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The answer is Haplogroup E of (Y-DNA).Yuya’s —DNA along with the rest of the ‘Amarna mummies’ is based on partial Y-chromosomal information on the amount of autosomal half-alleles.Yuya has equal amounts of foreign ancestryYuya was a Egyptian courtier during the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt (circa 1390 BC). He was married to Tjuyu, an Egyptian noblewoman associated with the royal family, who held high offices in the governmental and religious hierarchies. Their daughter, Tiye became the Great Royal Wife of Amenhotep III.Yuya’s origins remain unclear, but HIS CORPSE STOOD OUT FROM THE OTHER EGYPTIANS. The study of his mummy showed that Yuya had been a man of taller than average stature and the anatomist Grafton Elliot Smith considered that his appearance was NOT TYPICALLY EGYPTIAN. Yuya and Tjuyu weren't royals, but their daughter Tiye married King Amenhotep III.While Yuya lived in Upper Egypt, an area that was predominantly native Egyptian, he could have been an assimilated descendant of Asiatic immigrants or slaves who rose to become a member of the local nobility at Akhmin. Yuya is believed to have died around 1374 BC in his mid 50s.Note: In Ancient Egypt we find a title courtier translated as high steward or great overseer of the house.YUYA Y-STR DATA SET RESULTSI’ve run the data sets from the Zahi Hawass; Yehia Z. Gad, Somaia Ismail, et al. study through popaffiliator2 (results below). Of all of the ‘Amarna Mummies’, Yuya has the least amount of (so-called sub Saharan ancestry), and carries significant amounts of both Eurasian and Asian ancestry.YUYA’S Y-STR DATA SETSAs it was released to the public ten (10) years ago. Yuya’s STRs appear on the second (2nd) row.Source: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/articlepdf/185393/joc05008_638_647.pdfYou can verify the results of the Amarna mummies yourself, with the study’s data sets above. You can also access the rest of the family's data sets here:(https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/articlepdf/185393/joc05008_638_647.pdf)And with the Popaffiliator2 you can calculate the individual population affiliation assignment yourself..Here: (http://cracs.fc.up.pt/popaffiliator/index.php)About PopAffiliatorQuestion: What does popAffiliator do?Answer: Predicts an individual’s affiliation to a major population group based on information from a small set of autosomal STRs. The output will indicate the probability of assignment to the major population groups.Question: How accurate are the results?Answer: The accuracy of individual population affiliation assignment is approximately 86%. The probabilities are computed using a machine learning model built as described in:Pereira et. al. PopAffiliator: online calculator for individual affiliation to a major population group based on 17 autosomal STR genotype profile. International Journal of Legal Medicine. 2010. (in press)WHAT ARE STRS AND HOW DO THEY WORK?Short Tandem Repeats (STRs)The human genome is full of repeated DNA sequences. Short Tandem Repeats are the most common type of DNA profiling today for criminal cases STR or short tandem repeats occur when a pattern of two or more nucleotides are repeated and the repeated sequences are directly adjacent to each other. The pattern can range in length from 2 to 16 base pairs (bp) and is typically in the non-coding intron region. These sequences repeat a variable number of times in different individuals. Such regions are called "variable number short tandem repeats," and they are the basis of STR analysis. A collection of these can give nearly irrefutable evidence statistically of a person's identity because the likelihood of two unrelated people having the same number of repeated sequences in these regions becomes increasingly small as more regions are analyzed.Y-STRY-STRs are derived solely from the male sex-determining Y chromosome. Profiles based on Y-STRs are statistically weaker because only males have a Y chromosome and all males inherit their’s from their fathers, so all males in any paternal line have nearly identical Y chromosomes. Given enough Y-STRs, which scientists call loci, a Y-STR profile can offer substantial power to discriminate between individuals, but this type of profile is certainly not as powerful as an autosomal STR profile.Quote:“..autosomal STRs in standard DNA profiling, this approach is most suitable to trace close relatives (parents, children, and siblings)”.Citation Sources: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5418305/(Forensic use of Y-chromosome DNA: a general overview)**EFFICACY AND CLEAR ADVANTAGES OF USING Y STR DNA MARKERS**Quote:“STRs have PROVEN TO HAVE SEVERAL BENEFITS that make them ESPECIALLY SUITABLE FOR HUMAN IDENTIFICATION”.“STRs have become POPULAR DNA MARKERS BECAUSE THEY ARE EASILY AMPLIFIED by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) without the problem of differential amplification; that is, the PCR products for STRs are generally similar in amount, MAKING ANALYSIS EASIER”.“STRs AS THE MOST EFFECTIVE METHOD FOR HUMAN IDENTIFICATION PURPOSES”.“The smaller size of STR ALLELES MAKE STR MARKERS BETTER CANDIDATES FOR USE IN FORENSIC APPLICATIONS, IN WHICH DEGRADED DNA IS COMMON. PCR AMPLIFICATION OF DEGRADED DNA SAMPLES CAN BE BETTER ACCOMPLISHED with smaller target product sizes”.“STR alleles also have LOWER MUTATION RATES, which MAKES THE DATA MORE STABLE AND PREDICTABLE”.Citation Source: Forensic DNA Testing System (Forensic DNA Testing System).Quote:“…STRs with higher power of discrimination are chosen for human identification in forensic cases on a regular basis. It is used to identify victim, perpetrator, missing persons, and others”.“Beginning in 1996, the FBI Laboratory launched a nationwide forensic science effort to establish core STR loci for inclusion within the national database known as CODIS (Combined DNA Index System). The 13 CODIS loci are CSF1PO, FGA, TH01, TPOX, VWA, D3S1358, D5S818, D7S820, D8S1179, D13S317, D16S539, D18S51 and D21S11. These loci are nationally and internationally recognized as the standard for human identification”.Citation Source: https://ucr.fbi.gov/lab/biometric-analysis/codis/expanded-fbi-str-2015-final-6-16-15.pdf(https://ucr.fbi.gov/lab/biometric-analysis/codis/expanded-fbi-str-2015-final-6-16-15.pdf)CODIS (Combined DNA Index System)The Combined DNA Index System is the generic term used to describe the FBI’s program of support for criminal justice DNA databases as well as the software used to run these databases. The DNA database was created and maintained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Law enforcement agencies around the world also utilize the system. Personal genomic companies such as DNA Tribes and DNA Consultants use the very same system.Walter Smyth wrote this response in 2018, a full eight (8) years, 96 months or 2,029 days give or take, after the data from Ancestry and Pathology in King Tutankhamun’s Family was released to the public. It was one of the most highly anticipated results to date. However, when the results were released, it was done so with very little fanfare. Apparently, the results weren’t to the liking of the general ‘Eurocentered’ public and media. If we recall, the Abusir el-Meleq results were celebrated and garnered front page headlines across western media outlets worldwide. The misleading results even went viral.Apparently, you were aware that Tutankhamun’s Family and the Amarna Mummies are one in the same Walter. If you don’t know that much, why do even bother to speak on the topic?Design:From September 2007 to October 2009, royal mummies underwent detailed anthropological, radiological, and genetic studies as part of the King Tutankhamun Family Project. Mummies distinct from Tutankhamun's immediate lineage served as the genetic and morphological reference. To authenticate DNA results, analytical steps were repeated and independently replicated in a second ancient DNA laboratory staffed by a separate group of personnel. Eleven royal mummies dating from circa 1410-1324 BC and suspected of being kindred of Tutankhamun and 5 royal mummies dating to an earlier period, circa 1550-1479 BC, were examinedObjectives:To introduce a new approach to molecular and medical Egyptology, to determine familial relationships among 11 royal mummies of the New Kingdom, and to search for pathological features attributable to possible murder, consanguinity, inherited disorders, and infectious diseases.Results:Genetic fingerprinting allowed the construction of a 5-generation pedigree of Tutankhamun's immediate lineage. The KV55 mummy and KV35YL were identified as the parents of Tutankhamun.CONCLUSION: USING A MULTIDISCIPLINARY SCIENTIFIC APPROACH, we showed the feasibility of gathering data on Pharaonic kinship and diseases and speculated about individual causes of death.Citation Source: Ancestry and pathology in King Tutankhamun's family.The Tell El-Amarna royal mummies (1,300 BC), Ramesses III and Unknown man (believed to be Ramesses’ son, Pentawer) fall under Haplogroup is E1b1a.LEAD RESEARCHERS “ANCESTRY AND PATHOLOGY IN KING TUTANKHAMEN’S FAMILY”Controversial and disgraced “archaeologist” Zahi HawassThe questions and criticisms surrounding the study’s results are as much an indictment against Zahi Hawass as they are about the results. In the world of Egyptology, Hawass is seen as a self-serving, self-absorbed, self-promoting narcissistic despot, and there exist great distrust for him (in the scientific community), his methods and motives over the years. The former “Director General of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities” has been implicated in theft of ancient artifacts and mired by allegations of impropriety, corruption and was even convicted (along with two of his colleagues) of bribery. To many Egyptians Hawass was viewed as a bombastic government servant who frequently indulged in cronyism to further his own reputation and lining his pockets.An Egyptian official who chose to speak under the condition of anonymity:“Egyptology has been held hostage to the whims of one single tinpot bureaucrat by the name of Zahi Hawass”.Source: Anonymous Egyptian officialIt is common knowledge within Egyptology circles that the often combative Hawass was infamous for claiming credit for digs he had absolutely nothing to do with. He frequently withheld evidence such as the DNA results and haplogroups of Egyptians mummies. For example, Hawass has refused to release the mtDNA results for King Tut’s generational family.Quote:“WHEN THE RESULTS THREATEN EGYPT’S SELF-IMAGE, he hides behind 'national security', and expels Egyptologists from Egypt when he disagrees with their ideas”.Source: Anonymous Egyptian official.All of the research was led and conducted mostly by Egyptian scientists (at Zahi Hawass’ request). Hawass along with Yehia Z. Gad and Somaia Ismail from the National Research Center in Cairo were the lead scientists.Drs Hawass, Gad, Zink, and Pusch had full access to all of the data in the study and take responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis.YEHIA Z. GAD AND SOMAIA ISMAIL WERE THE LEAD SCIENTISTSYehia Z Gad of National Research Center, Egypt, CairoSomaia Ismail of National Research Center, Egypt, CairoCARSTEN PUSCH AND ALBERT ZINK OVERSAW THE RESEARCHAlbert Zink, Ph.D. Director of the Institute for Mummy Studies and the Iceman in Bolzano, Italy. Fields of Research (biological and biomolecular anthropology; nanotechnologies; paleopathology forensic studies).Carsten M. Pusch, Ph.D. Institute of Anthropology and Human Genetics, Eberhardt-Karls-University, Tubingen, Germany.THE OTHER SCIENTIST (et al.): Rabab Khairat, MSc; Dina Fathalla, MSc; Naglaa Hasan, MSc; Amal Ahmed, BPharm; Hisham Elleithy, MA; Markus Ball, MSc; Fawzi Gaballah, PhD; Sally Wasef, MSc; Mohamed Fateen, MD; Hany Amer, PhD; Paul Gostner, MD; Ashraf Selim, MD.RESPONSIBILITIESAuthor Contributions: Drs Hawass, Gad, Zink, and Pusch had full access to all of the data in the study and take responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis.Study concept and design: Hawass, Gad, Zink, Pusch. Acquisition of data: Hawass, Gad, Ismail, Khairat, Fathalla, Hasan, Ahmed, Elleithy, Gaballah, Wasef, Fateen, Amer, Gostner, Selim, Zink.Analysis and interpretation of data: Hawass, Gad, Ismail, Khairat, Fathalla, Hasan, Ball, Wasef, Fateen, Amer, Gostner, Selim, Zink, Pusch.Drafting of the manuscript: Hawass, Gad, Zink, Pusch. Critical revision of the manuscript for important in- tellectual content: Hawass, Gad, Ismail, Khairat, Fathalla, Hasan, Ahmed, Elleithy, Ball, Gaballah, Wasef, Fateen, Amer, Gostner, Selim, Zink, Pusch. Statistical analysis: Ball, Gostner, Zink, Pusch. Administrative, technical, or material support: Hawass, Gad, Ismail, Hasan, Ahmed, Elleithy, Ball, Gaballah, Fateen, Amer, Selim, Zink, Pusch.Study supervision: Gad, Ismail, Zink, Pusch.Initially, Zahi Hawass treated the idea of DNA testing with much skepticism. Hawass was reported as saying:Quote:"From what I understand, it is not always accurate and it cannot always be done with complete success when dealing with mummies. UNTIL WE KNOW FOR SURE THAT IT IS ACCURATE, WE WILL NOT USE IT IN OUR RESEARCH".Citation Source: