The Last Human Standing

During last class in humanities we have watched a documentary which was from a TV program PBS NOVA. The film is called "The last Human Standing", which is about how did human kind evolve. The documentary is mostly discussing how did the before last specie of early hominids disappear. The before last specie was Homo Neanderthals, which have migrated from northern Africa and have settled in the Northern Europe. Homo Neanderthal's fossils have been found in the Neander valley, Germany, this is how this specie got it's name. In the human history there was a big question, which was: why did the neanderthal specie disappear at once when cro-magnons moved to Europe. My class and I have discussed how could this happen if they were equip with very warm clothing, so they could protect from the ice age which happened during that time. My class and I have came up with an idea that the neanderthals have been extinct because of their diet. Neanderthals consumed only meat which isn't healthy enough for our organism. On the other hand, homo sapiens are omnivorous, thus, we can eat vegetables, fruits, insects, plants, etc. This is one big theory how did we stayed alive and the specie before us (Neanderthals) has been extinct. For decades, this question has been brought up and has been researched and it could be said that scientists have came to big points for this question. Scientists have discovered that neanderthals brains were slightly bigger than ours today, although all parts of their body were slightly bigger than ours. If their brains were slightly bigger plus they have lasted much longer as a culture then we have, and with all of this evidence still we cant find a solution. Now we have came up with various inventions just in 2000 years while they with 300,000 of their culture were considered as a very primitive and rough human specie.

"Last Human Standing." Becoming Human. PBS NOVA. 31 Aug. 2011. Television.

From Grunts To The Evolution of Language

This article is about how did human language evolve. Although we may never know exact time when our communication turned into language, scientist are almost sure that Homo sapiens were using language between 40,000 and 35,000 years ago. Scientists also assume that the language developed slowly, over long period of time, evolving from a primitive system of grunts, gestures, and facial expressions, into something more complex. However, the period during which humans and hominids have used a primitive system of communication probably lasted for 2,000,000 years. The most important condition, which have assured evolution of language was an anatomical transformation which happened about a million and a half years ago within genus Homo. The larynx ( the voice box) which contains the vocal cords begun to descend from its place high in the throat, where it was connected with the nasal passages, as it is the case today with most mammals, which can breathe and swallow at the same time, but it limits their range of possible sounds. Therefore, modern humans and our ancestors were able to breathe through both nose and mouth, thanks to that transformation, while mammals are generally nose breathers. This enabled our ancestors to use their vocal cords, the muscles of the throat and the back of the tongue in a different way, hence, the language evolved. Evolution of language was also triggered by more complex needs humans were faced with.

Tamming Fire

"'Taming Fire: The First Scientist?'" Odyssey: Adventures in Science Oct. 2009:

29-30. Print.

For millenniums, a dangerous and in same time a very productive invention has been used. For over 250,000 years ago Fire has started to formulate. The first time fire has ever been used was approximately 1 million years ago. The only proof that has been found was hearths which are a very primitive construction of a fire place which is formed by big rocks put in a circle where in the middle of the circle the fire is lightened. In the Bible fire is recorded as the one of the materials that only gods used, as well in the Greek mythology the same story is told. Uses of fire were mostly for cooking and for keeping warm when it would be very cold. As you can see the invention of fire is a dangerous but productive in the same time which both sides have their own advantages and disadvantages.

On Our Own Two Feet

For centuries, human and ape like walking has been differed a great deal. We humans have a very unique kind of walking which is on two legs. According to the science research, walking on four legs consumes more energy. On the other hand walking on two feet saves energy. Why is it this way you are probably wondering? Well, the human skeleton is build this way that we (Humans) have more strength and better developed muscles in our feet then in our arms, because humans more frequently use legs more often (like for walking, or jumping) rather then hands. Another interesting fact there is is that we humans are able to balance are big skulls on the top of our skeleton. A new fact has came which caused an outrage which is that we humans are not related to chimpanzees. Millions of years ago our common ancestor was a chimpanzee but as years and decades went by the branch of hominids and humans has branched of chimpanzees. But between the human and chimpanzee specie there was a specie which was Afarensis. Afarensis was a hominid that lived 3.3 million years ago. Afarensi's physical features more look like to chimpanzee's physical features for example the aferensis skull is more pointier and has sharper cheeks than to the human skull. There is a theory why are legs are used more often than our hands it is because we can free more our hands so we can work more with our hands.

Whitt, Stephen. "On Our Own Two Feet." Odyssey: Adventures in Science Oct. 2009: 26-28. Print.