Humans are bipedal Bipedalism is a form of terrestrial locomotion where an organism moves by means of its two rear limbs, or legs. An animal or machine that usually moves in a bipedal manner is known as a biped , meaning "two feet" (from the Latin bi for "two" and ped for "foot"). Types of bipedal movement include walking, running, or primates A primate is a member of the biological order Primates (/prаɪˈmeɪtiːz/ prī·mā′·tēz; Latin: "prime, first rank"), the group that contains lemurs, lorisids, galagos, tarsiers, monkeys, and apes, with the last category including great apes. With the exception of humans, who inhabit every continent on Earth,[a] most primates live belonging to the species Homo sapiens (Latin Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Roman conquest, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe. Romance languages such as Catalan, French, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, and Spanish are descended from Latin, while many others, especially European languages, have inherited: "wise man" or "knowing man") in Hominidae A number of known extinct genera are grouped with humans in the Hominina subtribe, others with orangutans in the Ponginae subtribe. The most recent common ancestor of the Hominidae lived some 13 million years ago, when the ancestors of the orangutans speciated from the ancestors of the other three genera.[citation needed] The ancestors of the, the great ape An ape is any member of the Hominoidea superfamily of primates. Due to its ambiguous nature, the term ape is less suitable as a means of describing taxonomic relationships family.[2][3] They are the only surviving member of the genus Homo. Humans have a highly developed Encephalization is defined as the amount of brain mass exceeding that related to an animal's total body mass. Quantifying an animal's encephalization has been argued to be directly related to that animal's level of intelligence. In fact, as early as 1871, Charles Darwin wrote in his book The Descent of Man: "No one, I presume, doubts that the brain, capable of abstract reasoning Reasoning is the cognitive process of looking for reasons for beliefs, conclusions, actions or feelings, language A language is a system for encoding and decoding information. In its most common use, the term refers to so-called "natural languages" — the forms of communication considered peculiar to humankind. In linguistics the term is extended to refer to the human cognitive facility of creating and using language. Essential to both meanings is, introspection Introspection is the self-observation and reporting of conscious inner thoughts, desires and sensations. It is a conscious mental and usually purposive process relying on thinking, reasoning, and examining one's own thoughts, feelings, and, in more spiritual cases, one's soul. It can also be called contemplation of one's self, and is contrasted, and problem solving Problem solving is a mental process and is part of the larger problem process that includes problem finding and problem shaping. Considered the most complex of all intellectual functions, problem solving has been defined as higher-order cognitive process that requires the modulation and control of more routine or fundamental skills. Problem. This mental capability, combined with an erect body carriage that frees the arms for manipulating objects, has allowed humans to make far greater use of tools A broad definition of a tool is an entity used to interface between two or more domains that facilitates more effective action of one domain upon the other. The most basic tools are simple machines. For example, a crowbar simply functions as a lever. The further out from the pivot point, the more force is transmitted along the lever. A hammer than any other species. Mitochondrial DNA Mitochondrial DNA is the DNA located in organelles called mitochondria, structures within cells that convert the energy from food into a form that cells can use. Most other DNA present in eukaryotic organisms is found in the cell nucleus and fossil evidence indicates that modern humans Anatomically modern human or early modern human in paleoanthropology refers to early individuals of Homo sapiens with an appearance similar to that of modern humans. Anatomically modern humans evolved from archaic Homo sapiens in the Middle Paleolithic, about 200,000 years ago. The emergence of anatomically modern human marks the dawn of the originated in Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area. With a billion people (as of 2009, see table) in 61 territories, it accounts for about 14.8% of the World's human population about 200,000 years ago.[4] Humans now inhabit every continent and low Earth orbit A low Earth orbit is generally defined as an orbit within the locus extending from the Earth’s surface up to an altitude of 2,000 km. Given the rapid orbital decay of objects below approximately 200 km, the commonly accepted definition for LEO is between 160 - 2,000 km (100 - 1,240 miles) above the Earth's surface, with a total population The term world population commonly refers to the total number of living humans on Earth at a given time. As of 7 November 2009, the Earth's population is estimated by the United States Census Bureau to be 6.795 billion. The world population has been growing continuously since the end of the Black Death around 1400. There were also short term falls of over 6.7 billion as of September 2009.[5]
