Tag Archives: bones

Das menschliche Gebiss als Spiegel unserer Evolution

Wissenschaftler der Universität Tübingen ermitteln, welche Eigenschaften der Zähne zur Rekonstruktion genetischer Verwandtschaft genutzt werden können

Genetische Verwandtschaftsbeziehungen zwischen individuellen Menschen oder auch Menschengruppen lassen sich anhand ihrer Zahnformen teilweise rekonstruieren. Dr. Hannes Rathmann und Dr. Hugo Reyes-Centeno von der Kolleg-Forschungsgruppe „Words, Bones, Genes, Tools“ an der Universität Tübingen haben nun mithilfe eines Algorithmus herausgearbeitet, welche der zahlreichen Zahnmerkmale sich für Verwandtschaftsanalysen besonders gut eignen und welche Zahnmerkmale weniger die Verwandtschaft, sondern eine ähnliche Anpassung an gleiche Umweltbedingungen widerspiegeln. Die Studie erschien in der Fachzeitschrift Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS). (more…)

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How math could make bones stronger

Models help UD researchers calculate best dosage for osteoporosis treatment

They may seem rigid and set in their ways, but your bones are actually under constant construction and deconstruction. They give up their nutrient treasures (calcium) to the body and then rebuild in a constant give-and-take sort of rhythm. (more…)

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New Tool for CSI? Geographic Software Maps Distinctive Features inside Bones

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A common type of geographic mapping software offers a new way to study human remains.

In a recent issue of the American Journal of Physical Anthropology, researchers describe how they used commercially available mapping software to identify features inside a human foot bone – a new way to study human skeletal variation. (more…)

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Burtele Foot Indicates Lucy Not Alone

*Discovery of partial foot skeleton could mean hominin species lived side by side*

A new fossil discovery from Eastern Africa called the Burtele foot indicates Australopithecus afarensis, an early relative of modern humans, may not have been the only hominin to walk the plains and woodlands of what is now the Afar region of Ethiopia some 3.4 million years ago.

Researchers openly have questioned whether Au. afarensis, the species to which the famous fossil “Lucy” belongs, was the only living hominin during the late Pliocene of Africa. Lucy’s bones provided evidence that she and perhaps other early hominins may have walked upright, but whether or not she was the sole hominin species in her particular geologic time scale has been the subject of much debate. (more…)

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Making The Bones Speak

EAST LANSING, Mich. — In a narrow, modest laboratory in Michigan State University’s Giltner Hall, students pore over African skeletons from the Middle Ages in an effort to make the bones speak.

Little is known about these Nubians, meaning the information collected by graduate and undergraduate students in MSU’s Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Program will help shed light on this unexplored culture. (more…)

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Got Mo-tivation?

EAST LANSING, Mich. — To help keep the symptoms of muscular dystrophy at bay, doctors say patients should maintain a positive attitude and be as active as possible; complete inactivity can make the disease worse. Lucky for Mo Gerhardt, negativity and inactivity aren’t in his vocabulary.

Gerhardt, who exudes positive energy, is an academic adviser at Michigan State University, color commentator for the MSU women’s basketball team, motivational speaker, a multiple medal winner in international powerhockey (electric wheelchair hockey) and author of the new book, “Perspective from an Electric Chair.” (more…)

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Presidential Cuisine a Focus of Archaeology at Montpelier

Arizona State Museum zooarchaeologist Barnet Pavao-Zuckerman and her students are analyzing the remains of an early American president’s dining table.

Arizona State Museum archaeologists are looking through historic table scraps in an effort to find out more about the kitchen of America’s fourth president and author of the U.S. Constitution.

For about a decade, Barnet Pavao-Zuckerman and her students from the University of Arizona have been part of ongoing excavations at Montpelier, the home of James and Dolley Madison. The archaeology of Montpelier’s grounds offer some light on what day-to-day life was like from the pre-Revolutionary War era to well into the 18th century. (more…)

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