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Showing posts with the label naledi

Solar plane lands in New York City

A solar-powered airplane finished crossing the United States on Saturday, landing in New York City after flying over the Statue of Liberty during its historic bid to circle the globe, the project team said.  The spindly, single-seat experimental aircraft, dubbed Solar Impulse 2, arrived at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport at about 4 a.m. local time after it took off about five hours beforehand at Lehigh Valley International Airport in Pennsylvania, the team reported on the airplane's website.  Such a pleasure to land in New York! For the 14th time we celebrate sustainability," said the project's co-founder Andre Borschberg on Twitter after flying over the city and the Statue of Liberty during the 14th leg of the trip around the globe. The Swiss team flying the aircraft in a campaign to build support for clean energy technologies hopes eventually to complete its circumnavigation in Abu Dhabi, where the journey began in March 2015. The solar cr...

Homo naledi fossil prints come to London

They are among the most sensational fossils to be found in Africa in recent years, and visitors to London's Natural History Museum can see what all the fuss is about on Friday.  3D prints of the remains of Homo naledi will be on display at the NHM's Science Uncovered event.  They were given to the institution by the Johannesburg discovery team.  Bones from perhaps 15 of the human-like creatures were recovered from a cave complex not far from the city.  It is the biggest haul of fossil hominin remains ever identified on the African continent. The researchers - led by Lee Berger of Wits University - have   scanned the bones to make faithful copies, and these have now been shared with the London museum.  At Science Uncovered, Dr Louise Humphrey will be explaining their significance and what they could tell us about human origins.  I think the effect on the field is transformative," she told, "not just because the morphology indicates a new specie...

Skeletons of New human-like species found in S Africa

Scientists have discovered a new human-like species in a burial chamber deep in a cave system in South Africa.  The discovery of 15 partial skeletons is the largest single discovery of its type in Africa.  The researchers claim that the discovery will change ideas about our human ancestors.  The studies which have been published in the journal Elife also indicate that these individuals were capable of ritual behavior.The species, which has been named naledi, has been classified in the grouping, or genus,Homo, to which modern humans belong.  The researchers who made the find have not been able to find out how long ago these creatures lived - but the scientist who led the team, Prof Lee Berger, told  that he believed they could be among the first of our kind (genus Homo) and could have lived in Africa up to three million years ago.Like all those working in the field, he is at pains to avoid the term "missing link". Prof Berger says naledi could be t...