Meta's efforts to encourage healthy teen usage habits aren't enough for some state officials. The New York Timesreports a coalition of state attorneys general has launched an investigation into Instagram's effects on teens. California, Florida, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Tennessee and Vermont are concerned Meta might be offering and promoting Instagram to the younger crowd while knowing the potentials for mental and physical harm. If so, the social media giant might violate states' consumer protection laws.
The investigators are most worried about Meta's techniques to boost the "frequency and duration" of interactions at the expense of teens. Leaked internal research showed that Instagram hurt a significant percentage of teens, particularly girls, resulting in issues ranging from depression to self-harm.
A Meta spokesperson told Engadget the accusations were "false" and showed a "deep misunderstanding" of the situation. You can read the full statement below. It previously shared research data and claimed the leak misrepresented its work,providing "context" suggesting that certain information couldn't be used to reach conclusions about average behavior or links to mental and physical harm.
Meta has taken some steps to address worries, including encouragements to take breaks and "pausing" work on Instagram Kids. There's also no certainty the probe will lead to more substantive action. Nonetheless, the company is under much more pressure to safeguard teens — it could face legal repercussions if the states don't feel it has done enough.
These accusations are false and demonstrate a deep misunderstanding of the facts. While challenges in protecting young people online impact the entire industry, we’ve led the industry in combating bullying and supporting people struggling with suicidal thoughts, self-injury, and eating disorders. We continue to build new features to help people who might be dealing with negative social comparisons or body image issues, including our new 'Take a Break' feature and ways to nudge them towards other types of content if they're stuck on one topic. We continue to develop parental supervision controls and are exploring ways to provide even more age-appropriate experiences for teens by default.
You won't have to visit an Amazon-owned store to use the company's cashierless Just Walk Out tech in the UK. Bloomberg has learned Sainsbury's will be one of the first to license Amazon's camera-based shopping system in the country for a small grocery store in London's High Holborn district. A website for the upcoming SmartShop Pick & Go store only mentioned the technology coming from a "third-party supplier," but Bloomberg sources said Amazon was responsible.
Amazon declined to comment. A Sainsbury's spokesperson wouldn't confirm or deny Amazon's involvement, but did say it was testing an "upgraded version" of SmartShop with employees in a Holborn store. The shop is believed to be opening to the public on November 29th.
The hardware certainly appears to be Amazon's, if Bloomberg's visit to the store was any indication. Customers scan their phones on the way in, and ceiling-mounted cameras use AI to detect what they take from shelves. You're charged as soon as you leave the store.
Sainsbury's has a few incentives to adopt Just Walk Out. While the UK has relaxed many of its pandemic measures, this could be appealing to customers who still want to avoid contact with staff and often-touched self-checkout kiosks. The faster turnarounds could lead to more customers even without safety concerns. And then there's competition — Tesco recently opened a nearby Express store using rival technology from Trigo Vision. Sainsbury's risks losing business from time-conscious shoppers.
Shortly after releasing Impossible Nuggets as well as Impossible Sausage in grocery stores, the California-based company is introducing yet another faux meat product. It’s called Impossible Meatballs, and unlike the others, it’s actually debuting in retail before restaurants. Impossible Meatballs will be available at Walmart stores this month and at additional retailers later this year. They’re priced at around $6.48 per pack.
Instead of being made out of one “animal,” the Impossible Meatball was designed to be a mix of both “beef” and “pork.” According to the company, each meatball is a custom mix of Impossible Burger and Impossible Sausage along with a “homestyle meatball” seasoning blend that includes dried onions and garlic. They come in a resealable freezer bag, and each contains around 14 or so meatballs. There’s around 12 grams of protein per serving.
Engadget
I received a sample of the meatballs over the weekend. They come already cooked so all you need to do is reheat them via the oven, microwave, stovetop or air fryer. The oven method was listed as recommended so I baked them in a single layer on a baking tray in a 350-degree oven for 17 minutes. The end result is quite delicious — very savory and moist. I could still tell they weren’t really made out of meat though; they lacked a certain texture that I missed. But when I doused them in marinara sauce, that didn’t quite matter as much.
