More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
An ancient human cousin may have buried its dead and carved symbols into cave walls, surprising findings for a creature with a small brain.
Fossil remains of the species -- named Homo naledi -- were uncovered in underground caves in South Africa a decade ago. Now, researchers say they've found evidence that the species was capable of complex behaviour that so far has only been seen in those with bigger brains.
"We are facing a remarkable discovery here" for a species with brains one-third the size of humans, said anthropologist Lee Berger, who led the research funded by the National Geographic Society, where he now works.
Berger and colleagues describe their findings in studies posted online Monday. The research has not been peer-reviewed yet and some outside scientists think more evidence is needed to challenge what we know about how humans evolved their complex thinking.
"There's still a lot to uncover," said Rick Potts, director of the Smithsonian's Human Origins Program who was not involved in the research.
H. naledi is a pretty new addition to the family tree of hominins, which includes our direct ancestors and other extinct relatives who walked on two legs. Berger and his team announced the species in 2015, after a tip from local spelunkers led them to the Rising Star cave system near Johannesburg where they uncovered fossils from at least 15 individuals who lived around 300,000 years ago.
These creatures had some traits in common with modern humans, like legs made for walking upright and hands that could work with objects, said University of Wisconsin-Madison anthropologist John Hawks, a member of the research team. But other features looked more ancient, including their small brains.
In recent years, team members have ventured back into the caves, a tricky descent through tight underground spaces. What's down there shows the species in a new light, they reported.
One of the new studies describes what researchers say were intentional burial sites. The team uncovered fossil remains of adults and children in shallow holes in the ground, their bodies in a fetal position.
Another study describes a series of marks carved into the cave walls, including geometric patterns and cross-hatched lines.
"This is something that takes a lot of time and effort to do," said Berger, who led the initial research while at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg.
All of this behaviour would be surprising for a creature whose brain was closer in size to an ape's than a human's, experts said.
Decades ago, we thought Homo sapiens were the only ones who could figure out how to use fire, bury their dead or create art, said Chris Stringer, a human evolution expert at London's Natural History Museum who was not involved in the research.
Since then, we've learned that other groups like Neanderthals also lived complex lives. But those species still had big brains -- unlike H. naledi, whose burials would raise further questions about human evolution, Stringer said.
Scientists haven't yet been able to identify how old the engravings are. So Potts said the current evidence can't say for sure whether H. naledi was truly the one to create the symbols, or if some other creature -- maybe even H. sapiens -- made its way down there at some point.
For study author Agustin Fuentes, an anthropologist at Princeton University, the H. naledi evidence takes the focus off brain size.
"Big brains are still important," Fuentes said. "They just don't explain what we thought they explained."
------
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
A girl and a boy, both 14 years old, made their first appearance today in a Halifax courtroom, where they each face a second-degree murder charge in the stabbing death of a 16-year-old high school student.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.