The Tutankhamun ExhibitionIn December 2000, a team from Cairo's Ein Shams University and Waseda University in Japan were given permission to take tissue samples. However, the Egyptian Government withdrew permission at the last moment. The Supreme Council of Antiquities turned down the tests on the grounds that it was unlikely to produce results and it could damage the already fragile mummy. Hawass is also on record as saying that DNA analysis would not lead to anything and therefore the tests were out of the question.Apparently, that changed seven years later in 2007. Here, Hawass explains the reason for the change in his thinking..Quote:“In the past I had been against genetic studies of royal mummies. The chance of obtaining workable samples while avoiding contamination from modern DNA seemed too small to justify disturbing these sacred remains. But in 2008 several geneticists convinced me that the field had advanced far enough to give us a good chance of getting useful results. We set up TWO STATE-OF-THE-ART DNA-SEQUENCING LABS, one in the basement of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo and the other at the Faculty of Medicine at Cairo University”.Citation Source: King Tut’s Family SecretsFast forward to June 2008..FIVE (5) MILLION DOLLARS WAS DEDICATED TO BUILDING TWO STATE-OF-THE-ART FACILITIES, BUILT SPECIFICALLY FOR THE TESTING OF HAPSHEPSUT AND THE ROYAL ARMANA MUMMIES:A dedicated (5 million dollar) ancient DNA laboratory was established (built) in the basement of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo to test the DNA of the ancients. A second laboratory also exclusively dedicated to work with ancient DNA was established at the Faculty of Medicine, at Cairo University. A subset of the data generated in the Egyptian Museum laboratory was INDEPENDENTLY REPLICATED IN A SEPARATE LABORATORY BY ANOTHER RESEARCH TEAM (these data sets are indicated in the manuscript).Applied Biosystems Helps Build Egypt's First Laboratory for Ancient DNA AnalysisQuote:FOSTER CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Applied Biosystems (NYSE:ABI), an Applera Corporation business, today announced its collaboration with the Discovery Channel and Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities in ESTABLISHING THE FIRST LABORATORY IN EGYPT DEDICATED TO TESTING ANCIENT DNA SAMPLES. The laboratory, which is located in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, began testing samples from ancient royal mummies from the 18th Dynasty in April as part of a project to identify the mummy of Hatshepsut, Egypt’s most famous female pharaoh.The primary purpose of the new DNA laboratory is to assist in the identification of this and other mummies that have been removed from their original tombs, and to clarify familial relationships within and between Egypt’s ancient dynasties. This is the first time DNA testing has been used to try to identify an ancient Egyptian pharaoh. DNA testing, combined with other forensic techniques, holds the potential to bring closure to unsolved mysteries and help Egypt fill in gaps in its significant history.“By providing this technology to Egypt, Applied Biosystems is helping to advance science and bring our dead pharaohs back to life,” said Dr. Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities. “A basement that was once a maze of artifacts is now a cutting-edge scientific lab, the first of its kind dedicated to revealing the mysteries of our mummies.”Applied Biosystems provided the Supreme Council of Antiquities with DNA analysis instrument systems, reagents, software, and training. This included an Applied Biosystems 9700 Thermocycler for DNA amplification and a 3130 Genetic Analyzer for DNA analysis, as well as forensic testing reagents including its newest advance in human identification technology, the AmpFℓSTR® MiniFiler™ PCR Amplification Kit. The MiniFiler kit is the world’s first commercially available reagent kit for generating genetic profiles from aged, compromised, or damaged DNA samples.“The analysis of ancient and degraded DNA samples provides significant challenges, but we are excited to bring our latest advances in genetic analysis to this and similar future projects in Egypt,” said Nicola Oldroyd, a senior forensic specialist at Applied Biosystems. “Initial results are very promising as both nuclear and mitochondrial DNA have been retrieved and amplified for these mummies. That in itself is a major accomplishment for the first project in a brand new lab. We are optimistic that the Egyptian scientific team now has everything in place to ultimately be successful in this project and future endeavors.”Citation Source: Applied Biosystems Helps Build Egypt's First Laboratory for Ancient DNA AnalysisFAUX CONCERNS RAISED BY EUROCENTRICS REGARDING CONTAMINATIONQuote:“To obtain workable samples, the geneticists extracted tissue from several different locations in each mummy, always from deep within the bone, where there was no chance the specimen would be contaminated by the DNA of previous archaeologists—or of the Egyptian priests who had performed the mummification. Extreme care was also taken to avoid any contamination by the researchers themselves. After the samples were extracted, the DNA had to be separated from unwanted substances, including the unguents and resins the priests had used to preserve the bodies. Since the embalming material varied with each mummy, so did the steps needed to purify the DNA. In each case the fragile material could be destroyed at every step”.Citation Source: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2010/09/tut-dna/Quote:“Regarding potential DNA contamination, it’s a red herring. Dr. Carsten M. Pusch of Germany's University of Tubingen (Division of Molecular Genetics) says the team took their samples from deep inside the mummies' bones, where modern contamination could not haveoriginated.When asked how the DNA could have survived, both Pusch and (Albert) Zink agree that DNA from a body simply buried in the sand would probably not survive from ancient Egyptian times. But they argue that in the royal mummies, the embalming process used by the Egyptians must have acted to preserve the DNA. This included drying out the body with a naturally-occurring mixture of salts called natron.” The Egyptians really knew how to preserve a body,” says Zink. “The worst thing for DNA is humidity”. They got rid of the humidity very fast, and then protected the body from the re-entry of humidity, by covering it with oil, wax and bandages." Pusch also believes that the embalming materials may themselves be acting to protect the DNA. “Nobody has thought about the components of the resin”. They also TESTED WITHIN THE BONES FOR ORIGINAL DNA, AS IT WOULD’VE BEEN DIFFICULT TO IMPOSSIBLE FOR HANDLERS TO GET INSIDE THE BONE IN AREAS IT HADN’T PENETRATED”.Citation Source: Is pharaoh DNA for real?, Jo Marchant, 20. January 2011.Samples checked for contamination by scientists:Quote:“DNA TYPING OF ALL LAB TEAM MEMBERS WAS PERFORMED (Y.Z.G., S.I., R.K., D.F., N.H., A.A., S.W., M.F.), AND RECORDS WERE USED FOR COMPARISON WITH THE DATA GENERATED IN OUR ANCIENT DNA STUDIES. IDENTICAL “MODERN-ANCIENT” DATA SETS WERE CONSIDERED AS NON AUTHENTIC AND WERE OMITTED FROM OUR STUDY. NO CONTEMPORARY UNKNOWN DNA SAMPLE WAS ALLOWED IN THE LABORATORIES. FOR EACH MUMMY, PCR EXPERIMENTS WERE REPEATED UP TO 30 TIMES USING VARIOUS BONE SAMPLES FROM DIFFERENT BODY AREAS (online interactive feature). MICROSATELLITES WERE MONITORED FOR SLIPPAGE, AND GENOTYPES WERE DETERMINED BY MAJORITY RULE”.Citation Source: Ancestry and Pathology in King Tutankhamun's FamilyThe results were independently replicated in the second laboratory:A dedicated (5 million dollar) ancient DNA laboratory was established (built) in the basement of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo to test the ancients. A SECOND LABORATORY ALSO EXCLUSIVELY DEDICATED TO WORK WITH ANCIENT DNA WAS ESTABLISHED AT THE Faculty OF MEDICINE, AT CAIRO UNIVERSITY. A SUBSET OF THE DATA GENERATED IN THE EGYPTIAN MUSEUM LABORATORY WAS INDEPENDENTLY REPLICATED IN A SEPARATE LABORATORY BY ANOTHER RESEARCH TEAM (these data sets are indicated in the manuscript)”.Applied Biosystems Helps Build Egypt's First Laboratory for Ancient DNA AnalysisContrary to Eurocentric lies, JAMA has only ever published ONE (1) letter critiquing the Hawass et al. results:The critique that was published in JAMA was written by Eline D. Lorenzen, formerly of the Centre for GeoGenetics, now a biologist at the University of California Berkeley and Eske Willerslev, Director of the Centre for GeoGenetics in Denmark expressed their concerns with the viability of the DNA and accuracy of the tests results which can be surmised in two brief sentences:Quote:“We question the reliability of the genetic data presented in this study and therefore the validity of the authors' conclusions. Furthermore, we urge a more critical assessment of the ancient DNA data in the context of DNA degradation and contamination”.Citation Source: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/44695383_King_Tutankhamun's_Family_and_Demise.A reply from Yehia Z. Gad, Ashraf Selim, and Carsten Pusch was directed towards the concerns of Drs Eline D. Lorenzen’s and Eske.In Reply:“Drs Lorenzen and Willerslev are INCORRECT REGARDING INSUFFICIENT CONTAMINATION PREVENTION AND QUALITY CONTROL MEASURES during our study. In addition, authentic, adequately preserved DNA can indeed be obtained from Egyptian mummy tissue, but requires specifically adapted extraction protocols.Source: King Tutankhamun’s Family and Demise—Reply, Yehia Z. Gad, MD; Ashraf Selim, MD; Carsten M. Pusch, PhDThe following aspects SUBSTANTIATE AUTHENTICITY.(1) All generally accepted criteria for ancient DNA authentication were strictly adhered to before, during, and after genetic analysis experiments, as described in our article.(2) Putative contamination by people handling the mummies before the sampling and during the experiments was monitored.(3) All female mummies were negative for Y-chromosomal markers.(4) All male mummies showed homozygous (ie, hemizygous) Y-chromosomal profiles.(5) The profiles and haplotypes of the whole set of mummies showed individual differences and therefore could not have originated from the same source of putative contaminant DNA.(6) The combination of nuclear data (Y- and autosomal chromosome–related markers) complemented each other.(7) Reproducible genotypes were obtained from different biopsies and extractions per mummy.(8) Subsets of the data were independently replicated in a second, separate ancient DNA laboratory staffed by a separate group of personnel, who reconfirmed the authenticity of the results.(9) DNA isolated from Egyptian mummies was highly informative when processed with next generation sequencing”.Source: King Tutankhamun’s Family and Demise—ReplyA study or article submitted to a scientific journal can be eligible for peer review by other expert scientists. In this instance, the study by Zahi Hawass; Yehia Z. Gad, Somaia Ismail, et al. “The Ancestry and Pathology in King Tutankhamun's Family”, was released on February 17, 2010.EUROCENTRICS HAVE BEEN STELLAR WITH THEIR DISINFORMATION CAMPAIGNS AGAINST DNA TRIBES AND DNA CONSULTANTSThe following must be understood, because the disinformation has been very effective:Contrary to popular belief, DNA TRIBES RESULTS ARE NOT ELIGIBLE FOR PEER REVIEW as Walter Smyth, Rita Maria Bargash formerly known as Rita de Maria and Majed Ahmed (Quora pseudo-egytologist and current incarnation, Lee Thomas) suggests. DNA TRIBES, USED DATA SETS FROM PEER REVIEW STUDIES, AND THEREFORE WOULD NOT BE SUBJECT TO PEER REVIEW BY ANY SCIENTISTS. IT’S ALREADY BEEN EXECUTED.Personal genomic companies such as DNA Tribes and DNA Consultants WERE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE EXTRACTION OF DNA FROM ANY OF THE MUMMY SAMPLES. NOR WERE THEY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE PERFORMANCE OF ANY LAB WORK. Genomic companies use peer review DNA data to process information and match it to existing populations in the database.To have to make the argument is just further evidence of the gross ignorance and sheer negligence that people speaking on this topic demonstrate regularly. DNA Tribes and DNA Consultants for that matter, were unfairly targeted and defamed by angry Eurocentrics for the results they published (which was produced by processing the DNA data into the PopAffiliator2). DNA Tribes not only confirmed the results from Zahi Hawass; Yehia Z. Gad, Somaia Ismail, et al., but because of their extensive database (the most extensive at the time with approximately 560,000 individuals from 1,200+ populations around the world, including 950+ indigenous populations), were able to point directly to ancestral regions of the Amarna mummies. This is what angered the Eurocentrics and why they continue to attack what they don’t know. Personal genomic companies basically are over-glorified data processing companies.A PEER REVIEW PUBLISHED IN THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY STUDY CONFIRMS THE FINDINGS OF ZAHI HAWASS, YEHIA Z. GAD, SOMALIA ISMAIL, ET AL.PEER REVIEW PUBLISHED IN THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY:The