In the News: Return of the Piltdown Man

Fig.1. The Piltdown man, originally thought to be the fossilized remains of an early human, proved to be a forgery (Credit: http://palaeo.gly.bris.ac.uk/Palaeofiles/Frauds/famousfrauds.htm)

Often called the "greatest hoax in the history of science," the Piltdown man was purportedly the missing link between apes and humans. In 1953, 41 years after its original "discovery," the Piltdown man was revealed as nothing more than a forgery, with pieced together orangutan, chimpanzee, and human bones. In this week's headlines, fake fossils return, along with advances in disease research, movement of carbon dioxide, ice core studies, and more.

• Taking a fossil out of context can have devastating effects on its scientific utility, not to mention what happens if you start mixing and matching: "How Fake Fossils Pervert Paleontology," Scientific American (Nov. 15, 2014)

• Ebola is just one of many diseases that force us to rethink how we understand health in a globalized era: "More Than Ebola, Other Tropical Diseases Pose Growing Threat to U.S.," National Geographic (Nov. 19, 2014)

• Understanding the movement of atmospheric carbon dioxide helps researchers to understand the effects of climate change: "NASA Computer Model Provides a New Portrait of Carbon Dioxide," NASA online (Nov. 17, 2014) 

• Can volcanic ash from Alaska reach Iceland? This paper looks into ice cores to find out: "Transatlantic Distribution of the Alaskan White River Ash," Geology (Nov. 2014

• Feeding nine billion people by 2050 will be no easy task. These scientists play a vital role for the future of food security: "Mineral Uptake and Genetic Diversity in Rice," Crop Science Society of America (Nov. 18, 2014) 

• The One Health Initiative is crucial for addressing infectious diseases at the research, medical, economic, and anthropological level: "The Global One Health Paradigm: Challenges and Opportunities for Tackling Infectious Diseases at the Human, Animal, and Environment Interface in Low-Resource Settings," PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases (Nov. 13, 2014)