Microbes frozen in ancient rubbish heaps help reconstruct ancient Greenlanders’ farms, seal hunts, and toilets
Peer-Reviewed Publication
Updates every hour. Last Updated: 18-Jun-2026 16:16 ET (18-Jun-2026 20:16 GMT/UTC)
Researchers studied the microbes associated with historical middens conserved in Greenland’s permafrost, left behind by Paleo-Inuit, ancient Norse, and early modern Inuit. These middens harbored biodiverse bacterial communities – including many unknown taxa – that were especially rich in human- and animal-associated groups. The authors concluded that microbial traces of human activities such as defecation, livestock farming, and seal hunting can linger for centuries in Arctic middens. They also found a wide range of antimicrobial resistance genes in the bacterial genomes. However, the limited outward spread of potential pathogens away from the frozen core of the middens means that they currently pose little risk to public health.
Individuals subject to extreme risk protection orders (ERPOs), or “red flag” laws, were significantly less likely to be arrested — including for violent and firearm-related offenses — while the orders were in effect compared to the six months prior. Strikingly, the drop in arrests did not end when the orders expired and continued for months afterward.
Some people might not mind spending time alone, but new research with data from 18 countries suggests that older people who struggle with loneliness — rather than strictly being alone — may experience a faster mental and physical decline.
The study, led by the University of California, Davis, used advanced statistical modeling to chart loneliness and social isolation as older adults move through stages of cognitive impairment and mortality. The results suggest that loneliness plays a much stronger role in cognitive impairment and shorter life spans than social isolation on its own.