aim of this study is to review all available evidence for the identification of some of the most famous ancient Egyptian royal mummies. This overview of all methods used may help to identify more conclusive evidence for identification.Michael E. HabichtQuote:“For centuries, ancient Egyptian Royal mummies have drawn the attention both of the general public and scientists. Many royal mummies from the New Kingdom have survived. The discoveries of the bodies of these ancient rulers have always sparked much attention, yet not all identifications are clear even nowadays. This study presents a meta-analysis to demonstrate the difficulties in identifying ancient Egyptian royal mummies. Various methods and pitfalls in the identification of the Pharaohs are reassessed since new scientific methods can be used, such as ancient DNA-profiling and CT-scanning. While the ancestors of Tutankhamun have been identified, some identities are still highly controversial (e.g., the mystery of the KV-55 skeleton, recently most likely identified as the genetic father of Tutankhamun). The meta-analysis confirms the suggested identity of some mummies (e.g., Amenhotep III, Thutmosis IV, and Queen Tjye)”.Citation Source: Identifications of ancient Egyptian royal mummies from the 18th Dynasty reconsidered, M.E. Habicht A.S. Bouwman F.J. Rühli, 25 January 2016.Identifications of ancient Egyptian royal mummies from the 18th Dynasty reconsideredCONCLUSIONSQuote:“All presented methods (archaeology, blood group testing, facial resemblance, inscriptions) lead to the same conclusion, supporting the presented genetic results of Hawass et al. (2010)”.Citation Source: Identifications of ancient Egyptian royal mummies from the 18th Dynasty reconsidered, M.E. Habicht A.S. Bouwman F.J. Rühli, 25 January 2016.Citation resource: Identifications of ancient Egyptian royal mummies from the 18th Dynasty reconsideredIdentifications of ancient Egyptian royal mummies from the 18th Dynasty reconsidered.CREDIBLE PEER REVIEW SCIENTISTS (Jean-Philippe Gourdine, S.O.Y. Keita, Jean-Luc Gourdine and Alain Anselin) ran STR tests on the Armana mummies and replicated the results of the genetic tests performed by Zahi Hawass; Yehia Gad, Somaia Ismail, et al., Michael Habict, A.S. Bouwman, F.J. Ruhli, DNA Tribes and DNA Consultants, all found the ethnic group (affinity) probability to be SSA (sub Saharan African) using popaffiliator 1 http://cracs.fc.up.pt/.The popaffiliator ethnic group probability tests run by peer review scientists Keita, JP Gourdine, JL Gourdine and Anselin, show the Armana mummies regional ancestral breakdown at over 90% sub-Saharan for all of the mummies, with the exception of (3). KV35 (Amenhotep III) tests 71% sub-Saharan, 21% Eurasian and 6.3% Asian. KV35YLc is believed to be Nefertiti who tests at 68% sub-Saharan, 31% Eurasian and .05% Asian. KV55 Akhenaten (or Smenkhare) tests 41.7% sub-Saharan and 41.5% Eurasian and 16% Asian.Missing values=16Note: Of the 34 values expected, 16 were provided, meaning 16 were usable (47.058823529412%). In other words, only ~47% of the required STRs were provided. If more STRs are provided the reliability percentages will go up…..but based upon what is provided the result is accurate to greater than 90%. So, at the very least, we know the Armana family is 47% so-called sub-Saharan. Keep in mind, each geographic population i.e. “race” has STR profiles that are UNIQUE to them. So, results can’t be “faked” or “wrong” as has been moronically suggested by Quora’s pseudo-Egyptologist Majed Ahmed, Rita de Maria, and Walter Smyth.Conclusion“The paleolithic past has to be distinguished from the biocultural emergence in the Holocene of any society, including Europe. Egypt long before the pyramids was culturally and linguistically African as evidenced by numerous studies based on standard research which accept Egypt’s place in the Nile corridor as having local origins. The symbolism found in the Badarian or Naqadan graves, etc. nor the pyramids were brought from Asia (Near East). THE EGYPTIAN NEOLITHIC CANNOT BE SHOWN AS AN ENTITY TO HAVE COME FROM ASIA, although some domesticates were borrowed on local terms into a system of indigenous foraging in the Fayum. HISTORICAL LINGUISTICS SHOWS ANCIENT EGYPTIAN TO BE AFROASIATIC WITH BORROWINGS FROM OTHER AFRICAN LANGUAGE PHYLA. Archaeological data would seem to indicate an early integration of the eastern delta, in northern Egypt, by early Upper Egyptian rulers since Iry Hor from Abydos (~3,250 BC), who already wrote royal inscriptions in Egyptian in a script and symbolic system that used African flora and fauna. This region of Egypt, and northern Egypt had long had social intercourse with the Near East. THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS IN “ORIGIN” WERE NOT SETTLED COLONISTS AKIN TO THE EUROPEAN COLONISTS IN AFRICA. SCHUENEMANN ET AL. STUDY IS BEST SEEN AS A CONTRIBUTION TO UNDERSTANDING A LOCAL POPULATION HISTORY IN NORTHERN EGYPT AS OPPOSED TO A POPULATION HISTORY OF ALL EGYPT FROM ITS INCEPTION”.Citation Source: https://osf.io/ecwf3/Quote:“Other DNA data show substantial African affinity: “Results that are likely reliable are from studies that analyzed short tandem repeats (STRs) from Amarna royal mummies (1,300 BC), and of Ramesses III (1,200 BC); Ramesses III had the Y chromosome haplogroup E1b1a, an old African lineage. Our analysis of STRs from Amarna and Ramesside royal mummies with popAffiliator based on the same published data indicates a 41.7% to 93.9% probability of SSA affinities; most of the individuals had a greater probability of affiliation with “SSA” which is not the only way to be “African”- a point worth repeating.”Source: Ancient Egyptian Genomes from northern Egypt: Further discussion, Jean-Philippe, Shomarka Keita, Jean-Luc Gourdine, Alain Anselin, August 16th, 2018.https://osf.io/ecwf3/King Tut’s great-grandparents, Yuya and Thuya, have also been identified beyond doubt, while different opinions appear to circulate about the identity of almost all the other mummies.THUYAQuote:“One of the autosomal ancestry markers prominent in the Royal Egyptian families of the New Kingdom, this not-so-rare gene is Central African in origin and was passed to Thuya from her forebears, Queens of Upper and Lower Egypt and High Priestesses of Hathor, the Mother Goddess. Thuya passed it to her grandson Akhenaten and great-grandson Tutankhamun, among others, AS DOCUMENTED IN A FORENSIC STUDY OF THE AMARNA MUMMIES BY ZAHI HAWASS ET AL., head of the Supreme Council of Antiquities in Cairo, in 2010. Today, its highest incidence is in Somalians at nearly 50%. It is found in 40% of Muslim Egyptians. On average, 1 in 3 Africans or African-Americans carries it. It crops up in high concentrations in many places around the world such as the Basque region (41%) and in Melungeons (31%, similar to Middle Easterners), but is present at only low levels in East and South Asia, as well as Native America. Its lowest frequency is in the Chukchi of Siberia (3%)”.Citation Source: The Thuya Gene - DNA ConsultantsThe Thuya Gene IS SUB-SAHARAN AFRICAN with a low frequency in North Africa and the Old Near East and spotty distribution elsewhere except it is uniformly low in India and points east.Source: The Thuya Gene - DNA Consultants“Take the THUYA GENE, for instance. Like most of the other Rare Genes from History, it has an African origin in deep time. But it experienced its greatest expansion in ancient Egypt, where it was carried by the queens of Upper and Lower Egypt and High Priestesses of the temples. It was reported in the profile of Queen Thuya’s mummy, and we can see that she passed it to her children, grandchildren and descendants. King Tut was a great-grandson and has it, according to the new forensic evidence”.“Today, as many as one-fourth of all people on earth would test positive for the Thuya Gene. It is twice as common in Somalia as outside Africa and is found in 40% of Muslim Egyptians”.Citation Source: Rare Genes from Ancient DNA - DNA ConsultantsDNA Consultants results are also confirmed by DNA Tribes resultshttp://www.dnatribes.com/dnatribes-digest-2012-01-01.pdfWITH REGARD TO THE LEGITIMACY OF DNA TRIBES RESULTSMLI (Match Likelihood Index) score measures how common or frequent your DNA profile is in that population as compared to the world overall. MLI SCORES LOCATE THE ETHNIC GROUPS AND REGIONS WHERE YOUR DNA PROFILE IS MOST COMMON. TribeScores compares your MLI scores to members of each ethnic group and world region.removed sections, now in the Louvre Museum, Paris, France.Amenhotep III, Akhenaten (or possibly Smenkhare) and King Tutankhamen display identical ancestral origins (below). And as you can clearly see… they originate from tropical Africa which explains the ancient Egyptians tropical “SUPER NEGROID” body plans. I should add Levantine, Mediterranean and Arabian people have cold adapted body plans (not tropical). The percentage amounts are the only difference.Quote:“A new strain of ETHIOPIAN blood appears in this line through the NUBIAN QUEEN, METUMA, about 1400, B. C. HER SON, AMENHOTEP III, the Amenophis of the Greeks, covered the banks of the Nile with monuments remarkable for their grandeur and perfection”.Source: The History of Ethiopia: Nubia and Abyssinia, Vol. I., Preface, by Sir E. A. Wallis Budge, 1928, (p. 103).Note: According to E.A. Wallis Budge, Ahmenhotep’s mother was a Ethiopian.Charles Darwin (12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) an English naturalist, geologist and biologist, best known for his contributions to the science of evolution.Darwin makes a reference to this statue on his Descent of Man:Quote(s):“When I looked at the statue of Amunoph III (Amenhotep III), I agreed with two officers of the establishment, both competent judges, that he had a STRONGLY MARKED NEGRO TYPE OF FEATURES." THE FEATURES OF AKHENATON (Amennhotep IV), ARE EVEN MORE NEGROID THAN THOSE OF HIS ILLUSTRIOUS PREDECESSOR. THAT THE EARLIEST EGYPTIANS WERE AFRICAN ETHIOPIANS (NILOTIC NEGROES), IS OBVIOUS TO ALL UNBIASED STUDENTS OF ORIENTAL HISTORY”.Source: The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex, (1871).Temple of Amenhotep IV - EgyptAmenhotep IIIAkhenaten or SmenkhareTutankhamenQuote:“Southern Egypt, from which the genesis of Ancient Egypt civilization sprang, lies in the tropical zone. The Tropic of Cancer passes through Egypt at 23°26′N 25°0′E. The rest of Egypt lies in the subtropical or arid tropic zone, NOT the cold-climate zones of EUROPE OR ASIA”.Source: (Thompson and Perry, 1997; Griffiths, 1976).Humans from Southwest Asia do not exhibit tropically adapted body shapes (Crognier 1981; Eveleth and Tanner 1976; Schreider 1975).THE TROPICAL ZONEGene flow into the Nubian area during the Neolithic was not from reputed "wandering Caucasoids" but from tropical, Sub-Saharan types.Quote:“The peoples of ancient Egypt, in the aforementioned tropical and semi-tropical/arid tropic zones show clear limb proportion characteristics of tropically adapted people, and MORE closely RESEMBLE OTHER TROPICALLY ADAPTED AFRICANS ON THE CONTINENT, THAN EUROPEANS OR MIDDLE EASTERNERS”.Source: (Raxter and Ruff 2008, Zakrewski 2003, 2007; Holliday et al, 2003, Kemp, 2005).Quote:The great ancient Nile Valley civilization arose from the ’DARKER’ MORE TROPICAL SOUTH, NOT the COLD CLIMATE OR COOL CLIMATE MEDITERRANEAN, EUROPE OR ASIA.Source: (Clark, 1982; Shaw 1976, 2003; Bard, 2004; Vogel, 1997; Kemp 2005).Quote:SEVERAL STRANDS OF CULTURE FROM RELIGION TO MATERIAL LIVING PUT THE EGYPTIANS CLOSER TO NEARBY AFRICANS THAN TO COLD-CLIMATE MEDITERRANEANS, EUROPEANS OR ASIATICS.Source: (Keita, 1996, 2004; Yurco 1989, 1996; Williams, 1980; Britannia 1984; Wilkinson 1999; Wendorf, 2001).Quote:“ANOTHER RELIABLE SOURCE OF SKELETAL DATA IS LIMB PROPORTIONS, WHICH TENDS TO VARY WITH DIFFERENT CLIMATIC BELTS. THE EARLY NILE VALLEY POPULATIONS POSSESSED MORE TROPICAL BODY PROPORTIONS, SUGGESTING THAT THE EGYPTIAN NILE VALLEY WAS NOT PRIMARILY SETTLED BY COLD-ADAPTED PEOPLES, SUCH AS EUROPEANS.A 2003 paper appeared in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology by Dr Sonia Zakrzewski entitled 'Variation in Ancient Egyptian Stature and Body Proportions', where she confirmed the results of previous studies, indicating that THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS HAD TROPICALLY ADAPTED BODY PLANS”. The raw values suggest that Egyptians had the ‘super-Negroid’ body plan described by Robins (1983).The values for the brachial and crural indices show that the distal segments of each limb are longer relative to the proximal segments than in many ‘African’ populations”.Citation Source: S.O.Y. Keita & A. J. Boyce. Egypt in Africa, (1996), pp. 25-27.Cold adapted vs Tropically adaptedQuote:“Allen’s rule is a biological rule that says the limbs of endotherms are shorter in cold climates and longer in hot climates.Limb length affects the body’s surface area, which helps with thermoregulation. Shorter limbs help to conserve heat, while longer limbs help to dissipate heat”.Information Source: Holliday, Trenton W.; Hilton, Charles E. (2010-06-01). "Body proportions of circumpolar peoples as evidenced from skeletal data: Ipiutak and Tigara (Point Hope) versus Kodiak Island Inuit". American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 142 (2): 287–302.Quote:“An attempt has been made to estimate male and female Egyptian stature from long bone length using Trotter & Gleser negro stature formulae, previous work by the authors having shown that these rather than white formulae give more consistent results with male dynastic material... When consistency has been achieved in this way, Predynastic proportions are founded to be such that distal segments of the limbs are even longer in relation to the proximal segments than they are in modern negroes. Such proportions are termed "super-negroid".