WASHINGTON (AP) – Early humans were regularly using animal bones to make cutting tools 1.5 million years ago.
A newly discovered cache of 27 carved and sharpened bones from elephants and hippos found in Tanzania’s Olduvai Gorge site pushes back the date for ancient bone tool use by around 1 million years. Researchers know that early people made simple tools from stones as early as 3.3 million years ago.
The new discovery reveals that ancient humans “had rather more complex tool kits than previously we thought,” incorporating a variety of materials, said paleoanthropologist at the American Museum of Natural History William Harcourt-Smith, who was not involved in the research.
The well-preserved bone tools, measuring up to around 40 centimetres, were likely made by breaking off the thick ends of leg bones and using a stone to knock off flakes from the remaining bone shaft.
This technique was used to create one sharpened edge and one pointed tip, said researcher at the Spanish National Research Council and study co-author Ignacio de la Torre. The bone tools were “probably used as a hand axe” – a handheld blade that’s not mounted on a stick – for butchering dead animals, he said.
Such a blade would be handy for removing meat from elephant and hippo carcasses, but not used as a spear or projectile point. “We don’t believe they were hunting these animals.
They were probably scavenging,” he said.Some of the artifacts show signs of having been struck to remove flakes more than a dozen times, revealing persistent craftsmanship.
The uniform selection of the bones – large and heavy leg bones from specific animals – and the consistent pattern of alteration makes it clear that early humans deliberately chose and carved these bones, said paleobiologist at the Federal University of Sao Carlos in Brazil Mírian Pacheco, who was not involved in the study. The bones show minimal signs of erosion, trampling or gnawing by other animals – ruling out the possibility that natural causes resulted in the tool shapes, she added. The bone tools date from more than a million years before our species, Homo sapiens, arose around 300,000 years ago.
The tools may have been made and used by Homo erectus, Homo habilis or Paranthropus boisei. “It could have been any of these three, but it’s almost impossible to know which one,” said Pobiner.
Conservator Ana Seisdedo holds a bone tool found in Tanzania’s Olduvai Gorge, at the CSIC-Pleistocene Archaeology Lab in Madrid. PHOTO: AP
WASHINGTON (AFP) – United States (US) President Donald Trump called Harvard a “joke” and said it should lose its government research contracts after the prestigious university refused demands that it accept outside political supervision.
Trump’s administration also threatened to ban the famed seat of learning from admitting foreign students unless it bows to the requirements, as US media reported that officials were considering revoking the university’s tax-exempt status.
“Harvard can no longer be considered even a decent place of learning, and should not be considered on any list of the World’s Great Universities or Colleges,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform.
“Harvard is a joke, teaches hate and stupidity, and should no longer receive Federal Funds.”
Trump is furious at the storied institution for rejecting government supervision of its admissions, hiring practices and political slant and ordered the freezing of USD2.2 billion in federal funding to Harvard this week.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) also cancelled USD2.7 million worth of research grants to Harvard on Wednesday and threatened the university’s ability to enrol international students unless it turns over records on visa-holders’ “illegal and violent activities”.
“If Harvard cannot verify it is in full compliance with its reporting requirements, the university will lose the privilege of enrolling foreign students,” a DHS statement said, with Secretary Kristi Noem accusing the university of “bending the knee to antisemitism”.
International students made up 27.2 per cent of Harvard’s enrolment this academic year, according to its website.
Other institutions, including Columbia University, have bowed to less far-ranging demands from the Trump administration, which claims that the educational elite is too left-wing.
Harvard has flatly rejected the pressure, with its president, Alan Garber, saying that the university refuses to “negotiate over its independence or its constitutional rights”.
Trump also said that Harvard “should lose its Tax Exempt Status” as a non-profit educational institution if it does not back down. CNN and the Washington Post reported that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) was now making plans to do so following a request from Trump.
White House Deputy Press Secretary Harrison Fields told AFP by e-mail that “any forthcoming actions by the IRS will be conducted independently of the President”.
Demonstrating the broadening resonance of the row, Golden State Warriors basketball coach Steve Kerr spoke out in support of Harvard.
