The Human Body

The physical substance of the human organism. We all have one but how many of us really appreciate how lucky we are to have the most complex machine on the planet at our ready. For example the odds on being a human being is 400 trillion to 1.

What Are Humans?

Homo sapiens we are highly intelligent primates, smartest of the Hominidae family. Distinguished by our capacity for articulate speech and abstract thinking

What is the Human Body Made of?

Around 96% of the human body is made up of just 4 elements. Oxygen, carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen the other 14% is mostly made of 7 other elements but 11 trace elements can also be found each making up less than 1% of the body 

What is the History of the Human Body? (Evolution) 

So it seems I have opened up a can of worms with this one. The history of the human body is far too complex to cover in just one blog let alone one paragraph. Asking myself this question has led me to find an amazing book (I still haven't finished) by Daniel Lieberman who is a professor of evolutionary biology at Harvard University called The Story Of The Human Body. Here is a brief summery of what I've learned so far...

It is believed that early hominins evolved from ape like creatures coming out of the trees in central Africa (a place called Chad specifically) around 7.2 - 6.0 millions of years ago in search for food as the earth's climate cooled. The rainforests would shrink and woodland habitats would expand. This change which don't forget happened over millions of years would eventually change us from fruit eating tree swingers into bipedal, tool making, elite endurance running hunter gatherers. I'm going to leave this section there because I could be writing about this for weeks, but if you would like to learn more I urge you to check out professor Leiberman's book!

What is the Science of the Human Body?

Most scientists divide the body into 11 systems which are, skeletal, muscular, circulatory, digestive, nervous, respiratory, endocrine, urinary, reproductive and integumentary. Body systems are groups of organs and tissues that work together to perform important jobs for the body. some organs actually serve more than one system.

What Does the Future Look Like for the Human Body?

Obviously nobody really knows the answer to this so all predictions are just speculation at this point, but the near future does not look good for the natural body as technology advances and obesity rises along side the median age of the developed world which is above 40 now. Bionic limbs will most likely catch trend much like tattoos, plastic surgery and hair transplants have among us today. 

My Conclusion 

I have loved researching the human body for this blog, it has really fuelled a fire inside of me. In my opinion the human body is the most marvellous machine on the planet. It has taken a very long time and a hell lot of adaption persuaded by our planet for the human body to reach this point. Our natural body that has been perfectly crafted by nature for us to not only survive but to sit at the top of the food chain seems to be getting rejected by modern humans who have shifted their faith from nature and instincts to technology and modern medicine.