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
Today entertainment of all kinds can be found throughout the world from games, outdoor activities, and arts, etc. However, nothing beats entertainment like the classics. Those youthful days of playing Donkey Kong on your Gameboy, or Tetris on your computer. Tetris is still everywhere, and the iconic colored blocks are still just as easily recognizable. Available on virtually all handheld devices, Apple and Android products alike, and most gaming consoles. Tetris will always be a fun game, but could playing Tetris end harmful addictive behavior for good?
How Tetris and Science collide
In recent news, a press release from Plymouth University on the 13th of August, describes how Tetris may help overcome cravings. The cravings can be drugs, food, or sex, and such. The research was published in Addictive Behaviors. There it highlighted that playing Tetris when one had a craving for one of the aforementioned things above, or similar negative habits, Tetris helps to weaken the craving in a natural setting. Furthermore, the effect lasted for over a week’s time. It was also noted that the effect was more influential when intoxicated or under the influence of alcohol.
Other interesting Things About Tetris
In the same press release on the research of how Tetris can help manage cravings, Professor Jackie Andrade said that that playing Tetris decreased craving strength from 70% to 56%. The effect the gameplay is having may be due to the mental process being kept busy and indulged in the gaming experience. Thereby, taking one’s mind off the craving or reducing it in the process. Another professor also mentioned that the effect did not wear off even as the gameplay increased and the effect remaining consistent. This may be important to note because as one becomes familiar with a particular intervention, one acclimates to it and the effect starts to diminish as a tolerance builds up to it. However, with this the effect doesn’t seem to be diminishing as one would expect, but instead has remained consistent as previously mentioned. So, playing Tetris could potentially help in further intervention studies, but also help those with cravings manage their cravings in everyday life.
Trying to break bad habits but don’t like Tetris? Check out Pavlok to reduce all your pesky cravings.
When you wake up in the morning to have your cup of Joe before driving to work or just out for a morning stroll, you don’t expect anything. But a suburb in Dallas Texas just got something they weren’t expecting.
In the light of day were the trees familiar to locals, only totally covered in spider webs, like a morbid curtain. The trees covered in spider webs also had thousands of the eight-legged arachnids crawling all over the place.
News broke out about this strange sight in Texas A&M AgriLife. This happened on July 31st, however, more up-to-date coverage can be found here.
SPIDER WEBS NOT SO STRANGE AFTER ALL
Seeing trees covered in spider webs, as it turns out, is no new occurrence for locals; its occurrence is regular in frequency. The last reported incident such as this was back in 2007, creepily near the nearest incident.
The culprit responsible was the Tetragnatha guatemalensis spider that builds huge nests when it deems the weather okay to do so. The range of this spider can be found in Minnesota, Kansas, New Mexico, and Southern California in the States.
AN UNDERSTANDING
So when residents saw the trees covered in spider webs that day in July, no one was seriously, frightfully alarmed. For the spiders, the conditions to build that huge curtains of webs include having lots of small bugs by lakes—so an abundance of food source is a necessary condition for this massive web.
But even though these huge nests occur every now and then, the trees covered in spider webs and just the sight of the huge nests are a rare sight to see. Moreover, you don’t need to use bug spray because this specific species of spider isn’t harmful to humans.
Which is also another reason why there wasn’t a huge concern about the sight but rather surprise, as the spider isn’t aggressive. It may look creepy, but it’s harmless. However, it is a wonder to see the Dallas suburb trees covered in spider webs and awe-inspiring.
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Suffice to say, there are a great many animals in this world that are endlessly fascinating and new to science. We learn more about them everyday, just as we continue learning about ourselves in this harried adventure called life.
Which is why there is a whole field of study that brings science closer to the animals. Today, scientific research has revealed some interesting new findings regarding the animal kingdom.
Have you ever wondered what constraints influence an animal in order to make a friend or foe? Or at least wondered how differentiate the two groups more quickly?
SOME INTERESTING RESEARCH
In a study that was published just yesterday in the Science Advances, new research brings to the public a way of determining predator from prey, by way of an animal’s eye shape.
After all there is a noticeable difference between the eye of an crocodile and a sheep’s eye. Each with their own advantages and disadvantages.
Especially in the sheep’s case who can see what’s behind them but suffer from bad depth perception. To contrast, crocodiles can see very well underwater with the protective membrane.
INSIGHT INTO EYE SHAPE
According to an article in the New York Times, the study gathered its information from a pool of around 214 animals. In the study, the eye shape of the animals was shown to determine the habits and advantages of each animal.
Such findings include that the horizontal eye seen in horses, sheep, and cows may help to let more light in from the left to right side and see predators from different directions better. This allows the eye to stay parallel to the ground regardless of the head’s inclination.
Whereas the vertical slits we see in cats may help in surprising prey when pouncing. But that hypothesis loses legitimacy when considering tigers or lions (who have circular eye shapes).
But it may be due to the difference in height with regard to other predators with vertical eye shapes that may explain why some larger predators lack the vertical slit. One thing can be said about this study; as one scientist commented, it’s a wonder that no one noticed this earlier and studied the differences in eye shape vs. hunting or living habits.
REGARDLESS OF EYE SHAPE, BLUE LIGHT THERAPY WILL PLEASE
One of the most significant and impactful deals involving trade in history, it is shocking how little most Americans and American politicians know about the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Its specifics have been kept secret behind closed doors for years by corporations and government officials that don’t want you to know what’s in the deal–including legislation that would directly affect food safety standards, environmental protections, local labor laws, and internet privacy.