Kerr, sporting a Harvard T-shirt, called the demands on the university the “dumbest thing I’ve ever heard” and cited his backing of “academic freedom”. The payments frozen to Harvard are for government contracts with its leading research programmes, mostly in the medical fields where the school’s laboratories are critical in the development of new medicines and treatments.
Trump and his White House team have publicly justified their campaign against universities as a reaction to what they say is uncontrolled anti-Semitism and a need to reverse diversity programmes aimed at encouraging minorities.
File photo shows visitors gathering around the statue of John Harvard in Harvard Yard at Harvard University, United States. PHOTO: AP
BOGOTA (AFP) – Colombia has declared a national health and economic emergency over a deadly yellow fever outbreak, with the government urging people to get vaccinated and take precautions while travelling over Easter weekend.
The mosquito-borne virus, which typically causes fever, muscle pains, nausea and headaches, is endemic to multiple countries in South America, including Colombia, where the current outbreak has had a high mortality rate.
At least 34 people have died among 74 confirmed cases since the start of the year, Minister of Health Guillermo Jaramillo told state-run Radio Nacional de Colombia.
“It’s a disease with a mortality rate of nearly 50 per cent among those infected,” he said while explaining the emergency decree.
The virus has also spread beyond the rural regions traditionally considered at risk for outbreaks, “making it a threat to more communities”, he said.
The most severe situation is in the coffee-growing Tolima area, where the number of detected yellow fever cases rose from four in September 2024 to 22 by mid-April, according to Jaramillo.
“We are going to require the carrying of the vaccination card for people entering or leaving Colombia,” he told the radio station.
Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro announced an economic emergency on top of the health decree, and called on citizens to get vaccinated.
“People who have not been vaccinated should not go to high-risk areas during Easter: for now the coffee area,” he wrote on Facebook. Petro blamed climate change for further spreading the virus by bringing the disease-carrying Aedes aegypti mosquitoes to higher altitudes.
On Tuesday, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) upgraded its yellow fever alert for South America to level two of four, noting “an increased number of cases of yellow fever have been reported in parts of South America”.
It advised travellers to consider getting vaccinated against yellow fever or receiving booster shots before visiting some areas of Bolivia, Colombia and Peru.
File photo shows the Rumichaca international bridge on the Ecuador-Colombia border. PHOTO: AFP
BERLIN (AFP) – Germany’s environment minister warned of a high risk of forest fires and poor harvests after a “worrying” lack of rain in recent weeks.
From February 1 to April 13, Germany saw 40 litres of rainfall per square metre – its lowest level since records began in 1931, according to the German Weather Service (DWD).
“The current drought is worrying,” Environment Minister Steffi Lemke said in a statement sent to AFP, warning that “it is much too dry in many parts of Germany this year”.
The record low for February 1 to April 13 is around 68 per cent or 88 litres less than the average rainfall for the same period between 1991 and 2020, the DWD said.
The record for the period had previously dated back to 1976, when rainfall was 55 litres per square metre.
Northwest Germany saw around 35 per cent less rain than usual, while some southeastern regions saw between 50 and 80 per cent less, according to the DWD.
Many parts of northern Europe have seen unusually low rainfall this year, including Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and countries around the Baltic Sea.
This contrasts with southern Europe, including Spain and Portugal, where rainfall has been up to twice the usual amount. “Agriculture and forestry, but also all of us, are clearly feeling the consequences of the climate crisis,” Lemke said.
“The risk of forest fires is high, and if it stays this dry, harvests are expected to suffer.”
The low water level of the Rhine is “affecting the environment and the economy”, she added.
In southern Germany, images taken by AFP showed large swathes of sand accessible to walkers on the shores of Lake Constance. The drought is “causing some concern for many asparagus growers”, the regional farmers’ association in the northern region of Lower Saxony told AFP.
“Significant rainfall” expected next week in Germany should alleviate the drought “at least in some areas”, the DWD said.
Two women stand on Reichenau Island in Lake Constance, southern Germany. PHOTO: AFP
MOSCOW (AFP) – Russian President Vladimir Putin praised Elon Musk, telling university students he was a pioneer comparable to legendary Soviet rocket engineer Sergei Korolev.
The comments came as Russia and the United States (US) forged closer ties under President Donald Trump’s administration, of which billionaire SpaceX founder Musk is a key figure.