Like most higher primates The simians are the "higher primates" familiar to most people: the Old World monkeys and apes, including humans, (together being the catarrhines), and the New World monkeys or platyrrhines. Simians tend to be larger than the "lower primates" or prosimians, humans are social by nature. However, humans are uniquely adept at utilizing systems of communication for self-expression, the exchange of ideas, and organization. Humans create complex social structures Social structure is a term used in sociology and anthropology to refer to relationships or bonds between groups of individuals . Whereas 'structure' refers to "the macro", "agency" refers to "the micro". (See also: Structure and agency) composed of many cooperating and competing groups, from families Family denotes a group of people or animals affiliated by a consanguinity, affinity or co-residence. Although the concept of consanguinity originally referred to relations by "blood," anthropologists[who?] have argued that one must understand the idea of "blood" metaphorically, and that many societies understand 'family' to nations A nation is a body of people who share a real or imagined common history, culture, language or ethnic origin. The development and conceptualization of the nation is closely related to the development of modern industrial states and nationalist movements in Europe in the 18th and 19th centuries, although nationalists would trace nations into the. Social interactions In sociology, a social relation or social interaction refers to a relationship between two , three (i.e. a triad) or more individuals (e.g. a social group). Social relations, derived from individual agency, form the basis of the social structure. To this extent social relations are always the basic object of analysis for social scientists between humans have established an extremely wide variety of values, social norms Social norms are the behavioral expectations and cues within a society or group. This sociological term has been defined as "the rules that a group uses for appropriate and inappropriate values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors." These rules may be explicit or implicit. Failure to follow the rules can result in severe punishments,, and rituals, which together form the basis of human society. Humans have a marked appreciation for beauty and aesthetics which, combined with the human desire for self-expression, has led to cultural innovations such as art, literature and music.
Humans are noted for their desire to understand and influence their environment, seeking to explain and manipulate natural phenomena through science, philosophy, mythology and religion. This natural curiosity has led to the development of advanced tools and skills, which are passed down culturally Culture is a term that has different meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions. However, the word "culture" is most commonly used in three basic senses:; humans are the only extant species known to build fires, cook their food, clothe themselves, and use numerous other technologies Technology is a broad concept that deals with human as well as other animal species' usage and knowledge of tools and crafts, and how it affects a species' ability to control and adapt to its environment. Technology is a term with origins in the Greek technología — téchnē (τέχνη), 'craft' and -logía (-λογία), the study of something,.
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hu, 12 Nov 2009 20:29:11 GM
Gizmodo reports on the astounding work of Dr. Anthony Atala. For over 20 years, he's specialized in regenerative medicine, which focuses on repairing or replacing . human. tissue to assist in healing.
Q. I've been thinking about this and was wondering what the rest of you think... What about humans makes us higher than animals for example? What makes us human? I think our Declaration of Independence defines a lot of us, as well as classical literature and writers. What do you think? Do you think any of our founding documents or classical writers help define us as humans? What is that quality, that "essence," that gives us human personhood?
Asked by kace - Sun Oct 7 13:13:42 2007 - - 3 Answers - 0 Comments
A. there truly is nothing in history that says "were the best therefore the rest of you are simply animals and we get to eat you... life sucks!" (too bad im a vegetarian) but i think the main reason we are considered to be the higher of two species is our hope for a future. unlike any other animal on the earth, we prepare for a future we do not know is guaranteed. sure there are cases of animals fattening for a winter or hoarding food, but that is simply their instinct and the expectation of what happens every year. there is no effort to make preparations to possibly FURTHER their species in particular the way we strive to as humans. i think as a whole, the homo sapiens goal is always to prepare for a brighter future while preventing the… [cont.]
Answered by Emily H - Sun Oct 7 13:26:18 2007
