Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. Space Travel News .




ABOUT US
Geneticist speculates humans could have big eyes, foreheads in future
by Staff Writers
New York (UPI) Jun 8, 2013


One possibility for human evolution could be people with much larger eyes and foreheads 100,000 years from now, a computational geneticist speculates.

Forbes magazine reported Friday artist and researcher Nickolay Lamm partnered with Alan Kwan, who holds a doctor in computational genomics from Washington University, to envision "one possible timeline" of what humans could look like 20,000, 60,000 and 100,000 years down the road with technological advances such as Google Glass and genetic engineering possibilities.

Kwan said the human head could trend larger to accommodate a larger brain and genetic engineering could mean "the fate of the human face will be increasingly determined by human tastes."

He said eyes could become larger and nostrils would get bigger to improve breathing as humans travel to distant planets with less light and poorer atmospheres than Earth. Humans' skin would become more pigmented to lessen the damage from harmful UV rays, and we would develop thicker eyelids and a more pronounced superciliary arch (the frontal skull bone under the brow) as we cope with low gravity, Kwan projects.

Kwan foresees a time -- 100,000 years from now -- when the human face will reflect "total mastery over human morphological genetics."

"This human face will be heavily biased towards features that humans find fundamentally appealing: strong, regal lines, straight nose, intense eyes, and placement of facial features that adhere to the golden ratio and left/right perfect symmetry," he said.

In a follow-up communication with another Forbes writer, Kwan said his projections were part of a "thought experiment" and are "purely speculative," not predictions.

"My experience has thus far convinced me that while science and technology may advance at an accelerated rate, legal, social and cultural norms will inevitably temper that pace greatly, as it has in the past," he said.

.


Related Links
All About Human Beings and How We Got To Be Here






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








ABOUT US
Discovery of oldest primate skeleton helps chart early evolution of humans, apes
Washington DC (SPX) Jun 07, 2013
An international team of researchers has announced the discovery of the world's oldest known fossil primate skeleton, an animal that lived about 55 million years ago and was even smaller than today's smallest primate, the pygmy mouse lemur. The new specimen, named Archicebus achilles, was unearthed from an ancient lake bed in central China's Hubei Province, near the course of the modern Yangtze ... read more


ABOUT US
Europe launches record cargo for space station

New chief urges Ariane 5 modification for big satellites

The Future of Space Launch

Rocket Engine Maker Proton-PM to Invest in New Products

ABOUT US
SciTechTalk: Mars rover readies for 'road trip' on the Red Planet

First woman in space ready for 'one-way flight to Mars'

Aging Mars rover makes new water discoveries

Driving to 'Solander Point'

ABOUT US
NASA's GRAIL Mission Solves Mystery of Moon's Surface Gravity

Moon dust samples missing for 40 years found in Calif. warehouse

Unusual minerals in moon craters may have been delivered from space

Moon being pushed away from Earth faster than ever

ABOUT US
Planning Accelerates For Pluto Encounter

'Vulcan' wins Pluto moon name vote

Public to vote on names for Pluto moons

The PI's Perspective: The Seven-Year Itch

ABOUT US
Kepler Stars and Planets are Bigger than Previously Thought

Astronomers gear up to discover Earth-like planets

Stars Don't Obliterate Their Planets (Very Often)

'Dust trap' around distant star may solve planet formation mystery

ABOUT US
Production of Key Equipment Paves Way for NASA SLS RS-25 Testing

Boeing Completes Commercial Crew Spacecraft And Rocket Milestones

Girl expelled from school for exploding experiment going to space camp

New method for producing clean hydrogen

ABOUT US
Crew Shuffles for Shenzhou 10

Shenzhou 10's Missing Parts

Shenzhou's Code of Silence

Shenzhou-10 spacecraft to be launched in mid-June

ABOUT US
Chile observatory discovers 'comet factory'

Radar Movies Highlight Asteroid 1998 QE2 and Its Moon

ALMA discovers comet factory

New Camera At WIYN Images An Asteroid With A Long Tail




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement