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There is now a genetic excuse not to bother cutting carbs. Humans have genetically adapted to eating starchy foods, and our ancestors may have been carb-ivores even before modern Homo sapiens emerged.

The salivary amylase gene, known as AMY1, is already known to have helped us adapt to eating carbs. It encodes amylase, an enzyme that breaks starches found in pasta and bread down to glucose—and may have given us a taste preference for them. Humans have multiple copies of the gene, which may help us produce high levels of the enzyme.

Researchers from the University of Buffalo and the Jackson Laboratory have now found that, while most copies of this gene arose with the advent of farming, modern humans and our closest relatives had accumulated extra copies long before agriculture.

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The bald eagle is now officially the national bird of the US, after President Joe Biden signed a law on Christmas Eve bestowing the honour upon the white-headed and yellow-beaked bird of prey. BBC News: The bird has been a national emblem in the US for years, appearing on the Great Seal of the US -- used on US documents -- since 1782. But it had not been officially designated to be the national bird until Congress passed the bill last week, sending it to Biden's desk to be signed. "For nearly 250 years, we called the bald eagle the national bird when it wasn't," said Jack Davis, co-chair of the National Bird Initiative for the National Eagle Center, in a statement. "But now the title is official, and no bird is more deserving." Not everyone has always agreed about the national status of the bald eagle. Founding Father Benjamin Franklin objected to the creature being chosen to represent the country, calling it a "bird of bad moral character."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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