“Robins (1983) and Robins & Shute (1983) have shown that more consistent results are obtained from ancient Egyptian male skeletons if Trotter & Gleser formulae for negro are used, rather than those for whites which have always been applied in the past..their physical proportions were more like modern negroes than those of modern whites, with limbs that were relatively long compared with the trunk, and distal segments that were long compared with the proximal segments. If ancient Egyptian males had what may be termed negroid proportions, it seems reasonable that females did likewise”.Citation Source: (Robins G, Shute CCD. 1986. Predynastic Egyptian stature and physical proportions. Hum Evol 1:313–324. Ruff CB. 1994.).Barry John Kemp, CBE, FBA is an English archaeologist and Egyptologist. He is Professor Emeritus of Egyptology at the University of Cambridge and directing excavations at Amarna in Egypt. His widely renowned book Ancient Egypt: Anatomy of a Civilisation is a core text of Egyptology and many Ancient History courses.Quote:“Population variability in Lower (northern) Egypt. As regards predynastic population, peoples of Lower or northern Egypt show a range of variability and types. SWEEPING CLASSIFICATIONS SUCH AS CAUCASOIDS OR A "MEDITERRANEAN RACE" DEPICTED UNDER OLDER ARYAN RACE MODELS ARE THUS PROBLEMATIC FOR THIS REGION. A number of influences were present from surrounding populations. According to one history populations around sites such as Merimda, Maadi and Wadi Digla have quite different characteristics from sample populations from early Palestine and Byblos, “SUGGESTED A LACK OF COMMON ANCESTORS OVER A LONG TIME. If there was a south-north cline variation along the Nile valley it did not, from this limited evidence, continue smoothly on into southern Palestine. THE LIMB-LENGTH PROPORTIONS OF MALES FROM THE EGYPTIAN SITES GROUP THEM WITH AFRICANS RATHER THAN WITH EUROPEANS”.Source: Ancient Egypt Anatomy of a Civilisation (Paperback) by Barry Kemp (Author) Publisher: Routledge; 2 edition (December 12, 2005); see also Zakrzewski, S.R. (2003). "Variation in ancient Egyptian stature and body proportions". American Journal of Physical Anthropology 121 (3): 219-229.Professor Trenton Holliday, Ph.D., Professor & Department Chair Anthropology, School of Liberal Arts, Tulane University, [email protected] received his B.A. in anthropology from Louisiana State University in 1988, and his M.A. (1991) and Ph.D. (1995) in anthropology from the University of New Mexico. A paleoanthropologist, he studies fossil hominins from a host of different time periods. He is particularly interested in the origins of modern humans (Homo sapiens), a topic which is intimately tied to the question of the fate of the Neandertals (H. neanderthalensis). He is also interested in late Australopithecus and the origins of the genus Homo, and in interspecific hybridization among extant mammals and its implications for human evolution. Professor Holliday teaches courses in human evolution, functional morphology, and modern human adaptation and variation.Quote(s):“What we can say, however, is that in the Holocene, HUMANS FROM SOUTHWEST ASIA DO NOT EXHIBIT TROPICALLY ADAPTED BODY SHAPE (Crognier 1981; Eveleth and Tanner 1976; Schreider 1975). In addition, while Levantine winters today are generally characterized as mild (Henkin et al. 1998), they are nonetheless quite often cold, with frequent snowfall—for example, the winter of 1992 was particularly cold and snowy in Israel (Vishnevetsky and Steinberger 19%). GIVEN THAT THE HOLOCENE IS A WARM PHASE, YET RECENT LEVANTINE HUMANS DO NOT EXHIBIT A TROPICALLY ADAPTED MORPHOLOGY, there is little reason to assume that in the (generally colder) Pleistocene epoch, natural selection alone could result in tropically adapted morphology in the region”.“Thus, the discovery of TROPICAL ADAPTED hominids in the region would therefore likely indicate population dispersal from the TROPICS, AND THE MOST LOGICAL GEOGRAPHIC SOURCE FOR SUCH AN INFLUX IS AFRICA. In this regard, Trinkaus (1981, 1984, 1995) and have argued that the high brachial and crural indices, narrow biiliac breadths, and small relative femoral head sizes of the Qafzeh-Skhul hominids suggest an influx of African genes associated with the emergence of modern humans in the region”.Source: Trenton Holliday (2000) Evolution at the Crossroads: Modern Human Emergence in Western Asia. American Anthropologist. New Series, Vol. 102, No. 1, 54-68.Research studies: Evolution at the Crossroads: Modern Human Emergence in Western Asiahttps://www.researchgate.net/pub...Climatic influences on human body size and proportions: Ecological adaptations and secular trends https://www.researchgate.net/pub...Near Eastern Late Archaic HumansMorphological adaptation to climate in modern and fossil hominidsStature estimation in ancient Egyptians: A new technique based on anatomical reconstruction of statureNote: Humans from Southwest Asia do not exhibit tropically adapted body shapes (Crognier 1981; Eveleth and Tanner 1976; Schreider 1975). In other words Asiatics, in other words Eurasians, in other words Near Eastern, in other words “CAUCASIANS, DO NOT EXHIBIT TROPICALLY ADAPTED BODIES LIKE THAT OF THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS”. In other words, it is impossible for the Egyptians to have originated from a group (Asiatics) that was not a tropically adapted like divergent.Quote:Where is the research/study that “shows” Yuya and Thuya were naturally fair-haired? You did not cite it, nor did you provide a link to the study. When was the study conducted, when was it released and who is the author?As for the article you attached, it’s much ado about nothing Mr. Smyth. It’s what is referred to as ‘click bait’. This “new” research confirms that blondes were “living” in Egypt during the Ptolemaic and Roman Periods. Ok.. where’s the news in that? Greeks and Romans invaded and occupied ancient Egypt and it's never been back in the hands of the autochthonous Egyptians. Large numbers of Greeks and later Romans emigrated to Egypt, as attested to in countless history books. No one would argue there weren’t blondes in Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt. Eurocentrics will take any crumbs offered to them and magnify the absolutely insignificant to epic proportions. It’s the equivalent of making a big deal about discovering the skeleton of a European (‘white’) from the 1700s buried in North America. As usual, the headline is hyperbolic and an exaggeration of what is actually being stated. Nowhere does it state that the “blondes” were Dynastic Egyptians.Janet Davey, Monash University, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Post-Doc. Studies Egyptology, Ancient Egyptian Religion, and Education. Forensic Egyptologist.“Moreover, Davey SUGGEST THAT THERE WERE BLONDES LIVING IN EGYPT DURING THE GRAECO-ROMAN PERIOD (332 BC – 395 AD)”.Citation Source: Some ancient Egyptians were natural blondes.Excerpt from a Michael Broussard Dr. Davey interview:[Excerpt]Quote:“Don’t misunderstand.. no one is saying that all Egyptians were blue-eyed and blond people. HOWEVER, IT ALL TIES IN TOGETHER WITH THE CONTEXT OF THE TIME PERIOD ALL THESE FAIR-HAIRED MUMMIES CAN BE TRACED BACK TO. DAVEY NOTE THAT FAIR-HAIRED MUMMIES ARE, ACTUALLY, VERY RARE AND THAT SHE’S ONLY SEEN A LIMITED NUMBER IN HER ENTIRE CAREER. This actually fueled the theories that aimed to explain the color change by blaming it on natron and other substances”.“ALL OF THE FAIR-HAIRED MUMMIES UNEARTHED DATE BACK TO A TIME WHEN EGYPT WAS HEAVILY DOMINATED BY EXTERIOR INFLUENCES. Take the mummies of Fag el-Gamous for example – THEY DATE TO THE TIME OF ROMAN OCCUPATION. SINCE INTERACTIONS WITH GREEKS, ROMANS, AND OTHER FOREIGN CIVILIZATIONS, it was very possible that there was an addition to the pool of Egyptian genes”.“Whether it was as soldiers, or as slaves, MANY EUROPEAN-ROOTED NATIONS STARTED INTERACTING WITH EGYPTIANS DURING THE HEAVILY INTERNATIONALIZED PERIOD OF THE GRECO-ROMAN ERA. Some historians estimate that Scandinavian travelers are included as well”.“Regardless, the conclusion is thatTHE RESULT OF THE INTERRACIAL MIXES CREATED A NEW BRANCH OF EGYPTIAN PEOPLE WHICH CARRIED OUT THE FAIR-HAIRED GENES OF VARIOUS GREEKS, ROMANS, MACEDONIANS, OR SCANDINAVIANS”.[End excerpt]Citation Source: Michael Broussard, The Myth Of Blonde And Ginger Egyptians: What’s The Explanation?Note: Fair-haired mummies are, actually, very rareThis is much ado about nothing.Joann Fletcher (born 30 August 1966) is an Egyptologist and an honorary visiting professor in the department of archaeology at University of York where she specializes in the a Ptolemaic period in ancient Egypt. She has published a number of books and academic articles, including on Cleopatra, and made numerous television and radio appearances. In 2003, she controversially claimed to have identified the mummy of Queen Nefertiti.I’d understand if you took offense to this quote agent Smyth:Quote:“Fletcher (2002) in Egyptian Hair and Wigs, gives an example of what she calls “DISTURBING ATTEMPTS TO USE HAIR TO PROVE ASSUMPTIONS OF RACE AND GENDER” involving 18th century European researcher Flinder’s Petrie, who sought, when feasible, to use excavation reports to prove his theories of Aegean (Caucasians) settlers flowing into Egypt. SUCH DISTURBING ATTEMPTS CONTINUE TODAY IN THE USE OF HAIR FOR RACE CATEGORY OR PERCENTAGE CLAIMS INVOLVING THE ANCIENT PEOPLES, SUCH AS THE "RACIAL" ANALYSIS SEEN ON A GREAT NUMBER OF INTERNET BLOGS AND WEBSITES, SOME THINLY DISGUISED FRONTS FOR NEO-NAZI GROUPS OR SYMPATHIZERS”.Source: Joanne Fletcher (PDF) An Ancient Egyptian Wig: Construction and Reconstruction, 2017.Note: The internet blogs and websites Joanne Fletcher is referencing are the likes of Forum Biodiversity, Historum, Eurogenes, Final Crusades, Dieneke’s Anthropology Blog, Davidski, theApricity, Anthrogenenica, Anthroscape and the defunct apologist’s site, Mathilda’s BlogYuya and wife Thuya, King Tutankhamun’s great-grandparents died between the ages of 50–60. So, the likes of Walter Smyth actually believe that at 50 and 60, Yuya and Thuya sported were “natural blonds”? Lol. The hair in these photographs is not even blonde, but gold in color. These “hues” are not ‘natural’ and is likely the result of henna dye (a common ancient Egyptian practice).Quote:"The current colour of the hair is brown with reddish highlights, a common observation on many mummies, and probably originated through POST-MORTEM ALTERATION (Aufderheide, 2003; Wilson et al., 2001). SUN-EXPOSURE, BACTERIAL REACTION, AND EMBALMING METHODS ARE SOME OF THE FACTORS THAT MAY AFFECT THE ORIGINAL HAIR COLOR. As a result, HAIR THAT WAS ORIGINALLY BLACK OR BROWN EXHIBITS REDDISH, ORANGE OR EVEN BLOND COLOR DUE TO POST MORTEN ALTERATIONS. All human hair, however, does not turn red over archaeological time-scales (Wilson, 2001). BASED ON THE HISTOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF THE UNSTAINED HAIR SAMPLES, THE LIMITED FUNGAL INFLUENCE, AND THE MACROSCOPIC VIEW, IT CAN BE ASSUMED THAT THE ORIGINAL HAIR COLOR WAS BROWN. Similar cases of hair preservation have been reported in studies of both mummified and non-mummified human remains (Aufderheide, 2003; Brothwell and Dobney, 1986; Lubec et al., 1987; White, 1993; Wilson et al., 2002, 2007b)."Citation Source: C. Papageorgopoulou et al. 2008. Indications of embalming in Roman Greece by physical, chemical and histological analysis. Journal of Archaeological Science.Andrew Wilson and his colleagues at the University of Bradford have found that the chemistry of hair may change after centuries in the ground:Quote:“But in analyses of hair from 13 corpses, Wilson found that over time cavities appear in the shafts of the hair, allowing material to leak out and letting in foreign matters such as mineral salts and microorganisms”.Although the tough, outer shaft of ancient hair is robust, says Wilson, there is substantial decay of the cortex, the softer material inside.Examining hair with a sensitive chemical technique called Fourier transform Raman spectroscopy, Wilson discovered that the strong bonds in the keratin --- the protein that makes up the hair --- were often weakened.'This increased porosity raises the possibility of contamination,' he says. The team found hair that had been invaded by threads of fungus and in one case with iron salts from an iron coffin. This doesn’t show that isotopic signatures were changed, but they do reveal changes in the nature of the hair. “My hunch is that it would affect isotopic ratios,” says Wilson”.Citation Source: Hair today… Andy CoghlandQuote(s):“The