Show Notes
This release contains only the music track from Base by Base Episode 143.
Song title: Outlier Signal
Original Base by Base episode: 143: Modelling genetic 'outliers' in ancient Eurasia (S1E143)
Article metadata:
Article title: MODELLINGOFGENETIC'OUTLIERS'
Journal: Cell
DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2025.07.013
Reference: Skourtanioti E., Jia X., Tavartkiladze N., Bitadze L., Shengelia R., Tushabramishvili N., et al.. The genetic history of the Southern Caucasus from the Bronze Age to the Early Middle Ages: 5,000 years of genetic continuity despite high mobility. Cell, 188, 5278-5294.e21. (2025). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2025.07.013
Lyrics:
Verse 1
Quiet bone dust, bright-screen glow,
We trace the drift from long ago.
Dots on a plot start to misalign,
An outlier steps out of the line.
Pre-Chorus
PC1, PC2—pulling like tide,
Coordinates whisper what time can’t hide.
Two old currents start to collide,
Numbers breathe where names have died.
Chorus
We’re the outlier signal, cutting through the noise,
Fitting broken fragments into measured choice.
Fifty-five / forty-five, then eighty-four / sixteen—
A map made of echoes, sharp and unseen.
Hold that line, let the model light up—
Ancient blood remembers when we add it up.
Verse 2
Test another source, let the p-values speak,
Swap the priors, keep the fit tight, sleek.
Steppe wind shadow, Caucasus stone,
Mixed-in histories in a single bone.
Bridge
Barplots rising like a skyline at night,
Ancestry pies in a circle of light.
Not one straight road—more like braided thread,
A coded catalog of the living and dead.
Final Chorus
We’re the outlier signal, cutting through the noise,
Fitting hard evidence into humble choice.
Sarmatian/Kazakhstan in the heartbeat’s seam,
Georgia/Alanic echoes in the same old dream.
Hold that line, let the model light up—
Ancient blood remembers when we add it up.
Chapters
- (00:00:23) - A Code for the Living and Dead
