Role of Alternative Medical Systems in Adult Chronic Kidney Disease Patients: A Systematic Review of Literature
Dentist Shocked To Find Ancient Human Jawbone Stuck In Home Floor Tile
Anthropologists who've seen photos of the jawbone speculate it belongs to an ancient human.
Kidipadeli75/RedditA European dentist who's seen his share of jawbones got a stunning surprise earlier this month when he spotted a human mandible in a highly unlikely place—embedded in the newly installed tile floor at his parents' house.
Since the dentist first posted a photo of the find to Reddit's fossils subreddit, curious and enthused paleontologists the world over have contacted him. An international team of scientists now plans to examine the fossil, which they suspect belongs to an extinct member of the human lineage.
"If it turns out to be a fossil hominin, which I think it is, it should be studied and placed in a museum," John Kappelman, an anthropology professor at the University of Texas at Austin who specializes in hominid and hominin origins and evolution, said in an email.
The dentist, who goes by Kidipadeli75 on Reddit, found the fossil in travertine tile sourced from Turkey and located in a hallway leading to his mom and dad's outdoor terrace. Travertine, a form of natural limestone deposited around mineral springs, is a popular choice for floor and wall tiles for its natural beauty, ancient aesthetic and durability.
Travertine tile has been known to contain fossils of plants, algae and animals, including rhinos and giraffes, with human fossils a far more rare find, University of Wisconsin paleoanthropologist John Hawks wrote in a blog post about the jawbone discovery. He titled the piece How many bathrooms have Neanderthals in the tile?
"I expect there will be many twists and turns in the story of this jawbone," Hawks wrote. "With some teeth preserved and abundant surrounding rock, I expect that specialists will be able to learn a great deal about the life of this individual and when he or she lived."
The European dentist, who specializes in dental implants, says he immediately knew he wasn't just looking at stone tile's natural pattern variations when he saw several teeth staring up at him.
"From my dentist point of view I had no doubt it was some kind of human," he said in an interview over Reddit chat. "The teeth distribution and size of the mandible is characteristic. Also the width of the cortex is specific to ancient humans."
"I don't think it is Jimmy Hoffa," the dentist joked in a follow-up to his original Reddit post. He said he prefers not to reveal his name, or his parents' location, to protect the family's privacy.
A dentist in Europe made an unexpected, and toothy, discovery in his parents' floor tile.
Kidipadeli75/RedditTo say the dentist was taken aback to spot a jawbone as part of his parents' home upgrade would of course be an understatement. Kappelman shares the surprise, but for a different reason.
"It is very, very unusual to find vertebrate fossils in processed travertine tile, and hominin fossils 100 times more so," Kappelman said. "We have only a handful." Kappelman was part of a team that observed the earliest evidence of tuberculosis etched on 500,000-year-old human skeletal remains discovered by factory workers in Turkey cutting travertine tile for commercial use. The scientists published the findings of their research in 2007 in The American Journal of Physical Anthropology.
Another member of the team that studied that Homo erectus fossil, Mehmet Cihat Alcicek of the Pamukkale University in Turkey, is among the scientists who will study the newly discovered mandible. The tile containing it originated in a quarry in the Denizli Basin in western Turkey, Alcicek told The Washington Post, adding that scientists have previously dated stone in the area back to between 1.8 million and 0.7 million years.
MORE FROM FORBESGiant Ancient Snake Found In India Could Have Been As Long As A T. RexBy Leslie KatzMORE FROM FORBESHere's Fossilized Proof That Spiders Pretend To Be AntsBy Leslie KatzThe jawbone team, led by Mirjana Roksandic, a professor at the University of Winnipeg, plans to bring in a stonemason schooled in removing mosaic and church floors to extract the tile without breaking the fossil. Physically taking out the bone from the tile would risk damaging it, Kappelman said, so studying the artifact could involve CT scans, DNA extraction and 3D-printing the mandible to share among scientists unable to see it in person.
"It might be possible to date the travertine tile itself, but this could be a challenge because the tile itself is so thin, meaning that the volume of the original rock that has not been exposed to sunlight is quite limited," Kappelman added. No original travertine rock survived with the Homo erectus skull cap from Turkey that revealed early evidence of tuberculosis, "so this new specimen has that going for it."
In the meantime, the dentist's Reddit post continues to generate widespread fascination, in everyone from professional and amateur anthropologists to homeowners wondering what strange curiosities could show up in their own building materials.
"I love that the public's imagination has been sparked," Kappelman said, "and that people are inspecting the tile in their houses and kitchens."
Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the age of the human cranium that showed evidence of tuberculosis. The skull cap dated back 500,000 years.