reader must assume, as apparently do the authors, that the "coarseness" or "fineness" of hair can readily distinguish races and that hair is dichotomized into these categories. Problematically, however, virtually all who have studied hair morphology in relation to race since the 1920’s to the present have rejected such a characterization .. Hausman, as early as 1925, stated thatit is "not possible to identify individuals from samples of their hair, basing identification upon histological similarities in the structure of scales and medullas, since these may differ in hairs from the same head or in different parts of the same hair". Rook (1975) pointed out nearly 50 years later out that NEGROID AND CAUCASOID HAIR ARE “CHEMICALLY INDISTINGUISHABLE”.Citation Source: Tom Mieczkowsk, T. (2000). The Further Mismeasure: The Curious Use of Racial Categorizations in the Interpretation of Hair Analyses. Intl J Drug Testing 2000; vol 2.Quote:“Two British anthropologists, Brothwell and Spearman, have found evidence of cortex keratin oxidation in ancient Egyptian hair. They held that the mummification process was responsible, because of the strong alkaline substance used. THIS RESULTED IN THE YELLOWING AND BROWNING OF HAIR AS WELL AS THE STRAIGHTENING EFFECT. THIS MEANS THAT THE VISUAL APPEARANCE OF THE HAIR ON MUMMIES CANNOT DISGUISE THEIR RACIAL AFFINITIES”.Reference: ScienceDirectQuote:Hair studies of mummies note that color is often influenced by environmental factors at burial sites. Brothwell and Spearman (1963) point out that reddish-brown ancient color hair is usually the result of partial oxidation of the melanin pigment. Other causes of hair color "blonding" involve natron and its alkaline in the mummification process. Color also varies due to the Egyptian practice of dyeing hair with henna. Other samples show individuals lightening the hair using vegetable colorants. Thus variations in hair color among mummies do not necessarily suggest the presence of blond or red-haired Europeans or Near Easterners flitting about Egypt before being mummified, but the influence of environmental factors.Information Referenced: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/256381670_Preliminary_note_on_the_ultrastructure_of_the_hair_from_an_Egyptian_mummy_using_the_Scanning_Electron_MicroscopeQuote:“Potential change to hair color can be explained more scientifically by examining the chemistry of melanin which is responsible for hair color in life. All hair contains a mixture in varying concentration of both black-brown eumelanin and red-yellow phaeomelanin pigments, which are susceptible to differential chemical change under certain extreme burial conditions (for example wet reducing conditions, or dry oxidising conditions). Importantly, phaeomelanin is much more stable to environmental conditions than eumelanin, hence THE REACTIONS OCCURRING IN THE BURIAL ENVIRONMENT FAVOR THE PRESERVATION OF PHAEOMELANIN, REVEALING AND ENHANCING the RED/YELLOW COLOR OF HAIRS CONTAINING THIS PIGMENT. Color changes occur slowly under dry oxidising conditions, such as in the burials in sand at Hierakonpolis. Whether the conditions within the wood and plaster coffin contributed to accelerated color change, or whether this individual naturally had more phaeomelanin pigmentation in his hair is hard to say without further analysis”.Citation Source: www.archaeology.org/interactive/hierakonpolis/field/hair.htmlQuote:“Strouhal (1971) microscopically examined some hair which had been preserved on a Badarian skull. The analysis was interpreted as suggesting a stereotypical tropical African-European hybrid (mulatto). However, THIS HAIR IS GROSSLY NO DIFFERENT FROM THAT OF FULANI, SOME KANURI, OR SOMALI AND DOES NOT REQUIRE A GENE FLOW EXPLANATION ANY MORE THAN CURLY HAIR IN GREECE NECESSARILY DOES. EXTREMELY "WOOLLY" HAIR IS NOT THE ONLY KIND NATIVE TO TROPICAL AFRICA”.Source: S.O.Y. Keita. (1993). "Studies and Comments on Ancient Egyptian Biological Relationships," History in Africa 20 (1993) 129-54).Strouhal thus concluded:Quote:The red hair, on the contrary, seems represented, at least by some individuals, in all known races, whether equatorial or boreal... From what precedes, WE ARRIVE AT THE CONCLUSION THAT THE COLOR OF THE HAIR ALONE IS INSUFFICIENT TO CHARACTERISE A RACE.. p 73–74Source: Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, vol. 6 (1877), pp. 71-92 titled On the Human Hair as a Race Character.NOTE: About 1 to 2 percent of the human population has red hair. Redheads have genes to thank for their tresses. Research shows red hair usually results from a mutation in a gene called MC1R, which codes for the melanocortin-1 receptor. The pigment found in red hair that gives it red is called pheomelanin.On Ramesses IIThe analysis on Rameses II also did not show classic “European” red hair but hair of a light red to yellowish tinge. Black haired or dark-skinned populations are quite capable of producing such yellowish-red color variants on their own, as can be seen in today's east and northeast Africa (see child's photo below). Nor is such color variation unusual to Africa. Native dark-skinned populations in Australia, Melanesia and Madagascar routinely produce people with blond or reddish hair. As noted above, ultra diverse Africa is the original source of such variation.

The main reason we haen’t detected life is because we haven’t looked. Not since the two Viking landers in the 1970s which were the first and last dedicated astrobiology missions to Mars. It's not actually been a search for life for getting on for 40 years.The results from Viking were ambiguous with discussion continuing to this day about whether they found life or not. As a example of how the debate continues, a recent study of day / night rhythms (circadian rhythms) in the old Viking data found that they were offset by more than half an hour from the temperature cycle. This is hard to explain with purely chemical methods.Even if there were microbes in dormant state in the dust everywhere on Mars at similar density to the dry core of the Atacama desert, we simply would not know yet. Nothing we have sent to Mars since Viking would discover it. It was our only chance and it returned confusing data, we now know because of the unexpected perchlorate salts in the dust.That’s something you can work around with new versions of the experiments. For instance nearly all life finds the mirror image of the amino acids in its food indigestible. A chiral version of the labeled release (testing whether the life eats a chemical or its mirror image) would completely eliminate any ambiguitiyof those results (except in the unlikely event that Mars has some exotic biology that is indifferent to the difference between food and mirror image food or some exotic chemistry that can tell the difference).We also have new methods to search for organics and biosignatures using miniature instruments that back then were either impossible to build at all or too massive. Instruments that would fill an entire lab not that long ago, are now ‘labs on a chip’ and weigh only a few kilograms and are far more sensitive than anything they had in the 1970s.It’s crazy that in 2017 still the only astrobiological data we have from the Mars surface is from a few experiments carried out in the 1970s, with no opportunity even to refine the equipment and send it again to deal with the unfamiliar chemistry of the soil there.NOT FOR LACK OF TRYING BY ASTROBIOLOGISTSThe astrobiologists have been asking for new missions to search for life there ever since. Many of them.A team of astrobiologists in the US built UREY instrument for ExoMars which would have been a capable life searcher but then the US pulled out of the collaboration with ESA and the instrument was dropped - years and years of work, just leading to nothing.Of course that is common in the space community - but the difference here is that NONE OF THE ASTROBIOLOGY INSTRUMENTS FOR MARS EVER FLY.Many geological and geochemical instruments never fly either but we do get SOME GEOLOGICAL INSTRUMENTS SENT TO MARS.There are many new instruments that can be sent to Mars. They are getting smaller and lighter with every year.ESA nearly included LifeMarkerChip (mass 4.7 kg) in their proposed ExoMars payload - a very capable and innovative life detector for alien biology using polyclonal antibodies but that also was descoped. There are many more they can send.Astrobionibbler, the replacement for UREY has shrunk down to a small instrument you can hold in your hand - target mass 2.5 Kg. What's more, it is so sensitive now that it can detect a single amino acid in a gram of a sample.New instruments would be even lighter.There's an end to end gene sequencer now that we could send to Mars based on two commercial components that you can hold in a hand each. It’s called SETG.But instead they plan to send MOXIE on Mars 2020, the successor to Curiosity. This has a payload mass 15 kg, enough for 3 - 6 astrobiology life detector instruments, and does nothing except generate oxygen which is then vented into the Mars atmosphere. It is useless for the rover, as it is just a test for technology they hope to send to Mars eventually to support some human mission there. Rovers don’t need oxygen. And it adds 15 kg it has to carry with it wherever it goes - why couldn't it go on the Insight lander or some other stationary lander?And that's along with a sample return cache which the astrobiologists have said over and over, in many papers, is not the way to test for life on Mars. Because it would just be pot luck if you get any life in the sample unless you can detect it there.The most likely predicted outcome is that it returns samples similar to the ALH84001 meteorite and other Mars meteorites we already have with organics and ambiguous possible signs of life that will be argued over indefinitely. Especially since they also won't sterilize the sample container thoroughly. It even has a small chance of an intact viable spore from Earth in any of its sample tubes on arrival on Mars.The astrobiologists when asked about a sample return say it is not worth the huge expense for almost certainly ambiguous samples that would not significantly advance their subject. They said clearly that this is not the way to advance their subject, yet who listens to them?The only astrobiologist to talk in favour of a sample return that I know of is Chris McKay. And he says an elaborate mission like Mars 2020 is far too expensive and not the way to do it. He would just send a simple vehicle to pick up a sample of dust from the surface - as informative as you are likely to get without an in situ search - and return that to Earth. A few days on the surface tops.But for historical reasons, nobody listens to the astrobiologists when planning a “search for life” on Mars. The decadal survey and mission plans have ignored all the astrobiological papers warning against sample returns, The engineers decide to send this cache and prioritize it so high they have used the budget for the single most expensive 'flagship' project for NASA for not just one decade but two decades, if the mission is completed.This decision is based on a decadal survey that in its summing up simply ignored the white paper submitted to it by eight astrobiologists that argued strongly against a sample return saying it would mortgage the budget for Mars missions for 20 years to return samples that would be likely to be as ambiguous for astrobiology as the Mars meteorites we already have.To add this sample cache, they had to descope an updated version of SAM (Sample Analysis at Mars) from Mars 2020 to make room for it. This reduces the capability of Mars 2020 to do preliminary analysis of the samples - the very thing the astrobiologists say is the top priority if you want to search for life on Mars.The thing is the decision making process in NASA and the Decadal survey is filled with engineers, geologists and others who simply don't have the astrobiological background and insight and the astrobiologists get ignored over and over.MARS COLONIZATION ENTHUSIASTS SAYING OUR CHANCE IS OVER NOWThis is partly driven by enthusiasts who want to try to “colonize” a cold dry airless rock. The air is so thin that your lungs can’t function without a full body presesure suit as the moisture lining your lungs would boil at blood temperature making gas exchange impossible, you wouldn’t last more than seconds. There is no possibility of adapting, it’s simple physics that lungs can’t work at Mars pressure levels. Ordinary Earth plants can’t grow there. At night for 100 days of the two year long ‘year’, even at the equator it still gets cold enough for the carbon dioxide to condense out of the atmosphere as dry ice, along with water vapour, making the temporary morning ‘frosts’ first photographed by the Viking landers.It’s as easy, some would say easier to live on the Moon than on Mars.And then colonization enthusiasts say"Look we haven't found life yet so let's just go ahead and contaminate Mars, you've had your chance and you blew it".Not true at all. The physicists and geologists and geochemists are the ones who ‘blew it’, not the astrobiologists.PHYSICISTS CONSTANTLY SEARCHING FOR MORE AND MORE DETAILED EVIDENCE OF PAST HABITABILITY