Lucy makes her debut

[onehandle]

Source: AP

HOUSTON - After six years of planning and negotiations, and a controversy reverberating through the scientific community, the world's most famous fossil made her debut Tuesday.

Lucy, a 3.2 million-year-old Australopithecus afarensis, was unveiled during a media preview at the Houston Museum of Natural Science, where she will be the centerpiece of an exhibit opening Friday.

"Lucy's Legacy: The Hidden Treasures of Ethiopia" features more than 150 religious and cultural artifacts from Ethiopia — a part of the exhibit that museum officials and the Ethiopian government worry may be overshadowed by the furor surrounding Lucy.

The decision to bring Lucy to Houston for public display spurred outrage among the world's most noted paleoanthropologists — including famed fossil hunter Richard Leakey — who say the fragile fossil could be irreparably damaged by the travel to Houston and a subsequent six-year tour.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070828/ap_en_ot/lucy_on_tour

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Booga-Booga, Texas Fundies. Here's Lucy!

[Coexist]

1. she's lovely.

[roguevalley]

33. this is brilliant. I wish I could see her. SIGH! I'd like to thank her, for

some reason. Odd, I know.

[MidwestTransplant]

2. Is this a joke? She can't be more than 6K years old.

[Maat]

14. HeeHee - you beat me to it.

I've taught our ten-year-old to tell Dad, the chemical engineer, that the Earth is only six thousand years old whenever he asks (little family joke).

[ironflange]

16. Maybe you're thinking of this person

Wait, sorry, she's more like 8K old.

[saigon68]

34. Ahh the Guy on the Quaker Oats Box

in a segment at the top of the show on the surge of
evacuees to the Texas city, Barbara Bush said: "Almost
everyone I’ve talked to says we're going to move to
Houston."

Then she added: "What I’m hearing which is sort of
scary is they all want to stay in Texas. Everyone is
so overwhelmed by the hospitality.

"And so many of the people in the arena here, you
know, were underprivileged anyway, so this--this (she
chuckles slightly) is working very well for them."

[MidwestTransplant]

41. Shame about Hurricane Corrina displacing all those folks. Hope they can get back to NO

and pull themselves up by their boot straps like my husband did.

Signed,

Laura Bush

[saigon68]

50. LOL

Hers is a mind in a Waste Land or (waste basket)

[xxqqqzme]

42. wow - when did babs have her waddle removed?

[tammywammy]

3. I'm thinking of taking a nice road trip down to Houston to see it

It's only 4 hours away, and should be worth my while. It's here until next spring I believe.

[Lisa0825]

12. Post in the Texas forum if you do!

We'll get some Houston Duers to meet up with you! :-)

I would like to see the famous lady too!

[AnneD]

51. I plan to go...

gee, it is literally in my back yard. It would be a shame to miss it. We have been holding our collective breath since they announced it. This is a real coup.

Wait til you see the Museum district. It is a real jewel and worth the trip anytime. The mineral display is superior to the Smithsonian and the everyone loves the Butterfly Museum. Folks are trying to build up the Buffalo Soldier Museum. Stay a while and see all of them.

[tammywammy]

54. Last August I went to the musuem district

My friend and I took a cruise out of Galveston, on the way back we stopped in Houston to see the Bodyworlds 3 exhibit. Unfortunately, we didn't purchase tickets in advance and it was a 4 hour wait, so we skipped it. Thankfully, Bodyworlds came up to Dallas and we saw that one. :)

I'll be going down to SE Texas for Thanksgiving, so maybe I'll stop in Houston then...or I may wait until later on. It's only 4 hours there, so it's not bad.

[AnneD]

55. My daughter loved Body World...

but for me (a Nurse), it was like another day in the office.::spray:

I loved the exhibit on Benjamin Franklin-it was very good. My daughter loved Princess Di's exhibit-with all the gowns. They were beautiful. And the Museum Day is always a treat. City buses run a circut and you can hop on hop off at no charge. This last time I saw the Holocaust Museum, the Buffalo Soldiers Museum, and the MFA. Through out the year the Museums have singles mixers (same with the Theatre District). It really is a fun place. We like to keep it our secret, but this blows the lid off that.

Don't know if we will be in town for Thanksgiving, but let's have a DU hookup with a group of us. I live 10 minutes away we go at least once a month to the exhibits. It has been a while but we hold protests at the Meacom fountains nearby.

Here is a site that might help you plan what you want to see. They don't mention the Fire Fighters Museum, the Printer's Museum, the Maritime Museum. They are just outside the district but are also worth scoping out.

http://www.houstonmuseumdistrict.org/default.asp?id=1

[tammywammy]

56. I can really always get down there if I have a week or so to prepare

You know get the days off. :)

I went to BodyWorlds 3 with my best friend, who had just graduated from medical school. It was so interesting, I'm glad that I made it out to it. Plus, having her around was way better than using an audio tour. :)

I know Lucy is supposed to be around until next Spring or so.

[Auggie]

4. Replica remains:

[DarkTirade]

25. Never seen her standing up before, just some of the early pics

of the bones being arranged on a table.
And to think... she could very well be an ancestor of anyone here on this board.

Love your sig line too. :)

[Auggie]

31. Mind-blowing, isn't it?

[DarkTirade]

32. It's hard to decide whether to try and think of it in terms of simple time...

or in generations. Just how many generations ago was that? I doubt the human mind can really go that high.

[Xithras]

36. Lucy lived 150k to 200k generations ago.

The question of average lifespan makes the question impossible to answer though. In Lucy's era, sexual maturity was probably reached at 10-13 years and most females would have been considered old if they made it past 20, making for some fairly short generations. By the time Sapiens came on the scene, that number had grown and the average generation probably lasted about 25-30 years.

[DarkTirade]

40. Exactly. And can you really wrap your brain around that?

Can you imagine that many ancestors of yours without dividing it down into groups of 10, 100, 1000, ect. I sure as hell can't.

[Posteritatis]

53. Or of *everyone* here on this board... (nt)

[flamingyouth]

5. That's really exciting.

I'd love to see this exhibit next time we go to Houston. :thumbsup:

[Spinzonner]

6. Somebody's got some 'Splaining to do

[rodeodance]

7. Welcome to america Lucy.

[rodeodance]

8. In the third, a darkened circular room, they meet Lucy.

But Lucy is indeed the star of this show.

After passing through the rooms devoted to Ethiopian history, visitors enter three dimly lit chambers. In the first two, the exhibit focuses on the prehistoric era and asks: What is our origin? What is our purpose?

In the third, a darkened circular room, they meet Lucy.

Her skeleton, laying flat inside a sleek glass and black case, is dusted by soft lighting. Around her, a 78-foot-long mural tells the story of 6 million years of human evolution. Near the fossil, a life-size model of what Lucy might have looked like stands encased in her own glass enclosure, observing the viewer with a half-smile.

Lucy, a hominid fossil named after the Beatles' song "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds," was discovered in the remote Afar province in northeastern Ethiopia. Although not the oldest human ancestor ever found, her skeleton is among the most complete, with about 40 percent of her bones intact. She likely weighed about 60 pounds and stood about 3 1/2 feet tall.

[KansDem]

49. She was named after a Beatles' tune?

Damn, I was hoping they named her "Lucy" in anticipation of finding a second specimen and naming it "Desi."

edited to add :(

[Sam Ervin jret]

9. evidence of evolution and from AFRICA , 3.2 million yrs.old!? "I think I have a case of the vapors"

Now I now this will upset our "let's turn back the clock", "the world was much simpler when..." friends but we have to face facts sometime. Faith should need no scientific explanation, science should never be influenced by religion and faith and religion should never be considered the same thing.

[nickinSTL]

10. Although it would be cool to see...

I'm afraid I have to side with those who think that this tour is ill-conceived.

Lucy is one of the most significant artifacts in the world, and to take it on tour just seems irresponsible. Any damage that's caused...it's going to be irreversible. You can't really just glue it back together.

[skyounkin]

11. I agree-

but you can't be afraid of the truth or what will happen to it when it is exposed to those who deny the truth.

Lucy is beautiful- I live in Maine and I wish I could make it down there to see her. I would love to take my 4 year old son down there and introduce him to his Great(x3456743 lol)- Grandmother.

Thanx for the story.

[AllyCat]

13. Why am I already worried some nutcase fundy will try to ruin it?

These people are so backwards, they are never going to be convinced by evidence. And they don't want you or your children to be convinced either.

[Maat]

15. That thought went through my head ..

I'm sure the world's experts, like Leaky, have thought of that. I hope they have great security.

[evilkumquat]

19. Heh. Same Here, Too.

No offense to the Texans in the crowd, but showcasing evidence of evolution like this in a Red State just seems like waving the flag in front of the bull.

