. Earth Science News .
ABOUT US
Famous fossil secretly scanned in Texas

Lucy is also know as Dinkenesh, which means "You are beautiful."
by Staff Writers
 Austin, Texas (UPI) Feb 6, 2009
Archaeologists at the University of Texas at Austin were given a top secret look at Lucy, one of the world's most famous fossils.

The 3.2 million-year-old hominid skeleton, found in Ethiopia in 1974, made a 10-day stop at UTA's High-Resolution X-ray Computed Tomography Facility in September after an eight-month exhibit at the Houston Museum of Natural Sciences.

With guards standing close watch, UT scientists were allowed to make 35,000 computed tomography images of the ancient fossil. While U.S. researchers conducted a scan on the fossil in the 1970s, the new scans provide the first high-resolution data on the early human ancestor, the Austin (Texas) American-Statesman newspaper said Friday.

The fossil of a 3-foot-tall Australopithecus Francis is considered a national treasure in Ethiopia, where she is called Dinkenesh, which means "You are beautiful." Only her Ethiopian curator was allowed to touch any of the fossilized remains, the San Antonio Express-News said.

UT researchers said the scans allowed them to see inside the fossil without causing harm and should provide new information about human evolution.

Share This Article With Planet Earth
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit
YahooMyWebYahooMyWeb GoogleGoogle FacebookFacebook



Related Links
 All About Human Beings and How We Got To Be Here


Memory Foam Mattress Review
SPACE MEDIA NETWORK PROMOTIONS
 Solar Energy Solutions
Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison ...
Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News


ABOUT US
Best-selling author backs genies over geniuses
 Long Beach, California (AFP) Feb 5, 2009
 Elizabeth Gilbert wants genies to get credit for genius.






DISASTER MANAGEMENT
  • Australian wildfire arsonists face murder charges: police
  • Survivors tell of Australian bushfire horror
  • Mobile phones fight disease, uncover news in developing lands
  • Poland ending Chad, Lebanon, Golan missions: defence minister

    • CLIMATE SCIENCE
  • China resorts to artillery to fight drought
  • Australian wildfire ferocity linked to climate change: experts
  • China presses for US help on climate change
  • China struggles with drought

    • EARTH OBSERVATION
  • NASA Satellites Capture Sea Surface Heights Around The World
  • NOAA-N Launch Rescheduled
  • NOAA-N Prime Launch To Light Up Early Morning Sky
  • New Research Aircraft HALO Lands At Home Airport

    • ENERGY TECH
  • Analysis: The scoop on buying green power
  • Analysis: Green business going strong
  • US green groups hail reversal of Bush-era land lease
  • Analysis: Azerbaijan crucial to gas export

    • EPIDEMICS
  • China detects no bird flu outbreaks among poultry: UN
  • Blue Light Destroys Antibiotic-Resistant Staph Infection
  • Bill Gates playfully frees swarm of mosquitoes
  • Bird flu poultry outbreaks in China possible: UN

    • FLORA AND FAUNA
  • Smugglers target Indonesia's rare Javan hawk: official
  • Aggressive African bees dominating in Fa.
  • Boy feared snatched by crocodile in Australian floodwaters
  • Fishy Clue Helps Establish How Proteins Evolve

    • FROTH AND BUBBLE
  • Pollution preferable to unemployment for Romanian town
  • Vietnam to go ahead with bauxite mines despite opposition
  • China blames pollution as birth defects rise: state media
  • Over 4,000 industrial plants without proper permits: EU

    • ABOUT US
  • Famous fossil secretly scanned in Texas
  • Best-selling author backs genies over geniuses
  • Tom Cruise Smile Comes With A Sunburn Price
  • Survival shaped face of human ancestors

    • The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2007 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement