The Washington post wrote an article on the 3.2 million year old female Australopithecus afarensis skeleton named "Lucy". Discovered in Ethiopia in 1974, Lucy has given aid to many discoveries of our prehistoric ancestors. Because Lucy is long-deceased, we can't exactly know what happened to her that caused her demise. Due to the discovery of certain breaks in the Lucy's arm bones, scientists believe that they have found the cause of her death. Certain scientists have inferred that Lucy climbed a tall tree in order to hide from her predators on the ground. Something happened, and Lucy fell from her perch, falling to the ground. Certain cracks in her bone could be justified by Lucy reaching her arms out in front of her, desperately trying to break her fall.
The fact that scientists are so skilled, that they can make an assumption just by observing the types of cracks in some bones, impresses me greatly, and makes me wonder what will happen in the future of autopsies. How little evidence will be needed to solve a murder, because of the genius of future sciences? This upgrade of scientific knowledge seems like a new industrial revolution in a way. It gives me hope for the future of forensic science.
SOURCE:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2016/08/29/lucy-our-hominid-cousin-may-have-died-in-a-tragic-fall-from-a-tree/
Wallace, you are so right that this is cool; but this also made me think of Hottentot Venus and how they had a POC that they were experimenting w and also using their parts posthumously
ReplyDeleteThe way that scientists can figure out the cause of death of a pre-human human from 3.2 million years ago is truly fascinating, almost makes me want to go into that field but then i remember that i don't like science.
ReplyDeleteThe way that scientists can figure out the cause of death of a pre-human human from 3.2 million years ago is truly fascinating, almost makes me want to go into that field but then i remember that i don't like science.
ReplyDelete