Page 139 - Visions of the Future Chemistry and Life Science

128 P. KOHL ET AL.

8.1.1 Martians and the Highway Code
Imagine you are an alien. From Mars, to keep things simple. You are given
the assignment, should you accept it, to report on the use of cars by
humans. Please read on – this book will not self-destruct in a few
seconds . . ..

How would you go about it?
You could visit earth, hire a mechanical workshop in a remote area,
car-jack a few specimens, and dissect them. You would observe that cars
differ in their colour, shape, size and spec. Some may even contain a bar,
cinema or swimming pool, but, perhaps, limousines are excluded from
your exploration. On closer examination you would notice small ID-
numbers imprinted on various strategic body parts. In short – you would
find no two cars that are exactly the same.
Alternatively, you could focus on essential similarities between cars.
For example that they all require one or the other kind of fuel to work.
Or, you could stay in orbit and look down at the movement and inter-
actions of cars. You would soon find that in some parts of the planet cars
stick to the left side of the road, while elsewhere they prefer the right. You
would notice that most cars stop at red lights, but others don’t. You would