OF MARSThey continue to have as their top and nearly only priority to establish past habitability of Mars in more and more detail.It's interesting and useful but astrobiologists have been saying all along we don't need to know the past and present habitability in minute detail before searchign for life. We could have been doing it all along. And we need to search not just for water but for nitrogen too. Nobody is doing that particularly.Also - for present day life, we have never sent anything to the most likely places to find life. Not only that, we don’t have any missions even on the drawing board to search for present day life.THE BEST PLACES TO LOOK FOR PRESENT DAY LIFE ON MARS - TOTALLY UNEXPLORED AT GROUND LEVELThe best places to look include the RSLs - streaks that form seasonally in spring on sun facing slopes when local temperatures reach around 0 C. They grow down slopes in summer, then broaden out and fade away in autumn. Though the dark features aren’t water (this has been known for a long time) bur rather perhaps mini cascades of dust (recent observations) they are associated with hydrated salts. This strongly suggests that at least thin films of briny water may be forming there.There are many other places to investigate. For instance, this is not widely mentioned outside the specialist literature, but there are some features in Richardsons crater near the south pole called “flow like features” that form in the debris from Martian carbon dioxide geysers, which may be due to liquid water forming below the surface.Whether that’s what they are or not, modeling shows that any transparent ice in the polar regions should lead to formation of a thin layer cms thick of fresh water below the surface seasonally, forming within days. The main question is whether the transparent ice exists there on Mars - it does on Earth in Antarctica and if the same transparency is achieved on Mars the liquid water layers should exist for the same reason that they form in Antarctica a short way below the surface of ice sheets below transparent surface ice, through the solid state greenhouse effect.Then there are the droplets that can form on salt / ice interfaces rather rapidly anywhere on Mars where there is ice and salt in proximity, a discovery by Nilton Renno’s team (he is the head of the Curiosity team investigating surface conditions on Mars, and the weather station on Mars).And then there's the night time humidity that life could exploit without water at all, being explored in many experiments by astrobiologists in Germany. These may use a thicker higher humidity layer trapped briefly above the morning frosts - or else some astrobiologists suggest that life could exploit micropores in salt, which in the Atacama desert are able to increase the humidity of the surrounding air significantly, enabling cyanobacteria to live at humidity levels normally considered far too low for life.There are the methane seeps also. They may or may not be signs of life. If they are due to life then that's definitely life with some communication to the surface. One theory is that it may be generated by life on the Mars surface. There's also the thin layer of water now detected indirectly by Curiosity below its wheels as it drives over sand dunes. We know it is there through humidity measurements. The scientists think ti is sometims warm enough for life but too salty, and sometmes the other way around - but Nilton Renno has suggested that biofilms may be able to exploit it and create conditions for life as life so often does in hostile conditions like that.What would we learn about life in the Atacama desert or the McMurdo dry valleys in Antarctica if we only had satellite measurements to go by? The life is usually hidden below the surface, undetectable at all from the air, and in Antarctica, there are microbes with lifetimes of millennia, just barely subsisting on the minimal resources there, yet they are alive and of great interest. When returned to a laboratory for study, they can take months just to ‘wake up’ and do something given plentiful resources.There are so many things the astrobiologists want to test and explore - as well as searching for past life which involves drilling to a depth of at least 2 meters. Ideally 10.ExoMars will be the first rover sent to Mars with any decent chance of finding evidence of past life there.Surface organics rapidly degrade with the cosmic radiation over billions or even hundreds of millions of years and you also have a constant influx of organics from meteorites. That incidentally is also why detecting organics in a sample to return to Earth is no guarantee at all that the sample is of interest for the search for life. You need in situ life detection. Or else the chances are you just return organics from comets or meteorites that mimic biosignatures (as we know they can do). Curiosity has already found organics on Mars and it is thought to come from meteorites.If thre is any life in the equatorial desert sands- one of the most unlikely places to find life there but it's not impossible, especially as dormant spores - then neither Curiosity nor Mars 2020 are sensitive enough to spot it. When Mars 2020 collects its samples for return to Earth, there could be traces of present day life just centimeters away from the drill bit, and there would be no way for Mars 2020 to detect it. That's not at all impossible either, since life in hostile conditions is often very patchy with seemingly identical patches of rock some with life and some without.And it would be tragic to make native life on Mars extinct, or to mix it with Earth life through horizontal gene transfer (if related) or confuse the search.Zubrin has argued that Mars life should be identical to Earth life through meteorite transfer. But even the Chicxulub impact 66 million years ago, though it could send material at escape velocity to Mars, would subject any life to huge shocks, and the rocks have to LEAVE THE ATMOSPHERE AT ESCAPE VELOCITY - think how fast they have to leave the surface.And while traveling through the atmosphere at well above 10 km / sec the surface is going to become hotter than any incoming meteorite and ablate away any photosynthetic life on its surface. All that will survive are maybe some heavily shocked microbes buried deep within rocks - and then when they get to Mars they have to find a suitable habitat on a dry barren planet. How likely is that?It’s far easier for life to get from Mars to Earth in a meteorite but that’s a major challenge also. We get tons of material from Mars every century - but all the material we recieve today has spend hundreds of thousands of years in space. They are from only a few occasional glancing impacts on Mars once or twice every million years, and moreover, they are nearly all from the higher southern uplands of Mars with its even thinner than usual atmosphere and one of the least likely places to have life on Mars.So far we have no proof that life has ever been transferred in either direction. Models suggest life can be transferred from Mars to Earth especially in the early solar system, but we don’t know if there is life on Mars robust enough to do this, as its capabilities if any are of course completely unknown. That’s the easy direction, and from Earth to Mars it probably only happened during early impacts so large they blew a hole in the atmosphere leaving a vacuum for the rocks to fly through. It’s possible that Earth and Mars life is related, through this process over 3 billion years ago. Or just as possible that it is unrelated.The most vulnerable type of life would be some early pre-cursor of Earth life. Perhaps so early that it hasn’t yet developed the modern two biopolymers system of DNA + RNA, and it may not even have proteins yet. At least, that was one of the theories used to try to explain the tiny potential cells in the meteorite ALH84001 as it permits cells too small for modern life. We don’t yet know if those structures are cells. It’s neither been proved or disproved. We have two alternative models - biological and chemical, and so far no way to decide between them which is why it is not being called a discovery of life. But it could be. More evidence from Mars could end up with a proof that ALH84001 actually does have fossils of early Mars life.If so - with such cold dry conditions since then, perhaps it has evolved no further and what we have there still are early RNA world cells, too ancient to have proteins, or DNA. Maybe that is what is present in all the habitats on Mars. This is just one possibility but we can’t rule it out and I like it because it helps show how vulnerable Mars life could be to Earth life. Presumably it would be quickly made extinct by whatever orignally made it extinct on Earth, if it is indeed some early Earth life precursorVALUE OF UNINHABITED MARS - NEAREST SUCH FOR LIGHT YEARS IN ANY DIRECTIONEven if Mars is uninhabited but has uninhabited habitats - it is our one and only chance to study uninhabited habitats on a terrestrial planet. There are many possibilities for habitats in icy moon oceans but Mars is our only chance outside of Earth for a habitat in a surface environment with liquid water and an atmosphere.That's far more important than you might think. Uninhabited habitats with organics, water, nittrogen etc but no life could tell us what happens on planets similar to Earth and Mars in our galaxy that don't have life. Do they form cells? Self replicating chemicals? Just organics with nothing even remotely resembling life? This is our only chance to find out.MARS COLONIZATION ENTHUSIASTS COULD DESTROY ALL THIS BY MISTAKE, NOT EVEN KNOWING IT IS THEREThey could blow all that away for what? Impatience to get humans to Mars as soon as posisble.THE MOON AS OUR NEIGHBOUR AND NATURAL PLACE TO EXPLORE FIRST ON FOOTWhen the Moon is there right at hand for us to explore with minimal planetary protection issues. Far safer for humans. The obvious first place to go to. We have only sent a few people there for up to three days at a time for less than a decade starting in 1969. We have explored only a few spots in equatorial regions on the near side of the Moon. Only one scientist has ever been there, a geologist, on one expedition, and the rest were all test pilots with some basic training in geology. It’s barely explored. Many surprised from orbit. It may even have evidence of life from Earth, Mars, even Venus in early meteorites trapped for billions of years in the polar ice still with organics preserved in a deep freeze far colder than any freezer on Earth for all that time.It has many advantages over Mars for humans. Including near 24/7 solar power at the poles, probable ice at the poles, the vast lunar caves and importantly - at least some potential of commercial exports to Earth.CLOSE TO ZERO COMMERCIAL POTENTIAL FOR MARSMars has just about zero commercial potential - the idea of exporting deuterium doesn't work at all - it is only slightly concentrated and you need a thousands of tons factory to concentrate it further. There's no way that importing deuterium from Mars could be worth the cost of offsetting just a few steps of concentration in a massive deuterium factory on Earth the size of a skyscraper.Elon Musk echoing Robert Zubrin says Mars colonists would pay for their colony by export of intellectual property to Earth. That they would make so many amazing inventions in those hostile conditions that they would fund the colony by licensing them to us on Earth. What about all the inventions from Earth they are using on Mars? Some find that argument plausible - I find it deeply implausible myself. And what if someone else does become a multi-billionaire from an invention he or she makes on Mars? What’s to stop them coming back to Earth to enjoy their billions, with Earth likely to seem a luxury planet after Mars to them. Take early retirement to a tropical island, a paradise after Mars and buy yachts and private jets and whatever else they fancy from the billions they earned from the inventions they made on Mars.And only one in a million perhaps does that. Do they pay for million dollar replacement spacesuits for all their comrades on Mars to mention just one item of expense in a space colony? They would need to be benevolent trillionaires to do that. Even if you optimistically assume a huge export of inventions in only the one direction from Mars to Earth, how is that supposed to pay for a space colony exactly?AT LEAST SOME COMMERCIAL POTENTIAL FOR THE MOONWith the Moon there's the potential of exports of platinum, of ice, there's possible tourism, even one week trips from Earth, And much of it is unexplored. There's the hard vacuum and unoxidized surface which means you have pure iron there instead of iron oxide and you have ideal conditions for making electronics such as natively deposited solar cells with a vacuum far harder than any used in factoriees here on Earth. The CO2 is not an asset on Mars except for making fuel from hydrogen. Well you don't need that on the Moon, the return delta v is so low. Also being iat a constant distance from Earth you have the possibility of using two momentum exchange tethers that together are able to exploit the difference in gravitaitonal potential from the Moon