Un análisis genético reciente reveló un dato sorprendente: los ojos azules, presentes en una proporción relevante en Europa antes de la consolidación del Imperio Romano, experimentaron un descenso drástico durante ese período. Esta investigación abre nuevas preguntas sobre la composición genética de las poblaciones antiguas y los movimientos migratorios que modelaron la historia de Roma.

Antes de la expansión imperial, alrededor de uno de cada cinco habitantes de la Roma antigua tenía ojos azules. Sin embargo, durante el Imperio Romano ese porcentaje cayó a un 4%. Según datos publicados en Xataka, este fenómeno llamó la atención de genetistas y demógrafos, ya que cuesta explicar que una característica físicamente visible haya cambiado de modo tan marcado en tan pocas generaciones.

El investigador Davide Piffer recopiló el ADN de más de 4.000 individuos antiguos, lo que permitió comparar la prevalencia de ojos azules en distintas etapas de la historia europea. De acuerdo con el reporte, los romanos del período preimperial tenían una importante presencia de ojos claros, mientras que en la Roma medieval el porcentaje volvía a situarse cerca del 21%. El desplome del periodo imperial aparece como una excepción.

Según Piffer, la explicación se halla en los flujos migratorios y en la mezcla de poblaciones. En los primeros siglos de Roma, la base genética principal era anatolia, pero había una influencia apreciable de grupos yamnas procedentes de las estepas, que solían tener una mayor proporción de ojos claros. Cuando el Imperio adquirió su máxima extensión territorial, llegaron nuevos migrantes desde regiones internas y orientales, en quienes predominaban los ojos marrones. Solo tras la caída del Imperio, el ingreso de grupos germánicos, como los longobardos y ostrogodos, favoreció el regreso de la pigmentación clara.

A nivel molecular, el color de los ojos depende de dos genes muy próximos en el cromosoma 15: OCA2, que controla la melanina en el iris, y HERC2, que lo regula. Según Davide Piffer, en los individuos con ojos marrones, HERC2 activa OCA2 para producir pigmento. En cambio, una mutación específica limita esa función, lo que da lugar a una menor cantidad de melanina, percibida como tono azul o verdoso.

La genética permite establecer una “huella” en el ADN que indica la probable pigmentación ocular de personas de tiempos remotos. Esta posibilidad llevó a algunos investigadores a afirmar que, en realidad, no existen datos concluyentes sobre la prevalencia de ojos claros en la antigua Roma. El demógrafo Lyman Stone analizó la fiabilidad de las muestras y detectó límites inherentes a los métodos actuales.

De acuerdo con Stone, la población de la Roma imperial integró a muchos inmigrantes de orígenes diversos, en los que predominaba el color de ojos oscuro. Además, las propias fuentes genéticas disponibles podrían no ser suficientes para dar cuenta de la diversidad real, por lo que cualquier afirmación termina bajo revisión permanente.

Según National Geographic, estos estudios se insertan en un debate más amplio sobre la evolución de los rasgos fenotípicos en Europa. Por ejemplo, hasta la Edad del Hierro, la mayoría de los europeos tenía piel oscura, y la pigmentación clara es mucho más reciente de lo que suele creerse.

El análisis de restos emblemáticos, como el Hombre de Cheddar en el Reino Unido, refuerza la idea de que la pigmentación clara de los ojos y piel apareció antes de la Edad del Hierro en algunos individuos, pero solo se consolidó gracias a múltiples procesos migratorios y evolutivos posteriores. A pesar de que la tecnología genética actual ofrece una herramienta poderosa para desentrañar el pasado físico de Europa, la interpretación de los resultados requiere cautela por la degradación del material genético y la limitada representatividad de las muestras.

En síntesis, el estudio del ADN antiguo demuestra que la dinámica del Imperio Romano alteró de manera notable la distribución de los ojos azules en la región. Los datos muestran que factores como migraciones, prestigio cultural de ciertos rasgos y encuentro entre poblaciones modelaron la composición genética de los habitantes. Las oscilaciones en la proporción de ojos claros ilustran cómo características visibles pueden desaparecer en contextos históricos concretos, para luego resurgir gracias a nuevas olas migratorias.

Actualmente, la genética continúa ampliando el entendimiento sobre los cambios fenotípicos europeos. La reducción de la proporción de ojos azules en el Imperio Romano es solo un ejemplo de cómo la historia genética se construye con descubrimientos inesperados y revela una Europa antigua diversa, en constante transformación.

Denmark is considering triggering NATO Article 4 after the country was forced to close Aalborg Airport after drones were spotted for a second time this week.

Denmark reached out to NATO and the European Union in the wake of the threat, according to Euronews. 

Copenhagen was reportedly considering whether to invoke NATO’s Article 4, which would trigger a meeting for members of the alliance. Neither NATO nor Secretary-General Mark Rutte have made public statements on the matter.

Danish Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen vowed in a joint statement that Denmark would «find the people who are behind this,» according to Euronews. 

RUSSIA SHIFTS FROM TALK TO ACTION, TARGETING NATO HOMELAND AMID FEARS OF GLOBAL WAR

«We have various military capabilities that can help defend Denmark, F-35 and our frigates,» he said. 

Smaller airports in the country allegedly also saw drone activity but were not impacted as a result, the BBC reported. 

Danish authorities said the drone incident was a «hybrid attack» that came from a «professional actor,» according to the BBC. The outlet said authorities specified that the drones were launched locally and did not come from Russia.

