Confirmed: New Mexico Footprints Rewrite Timeline of Humans in America
Ancient seas left an expanse of rolling gypsum dunes known as White Sands in New Mexico, and within this surreal landscape lies evidence that humans have roamed the Americas for at least 20,000 years.
While most of White Sands is protected as a national park, the US army controls part of it as a missile range. It was within this section that researchers found clay footprints, preserved below the gypsum, that have rewritten the timeline of human presence in the Americas.
Previously, we thought humans arrived in North America around 13,200 to 15,500 years ago.
But a new study led by University of Arizona archeologist Vance Holliday combines evidence from mud, Ruppia seeds and pollen found in layers above and below the trace fossils, to date the footprints as being between 20,700 and 22,400 years old.
This means they were trod in the last Ice Age, by people crossing a floodplain on the margins of the extinct Lake Otero that once covered around 4,140 square kilometers (1,600 square miles) of the Tularosa Basin.
"Pleistocene lakes and associated biological resources in western and southwestern North America must have attracted foragers, but archaeologists have surveyed few paleolake basins," Holliday and his colleagues write.
Related:
The footprints were first discovered in 2021, and were dated to between 21,000 and 23,000 years ago using embedded seeds and pollen. But critics questioned this method to determine the footprints' age, since these lightweight biological materials can easily be moved in such a dynamic ecosystem. But the new paper found that analysis of mud layers backs up what the plant traces tell us.
"Most of this dating of organic matter from palustrine muds complement the dating of the seeds and pollen previously reported," the authors report.
"It would be serendipity in the extreme to have all these dates giving you a consistent picture that's in error," says Holliday.
The research is published in Science Advances.
Video: How Far Away Would You Need to Be to Survive a Nuclear Blast?
What Really Killed The Neanderthals? A Space Physicist Has a Radical Idea
Casino Lights Could Be Warping Your Brain to Take Risks, Scientists Warn
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Medscape
36 minutes ago
- Medscape
Amelanotic Melanoma Tied to Worse Survival
TOPLINE: Patients with amelanotic melanoma showed poorer disease-specific survival (DSS) than those with melanotic melanoma in a Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database analysis. METHODOLOGY: Researchers analyzed data on patients with invasive cutaneous amelanotic melanoma (n = 1598) and melanotic melanoma (n = 417,974) from the SEER 17 database between 2000 and 2021. Patients with amelanotic melanoma were older at diagnosis and presented with more advanced-stage disease than those with melanotic melanoma (regional/distant stages: 26.8% vs 12.4%), ulceration (35.6% vs 13.1%), and Breslow thickness > 2 mm (42% vs 17%). The primary outcome was DSS. TAKEAWAY: Five-year DSS was significantly lower in patients with amelanotic melanoma (78.6%) than in those with melanotic melanoma (91.3%; P < .001). Patients with amelanotic melanoma carried a 31% higher risk for mortality after adjusting for sex, age, and stage (P < .001). Among those with amelanotic melanoma, men (hazard ratio [HR], 1.38; P = .014 vs women) had a higher disease-specific mortality, and mortality was higher among adults aged 85 years and older (HR, 1.86; P = .002 vs patients aged 45-64 years). Amelanotic melanoma diagnoses made 2011 onward were associated with a lower mortality risk (HR, 0.55; P < .001) than those diagnosed before 2011, with 2-year DSS for distant metastases more than doubling from 26.4% during 2000-2005 to 58.8% during 2016-2021. IN PRACTICE: 'This study underscores the poorer survival outcomes associated with AM [amelanotic melanoma] compared to MM [melanotic melanoma] and highlights a potential survival improvement following the availability of immunotherapy,' the study authors wrote. They called for prospective trials 'to validate these findings and guide tailored management strategies for AM.' SOURCE: The study was led by Trang M. Nguyen, MD, National Hospital of Dermatology and Venereology, Hanoi, Vietnam, and was published online on June 12 in Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology. LIMITATIONS: Limitations included selection bias and limited follow-up for recent cases. DISCLOSURES: The authors reported having no funding sources or relevant conflicts of interest. This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