In addition to selling Impossible Meatballs, Walmart will also introduce a dedicated plant-based section of its frozen aisle that will feature various Impossible Foods products. That includes Impossible Chicken Nuggets, Impossible Sausage in spicy and savory flavors, Impossible Burger and the aforementioned Impossible Meatballs.
ErinKunkel
According to the company, Impossible Meatballs is a retail-led product aimed at grocery shoppers. That’s a slightly different strategy than the company’s previous faux meat products, which debuted at restaurants first before being rolled out to grocery stores. However, Impossible Meatballs will still be available for restaurants later this month.
Tesla seems to be sneakily combining some of its tech projects. We’ll dive into that later — let’s start with Disney. As threatened, the company went hard on the announcements on its streaming service anniversary last Friday.
Alongside a bunch of new Disney movies and shows, there were a lot of new Marvel properties breaking cover. They include X-Men '97, a reimagined take on the '90s cartoon take of the X-Men, as well as new shows for Marvel characters, like Moonknight, She-Hulk, Echo and Ms. Marvel.
Wandavision standout Agatha Harkness is getting her own spooky show, while one of Marvel comics’ most compelling events, Secret Wars, is also getting a show, with Samuel L. Jackson finally getting lead billing on an MCU project. Many of these won’t arrive until 2023, but the plan is to keep subscribers hooked for another year.
And if you’re more Star Wars less Star Lord inclined, we’ve got our first look at the new Obi-Wan show coming soon.
According to Electrek, Tesla EV owners have spotted Starlink satellite internet dishes at Supercharger stations. It's not yet clear how many there are or if they're accessible to drivers, but the deployment at least includes Florida.
Aside from getting your Netflix fix in, there are multiple possible uses for Starlink broadband at Superchargers. At the least, it could replace or supplement the existing connections that handle basics like payments and charger status. That could help the company deploy Superchargers faster and in more remote areas at a time when the company hopes to start charging for non-Tesla EVs and triple the size of its station network.
The Bitcoin network finally rolled out its Taproot code upgrade over the weekend. The update improves both privacy and security for complicated transactions through new signatures that make them look like any other exchange. Would-be thieves or snoops should have a harder time recognizing when an unusual transfer is taking place.
This is the first major refresh of the network code since 2017 and could make it easier for the cryptocurrency to handle trade demands, which don’t seem to be going anywhere. Bitcoin reached another peak price only last week. It’s grown another 305 percent in value in the last 12 months.
Even after SharePlay’s belated addition, iOS 15 remains a relatively subtle update. There are no major shakeups to how you interact with your iPhone, though you might find the Focus modes useful when you need to limit distractions. SharePlay is well executed, but you’re forced into using FaceTime and a limited number of compatible apps and services. There are a lot of improvements to the company’s own apps, from FaceTime through Safari, and Apple Maps continues to close in on Google Maps.
Italian fashion house Gucci is releasing a special edition Xbox Series X that will cost an eye-watering $10,000. The bundle will include the console, two wireless controllers and a very fancy carrying case.
IBM claims it has taken a major step toward practical quantum computation. On Monday, the company unveiled Eagle, a 127 qubit quantum processor. IBM says it’s the first such processor that can’t be simulated by a classic supercomputer. To make sense of what that means, the company explains that to simulate Eagle you would need more classical bits than there are atoms in every human being on the planet. IBM is crediting the breakthrough to a new design that puts the processor’s control components on multiple physical levels while the qubits are located on a single layer.
When Battlefield 2024comes out in about a week on November 19th, it won’t ship with built-in voice chat. Series developer DICE told Polygon the feature won’t be available until sometime after launch. The studio didn’t provide a reason for the decision. Whatever the case, the absence of voice chat will likely be keenly felt by Battlefield fans, especially on PC, Xbox Series X and S, and PlayStation 5 where matches will include as many as 128 players.