NATO WARNS RUSSIA AFTER POLAND SHOOTS DOWN ‘HUGE NUMBER’ OF DRONES THAT VIOLATED ITS AIRSPACE

A light moves in the sky over Aalborg, Denmark, on Sept. 24, 2025, amid reports of drone sightings that led to the city’s airport being closed. (Morten Skov/@MSchieller69609/via Reuters)

On Monday, a similar drone incident impacted Copenhagen Airport. Unlike the incident at Aalborg, some suspected Russia could have been the culprit behind the attack.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said it was «the most serious attack on Danish critical infrastructure to date,» according to reports. She added that the country was «not ruling out any options in relation to who is behind it,» Reuters reported.

Danish police officers stand guard after traffic was stopped at the Copenhagen Airport due to drone reports on Sept. 22, 2025. (Ritzau Scanpix/Steven Knap via Reuters)

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«The drones that halted flights at Copenhagen Airport were part of a pattern of persistent contestation at our borders,» European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Tuesday, Euronews reported.

The airport in Oslo, Norway, was also shut down on Monday evening for three hours due to possible threats from drone activity, according to Euronews.

Fox News Digital reached out to NATO for comment.

Kamala Harris, when she was serving as vice president, rejected the Biden campaign’s pressure to celebrate the then-president as the winner of his disastrous debate against Donald Trump, saying she didn’t want to be fed «bulsh–t,» she reported in her new memoir. 

«‘JOE BIDEN WON»—all caps, highlighted. ‘He fought through his cold as he is fighting for the American people,’» a sheet of paper containing favorable talking points after then-President Joe Biden’s poor performance on the debate stage, according to Harris’ latest memoir, «107 Days.» 

Biden’s poor debate performance against Trump in June 2024 served as the death knell to the campaign that already was coping with mounting public concern that Biden’s mental acuity had cratered and he was unable to serve a second term. Despite the abject failure of a debate performance, Biden’s campaign wanted Harris to deliver favorable assessments of the debate to the American people, according to her book. 

«Are you kidding me?» she said ran through her mind as she read the sheet of paper declaring Biden the winner of the night. 

KAMALA HARRIS REVEALS WHAT BIDEN TOLD HER JUST BEFORE CRUCIAL DEBATE WITH TRUMP THAT LEFT HER ‘ANGRY’

She threw the paper back on the table before fielding a call from Biden’s team outlining she was expected to say more of the same as the talking points when joining media interviews. 

«No. Don’t feed me bulls–t. Everyone saw what they saw,» Harris continued in the book of what she thought during the call. 

The then-vice president said the disastrous debate was littered with Biden missing opportunities to attack Trump, stumbling over his words and losing his train of thought. 

KAMALA HARRIS HAD PROFANE MESSAGE FOR GOVERNORS UNEASY ABOUT SUPPORTING BIDEN

«Trump, meanwhile, was using his words like a weapon, but shooting before he aimed, spouting lies, unburdened by the truth,» she wrote. «Biden, striving for accuracy, often stopped midsentence to correct himself, which left him sounding hesitant and garbled. I knew the important policy points he was struggling to convey, and I knew he knew them. He is a master of this material, but that was not coming across at all.» 

Former President Biden’s debate against Donald Trump in 2024 opened the floodgates to criticisms over his mental acuity.  (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images; Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images; Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

The Biden campaign suffered a devastating gut punch when Biden delivered a bizarre line on Medicare. 

«And then, at the end of a string of convoluted sentences in which he twice confused millions and billions, Joe lost his train of thought entirely, looked disoriented, and blurted out, ‘We finally beat Medicare,’» Harris wrote in her scathing critique of the debate. 

«Trump’s reply: ‘Well, he’s right. He did beat Medicare. He beat it to death,’» Harris continued. 

FLASHBACK: THE DEBATE NIGHT AGAINST TRUMP THAT THREW BIDEN’S REELECTION CAMPAIGN INTO A FREE FALL

The former vice president described that campaign staffers were tracking reactions to the debate online, with the vast majority describing Biden’s performance as «disaster,» «train wreck» and «embarrassment,» she wrote. 

Harris’ husband, attorney Doug Emhoff, faced his own outrage over Biden’s debate performance when left-wing Hollywood director Rob Reiner «screamed» at him during a watch party that democracy was about to be squandered over Biden’s performance. 

Former Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at the Emerge 20th Anniversary Gala in San Francisco, California, on April 30, 2025. (Camille Cohen/AFP via Getty Images)

«Doug, at a watch party with Hollywood donors, was getting an earful. Rob Reiner had screamed at him: ‘We’re going to lose our f—ing democracy and it’s your fault!’» Harris wrote. 

As Harris prepared to join CNN in a post-debate interview that was all but guaranteed to focus on Biden’s disastrous performance, she reflected on a joke about a cheating husband, she wrote.

ONE YEAR LATER: HOW JOE BIDEN’S DISASTROUS DEBATE PERFORMANCE FORCED HIS MEDIA ALLIES TO TURN ON HIM

«I couldn’t help but think of the Richard Pryor joke where his wife catches him in bed with another woman. ‘You gonna believe me or your lyin’ eyes?’ he says,» Harris wrote.

Harris said she would not tell voters «that their eyes had lied,» and instead pivoted her talking points to «Trump’s numerous lies.»

President-elect Donald Trump and Melania Trump are greeted by President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden, upon their arrival at the White House, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington.  (Alex Brandon/AP)

«Listen, people can debate on style points, but ultimately this election and who is the president of the United States has to be about substance,» she told CNN’s Anderson Cooper in the post-debate interview. «Donald Trump lied over and over and over again, as he is wont to do. He would not disavow what happened on January 6. He would not give a clear answer on whether he would stand by the election results this November. He went back and forth about where he stands on one of the most critical issues of freedom in America, which is the right of women to make decisions about their own body.» 

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Biden’s office declined comment when approached by Fox News Digital Tuesday morning. 

Harris’ «107 Days» hit bookshelves Tuesday and recounts the days of her truncated presidential campaign after Biden dropped out of the race July 21, 2024.