I watched a programme last night on Channel 4 HD about the discovery and subsequent forensic analysis of a mummified baby mammoth in the Arctic wastes. I was struck by a number of things. First of all, the science involved in finding out the age of the baby when it died, how and why it died, and what its stomach contents and teeth could tell us, was totally absorbing and clever. The scientists extracted mother’s milk, which was just one of many incredible finds. Another was the fact that the baby consumed its mother’s faeces in order to imbibe the [...]