SpaceX-Axiom rocket launch in Florida: Where to watch from Daytona, New Smyrna Beach, Oak Hill
A SpaceX rocket carrying astronauts could blast off from Florida's Space Coast this week. Can liftoff be seen from Volusia County? If the conditions are right, yes! Axiom's fourth private astronaut mission to the International Space Station was originally aiming to launch in late May, but has been delayed several times. Its latest delay on June 13 was due to leaks on the ISS. As of Monday, June 23, a new launch time has been set for Wednesday, June 25. When it does launch, a SpaceX Dragon capsule with four astronauts in it will be carried by a Falcon 9 rocket from NASA's Kennedy Space Center. Though rockets launch in Florida from NASA's Kennedy Space Center near Merritt Island, Florida, or Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, people in Volusia County can sometimes see this phenomenon. Weather permitting and depending on cloud cover, a rocket launch from Florida's Space Coast could be visible as far north as Jacksonville Beach and Daytona Beach to as far south as Vero Beach and West Palm Beach. When there's a launch window in the middle of the night or very early morning, there's an opportunity for unique photos — the rocket lights up the dark sky and the contrail after makes for a great photo. Below is more information on rocket launches in Florida and suggestions on where to watch them from the Fun Coast. Why is the ISS leaking? What to know after SpaceX Axiom's Florida launch delay For questions or comments, email FLORIDA TODAY Space Reporter Rick Neale at rneale@ or Space Reporter Brooke Edwards at bedwards@ For more space news from the USA TODAY Network, visit Mission: Axiom Space's fourth private astronaut mission to the International Space Station will launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft from NASA's Kennedy Space Center. Launch: 2:31 a.m. ET Wednesday, June 25, 2025 Launch location: Launch Pad 39A from Kennedy Space Center in Florida Sonic booms in neighboring Space Coast: Yes Trajectory: Northeast Live coverage starts two hours before liftoff at : You can watch live rocket launch coverage from USA TODAY Network's Space Team, which consists of FLORIDA TODAY space reporters Rick Neale and Brooke Edwards and visuals journalists Craig Bailey, Malcolm Denemark and Tim Shortt. Our Space Team will provide up-to-the-minute updates in a mobile-friendly live blog, complete with a countdown clock, at starting two hours before liftoff. You can download the free FLORIDA TODAY app, which is available in the App Store or Google Play, or type into your browser. In Volusia County, immediately north of Brevard County — home to Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station — you can get a great view of a SpaceX, NASA or United Launch Alliance rocket launch. The best views to watch a rocket launch from here is along the beach. Look due south. Recommended spots: • South New Smyrna Beach (Canaveral National Seashore) • Mary McLeod Bethune Beach Park, 6656 S. Atlantic Ave., New Smyrna Beach. Bethune Beach is 3.5 miles south of New Smyrna Beach and one mile north of the Apollo Beach entrance to Canaveral National Seashore Park. • Apollo Beach at Canaveral National Seashore (south of New Smyrna Beach). Canaveral National Seashore runs along Florida's East Coast in Volusia County and Brevard County. To access Apollo Beach, take Interstate 95 to exit 249, then travel east until it turns into State Road A1A. Follow SR A1A south to the park entrance. • Oak Hill riverfront is the southernmost city in South Volusia County. • Sunrise Park, 275 River Road, Oak Hill • Goodrich's Seafood and Oyster House back deck, 253 River Road, Oak Hill • Seminole Rest national historic site, 211 River Road, Oak Hill • Riverbreeze Park, 250 H.H. Burch Road, Oak Hill • Mary Dewees Park, 178 N. Gaines St., Oak Hill • Nancy Cummings Park, 232 Cummings St., Oak Hill • Jimmie Vann Sunrise Park, 275 River Road, Oak Hill • A.C. Delbert Dewees Municipal Pier, 243 River Road, Oak Hill • Bird Observation Pier on River Road across from A.C. Delbert Municipal Pier (see above) • Rose Bay in Port Orange, Florida • beaches along New Smyrna Beach, Florida • New Smyrna Beach Inlet, New Smyrna Beach lifeguard station • Halifax Harbor Marina in Daytona Beach, Florida • Ormond-by-the-Sea in Ormond Beach, Florida • George R. Kennedy Memorial Park in Edgewater, Florida This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: SpaceX rocket launch at NASA Kennedy Space Center: Top places to watch
Medscape
2 hours ago
- Medscape
Can Cardiology's Oldest Drug Make a Comeback?
