http://www.economist.com/node/21541808
The human is often considered as “The Naked Ape“. This is due to the lack of the hair that the human posses. But that is not really true, according to studies the human has many hair follicles like other apes do. Usually the hair insulates us or does other jobs, but what real job does hair do for humans since we do not live in nature under a tree? This question has answered Isabelle Dean and Michael Siva-Jothy of Sheffiled University, in Britain. They have come up with the conclusion that human hair serve as an alarm system towards insects. This they have tested on university students. 19 men and ten women accepted the challenge to shave one of their arm. On the sahved arm a mark with a pen is made and enclosed with petroleum jelly to catch bed bugs in, and on the other arm which is not shaved an equivalent mark and surrounded as well. To see what the hair does the students had to react as they noticed a movement of a bug, without looking. The answer was that in average each ten seconds a bug movement was noticed on the shaved arm. The other arm, not shaved, a bug movement was noticed in average each four seconds. By this the conclusion can be made that hair detects and protects us from insects.
Humans have evolved quite a lot from other species, especially monkeys. Since we do not live in the wild nature anymore many adaptions we have evolve differently than from any other animals. To have experiments about these kind of things is very interesting. I did not know that hair could be that usefull, maybe just for styling it, making us look good. It would be more interesting to see study‘s of such kind. To study the human body is interesting, learning these kinds of things in biology and now seeing practical study‘s about the human body is worth looking at.
Vocabulary
Word 1:
This lack of hair has been attributed to everything from a putative aquatic period in the species’s past to the advantages of displaying a healthy skin to members of the opposite sex.
putative: generally considered or reputed to be. Origin from Latin putativus from the verb “putare.“
The putative teacher who let‘s students fail.
Word 2:
This lack of hair has been attributed to everything from a putative aquatic period in the species’s past to the advantages of displaying a healthy skin to members of the opposite sex.
aquatic: of or relating to water. Origin from Latin aquaticus from aqua, meaning “water.“
The aquatic season of the year is when the students come back from summer holidays.
Word 3:
Per square centimetre, human skin has as many hair follicles.
follicles: anatomy of a small sector. Origin from Latin folliculus, meaning “little bag.“
The follicles of the brain of the students at school are at a high IQ.
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