Question #1: Corrections

Robyn Williams Triple Crown Organic Food Dear Dr Novella, Before I make my correction I must first let you know how much I enjoy both the SGU in general and your scientific activism outside of the podcast. As someone who is involved in Science and the Public, you are an inspiration to me and one of the reasons I have chosen to pursue the Public Understanding of Science as both a career and a hobby. You have my thanks. Unfortunately I must also inform you of a mistake in last week’s Science or Fiction. It is a mistake you could hardly be blamed for as more than half of the reports I saw regarding this issue also got it wrong in one form or another and if I were not a practicing Archaeologist with a keen interest in Physical Anthropology, I probably would have missed it as well. It regards the story of the H. antecessor footprints found in England. You stated, as many articles did, that this pushed the date of human occupation of Northern Europe back 350k and was the earliest evidence we had of human occupation in the region. Unfortunately this is not the case. In fact, while these certainly are the oldest footprints in Northern Europe and are very interesting indeed, we found the tools of this specific hominid, in this specific place in 2010. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_antecessor We have known for at least three years that H antecessor was in this exact part of England at around 1mya, so this discovery, while amazing, did not push back the known human occupation of Northern Europe (or even this specific location) at all. Again, thanks for all of the work you do. You have inspired me to engage more openly and often with the public in Science communication, to start my own science/entertainment based podcast and even to get together with my local science museum (Ruben H Fleet Science Center) to volunteer my time for Science Café and other public outreach programs. You are more than a public educator, you are a domino setting off other such educators around the world. Archaeological Field Director/Co-Principal Investigator Tierra Environmental Robert Timothy