Coprolites from near the Turkey Pen site in Utah reveal ancient diets. RUSS BISHOP/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO
Piles of ancient poop reveal ‘extinction event’ in human gut bacteria
May. 12, 2021 , 11:00 AM
Every meal you eat is digested with the help of the bountiful bacteria thronging your intestines. When you re done digesting, those bacteria are also part of what s excreted. Now, 1000-year-old piles of dried-out poop are offering insights into how the billions-strong bacterial ecosystems in the human gut have been altered by sanitation, processed foods, and antibiotics.
In a study published today in
Nature, researchers analyzed ancient DNA from coprolites, or preserved feces, found at the back of rock shelters in Utah and Mexico. The data give scientists their first good look at ancient gut bacterial communities, says Stanford University biologist Justin Sonnenburg. “These paleofeces are the equivalent of a time machine.”
Local communities get $4.1M in state road grants
12/13/20 4:28 PM
The county will receive more than $4 million in state money to help repair roads next year in most of its cities and towns, but a majority of the funding will go to Center Grove area neighborhoods.
Johnson County communities will receive $4.1 million in Community Crossing grants for 2021 road projects, the state announced last week.
About half of the $4.1 million will go to repairing streets in White River Township subdivisions that have aging concrete roads. All of Greenwood and Johnson County’s $1 million shares will be spent in those neighborhoods.
City and county officials say the subdivision work will repair some of the worst areas in many subdivisions with aging infrastructure. Both of the projects will convert the streets to asphalt, simplifying future maintenance.