Late Neanderthal occupation in NorthWest Europe: rediscovery ...
The Neanderthal rehabilitation continues
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20 July 2013 | NewScientist | 3 THINK about it for a moment. Isn’t it remarkable that a human can safely direct a tonne or more of speeding metal through a melee of other, similarly hurtling, metal boxes without crashing? And all while travelling at 20 times the speed of a human under their own propulsion. Yet that happens every time any of the world’s millions of drivers get behind the wheel of a car. Of course, a host of conventions and inventions have made this state of affairs possible, from the highway code to windscreen wipers and anti-lock brakes. In the century or so since Ford’s Model T took to the roads, the driver’s job has become ever easier, and cars ever safer. The one thing that has stayed the same is the driver’s capacity to observe and react. Now that too is changing – as is the nature of driving. Today, making cars safer is in large part about making them smarter: capable of directing themselves in tricky situations, whether that means nudging into an awkward parking spot or keeping their distance from other vehicles. Cars can also tell if you’re fit to drive, by detecting whether you’re drowsy – or drunk. That should reduce the human factors behind many accidents. But there is a catch. Cars are getting smarter in other ways, too, with advanced communications and interactive features, such as giant touchscreens. The bad news is that this adds up to dangerously distracted drivers (see page 24). The good news is that cars are almost smart enough to take over from humans entirely. The best response to driver distraction – other than renouncing modernity when at the wheel – may be to let them get on with it, leaving the driver free to chat, tweet or watch TV. Self-driving cars are on the cusp of mass acceptance: if they prove safer on the roads than we do, they may be cheaper to run and insure – enough, perhaps, to persuade all but the most avid petrolheads to let go of the wheel. Inevitably, this sophistication creates new vulnerabilities: cars are becoming hackable (see page 20), and their growing dependence on communication means snafus could cause chaos. Distracted drivers might not be a concern for much longer. But perhaps we will soon need to start worrying about distracted cars. n Don’t think and drive EDITORIAL Humans are dangerously distractible. Time we put the cars in charge THE early signs were encouraging. When the current UK government took power, it seemed earnest about the need for rational policy- making. Sadly, the past couple of weeks have exploded that notion when it comes to health. Last week, it deferred a decision to impose plain packaging on cigarettes, despite convincing arguments that this will deter smoking. Now it has signalled that it will abandon a commitment to minimum alcohol pricing, the single most effective way to combat excessive drinking. Both decisions arouse suspicion that the government has caved in to vested interests – particularly since Conservative Party election strategist Lynton Crosby’s lobbying firm works for Philip Morris, one of the world’s biggest tobacco firms. Recall also that in 2011 it disbanded an expert advisory panel on obesity, some of whose members had criticised its closeness to fast food giants. A cartoon much beloved by climate change activists asks: “What if it’s a big hoax and we create a better world for nothing?” On public health, it’s beginning to seem as if the UK government is bent on creating a better world for no one – except big business. n Going up in smoke “Cars that can drive themselves will leave the driver free to chat, tweet or watch TV” WHEN Neanderthal bones were discovered in the 19th century, their robust build and heavy brows led palaeontologists to characterise them as brutish, and their name is still pejorative today. Since then, we have found ample circumstantial evidence to suggest this stereotype is far from fair. Tools, jewellery and even cosmetics discovered among Neanderthal bones suggest that they were uncannily like us – a view strengthened when their genome was sequenced, showing a remarkable genetic overlap. Now the Neanderthal epigenome – the system of on/off switches that modify gene activity – has been deciphered (see page 6), allowing us to directly assess the mental life of our extinct cousins for the first time. This work is just beginning. Whether it clears the Neanderthal name remains to be seen. n Extinct cousins out of rehab © 2013 Reed Business Information Ltd, England New Scientist is published weekly by Reed Business Information Ltd. ISSN 0262 4079. 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Transcript of The Neanderthal rehabilitation continues
20 July 2013 | NewScientist | 3
THINK about it for a moment. Isn’t it remarkable that a human can safely direct a tonne or more of speeding metal through a melee of other, similarly hurtling, metal boxes without crashing? And all while travelling at 20 times the speed of a human under their own propulsion. Yet that happens every time any of the world’s millions of drivers get behind the wheel of a car.
