Meet Homo naledi, Our New Human Ancestor - http://clapway.com/2015/10/06/homo-naledi-skulls-found-in-africa-darwin/

Meet Homo naledi

Cavers Steven Tucker and Rick Hunter were spelunking in South Africa and uncovered one of the most significant discoveries in human evolution in last 50 years – the skulls and remains of Homo naledi.

Not Quite Human, But Close

The new hominin species was announced in September by an international team of more than 60 scientists led by American paleoanthropologist Lee R. Berger, also a professor of human evolution studies at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. The species name, H. naledi, signifies the cave where the bones were discovered. “naledi” means “star” in the Sesotho language.

Homo Neladi, although close to being human, it is not. The species had a tiny brain, around half the size of a humans, and a large ape like body. Tucker and Hunter were exploring the Rising Star cave outside of Johannesburg, aka the Cradle of Humankind, two years ago and found a trove of human-like skeletons.

Although the cave had been traversed many times in the past, these remains were distinguished for having small wiry frames.

The Details

Hunter and Tucker knew the importance of the discovery and immediately set out to find a team to help extract the remains. They made a post on Facebook that quickly skyrocketed, and they received many supporters. From those, they strategically chose 6 women to form a team and extract the skeletons.

Altogether the team extracted 1,550 specimens. They were able to recover four partial skulls, two males and two females. They also found nearly complete skeletons. There were adult, juvenile and infant remains extracted,

Approximately 20 scientists from 15 countries studied the findings both on and off site and are sharing their discoveries as they happen.

Homo Neladi is even closer to being human than its found predecessor, Homo erectus, which is dated to having lived 1.6 million years ago.

Homo neladi has not been carbon dated yet.

The creatures were practically half human. The teeth were close to being human; the back half match while the front half does not. The hip’s top half is human like and the bottom half ape like.

Humans are partially defined by their logical processes, so Darwin, eat your heart out.

So If You’re Headed to South Africa to Make Some Discoveries Yourself, Check This Out

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhjE7kUwfv8

Meet Homo naledi, Our New Human Ancestor

Your Dirty Windows Destroy The Environment - http://clapway.com/2015/08/18/your-dirty-windows-destroy-the-environment123/

Scientists have discovered what many of us have been suspecting: the sun aggravates air pollution and smog levels in cities and your dirty windows do not help at all.

MY DIRTY WINDOWS? YEAP.

Dr. James Donaldson, a University of Toronto chemistry professor and lead author of the study, states that when the sunlight hits overlying dust and grime on surfaces like buildings, statues or dirty windows, it can cause nitrogen gases to discharge and turn into smog.

Related post: China: Air Pollution Kills 1.6 Million People Every Year

“The current understanding of urban air pollution does not include the recycling of nitrogen oxides and potentially other compounds from building surfaces,” Donaldson states. “But based on our field studies in a real-world environment, this is happening.”

HOW DID THEY DO THAT?

On Monday, the team of researchers stated that their experiments verified a hypothesis developed some time before. For their tests, they shined artificial sunlight onto grime samples in order to determine the grime’s effect on chemical output.

The researchers were also able to determine the truth behind the rumor that nitrates in urban filthy areas are inactive. In actuality, they are being removed very quickly: “The lifetime of the nitrates is very, very short,” Dr. Donaldson stated at the conference for American Chemical Society.

The scientists are still working to quantify the extent of sunlight-fueled smog: “It may be quite a significant, and unaccounted for, contributor to air pollution in cities,” Dr. James Donaldson said. He also noted that if his research comes to a suspected conclusion, the understanding of air pollution today would be incomplete: “If our suspicions are correct, it means that the current understanding of urban air pollution is missing a big chunk of information.”

THE EXPERIMENTS IN SHANGAI

Dr. Donaldson announced that he and his team of scientists are in discussion about the commencement of a real-life experiment in Shangai, in an effort to study the influence of varying pollution levels across the world – specifically “in someplace that is ‘really grubby’ and someplace that is ‘really clean.”

Of course, Donaldson is going to take into account weather and climate conditions, in order to discover the various factors that lead sunlit grime to create smog. According to him, what he has found so far in the laboratory experiments indicates that “there could be very different sorts of chemistry happening in dry climates.”

FOR MORE ECOLOGY NEWS, CLICK HERE!

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Air pollution and climate change can rid the world of the beautiful nature that exists around us:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vD63kwQuZ2I

Your Dirty Windows Destroy The Environment

Planet Jupiter Has A Younger Sibling - And We Have a Photo of It! - http://clapway.com/2015/08/14/planet-jupiter-has-a-younger-sibling-and-we-have-a-photo-of-it123/

A planet similar to how Jupiter looked in its formative years  has been discovered by scientists using a high-tech camera that has been especially designed to capture photographs of distant planets – the Gemini Planet Imager (GPI).

