All Outputs (2)

Human bipedal instability in tree canopy environments is reduced by "light touch" fingertip support (2017)
Journal Article
Johannsen, L., Coward, S. R., Martin, G. R., Wing, A. M., Casteren, A. V., Sellers, W. I., …Thorpe, S. K. (2017). Human bipedal instability in tree canopy environments is reduced by "light touch" fingertip support. Scientific reports, 7(1), Article 1135. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-01265-7

© 2017 The Author(s). Whether tree canopy habitats played a sustained role in the ecology of ancestral bipedal hominins is unresolved. Some argue that arboreal bipedalism was prohibitively risky for hominins whose increasingly modern anatomy prevente... Read More about Human bipedal instability in tree canopy environments is reduced by "light touch" fingertip support.

'Fire hardening' spear wood does slightly harden it, but makes it much weaker and more brittle (2016)
Journal Article
Ennos, A. R., & Chan, T. L. (2016). 'Fire hardening' spear wood does slightly harden it, but makes it much weaker and more brittle. Biology Letters, 12(5), Article 20160174. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2016.0174

It is usually assumed that 'fire hardening' the tips of spears, as practised by hunter-gatherers and early Homo spp., makes them harder and better suited for hunting. This suggestion was tested by subjecting coppiced poles of hazel to a fire-hardenin... Read More about 'Fire hardening' spear wood does slightly harden it, but makes it much weaker and more brittle.