Paleoanthropologist Explains Real Life “Hobbits”

Fossils revealed a species of early humans in Indonesia, descendants of homo erectus, and nicknamed them “hobbits” due to their 3-foot stature. #WIRED #TechSupport Still haven’t subscribed to WIRED on YouTube? ►► Listen to the Get WIRED podcast ►► Want more WIRED? Get the magazine ►► Follow WIRED: Instagram ►► Twitter ►► Facebook ►► Tik…

Published

2 years ago

April 17, 2024

CYBER TECH TV

Fossils revealed a species of early humans in Indonesia, descendants of homo erectus, and nicknamed them “hobbits” due to their 3-foot stature.

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31 Comments

@deeps6979

April 17, 2024 at 3:11 pm

I will also accept Neadersmall as a missed opportunity.

Reply
- @slowazzd2165
  
  April 17, 2024 at 3:57 pm
  
  That one’s even better
  
  Reply
- @jaydavidrn82
  
  April 18, 2024 at 10:19 am
  
  meh its not as good. the idea is that Neanderthal kind of has tall at the end
  
  Reply
- @machineagevoodoo2106
  
  April 23, 2024 at 8:51 am
  
  @@jaydavidrn82neandertall and neandersmall? Come on, that’s better!
  
  Reply
- @jaydavidrn82
  
  April 23, 2024 at 9:08 am
  
  @@machineagevoodoo2106 I get that it looks better up front I just think it doesn’t hold up to analysis as well ???? ????
  
  Reply
@serajacob8278

April 17, 2024 at 3:28 pm

Sarcasm and infotainment ????

Reply
@serajacob8278

April 17, 2024 at 3:29 pm

Fricking genius ????

Reply
@user-db6wv4rd9m

April 17, 2024 at 4:11 pm

Good pun ????

Reply
@protectsummer

April 17, 2024 at 4:46 pm

Not rodents of unusual size!

Reply
- @warmgreytenpercent
  
  April 17, 2024 at 5:16 pm
  
  AND komodo dragons?? I would not survive
  
  Reply
- @andieluke1366
  
  April 17, 2024 at 9:55 pm
  
  Was looking for the Princess Bride reference down in the comments and was not disappointed.
  
  Reply
- @TheMilkMan8008
  
  April 18, 2024 at 11:04 am
  
  Capybara are pretty cute. So are pacaranas, beavers, and porcupines. Look up a pacarana and them look up the extinct giant pacarana. I want to squish one.
  
  Reply
- @lafoonxiii5311
  
  April 22, 2024 at 12:39 am
  
  I don’t believe they exist
  
  Reply
@harshstudy488

April 17, 2024 at 7:03 pm

Man just imagine if any of them had a horn like rhinos ???? ..

Also once ai models like sora become soo good and people make 18+ version of sora v5 maybe we can get a video of homosapiens and other human species together ????????

Reply
@blueferal8626

April 17, 2024 at 11:37 pm

Komodo dragons hunted em ????

Reply
@user-tb4ig7qh9b

April 18, 2024 at 6:36 am

I think with your age you most disbelieve thoeries does not exists

Reply
- @tonydai782
  
  April 18, 2024 at 8:44 am
  
  It’s almost like he’s spent years researching while you’ve spent years typing on your keyboard “researching”
  
  Reply
- @TheMilkMan8008
  
  April 18, 2024 at 11:06 am
  
  Scientists today debate how evolution happens and why evolution happens, but nobody is debating IF evolution happens. Evolution is a scientific theory, that is a functional explination of observed natural phenomena that is backed by all the best evidence that we have. There are theories about evolution, theories concerning evolution, and even theories within evolution. Evolution itself is a fact. Just like gravity and the shape of the Earth. Evolution itself is a fact, and nobody is arguing that today. This isn’t the 1700s or the 1950s Christian America. The evidence is all there. What else is “just a theory and therefore not a fact” in your mind? Well, there is the germ theory of disease that says germs make us sick. Cell theory says our body is made out of cells. Theory of gravity, heleocentric theory, theory of general relativity, special theory of relativity, kinetic theory of gases, atomic theory, dual inheritance theory. Need I go on? A theory in science explains a fundamental fact we can observe.
  
  Reply
- @BoshyG
  
  April 18, 2024 at 2:41 pm
  
  your comment is illegible, please try again.
  
  Reply
- @rowox
  
  April 26, 2024 at 6:15 am
  
  @@tonydai782there’s no way the OP has spent more than five minutes on a keyboard ????
  
  Reply
@MasonVeil

April 20, 2024 at 7:06 am

Religion once tried to teach me that some little guy made a boat and put all the animals in it. And here is the proof! A pile of sticks on a hill. I laughed so hard. And yet even they had more evidence than these scientists making entire histories of humanity based on 2 or 3 bones.

Reply
- @angeloalvarez5520
  
  April 25, 2024 at 9:42 am
  
  Why not Google how many fossils of this species they found, Before jumping to conclusions? Maybe they made a few assumptions, but clearly there were hobbit people there, and island dwarfism is definitely interested as well
  
  Reply
- @angeloalvarez5520
  
  April 25, 2024 at 9:47 am
  
  Apparently they found about 9 individuals which would add up to a lot more bones than you think. Archaeologists also look at other things, like where they were found and they study their teeth to get an idea of their diet. You’d probably find this stuff interesting if you didn’t immediately dismiss it
  
  Reply
@My-cat-is-staring-at-you

April 21, 2024 at 2:49 am

The Hobbits lived in a pulp novel.

