Voting day today

twoleftfeet — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 00:06:46 -0800

There hasn't been much coverage about this in the major media, so you probably aren't aware that there is a presidential election today. After two terms, the current president cannot seek reelection. The next president could be a military man or an attorney. There could also be changes in the Senate. All of this means a lot for the country's relations with other countries, its independence from foreign energy sources, and for the future, in general, of this great country.

Not Hobbits, Just Shorties?

Asparagirl — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 15:13:34 -0800

A South African paleoanthropologist on vacation on the island of Palau in Micronesia has discovered thousands of bone fragments of very small people estimated at between 900 and 2900 years old. He and his colleagues have just published a paper on their findings, which would appear to damage the claim that the bones discovered on Flores Island, Indonesia in 2004 and attributed to homo floresiensis (or "Hobbits") were not a unique and extinct branch of the human family, but rather pygmy-like peoples. However it also knocks a hole in the claim that the Flores bones were merely all unusually small humans suffering from microcephaly due to iodine deficiency. Naturally, the scientists who originally discovered the Hobbits on Flores aren't too thrilled about either of these theories. (Previous discussions here and here)