 Spear throwers are long sticks with hooked ends that are used to hurl spears accurately over long distances. They are used by Native Americans, inuits and indigenous Australians. But how do they work? Tom Birch finds out...Mike Bumstead, University of Aberdeen March 2011
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 New evidence suggests humans used fire as early as 400,000 years ago. This coincides with the date Neanderthals are first seen in Europe. March 2011
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 Stone tools and animal remains from 12,000 years ago have been found in the Californian channel islands. March 2011
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 A new study sheds doubt on the long held idea that Homo sapiens evolved from East Africa... March 2011
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 Dr Papadopoulos takes us through depictions of warriors in ancient Aegean art.Angelos Papadopoulos March 2011
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 If you've ever neglected a houseplant, you'll know this problem - when you finally come to water it, the water doesnt soak into the soil, but it forms beads all over the surface. On a larger scale, these hydrophobic soils can cause major problems. To discover how, Planet Earth podcast presenter Richard Hollingam has been to meet a scientist who loves the rain...Stefan Doerr, Swansea University March 2011
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 Scientists at Stanford University in California have discovered how certain changes in our DNA have sculpted the evolution of human specific traits and those in particular that set us apart from our closest relatives...Dr David Kingsley, Stanford University March 2011
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 We offer a rundown of some of the top price-tags on marine species we like to eat and wearHelen Scales and Sarah Castor-Perry March 2011
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 Mark Baumgartner from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution chooses a very rare critter with a huge appetite.Mark Baumgartner, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution March 2011
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 Breeding seahorses in captivity to supply aquariums aims to help reduce pressure on wild populations.Shawn Garner, Mote Marine Laboratory March 2011
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 Will converting marine life into carbon credits help fend off climate change? Is Blue Carbon the new green?John Bruno, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill March 2011
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 Weve heard how drugs like aspirin can be used, but how are they actually made? For this weeks Naked Engineering, Meera and Dave have been to take a look at GlaxoSmithKlines tablet manufacturing site in Ware, Hertfordshire...Andrew Robertson, GlaxoSmithKline March 2011
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 Aspirin was touted originally as treatment for pain; but, 100 years on, we now know its much more powerful than that. Peter Rothwell is Oxford Universitys Professor of Clinical Neurology and hes with us to discuss what else aspirin can do...Peter Rothwell, University of Oxford March 2011
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 Every week, an earthquake occurs that's big enough to cause serious damage. Seismologists monitor this activity to try to learn more about the underlying processes. Richard Hollingham went to visit one part of the network of UK earthquake monitoring stations to find out more
Brian Baptie, British Geological Survey March 2011
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 Researchers at Rice university have developed a new way to etch structures into stacked piles of graphene, the marvellous material consisting of a single layer of carbon atoms. This could allow manufacturers to make computer chips from graphene in much the same way they currently do for silicon...Professor James Tour, Rice University March 2011
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 On the 6th March 1899, the Beyer pharmaceutical company officially registered Aspirin as a trademark, following their chemist Felix Hoffmans successful synthesis of a stable form of acetylsalicylic acid the chemical name for aspirin - in 1897...Sarah Castor-Perry March 2011
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 Its estimated that 80% of us will suffer from a bad back at some time in our lives, but the condition is hard to treat because the causes of it are so varied. Now, researchers have come up with a new way of testing out new treatments with a little help from our ancestors...Jane Reck, EPSRC; Dr. Ruth Wilcox, Leeds University; Dr. Kate Robson Brown, Bristol University February 2011
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 When muscles are injured or weakened, patients are usually referred to a physiotherapist for help, regaining their strength or improving their range of movement. But it can be difficult for the physio to accurately gauge the work load the patient can safely tolerate and the level of improvement that they've made. So now, physiotherapist Don Gatherer, whos previously worked with the England Rugby Team and the British Olympic Squad, has come up with an elegantly simple solution...Don Gatherer, The Gatherer Partnership; Thea Maxfield February 2011
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 Every year, about 75,000 people suffer a hip fracture in the UK and a majority of those will be down to the condition osteoporosis. Dr. Ken Poole is a rheumatologist at the University of Cambridge where hes studying how bones weaken and change with age...Dr Ken Poole, Cambridge University February 2011
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 There are 206 bones in the average adult human, but how do our bones grow and develop and what controls how strong they become? Were joined by Professor Tim Skerry from the Mellanby Centre for Bone Research at the University of Sheffield where hes looking at the impacts of exercise on bone density and how bones respond to stress...Professor Tim Skerry, Sheffield University February 2011
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