to Earth to send materials from the lunar surface to hypersonic flight in the Earth upper atmosphere for almost no use of fuel at all, powered by the flow of materials from the Moon to Earth - that's Hoyt's cislunar tether system which would pay for itself in mass savings after just one year of operation with one mission a week to the Moon.MOON IDEAL FOR A BACKUPAnd the Moon is an ideal place to set up a backup if that is your main reason for going into space. There is almost nothing could make us extinct anyway - humans are far more hardy and robust, with minimal technology than most give us credit for. We are amongst the least at risk of extinction species on our planet. We can survive anywhere from the Kalahari desert to Siberia and the high Arctic with minimal technology. With fire, clothing, shelters that we build, ability to cultivate crops, keep animals, even living off shellfish, we could survive just about anything. At least some of us.If you want a backup - well you can backup seeds on the Moon. Ideal for that, permanent temperatures in the lunar caves just right for a seed bank. Add a small colony exploring self sufficiency in space and you have the best backup you could have right close, as close to Earth as you can get. What would you do if Earth was devastated? Try to build a civilization on Mars? Of course not, your top priority would be to return to Earth as soon as possible and rebuild a civilization here. It’s always going to be the most habitable place for humans in our solar system. A backup is used to restore the original - that’s the whole point.We don't need to be multi-planetary - what good does it do to be spread thin over two planets and to have massive megaprojects with planet sized thin film mirrors or 500 half gigawatte factories just making greenhouse gases for a thousand year project of uncertain outcome on Mars - think what those same levels of funding could do in cisluanr space!Terraforming is just a step too far at present. We couldn't even terraform a duplicate of Earth with a thick carbon dioxide atosphere without life, oxygen or nitrogen in the atmosphere with any confidence of success, never mind Mars. Meanwhile you can set up a city dome or Stnaford Torus or O'Neil cylinder anywhere. There's enough material in the asteroid belt for radiation shielding and other materials for habitats iwth a thousand times the land area of Earth. You could never build a thousand copies of Mars but you have materials there to build habitats with similar land area.It is just so wasteful to terraform a planet. Create a kilometers thick atmosphere (with a buffer gas such as nitrogen as well as oxygen) in order to generate 2-3 meters thickness of breathable air at the surface. Fill hundreds of meters or kilometers depths of dry sand with water in order to have a bit of moisture in the atmosphere so you can grow plants (when with aeroponics you need hardly any water at all)OTHER LOCATIONS FURTHER AFIELDIf you want to go furhter afield, with Elon Musk's BFR you could go to Callisto, say. Masses of ice, well outside Jupiter's radiation belts. Great place for exploring deep space settlements.There's Venus too and its upper atmosphere. There's Mercury with its polar ice.We could send humans to orbit around Mars too and to operate instruments and rovers on the surface by telepresence.Why send humans as quickly as possible to the one place in the inner solar system most vulnerable to contaminationSO WHAT IS OUR BEST CHANCE OF FINDING LIFE ON MARS IN THE NEAR FUTURE?I think the chance of Mars 2020 making a significant astrobiological discovery is minimal. They simply didn’t listen to the advice of the astrobiologists when planning the mission.I'm most hopeful for ESA actually. They have more of an interest in astrobiology currently than NASA. In the sense of following recommendations of astrobiologists about how to search for life there.At least ExoMars is going to drill 2 meters which astrobiologists have been saying for many years is a top priority - but again got ignored. NASA is going to send the Insight lander to drill 5 meters for geology but no interest in doing that for an astrobiology mission.It has a chance of finding past life, while Mars 2020 has next to none of finding either past or present day life, if the astrobiologists are right as I think they are from what I've read. And then in future they may send more capable rovers with astrobiology in situ instruments.Imagine for instance, how embarrassing it will be for NASA if the first astrobiology instrument sent to Mars by ESA or maybe even the ISRO or something discovers that there are spores widespread in the dust in small quantities and that their rovers could have found it decades ago if they had but followed up the Viking experiments?That is Gilbert Levin's view. Now, I’m not saying he is right, but he hasn't been proved wrong either. He could have been proved wrong in any of the follow up missions since Viking if they had sent an updated version of his experiment or other astrobiological instruments to test for life in the dust. But nobody ever did.Our rovers could be traveling over spores of life in the dust every day. Nobody would know yet.In the very near future I think our best bet is ESAs TGO (Trace Gas Orbiter) which is in orbit around Mars right now and will soon start its science phase. First instrument dedicated to astrobiology for observation of the Mars atmospehre ever. It is very sensitive to biological gases in the atmosphere. It may be able to pinpoint sources of methane and perhaps other gases of interest to the search for life also. Not ocertain it does as life at concentrations similar to the Atacama desert and McMurdo dry valleys would have negligible effects on the atmosphere but if there rae higher concentrations it may well detect them.FAST EXPLORATION OF THE SURFACE OF MARSSo what about sending humans to the surface? It’soften argued that we could explore far faster in person.But what is the point in landing on Mars and finding life quickly, if what you discover is life that you brought there youself? Especially if you get a human spaceship crash on Mars - that's the end of any planetary protection of Mars.It's not necessarily faster anyway. A study for a mission plan for studying Mars from orbit found that a single crew in orbit using robots on the surface via telepresnce could get as much done as three crew on the surface, for far less expense. Because they could operate robots anywhere on Mars and could do so without any need to suit up, in shirt sleeves environment in orbit (or on the moons of Phobos or Deimos).That’s only one study. But there have been no other attempts at a comparision study between exploring Mars by telepresence and exploring it in situ as far as I can see. So it is all we have to go for. Shouldn’t that comparison be made before making major decisions? That was some years back, for the HERRO plan for studying Mars via telepresence in a sun synhronous Mars capture orbit. Telerobotics has moved forwards enormously since then. What would a present day study conclude?Our current robots there are very slow - but Opportunity did in 10 years what took Lunakhod 2 just a few months by way of travel. The improverement in technology since the 1970s lead to a rover that is more than 50 times slower because of the longer time delay between Earth and Mars and the low bandwidth for communications and lack of opportunity to communicate (typically they send instructions to the Mars rovers around once a day).With modern technology we should be able to operate rovers on the Moon that travel far faster even than Lunakhod 2. Even Lunakhod 3 would have been significantly faster. With autonomy and high bandwidth we could have much faster rovers on Mars even when operated from Earth and when operated from low Mars orbit they would be far faster again. Theer's no reason why our roverss on Mars, even operated from Earth, and with the level of autonomy shown by modern ‘self driving’ robots, shouldn't travel as fast as the lunar rover, tens of kilometers a day or more, even tens of kilometers an hour.There is no reason apart from a lack of dedicated satellites in Mars orbit why they can’t return multiple gigabyte microscopically exact 3D panormas of their entire environment multiple times a day which scientists on Earth could then explore at their leisure in 3D, looking at nearby rocks so closely it’s like using a geologist’s magnifying lens. What difference will this do even to exploration of Mars from Earth?Yes let’s send humans into space, to the Moon, where there are minimal planetary protection issues. Meanwhile the search for life on Mars has only barely begun. Let’s do this responsibly and be sure to avoid the tragedy to go there only to discover life we brought there ourselves.I’m excited to think what we may find there in the near future.I'm keen on humans in space, but I think we should start with the Moon and try also humans on Callisto, the asteroid belt, the moons of Mars, Mercury's polar ice, and (assuming it remains consistent with planetary protection as some astrobiologists think there is a small chance of life in the clouds of Venus) the upper atmosper of Venus,.But I think that we shouldn't be in a hurry to send humans as fast as possible to the surface of Mars, the one place most vulnerable to Earth microbes in the entire inner solar system. Not until we know more.I have written three books on this topic - this is the latest, available to read for free online, or you can buy it for Kindle.Touch Mars? Europa? Enceladus? Or a tale of Missteps?+

Every politician and government official ranks under me and must be educated in History, Maths, English and politics and have a bachelor's degree as a bare minimum qualification. Extra points if he or she speaks English and at least 3 other languages fluently.I will be establishing an absolute monarchy, complete with lights, sound effects and costumes, as well as a dynastic rule, preferably based on absolute primogeniture.However, after my death at 100 years due to old age, the successive dictators must be chosen based on merit and qualifications mentioned above, out of a family council consisting of all living members above the age of 16 belonging to all generations, by means of a voting system. If the person chosen by vote happens to be more qualified than the first born(the current adult heir) of the bloodline, then the successor will be chosen as the next dictator, while the first born will be crowned as the First Adviser. If he is equally or less qualified, he will take on the position of First Adviser while the first born is crowned Dictator.The voting is to take place if the dictator dies or in case of abdication. The inheritance is for the main bloodline based on absolute primogeniture starting with me and is independent of the dictatorship. In case the bloodline is dying out, persons will be adopted into the main branch. Adoption of such a person must be made only after examining the medical history, family history and eligibility of the person. Details must be made public and circulated within the Family Council.An advisory board consisting of representatives of every kind of profession, trade, class, religion, race, gender, etc and ministers will be created to keep the powers of the Family Council in check and to advise the Dictator. Only the First Adviser and the Dictator are above the powers of the Advisory Board.In the fifth year of reign, various reforms and plans for reforms will be established.School reforms:School education must focus on Languages, Maths, Sports, Art and Life Skills starting from Kindergarten. As many as 5 languages are to be taught and learnt perfectly from Kindergarten to 12th grade. Students are expected to achieve native level fluency in all these languages.Religious studies must be taught from a neutral perspective and should be a separate subject. However, there should also be a separate period and subject for critical reasoning, creative thinking and logic.Every subject must have practical classes and tests.Debates, conferences, student governments and small scale business ventures must be encouraged.All Test Prep centres and Coaching institutes for "entrance exams" are banned. The school textbooks should be enough. Private tuition for individual subjects is okay, but is discouraged.There should be constant and continuous educational reforms. A committee consisting of parents, teachers and students should be set up to look into, address, research and solve various elements or issues of education. We must take inspiration from the Finnish system of education and try to come up with an integrated learning curriculum where everything makes sense and is interconnected.Compulsory Sex Education from Kindergarten. The earlier, the better to desensitise the young minds and make it less awkward as they keep hearing the same thing over and over again.Conscription:A. Compulsory conscription for both men and women for at least 2 years, out of which one year must be after the age of 17 and before the age of 30 as per their choice. Exceptions will be made only for valid reasons, special cases, medical reasons and for single parents. Those who undergo compulsory conscription may be excused