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Science In Action: 08/05/2009

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08/05/2009

BBC World Service - Science In Action, 08/05/2009

Why hobbits had big feet, looking further into space and the row in Turkey over Darwin.

Solving the Mystery of the origin of Indonesia’s ‘Hobbits’.  The launch of two new European space telescopes, how DNA analysis could help lay to rest soldiers from the First World War.

This week in Science in Action we examine two new findings on the Indonesian Hobbits, the fossil remains of a tiny human species discovered on the island of Flores.  There has been much controversy over whether they truly represent a new evolutionary branch of humanity, or whether they were the result of some kind of genetic deformity. We bring you new findings which are helping to solve the puzzle.

Also in the programme how DNA matching techniques could help identify the soldiers found in a mass grave from the First World War. Around 400 Australian and British troops are thought to have been buried in a mass grave near the village of Fromelles in northern France in 1916.  DNA samples from the grave are to be matched with samples from people who might be their living relatives to try and identify the dead. 

And we look to the far reaches of outer space, or at least as far into space as we can see at the moment. We follow preparations for the Launch of two new European space telescopes Herschel and Planck.

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