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"Discovery Files" Features from the National Science Foundation
"Bake 'n' Flake"
Fully produced report in MP3 format:
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96 kbps
(90 seconds)
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READER SCRIPT
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TOOL-TIME--ABOUT 100-THOUSAND YEARS AGO... THE "DISCOVERY FILES": NEW ADVANCES IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, FROM THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION. THE TYPICAL EARLY MODERN HUMAN--HANGING OUT BETWEEN 72-THOUSAND AND 164-THOUSAND YEARS AGO, AROUND THE SOUTHERN TIP OF AFRICA: HE'S FIGURED OUT HOW TO FASHION TOOLS FROM STONE. BUT, THE NATIVE STONE--CALLED "SILCRETE" ["SILL-CREET"]--DOESN'T FLAKE VERY WELL--SO IT'S NOT EASY TO MAKE PRECISE TOOLS, LIKE BLADES OR SPEARHEADS. THEN ONE DAY--MAYBE BY ACCIDENT, THROUGH CURIOSITY, OR THROUGH BLIND LUCK--SOMEHOW, THE STONE GETS HEATED IN A FIRE. SOMEONE NOTICES THAT THE STONE'S PROPERTIES CHANGE: IT FLAKES EASIER, AND REACTS BETTER TO TOOLING, WITH THE HEAT-TREATMENT. A DEFINITE "EUREKA" MOMENT. FAST-FORWARD TO TODAY--AND ANOTHER "EUREKA" MOMENT, FOR AN INTERNATIONAL TEAM OF RESEARCHERS THAT UNCOVERS HARD EVIDENCE THAT THESE EARLY MODERN HUMANS DISCOVERED--AND BEGAN TO CONTROL--THE USE OF FIRE FOR TOOL-MAKING, AT LEAST 45-THOUSAND YEARS EARLIER THAN SCIENTISTS PREVIOUSLY BELIEVED. THE RESEARCH TEAM STUDIED ARTIFACTS FROM THE SITE IN SOUTH AFRICA; THEY NOTED THAT SOME OF THE TOOLS WERE REDDISH IN COLOR, AND WERE EMBEDDED WITH ASH--EVIDENCE OF THE LIKELY BEGINNINGS OF PYRO-TECHNOLOGY--USING FIRE TO CREATE, AND TO ENGINEER. THIS DISCOVERY SHOWS THE COMPLEX COGNITIVE, CREATIVE, AND COMMUNICATIVE POWERS OF A PEOPLE WHO COULD BE THE ORIGIN OF ALL MODERN HUMANS. THE "DISCOVERY FILES" COVERS PROJECTS FUNDED BY THE GOVERNMENT'S NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION: FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH BROUGHT TO YOU BY YOU! LEARN MORE AT "N-S-F"-DOT-GOV--OR ON THEIR PODCAST.
For additional "Discovery Files" features from the National Science Foundation, click here.