I would not want it here in my home state of Indiana for the same reason.

I know plenty of kooks live in the Blue States, too, but still... TEXAS???

Evil Kumquat

[Maat]

37. I hear ya' ...

my hubby works out of the house in California; his company and partners are in Tejas, however - Houston to be specific (one lives in SUGARLAND, and his hero is Tom Delay). Houston is an ... uh ... interesting place.

I personally would have preferred that an educational DVD be made, in Ethiopia; I would buy it in a second, and would be satisfied.

[plasticsundance]

30. According to leading anthropologists ...

It's a certain and given it will become damaged on this tour.

[metrodorus]

17. She should never have left Ethiopia

This is a carnival stunt. 

The fossils should never have left Ethiopia. 

What if the remains had been damaged in transit?

I hate to rain on others' parades, but this is typical
colonialist stuff going on here. 

Ethiopia is desperately poor and needs money. So rich people
from, of course, Texas, work out a way to get them to pimp one
of their most precious patrimonies. 

This is really grotesque. It's as if one of the most important
memorials of the human past has been forced to come pay homage
to the oil hegemony based in Houston. 

Lucy's remains should never have left Ethiopia. 

[WindRavenX]

18. Disagree strongly.

Lucy is a scientific gem--and as science is probably the most international, most diverse field in the world involving every country and every language and type of mind, well, the thought of keeping her from the world is downright disgraceful.

This isn't about money in terms of profit; this is about preserving an *invaluble* historical relic. Many priceless scientific finds are now being destroyed by looters desperate for money--this is happening in China with some early bird fossils. No, Lucy needs to be kept in public and well protected instead of tucked away.

[semillama]

26. If you were really interested in preserving the remains,

then why are you advocating moving them around on a tour instead of being kept in Ethiopia? The chance for damage to these priceless fossils is very real, because they have to be handled and shipped frequently, which can result in wear on the fossils or worse, breakage or actual loss of some of the remains. I hope there's a good insurance policy in place to cover the people organizing the tour, but I have to say I'd be happier if they had stayed in Ethiopia. It's like sending the original Declaration of Independence out on tour - not worth the risks.

[girl gone mad]

22. You think oil money is involved in..

a conspiracy to bring relics and fossils to Texas museums?

No disrespect, but I have to laugh since I think science and education for the public good is about the last thing they are concerned with.

[meowomon]

24. Lighten Up Dude!

You might need to check your serum Valproic Acid levels.

[meowomon]

20. I hope the security is tight.

Some christo-fascist may try to blow her up because she represents satan's theory of evolution.

[girl gone mad]

21. I just saw her replica today..

at The Field Museum. She was so tiny!

I'd love to see the real fossil.

[Warren DeMontague]

23. First that blasphemous so-called Lunar Eclipse, faked by the French, no doubt. Now this!

http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/bill_nye_booed

He is truly testing us, the faithful, with these lies.

[Orsino]

27. A scientific marvel.

Who knew that the technology for making such excellent forgeries existed six thousand years ago?

[LibertyLover]

28. I have to admit that I am torn by this

one the one hand, I agree that the fossil bones could be damaged and that it is not a good idea to have them travel all over for 6 years. On the other hand, see them now before the creationists have their way and Lucy and the other fossil evidence for evolution are put in storage (best case scenario) or destroyed. I will never forget the thrill in 1974 of walking into the museum in Nairobi, Kenya and seeing many of the fossils that the Leakeys had excavated (and a few days earlier having traipsed their dig site at Olduvai Gorge and met Mrs. Leakey). At the time, skull 1481 was the newest discovery and given pride of place in the exhibit. Now, fundamentalist Christians in Kenya, a major political force there, are lobbying to have the fossils taken off display and put in storage. So far the government has resisted, but some observers believe it is just a matter of time before they give in to the pressure and dismantle the fossil exhibit.

[Javaman]

29. Hot damn! I'm going to go see her! I'm getting tickets now!

The best part, since it's houston, there will be, no doubt, many fundie protesters. That will be worth the price of the ticket alone!!

Weeeee!!! I will be taking pictures!

[Xithras]

35. I hope SF is one of the stops on the tour.

This would be an awesome temporary exhibit for the new California Academy when it re-opens. One of sciences greatest treasures displayed at one of the nations finest and most advanced natural sciences museums.

