Rachel Carlson

I produced this episode and it was edited by our showrunner, Rebecca Ramirez. Tyler Jones checked the facts. The audio engineers were Kwesi Lee, Gilly Moon, and Harrison Paul. Beth Donovan is our senior director, and Colin Campbell is the senior vice president of podcasting strategy. I'm Rachel Carlson. Thanks for listening to Shortwave, the science podcast from NPR.

I produced this episode and it was edited by our showrunner, Rebecca Ramirez. Tyler Jones checked the facts. The audio engineers were Kwesi Lee, Gilly Moon, and Harrison Paul. Beth Donovan is our senior director, and Colin Campbell is the senior vice president of podcasting strategy. I'm Rachel Carlson. Thanks for listening to Shortwave, the science podcast from NPR.

I produced this episode and it was edited by our showrunner, Rebecca Ramirez. Tyler Jones checked the facts. The audio engineers were Kwesi Lee, Gilly Moon, and Harrison Paul. Beth Donovan is our senior director, and Colin Campbell is the senior vice president of podcasting strategy. I'm Rachel Carlson. Thanks for listening to Shortwave, the science podcast from NPR.

You even have a cameo in the show, right?

You even have a cameo in the show, right?

You even have a cameo in the show, right?

Hey, Shortwavers, Rachel Carlson here and Emily Kwong with our biweekly science news roundup featuring the hosts of All Things Considered. And today we have Ari Shapiro.

Hey, Shortwavers, Rachel Carlson here and Emily Kwong with our biweekly science news roundup featuring the hosts of All Things Considered. And today we have Ari Shapiro.

Hey, Shortwavers, Rachel Carlson here and Emily Kwong with our biweekly science news roundup featuring the hosts of All Things Considered. And today we have Ari Shapiro.

Wild. All that on this episode of Shortwave, the science podcast from NPR.

Wild. All that on this episode of Shortwave, the science podcast from NPR.

Wild. All that on this episode of Shortwave, the science podcast from NPR.

Let's do it. So archaeologists know early humans used stone to make tools that usually meant knocking rocks against one another to get like sharp flakes for cutting animal carcasses or plants. And the Acheulean period, about one and a half million years ago, way before Homo sapiens showed up, was known for stone hand axes. They're sort of oval or teardrop-shaped rocks with sharp points.

Let's do it. So archaeologists know early humans used stone to make tools that usually meant knocking rocks against one another to get like sharp flakes for cutting animal carcasses or plants. And the Acheulean period, about one and a half million years ago, way before Homo sapiens showed up, was known for stone hand axes. They're sort of oval or teardrop-shaped rocks with sharp points.

Let's do it. So archaeologists know early humans used stone to make tools that usually meant knocking rocks against one another to get like sharp flakes for cutting animal carcasses or plants. And the Acheulean period, about one and a half million years ago, way before Homo sapiens showed up, was known for stone hand axes. They're sort of oval or teardrop-shaped rocks with sharp points.

Well, Tom Plummer is a paleoanthropologist at Queens College in New York and wasn't involved in this research. But he says the paper suggests early humans were using mental imaging to make these tools, which means like maybe they had an image in their heads of something and then use their hands to replicate images. They're just like us, just puzzling along.

Well, Tom Plummer is a paleoanthropologist at Queens College in New York and wasn't involved in this research. But he says the paper suggests early humans were using mental imaging to make these tools, which means like maybe they had an image in their heads of something and then use their hands to replicate images. They're just like us, just puzzling along.

Well, Tom Plummer is a paleoanthropologist at Queens College in New York and wasn't involved in this research. But he says the paper suggests early humans were using mental imaging to make these tools, which means like maybe they had an image in their heads of something and then use their hands to replicate images. They're just like us, just puzzling along.

But Ignacio also noted the paper opens even more questions than it solves. So he wants to know, could they find even older bones? And why was there a million year gap between these and the previously found bone tools? So there's still a lot of questions about some of our early ancestors.

But Ignacio also noted the paper opens even more questions than it solves. So he wants to know, could they find even older bones? And why was there a million year gap between these and the previously found bone tools? So there's still a lot of questions about some of our early ancestors.