Uncovering history with Little Foot's skull
Unexpected Elements
BBC
4.4 • 568 Ratings
🗓️ 7 March 2021
⏱️ 55 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
One of our most complete ancient ancestor’s fossils has been transported to the UK from South Africa in order to be scanned at the Diamond Light Source. Roland Pease investigates what these scans could reveal about the human story.
Professor Corinne Le Quéré explains how she managed to look past the 7% reduction in human emissions caused by the pandemic in 2020 to reveal the impact of the Paris Climate agreements, and explains what more needs to be done. Roland speaks with anthropologist Dr. Rolf Quam, who has studied the inner ears of fossilised Neanderthal skulls to reveal they may have evolved the ability to hear the complex sounds of spoken language separately to our own species. Dr. Emma Hodcroft discusses the Brazilian P1 COVID 19 variant that is spreading around the world.
And, The sudden agony of stubbing a toe or burning a finger can make even the most polite among us swear our heads off. It’s like a reflex, a quick-release valve for the shock. But why do expletives give us such a sense of relief? Why does it sometimes feel so good to swear?
We set out to explore the science of swearing, prompted by a question from our listener Gadi. Psychological studies have shown bad language can relieve pain, or even make us stronger; we test out these theories for ourselves, and try to figure out why certain words are charged with such physical power.
We don’t just use strong words in shock or anger, either. They can help us to bond with others, to express joy, solidarity, or creativity. And although people curse all over the world, it’s not quite the same everywhere. We hear what people like to swear about in different countries, and whether swearing in a second language can ever be quite so satisfying.
(Image: Little Foot Skull. Copyright: Diamond Light Source Ltd)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | In 2019, we began investigating the disappearance of Dr. Ruzha Ignatva. |
| 0:08.0 | I believe we are a very special network. |
| 0:10.0 | A scammer who stole billions from investors around the world. |
| 0:15.0 | She's on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list. |
| 0:18.0 | And now, we have some unmissable updates. She has money and when you have |
| 0:23.0 | money you have power. Join me, Jamie Bartlett, as the hunt for the missing crypto queen continues. |
| 0:29.5 | Listen first on BBC Sounds. Thank you for downloading the Science Hour from the BBC World Service |
| 0:35.7 | with me, Roland Pease. |
| 0:38.2 | And in half an hour, try not to blush as the language on crowd science gets a little fruity. |
| 0:44.5 | Pop your hand in ice, cold water and start the timer at the same time. |
| 0:47.8 | And when you feel like you need a little help, you can use the word. |
| 0:53.0 | A full half hour of beeping bad language, as Ann Annette Checker finds out why a foul, |
| 1:00.1 | close of oath makes us feel better, lets off steam in a tense standoff, or just spices up a joke |
| 1:07.2 | for blip's sake. Before that, on Science in Action, we'll be meeting the ancestors. |
| 1:12.9 | You can hear about the hush, hush trip to the UK of the skull from one of the most important |
| 1:18.2 | fossils in human history, to be scanned for what it can tell us about the first steps to becoming |
| 1:24.7 | human. For example, the teeth, you can say something about the diet, |
| 1:28.5 | so the age, and then for the rest of the scale, we can have also different information, for example, |
| 1:33.3 | about the brain. So with that part of the body, we can tell a lot of things. And why we needed to |
| 1:39.5 | refine our ear to develop the ability to speak. The ancestor of the Neanderthal doesn't hear like modern humans, you see. |
| 1:47.1 | So it looks like we have a case of what could be considered kind of parallel evolution. |
| 1:51.8 | The Neanderthals and Homo sapiens evolving a similar hearing pattern pretty much independently |
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