For what it’s worth, you can still use Discord or the party chat feature on your console to communicate with friends, but that won’t help you when you’re trying to play with strangers. In those instances, you’ll need to rely on the ping system, which is apparently on the cumbersome side. According to Polygon, you have to navigate through multiple menus before you can get to the right ping. All told, it sounds like Battlefield’s already chaotic matches will be a tad more unpredictable in the first few weeks that 2042 is available.
Between 2016 and 2019, retro gaming had a moment. I mean anothermoment. A very specific one where gaming’s greatest all released “mini” versions of their most iconic consoles. NES? Yep. SNES? Sure. Genesis? You bet and, of course, Sony, SNK, Konami and even Commodore (sorta) got in on the trend too.
Then there was Evercade in 2020 — a refreshingly different take on the new-but-old console idea. Instead of a “mini” version of vintage hardware, it was a new handheld that took cartridges. Each cartridge contained a collection of classic games from different developers. I enjoyed it when I reviewed it.
The idea of potentially unlimited games through actual cartridges was both clever and brave (retro gamers aren’t so known for paying for titles, especially the lesser-known “gems” that Evercade was able to license). Either way, the idea must have caught on as the company soon revealed plans for a more traditional home console version. It’s finally here and it brings a few interesting perks over its handheld sibling.
The Evercade VS (as the $99 system is called) shares the same cartridge format as the handheld, so you won’t need to re-buy anything. In fact, you can play on one, save your game and pick it up on the other (just like you’d hope, to be fair). It’s worth mentioning that two titles (both Namco collections) are only compatible with the handheld due to licensing issues.
James Trew / Engadget
There are other perks to the home-based console, too. Most notably support for multiplayer (up to four players where games support it), WiFi for over-the-air updates and a jazzy new interface. Oh, and the VS can hold two cartridges at a time, meaning you can be working on one game and leave it there while you play another, or simply just have more games to choose from on your home screen at any one time — handy given that every single cartridge Evercade offers is a multicart. The carts are even hot-swappable so you don’t need to restart the system, just slot a new one right in and away you go.
As is tradition with this new wave of retro home consoles, the VS is small and light. So light, you’ll definitely want to make sure your HDMI cable has some slack in it, else it’ll lift the VS off the ground or pull it back behind your TV. The good news is that almost any USB port will power it. My not-very-good seven year-old LG TV can easily power the VS through its USB ports meaning I don’t have to occupy another outlet.
The VS looks like a direct relative of the original Evercade with the same vintage white and red decals with a dash of gray here and there for buttons. One nice little touch is the NES-style “flap” that covers the cartridge slots. This does mean you don’t get the old-school vibes of having a cartridge poking out the top, but at least your games are safely hidden from the elements. But homages to old consoles like that seem to matter to fans of the classics. It weirdly matters a lot. Even if that’s the laborious ritual of having to get off the couch to change the games or power it down. Nostalgia isn’t always about the good things.
Fire the VS up and you’ll be presented with a Netflix-like menu of all the titles on whatever cartridges are inserted. The handheld, with its limited screen size, had you flip through each title one by one. Here, they’re laid out in rows with full cover art. Click through and you’ll be presented a little more info about the game and its controls along with the option to play it (naturally) or pick up where you left off with your most recent save.
Blaze
Evercade has tried to strike a balance between modern features and retro authenticity. Save states are one modern concession but most other things — such as cheat codes or in-game recording — are absent. The same goes for the visual look and feel. Under the settings menu, you have three display options: Original Ratio, Pixel Perfect and Full Screen. It’s always nice to have options as modern TVs are very different to what you might have plugged the original hardware into.
You can, of course, add scanlines (if you must). There are also some options for different themes and backgrounds etc. But all-told the menu is simple and clear and all the better for it.
When the handheld launched, the library of cartridges and games was decent but modest. There were collections from mainstays like Atari, Namco and Interplay. These held some classics like Pac-Man, Earthworm Jim and Crystal Castles. Then there were bundles from newer developers that have scooped up various IPs over the years. These tend to hold more “hidden gems” like Piko’s Dragon View (a solid RPG first published by Kemco). In fact the VS comes bundled with two of these collections to get you going (one from Data East and one from Technos).
