Teaching old fossils new tech tricks

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But simply bringing the technology in the exhibits up to speed isn't enough. High-tech advancements are also rapidly changing our knowledge of human evolution itself, and consequently the contents of the Hall of Human Origins also were treated to an overhaul.

Many of the new additions reflect recent developments not only in anthropology, but in genetics: for example, there's a vial of 40,000-year-old Neanderthal DNA on display, extracted by geneticists at the Max Planck Institute in Germany. There's also an interactive map that shows the migration of Homo sapiens from Africa to the rest of the globe, with up-to-date information provided by recent discoveries in DNA evidence. Additionally on display is a cast of the skull of the recently unearthed miniature human specimen known as "Hobbit," the controversial fossil that may point to a new ancient species of hominid.

Some of the most innovative technology at the Hall of Human Origins, however, dealt not with recent discoveries but with concepts that are still being deciphered. One section of the exhibit concerns traits and skills thought to be exclusively "human"--language, art, music--and explores their roles as defining characteristics of our species. This is still very debatable. One glass case contained something seemingly out-of-place in a hall full of fossil casts--a robot called Robotic Action Painter, or RAP, which has been programmed to create original and unique paintings, and which has been held up as an example of how art may not be a solely human capability.

But, disappointingly, only a small corner of the hall was reserved for some of the most up-to-the-moment developments in human evolutionary science: the controversy over the teaching of the theory of evolution in schools, as well as how our knowledge of humanity's origin contributes to our perception of the future. Perhaps it's because the hall was cramped for space in the already-packed AMNH, but I wished that more of the new-media resources had been devoted to explaining future extinctions, the debate about laboratory-propelled "evolution," sustainable growth, as well as Stephen Hawking's controversial assertion that humanity will have to expand into space if it wants to last another millennium. All those topics were given barely a few sentences on a single display.

And despite the introduction of new technology and interactive exhibits, there's a chance that some of the AMNH's younger visitors are focusing on the new sights and sounds rather than the science behind them. As I was leaving the Hall of Human Origins, I walked past a group of 9- or 10-year-olds who were ogling some fossil casts of extinct lemur-like primates.

One of them pointed to a fossil and shouted to his friends, "Look at these little reptiles!" Guess he wasn't reading the "primate" label.

[disco-legend-zeke]

Way Cool Now Lets Rehabilitate Fossel Computers.

put Linux or freeBSD distro on them and send to parents or third world populations as Internet Kiosks.