Earliest human foot prints found

Laser scanning was used to plot the exact dimensions of the prints

The earliest footprints showing evidence of modern human foot anatomy and gait have been unearthed in Kenya.

The 1.5-million-year-old footprints display signs of a pronounced arch and short, aligned toes, in contrast to older footprints.

The size and spacing of the Kenyan markings – attributed to Homo erectus – reflect the height, weight, and walking style of modern humans.

The findings have been published in the journal Science.

The footprints are not the oldest belonging to a member of the human lineage. That title belongs to the 3.7 million-year-old Australopithecus afarensis prints found in Laetoli, Tanzania, in 1978.

Those prints, however, showed comparatively flat feet and a significantly higher angle between the big toe and the other toes, representative of a foot still adapted to grasping.        Breaking News

zero emission research station: Alternative energy viable even in the coldest regions

PRINCESS ELISABETH BASE, Antarctica – The world’s first zero-emission polar research station opened in Antarctica and was welcomed by scientists as proof that alternative energy is viable even in the coldest regions.  Pioneers of Belgium’s Princess Elisabeth station in East Antarctica said if a station could rely on wind and solar power in Antarctica — mostly a vast, icy emptiness — it would undercut arguments by skeptics that green power is not reliable. “If we can build such a station in Antarctica we can do that elsewhere in our society.

We have the capacity, the technology, the knowledge to change our world,” Alain Hubert, the station’s project director, told Reuters at the inauguration ceremony Sunday.        Breaking News

30-year-old seen for first time in 3,000 years

CHICAGO, Illinois (CNN) — The beautiful singer was about 30 years old when the world forgot about her. But now we know what she looks like for the first time in nearly 3,000 years.

It’s all thanks to one of the most sophisticated CT scanners in the world. Without even cracking open the Egyptian casket, you can now see the smallest details of the woman’s features. Her skin, muscles and bones are intact.

“Her eyes are set far apart, and she has a very full mouth and high cheek bones. You know, I think I could recognize this individual if I saw her in life,” said Michael Vannier, a radiologist at the University of Chicago Medical Center.

Egyptologist Emily Teeter recruited Vannier to help her get a look at the mummy no one had seen. Teeter is a researcher at the Oriental Institute, a small museum on the University of Chicago campus where the mysterious mummy was first brought in 1920.        Breaking News