Of course, a host of conventions and inventions have made this state of affairs possible, from the highway code to windscreen wipers and anti-lock brakes. In the century or so since Ford’s Model T took to the roads, the driver’s job has become ever easier, and cars ever safer. The one thing that has stayed the same is the driver’s capacity to observe and react. Now that too is changing – as is the nature of driving.
Today, making cars safer is in large part about making them smarter: capable of directing themselves in tricky situations, whether that means nudging into an awkward parking spot or keeping their distance from other vehicles. Cars can also tell if you’re fit to drive, by detecting whether you’re drowsy – or drunk.
That should reduce the human factors behind many accidents. But there is a catch. Cars are getting smarter in other ways, too, with advanced communications and interactive features, such as giant touchscreens. The bad news is that this adds up to dangerously distracted drivers (see page 24).
The good news is that cars are almost smart enough to take over from humans entirely. The best response to driver distraction – other than renouncing modernity when at the wheel – may be to let them get on with it, leaving the driver free to chat, tweet or watch TV. Self-driving cars are on the cusp of mass acceptance: if they prove safer on the roads than we do, they may be cheaper to run and insure – enough, perhaps, to persuade all but the most avid petrolheads to let go of the wheel.
Inevitably, this sophistication creates new vulnerabilities: cars are becoming hackable (see page 20), and their growing dependence on communication means snafus could cause chaos. Distracted drivers might not be a concern for much longer. But perhaps we will soon need to start worrying about distracted cars. n
Don’t think and drive
EDITORIAL
Humans are dangerously distractible. Time we put the cars in charge
THE early signs were encouraging. When the current UK government took power, it seemed earnest about the need for rational policy-making. Sadly, the past couple of weeks have exploded that notion when it comes to health.
Last week, it deferred a decision to impose plain packaging on cigarettes, despite convincing arguments that this will deter
smoking. Now it has signalled that it will abandon a commitment to minimum alcohol pricing, the single most effective way to combat excessive drinking.
Both decisions arouse suspicion that the government has caved in to vested interests – particularly since Conservative Party election strategist Lynton Crosby’s lobbying firm works for
Philip Morris, one of the world’s biggest tobacco firms. Recall also that in 2011 it disbanded an expert advisory panel on obesity, some of whose members had criticised its closeness to fast food giants.
A cartoon much beloved by climate change activists asks: “What if it’s a big hoax and we create a better world for nothing?” On public health, it’s beginning to seem as if the UK government is bent on creating a better world for no one – except big business. n
Going up in smoke
“Cars that can drive themselves will leave the driver free to chat, tweet or watch TV”
WHEN Neanderthal bones were discovered in the 19th century, their robust build and heavy brows led palaeontologists to characterise them as brutish, and their name is still pejorative today.
Since then, we have found ample circumstantial evidence to suggest this stereotype is far from fair. Tools, jewellery and even cosmetics discovered among Neanderthal bones suggest that they were uncannily like us – a view strengthened when their genome was sequenced, showing a remarkable genetic overlap.
Now the Neanderthal epigenome – the system of on/off switches that modify gene activity – has been deciphered (see page 6), allowing us to directly assess the mental life of our extinct cousins for the first time.
This work is just beginning. Whether it clears the Neanderthal name remains to be seen. n
Extinct cousins out of rehab
© 2013 Reed Business Information Ltd, England
New Scientist is published weekly by Reed Business Information Ltd. ISSN 0262 4079.
Registered at the Post Office as a newspaper and printed in England by Polestar (Colchester)
LOCATIONSUKLacon House, 84 Theobald’s Road, London WC1X 8NS Tel +44 (0) 20 7611 1200 Fax +44 (0) 20 7611 1250
AUSTrALIATower 2, 475 Victoria Avenue, Chatswood, NSW 2067Tel +61 2 9422 8559 Fax +61 2 9422 8552
USA225 Wyman Street, Waltham, MA 02451Tel +1 781 734 8770 Fax +1 720 356 9217
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130720_R_Editorial.indd 3 16/7/13 17:35:53
