonesia 🇮🇩
lombokdiaries.substack.com
Lombok, Indonesia 🇮🇩
lombokdiaries.substack.com
Dogs 10,000 years ago roamed with bands of humans and came in all shapes and sizes ⛏️🧬🐕 theconversation.com/dogs-10-000-...
Dogs 10,000 years ago roamed with bands of humans and came in all shapes and sizes
Two new studies suggest the story of dogs and their relationship with humans is older and more complex than once thought.
theconversation.com
November 14, 2025 at 3:17 AM
Dogs 10,000 years ago roamed with bands of humans and came in all shapes and sizes ⛏️🧬🐕 theconversation.com/dogs-10-000-...
COVID-19 is spreading again — how serious is it and what are the symptoms? 🦠 Yep… www.nature.com/articles/d41...
COVID-19 is spreading again — how serious is it and what are the symptoms?
Limited COVID-19 surveillance data are hampering vaccination and health strategies, researchers say.
www.nature.com
November 13, 2025 at 3:49 PM
COVID-19 is spreading again — how serious is it and what are the symptoms? 🦠 Yep… www.nature.com/articles/d41...
"This is the single most impactful finding to emerge from my lab in my entire career…. We think it applies to 100% of lupus cases." 🦠 medicalxpress.com/news/2025-11...
Scientists tie lupus to a virus nearly all of us carry
One of humanity's most ubiquitous infectious pathogens bears the blame for the chronic autoimmune condition called systemic lupus erythematosus (lupus), Stanford Medicine investigators and their colle...
medicalxpress.com
November 13, 2025 at 1:49 PM
"This is the single most impactful finding to emerge from my lab in my entire career…. We think it applies to 100% of lupus cases." 🦠 medicalxpress.com/news/2025-11...
Mathematical model indicates Neanderthal disappearance can be explained by genetic dilution 💀📉 phys.org/news/2025-11...
Mathematical model indicates Neanderthal disappearance can be explained by genetic dilution
Currently, there are several hypotheses surrounding the disappearance of Neanderthals. While they all have at least some scientific support, researchers can't agree on which—or which combination—is mo...
phys.org
November 12, 2025 at 7:35 AM
Mathematical model indicates Neanderthal disappearance can be explained by genetic dilution 💀📉 phys.org/news/2025-11...
Neanderthal DNA helps explain how faces form 🧬💀 phys.org/news/2025-11...
Neanderthal DNA helps explain how faces form
Every human face is unique, allowing us to distinguish between individuals. We know little about how facial features are encoded in our DNA, but we may be able to learn more about how our faces develo...
phys.org
November 11, 2025 at 2:29 PM
Neanderthal DNA helps explain how faces form 🧬💀 phys.org/news/2025-11...
Typhoon Kalmaegi exposes centuries-old shipwreck off Vietnam port ⛏️⚓️🇻🇳 www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/typhoon...
Typhoon Kalmaegi exposes centuries-old shipwreck off Vietnam port
HOI AN: Severe coastal erosion caused by Typhoon Kalmaegi exposed a centuries-old shipwreck in Vietnam, providing a narrow window to salvage what experts say could be a historically significant find.I...
www.channelnewsasia.com
November 10, 2025 at 12:41 PM
Typhoon Kalmaegi exposes centuries-old shipwreck off Vietnam port ⛏️⚓️🇻🇳 www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/typhoon...
Iconic Andean monument may have been used for Indigenous accounting ⛏️🧮🇵🇪 phys.org/news/2025-11...
Iconic Andean monument may have been used for Indigenous accounting
Sediment analysis and drone photography of the iconic South American monument of Monte Sierpe (aka "Band of Holes") support a new interpretation of this mysterious landscape feature as part of an Indi...
phys.org
November 10, 2025 at 8:25 AM
Iconic Andean monument may have been used for Indigenous accounting ⛏️🧮🇵🇪 phys.org/news/2025-11...
Reposted by Spencer Wells
The story,
carried in our blood,
really is true.
You and I,
in fact everyone
all over the world,
we're all literally African,
under the skin.
Old fashioned concepts of race
are not only socially divisive,
but scientifically wrong.
🧬 @spwells.bsky.social
youtu.be/P6nEGfcwMNA?...
carried in our blood,
really is true.
You and I,
in fact everyone
all over the world,
we're all literally African,
under the skin.
Old fashioned concepts of race
are not only socially divisive,
but scientifically wrong.
🧬 @spwells.bsky.social
youtu.be/P6nEGfcwMNA?...
November 8, 2025 at 4:55 PM
The story,
carried in our blood,
really is true.
