On the radar

The pick of the science news

‘Big Man’ walked well on his two feet

An early human ancestor that lived around 3.6 million years ago walked well on two feet and climbed trees seldom if at all.

That's according to a study published online this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciencesthat analysed a partial skeleton discovered five years ago in Ethiopia.

The remains have been identified as Australopithecus afarensis, the same species as the early hominid ‘Lucy’. But this individual was much larger, possibly as tall as 5.5 feet (1.68m), and has been dubbed ‘Big Man’.

"This new skeleton shows a fully running and walking biped, with most of the adaptations we have," researcher Owen Lovejoy from Kent State University in Ohio told Nature.

The sun strikes a real chord with scientists

Thanks to the recent bout of good weather we now remember what the sun looks like. But what does it sound like?

A group at the University of Sheffield has been using satellite observations and mathematical theory to work out the sounds made by vibrations within the sun’s atmosphere.

In particular they have been listening to “music” generated by the motion of giant coronal magnetic loops. You can hear a six-second clip for yourself if you search for “Heavenly Solar Music” on youtube.com.

The scientists hope the approach will provide an additional tool to understand the physics of the sun’s corona.

Europeans feel that they should be more informed about scientific issues as they feel less well informed than their level of interest deserves.

- From the report on a Eurobarometer survey of 26,671 people across the EU. The survey was commissioned by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Research Training and Development.