Countless people from around the world swear they've had a run-in with the ape-like beast known as Bigfoot (or Sasquatch, or Yeti, depending on your region) but a fossil has never been discovered. Several private collections and museums do have strands of hair thought to have come from one of the creatures, and researchers have used those samples to see if science can prove once and for all that Bigfoot does exist.
A team at the University of Oxford led by Professor of Human Genetics Bryan Sykes collected 57 samples of hair and put them through macroscopic, microscopic, and infrared fluorescence tests. That helped eliminate 21 samples that weren't hair, but rather glass fibers, plant materials, and other substances. Of the remaining 36 samples, 30 had recoverable DNA, and all of those matched species that were already known.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Scientists find hint of alien life on distant worldSpeed Read NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has detected a possible signature of life on planet K2-18b
-
Katy Perry, Gayle King visit space on Bezos rocketSpeed Read Six well-known women went into lower orbit for 11 minutes
-
Scientists map miles of wiring in mouse brainSpeed Read Researchers have created the 'largest and most detailed wiring diagram of a mammalian brain to date,' said Nature
-
Scientists genetically revive extinct 'dire wolves'Speed Read A 'de-extinction' company has revived the species made popular by HBO's 'Game of Thrones'
-
Dark energy may not doom the universe, data suggestsSpeed Read The dark energy pushing the universe apart appears to be weakening
-
Pharaoh's tomb discovered for first time in 100 yearsSpeed Read This is the first burial chamber of a pharaoh unearthed since Tutankhamun in 1922
-
Scientists report optimal method to boil an eggSpeed Read It takes two temperatures of water to achieve and no fancy gadgets
-
Europe records big leap in renewable energySpeed Read Solar power overtook coal for the first time