“You know, there’s a man – he lives in the States – Musk, who, you could say, raves about Mars,” Putin told students on a visit to Bauman University, a Moscow college that specialises in science and engineering.
“These are the kind of people who don’t often appear in the human population, charged-up with a certain idea.”
“If it seems incredible even today, such ideas often come to fruition after a while. Just like the ideas of Korolev, our pioneers, came about in due time,” Putin added.
Korolev is considered the father of the Soviet space programme, developing the first satellite Sputnik as well as Vostok 1, which carried first cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin into orbit in 1961.
Elon Musk flashes his T-shirt that reads ‘DOGE’. PHOTO: AP
BEIRUT (AP) – Qatar is sending scores of military vehicles to the Lebanese army and a new, USD60 million donation to help it pay salaries to officers as the small Mediterranean country recovers from the fighting in Hezbollah’s latest war with Israel, the two Arab countries announced.
Qatar has been a main backer of the Lebanese army since an unprecedented economic crisis engulfed the country in late 2019. Qatar was first sending food aid for the military while cash donations began in 2022.
The Lebanese group Hezbollah launched a offensive against Israel a day after the Israel-Hamas war erupted on October 7, 2023 in retaliation. Hezbollah saying it was doing so to ease the pressure on Gaza by keeping part of the Israeli military busy along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon.
After 14 months, a United States (US)-brokered ceasefire halted the Hezbollah-Israel war, which killed more than 4,000 people in Lebanon and caused destruction that will take USD11 billion to rebuild, according to the World Bank.
Since the November ceasefire, Lebanon has elected a new president and prime minister, who have both promised to carry out reforms.
The statement by Qatar and Lebanon said 162 military vehicles would be sent to the Lebanese army to help the military “carry out its national duties to preserve stability and control the border”.
It came after visiting Lebanese President Joseph Aoun met with Qatar’s emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. The statement mentioned the necessity of implementing the United Nations (UN) Security Council resolution that calls for deploying more Lebanese troops along the border with Israel in the wake of the withdrawal of Hezbollah fighters under the ceasefire.
The emir said Qatar “stands by Lebanon, its people and institutions”.
Aoun, who began a two-day visit to Qatar on Tuesday, condemned Israel’s military presence and refusal to withdraw from Lebanon, as well as almost daily airstrikes in the border area.
A vehicle drives past buildings destroyed in Israeli strikes near the border wall in the southern Lebanese village of Ramia. PHOTO: AFP
SANAA (AFP) – Yemeni rebel media said one person was killed in a United States (US) strike on Sanaa on Wednesday, accusing Washington of launching more than a dozen air raids on the Huthi-held capital.
Rebel-held areas of Yemen have endured near-daily strikes, blamed on the US, since Washington launched an air campaign against the Huthis on March 15 in an attempt to end their threats to shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
The Huthis’ Al-Masirah TV and Saba news agency reported “one martyr following an air strike by the American aggression targeting the Al-Nahda residential neighbourhood” in Sanaa.
Earlier, they reported “14 air strikes carried out by the American aggression” on another area of the capital and parts of Sanaa province. They also reported strikes blamed on the US in the Hazm area of Jawf province.
The US campaign followed Huthi threats to resume their attacks on international shipping over Israel’s aid blockade on the Gaza Strip.
Since March 15, the Huthis have also resumed attacks targeting US military ships and Israel, saying they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Israel cut off all supplies to Gaza at the beginning of March and resumed its offensive in the Palestinian territory on March 18, ending the truce.
The vital Red Sea route, connecting to the Suez Canal, normally carries about 12 percent of world shipping traffic, but the attacks forced many companies to make a long detour around the tip of southern Africa.
MEXICO CITY (AP) – A bright object, initially appearing to be a meteorite, lit up the skies over Mexico’s capital around 3am on Wednesday, stretching over plains, volcanoes and small towns.
Videos of a ball of fire shooting over the Latin American country and dissolving in a burst of light over Mexico City struck awe in many – and quickly became the fuel for memes circulating on social media.
“No, the meteorite that exploded last night isn’t an excuse to talk to your ex,” someone wrote on X, over a GIF of dinosaurs walking through a meteorite shower.
Soon, photos of the fireball edited with cartoon characters and political jokes flooded the Internet.
