Biology in the News

May 2000

http:// www.latimes.com
Article: "Fossils May Mark Human Migration Out of Africa" Two partial skulls, which were crushed from the archeological dig, were found last May, which indicates human formation in Africa and then migration. The skulls were a male and female and half the size of a modern human brain, which were dated back 1.7 million years ago. The skulls were accurately dated with argon isotope measurements of lava from the site under the skulls, surrounding rocks, and tools. The discoveries were made in the Soviet Republic of Georgia in areas surrounding gorges from a castle. The skulls were preserved in a dried lakebed. Besides from marking the move from Africa to Europe, the skulls prove the theory that early humans moved because of new technology. The young male and female skulls were tool users called Homo Eragaster, living with herds like elephants and rhinos. The simple tools found with the skulls, lead experts to believe that because of the increased body size of the early humans (1/3 larger then earlier humans), the need for food in a growing population forced the m to move. The early humans may have needed up to 40% more energy to sustain stability. Despite the larger body size, archeologists could closely relate these humans to much earlier humans. The bigger body size gave the humans more ability to defend themselves in open ranges, allowing them to explore for different food sources. The journey to other lands was inevitable, but the need for food, not necessarily advancements in tools triggered the move.

Los Angeles Times on Thursday, May 18, 2000. It was titled Monstrous T. Rex is Unveiled in Chicago.

On Wednesday, May 18, 2000, a skeleton of a 67-million-year-old Tyrannosaurus-rex named Sue was put on display in the main hall of the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. The skeleton is named for the dicoverer, Sue Hendrickson. This dinosaur was found in the badlands of South Dakota in 1990. The museum then bought it at an auction for $8.36 million. The skeleton of the T rex is 13 feet tall at the hips and 41 feet long, with teeth as long as a human forearm. The museum will display the dinosaur in their main hall for three years and then move her to the new facility within the museum. If as many visitors come to see the T rex as did on the first day, the museum will make lots of money. 10,000 visitors came to gawk at the skeleton in the first few hours of viewing. This article, on the T-rex skeleton in the Chicago Museum, relates to biology because it is about a mammal. An Biology is the study of life.

http://www.accessexcellence.org/

The Oklahoma researchers are studying how the brain can recognize and process facial emotion. They experimented and got a number of volunteers to participate. They were shown line drawings of a human face showing different emotions on the upper versus lower face. The volunteers were viewed the drawings in either their right or left visual fields. By doing this it allowed the scientists to figure out which side of the brain was gaining the information contained in the facial expressions. The study of focus of the eye on some participants of an experiment, it seemed to be easier to see when the object was placed in the lower face. The picture was placed on their upper face and it was seen much better ("processed by the right side of the brain"). Anything that is dispalyed on the facial left side of the face is triggered by the left side of the brain or learned. Emotional displays on the upper face trigger the right side of the brain. These findings help scientist to gain a better knowledge for affective communication of the neurologic basis , which will increase the chances for a physician to have the ability to determine how diseases, such as stroke and dementia, react, adapt, or change to these functions.