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The human story became a little more complicated about two decades ago.
In 2003, archaeologists excavating inside Liang Bua, a cave on the island of Flores in Indonesia, found a tiny human skull. More bones later, and at first, archaeologist Thomas Sutikna and his team thought they had found the ancient fossils of a child.
But the molar teeth belonged to an adult. As the researchers cleaned the specimen, they realized they were looking at a new type of human that lived 60,000 years ago: Homo floresiensis.
The fossils have been puzzling scientists ever since. But new revelations shed more light on how the little person – nicknamed the hobbit after JRR Tolkien’s fictional character – may have come to be.
We are a family
Recent analysis of fossils related to Homo floresiensis found at the Mata Menge site on Flores supports the idea that the hobbits were a dwarfed version of the extinct species Homo erectus. And the recently studied fossils represent an earlier hobbit that was 2.4 inches (6.1 centimeters) shorter than the first specimen.
Homo erectus was the first ancient human to migrate out of Africa around 1.9 million years ago. Although the gait and body size of Homo erectus were similar to modern humans, researchers think that the species decreased in size over hundreds of thousands of years after becoming isolated on Flores.
The unearthed humerus bone is the smallest human limb bone ever found, and digital analysis has shown that it belonged to an adult about 3 feet tall (almost 100 centimeters tall) who lived 700,000 years ago.
Together, the Homo floresiensis fossils paint a portrait of a hardy species able to adapt and thrive despite the presence of Komodo dragons.
Defying gravity
Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams have stayed longer than the planned eight days in low-Earth orbit after traveling to the International Space Station aboard the Boeing Starliner spacecraft in June. Now, the duo may have to stay at the station until February.
NASA is still trying to determine whether Starliner can safely return the astronauts to Earth, and if not, they can go home later aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon – which would mean sending two more astronauts up. from the planned Crew-9 mission flying to the station. in September.
So how are Wilmore and Williams spending their time? They joined the seven crew members on the station to help with experiments and technology demonstrations but also had opportunities to have some fun in microgravity.
Dig this
Excavations of Anglo-Saxon burials near Suffolk, England, during the sixth and seventh centuries have revealed tantalizing pieces of an ancient, unfinished puzzle.
In June, teams at the Sutton Hoo site carried out metal detecting and used ground penetrating radar in an area known as Garden Field and found more pieces of the Bromeswell bucket.
The sixth-century Byzantine bucket, probably made in Turkey, depicts a North African hunting scene with warriors, lions and a hunting dog. Fragments of the artifact were previously found and assembled by archaeologists during separate events in 1986 and 2012.
Once upon a planet
Egyptologists have long debated how ancient pyramids, with stones weighing hundreds of pounds, were built more than 4,000 years ago.
New research suggests that the Egyptians may have used a hydraulic lift to float the massive blocks up through the center of the Step Pyramid, built for Pharaoh Djoser in the 27th century BC.
The land of Egypt was once a Savannah, and its people may have diverted water from ancient streams to create a complex water treatment system and a water-powered elevator in the pyramid’s inner shaft.
But some experts side with the theory that the Egyptians used ramps and haulage devices to put the blocks in place, based on current evidence.
Lunar update
Fully assembled, NASA’s VIPER rover is almost ready to look for water ice at the moon’s south pole that could be used by future astronauts – but there are concerns that the Polar Volatiles Investigation Rover will never reach the destination .
The US space agency recently canceled its plans to send the half-billion dollar robotic probe to the moon due to budget constraints.
Some lawmakers are petitioning NASA to save the rover, saying it could be critical to future US lunar ambitions.
But commercial companies are also looking for an opportunity to bid on the rover, save it and send it to the moon as planned.
Inquiries
Get up to date with these amazing developments in space and science:
— An ancient pot of gold discovered in Turkey suggests that it is a “wretched grave,” according to the leader of the crowd that found the treasure.
— The Long March 6A rocket that launched a constellation of satellites from China broke apart, creating debris that could affect satellites in low-Earth orbit.
— The heavy presence of fishermen on India’s Lakshadweep archipelago is scaring squaretails from courting potential mates, and the shift from flirty to flighty could affect the fish population.
— Scientists have found water and an “unknown lunar mineral” in soil samples collected from the moon by China’s Chang’e-5 probe.
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