The Piltdown Hoax is perhaps the most famous scientific hoax ever to have been perpetrated. In December 1912 antiquarian Charles Dawson and paleontologist Arthur Smith Woodward announced to the world the amazing discovery of an early human fossil that was said to have been collected by a laborer at a gravel pit in Piltdown, East Sussex, England. These fragments collected consisted of parts of a human-like skull and an ape-like jawbone, and was given the scientific name Eoanthropus dawsoni, but was most commonly known as the Piltdown Man. This hoax significantly affected early research on human evolution. For almost 40 years the Piltdown Man fraud had scientist believing that this fossil was the "missing link", the link between humans and apes."The hoax succeeded so well because, at the time of its
discovery, the scientific establishment believed that the large modern
brain preceded the modern omnivorous diet, and the forgery provided
exactly that evidence."(4) Although it had many scientist fooled, there were a few scientist who were skeptical of Dawson's and Woodward's discovery. "In the decades prior to its exposure as a forgery in 1953, scientists
increasingly regarded Piltdown as an enigmatic aberration inconsistent
with the path of hominid evolution as demonstrated by fossils found
elsewhere"(1) Skeptical scientist continued to increase as more fossils were found. Finally, in 1953 the Piltdown Man was exposed for the fraud that it was. Chemical studies and evidence found by Kenneth Page Oakley, Joseph Weiner, and other scientist, found that the fossil actually consisted of a human skull that was 50,000 years old, a 500- year old jawbone of an orangutan, and the teeth of a chimpanzee that had been filed down. After being revealed as a hoax, the Piltdown Man came to represent concrete evidence against evolution, and is repeatedly cited as proof that the entirety of evolution is a hoax. "The Piltdown hoax likely made scientists less willing to
accept real early hominin fossils such as Astralopithecus africanus,
also known as "Lucy”, but the hoax also shows that even if it takes time,
science will eventually ferret out the truth."(2)
"Nature doesn't lie"... But humans do! Humans by nature are liars and can be very prideful. I believe that one of the biggest faults expressed by the scientists involved in this scenario is the fault of "wanting to be better than anybody else". "It has been suggested
that a sense of hurt national pride played a role in the Piltdown Man
hoax. By 1912, many hominid fossils had been discovered in mainland
Europe, most notably Neanderthal Man in Germany and Cro-Magnon Man in France, and they were even cropping up in Africa and Java, yet Britain had none."(3) It was said that Dawson treated others with little respect to their feelings, and was considered a liar, cheat, and swindler. These faults were detrimental to their scientific process because it discredited them and had scientist questioning every single one of their finds.
The fact that the Piltdown Man was eventually revealed to be a fake is evidence
that science is capable of seeing through illusion, acknowledging
errors, and refining its ideas by use of the scientific method. Around 1939 paleontologist Kenneth Oakley, devised a new chemical analysis called fluorine testing. In 1949 Oakley tested the skull and jawbone of Piltdown Man and as it turned out, the remains seemed to have similar amounts of
fluorine, suggesting they belonged together, but surprisingly they
appeared to be much younger than was originally thought, about 450,000 years younger. In 1953 Kenneth Oakley met Joseph Weiner who found that the fossil teeth had deliberately been filed down with something abrasive to give them a unique wear pattern. Weiner and Oakley then undertook new chemical analyses, including an
improved fluorine test, and found that the jaw and teeth were not the
same age as the skull and were not even fossils, just old bones. Some of the bones had been stained with chemicals and some with ordinary
paint to make them match each other and the color of the soil where
they were found, after these findings Weiner and Oakley were convinced that the Piltdown skull was a fake. By doing what they were supposed to, the truth came out, and that’s the
point of the scientific process and relying upon the scientific
community.
I don't necessarily believe that it is possible to completely remove the human factor from science. Humans have to be involved in one form or another. Things can't just find themselves or study themselves. In order for us humans to know about something or study something we must be involved with the process of doing it. Even if we were to remove the human factor from science, I believe we would still have errors. Perhaps not the errors of hoaxes or fraudulent findings, but nothing in life is ever perfect and there will always be errors. If removing human factor from science would ensure that there would be no possible errors and it would make things a lot better, than I would be in agreeance with doing so. But I don't believe that is possible, so as of now I wouldn't agree with removing human factor from science. I believe it is what keeps our scientist so determined.
I believe this historical event has been a huge eye opener for not only scientist, but for people all over the world. Learning about this event has taught me to always check and verify your sources and not just rely on what someone else says. Never let pride get in the way of your beliefs, and I believe the ultimate lesson learned was that the truth will always be revealed.
SOURCES:
(1) http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/science-of-natural-history/the-scientific-process/piltdown-man-hoax/
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(4)http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/piltdown.html
2. One way humans are able to adapt to the stress of cold is with short-term adaptation. A short-term adaptation to the cold would be the body's natural reaction to shiver. Moving around produces energy in the body which in return produces heat. (e.g. excercising makes people sweat). 
A second way humans are able to adapt is with facultative adaptation. Cutaneous vasoconstriction is an example of a facultative adaptation, which is the initial thermoregulatory response to cold exposure. Vasoconstriction narrows the blood vessels in our body which constricts our blood flow and retains our body heat. 
The third adaptation is developmental. A form of developmental adaptation is body shape and size. It is a fact that humans with larger body masses produce more heat, which is a result of their being more cells. Another perfect example is Bergmann's rule, which states that " larger animals usually have a smaller surface area relative to their body mass and,
therefore, are comparatively inefficient at radiating their body heat off into the
surrounding environment." It can be demonstrated
with the cube shaped boxes
shown in the image. Note
that the volume increases twice as fast as the surface area.
This is the reason that relatively less surface
area results in relatively less heat being lost from
animals.
The fourth and final adaptation is cultural, which can come in many different forms. One form of cultural adaptation is clothing style. In colder climates people usually dress themselves with heavier and thicker clothing to keep their skin from being exposed to prevent frostbite, and keep their heat insulated to prevent hypothermia.