WHAT IS THE TPP?
The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a massive multinational free trade agreement, between 12 nations of the Pacific Rim, including the US, Australia, Brunei, Canada, Japan, Chili, Mexico, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam. The agreement has been in negotiation for nearly five years, and is just now reaching its final stages before becoming finalized. President Obama has been fully behind the deal since its introduction in 2010, claiming its potential to “boost US economic growth, support American jobs, and grow Made-in-America exports to some of the most dynamic and fastest growing countries in the world.”
AN INCREASE IN CORPORATE POWER
The TPP will grant corporations the right to sue federal governments —completely bypassing domestic courts—on the grounds that active legislation would restrict their profit margins. This means that any legislation that doesn’t agree with big business would be likely to come under fire, liable to be changed at a corporation’s whim to better fit their needs.
In fact, instances of this happening have already taken place. Right now, Philip is trying to reverse the Fair And Equitable Tobacco Reform Act (FETRA), implemented by US Department of Agriculture (USDA), in an attempt to score more profit from increasing taxes. This is just one example of how corporations would be able to manipulate crucial legislation that directly affects US citizens in order to rake in millions of tax dollars. The new deal would also give foreign firms the ability to change new policies–such as those dealing with wildlife conservation and climate change protection—simply because the new policies don’t match a corporation’s “expectations.”
ENVIORNMENTAL IMPACT
The new deal would also give foreign firms the ability to change new policies–such as those dealing with wildlife conservation and climate change protection—simply because the new policies don’t match a corporation’s “expectations.” This places vital legislation that we use today to keep a clean environment and healthy communities at risk.
For example, it is likely that corporations and industries frustrated by the bold new expansion of the Clean Water Act —which now protects a much wider variety of water bodies, including seasonal streams and ponds—will be able to appeal to changing the new legislation, or else sue the government that tries to stop them.
FOOD SAFETY AT RISK
Under the TPP, the US would be required to allow food imports from foreign nations if their safety standards are equal to our own, even if they violate core principles of our food safety legislation. Because of this, food inspection would likely be outsourced to other countries, undermining our own US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which already only inspects less than 1% of all seafood imports. With countries such as Vietnam and Malaysia—both countries with severe seafood issues—entering into a partnership with the US under the TPP, cause for concern involving the safety of our food.
Many critics of the TPP also speculate that food labels, telling the customer where and how their food was produced may be labeled as “trade barriers” by b corporations, thus giving them the right to sue the US. And the potential risks of implementing the TPP don’t stop here. Under the trade agreement’s legislation, healthcare corporations are more than expected to increase the price of medicine, placing underdeveloped countries at further risk, already unable to afford healthcare. Other areas that the TPP would directly affect such as internet freedom and worker’s rights are also under attack by civilians and government officials alike.
HOW DO WE STOP IT?
Fortunately, not everyone in Congress is willing to sign up for the new bill just yet. In fact, most government officials are just as uninformed as civilians are in relation to the specifics of the bill, with both republicans and democrats uniting against fast tracking the TPP—a process that would skip the formal steps taken to implement the new bill, instead putting it immediately into action. However, a large coalition of corporate lobbyists are still present in Congress, trying to get government officials to sign the deal as fast as possible. Critics of the bill stress the need for public awareness of TPP legislation, as right now, government officials are only able to hear the cries from multinational corporations.
Last month, Wikileaks released several chapters straight from the TPP that have been long kept secret from the public, including chapters concerning its environmental impact, which you can read for yourself here. Head of Wikileaks Julian Assange stated, “The transparency clock has run out on the TPP. No more secrecy. No more excuses. Let’s open the TPP once and for all.” The website has since placed a bounty on the TPP, offering a $100,000 reward for anyone who publishes it for all to see.
There is currently no mention of any expiration date or separation clause included in the bill, meaning that once it passes, the TPP would be here to stay.
Clapway Trends gives your the lowdown on new tech products to try:
You have probably seen an additional bright speck in the night sky for the past few nights, and now you can find out why. The bright specks in the night sky are Jupiter and Venus, set to make a night sky spectacle on Tuesday by conjunction. But already, even before the night sky spectacle is due to happen, the visual we have seen thus far is spectacle enough.
As Venus is closer to Earth than Jupiter, the larger of the bright dots in the night is Venus, while the smaller one is Jupiter, farther away. The event of the two planets being in such close proximity will last about a week, so get your fill of photos of the night sky spectacle that is to be while you can.
Jupiter and Venus will ever so slowly inch toward each other
As Tuesday gets closer and closer to today, so too will the two planets inch towards each other. By Sunday, they will be approximately one degree from each other, and before you know it, on Tuesday the 30th of June, they will be at the closest. Then, we will have our night sky spectacle; an almost double star-like appearance.
The two will be so close together that you’ll be able to cover them both up with one of your fingers. You can see the spectacle every day at sunset, with Venus appearing first as the sun sets before Jupiter then appears. A conjunction with two planets this close is rare and will not happen for a while- in fact, this is the only summertime conjunction of the two planets that we will get to witness in our lifetimes.
An interesting history of the two planets, a night sky spectacle
The subsequent conjunction of the two planets is interesting because the double star-like appearance will resemble a Star of Bethlehem. But whether or not you are looking at the sky on Tuesday for that reason or you are simply drawn to the sky during this unforgettable spectacle, all of us will nevertheless be awe-struck by planetary conjunction that night.