[Lisa0825]

38. I have mixed feelings...

First of all, lets keep in mind that Houston is not exactly backwoods, people. I live in the greater Houston area, one county south, but my county has only gone Repug during one election cycle in about the last 75 years. If I am not mistaken, the Houston metro area either went for Gore or almost did. I rarely ever see a Bush sticker around the region anymore. The "Delay-lover" mentioned in this thread is in the minority here. Houston elected a Democratic mayor, and I believe the city council tipped blue last cycle as well. And don't ever forget that this state has produced some exceptional Democrats, such as the ladies in my signature. So please don't be so quick to judge us here. We get enough of it, and we are sick of it.

Moving on....

Lucy has the potential to put evolution on the front page here, giving it sorely needed mainstream publicity, showing people who think it makes sense that they are NOT in the minority, and it is OK to talk about it, and come witness a scientific marvel in person. When Body Worlds was here, the publicity was incredible, and absolute HORDES of people showed up every night. I hope the excitement will be as great for Lucy.

In addition, Houston is quite proud of the museum district. Numerous priceless, irreplaceable, and world famous exhibits have passed through this town unharmed. I have faith (pun intended) that this exhibit will be well protected.

Finally, I see this as a windfall of respect for Ethiopia, in addition to money (which is to be spent on their own museums and sites of interest). I saw a special on Ethiopia recently, and was amazed at how different the country is from what little I knew of it. I think the average American knows little about Ethiopia aside from drought and famine. While poverty and hunger are still serious problems there, there is so much more to the country. For example, it is a country that can teach America a lot about religious tolerance. Most of the country is split between Muslim and Christian, yet they live peacefully together. Other groups include smaller traditional African religions, Rastafarians, and Jews, some of which are thought to be descendants of the Lost Tribe of Israel.

Ethiopia has a growing tourist industry, with a lot of the travel revolving around ancient Christian artifacts and sites. Isn't it something? That their biggest claim to fame, the crown jewel of evolution, Lucy, is being PROMOTED by a country that has such deep and ancient ties to Christian history? How beautiful is that! How open-minded! How MODERN! What a shame America can't be so tolerant, open, and modern as that.

Perhaps Lucy's tour can teach the American public a lot more than evolution.

[sarcasmo]

39. But, But, But.

What about the Creation Museum, don't they have all the answers?

[qdemn7]

43. Sorry to Leakey and others

The paleontologists have had 30+ years to study Lucy. I'm glad she's gone on tour.

[dbt]

44. Props to that Lennon Foole.

The oldest known human ancestor seems to have been named after a song written by one of humanity's noblest descendants.

Imagine!

:smoke:

[hayu_lol]

45. When Lucy was found...

she was accompanied by several juvenile remains as well. Originally, the find of Lucy was called Lucy and the family.

If this is the original and not a replica, I hope security does it's job and protects one of the greatest finds to date.

During the start of WWII, the remains of Peking Man were boxed up for shipment to the US for protection. The remains disappeared and have never resurfaced. One of the mysteries. No one seems to know whether a ship was sunk, or a plane downed en-route to America. But, the Peking Man is missing.

Lucy and the family date back almost half the time span between the split-off from the Great Apes and our present day DNA.

[DrDan]

46. Can't wait to see this . . . lived in Ethiopia for two years . . .

and brought home some stone axes, some fossils etc.

A truly beautiful country - what a shame politics made such a mess of it.

[bleedingheart]

47. The King Tut exhibit sustained damage during its first world tour

as a result the Egyptian government basically wasn't going to let their artifacts out of the country ...however after a 20 year cool off...they let some of the artifacts tour the US...and it is currently in Philadelphia.

(this issue was discussed when I toured the Field Museum in Chicago)

So there is a big risk taking something like this on a tour...why not use a reconstruction?

[DuaneBidoux]

48. I live in Houston and will go, but I take Leakey's point seriously. I am surprised they let her...

travel. It does seem like a risk for this incredible piece of history.

[AnneD]

52. I am sure....

the travel security and packaging were part of the contract arrangements.

I know a husband and wife trucking team that once hauled a Van Gogh exhibit. They had armed security (several cars). They said it was great because their shipment was guarded the whole time-even when they had a break. The guards where relieved at certain points on the itinerary. She also said that several other decoy vans left with the same entourage-but their truck hauled the real McCoy. She said the best part was getting to see the painting up close so to speak. They are the coolest truckers I ever met. They would come up to see the Kindergarten class (her sister) once a year and we always heard some great stories.