Ya Try to Take a Break…Then They Find a 1.2 Million Year Old Tooth at Atapuerca

The BBC is reporting on a 1.2 million year old premolar found at Atapuerca:

“There is no doubt, from the (geological) level where the tooth was found, that it belonged to the oldest European found to date,” the French news agency AFP quoted him as saying.

Unfortunately, that is about all the info the BBC has.
Yahoo also has the story. From Yahoo:

The foundation said studies of the geological level suggested it was more than one million years old but that final results were being awaited prior to “publishing this extraordinary finding in a research journal of the highest scientific prestige.”

Hmmm, now I’m kind of skeptical…

Afarensis on Hiatus

Burnt out and tired of fooling with it. Be back in a few days…

Louise Leakey on Human Evolution

The Archaeology Channel has an interesting interview with Louise Leakey. For those who are unfamiliar:

Fourth-generation Kenyan Dr. Louise Leakey (Ph.D., London University) has upheld the Leakey family legacy in the search for human origins through continuing research with the Koobi Fora Research Project in the Turkana Basin of northern Kenya. Daughter of renowned palaeoanthropologists Meave and Richard Leakey…

The video is 15 minutes long…

Beetles and Iguanas

Science Daily has two evolution related articles up.

Preservation Blog

Preservation Blog is a blog devoted to all aspects of cultural resource management and preservation issues. Check it out.

Red State Rable’s Quotemining Contest

This is great! The Red State Rabble Quotemining Contest – with prizes!

So, here’s the challenge for Red State Rabble readers: Take the text of Erwin’s article, “Darwin Still Rules, but Some Biologists Dream of a Paradigm Shift,” rip parts of it out of context in creative, amusing, and outrageous ways. Distort the clearly stated intentions of the scientists cited beyond recognition. Connect widely spaced and generally unrelated parts of the story so as to make up sentences that seem to support creationist notions. In short, have your way with the text.
Then e-mail your clever little quote mine to Red State Rabble — you can find my e-mail address in the sidebar under contact — and I’ll post the wittiest and most ingenious.
Best yet, there are prizes for the top four entries. Each of RSR’s favorite entries will win one of the Red State Rabble mouse pads shown below:

Interesting Symposium on Medieval Health

Science Daily is reporting on an upcoming symposium on ‘Disease, Disability and Medicine in Early Medieval Europe’. Looks quite interesting, especially this part:

President GorbaBush Tear Down This Wall

Some of you may have caught the National Geographic article detailing the environmental effects of the wall currently being built on the US/Mexico border. Additionally, the wall poses serious concerns for conservations worried about the wall obstructing the ability of animals to nove back and forth. Yahoo News has an article on the impact of the wall on archaeological sites. Ostensibly, the article concerns a three way squabble between tribal members, tribal authorities and the Border Patrol, but reveals some interesting information:

Move Over Wilkins, There Is a New Snowflake in Town

According to Science News Daily and albino mountain goat – named Snowflake- has been discovered in Italy:

Darwin Speaks Out Against the Cruelty of Steel Jawed Traps

Although I myself have no moral objections to hunting and fishing some types are clearly wrong. Steel jawed traps are a good example. I was recently gratified to learn that Darwin didn’t think much of steel jawed traps either.