The Science Slam Sonic Explorers present two different visions of the controversy behind the world's most famous fossil, IDA.
Featuring Mina Caputo (Life of Agony) on vocals.
Includes unlimited streaming of IDA
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
In conjunction with the 5 year anniversary of the fossil's revelation to the public, Science Slam Sonic Explorers have created a new piece highlighting the controversy behind the Earth's most magnificently preserved primate fossil: IDA
Jørn Harald Hurum
Mina Caputo
Gator Bait Ten
Submerged
Achim G. Reisdorf
with Artwork by Esther Van Hulsen
ⓒ Ohm Resistance (2014), on_lap_records (2014)
Dedication:
This is dedicated to all fossil hunters. Without you finding fossils, the World would be a less interesting place.
lyrics
TEXT:
In the year of Darwin 2009
A fossil was described
Named Darwinius masillae
Her nickname became IDA
Her skeleton is complete
Her body outline preserved
And last meal in her stomach
She lived 47 million years ago
And she is a primate
The scientists describing her
Placed her on the line
That much later
Evolved into us
This sparked a scientific controversy
The group of primates where IDA belonged
Are by most scientists
Believed to be closer to
lemurs
47 million years is a long time
Most animals that lived so long ago
Are crushed into unidentifiable pieces
Some pieces survive
But very fragmentary remains can not
Tell the story like a complete skeleton.
The scientific discussion
Sums up to:
- my fossil is more important than your fossil!
Scientists say "nothing new in IDA"
Others claiming that their single teeth,
jawfragment or anklebone are much more important
Scientists claiming that IDA is too crushed to tell anything
(Without ever seeing the fossil)
The more complete a fossil is
the more difficult it is to fit it into
the present interpretation of fragments
Critics are seldom objective,
usually scientists have hidden agendas
(attack is the best defense)
this is something the journalists should learn to understand
The more furious a scientist is
the more fragmentary are his own specimens...
The philosophy behind IDA:
"The nature of science"
The scientists wanted to show the process of science
not only the result
A scientific paper is the start of a debate
not the end
Many scientists do outreach
to impress their colleagues
not to tell the public about their research
The goal of the outreach
In the IDA project
was to move the perspective
of non-specialists on human evolution from
"something that happened a few million years ago in Africa"
to
"we have relatives 47 million years ago"
= Evolutionary perspectives in deep time
The last five years
Have been like a very slow
Tennis match
Disagreeing scientists are arguing
In different journals
No one change their minds....
Ida is still the most complete fossil primate
ever found
no one disagrees on her beauty
she is today in most textbooks
but the controversy continues
credits
from IDA,
track released June 18, 2014
Jørn Harald Hurum (research, text)
Mina Caputo (voice)
Gator Bait Ten
M. Gregor Filip (guitars/sounds)
Ted Parsons (drums)
Simon J. Smerdon (guitars/sounds)
Kurt Gluck (bass guitar, mix, production)
Achim G. Reisdorf (executive producer)
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