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| "The future has arrived; it's just not evenly distributed." |
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| -- William Gibson. | ||
| stack@io.com | Archive | |
The Guardian:Neanderthal man challenges African Eve
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4116006,00.htmlNeanderthal man challenges African Eve Tim Radford, science editor
GuardianFriday January 12, 2001
Four US anthropologists today throw the story of human origins into confusion. They claim that new evidence shows that modern humans could have partly descended from the neanderthals, the hulking creatures who held Europe during the ice ages.
The research, published in the US journal Science, is likely to cause a storm. It challenges the reigning "African Eve" hypothesis: that after a series of false starts, a group descended from just one woman emerged in Africa 250,000 years ago. Some of their descendants left Africa 100,000 years ago, shouldered aside all other species of human and took over the planet.
Instead, the US researchers argue, modern Homo sapiens is made up of more than one group of ancestors. Instead of competing for resources, different human groups shared food, shelter - and partners.
The 2m year fossil record of travelling, tool-using humans shows a number of forerunners, including Homo erectus and Homo neanderthalis. There is also evidence that these two were around when Homo sapiens emerged.
Milford Wolpoff, of the University of Michigan, and three colleagues took a closer look at early modern and archaic fossil skulls from Europe, Australia, Africa and the near east, and saw more resemblances than could be explained by chance.
"Ancient humans shared genes and behaviours across wide regions of the world, and were not rendered extinct by one lucky group that later evolved into us," Professor Wolpoff said. "The fossils clearly show that more than one ancient group survived and thrived."
His team focused on early modern fossils from Australia and central Europe from 20,000 to 30,000 years ago because they calculated that groups on the margin of human settlement would be more likely to show characteristics of more ancient species of human.
This week the researchers got support from 60,000-year-old Mungo Man in Australia. DNA recovered from the bones of an anatomically modern man in Lake Mungo turned out to be quite different from that of later Australian peoples - and Australian researchers argued that this was evidence of shared origins.
"Modern humans are the present manifestation of an older worldwide species with populations connected by gene flow and the exchange of ideas," said Prof Wolpoff. "Modern human groups are much more similar than different, because of comparable adaptations to ideas and technologies that spread across the inhabited world, and because of the dispersals of successful genes promoted by selection."
The latest claim is another salvo in a long running battle. In 1999 one specialist claimed to have discovered fossil evidence of interbreeding. Last year another group examined the DNA from the bones of a Neanderthal child and found no evidence of interbreeding.
Chris Stringer, head of human origins at the Natural History Museum and an architect of the out-of-Africa theory, said the latest analysis was incomplete. He also had questions about the methods, results and conclusions.
"One could look at the same skulls, choose different characters and get a different answer," he said. "If we are looking for the ancestry of modern people, where people alive today came from, where their genes came from - if there was such hybridisation it is neglible. It is impossible to find today."
Origins
Homo erectus appeared in Africa 2m years ago. By 500,000BC descendants, Homo heidelbergensis, occupied Boxgrove, West Sussex. Neanderthals evolved from them. But where did Homo sapiens come from?
• Out-of-Africa hypothesis: modern humans evolved in Africa. DNA evidence suggests they descended from one group which may have flourished because of command of language or tools. There is no evidence of interbreeding with other human species.
• Multiregional hypothesis: Europeans were descended from Neanderthals, but now a modified version is that these and other early human species bequeathed some genes to modern humans.
posted by stack 3:59:12 PM
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The Guardian: Asteroid probe may bite the dust
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4115464,00.htmlAsteroid probe may bite the dust
Tim Radford, science editor
GuardianThursday January 11, 2001
After a year of long distance courtship, a spacecraft and its target could be about to come to a touching end. A near-Earth asteroid rendezvous probe called Shoemaker could be about to land on the surface of a giant asteroid called Eros - and then die.
Eros is a peanut-shaped lump of rock the size of Manhattan, 21 miles long and eight miles wide and eight miles thick, now tumbling through space 150m miles away, beyond the orbit of Mars.
The $224m (£150m) probe, named for the late Gene Shoemaker, who trained the Apollo astronauts to recognise rocks on the moon, was launched in 1996 to catch up with Eros and take a closer look.
It kept its date in deep space on February 14 last year, and began a stately waltz around its partner, taking ever closer looks at the pitted surface of the lump of rock in orbit around the sun.
Asteroids are thought to be the building blocks of a planet that should have formed somewhere between Mars and Jupiter, but never came together. But a number have become dislodged, and are now seen as potential cosmic traffic accidents.
Shoemaker was the first robot probe to take a long close look at a possible future problem. While Eros tumbled head over heels every five hours, Shoemaker has been swooping to within three miles of the surface to photograph its pockmarked face.
But the courtship could soon be over. Its mission controllers are contemplating a "controlled descent" on to the surface on February 12.
"We are out of time, out of money and out of fuel," said Robert Farquhar, of Johns Hopkins University's applied physics laboratory in Baltimore, which built the spacecraft. "This is the first time anyone has tried to land anything on a small body. It would be a nice way to end it."
The spacecraft weighs 1,775lb. It will be travelling three feet a second when it hits Eros. "That's jogging speed, but if you hit a brick wall when you're jogging, it hurts," he said. "It's risky, but we will get a lot of bonus science."
