[olivermarks]

headline: 'scientists conclude'

Article 'A SUDDEN and dramatic drop in the number of human males living in Europe, Africa, and Asia 7,000 years ago is evidence of brutal warfare spanning multiple generations, a new study has suggested.'

Theory is fact in click bait tabloid headlines...

[dang]

We've added the qualifying ": study" bit above. Still, I think this is sort of a nitpick.

[AnimalMuppet]

No, it's more than a nitpick, and I think the correction is the wrong one. The study says that there was a Y-chromosome bottleneck, consistent with a very small number of males compared to the number of females. The "was the result of brutal warfare" part is speculation, not the result of the study.

[posterboy]

It is probably a reference to the conclusion part of the paper, simply because it's an obvious hypothesis. It's not necessary that men died like flies, they just didn't procreate, but that's not mutually exclusive. Eitherway, it would be the result of competition with a social aspect.

[AnimalMuppet]

Sure, it's an obvious hypothesis. I just have a problem with reporting it like it's proven.

[posterboy]

> a new study has suggested

a new study has suggested, terminal qualifiers are often ignored