Along with these well-known and lesser-known golden oldies are some collections of new 8- and 16-bit games. The net result is that the Evercade had the foundations to become something of an all-inclusive retro experience with new and old titles side-by-side. Now, with the Evercade VS, the company has added a new line of arcade-first collections denoted by their purple (rather than red) packaging. Here you’ll find button-mashers like Double Dragon 2 and Bad Dudes vs DragonNinja to further round out the library.
James Trew / Engadget
One intriguing option in the menu is “Secret.” Here you’ll be asked to enter a code. What the code/s is/are is, well, a secret, but one can presume it unlocks some extra games or content. Along the same theme, there are hidden games on the console itself a-la Snail Maze on the Sega Master System.
And… there are more things to unlock, too. Evercade has hinted that certain cartridge combinations, when inserted together, will unlock hidden titles. I was able to find two such secret games with the cartridges I have here, and there are definitely more. I won’t spoil things by saying exactly how you find them, but the UI will let you know. It’s subtle though.
Each cartridge says how many games are in the collection on the front, so if both have 10, the UI might say 21. Then you might have to check the back of the box to find which game that’s now in your list isn’t officially mentioned on either cartridge’s box. Thanks to the VS’s WiFi connection, this is theoretically something that can be expanded over time, too. A nice, fun touch nonetheless — especially for collectors.
James Trew / Engadget
One minor nitpick might be the controller: Your mileage may vary due to different physiology, but it isn’t my favorite. The general design is fine and comfortable, but it doesn’t feel quite as ergonomic as the handheld or other controllers to me. Also the in-game menu button doubles as the pause button, which can be a little confusing if, like me, you find yourself reaching for Start.
On the plus side, there are now four shoulder buttons instead of the handheld’s two and the cables are plenty long enough to reach across most living rooms. You can, of course, use the handheld as an extra controller, but it needs a specific cable — I tried the USB cable that came in the box and, no dice. That cable is about $10, while an additional controller is about $20, so it’s worth weighing up the benefit before deciding which way to go. The VS also supports basically any standard USB controller, so if you have one laying around that you like, you can use that at the expense of retro authenticity.
All in all, the Evercade VS is a pleasant surprise. The cartridge-based model will always be appealing to some and a deterrent to others. But for those that love rarities and a good dollop of nostalgia, the Evercade ecosystem is shaping up to be more than just a gimmick. With the recent wave of new indie games also making it to the platform it could find itself being a vibrant platform for new games, too. One where indie developers can not only enjoy seeing their games have a physical release, but find new audiences, and that’s never a bad thing.
We at Engadget spend a lot of time thinking about the best tech gifts for anyone and everyone in your life. But during that process, we often can’t help but think about the things we’d like to receive as gifts. We encourage everyone to treat themselves in some way while scrambling to find gifts for those they love, and it’s about time we take our own advice. Here, we’ve compiled a list of gadgets on our staffers’ wish lists with the hope that it may inspire you to splurge a bit on yourself this year.
Bandai Original 90s Tamagotchi
Will Lipman Photography for Engadget
All I wanted as a kid was a Tamagotchi and my parents knew it. When I was eventually given one, I spent hours doting on my virtual pet, doing my best to keep it alive and happy. Even now, a couple of decades and the addition of one cat later, there remains a soft spot in my heart for Bandai’s egg-shaped toy. Although I’d probably have less patience now for a beeping Tamagotchi in distress, I’d be overjoyed if someone dropped one onto my doorstep like a proverbial stork with a baby basket. Part of me wants to see how long I can keep the thing alive, and part of me wants to once again experience that childlike wonder inspired by a new toy that will, inevitably, suck up time that I don’t have to spare. — Valentina Palladino, Commerce Editor
One of the ways you know you’re a full-fledged adult is when a new vacuum excites you. I definitely fell for the hype surrounding Dyson cordless vacuums and thankfully, when I pulled the trigger and bought myself the V11 Torque, I was happy to find the machine to be just as good as everyone said. It is, without a doubt, the best vacuum I’ve ever owned even if it’s slightly less convenient than a robot vacuum that I can set and forget. The suction power is remarkable — it captures cat hair that I can’t even see around my apartment — and the various adapters that it comes with lets me clean my couch, cushions and even hard to reach areas like baseboards and room corners. It has three cleaning modes with various suction levels and battery lives, but I’ve never had to stop mid-cleaning to charge it.
But you may struggle to find the V11 Torque right now. Although it’s only about a year old, it’s basically been replaced by newer Dyson cordless vacuums like the Dyson Outsize and the V15 Detect, the latter of which uses a laser to illuminate dust on your floors. Regardless of whether you get a refurbished model or splurge on the latest and greatest, a Dyson cordless vacuum is the mother of all “adulting” gifts. — V.P.
Dyson’s beauty gadgets are more expensive than most, but boy are they worth it. Sure, its hairdryer is orders of magnitude pricier than those you’d find in a drugstore, but it lasts longer and makes your hair look smoother. The Dyson Airwrap is also quite costly, but it pulls triple duty as a curler, straightener and dryer. Your friend can get tight coils or sleek tresses with the hot rod and its accompanying attachments, and thanks to the temperature limit of 302 degrees Fahrenheit, their hair won’t burn to a crisp.
If you can get a group of friends to chip in, this would be a lovely present for a bride-to-be or glamorista who loves playing with different styles. Plus, since we’re all cutting down on going out to stylists due to the pandemic (or when it’s awfully cold out), this can keep you chic buddy perfectly coiffed all winter. — Cherlynn Low, Reviews Editor
Will Lipman Photography for Engadget / Instant Pot
Time is the most precious gift one can receive as an adult, and the Instant Pot Duo Plus delivers it in spades. The pot will help your lucky recipient focus more on enjoying dinner than preparing it, and might save them from buying a host of counter-cluttering appliances. They can start cooking a stew in the morning and serve up in the evening, for instance. This may be just the ticket for a loved one who’s eager to make slow-cooked meals, or craves a pressure cooker to make short work of a time-consuming roast.
However, the Duo Plus may be particularly helpful if that recipient is a new parent. They can easily sterilize baby bottles and food jars, or produce healthy meals like sweet potatoes and yogurt. This could easily be one of your special someone’s most-used gadgets, and it might be useful for the whole family long after the novelty wears off. — Jon Fingas, Weekend Editor
For various reasons, I’ve been slowly weaning myself off Amazon over the past few years. I try to support local independent bookstores as much as possible, and I’ve turned to Libro.fm for my audiobook needs. I do still use my Kindle, however, when I want to read ebooks from the library. That’s what made me look into non-Amazon e-readers, and Kobo’s line of devices caught my eye. In particular, Kobo’s Libra H2O looks like a viable alternative to Amazon’s top-of-the-line Kindle Oasis. It has the same premium features including physical page-turn buttons, a large 7-inch screen, color temperature adjustment and it’s waterproof, to boot. What’s more, it’s also significantly cheaper than the Oasis. This just might be a gift I give to myself. — Nicole Lee, Senior Editor
Whether your friend is a seasoned climaxer or a newbie looking to learn about their preferences, the Lioness smart vibrator can bring some pleasure. Though it may be intimidating for complete beginners compared to a bullet or egg-style device, the Lioness dildo has temperature and pressure sensors that detect when the user is experiencing orgasm. You can tag that data with labels that help you better understand what gets you going, like whether you used a specific lube, fantasy or technique.
Those who already know what they enjoy can still appreciate the biofeedback either by letting the app convert their results into artwork or by looking out for patterns. Most importantly, the info about orgasms can help broach potentially awkward conversations about one’s preferences between the sheets and bring great Os all around. — C.L.
The best thing about Lora DiCarlo’s Tilt is that the company designed it to be “versatile, vibrating, and to please all genders and anatomies.” It’s a dual-headed vibrator and plug that can stimulate either the G-spot and clitoris or prostate and perineum at the same time. The Tilt also warms up to 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius) for extra sensation and you can wear it for hands-free use. If there’s someone on your list for whom traditional vibrators and dildos are too difficult to use, the Tilt may be a great option.
Samsung’s best foldable might be the truly pocketable Galaxy Z Flip 3. Unfurling into a more typical looking 6.7-inch-inch phone, you get the premium screen, build quality and cameras of a flagship Samsung phone, while also drawing a crowd of curious onlookers whenever you flip it out. And flipping it open and shut, is just so darn satisfying, you won’t need much of an excuse to show it off.
Making the most of the still-new form factor, the Flip 3 includes a Flex mode when you half-fold the phone. It’ll work on Camera and YouTube apps (as well as others), splitting the screen in half to show your content on the upper half, and controls and detail on the lower half, like a sort of mini laptop.
Due to its $1,000 price tag, it’s up against the very best flagship smartphones — including Samsung’s other devices — but this is a statement phone, a conversation starter. You can’ t really say that about the latest iPhone. — Mat Smith, UK Bureau Chief
I was gifted the Theragun Mini and it’s become a big part of my recovery routine. I run three to four times a week and strength train on top of that, and the Mini has helped work out knots in my hamstrings, calves, shoulders and (most importantly for me) lower back. If I had been given the Theragun Pro originally, I would have been intimidated by it. But now? I would be thrilled. As its name suggests, this is the company’s top of the line percussion massager with a rotating arm, a high-powered motor, two swappable batteries and a mobile app that lets you control speed. It also uses QuietForce technology to keep the noise level at a minimum and that should prevent you from waking anyone up while you’re using it.
The Pro gives you more control than the Mini does, not only with its companion app, but also in its ergonomic grip and the on-device buttons that let you adjust speed and force. Since I’ve never had a true massage in my life, I can’t say for certain if the Theragun Pro could replace that experience entirely — my guess is that it couldn’t, but it might get close. But if you’re someone who wants the instant gratification that comes from basically being your own masseuse, the Theragun Pro could help you get that. — V.P.
Instagram is acting on its promise to encourage healthier social media habits. Social network head Adam Mosseri has revealed that Instagram started testing its hinted-at "Take a Break" feature this week. Opt in and the app will remind you to do something else after 10, 20 or 30 minutes, whether it's a to-do list item or just listening to your favorite tune.
You'll see the option in the "coming days" if you're part of the test. Mosseri hoped to launch the feature for everyone in December. He stressed that Instagram would "take feedback" and refine the design, so you might not have to worry if it doesn't function as you'd hoped.
There may already be room for improvement. Like a previous time limit feature, Take a Break doesn't strictly enforce the pauses. You can simply tap "done" and continue scrolling. You'll have to turn to digital health or parental control features like iOS' Screen Time or Android's Digital Wellbeing to force yourself or a child to do something else.
This is still an improvement, though, and may help if you just need a gentle reminder to put down your phone. Not that Instagram or its parent Meta have much choice. The company is under pressure from regulators and whistleblower Frances Haugen, both of which have accused Meta of focusing too much on hooking users and not enough on caring for them. Take a Break is a step toward more that more responsible approach — it's just a question of whether or not that step is large enough.
Testing “Take a Break” 🧑🔬
We started testing a new feature called “Take a Break” this week. This opt-in control enables you to receive break reminders in-app after a duration of your choosing.
I’m excited to dig into the results & hopefully launch this sometime in December. ✌🏼 pic.twitter.com/WdSTjL6ZdH
AMD has unveiled its first processors based on its new Zen 4 architecture, and they promise a lot of brawn... at least, for some users. AnandTechnotes AMD has outlined its early Zen 4 roadmap during a virtual data center event, and the first two CPU families are Epyc chips aimed at servers and other heavy-duty computing tasks. The first, nicknamed Genoa, is built for general-purpose computing and packs up to 96 cores (thanks in part to a 5nm process) as well as support for DDR5 memory and PCIe 5.0 peripherals. It arrives sometime in 2022, and partners are sampling chips now.
