Posted on 11/17/2004 11:06:41 AM PST by ElkGroveDan
LONDON (Reuters) - Humans were born to run and evolved from ape-like creatures into the way they look today probably because of the need to cover long distances and compete for food, scientists said on Wednesday.
From tendons and ligaments in the legs and feet that act like springs and skull features that help prevent overheating, to well-defined buttocks that stabilize the body, the human anatomy is shaped for running.
"We do it because we are good at it. We enjoy it and we have all kinds of specializations that permit us to run well," said Daniel Liberman, a professor of anthropology at Harvard University in Massachusetts.
"There are all kinds of features that we see in the human body that are critical for running," he told Reuters.
Liberman and Dennis Bramble, a biology professor at the University of Utah, studied more than two dozen traits that increase humans' ability to run. Their research is reported in the science journal Nature.
They suspect modern humans evolved from their ape-like ancestors about 2 million years ago so they could hunt and scavenge for food over large distances.
But the development of physical features that enabled humans to run entailed a trade off -- the loss of traits that were useful for being a tree-climber.
"We are very confident that strong selection for running -- which came at the expense of the historical ability to live in trees -- was instrumental in the origin of the modern human body form," Bramble said in a statement.
AGAINST THE GRAIN The conventional theory is that running was a by-product of bipedalism, or the ability to walk upright on two legs, that evolved in ape-like human ancestors called Australopithecus at least 4.5 million years ago.
But Liberman and Bramble argue that it took a few million more years for the running physique to evolve, so the ability to walk cannot explain the transition.
"There were 2.5 million to 3 million years of bipedal walking without ever looking like a human, so is walking going to be what suddenly transforms the hominid body?" said Bramble.
"We're saying 'no, walking won't do that, but running will."'
If natural selection did not favor running, the scientists believe humans would still look a lot like apes.
"Running has substantially shaped human evolution. Running made us human -- at least in the anatomical sense," Bramble added.
Among the features that set humans apart from apes to make them good runners are longer legs to take longer strides, shorter forearms to enable the upper body to counterbalance the lower half during running and larger disks which allow for better shock absorption.
Big buttocks are also important.
"Have you ever looked at an ape? They have no buns," said Bramble.
Humans lean forward when they run and the buttocks "keep you from pitching over on your nose each time a foot hits the ground," he added.
Not the same comparison. The If it is incurable, the chance of death is 100% if no action is taken.
When you go into surgery, the surgeon is careful to mention that there are no guarantees, and that you may die as a result of invasive procedures. But you get your gall bladder taken out, anyway.
Would you go to a surgeon that would give you a 77% chance that at the end of the surgery he would not have removed your gall bladder?
OK, WTurkey.
Got the document. In The Document itself in Table 2. there is an enumeration of the 26 conditions.
From antianginal agents all the way down to intubation/ventilation.
And your analysis is... what, based on which evidence that YOU can observe? Be specific, with categories and numbers. You know we don't want you to look bad, here.
If it was 77% probable that I would die because of surgery, and 100% probable that I would die without it, sure I'd take the surgery.
That's not a very subtle argument.
So funny, and yet it's actually not. He is definitely the poster boy for POS politicians in our system.
God, please do the right thing and take this man soon.
Oh, I'm sorry. He'll have to answer to different 'lower authority' someday I presume.
It's been fun. Gotta go. CYa
I would go to another surgeon! No a subtle argument but you missed even so.
We can start there. How much did prayer improve the incidence of antianginal agent events?
I know I'm way behind on this thread and I'm sure some have said this, but I agree with aspects of this theory. We evolved in trees, but then the forest changed to open grasslands. So we had to change too. In the open, we needed to be able to spot predators, travel long distances looking for food, have less surface area exposed to the sun in the middle of the day, be able to cover short distances quickly. All of this lead to the transition towards the upright motion we have today. Running is part of it, but not nearly all of it.
Took you a while.
Antianginal events
11% IP 10% Control Statistically Insignificant Difference
Unstable angina
10% IP 9% Control Statistically Insignificant Difference
Antiarrythmics
9% IP 13% Control Statistically Insignificant Difference
Next line that you see........ is..?
That's not an argument, that's a Henny Youngman oneliner.
Hom come search didn't find this....posted the same article from the LA Times.....
And not a very good oneliner, either.
Is that your answer? Statistically insignificant?
And the next line you see... is ....?
Just answer the question. It's actually quite simple.
"How much did prayer improve the incidence of antianginal agent events?"
Funny you won't answer my question ...
This is not a reading class. Now answer my question:
You don't have the document.
A one percent decrease in the control group for antianginal events.
A one percent decrease in the control group for unstable angina.
A four percent improvement in the IP group for antiarrythmics.
More to come....if you can just tell me what's the next line.
Answered.
Now. Can you read? Or are you just wasting my time? If you are I'm going to be very pissed for about 30 seconds, then I'm going to forget you for a while.
Please answer the following:
Which group had the higher death rate?
A) The group receiving prayers
B) The group NOT receiving prayers
Case closed.
Conclusion: Prayer did not help.
Please answer the following:
Which group had the more deaths?
A) The group receiving prayers
B) The group NOT receiving prayers
Case closed.
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