coronavirus Archives - Pints of History

Neanderthal and Denisovan Genes – and Covid-19

by David Tollen | Feb 23, 2021 | Human Origins & the Paleolithic

The media reported last week that genes from Neanderthals protect many of us against severe Covid-19. Those genes actually come from Denisovans too: another early human species. Unfortunately, a different set of Neanderthal genes increases our chances of serious...

Coronavirus Would Not Have Disrupted Our Ancestors’ Lives

by David Tollen | Mar 23, 2020 | Human Origins & the Paleolithic, The Neolithic & Latter-Day Prehistory, Earliest Civilizations in Eurasia, Classical Civilization, The Postclassical Age (Medieval History), The Early Modern Age, The Recent Modern Age

A virus circles the world, killing 1% of the population or more, particularly the elderly … and people just go about their business. Even in countries that understand contagion, no one healthy stops working, and neither do most of the sick. In fact, if you...