Stop Cats Pooing In Gardens With A Cheap And Powerful 'natural Deterrent' That Costs 47p
Cats are beloved furry friends for many people, but gardeners can often dread having neighbourhood felines around as they dig up lawns or use flowerbeds as their litterbox.
Nothing worse than spending the whole year growing plants and flowers only for local cats to ruin your hard work by digging up the roots, chewing on the leaves or marking their territory.
Linda Ly, a gardening expert and the creator of Garden Betty, has shared that there is a very simple way to keep cats out of your garden "safely and humanely" as all you need is some fruit peels.
She said: "Cats are supposedly turned away by the sharp smell of citrus peels, such as lemon, orange, and grapefruit.
"Toss the peels around your raised beds and plantings, and let the cat's powerful sense of smell do the work."
READ MORE: Get rid of mice from your home with five easy steps according to expert
Cats have highly sensitive noses and will keep away from areas with unknown smells they have not encountered before or smells as they can find them unpleasant.
Oranges cost 99p at Aldi while lemons cost 65p and grapefruit costs 47p, which makes this a very cheap way to keep cats away.
This is a highly effective way to deter cats from gardens, but will need to be done every few days or after it has rained as the smell from the peels can wear off only after a day or two.
Linda said: "This is a natural deterrent that does keep cats back, but it only works if you stay on top of it. Citrus peels decompose and lose their potency fairly quickly, so they'll need to be replaced frequently for ongoing deterrence."
However, a more permanent solution which works the same way is to plant strong-smelling herbs around the border of your garden as cats will find the plant fragrance overwhelming.
Linda said: "Effective herbs to try include rosemary, thyme, mint, and lavender. So don't be afraid to expand your herb garden (and even help the pollinators while you're at it—bees and butterflies love to feed on the mint family)."
DON'T MISS:Rats will leave gardens for good with the help of five non-toxic remedies [LATEST]Obscure £2 method gets rid of unwanted house fly infestations by trapping them [INSIGHT]Banish seagulls from your garden with four humane and 'effective' deterrents [REVEAL]
Cats are also highly sensitive to certain textures and placing certain natural obstacles such as pine cones and branches can stop them from defecting in your garden.
Linda said: "Cats like a nice and even ground when they go to the bathroom, so pine cones and branches are off-putting.
"Placed in and around your garden beds, cats can't scratch at the soil surface and find themselves getting poked uncomfortably. It's a better looking, natural alternative to the scat mat."
These natural materials are also perfect for mulching your garden beds, so not only can you keep cats away but can give your plants a boost and help smother weeds while you are at it.
Linda added: "My vote is for making the garden as uncomfortable as possible for the cat. Fill it with coarse mulch (which benefits your plants as well), or lay plastic fencing or chicken wire flat on the ground around your plants to make it difficult for a cat to scratch at the soil.
"After a few failed attempts, that cat may look elsewhere to do its business—and your weekends can be spent tending to your flowers and vegetables, and not pulling another turd out of the garden."
7 Best Natural Sleep Aids: Which Ones Really Work?
Tryptophan, an essential amino acid, assists in nitrogen balance regulation and niacin production, which is key in creating the neurotransmitter serotonin (known as the "feel good" or relaxation neurotransmitter). Our bodies need serotonin to produce melatonin and subsequently regulate sleep.
While tryptophan is often linked in the U.S. With the sleepy feeling you get after eating Thanksgiving turkey, this essential amino acid is actually plentiful in foods most of us eat every day—including turkey, chicken, meat, cheese, yogurt, eggs and fish.
Tryptophan is commonly available as a supplement, too, although it was banned in the U.S. In the late 1980s due to an outbreak of eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome (EMS), a complicated muscle and nerve disorder that sometimes leads to death. Ultimately, the outbreak wasn't linked to tryptophan, but rather to one manufacturer's contaminated processes, so the ban was lifted in 2005.
Does Tryptophan Help You Sleep?Most data on tryptophan dates back to the 1970s and 1980s and suggests that otherwise healthy people with mild sleep disturbances who take tryptophan in doses of at least 1 gram generally report feeling sleepier quicker and drifting off to sleep faster.
Grandner warns, though, that it's not a sleeping pill and won't work for severe insomnia. And similar to melatonin, more is not better. The literature is scarce, but occasional side effects—seen mainly at higher doses—include tremors, nausea and dizziness. These effects can occur when tryptophan is taken either alone or with a drug that enhances serotonin function (like prescription antidepressants).
Try it or skip it? Tryptophan might help, but consult with your doctor if you're going to mix it with other medications.
Comments
Post a Comment