News at a glance: New gene therapy, Europe ’s drought, and a black hole’s photon ring

ARCHAEOLOGY Drought exposes ‘Spanish Stonehenge’ for study Scientists are rushing to examine a 7000-year-old stone circle in central Spain that had been drowned by a reservoir for decades and was uncovered after the drought plaguing Europe lowered water levels. Nicknamed the “Spanish Stonehenge”—although 2000 years older than the U.K. stone circle—the Dolmen of Guadalperal (above) was described by archaeologists in the 1920s. The approximately 100 standing stones, up to 1.8 meters tall and arranged around an oval open space, were submerged in the Valdecañas reservoir after the construction of a dam on the Tagus River in 1963. The water has receded a few times since, most recently in 2019, when archaeologists worked to create a digital record of the site. This time they hope to better understand engravings on the stones, which include a human figure and a squiggly line, and document any further damage to the monument’s porous granite. The drought has uncovered other historic sites across Europe, such as a Roman fort in Spain, World War II–era German warships in the Danube River, and “hunger stones”—bearing dates engraved by people suffering from famines caused by past droughts—in the Danube, Elbe, and other rivers. LEADERSHIP Fauci sets a date to step down Anthony Fauci, the physician and immunologist who has led the $6.3 billion U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)...
Source: Science of Aging Knowledge Environment - Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research