The star of the show, however, may be Bergamo. It's designed for cloud computing and emphasizes core density — AMD is promising up to 128 cores in a single CPU. The design relies on a modified Zen 4c architecture (the C is for "cloud") that offers similar functionality, but optimizes cache and power consumption to boost the core count and offer as many processing threads as possible. Bergamo doesn't surface until the first half of 2023, but it may be useful for internet giants juggling many simultaneous users.
If you were expecting news on Zen 4-based Ryzen processors, you'll be disappointed. AMD was unsurprisingly focused on corporate customers at its event, and there was no mention of mainstream parts. With that said, it won't be at all surprising if AMD shares more about next-gen Ryzen hardware in the months ahead.
Nearly 40,000 years ago, humanity had its best idea to date: transform the age's apex predator into a sociable and loyal ally. Though early humans largely muddled through the first few thousand years of the process, the results have been nothing short of revolutionary. The practice of domestication underpins our modern world, without which we wouldn't have dogs or cats or farm animals — or even farms for that matter. In her latest book, Our Oldest Companions: The Story of the First Dogs, Anthropologist and American Association for the Advancement of Science fellow, Pat Shipman, explores the early days of domestication and how making dogs out of wolves fundamentally altered the course of human history.
To answer the question of whether or not the first dog evolved in Asia or Europe, we need to go back and create a good working definition of domestication.
“Domestication” has a very specific meaning. The term is derived from the Latin for “dwelling” or “house”: domus. In its broadest sense, domestication is the process of rendering an animal or plant suitable for or amenable to living in the domus, for being a member of, and living intimately with, the family.
Even in this general sense, the precise meaning of domestication is elusive. Are plants domesticated? Certainly some of them are spoken of as domesticated, as needing deliberate care and cultivation, and sometimes fertilization, by humans and, conversely, as having been genetically modified through human selection to have traits considered desirable. I am not talking about the relatively recent process of genetically engineering changes to plants; these modified products, such as soybeans, are known colloquially as GMOs (genetically modified organisms). Selection has been carried out for millennia by hunters, gatherers, foragers, gardeners, farmers, and breeders of various species through old-fashioned means, not in the laboratory. If you want, for example, violets with white stripes, what do you do? You try to nurture the seeds of those that show white stripes and pull up the ones that don’t, until you always get striped ones (if you ever do).
We can understand the general principle of selecting or choosing the most desirable plants — those that yield the most food under particular conditions, for example — but the practice of selection is somewhat paradoxical. The individual plants that produce rich fruits or seeds or tubers are the ones you would most want to eat — and those are the very ones you must save for the next planting season. Which is the most practical strategy? Why did people start saving the best seed? It is an awkward conundrum. As the late Brian Hesse wisely observed in his studies of early domestication, people who are short of food, even starving, do not save food for next season or next year. They simply try to live until next week.
The habit of saving seeds for another day must have arisen in relatively good times, when food was plentiful enough to keep some for the distant future. This implies that the motivation for domestication is not to ensure a stable food supply because undertaking the initial process of domestication makes sense only if you already have enough food. Plant domestication seems to be about improving the plant species in the long run. But you really don’t care if the plant is happy to see you or plays nicely with the children.
What is more, strictly speaking, domesticated plants — crops — do not exactly live with humans or in the home. In fact, because some of them, such as nuts and fruits, grow on trees, and most require sunlight, they could not possibly live indoors. Domesticated plants certainly do not participate in family life in any active way, though their needs and locations may shape the seasonal and daily round of activities and the locations of settlements. They don’t join the family. There is an odd sort of remote intimacy between crops and those who harvest or farm them.
