Science, genetics and technology
Population genetics, ancient DNA, health, technology and AI.
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Science in Ancient India (aka “Hindu Science”)
Omar Ali argues in his tweets that dismissing Ayurveda wholesale is itself unscientific, since its prescriptions should be tested like any other treatment while its pre-scientific framework needs translation rather…
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Open Thread, 1/27/2023, Brown Pundits
Open Thread, 27 January 2023: the host shares two Substack pieces on Chinese genetic history, contrasts China’s writing with India’s genetic variety, and mentions the tech startup GenRAIT he founded.
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Down with eggs?
Razib Khan asks whether there is a good nutritional case for BJP-aligned governments removing eggs from school meals, arguing that growing children need protein and fat, that India still has…
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Showing an early entry of steppe ancestry into India
The author challenges claims that steppe ancestry entered India only in the late Iron Age or Early Historic period, using the geography of routes from the steppe, patterns of modern…
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Genetics of Maharashtra Deshastha Brahmin
Razib Khan reports a Maharashtra Deshastha Brahmin sample that plots with the Maharashtra Kayastha and looks more like South Indian than North Indian Brahmins, while the Saraswat Brahmin seems more…
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South Asian nations
Razib Khan dislikes the ‘GDP wars’ between India, Bangladesh and Pakistan and argues that health indicators are a harder-to-fake comparison, saying Pakistan is now the subcontinent’s ‘slow kid’ and that…
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Merry Christmas!
Razib Khan reads the genetics of a sample with Sadgop and Baidya parents as showing that Baidya are not Brahmins who lost caste, since Bengali Brahmins shift toward the steppe,…
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Caste in the Indian subcontinent: the wages of Manu
Razib Khan points to a new Substack post on caste, saying the DNA data now give the general outline and it is up to social historians to make sense of…
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Faces of women of the world
Razib Khan generates Midjourney portraits of women by nationality and Indian ethnicity, noting that obscure groups tend to come out looking East Asian, and that some results make sense while…
