Our hollow, long bones are thick and strong where needed, and light and flexible where possible.

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Dr. Reed Estes, assistant professor of orthopedic surgery at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and team physician for the UAB football team, said Ware's injury "looks like a pretty bad break to both his tibia and fibula, " the two long bones in the lower leg.

NPR: Louisville's Ware Breaks Leg In Tourney Game

My long bones in my arms and legs felt like someone was ramming a long steel rod into them, my joints all creaked and popped in and out and ached like the worst arthritis ever. my skin was on fire and my extremities, especially my hands and feet, where it seemed to concentrate.

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He also found that if modern bones were heated at low temperatures for long periods of time they began to look like bones that had been heated to high temperatures in a camp fire.

BBC: NEWS | Science/Nature | Bones hint at first use of fire

Six hours later, after a long soak and a quick baptism by fire, a heap of gnawed bones would bear witness to the success of this utterly haphazard approach.

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