Duncan Steel, an asteroid expert at the University of Salford, suggested that Eros could have a surface of fluffy dust. "If the satellite lands in the right place, it might be more like falling on to a feather mattress than a concrete floor," he said.
"Very appropriately, the satellite got to Eros on Valentine's day. Now at last we are going to kiss it properly."
posted by stack 12:43:51 PM
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The Guardian: Hi-tech aid to take the sweat out of sex
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,435209,00.htmlHi-tech aid to take the sweat out of sex James Meek, science correspondent Thursday February 8, 2001 The Guardian After giving the world television to replace going out and the internet to replace shopping, technology may be about to take the sweat out of one of the last remaining urges to exercise: sex. In the ultimate boon to couch potatoes, a surgeon at a US clinic has patented an electronic implant which he claims will give women an orgasm at the touch of a button. Today's edition of New Scientist reports that the surgeon, Stuart Meloy, of Piedmont Anesthesia and Pain Consultants in North Carolina, developed the idea out of a routine pain relief procedure. As part of that procedure, he was placing electrodes in the spine of a woman patient to relieve her pain, adjusting the position of the electrodes according to her instructions. "I was placing the electrodes and suddenly the woman started exclaiming emphatically," he said. "I asked her what was up and she said, 'You're going to have to teach my husband to do that'." Dr Meloy stresses that his device would be used only in extreme cases where women could not achieve sexual satisfaction. The stimulating wires would connect to a signal generator almost as big as a packet of cigarettes implanted under the skin of a buttock. "Then you'd have a hand-held remote control to trigger it. But it's as invasive as a pacemaker, so this is only for extreme cases," he said. Dr Meloy ruled out unlimited orgasms. The device would be programmed to limit use. (((and how quickly do you think somebody would find a way to crack *that* software?)))
posted by stack 11:38:04 AM
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Orlando Sentinel: China signs contract for magnetic levitation train
>http://www.orlandosentinal.com/technology/sns-train.story China signs contract for magnetic levitation train By Joe McDonald The Associated Press January 23, 2001 11:25 AM EST SHANGHAI, China -- China signed a deal with a German consortium on Tuesday to build the world's first commercial train to float on magnetic fields. The 20-mile-long line to Shanghai's new airport would carry 600 passengers at up to 260 mph and would be an advertisement for the city's high-tech ambitions, said Chinese officials and Transrapid, a consortium comprised of engineering giants Siemens and ThyssenKrupp. ``The maglev train will act as a model to display the high-tech achievements of Shanghai,'' said Shanghai Deputy Mayor Chen Liangyu. The contract is a triumph for the German developers of magnetic levitation, or maglev, technology, who want a working model after spending decades and billions of dollars on the idea. Maglev uses powerful magnets to hold a train a fraction of an inch from the track and propel it with little noise or vibration. Japan has developed a competing version of maglev, and last April a Japanese test train set a speed record of 343 mph. China is to build the track for the Shanghai system while Transrapid supplies the trains and switching equipment. The train is to start running in 2003. Though neither side would disclose the cost, the German portion should be less than $950 million, said Hans-Dieter Bott, vice president of Siemens. Ernst H. Behrens, president of Siemens' Chinese subsidiary, denied reports that Germany was financing most of the project. The German government said on Monday that it will provide $92.5 million, while news reports had said Berlin was offering financing worth up to $450 million. The maglev technology has its critics, who say it is a costly, energy-guzzling technology that is no better than proven high-speed rail systems such as France's TGV. French rail tests have reached 310 mph. Germany canceled a planned Berlin-Hamburg maglev line last February for fear it would lose money and harm wildlife with its powerful magnets. Bott said Transrapid views the Shanghai line, where the ride will last just eight minutes, largely as a sales tool. ``This serves as a demonstration for China to show that this works and can be used for longer distances, such as Shanghai to Beijing,'' he said. China plans to build high-speed railway systems in several areas, including Shanghai-Beijing and the booming southeastern province of Guangdong. But plans so far call for using conventional rail systems built by its own companies. Copyright © 2001, The Associated Press
posted by stack 12:01:41 PM
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Real life catches up with Star Trek
http://www.hsvt.org/A real-life "set phasers on stun" opportunity. Unfortunately, the moment this turns into shipping product, every facist regime in the world will have a total crack-down on resistance activities. It beats water cannon and tear gas hands-down.
posted by stack 6:40:52 PM
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AT&T Labs Interactive TTS Demo
http://www.research.att.com/~mjm/cgi-bin/ttsdemoFantastic, an amazing demo of text-to-speech on the web.
posted by stack 1:33:08 PM
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The Tech Report - Crusoe Powered Vaio
http://www.tech-report.com/etc/2000q4/transmeta/index4.xNo specs, but a lovely picture:
posted by stack 4:23:00 PM
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ZDNet: E-Paper Here Sooner Than You Think
http://www.zdnet.com/anchordesk/stories/story/0,10738,2656348,00.htmlI want to cut and paste from my newspaper to my PDA...
posted by stack 4:50:42 PM
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ASIMO
http://www.honda.co.jp/ASIMO/movie/I remember seeing this in development on "Tomorrows World" back in the seventies. Now it's the future, and we have walking robots.
posted by stack 1:20:45 PM
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Nokia 9210 Communicator
http://www.nokia.com/phones/9210/index.htmlHmm. I wonder if anyone's getting this to run Linux...
posted by stack 10:39:20 AM
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