Reply
@neelkanthgarg8670

April 21, 2024 at 11:41 am

Now komodo dragons makes sense , they might not be that big, to those short guys, they might as well have been.

Reply
@SchardtCinematic

April 22, 2024 at 2:06 pm

They could have been Oompa Loompas too. Lol

Reply
@tobubiify

April 22, 2024 at 10:27 pm

Oh THAT’S why they were called dragons.
Maybe humans were just as big as komodo back in the day

Reply
@poseidon9792

April 22, 2024 at 10:38 pm

That’s a Terraformar

Reply
@uuh4yj43

April 24, 2024 at 2:58 am

ok i get island dwarfism but what if you get trapped in a island with josh hutcherson?

Reply
@KevinLopez-lb9qo

April 24, 2024 at 2:29 pm

Who is this guy

Reply
@randomsandwichian

April 26, 2024 at 5:27 pm

We’re all just Midanderthals

Reply

Science & Technology

Investors Are Asking AI About Your Startup

What does ChatGPT say about your startup? Dr. Eike Gerhardt explains why founders should think about what LLMs will find when investors use AI to research their companies. Watch the full episode of Build Mode with Eike and Nephrogen founder Demetri Maxim for more advice on building a stronger investor pitch.

Published

20 hours ago

September 3, 2026

CYBER TECH TV

What does ChatGPT say about your startup?

Dr. Eike Gerhardt explains why founders should think about what LLMs will find when investors use AI to research their companies.

Watch the full episode of Build Mode with Eike and Nephrogen founder Demetri Maxim for more advice on building a stronger investor pitch.

Science & Technology

A PhD in Pitching Breaks Down a Startup Battlefield Pitch l Build Mode

There is no such thing as the perfect pitch. But you can get close by implementing a few research-backed methods to your delivery, deck, and message. In this episode of Build Mode, host Isabelle Johannesen sits down with Dr. Eike Gerhardt, who has aPhD in pitching and spent nearly a decade studying the science of…

Published

1 day ago

September 3, 2026

CYBER TECH TV

There is no such thing as the perfect pitch. But you can get close by implementing a few research-backed methods to your delivery, deck, and message.

In this episode of Build Mode, host Isabelle Johannesen sits down with Dr. Eike Gerhardt, who has aPhD in pitching and spent nearly a decade studying the science of startup pitching before starting Autopoiesis Sciences. And he’s joined by Demetri Maxim, co-founder and CEO of Nephrogen, who came in second at TechCrunch Startup Battlefield 2025.

Together, they break down Demetri’s actual Startup Battlefield pitch to unpack what worked, what could be improved, and what research tells us about how investors respond to founders. Eike explains why credibility signals matter, how technical founders can simplify without oversimplifying, and why Q&A should be treated as a second pitch. Demetri shares how he learned to explain complex biotech to generalist investors, how redesigning his deck changed his confidence onstage, and what he would do differently today.
They also explore how body language and authenticity affect a pitch, how investor questions can reveal bias, and how founders can use AI to prepare for difficult Q&A.

Here are the studies mentioned in the episode:
Kanze, D., Huang, L., Conley, M. A., & Higgins, E. T. (2018). “We Ask Men to Win and Women Not to Lose: Closing the Gender Gap in Startup Funding.” Academy of Management Journal
Figge, P., Graf-Vlachy, L., König, A., Demann, F., & Diessner, M. (2025). “Shades of Grey or Black and White? How Entrepreneurs’ Use of Cognitively Complex Language Affects Investor Funding.” Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice
Clarke, J. S., Cornelissen, J. P., & Healey, M. P. (2019). “Actions Speak Louder than Words: How Figurative Language and Gesturing in Entrepreneurial Pitches Influences Investment Judgments.” Academy of Management Journal
Jiang, L., Yin, D., & Liu, D. (2019). “Can Joy Buy You Money? The Impact of the Strength, Duration, and Phases of an Entrepreneur’s Peak Displayed Joy on Funding Performance.” Academy of Management Journal.
Chen, X.-P., Yao, X., & Kotha, S. (2009). “Entrepreneur Passion and Preparedness in Business Plan Presentations: A Persuasion Analysis of Venture Capitalists’ Funding Decisions.” Academy of Management Journal
Zhu, L. Y., Young, M. J., & Bauman, C. W. (2024). “Linking Anxiety to Passion: Emotion Regulation and Entrepreneurs’ Pitch Performance.” Journal of Business Venturing
Allison, T. H., Davis, B. C., Webb, J. W., & Short, J. C. (2017). “Persuasion in Crowdfunding: An Elaboration Likelihood Model of Crowdfunding Performance.” Journal of Business Venturing
Clark, C. (2008). “The Impact of Entrepreneurs’ Oral ‘Pitch’ Presentation Skills on Business Angels’ Initial Screening Investment Decisions.” Venture Capital

Subscribe to Build Mode:
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New episodes of Build Mode drop every Thursday.

Bloomberg Technology

Uber, Wayve Unleash Supervised Robotaxis in London

Uber now lets you book a robotaxi in London — but you’ll still be joined by a human in the front seat. Olivia Solon explains why. ——– Like this video? Subscribe to Bloomberg Technology on YouTube: Watch the latest full episodes of “Bloomberg Technology” with Caroline Hyde and Ed Ludlow here: Get the…

Published

1 day ago

September 3, 2026

CYBER TECH TV

Uber now lets you book a robotaxi in London — but you’ll still be joined by a human in the front seat.

Olivia Solon explains why.
——–
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