Christine Lepisto @ Treehugger.com reports on research on the hominid skeleton we’ve named Lucy, 3.18 million years old, and how she may have died from a fall from a tree:
The “smoking gun” consists of a proximal humerus fracture of Lucy’s left shoulder, consistent with the type of broken bones that occur when a conscious person stretches out their arm to break a hard fall. The fractures were sharp, and splintered, not consistent with the usual fractures seen in ancient fossils. Dozens of other compressive fractures, including at the ankle, knee, and pelvis, even a broken rib, all point to a fall from a great height. Because there is no evidence that these fractures started healing, the scientists conclude that the fall occurred shortly before Lucy’s death.
I don’t get too excited about hominid discoveries and research, but this is really interesting:
What’s more: you can make up your own mind. For the first time ever, the Ethiopian National Museum provides a set of 3-D files of Lucy’s shoulder and knee for the public to download and print.
Which might be seen as another move towards the democratization of science – a dubious suggestion, to my mind. Science is already available to anyone with the intellectual chops to make it happen. But suggesting anyone with a 3D printer and an Internet connection can have a valid opinion on a subject both difficult and political is to let in those who would prefer one conclusion over another for purely ideological reasons.
But it makes me wish I had a 3D printer.