Scientists across Mexico were quick to note that the object rocketing across the skies was not a meteorite; it was a bolide.
PHOTO: ENVATO
Bolides, defined by NASA as fireballs, are “exceptionally bright meteors that are spectacular enough to be seen over a very wide area”.
Mario Rodríguez, a doctor in space science with the National Autonomous University of Mexico, said it could also be described as a meteoroid, or a fragment of a meteor.
Bolides like the one that coasted over Mexican skies early Wednesday catch fire as they descend to Earth.
“Due to the great pressure on the object, they begin to flash with a stretching tail and emit light,” said Rodríguez, one of a group of scientists studying the videos that shocked many Mexicans. He said unlike meteorites, which impact Earth, a bolide disintegrates in the atmosphere.
This particular meteoroid, he said, was around 1.5 metres in length and posed no threat to the public.
AP – It’s oddly comforting that a movie can still dial M when it wants to.
Smart phones have largely been a bit of a buzzkill for horror films, leading filmmakers to find all kinds of reasons – dead batteries, no service – to strand potential prey.
But at least since 1949’s Sorry, Wrong Number, phones have also been a reliable conduit for terror capable of reaching into the home, or your pocket.
Drop, a silly but suspenseful new thriller, carries on the tradition of When a Stranger Calls and Phone Booth by situating its tension around mysterious, threatening phone messages.
Violet ( Meghann Fahy ), a widow with a young child, is on her first date in years. After three months of texting, she has hesitantly agreed to finally meet Henry (Brandon Sklenar) for dinner.
When they sit down in a fancy restaurant high up a sleek Chicago high-rise, he’s charming and relaxed. But Violet, like countless dates before her, can’t stay off her phone.
In Violet’s case, though, the distraction is legitimate.
She keeps getting messages dropped to her phone threatening her son, who’s at home with Violet’s sister (Violett Beane), unless she does what he says, including killing her date.
ABOVE & BELOW: Photos show scenes from the movie ‘ Drop’. PHOTO: APPHOTO: APPHOTO: APPHOTO: AP
In her home security cameras she can see a man with his face covered brandishing a gun.
Drop, directed by Christopher Landon (Happy Death Day), doesn’t differ greatly from the large swath of high-concept, low-budget thrillers that regularly flood theatres. But it’s a taut little movie, almost totally set in the restaurant, with a just keen enough sense of plausible and preposterous.
It knows to keep the pressure-cooker plot moving while not overstaying its welcome. At a nifty 95 minutes, Drop knows when to hang up.
As if adding a digital twist to the old line ‘The call is coming from inside the house’, Violet is getting message from an app called DigiDrop that can only be sent from a person within 50 feet.
That means everyone in the restaurant – the bro who bumps into her, the cheesy waiter, the kind bartender – is a suspect.
With her terroriser watching her every move and prohibiting her from breathing a word to anyone, Violet is stuck rooted to her table when every fibre of her being wants to rescue her son.
A considerable help to the film are the grounded screen presences of Fahy (The White Lotus) and Sklenar (1923), both small-screen breakouts who here show movie-star poise.
As the plot unspools, there are, naturally, quibbles one could make. Would a mother, with a masked gunman outside her toddler’s door be able to feign interest in a duck salad? Does the highly orchestrated trap laid for her match the motives of the criminal mastermind? And while we’re asking questions, could we not someday get a phone-themed thriller titled ‘Butt Dial’?
But if Drop is invariably quite a bit less than realistic, it has a whiff of metaphor.
Violet isn’t just stepping back into the dating pool as a single mother, she’s trying to shake the past trauma of spousal abuse.
Going on a date with Henry, whom she met on an app, is a kind of crap shoot. Will going out with a stranger met online end in love or violence?
You could also read Drop as an extreme version of a more ubiquitous scourge.
This is a movie where the bad guy, for nearly the duration of the movie, is nothing but text messages. (They are typically flashed large across the screen).
As Violet grows increasingly preoccupied and frantic, she could be just about anyone – a workaholic after hours, a teenager, a desperate Knicks fan watching the score – whose attention is held prisoner by her phone. How much of the terror of Drop would have existed at all, if she had just put it on silent?
