SCIENCE NEWS: Humans will have evolved into ‘different’ species by 2050 – scientist claims

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By 2050, a completely new type of human will evolve as a result of radical new technology, behaviour, and natural selection.This is according to Cadell Last, a researcher at the Global Brain Institute, who claims mankind is undergoing a major ‘evolutionary transition’.

In less than four decades, Mr Last claims we will live longer, have children in old age and rely on artificial intelligence to do mundane tasks.Instead of living fast and dying young, Mr Last believes humans will live slow and die old.Your 80 or 100 is going to be so radically different than your grandparents,’ Mr Last says

By 2040, cabs will be driven by Google robots, shops will become showrooms for online outlets and call centres will be staffed by intelligent droids.That’s the scenario depicted in recent research which suggests robots could be taking over our lives and jobs in less than 30 years.

The competition for work caused by a rise in the robots population will see us heading to surgeons for ‘additional processing power for our brains’, 

We may also be requesting bionic implants for our hands that will make us able to perform tasks as fast as any machine.Futurologists, commissioned by global job search website xpatjobs.com, say workers will have less job security and will work more unsociable hours.
Those who take these risks and innovate with their own bodies will be the biggest earners in 2040, they claim.

However, the study added that workers may be left with poor eyesight, smaller sexual organs, and constantly-furrowed brows as they struggle to keep up to life in the 21st century.

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SCIENCE Squirrel-like Jurassic critters shed light on mammal origins

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - It may not have been the friendliest place for furry little creatures, but three newly identified squirrel-like mammals thrived in the trees of the Jurassic Period, with dinosaurs walking below and flying reptiles soaring above.

Scientists announced on Wednesday the discovery in China of fossils belonging to three critters in a find that sheds light on a poorly understood collection of ancient mammals, and indicates that mammals as a group appeared earlier than some experts thought.

The three species come from a group called haramiyids that previously had been known only from isolated teeth and fragmented jaws. Scientists had not even been sure they were mammals at all.
The nicely preserved fossils from Liaoning Province in northeastern China proved definitively they were mammals, in part because of the presence of three bones of the middle ear characteristic of all mammals from shrews to whales to people.

The three species - whose scientific names are Shenshou lui, Xianshou linglong and Xianshou songae - date from about 160 million years ago, a time when dinosaurs ruled the land. But a number of recent fossil discoveries have shown that mammals were far more diverse during that period than previously recognized.

The three species likely looked like small squirrels, with slim bodies and elongated fingers in the hands and feet, indicating they were dedicated tree dwellers. They had long and probably prehensile, or grasping, tails, another feature that helped them stay in the tree branches.

"I would predict that they spent even more time in the trees than squirrels," said Jin Meng, a vertebrate paleontologist at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, who led the study published in the journal Nature.

Based on the shape of their teeth, they probably were omnivorous, eating insects, nuts and fruit, Meng said. The remains were so well preserved that they showed more than just the hard parts such as teeth and bones that commonly fossilize, but also soft parts such as fur and the animal's guts, he added.

The three species had an estimated weight ranging from about that of a mouse, one ounce, to that of a small squirrel, about 10 ounces. While they may have looked and acted like today's squirrels, they were only very distantly related to them.

The researchers said these fossils, along with other evidence, suggests that the first true mammals that evolved from mammal-like ancestors appeared perhaps 208 million years ago during the Triassic Period. Some scientists have contended that mammals entered the picture millions of years later than that.

(Reporting by Will Dunham. Editing by Andre Grenon)

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GREAT SCIENTIST: Albert Einstein The Civil Rights Activist; The Political Side Of The World’s Greatest Scientist

Albert Einstein, history’s most recognized scientist, did not just concern himself with the intricacies of the universe. Einstein, on numerous occasions, made himself clear about his social and political stances in life. There is one story about Einstein that stands out as one of the greatest examples of his involvement in the social justice movement. The Nobel Prize-winning physicist was once invited to Lincoln University, where he was tasked to be the keynote speaker for the school’s commencement exercises. All who were present expected Dr. Einstein to talk exclusively about relativity, and his other leading ideas in physics and cosmology. 

Instead, he delivered a speech about racism, which he described as a “disease of white people.” During the speech, Albert Einstein firmly stated that he “did not intend to be quiet” about the evils of racism and prejudice, and his influence in the movement remained strong ever since. Later on, Lincoln University would come to oversee the graduation of leading African American individuals, like the artist Larry Neal and Thurgood Marshall, the very first African American justice in the United States.

Albert Einstein’s strong statements came from experience. As a Jew in Europe during the rise of Nazi Germany, Einstein and his colleagues experienced humiliation and abuse during their tenure at the University of Berlin. Although he was already behind United States borders when the Nazis came into full power in 1933, many of his fellow academics who remained behind suffered a great deal of torment.

Upon arriving at Princeton in New Jersey, he realized that the treatment African Americans were receiving in the town was terribly akin to how Jews were treated in University of Berlin. Seeing a parallel in experiences, Albert Einstein decided to speak out against the injustice he observed at Princeton. One story that marked his dedication to the equality cause was when he offered famous black singer Marian Anderson to stay at his home after she was denied lodging at the inns in New Jersey.

The physicist was once quoted as saying “politics is more difficult than physics.” Scientific breakthroughs can be achieved through objectivity. Political issues, however, continue to evade human logic and compassion. Einstein recognized our impressive capability to answer scientific problems, but heavily criticized our failure to recognize social concerns.

Albert Einstein is not very well known for his contributions to societal change, but it is high time we recognized the fact that his contributions to social justice is just as important as his amazing contributions to science.

[Image from Adam Fagen via Flickr]

Benjamin Ekpenyong

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