The Wentworth by-election is still a thing, but interesting and perhaps important things happen elsewhere.

1. Spain lost all its men in an ancient invasion

The time was about 4500 years ago. Spain was invaded from the east by a group that stemmed from the Yamnaya herders on the steppes north of the Black Sea, the group responsible for founding the Indo-European language group. A genetic study led by David Reich of Harvard Medical School has found that the local male line disappeared instantly with that invasion (New Scientist, pay-walled), never to be seen again. After the invasion the resulting population had 40 per cent Yamnaya ancestry and 60 per cent local ancestry. However, the Y-chromosome of the male line changed completely to the Yamnaya line.

It means the local males were either killed or enslaved, according to the article. Continue reading Weekly salon 21/10 →