Oh the [Cradle of] Humanity! Mercedes-Benz Semi Truck is the Theory of Evolution on Wheels

Most semi trucks are destined for a life of bland servitude, but a rather far more illustrious fate was in retailer for this lucky Mercedes-Benz Actros 1845. Shortly right after leaving the factory, it was coated with 9 gallons of paint and an additional 17 gallons of clearcoat lacquer at the hands of airbrush artist Walter Rosner, whose work depicts scenarios from the early history of mankind.

The enormous masterpiece even has a name: “The Cradle of Humanity” (a rather lofty name for a truck, even if it is a Benz) and took 6 weeks to finish. It was completed just in time to star in the pre-Lent, Shrove Monday carnival procession on February 16th in the city of Aachen, Germany.

As you can see, there’s a lot going on, and because most of you most likely make the carnival in Aachen to see it in particular person, nicely, we’ll just let Mercedes tell the story of its various vignettes: “The setting is the primeval African savannah, where a gorilla sits gazing across at its relatives, who are currently walking upright. 2 chimpanzees in a tree are also watching how the ancestors of modern man embraced the use of tools made of stone and, stretching across the length of the refrigerated semitrailer, how Australopithecus subsequently continued to evolve. On the co-driver’s side, early man is observed discovering fire, finding out a variety of hunting techniques and guarding against the saber-toothed tiger throughout the Stone Age.

“Walter Rosner naturally includes artists in the story, as well. He shows them busily creating cave paintings to leave behind to posterity. Across the complete car onlookers can also uncover numerous other tiny references to essential highlights from the history of the birth of mankind: the theory of evolution versus religion, the emergence of the intellectual awareness in the guise of philosophy, or the 1st great discoveries such as the sundial. The back of the trailer also features an overview in facts and figures.”

The Actros belongs to German freight and logistics organization Josef Schumacher, which owns 160 trucks, 9 of which have been turned into rolling murals, with names like “The Dinosaurs,” “The Gold Rush,” “The Crusades,” “The Constellations,” “Charlemagne,” “The Mega Truck,” and “The Emotion Truck.” All the predecessors of “The Cradle of Humanity” are used for typical cargo-transport duties, so it appears that this newest airbrushed member of the household is destined for the identical fate.

Oh the [Cradle of] Humanity! Mercedes-Benz Semi Truck is the Theory of Evolution on Wheels

£15bn road improvements: evolution or electioneering?

The government says subsequent month’s Autumn Statement will incorporate plans to commit £15 billion on main road projects in between now and 2020 – making hundreds of further miles of motorways and trunk roads to speed up journey times and lessen accidents.

‘World-class infrastructure’

Speaking at the Confederation of British Industry’s annual conference in London this week, Prime Minister David Cameron said: “To secure Britain’s future, we want world-class infrastructure. Families need it to get about companies need it to create jobs we need to have it to compete with the planet and deliver economic security.

“You will see an Autumn Statement exactly where we pick the future once again. At its heart is the greatest, boldest and most far reaching road improvement programme in 4 decades: over 100 improvements to our key roads.”

The £15 billion targets some of the UK’s busiest and most problematic roads, like:

• A303 to the south west


• A1 north of Newcastle


• A1 Newcastle-Gateshead western bypass


• Trans-Pennine roads in the north of England


• A47 in the east of England


• A27 on the south coast of England.

Going underground

As portion of the plans to upgrade the A303, the government has announced ambitious plans to develop a tunnel beneath Stonehenge.

The National Trust has supported this idea, telling ministers it a tunnel of in between 1.5 miles and 1.8 miles could be the way to ease the visitors jams that blight this specific stretch of road.

Drumming up assistance

The £15 billion of upgrades to be announced in the Autumn Statement will be spent alongside the £9 billion that has currently been spent over this Parliament – meaning the government will have spent more than £24billion on main road improvements by the turn of the decade.

But not every person is completely behind the proposals, with some cynics pointing out a lot of of the projects are in marginal constituencies, suggesting the plans are only being place in spot to strengthen Conservative support ahead of subsequent year’s common election.

Even seasoned road campaigners are not entirely convinced. Chris Todd, roads campaigner at the Campaign for Greater Transport, said: “The road developing schemes the Government is so keen to talk up will trash protected places and do nothing for the economy.

“It tends to make no sense to spend billions ploughing more lanes of targeted traffic via our National Parks or desecrating irreplaceable historic sites like Stonehenge. These schemes will make people more dependent than ever on their vehicles, place higher costs on the NHS, although failing to tackle troubles like the massive backlog of pot holes blighting nearby roads.”

Which proves that no matter how substantial the spending and how ambitious the plans, you cannot please all of the men and women, all of the time.

What do you think? Is this a genuine try to enhance situations for motorists across the nation, or electioneering ahead of next year’s vote?

£15bn road improvements: evolution or electioneering?