from combat or from battle situations and may choose to undergo training only- although this is currently under advisement.All those who are excused from the compulsory conscription will still need to provide their services and assistance in alternate ways, suitable for their situation. As long as they do not have learning or mental disabilities, they will also be required to study the constitution and the laws and write multiple essays based on them.B. Training and service under compulsory conscription will be a separate wing from voluntary military service. The years of service under the conscription may be counted if the conscripted person later volunteers for further military (or police) service.Public/Civic Sense/Safety:All those who set up business or service on the roadside (shopkeepers, cab drivers, auto drivers, etc) will have to undergo compulsory training in First Aid, CPR, awareness of social issues, and women and children's safety. The training provides a certification that needs to be retaken every 5 years.There will be a couple of cops, law keepers etc available at every intersection of roads, facilitated with the latest communication gadgets and transport vehicles. They will be available 24/7, and in multiple shifts if necessary.Free wifi at every petrol station and every intersection of roads.A patrol team will be set up at night- under advisement. They will not be allowed to violate a citizen's constitutional rights.Shops, bars, etc will be allowed to be open 24/7 and are encouraged to do so. All streets are to be well lit at night with the help of the latest, most energy efficient methods.Property:No new individual houses can be set up if there is an environmental concern in the area or there are too many vacant apartments available with the same luxury and budget. Apartments of multiple stories (more than 3- under advisement) can be set up in that same area, if the land is suitable enough. This is to prevent deforestation, loss of greenery, etc which can cause ecological imbalance, floods, and so on.A body of real estate professionals, geologists, environmentalists, futurists, economists, etc will be created to safeguard the above point and to monitor the construction of every new private accommodation.Age of consent, Parenting, Civil Unions:Age of consent is 15. The minimum age for marriage is 24 for all households. Special provisions can be made for couples who are going against their family's wishes and are not safe.Marriages can be dissolved in 24 hours if done online and if it's mutual, else suspended for at least a month, during which time they are considered separated. Once an action for suspension, for appropriate reasons, of marriage is done, it can not be undone for at least a month. All legal and other entanglements that come with dissolution/divorce, suspension, etc must be resolved online as much as possible to avoid exhaustingly long and expensive legal battles in court.An online government website or portal must be set up and given utmost importance to take care of the above point. Couples are supposed to register online after their wedding.Parenting license will be issued after the prospective parent or parents or a group of parents undergo training, tests and certifications, etc and their economic situation is determined. Prospective parent or parents must be above the age of 23 unless there is a medical reason or if assisted reproductive technologies are utilised. Or if it's adoption. A prospective single parent may approach for parenting license if they are above the age of 16 and is deemed capableSex, gender or orientation, etc will not be considered for parenting. Blood relation will also not be considered for parenting. To prevent kidnapping, DNA and blood samples will be collected, though.Research and scientific advancements in assisted reproductive technologies, centres for preservation of reproductive materials, etc will be set up and given enormous importance to aid better biological and medical decision making.All births are to be planned, especially if the parent or parents have limited financial capability. Accidental births will be given over to the foster care system unless the parents have a great financial future. Or if the grandparents (or any capable relatives) step up to support the child- any such child will be considered the ward or the adopted child of such a relative till the parent is capable of looking after themselves and the child.Pro-choice, with all the medical and ethical considerations.Group parents involved in group parenting will be given government discounts. Group parenting requires a license.Group parenting is defined as a group of mostly unrelated people who raise one or more children together, especially if the child is not related to more than 2 parents biologically (under advisement as to the number). The entire concept is under advisement.Other laws:Methods for easy availability of basic necessities like food, clothing and shelter will be implemented and researched regularly. Every food outlet, supermarkets or grocery store must provide certain food items and drinking water at low, fixed prices. A basic attire of t-shirts and trousers will also be made available at low and fixed prices. Basic, durable housing methods will be researched and made available. Nobody in the country goes hungry, cold or homeless.Birth control and contraceptives are included as basic necessities.The provision of basic necessities will be monitored and tracked to prevent misuse.Unemployment benefits will be provided for no more than 3 years in an adult person's lifetime- they can be availed altogether or separately. Beyond 3 consecutive years, if a person does not have a stable, ongoing source of income, they will be eligible for (additional) compulsory conscription and its alternatives as per points 11 and 12 above.Child care (daycare, creche, etc) and Elderly care services are mandatory for every corporate institution. This will be counted as part of their corporate responsibility.Child Care and Elderly Support services and centres for both in-facility and home-care will be set up in great numbers. Online and technological provisions will be a given.Household work done by a parent or a spouse will be quantified and considered as a full time job. Working parents or spouses will be discouraged from doing all the household work unless they're shared equally or outsourced to outside help.All married couple must maintain at least 3 bank accounts, out of which one is the joint/shared account and the other two are individual accounts. The individual accounts of the married couple are not accessible to each other. The joint account needs the authorisation and consent of both the parties for any type of access. Notifications will be sent to their communication devices and emails to inform of any change in the bank balance of the joint account.25 per cent of the monthly salaries of the couple will be transferred automatically to the joint account every month. This also considers point 34. If one spouse/ is unemployed, then their share of 25 % will be deducted from the working person's salary and transferred to the joint account. If the unemployed spouse also happens to do the household work, then a fixed amount or a certain percentage of the working spouse's salary will go into the unemployed spouse's individual bank account.Dowry is banned. If caught in the act, the amount and value of the dowry will be seized and given to charity, orphanages and the foster system and the rest invested in government, public or civic services. Those who report on and inform on such acts will be rewarded by the government with a part of the amount.The bank accounts and assets and property of the concerned families and the couple must be registered 3 months before the wedding in the marriage portal. Any sudden increases in the listing or in the bank account will be investigated.In the case of an arranged marriage, a courtship/engagement period of at least 6 months is encouraged and made mandatory before the wedding.The spacing of children must be at least 2 years, unless there is sufficient proof of good medical and financial conditions. Or in case of multiple births.The number of children in rural or poor households is limited to 1. There is no limit for other households. The restriction will be removed when the economic conditions of the country are stable and a special board of specialists, economists, doctors, etc will monitor these conditions and suggest laws based on them.In case the nation is developing rather than developed, the number of children is capped at 4, and there must be an age gap of 10 years between the 2nd and the 3rd child and between every two sets of children. The restriction is waived in case of well off, high-income families. Or if the mother is nearing menopause.Incest of every kind is illegal. Marriage between blood relatives is illegal. Unless there is a need for a trait to be expressed. As decided by a Biological Research team.There will be a social points system based on metrics like fertility, intelligence, medical history, family history, etc. Those who score highly on each or all of them will be given exceptions to many restrictions and may even be encouraged to reproduce, as decided by the government or a body appointed by the government. All such information will be confidential.Suggestions from every age group and surveys will be collected and conducted every year in the online government portal.Right to freedom of speech will be respected unless it's a public hate speech adversarial to any individual or group.A common national identity will be encouraged that has nothing to do with discriminatory factors like age, sex, gender, religion, state, caste, race, etc. If no such national identity exists, then one will be created, encouraged and circulated.A common national language of English will be established all over the country. The three language system (in case of India) will continue. In fact, at least 2 other foreign languages will be added to the syllabus, before 12th grade ends. All schools will be English medium.Public displays of religion or any such spiritual, superstitious or non-scientific beliefs will be banned. Unless it's a specific gathering of people of such beliefs.Displays of religious symbols and religious costumes will be banned from educational institutions and the government.Free and compulsory education up to the age of 18.Scientific temper, critical reasoning, creative thinking and Maths will be made compulsory in the curriculum of every school in every grade.Every grade will also teach 3-5 languages at a time(refer to point 49), Maths, Sports and Art/Drama compulsorily. Other subjects can be decided upon by the Educational board or the school or the teachers.The five language system is divided as follows: Mother tongue, Hindi, English and two other foreign languages. All languages will be taught with native level fluency by native speakers. English will be taught compulsorily from Kindergarten to grade 12 and even in universities.Mental health counselling, first aid wings and student guidance cells will be compulsory in every educational institutionMid-day meals and breakfast will be provided in every educational institution.Prisons will be used as correction centres for prisoners and teach them a trade or two. Psychological evaluation will be conducted for all prisoners every year. Those who are deemed incorrigible or damaged will be reassigned to mental asylums. Or given the option of a painless death by lethal injection, especially in the case of rapists, paedophiles, serial killers and terrorists. Extremely dangerous criminals will be given a lethal injection. Eve teasers, cat callers and oglers will be sent straight to correction centres for behaviour modification.Informants who provide correct information about terrorist activities or crimes of any kind will be rewarded richly. If the government is low on funds, the amount can be seized from the terrorists/criminal. Citizens are encouraged to report all crimes.At intersections and equidistant locations, there will be a public broadcast system with big screens to enable quick dissemination of government information. There will be announcements made regularly at 6:30 AM, 12:00 PM, 4 PM and 9 PM. In case of a sudden national emergency, the announcement can be made immediately without waiting for the above timings. The 6:30 AM announcement and the emergency ones will be accompanied with the sound effect of blaring horns. Nolan style. The rest will be silent and accompanied only by subtitles.Compulsory 10 months of parental leave for each child (multiple births will be considered as one in this case) to be shared between the parents as they like. It applies to adoptive parents as well. No employee can be terminated if/while they're pregnant or on parental leave.Compulsory psych evaluation every two years in educational institutions, corporates, companies, etc, and the government. As well as religious institutions.Taxation will be according to the income levels and expenditure, and will be capped at a certain percentage.A household cannot have more than two vehicles per 4 members until the reports on global climate change are positive.