To me the most exciting news today was the discovery of ancient Denisovans far from the single small region where they were first found. I am not sure why I find this news to be so thrilling, but I do.
Perhaps because it is a welcome respite from the ordinary. People seem to spend so much time these days either griping about the current state of the world or else escaping into artificial fantasy universes.
Yet here is a discovery that is magnificent in its sheer temporal scale — a new window into the vast prehistory of our shared human heritage. It is also a mystery.
For what were these people like? What kind of language did they speak? What were their views on love? What sorts of ideas ran through those very large brains of theirs?
We may never know the answers to these questions. Yet in the simple act of asking, we are lifted out of the quotidian, and we find our sense of wonder restored.