So...according to NG...modern humans have at least 1-4% of neanderthal DNA in us....?

Active imaginations.

I've never met a neanderthal nor do I care to know what they think it is.

They did interbreed, but very scarcely. We probably get their DNA at last interglacial when climate became warmer 130 to 120 000 years ago allowing some European Neanderthals to travel to Near East (there are both Neanderthals and sapiens graves from this epoch in Israel). We suppose our 2 species were not totally separated and a few successful interbreeding were still possible. Later (40 to 30 000 years ago when our Cro-Magnon ancestors entered Europe) and farther in the West, our two species became more and more different. Interbreeding became almost impossible. 24 500 years ago, Lagar Velho child a (controversial) hybrid, dead at 4 or 5, could have been the exception that proves the rule and the offspring of the last inter species love in human history.

Yes, all non-African populations have to some degree, some neanderthal genes in them. A rare blood type (rhesus negative) abundant in the Basque people apparently comes from neanderthals.(http://www.aoi.com.au/bcw/neanderbasque.htm)

The neanderthals split from the human line atleast 200 000 years ago, whereas Cro-Magnons (or modern humans) split around 70 000 years ago when they left Africa.

If the neanderthals where that genetically different from cro-magnons, then they wouldn't have been able to reproduce with them. So I suppose we must be quite close to them.

Interesting.

I saw, just a few days ago, a headline in the science news that; "Humans did NOT breed with neanderthal!"

Didn't read the article because, well, I couldn't care less.

That is an old study, no longer accepted.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2012/aug/14/stud...

Sure. Evolution is just a conspiracy to mess with your head.

What you are really saying is that you are too stupid to understand so it can't be true but in reality, you are just stupid.

Key words: AT LEAST.