Did x-rays solve this 3.2-million-year-old mystery?
Lucy, a 3.2-million-year old skeleton of the hominim species Australopithecus afarensis, is among the most famous specimens in anthropology since her discovery in Ethiopia in 1974. Named after the Beatles' "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds," she still has a bit of a mysterious past. A recent report in Nature Communications details how a team used the High-Resolution X-ray Computed Tomography Facility at Jackson School of Geosciences to scan Lucy for 10 consecutive days.
The research team believes it has found evidence that Lucy died from a fall, perhaps out of a tree, as detailed in Washington Post update. Others, however, call in to question such an assumption, claiming such a conclusion is something which cannot be proven or disproven.
Follow the link below to read the full report from Nature Communications:
Nicholas joined TriMed in 2016 as the managing editor of the Chicago office. After receiving his master’s from Roosevelt University, he worked in various writing/editing roles for magazines ranging in topic from billiards to metallurgy. Currently on Chicago’s north side, Nicholas keeps busy by running, reading and talking to his two cats.