Friday, March 21, 2014

Out of Africa: Earliest Human Footprints Found in UK

The earliest evidence of Human footprints (outside of Africa, where most experts believe modern Humans first appeared) has been discovered in the United Kingdom.


The prints, believed to be some 800,000 years old, were identified on the shores of Happisburgh, a small village situated on the Norfolk coastline. The footprints represent a major prehistoric find, as they are direct evidence of the earliest known Humans in Northern Europe.


Dr. Nick Ashton, of The British Museum, said of the footprints that “(They are) one of the most important discoveries, if not the most important discovery that has been made on [Britain"s] shores,”


The hollow, foot-shaped markings were discovered during a low tide last year, when unusually rough seas exposed an area of sandy beach.


Sadly, the footprints were washed away fairly quickly, but they were visible long enough to be properly recorded, photographed and studied. Dr. Aston and his team worked hard to document the monumental discovery, even as heavy rainfall filled the tracks, “The rain was filling the hollows as quickly as we could empty them,” he told a BBC reporter.


Fortunately, the team was able to obtain a 3D scan of the prints. This scan revealed that the footprints likely belonged to a group consisting of an adult male and a few children. This has led some experts to speculate that the prints are those left by a prehistoric family group. The scan was so accurate, that the adult’s shoe size was determined to have been a comfortable 8.


Dr. Isabelle De Groote of Liverpool John Moore’s University was the first to confirm that the hollows were Human footprints. She told BBC that, “They appear to have been made by one adult male who was about 5ft 9in (175cm) tall and the shortest was about 3ft. The other larger footprints could come from young adult males or have been left by females. The glimpse of the past that we are seeing is that we have a family group moving together across the landscape.”


The family, however, were not modern Humans. Experts believe that they would have likely belonged to a group called Homo Antecessor. Remains of this extinct Human species (or possibly subspecies) have been found throughout Europe, most notably in Spain. They are thought to be among the continent’s earliest Human inhabitants.


It is generally accepted that Homo Antecessor was either a relative of Homo Heidelbergensis (an early Human considered most likely to be the direct ancestor of both modern Humans and Neanderthals), or else the same species. In either instance, h. Heidelbergensis is known to have lived in Britain about 500,000 years ago, which is about 300,000 years after changing temperatures are thought to have wiped out Britain’s Homo Antecessor population.


Homo Heidelbergensis is said to have evolved into Homo Neanderthalensis (Neanderthal Man), who lived, alongside our own Homo Sapien ancestors, until about 40,000 years ago, when the receding ice (and possibly competition for food) signaled the end for our last surviving sister species.


Interestingly, in 2010, Dr. Aston and his team discovered stone tools of a kind known to have been used by h. Antecessor in Happisburgh. It is a discovery that neatly compliments that of the footprints. This find, and other supporting material, effectively confirms the presence of early Humans in Britain about one million years ago.


According to Dr. Aston, the find will rewrite our understanding of British and European prehistory. To put that into perspective a little, the Happisburgh footprints are the only such find of this age to have ever been seen outside of Africa. Even then, there are only three specimens that are considered to be older across the African continent.


800, 000 years ago the earliest Britons left a lasting mark on the landscape. In so doing, they inadvertently sent us a message from the past about who they were and how they might have lived.


SOURCES:


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-26025763


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_antecessor


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_heidelbergensis



Out of Africa: Earliest Human Footprints Found in UK

Saturday, March 8, 2014

Facebook Acquires WhatsApp for $19bn (£11bn)

Social media giants Facebook have purchased smartphone messaging app WhatsApp in a deal worth $19bn.


According to official statistics, WhatsApp has around 450 million monthly users. The makers of the app claim that it registers 1 million new users every day.


For those not in the know, WhatsApp is an Internet-based messaging service that allows people to get around text message charges. It works in much the same way that SMS (or ‘text messaging’) works, but crucially, it is free. For a small fee of $1 a year, it is possible to upgrade the service.


This is by far Facebook’s largest acquisition to date and has been met with some scepticism, but Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg doesn’t seem daunted by the huge price tag; he described WhatsApp as “incredibly valuable” in a statement announcing the deal.


