john hawks weblog

paleoanthropology, genetics and evolution

The really big question: Last Crusade or Temple of Doom?

Tue, 2008-05-27 14:17 -- John Hawks

In between. Much more fun while watching than Temple of Doom -- mainly due to the lack of any annoyances as great as Kate Capshaw or Spielberg's mid-80's use of kids. Why didn't they bring Karen Allen back sooner?

On the other hand, many, many more logical holes than Last Crusade, many fewer fun scenes, and too many superhuman feats of endurance. And a retread of Spielberg's late-80's use of splattering goop. And did I mention the logical holes?

And a new annoyance: bad CGI. Did we really need animated prairie dogs?

By the way, that kid in the library to whom Indy gives a V. Gordon Childe reference was Tom Hanks' and Rita Wilson's son Chet Hanks.

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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

From a finger bone of an ancient human came the record of a completely unexpected population. My lab is working on the science of the Denisova genome.

Acceleration

The advent of agriculture caused natural selection to speed up greatly in humans. We're uncovering some of the ways that populations have rapidly changed during the last 10,000 years.

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.