Cardiac glycosides derived from the foxglove plant have been used in cardiology for two centuries, but digoxin and digitoxin have gradually fallen out of favor and are now considered controversial in heart failure treatment. The early rationale for the use of glycosides in heart failure stemmed from the 1997 DIG trial comparing digoxin to placebo — both in combination with standard therapy — in 6800 patients with heart failure. People with reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (HFrEF) who used the drug were less likely to require hospitalization, but the primary endpoint of all-cause mortality did not differ between the two groups. 'Digoxin/digitoxin received a class 1 recommendation in earlier heart failure guidelines, but this has since been downgraded to a weaker class 2b,' in light of therapeutic advances, Gregg Fonarow, MD, told Medscape Medical News . Can New Study Findings Resurrect an Old Drug? Heart failure medications have evolved substantially in the quarter-century since the DIG trial, said Fonarow, who directs the Ahmanson-UCLA Cardiomyopathy Center and is the co-director of UCLA's Preventative Cardiology Program. Two new trials are reexamining digitoxin and digoxin to see if they offer any benefit over and above the 'fantastic 4' of heart failure pharmacotherapy: Angiotensin receptor-neprilysin inhibitors (ARNI), beta-blockers, mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists (MRAs), and SGLT2 inhibitors. At this year's Heart Failure Association of the European Society of Cardiology (HFA-ESC) 2025 in Belgrade, Serbia, investigators reported early data from the DIGIT-HF trial, which is comparing digitoxin or placebo in combination with guideline-directed therapy in 1212 patients with symptomatic HFrEF. 'We started DIGIT-HF to demonstrate whether digitoxin at low serum concentrations improves outcomes on top of a modern guideline-directed medical therapy and to show that the use of digitoxin is safe,' lead investigator Udo Bavendiek, MD, told Medscape Medical News . 'The latter is of particular importance because cardiac glycosides are needed for effective frequency control in patients with atrial fibrillation and HFrEF when beta-blocker treatment alone is not enough for effective rate control.' Results should arrive later this year, but Bavendiek, of Hannover Medical School in Hannover, Germany, said the study population is more complex relative to the subjects in pivotal trials of other contemporary therapies for heart failure. DIGIT-HF patients had a 'pronounced HF symptomatic burden,' Bavendiek and his co-authors wrote in the European Journal of Heart Failure , but also were receiving 'superior implementation of contemporary HF treatment,' including guideline-directed medications: 40% were receiving ARNI, 70% MRA, 64% had a cardioverter-defibrillator, and 25% had received cardiac resynchronization therapy. If digitoxin shows a benefit in this severely ill population already on optimized therapy, this finding would be of great interest, Bavendiek told Medscape Medical News . So far, use of digitoxin appears safe in this population, with no new safety signals observed. The investigators opted for digitoxin because its hepatic excretion is preferred in patients with impaired kidney function, as opposed to digoxin, which is excreted via the kidneys. Another ongoing trial with the potential to inform the use of glycosides is the DECISION study of more than 1000 patients with symptomatic heart failure and a left ventricular ejection fraction below 50%. Unlike DIGIT-HF, the DECISION trial uses low-dose digoxin, said lead investigator Dirk Jan van Veldhuisen, MD, of University Medical Center Groningen in Groningen, the Netherlands. This decision was based on sub-analyses of the DIG trial suggesting serum concentrations of digoxin > 1.2 ng/mL were associated with increased mortality, while more favorable outcomes were seen with lower concentrations. In DECISION, the target serum concentration is 0.5-0.9 ng/mL The DECISION investigators also enrolled more women to develop a better understanding of the use of digoxin in this population. Cautionary Tales The most recent American Heart Association guidelines on the treatment of heart failure state glycoside agents can be considered for patients with HFrEF who remain symptomatic despite guideline-directed medical therapy or who cannot tolerate such treatment, with the aim of reducing hospitalizations for heart failure, said Fonarow, who serves as a spokesman for the society. Outcomes in patients with atrial fibrillation might be of particular interest, Fonarow said. 'DIGIT-HF trial randomization was stratified by the presence or absence of atrial fibrillation. As such, this trial will provide important information on the role of this therapy in patients with HFrEF and atrial fibrillation,' he said. However, many patients in DIGIT-HF were not receiving all of the 'fantastic four' therapies at baseline, he added. 'For these reasons, the DIGIT-HF trial may not be definitive enough to influence guideline recommendations without confirmation from additional clinical trials.' Fonarow reported consulting for Abbott, Amgen, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Cytokinetics, Eli Lilly and Company, Johnson & Johnson, Medtronic, Merck, Novartis, and Pfizer. Bavendiek reported receiving travel support and honoraria from Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Amgen, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Eli Lilly and Company, Novartis, Pfizer, and Vital, and institutional research support from Alnylam Pharmaceuticals.
