Afarensis is a 3.5-2.8 million year old hominin from the Kada Hadar member of the Hadar formation in the Middle Awash, Ethiopia. He is approximately 41 inches tall, weighs approximately 60 pounds and has a cranial capacity of a whopping 410 cc (approximately). Afarensis is currently considered to be transitional between apes and humans and displays some traits of both. Since he spends a lot of time on the couch watching monster movies, some observers question whether he is an obligate biped (although no one has observed him climbing a tree). He also has a blog called 
The University of Pennsylvania's Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology is engaging in a wonderful project to digitize its entire collection. Reuters has the story:
The museum, a national and world leader in its field since its founding in 1887, in September will begin creating a "digital spine" in which all of its approximately 1 million objects will be catalogued on the internet.The idea, said the museum's new director Richard Hodges, is to open up its dazzling collection of artifacts to scholars, researchers, and the general public around the world who have been unable to access it either because they are not in Philadelphia or because 95 percent of the objects are in storage.
Surprisingly, the cost isn't as high as I thought it would be. At this point it is expected to cost between 7-10 million and the project is expected to take three years. According to the museum director:
"At Penn Museum, we have an extraordinary depository of shared cultural heritage," Hodges said. "We have an obligation to take a leadership role in working with scholars, educational organizations and emerging countries to discover and sometimes reclaim cultural heritage."
Having problems commenting? (UPDATED)