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Secrets in the News: April 11 – 17, 2015

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A religious volume from the early 1300s includes this image of a monk who resembles Yoda of the Star Wars films. The Britsh Library

A religious volume from the early 1300s includes this image of a monk who resembles Yoda of the Star Wars films. The Britsh Library

1. Oldest Neanderthal DNA Found in Skelton Locked in Limestone
The calcite-encrusted skeleton of the so-called Altamura Man, still locked in a cave in Italy, has yielded the oldest Neanderthal DNA ever found. Read more at Live Science.

2. Yoda Spotted in 14-Century Manuscript
“The Yoda image comes from a 14th-century manuscript known as the Smithfield Decretals,” said British Library curator Julian Harrison, who runs the Medieval Manuscripts blog. Read more at NPR.

3. US to Exhume Remains of Pearl Harbor Dead for Identification
The remains of nearly 400 US servicemen killed at Pearl Harbor, currently buried together in Hawaii, are to be exhumed so they may be identified and given individual burials. Read more at BBC.

Watch Secrets of the Dead: Japanese SuperSub and discover why America sank one of its most prized military captures.

4. Ancient Skeletons Found in India
Archaeologists have found four human skeletons, two adult males, a female, and a child, believed to be 5,000 years old, in Haryana, India. Read more at The Times of India.

5. Did Richard III Manage to Keep His Scoliosis a Secret Until His Death?
“It is highly likely that Richard took care to control his public image. The body of the king was part of the propaganda of power, and even when it was revealed in order to be anointed as part of his coronation ceremony it was simultaneously concealed from the congregation.” Read more at Phys.Org.

Watch Secrets of the Dead: Resurrecting Richard III and find out what the bones of King Richard III reveal about his fitness for battle.

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