Gizmorama - April 28, 2014

Good Morning,

A new study says that scientists have discovered oldest footprints outside of Africa. I'm curious about the size of these footprints. Have feet become smaller or larger over time? And did they step in gum?

Learn about this interesting story and more from the scientific community in today's issue.

Until Next Time,
Erin

P.S. Did you miss an issue? You can read every issue from the Gophercentral library of newsletters on our exhaustive archives page. Thousands of issues, all of your favorite publications in chronological order. You can read AND comment. Just click GopherArchives

***
*-- Scientists discover oldest footprints outside of Africa --*
HAPPISBURGH, England (UPI) - A new study published in PLOS ONE details the oldest human footprints found outside of Africa. Found and studied by archaeologists from the British Museum, the footprints are estimated to be anywhere from 780,000 to one million years old. The footprints were discovered pressed into estuary mudflats along the coast of Happisburgh, England, a small village in low-lying Norfolk county. Happisburgh had previously been identified as one of the earliest sites of human activity outside of Africa, when ancient flint tools were discovered there in 2010. The newly-discovered footprints became visible as a result of coastal erosion, the mudflats revealed, as the beach's sand became washed away by waves and current. First spotted in May 2013, scientists had to act quickly to document the prints before time and stormy seas washed away human history. Based on detailed analysis of the footprints, scientists believe impressions were left by a party of five -- men, women and children -- as they strolled the riverbanks. Although archaeologists have no human remains on which to conduct DNA testing, they estimate the prints were left by Homo antecessor, or "Pioneer Man," a species with a slightly smaller brain than modern humans, but one that walked upright on two feet. "We actually know very little else about the people who left these prints," explained researcher Nicholas Ashton, "but from the plant and animal remains at Happisburgh we know that they were able to survive winters colder than today." "We're still asking questions of whether they had clothing and shelter or controlled the use of fire," Ashton added.


*-- European astronomers spot pair of supermassive black holes --*
PARIS (UPI) - Luck for the average pedestrian is happening upon a crisp dollar bill tumbling down the sidewalk. For European astronomers, it's happening to be looking at the right portion of sky at the exact moment a star is ripped apart by a giant black hole. The auspicious discovery was made by the European Space Agency's orbiting X-ray observatory XMM-Newton. The cosmological providence revealed not one black hole, but two -- the first pair of supermassive black holes observed in a normal galaxy. Normal galaxies, or quiescent galaxies -- as opposed to active galaxies -- are no longer actively producing stars. Black holes are much easier to locate in newer active galaxies. Finding them in normal galaxies -- as mentioned -- requires luck. While black holes in active galaxies are constantly eating up gas clouds and star matter, giving off detectable X-rays as a result, similar activity is less frequent and more sporadic in normal galaxies. Currently, the only way to find a normal black hole is by happening upon a "tidal disruption event," like the star consumption witnessed by ESA's XXM-Newton. What makes the latest discovery even more unusual is that the two black holes were found together, orbiting each other -- the product of two galaxies having merged. Scientists hope this just the first of many similar discoveries to come. "There might be a whole population of quiescent galaxies that host binary black holes in their centers," explained astronomer Stefanie Komossa, of the Max Planck Society in Germany. With further analysis of binary black holes, scientists hope to learn how and at what rate galaxies merge with each other. "Once we have detected thousands of tidal disruption events, we can begin to extract reliable statistics about the rate at which galaxies merge," Komossa said. Eventually, these two newly discovered black holes will merge, and the result will be a massive burst of energy. The final merger will be the strongest source of gravitational waves the universe has ever seen. Details of the new binary supermassive black holes will be published next month in The Astrophysical Journal.

Missed an Issue? Visit the Gizmorama Archives