The planet, known by the name 51 Eridani b is 96 light years away from Earth and is twice the size of Jupiter. However, it still remains as one of the smallest planets in our solar system to be captured by astronomers. Previously, those pictured have been up to 13 times the size of Jupiter.

The star it circles, 51 Eridani is only 20 million years old, in contrast to our sun which is thought to be around 4.5 billion years old.

So Why The Interest In Young Jupiter?

The fact that the ‘new Jupiter’ is still influenced by its surrounding conditions provides astronomers with an opportunity to study 51 Eridani b in great detail. There are also many similarities to Jupiter billions of years ago means that areas that were not focused on the first time around can now be discovered and researched in great detail.

“51 Eridani b is the first young planet that probably looks like Jupiter did billions of years ago, making it currently our most important corner piece of the planet-formation jigsaw puzzle,” says Travis Barman,  Planetary Scientist at University of Arizona.

Another simularity between the two planets is that they both include methane in their atmosphere, giving astronomers the opportunity to learn more about the formation and the evolution of this type of gas-planet. So far, it has been discovered that 51 Eridani b’s temperature is considerably higher, estimated to be around 800 degrees.

A Breakthrough In Discovery

Over the last 20 years, scientists have confirmed the existence of 1,800 exoplanets and  alien planets around other stars. However, this image marks something significant in the breakthrough of technology and discovery. The Gemini Planet Imager has been able to capture something quite remarkable.

“This is exactly the kind of planet we envisioned discovering when we designed GPI,” said James Graham, project scientist for GPI.

This invention of GPI will not only be able to discover unknown planets, but will provide clues as to how the solar systems form.

“Unlike most of the currently known confirmed exoplanets, these GPI images of exoplanets allow us to examine planetary atmospheric information, which will eventually allow astronomers to examine biosignatures from mature planets during the next decade”, said  Song, UGA Franklin College of Arts and Sciences.

While this discovery is still fairly new, scientists are going to start observing 51 Eridani b’s orbit in September. In the meantime, check out Science Mag to find out more information and keep up to date on the latest discoveries.

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Here is his review of the RWATCH R10 smartwatch provided to us by GearBest. Watch now on Clapway TV.

Planet Jupiter Has A Younger Sibling - And We Have a Photo of It!

The Original Penny Skateboard | Gear Review - http://clapway.com/2014/10/07/original-penny-skateboard-gear-review/

According to Ben Mackay, the founder of Penny Skateboards, skateboarding can be “terrifying”, “exhilarating” and blissful all at the same time. I couldn’t agree more. Eager for adventure and the “wind in your hair” feeling, I purchased my very own Penny board  a couple of weeks ago. The little plastic board, which comes in a range of colors and styles, has now become my faithful traveling companion being portable, durable and not to mention, stylish.

Check out our video review of the Penny Skateboard here:

I purchased mine in a lemony pastel color, with light, purplish wheels, but Penny offers so much variety, I was anxious trying pick THE board for me. If you can’t roll with the pastel series, try the fluorescents, marbles or even the customizable option. If you’re also feeling particularly festive, there’s a holiday series and a special 4^th of July board, boasting patriotic red, whites and blues.

In terms of features, the board comes in two sizes: the Nickel (27”) and the Original (22”). I will be focusing on the 22-incher. Generally, these boards range from $100.00 to $120.00 a pop (up to $150.00 for the Nickel), but are well worth the money. Despite being made of plastic, the board is definitely durable and made from high quality materials. In fact, it’s much heavier and thicker than I expected it to be, but still lightweight in general. It’s small enough to carry with you anywhere, and fits conveniently in a large backpack (although some bigger footed people might want to consider the 27”).

But how does it perform?

Amazingly, the board performs superbly – it’s not all looks. Because of its size, the cruiser manages to pick up a lot of speed and provides a smooth, fun ride. Just make sure to be wary of cracks in the pavement, especially if you’re an urbanite, like me. I’ve had some nasty falls, but I don’t blame the board, as much as I blame my lack of coordination and timing. Because it’s also meant to be a cruiser, it might be a little more difficult to perform tricks (due to limited foot room), but don’t be discouraged. It’s still definitely possible and doable.

I don’t blame you if you suddenly feel like a badass after stepping onto one of these bad boys.

IMAGE SOURCE: http://www.slinkystudio.info/reviews/2014/3/4/penny-original-skateboard-review.html

The Original Penny Skateboard | Gear Review