The more you ponder the domestication of plants, the fuzzier the concept of “domesticating” them becomes. The earliest farmers or gardeners did not know enough about the mechanics of reproduction or genetic inheritance to know how to get a particular plant to fertilize some other particular plant and produce bigger corms, or juicier fruits, or non-exploding seed heads (which are easier to harvest), or tubers that were richer in carbohydrates. Domesticating plants was not a matter of learning which individual plants were friendliest or least aggressive toward people. And yet, over time, wisdom accumulated, sometimes accompanied by good luck, and humans did find out how to alter some plants’ genetics to foster a more desirable outcome. This discovery is often spoken of as the Neolithic revolution or the dawn of agriculture. It is generally thought to have occurred around 11,000 years ago. Agriculture as an organized system of growing food transformed at least some people who had traditionally hunted, gathered, and foraged for their daily food — mobile people living off the land — and turned them into more sedentary farmers, tied to fields and villages and dwellings.
The Neolithic revolution was not a win-win proposition at the outset. Several studies have shown that early farming peoples experienced a decline in their general health because they often had monotonous diets based on a very few staple resources. Having a narrower range of staple foods meant that those people were more vulnerable to normal variations in weather, such as too much or too little rain, or too hot or too cold or too short a growing season; and of course there were plant diseases, which spread easily when a whole field is planted with a single species. Growing crops also caused humans to live in more permanent settlements, which exacerbated problems with sanitation, water supply, and human crowd diseases.
Though farming supported more people living in higher densities than hunting and foraging, it also created perfect conditions for the spread of contagious diseases and parasites and for recurrent episodes of starvation in bad years. And then there was warfare. Among nomadic foraging and hunting peoples, disputes are often settled by one group moving away from the other. But clearing and fencing fields, planting and tending crops, and building storage facilities takes a lot of work, so people begin to defend territories — or to raid others’ territories when times are bad and their own crops fail. Excess foods, such as the seeds for next year or the vegetables saved for winter, could be stolen during a raid. Abandoning a cleared or planted field and a store of food is an expensive proposition, much more risky than simply shifting your hunting to another area when game gets scarce or your brother-in-law becomes annoying.
As best we know at present, the domestication of plants began about 11,000 years ago with fig trees, emmer wheat, flax, and peas in the Near East. At about the same time, foxtail millet was domesticated in Asia. How do we know this at all? We know it because of plant remains preserved under special conditions. Seeds can be preserved and sometimes were.
Many edible plants also contain starch grains and phytoliths, microscopic silica structures that are much more resistant to decay than leaves or stems. If found, these can also be used to identify plants that were used in the past; techniques such as radiocarbon dating can tell us when this occurred.
Historically, it was often assumed that plants were domesticated earlier than animals, but modern science shows that this idea is unquestionably mistaken. There is no logical reason why it should be true. The attributes and needs of domesticated crops differ a great deal from those of hunted or gathered foods; knowing how to raise wheat tells you little about how to look after pigs. Like fields, particularly rich hunting grounds could be invaded by others and were worth defending. But many hunters and gatherers or foragers were nomadic and lived in low densities out of necessity. Staying too long in one area depleted the local prey population. Whereas agriculturalists can store crops for the future, hunters cannot store meat for long in temperate or tropical climates, though extreme cold works well to keep meat frozen. Over time, crops are more vulnerable to theft than carcasses.
Domesticating animals involves other issues. Domestic animals are not normally hunted; indeed, they are not always confined and may be free ranging. Still, domestic animals can be moved to a new area much more easily than a planted field, a store of grain, or a pile of tubers, which simply will not get up and walk to a new locale. Such animals may even transport household goods as they are being moved. Moving domestic animals is a very different proposition from moving plant foods.
So why do we use the same word, domesticates, to describe both plant and animal species, and a single word, domestication, to describe the process by which an organism becomes domesticated? I think it is a grave mistake that has been based on outdated ideas and faulty assumptions. I do not believe that a single process is involved. I argue that plant and animal domestication are radically different because the nature of the wild species from which domestication might begin is also radically different. As well as having the inherent genetic variability that causes some individuals to exhibit more desirable traits, animals must also cooperate to some extent if they are to be domesticated. Animals choose domestication, if it is to succeed. Plants do not. Like animals, plants have to have enough genetic variability to be exploited by humans during domestication, but plants do not decide whether or not to grow for humans. Animals must decide whether or not to cooperate.
