South African hominin fossils were sent into space and scientists are enraged
(Version anglaise seulement)
par Dipuo Winnie Kgotleng, Director, University of Johannesburg
Robyn Pickering, Senior lecturer, University of Cape Town
When a Virgin Galactic commercial flight soared into space on 8 September 2023, there were two Virgin Galactic pilots, an instructor and three passengers on board – as well as two fossils of ancient prehuman relatives from South Africa. Timothy Nash, a businessman, carried a clavicle belonging to Australopithecus sediba and the thumb bone of a Homo naledi specimen. The fossils’ brief journey – the VSS Unity’s flight lasted just an hour – was organised by palaeontologist Lee Berger, who led the team that discovered and described Homo naledi in 2015. Berger was granted an export permit in July…
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vendredi 22 septembre 2023
