Last week, scientists positively identified the bones of Nicolaus Copernicus, the astronomer credited with scientifically formulating the idea that the universe is heliocentric and prompting the 16th century scientific revolution. To be sure that the bones were actually those of Copernicus, the scientists compared DNA from the unmarked remains found in a grave beneath Frombork Cathedral with DNA collected from the pages of one of Copernicus' books and found them to be identical. Using computer modeling software, his face has been virtually reconstructed.
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tags: Dodo, Raphus cucullatus, birds, ornithology, Mauritius
Dodo reconstruction reflecting new research at Oxford University Museum of Natural History.
Image: Ballista. [larger]
The most complete skeleton of an extinct Dodo, Raphus cucullatus, ever found was discovered recently in the…
For instance, the Earth going around the Sun instead of vice versa. Or Copernicus starting the Scientific Revolution which eventually brought about the technology - DNA fingerprinting - that could be used to positively identify Copernicus' remains.
As PZ mentioned, today would be Charles Darwin's 197th birthday. To celebrate, Mike over at The Questionable Authority is putting together a mini-carnival of posts on evolution. Specifically, he asked how those of us who are scientists use evolutionary theory in our work.
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