The Daily Procrastinator

*runs, gasping, to the keyboard*

Hello, procrastinators! I hope you’ll forgive my labored breathing and flushed cheeks. I’ve been off procrastinating. It takes a lot of work not to do my work! Now that we’re all here together, though, let’s look back over the last two weeks’ editions of The Daily Procrastinator and make sure that nothing escaped your notice.

TDP served up a healthy portion of technology posts, beginning with TallGirl’s reminiscences about the space shuttle we have all come to know and love. Somehow, replacing it with a capsule just doesn’t seem right. Speaking of technological advances with which TallGirl is not 100% comfortable, she also pointed out that two recently revealed “innovative” cars share an uncanny resemblance. BigRedPoet contributed to the technological frenzy by offering his opinion on a soon-to-be-released technology from XBox360 that will revolutionize video gaming. TallGirl addressed technology once more as she lamented the absence of old-fashioned customer service and human contact in the modern business world.

FlashCap directed a post toward collectors and hobbyists as he revealed his collection of Marvel Universe action figures. Simultaneously, he called down a pox upon Hasbro for luring him into collecting yet another series of tiny plastic superheroes. The pictures are pretty astonishing.

I've heard of unreceptive women, but this is ridiculous.

The subject of good ol’ everyday life got some attention on TDP in the past two weeks. TallGirl discussed her recent “opportunity” to serve on a jury and also provided some enlightening tips for avoiding your civic duty. My inner procrastinator is smiling. Next, TallGirl revealed that there may or may not be an undead creature in her rose garden. Is it possible for plants to return, rotted and shambling, from the grave? Finally, BigRedPoet saw a product this week that he simply could not resist writing about. It’s difficult to explain. Just go check it out…

In what’s beginning to look like a pattern, BigRedPoet posted a concert and album review this week. This time, his attention is turned toward a young singer and songwriter who hasn’t yet made the bigtime, but who is destined for great success. Long live old-time music!

Finally, BigRedPoet addressed the topic of physical anthropology. A new fossil, nicknamed “Ida,” has recently been discovered in Germany, and she promises to open many doors of insight into humanity’s earliest ancestors. In this post, you can check out pictures of the discovery, read BRP’s reactions, and find out about the recently published book about Ida.

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The Daily Procrastinator: Contributing to the Dramatic Reduction of Your Personal Productivity

A recently revealed 47-million year old fossil of the species Darwinius masillae could be the oldest known ancestor of human beings ever discovered. The specimen, a roughly two-foot long skeleton nicknamed “Ida,” appears to be an ancestor to early anthropoids, from which humans are evolved.

Ida is preserved almost completely, including the contents of her stomach.

The many similarities between Ida and modern humans begin with her fingers and toes, which feature fingernails and toenails. Her hands feature opposable thumbs. Her limbs are proportioned like ours, with her legs considerably longer than her arms. Ida’s eye sockets face forward. Her blunt teeth suggest a diet that consisted mainly of fruit. With the exception of her tail, which she probably used for balance while traveling through the trees, she looks strikingly human.

The truly remarkable thing about Ida is her age. Prior to this discovery, the oldest human ancestor ever discovered was Lucy, a 40% complete skeleton of the species Australopithecus afarensis. Discovered in Ethiopia in 1974, Lucy is estimated to be 3.2 million years old. Ida is 95% complete and lived a full 40-plus-million years before Lucy.

The nearly perfect preservation of Ida’s remains for such a tremendously long time is due to a very specific set of circumstances. The fossil was discovered in the Messel pit, near Frankfurt, Germany. This pit has been a goldmine for fossil hunters since its discovery. 47 million years ago, the pit was a crater that resulted from an underground steam blast. As this crater filled with water, it created an immensely deep lake. The bottom of the lake was so far removed from sunlight that almost no living thing could exist in the depths, not even the bacteria necessary for decomposition. Because no rivers flowed into or out of the lake, the waters lay very still, making oxygen exchange between the surface and the depths almost nonexistent. Any plant or animal which sank to the bottom of the lake would rest relatively undisturbed until sinking dead algae and sediment covered it. Thus, Ida’s remains were not decomposed before her fossilization began. The fossilization is so complete that the outline of her fur can be seen in the surrounding rock and the contents of her stomach are still visible.

The contributions this discovery could make to modern evolutionary science are staggering. As a paleoanthropology enthusiast, I rushed to the bookstore yesterday and bought The Link, the story of Ida’s discovery and scientific examination. Although I think the title is chosen poorly, since it only reinforces the misconception that there is a “missing link” between monkey and humans and therefore implies that humans evolved from monkes, what I’ve read of the book so far is immensely interesting.

The world is a beautiful and amazing place, procrastinators, and the discovery of Ida proves once again that we are only beginning to understand natural history and the role of our species within it.

Note: While I subscribe to evolutionary theory as the most likely explanation for modern life forms, my fellow Procrastinators may or may not agree. In fact, you yourself may or may not agree. I intend no offense to anyone’s sensibilities.