One million years ago, bone tools were used by humans
Discovery of Antimicrobial Peptides in the Olduvai Experiment: Ancient Tools from the Fossil H. erectus
Locating objects that have been carefully excavated is simpler in time and space. The latest findings are based on archaeological digs at Olduvai. Researchers spent several field seasons excavating trenches to study how technology changed when H. erectus — a small-brained predecessor to species including modern humans and Neanderthals — replaced H. habilis in the region, somewhere between 1.8 and 1.5 million years ago.
Tool use is a storied tradition among hominins. Members of the genus Australopithecus — which includes the famed fossil Lucy — were making stone tools at least 2.6 million years ago. The human story usually begins around 400,000 years old, but bone tools can be found in Europe and Asia much later.
Evidence suggests bone tools were made much earlier than thought and that waste disposal systems could help fight infections.
To help protect against infection, cells in the body will selectively cut proteins to produce molecules known as antimicrobial peptides, according to new research. A team has found that many potential peptides appear to be locked up within proteins — to get them out, cells shift the activity of a waste-disposal system called the proteasome, known for its role in protein degradation and recycling. In tests, one of these peptides showed efficacy at protecting mice from infection, indicating that these molecules could one day have therapeutic potential.
The Nature Podcast – an update on the lunar search for water and what it can teach us about the ocean currents system, and how to subscribe
There’s an update on two missions that are going to the moon to look for water, and the ocean current system’s future is in doubt.
Never miss an episode. The Naturepodcast can be subscribe to via Apple, streaming services, or your favourite app. An RSS feed for the Nature Podcast is available too.
Scientists have identified antimicrobial peptides which could one day help protect humans against infections, a study claimed. The peptides were found in the fossilised remains of Homo erectus, a small-brained hominins, that lived between 1.8 and 1.5 million years ago, it added. A team of scientists from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Harvard Medical School had tested the peptides on mice.