john hawks weblog

paleoanthropology, genetics and evolution

Ham the space chimp

Sun, 2011-01-30 15:15 -- John Hawks

Remembering Ham, 50 years later: "The chimp that took America into space."

Fifty years ago tomorrow an African-born astronaut made it into space ahead of Soviet pioneer Yuri Gagarin. His name was Ham, a chimpanzee born in July 1957 in the rainforests of what was then the French Cameroons. He was bought by the US Air Force to be used in early space flight experiments for $457 – not a bad investment as it turned out.

Tags: 
chimpanzees
space
history

Neandertals

For years, I've worked on their bones. Now I'm working on their genes. Read more about the science studying these ancient people.

Denisova

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Acceleration

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Malapa

Just outside Johannesburg, the Malapa site is producing some of the most exciting finds in human evolution. This site is the headquarters of the Malapa Soft Tissue Project.