Prior to this deal, Facebook’s biggest purchase had been photography app Instagram, for which they paid $1bn.


Richard Taylor, North America Technology Correspondent with the BBC, said, “Some are seeing the $19bn price tag as further evidence of swollen valuations of companies as the sector experiences what may yet prove to be another dotcom bubble. WhatsApp does give Mark Zuckerberg inroads into international markets and, as importantly, to a younger demographic. But what is less clear is whether the finances will add up in the long term”.


The acquisition includes $4bn in cash, about $12bn in Facebook shares and about $3bn in stock options for WhatsApp founders and employees (of which there are around 50).


WhatsApp co-founder Jan Koum has also become a member of Facebook’s board of directors. “We’re excited and honoured to partner with Mark and Facebook as we continue to bring our product to more people around the world,” said Mr. Koum. Koum has also stated that he does not intend to allow advertising on the app.


Zuckerberg stated that he believed that WhatsApp was well on its way to having a Billion users.


In an interview with BBC News, senior research analyst with eMarketer Cathy Boyle said, “WhatsApp actually has greater penetration in a lot of international markets than Facebook,” It is possible that by linking the two services, Facebook will be able to increase its customer base. She then went on to say, “WhatsApp is trying to siphon the billions that the telecom industry would make from [traditional SMS text messaging]” if that is Facebook’s intention (and we have to consider it as one of them), then it actually makes good business sense.


SOURCES:


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-26266689



Facebook Acquires WhatsApp for $19bn (£11bn)

Thursday, March 6, 2014

What we thought of the The iPad Air

In many ways, 2014 is going to be a lot like 2013, tablet-wise. Android tablets will continue to sell well, overly sensitive techie types will still cling to the idea that Windows 8 is simply ‘misunderstood’ (wilfully ignorant of the general consensus that it is complete and utter arse) and tablets will spring from the most unlikely of places (keep an eye out for the Co-Op ‘Tumblewumblebum’ and the Play.com ‘Zworfnik’). However, the trend least likely to change is that of an iPad leading the pack. We know this because Apple have just released the iPad Air…And it kicks major ass.


THE SPECS


ipad air reviewDesign wise, the iPad Air is all beautiful futurism and intelligent layout. The emphasis here is to make everything smaller, lighter and more travel-friendly, without losing the tablet’s most popular aspects. For starters, the bezel is 43% thinner than ever before and, as such, the overall device is now 28% lighter.


An Apple A7 chip bestows 64GB of pure power on the Air, thus ensuring that absolutely everything runs smoothly for the user. In short, this thing is all-but perfect.


THE PRICE


Ask someone who isn’t a bitter Microsoft crony what the worst thing about Apple products is and they’ll inevitably say the same thing as everyone else; “they’re too effing expensive!”


This is absolutely true.


However, Apple are taking steps to remedy this problem. Don’t believe me? The iPad Air, very probably the best tablet computer in the world right now, will be available at about £399 – £740. For Apple, this is pretty impressive.


THE PERFORMANCE


The top-end iPad Air is able to store umpteen million songs, as well as more apps than you can fling an Angry Bird at. In fact, you can use it for anything; books, movies, the lot.


But how does it handle? Well, to put it into technical terms, the iPad Air is smoother than an industrial sander on the pull.


However, there are still problems (I did say “all-but perfect”, after all). The 16GB version is completely inadequate for the download of apps, or general use, in fact. The 16GB iPad Air is a lot like the singers you see on those crappy TV talent shows, you know, the ones who attempt to croon along to all-time classic hits by warbling and trembling throughout the audition. Great material, oh yes indeedy, but frustratingly shortsighted execution. Still, as an overall flaw, it isn’t a biggie, it just means that I have to recommend a slightly more expensive version (oh, Apple!)



THE VERDICT


Were we reviewing the 16GB version, the following verdict might be slightly different, but we aren’t, we’re looking at this new iPad as a whole, with ALL versions under the spotlight. With that in mind, we can confidently say that the iPad Air is, at the time of writing, the best tablet in the world. ‘Nuff said!



What we thought of the The iPad Air