GDP PPP inhabitant by European region. Combining Italy or the UK into one GDP number is deceptive. Lombardy has twice the GDP PPP of much of southern Italy. The regional differences are not nearly as stark in Spain, where poor regions like Andalusia and Galicia exhibit less of a gap from prosperous regions. By the way, does anyone know if there’s the ability in R to map these differences easily? I’ve only done USA mapping.

Separation Between Neanderthal and Homo Sapiens Might Have Occurred 500,000 Years Earlier, DNA from Teeth Suggests. Not sure if this makes any difference evolutionary genetic wise, though these sorts of issues are relevant for paleoanthropologists trying to reconstruct paleoecologies of hominins.

Mystery of the pregnant pope: New film reopens one of the Vatican’s most enduring wounds. I saw this film on a Lufthansa flight a few months back. I liked it. Though the article doesn’t make it clear enough that it’s 99.9% likely to be based on a legend concocted for purposes of propaganda.

New Nicaraguan sign language shows how language affects thought. As Joe Biden would say, this is a big f**king deal.

Anthrogenetics. A reader pointed me to this interesting weblog/review page. Feel free to point to other interesting science weblogs in the comments.