Becoming Human: Last Human Standing

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


Why are we the last human standing? What happened to the other species such as Homo Neanderthalensis and Homo Heidelbergensis? Why are we the best of all homonids so far?


When Neanderthals roamed the planet, they had it all: The brain, the tools, the abilities of what we have physically...Or did they? 
What the Neanderthals had were basic thinking, rituals, some communication, and primitive tools. The weapons they had were heavy, they were big, they were short range, and you could only have around 4 at a time per person, while Homo Sapiens had just as effective weapons that were light, small, long range, 6-per-hand, and had tools to help throw them with accuracy. Because of this small difference in technology, most Neanderthals died of hunting too closely to the animals and getting fractures. Neanderthals also didn't look at the cycles in life as much as Homo Sapiens did, and so the main diet was meat. Any other foods would have specific times that would have to be met, or they wouldn't show themselves. This meant that while Neanderthals risked their lives getting food, Homo Sapiens only slightly risked their lives getting meat, and the rest was easy to get at due to what it was and when it showed. Muscles and shellfish show themselves in the morning, and in the late after noon when the tide is down. Homo Sapiens used this to their advantage, while Neanderthals didn't. 


Another reason that we are the last humans standing is that we survived and adapted in almost all ways possible, and that we opened up the world of communication. 


Communication enabled us to cooperate together better towards the same goals, there fore letting us go beyond the normal edges of abilities. With communication, we could share ideas, hunt in strategic ways and go beyond the shores. Neanderthals had the communication ability, but it was less advanced. We could be more specific and direct. Neanderthals? Not so much.


We all evolved. We all went through the same process of surviving. We all had our ups and downs. However, it it really survival of the fittest, and the smartest. Others? Well, if you can't survive, you die. Thats only a fraction of the Theory of Evolution. I wonder what else we can discover?

Taming Fire

Cox, Mary Bet. "Taming Fire." Odyssey: Adventures in Science: 29-30. Print


Fire. It helps us, yet at times we fear it. When did we discover fire? Why? What does it do? What CAN it do? Learn 
about all this now, on Blogger!


10,000,000 years ago, a homonid (let's name him Bob) looked at once was a forest. Now, because of wild fires, 
it was a decolent landscape with  the odd bit of smoke. Suddenly, out if the corner of his eye, Bob sees a slightly 
cremated remains of a deer. He brings the deer back to his camp for food. 

Back at camp, he notices that the deer is harder than usual. He opens up the deer. He finds that the meat smells
good, and that it tastes better then usual. Less chewy. 


He finds that heat makes the meat less chewy, and he hasn't gotten any illnesses in the last few weeks. He 
decides to make heat by rubbing wood together. Slowly he makes fire. He shares the knowledge with others,
making the world a warmer, better place. 


Why is fire so great?


When someone heats up food, they kill all the germs on the food, because bacteria and other diseases are water
based life forms and will sizzle into oblivion. The process of heating food also kills any worms, makes the food 
less chewy, and makes the world safer from cold.

Why Do We Study Human Origins? Written By Randall Susman in Odyssey:The Adventures of Science

When man found he had evolved from another species, he wondered what those species might be. On the way to the answers, he found clues such as the similarities between apes and humans and fossils that are similar to us.

However, this did not start out as us knowing that we evolved. In fact, us even thinking about how close some species are didn't start until a man named Charles Darwin came up with the theory of evolution in the mid 1800's. The theory states that "plants and animals change slowly over geological time as they naturally adapt to the changes in the environment" (Susman, 2. This theory was slowly thought of as true over time.

Then, when Thomas Henry Huxley and some other European scientists compared apes and humans autonomically, he found that african apes were closer to humans than they are to monkeys.

Nowadays, since Raymond Dart found the first fossil of an ancient ape similar to us, us humans are still searching for answers into why and what caused us to evolve