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  A child who lived on the Indonesian island of Borneo around 31,000 years ago underwent the oldest known surgical operation, which was an amputation of their lower left leg. The surgery was conducted by one or more hunter-gatherers who had detailed knowledge of human anatomy and considerable technical skill, which enabled the child to avoid fatal blood loss and infection. The healed bone where the lower leg was amputated indicates that the ancient youth survived for at least six to nine years after the surgery before dying at the age of 19 or 20. There is no evidence of crushing from an accident or an animal bite at the amputation site, leading the researchers to suspect that an unidentified medical problem led to the operation. This discovery represents the oldest known amputation, with the previous oldest being a farmer from France whose left forearm was surgically removed nearly 7,000 years ago. In North Africa, surgeries to create skull openings may have occurred as early ...

  1. Proxima Centauri is a red dwarf star located 4.2 light-years from Earth in the constellation Centaurus. It is the nearest star to our solar system, and it is a member of the triple star system called Alpha Centauri. One interesting fact about Proxima Centauri is that it is a flare star, meaning it is prone to sudden, dramatic increases in brightness. These flares are caused by the star's intense magnetic activity and can release as much energy as the Sun does over an entire day in just a few seconds. Proxima Centauri is also a low-mass star, with about an eighth of the mass of the Sun. As a result, it is relatively cool and red in color, and it has a much longer lifespan than more massive stars. It is estimated to be over 4 billion years old and is expected to last for another 4 trillion years or more. 2. How long would it take to get to Proxima Centauri? Obviously, if we travelled at the speed of light, it would take around 4.2 years. However this kind of speed is currently ...