APS News

April 1999 (Volume 8, Number 4)

Zero Gravity: The Lighter Side of Science

Too Good To Be True: Our Favorite Net Myth


"Net Myths" are vastly entertaining stories circulating on the Internet that are presented as fact - even though they aren't. [See http://www.urbanlegends.com] By far our favorite is a reportedly genuine letter from one Harvey Rowe, curator of antiquities at the Smithsonian, in response to the latest submission of amateur paleontologist Scott Williams of Newport, Vermont, who digs up found objects out of his back yard and sends the "specimens" to the Smithsonian Institute, labeling them with scientific names and insisting they are genuine archaeological fin

Not surprisingly, the story is false. Harvey Rowe doesn't exist, nor does the Smithsonian have an Antiquities Department. And there is no Charleston County in Vermont, and hence no hopeful backyard paleontologist. This tongue-in-cheek letter first debuted on the Internet on the newsgroup rec.humor.funny, and within a month was being forwarded via email as factual. True or not, the "letter" reprinted below became an instant classic tale of a man, a shovel, and an unbridled passion for anthropology.

Smithsonian Institute-Paleoanthropology
207 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20078

Dear Sir:
Thank you for your latest submission to the Institute, labeled "211-D, layer seven, next to the clothesline post. Hominid skull." We have given this specimen a careful and detailed examination, and regret to inform you that we disagree with your theory that it represents "conclusive proof of the presence of Early Man in Charleston County two million years ago." Rather, it appears that what you have found is the head of a Barbie doll, of the variety one of our staff, who has small children, believes to be the "Malibu Barbie." It is evident that you have given a great deal of thought to the analysis of this specimen, and you may be quite certain that those of us who are familiar with your prior work in the field were loathe to come to contradiction with your findings. However, we do feel that there are a number of physical attributes of the specimen which might have tipped you off to its modern origin:

1. The material is molded plastic. Ancient hominid remains are typically fossilized bone.

2.The cranial capacity of the specimen is approximately 9 cubic centimeters, well below the threshold of even the earliest identified proto-hominids.

3. The dentition pattern evident on the "skull" is more consistent with the common domesticated dog than it is with the "ravenous man-eating Pliocene clams" you speculate roamed the wetlands during that time. This latter finding is certainly one of the most intriguing hypotheses you have submitted in your history with this institution, but the evidence seems to weigh rather heavily against it. Without going into too much detail, let us say that:

A. The specimen looks like the head of a Barbie doll that a dog has chewed on.

B. Clams don't have teeth.

It is with feelings tinged with melancholy that we must deny your request to have the specimen carbon dated. This is partially due to the heavy load our lab must bear in its normal operation, and partly due to carbon dating's notorious inaccuracy in fossils of recent geologic record. To the best of our knowledge, no Barbie dolls were produced prior to 1965 AD, and carbon dating is likely to produce wildly inaccurate results. Sadly, we must also deny your request that we approach the National Science Foundation's Phylogeny Department with the concept of assigning your specimen the scientific name "Australopithecus spiff-arino." Speaking personally, I, for one, fought tenaciously for the acceptance of your proposed taxonomy, but was ultimately voted down because the species name selected was hyphenated, and didn't really sound like it might be Latin. However, we gladly accept your generous donation of this fascinating specimen to the museum. While it is undoubtedly not a hominid fossil, it is, nonetheless, yet another riveting example of the great body of work you seem to accumulate here so effortlessly. You should know that our Director has reserved a special shelf in his own office for the display of the specimens you have previously submitted to the Institution, and the entire staff speculates daily on what you will happen upon next in your digs at the site you have discovered in your back yard. We eagerly anticipate your trip to our nation's capital that you proposed in your last letter, and several of us are pressing the Director to pay for it. We are particularly interested in hearing you expand on your theories surrounding the "trans-positating fillifitation of ferrous ions in a structural matrix" that makes the excellent juvenile Tyrannosaurus rex femur you discovered take on the deceptive appearance of a rusty 9-mm Sears Craftsman automotive crescent wrench.

Yours in Science,
Harvey Rowe
Curator, Antiquities



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Editor: Barrett H. Ripin
Associate Editor: Jennifer Ouellette

April 1999 (Volume 8, Number 4)

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Articles in this Issue
Mass Media Fellows Reflect on Internship Experience
Style and Substance Characterize APS Centennial Celebration
International News: Dakar Workshop Fosters Research Collaborations in Africa
Yale Olympics Show Students That Physics Can Be Fun
APS Resolution Urges Amending Data Access Law
Festival Spotlight: Teaching the Science Behind the Magic
Prominent Physicists of the 20th Century
In Brief
APS Views
Letters
The Back Page
Zero Gravity: The Lighter Side of Science
Quoteworthy Science
Cartoon