A little bit of Neanderthal in many of us

Surely most of us have wondered many times whether this or that person doesn't have a bit of the Neanderthal in them - whether from physical appearance or behaviour! (No jokes about footy players please.)

Now German scientists have shown us we aren't imagining things. They've sequenced 1.1 billion Neanderthal DNA fragments and compared them against human DNA from around the world. What they've found is that there's evidence of interbreeding in all non-African descendants.

Neanderthals generally lived around eastern European areas from 100,000 years ago until they died out around 30,000 years ago. They were similar size to human - a bit shorter, but much larger heads.

(From the wonderful Australian science magazine Cosmos.)

Oh...and on the subject: Go the Kangaroos against the dreaded Kiwis tonight!