It is time to go to school. You go to the bus stop and at exactly the correct time, the bus arrives. There is no driver. The bus can drive itself. You get on, sit down, and the bus continues its journey. In the lane next to you, you see several cars, but no one is driving them either. Instead, people are chatting or even reading a book. The bus stops at an intersection because it has communicated with the traffic lights and knows that pedestrians are crossing the road. It is just pulling away when it stops again. It has detected a child running into the street. A few minutes later, you arrive at school, safe and ready to start your day.
Thinking about a possible future with self-driving cars is exciting. It could mean fewer accidents and fewer traffic jams. But creating self-driving cars (also known as an autonomous vehicle or AV) is not as simple as you might think. They need smart roads and smart infrastructure where computers work together and communicate to make sure that everything works safely and efficiently.
But what would smart roads look like? And why do we need them?
How Humans Drive
This story is from the May/June 2020 edition of Muse Science Magazine for Kids.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the May/June 2020 edition of Muse Science Magazine for Kids.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Who's Your Cousin?
The great apes are among the most popular animals in most zoos. Their actions, facial expressions, and family life remind us so much of ourselves. Have you ever wondered, though, how we might look to them?
Is it possible to die of boredom?
To figure out if we can die of boredom, we first have to understand what boredom is. For help, we called James Danckert, a psychologist who studies boredom at the University of Waterloo in Canada.
THE PROBLEM WITH PALM OIL
Palm oil is all around you. It’s in sugary snacks like cookies and candy bars. It’s in lipstick and shampoo and pet food.
SERGE WICH
Serge Wich’s favorite days at work are spent out in the forest, studying orangutans in Sumatra and Borneo or chimpanzees in Tanzania.
ELODIE FREYMANN
When you’re feeling sick, it probably doesn’t occur to you to try eating tree bark.
Guardians of the Forest
EARLY, MAKESHIFT WILDLIFE DRONES HELPED TO DETECT AND PROTECT ORANGUTANS.
APE ANTICS
The Whirling World of primate play
Dr. Ape Will See You Now
HUMANS AREN’T THE ONLY PRIMATES THAT USE MEDICATION.
THE LEFT OVERS
A lot has happened for modern humans to get to this point. We lost most of our hair, learned how to make tools, established civilizations, sent a person to the Moon, and invented artificial intelligence. Whew! With all of these changes, our bodies have changed, too. It’s only taken us about six million years.
SO, WHAT IS A PRIMATE?
What do you have in common with the aye-aye, sifaka, siamang, and potto? If you said your collarbone, you re probably a primatologist—a person who studies primates. If you’re not, read on.