You and I,
in fact everyone
all over the world,
we're all literally African,
under the skin.
Old fashioned concepts of race
are not only socially divisive,
but scientifically wrong.
🧬 @spwells.bsky.social
youtu.be/P6nEGfcwMNA?...
carried in our blood,
really is true.
You and I,
in fact everyone
all over the world,
we're all literally African,
under the skin.
Old fashioned concepts of race
are not only socially divisive,
but scientifically wrong.
🧬 @spwells.bsky.social
youtu.be/P6nEGfcwMNA?...
James Watson, co-discoverer of the double-helix shape of DNA, has died at age 97 🧬 R.I.P. apnews.com/article/jame...
James Watson, co-discoverer of the double-helix shape of DNA, has died at age 97
Scientist James Watson, who shared a Nobel prize for helping discover the double-helix shape of the DNA molecule, has died. He was 97.
apnews.com
November 7, 2025 at 11:35 PM
James Watson, co-discoverer of the double-helix shape of DNA, has died at age 97 🧬 R.I.P. apnews.com/article/jame...
Tree rings from ancient coffins offer clues to Earth’s past ⛏️⚰️🌏 www.science.org/content/arti...
Tree rings from ancient coffins offer clues to Earth’s past
Wood from gravesites can help reconstruct historic temperatures, floods, and droughts
www.science.org
November 6, 2025 at 11:45 PM
Tree rings from ancient coffins offer clues to Earth’s past ⛏️⚰️🌏 www.science.org/content/arti...
Archaeologists discover how oldest American civilisation survived a climate catastrophe ⛏️🇵🇪 www.theguardian.com/science/2025...
Archaeologists discover how oldest American civilisation survived a climate catastrophe
Experts find artefacts left behind in Caral showing how population survived drought without resorting to violence
www.theguardian.com
November 6, 2025 at 4:43 AM
Archaeologists discover how oldest American civilisation survived a climate catastrophe ⛏️🇵🇪 www.theguardian.com/science/2025...
How a misread Arabic tale misled generations of historians about the Black Death's rapid spread 🦠📜 phys.org/news/2025-11...
How a misread Arabic tale misled generations of historians about the Black Death's rapid spread
Myths about how the Black Death traveled quickly across Asia, ravaging Silk Route communities, date back to a single fourteenth-century source, experts have found.
phys.org
November 4, 2025 at 12:06 PM
How a misread Arabic tale misled generations of historians about the Black Death's rapid spread 🦠📜 phys.org/news/2025-11...
Billion-dollar Grand Egyptian Museum innaugurated with lavish ceremony 🇪🇬 www.france24.com/en/culture/2...
Billion-dollar Grand Egyptian Museum innaugurated with lavish ceremony
Egypt opened the $1 billion Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) on Saturday in a lavish, spectacle laden ceremony, which Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said was "a new chapter in the history of the…
www.france24.com
November 2, 2025 at 12:53 PM
Billion-dollar Grand Egyptian Museum innaugurated with lavish ceremony 🇪🇬 www.france24.com/en/culture/2...
DNA study reveals origins, migrations and genetic legacy of 'forgotten' Sarmatians ⛏️🇭🇺🇷🇴 phys.org/news/2025-10...
DNA study reveals origins, migrations and genetic legacy of 'forgotten' Sarmatians
In a recent study, Dr. Oszkár Schütz and his colleagues analyzed 156 ancient genomes from the Sarmatian period, spanning the 1st to 5th centuries CE. The aim of the study was to clarify the origins an...
phys.org
October 30, 2025 at 8:46 AM
DNA study reveals origins, migrations and genetic legacy of 'forgotten' Sarmatians ⛏️🇭🇺🇷🇴 phys.org/news/2025-10...
The long, deep dig: Collaboration unearths ancient city of Sardis ⛏️🇹🇷 phys.org/news/2025-10...
The long, deep dig: Collaboration unearths ancient city of Sardis
From the Greeks and the Romans to the Ottoman empire, the history of Sardis, Turkey, is one of persistent turnover. But its archaeological investigation has been remarkably consistent. Since 1958, the...
phys.org
October 29, 2025 at 12:24 PM
The long, deep dig: Collaboration unearths ancient city of Sardis ⛏️🇹🇷 phys.org/news/2025-10...
New DNA evidence from Crimea sheds light on Neanderthal migration into Asia 🧬💀🌏 phys.org/news/2025-10...
New DNA evidence from Crimea sheds light on Neanderthal migration into Asia
Researchers have long been attempting to piece together the trek of Neanderthals from Europe into Asia around the Middle and Upper Paleolithic time periods. This time marks the eventual disappearance ...
phys.org
October 28, 2025 at 10:53 PM
New DNA evidence from Crimea sheds light on Neanderthal migration into Asia 🧬💀🌏 phys.org/news/2025-10...
‘Change course now’: humanity has missed 1.5C climate target, says UN head 🌎🌡️ www.theguardian.com/environment/...
‘Change course now’: humanity has missed 1.5C climate target, says UN head
Exclusive: ‘Devastating consequences’ now inevitable but emissions cuts still vital, says António Guterres in sole interview before Cop30
www.theguardian.com
October 28, 2025 at 12:38 PM
‘Change course now’: humanity has missed 1.5C climate target, says UN head 🌎🌡️ www.theguardian.com/environment/...
NUS emeritus professor and renowned archaeologist John Miksic dies at 79 ⛏️🇸🇬 R.I.P. www.straitstimes.com/singapore/re...
NUS emeritus professor and renowned archaeologist John Miksic dies at 79
He was emeritus professor of South-east Asian studies at the National University of Singapore. Read more at straitstimes.com. Read more at straitstimes.com.
www.straitstimes.com
October 25, 2025 at 7:34 PM
NUS emeritus professor and renowned archaeologist John Miksic dies at 79 ⛏️🇸🇬 R.I.P. www.straitstimes.com/singapore/re...
Ancient Scythian animal-style art began with functional objects ⛏️🇷🇺 phys.org/news/2025-10...
Ancient Scythian animal-style art began with functional objects, study finds
In a recent study, Dr. Timur Sadykov and his colleagues analyzed the Scythian animal-style artifacts recovered from one of the few securely dated early Scythian sites, Tunnug 1. The research is publis...
phys.org
October 24, 2025 at 5:43 PM
Ancient Scythian animal-style art began with functional objects ⛏️🇷🇺 phys.org/news/2025-10...
Stone tools trace Paleolithic Pacific migration into North America ⛏️🌎 phys.org/news/2025-10...
Stone tools trace Paleolithic Pacific migration into North America
A new analysis of stone tools offers strong evidence for the theory that ancient people from the Pacific Rim traveled a coastal route from East Asia during the last ice age to become North America's F...
phys.org
October 23, 2025 at 7:58 PM
Stone tools trace Paleolithic Pacific migration into North America ⛏️🌎 phys.org/news/2025-10...
Ancient origin of an urban underground mosquito 🦟 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Ancient origin of an urban underground mosquito
Understanding how life is adapting to urban environments represents an important challenge in evolutionary biology. In this work, we investigate a widely cited example of urban adaptation, Culex pipie...
www.science.org
October 23, 2025 at 6:08 PM
Ancient origin of an urban underground mosquito 🦟 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
US PhD admissions shrink as fears over Trump’s cuts take hold 🧑🔬🇺🇸 www.nature.com/articles/d41...
US PhD admissions shrink as fears over Trump’s cuts take hold
Some doctoral programmes are admitting no students at all amid uncertainty about federal science funding.
www.nature.com
October 23, 2025 at 6:04 AM
US PhD admissions shrink as fears over Trump’s cuts take hold 🧑🔬🇺🇸 www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Antarctic ice reveals two volcanoes erupting simultaneously may have caused 15th-century cooling 🌋🌋 phys.org/news/2025-10...
Antarctic ice reveals two volcanoes erupting simultaneously may have caused 15th-century cooling
Nearly 600 years ago, a massive volcanic eruption sent clouds of sulfurous gas and ash high into the atmosphere. The blast known as the 1458/59 CE event was so huge that it triggered decades of coolin...
phys.org
October 22, 2025 at 4:19 PM
Antarctic ice reveals two volcanoes erupting simultaneously may have caused 15th-century cooling 🌋🌋 phys.org/news/2025-10...
The Origins of Europe’s Most Mysterious Languages 🗣️🌍 www.harvardmagazine.com/research/har...
The Origins of Europe’s Most Mysterious Languages | Harvard Magazine
A small group of Siberian hunter-gatherers changed the way millions of Europeans speak today.
www.harvardmagazine.com
October 21, 2025 at 9:52 PM
The Origins of Europe’s Most Mysterious Languages 🗣️🌍 www.harvardmagazine.com/research/har...
What is AI poisoning? A computer scientist explains 🤖 theconversation.com/what-is-ai-p...
What is AI poisoning? A computer scientist explains
Despite the hype surrounding AI, the technology is far more fragile than it might appear.
theconversation.com
October 20, 2025 at 8:27 PM
What is AI poisoning? A computer scientist explains 🤖 theconversation.com/what-is-ai-p...