Scientists Find Baffling Link between Autism and Vinyl Flooring: Scientific American

SlashDot article says:
“Children who live in homes with vinyl floors, which can emit chemicals called phthalates, are more likely to have autism, according to research by Swedish and US scientists published Monday. … The scientists were surprised by their finding, calling it ‘far from conclusive.’ … The researchers found four environmental factors associated with autism: vinyl flooring, the mother’s smoking, family economic problems, and condensation on windows, which indicates poor ventilation. Infants or toddlers who lived in bedrooms with vinyl, or PVC, floors were twice as likely to have autism five years later… than those with wood or linoleum flooring. … Several scientists who did not participate in the study cautioned that it has too many limitations to draw conclusions, but they suggested that new studies be designed to look for a connection between autism and indoor air pollutants.”

Scientists Find Baffling Link between Autism and Vinyl Flooring: Scientific American notes: “Bernard Weiss, a professor of environmental medicine at University of Rochester and a co-author of the study, said the connection between vinyl flooring and autism “turned up virtually by accident.” He called it “intriguing and baffling at the same time.”"

Deformed skull of prehistoric child suggests that early humans cared for disabled children

Have to go to the site for the picture, but the point is clear: even 500,000 years ago parents and communities took care of children with disabilities. Not shocking, unless you think of social support for people with disabilities now. I bet we’ve gone down hill since then in terms of equity and inclusion.

Not Exactly Rocket Science : Deformed skull of prehistoric child suggests that early humans cared for disabled children

For all appearances, this looks like the skull of any human child. But there are two very special things about it. The first is that its owner was clearly deformed; its asymmetrical skull is a sign of a medical condition called craniosynostosis that’s associated with mental retardation. The second is that the skull is about half a million years old. It belonged to a child who lived in the Middle Pleistocene period.

The skull was uncovered in Atapuerca, Spain by Ana Gracia, who has named it Cranium 14. It’s a small specimen but it contains enough evidence to suggest that the deformity was present from birth and that the child was about 5-8 years old. The remains of 28 other humans have been recovered from the same site and none of them had any signs of deformity.

These facts strongly suggest that prehistoric humans cared for children with physical and mental deformities that would almost have certainly prevented them from caring for themselves. Without such assistance, it’s unlikely that the child would have survived that long.

Before moving on, a point of clarification: when I say “human” in this piece, I mean the genus Homo, which the child certainly belonged to, rather than the species Homo sapiens, which it certainly did not (its skull is too old).

Garcia found Cranium 14 in many different pieces over two years, but the fragments were preserved so well that she could reconstruct the skull very accurately. On doing so, she found it clearly belonged to an immature child. Its brain volume was within the adult range, but certain connections between the different bones of its skulls hadn’t fully matured. Based on that, Garcia guesses that the child was about 5-8 years old when he or she died.