BBC Inside Science

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Factual: Science & Nature

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A weekly programme looking at the science that's changing our world.

A weekly programme that illuminates the mysteries and challenges the controversies behind the science that's changing our world.

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BBC Inside Science: Ancient Amputation

Ancient Amputation

BBC Radio 4 - BBC Inside Science, Ancient Amputation

How hunter gatherers in Borneo successfully performed surgery thousands of years ago.

The discovery of a body missing a foot in a thirty one thousand year old grave suggests our ancient ancestors may have been capable of performing complex surgery. The foot seems to have been cleanly amputated, and the patient survived for several years afterwards. Dr Tim Maloney from Australia’s Griffith University made the find and Charlotte Roberts Emeritus Professor of Archaeology at Durham University who  researches the evolution of medicine gave us her analysis. 

Craters from meteorites aren’t always easy to find, they can look similar to other geological features. However techniques more closely associated with forensic science are helping to provide clues. it’s all in the way the incoming asteroid or meteorite burns everything in its path says Dr Ania Losiak from the Institute of Geological Sciences, Polish Academy of Science.  

The Greenland ice sheets are melting, a new analysis paints a concerning picture about the impact on sea levels. Researcher Jason Box takes us out onto the ice to see this process in action. 

And why do chimpanzees drum?  Language researchers Catherine Hobaiter  and Vesta Eleuteri have been following them around the jungles of Uganda to find out.

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