Homo floresiensis wrists were primitive

Primitive on the left, modern on the right
First, there were humanlike creatures on the island of Flores, tiny in stature. They were named after the island: Homo floresiensis. Some thought that their brains were too small for intelligence. There was evidence of stone tools, but the tools were much older than the bones–much, much older. Some suggested these were just microcephalic humans. Then a virtual endocast of the brain showed that the brains of the little people were not humanlike and bore a resemblance to the brains of Homo erectus, but with unique overdevelopment of the area for forethought.

Now, finally, the wrist bones have been reconstructed. The wrists, too, resemble those of H. erectus and even Pan (chimpanzee) or Gorilla more than those of H. sapiens. The wrists are not modern. The wrists are primitive. A mixture of modern or advanced and prmitive characters is expected. And there it is. The BBC has a nice diagram at their article, Hobbit wrists were primitive. See also the New Scientist.

The self-correcting nature of scientific discovery is proving itself once again.

Islands of habitat, including literal islands, are the engines of biodiversity. I predict that scientific teams will be combing other, nearby islands in hopes of discovering more H. floresiensis or, better yet, another species.

A blast from the past

A recent article in The Toronto Star about a long disused nuclear-warning siren in referred obliquely to Exercise TOCSIN “B”, held November 13, 1961.

I was just turned eight years old, and I remember listening to the sirens as I walked to a Wolf Cubs meeting in Upper Hamilton. I do remember how spooky it was, alone on the dark streets.

Hunting cranes

Something like 12 of the 15 species of cranes around the world are endangered. Sandhill cranes are not endangered: there are perhaps half a million of them. They have recovered from low population numbers and are only endangered in some areas. They did go through quite a narrow evolutionary bottleneck, reducing their genetic variability and their future viability. But according to governments, it is OK to hunt them. But they are big, slow fliers. Shooting them is like shooting fish in a barrel.

If there were only one city of human beings in the world, I suppose we would not have to worry about them dying out: half a million is lots.

Mangroves, tsunamis, shrimp

From Living the Scientific Life: Mangroves and Tsunamis: The Shrimp Connection. This article by Grrlscientist was nominated for a Koufax award.

Abstain from shrimp lest your mangrove forests be destroyed and your people die in tsunamis.