Dear Colleagues, HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I am sending you the following information in case you want to watch this TV show and possibly circulate this announcement to others.  I am one of the panellists on this Thursday's FAQ-TV show.

 
ABC TV - FAQ : Thursday, 11 Jan., 2001. 8.30pm .

Topic: HUMAN EVOLUTION - PAST & FUTURE

Panelists: 
Professor Stuart Hill - Foundation Chair of Social Ecology, University of Western Sydney
Professor Hans Coster - Biophysics Dept., UNSW
Dr. Tim Littlejohn - Chief Scientific Officer, Entigen
Dr. Matthew Meischke - Medical Officer, Woolongong Hospital

Research Brief: Humans have changed considerably since Australopithecus walked the earth, 3 million years ago.  We have lost our monobrow, but gained a very large brain. This has helped us develop the ability to drastically alter our environment and has improved our chances of survival.  Infant mortality has dropped from 130/1000 100 years ago to 5/1000 today.  What are the consequences of the huge changes that are currently taking place for our future evolution?

Has Homo sapiens stopped evolving?  Some argue that retaining genetic defects will threaten the ability of humans to cope with future disease outbreaks and sudden environmental change.  Others argue that we are still subject to Darwinian selective pressures, such as the recent decline in fertility rates.

Still others argue that with the new developments in genetic engineering and other technologies that we have barely begun to evolve into what we could potentially be as a species.  Could these new developments (such as gene therapy, brain implants and nanotechnology) help us to "evolve"
into 'super humans'?

In this episode, FAQ hopes to paint a picture of what 'Homo futuris' may look like and to consider our possible futures.  This 30-minute show is divided into three sections that focus on our physical evolution, tool use and our social evolution.