If you’ve ever had a dog, you know they don’t exactly tiptoe through the tulips. I’m fortunate that none of mine ever had a penchant for digging holes, but my late pit bull, Maddie, used to run through my perennial beds like a weed whacker, leaving horizontal coneflowers and black-eyes Susans in her destructive path.
Her bathroom breaks would also imprint an ever-expanding array of canine crop circles on the lawn.
Fortunately, my little Havanese, Miguel, doesn’t pose as much of a threat to my plants, but there are other important elements to consider when planning a garden where dogs and plants can safely coexist.
LET’S START WITH THE LAWN
The type of grass you select should be suited to your region and your sun exposure. In my sunny Northeastern front yard, that means starting with a Kentucky bluegrass seed blend, which holds up well against foot and paw traffic, and mixing in roughly 10 per cent each of urine-resilient perennial ryegrass and shade-tolerant fine fescue.
For further protection, consider incorporating a trample – and urine-resistant groundcover into your grass-seed recipe. I’ve added clover, which also enriches the soil with safe, nourishing levels of nitrogen (free fertiliser!) and reduces or eliminates groundwater pollution from my property.
If you have a beagle-size dog or two, this will go a long way toward retaining your lawn’s integrity. But, to be honest, I don’t know of any grass that will hold up against a German shepherd or bull mastiff kicking it up on a daily basis. Still, starting with the most resilient grass species for your growing conditions will give you the best odds possible.
Maddie, a pitbull mix, standing in a vacant spot between plants in a Long Island, New York garden. PHOTO: APABOVE & BELOW: Miguel the Havanese sitting on a walkway surrounding a densely-planted garden on Long Island; and vegetables and herbs growing in a raised garden garden bed on Long Island. Raised beds are often an effective way to deter plant-trampling by rambunctious dogs. PHOTO: APPHOTO: AP
BARRIERS TO ENTRY
Typical landscaping designs often space plants far apart, leaving areas of mulch-covered soil between plants and shrubs. Dogs love to run obstacle courses on those bare paths, kicking up mulch and, invariably, straying into planting beds.
Instead, opt for a dense garden style that allows only enough space between plants for the expected mature size of each. By their third year, most of the gaps will be filled, eliminating the spaces and, along with them, the invitation to enter.
If you grow delicate plants or edibles, situate them in a raised bed or surround them with short fencing or another barrier to discourage entry.
AVOID TOXIC PLANTS AND CHEMICALS
Next, consider safety. Many common plants are toxic to dogs (and cats), so avoid planting them altogether, even if your pet hasn’t shown an interest in grazing. A one-time curiosity could spell disaster. Check for a sortable list of plants (including weeds) that are toxic to cats, dogs and horses, and remove any that your pets could access.
Avoid using chemicals. If you must apply them, keep pets out of the garden until the products have dried or dissipated (read package labels carefully and observe warnings and cautionary statements).
CREATE A ZONE FOR DIGGING AND PLAYING
If your dog is a digger, fill holes and lay sections of chicken wire over favourite digging spots, then cover them with a few inches of soil. I’ve never met a dog that wasn’t deterred by wire.
Diggers will continue to dig, however, so designate a section of the yard where they can do so with reckless abandon. Bury some toys and bones for them to find, and place balls and other toys in there too. After introducing dogs to the area, watch closely and bring them to the digging zone whenever you catch them in the act elsewhere.
Such a play area or dog run would be a beneficial garden addition even if digging hasn’t posed a problem, as it would reduce or eliminate plant trampling and lawn damage.
Enclose it with fencing or another barrier that allows you to keep an eye on the dog – and vice versa.
Similarly, if space allows, designate a pebbled or mulched potty area. Train dogs to use it by moving scooped poop to the spot. Their noses will convey the message, but again, you’ll have to watch closely and move them to the spot when they show signs of intent to relieve themselves elsewhere. It will take some time, but they should catch on.
Finally, be sure to provide access to a clean bowl of water at all times. It will refresh pups as they play outdoors and, as a bonus, dilute their urine to cut down on burn spots in your grass.
Yes, you’ll likely have to lower your aesthetic standards a bit. But getting to relish two of life’s greatest pleasures simultaneously is well worth the compromise. – Jessica Damiano
