Humans

The story of humans is like we all know. Our history is both magnificent and horrible, filled with wars and deaths, but also filled with love. The human race has grown over thousands of years, and continue to grow.

Evolution

Humans evolved from primates a long time ago, and over many generations evolved into Homo-erectus. Home Erectus was the first to migrate from Africa, and between 1.8 and 1.3 million years ago, they travelled and settled in northern Africa, Asia and Europe. Later, around 300.000 years ago, Homo Sapiens emerged in Africa possibly began spreading out to Europe and Asia, slowly replacing the other Homo species.

The use of tools

It still isn't known to a 100 percent certainty when humans (homo species) began using tools as a common thing, though it is speculated to have been common for around 2.6 million years. Proofs of this being true is hard to figure out because of the nature of tools. Are the rocks we find actually sharp, or did the humans at the time (homo species) sharpen them to use as tools? The evidence isn't quite enough.
When looking at a time closer to modern humans (homo sapiens) it gets a bit easier and the evidence is stronger. Around the early stone age, stone tools in Africa have been found dating back to that time. In the period between 700.000 to 300.000 years ago, homo Erectus is known to have been making large stone axes made of flint.
The use of tools is speculated to make our brains evolve to what we have today - a large organ that uses a lot of our overall energy - the very thing that makes us different from other species.

50.000 years ago human culture suddenly began evolving more rapidly (also known as Great Leap Forward) and new behaviours began to rise - through the time-frame to when this gradually began is still widely discussed. More sophisticated tools and weapons were made, and humans began to bury their dead. Rituals, hunting more sophistically, making clothes, participating in cave paintings, exploration of less hospitable geographical areas, and barter trade networks did all start around this period of time.

by CatRobi

Kingdom:

Animalia

Order:

Primates

Genus:

Homo

Species:

Homo Sapiens

Brain:

Big brains around 2.2% of our body weight.

Limbs

Two arms and two legs - legs being longer than arms.

Average life expectancy

In the 22'nd century

Females:	82.9 Years
Males:	79.6 Years

Average height

Females:	164.5 cm
Males:	176.2 cm

History of Humans and the stars

(A bit of history containing our relationship and discoveries of distant celestial bodies.)

The universe and its stars have shaped our existence to some degree, so much that some of the beliefs from centuries ago are still used today.

Our ancient ancestors lived in a dark world, with no artificial light and the full experience of the spectacular light show in the sky. Stars shining on the night sky have been something the early humans (homo species) saw every night; Small guiding lights shining down on them, giving them some comfort as they travel the Earth.

Stars were often compared to gods or spirits in many different cultures. Dating back to the Mayans in 3000 BC, their astronomers discovered that the moon rising and setting had an 18.6-year cycle, and used their knowledge to make tables of the movements of the sun, moon and planets. Later - in 580 BC - the greeks used the Mayan knowledge to predict solar eclipses. In 400 BC the Babylonians use the Zodiac to divide the night sky into 12 equal segments, to better communicate information of celestial bodies.

In 380 BC Plato (A greek philosopher) shapes the next couple thousand years, saying that the Earth is the centre of the universe, and everything else revolves around us in perfect symmetry and perfectly round orbits. This was later changed to us revolving around the sun with the other planets.

The Geocentric model says that the Earth is the centre and The sun, moon, planets and stars circle around us. Were as the Heliocentric models says the the Earth and other planets orbit around our sun.

In the year 400, the Hindus measured the average length of the Earths revolution around the sun. This would remain the most precise calculation for over a thousand years.
The year 1054 - The first supernovae observed (crab supernovae) by the Chinese.
In 1608 - Refracting telescopes are widely spread across Europe and suddenly astronomy gets a boost. This leads to Kepler publishing his findings a year later, that the planetary orbits are elliptical and not circular as Plato originally said.

In 1610 Gallileo published his findings of craters on the moon, sunspots, and four moons orbiting Jupiter. Finally, a proof that not all orbits around Earth - and the idea of Earth orbiting the sun is here to stay.
The year 1687 is the year where Isaac Newton publishes his book about the laws of motion and theory of gravitation.
As the year progressed and our technology got better, three new planets were observed, spectra of light coming from distant stars were taken and analysed. We were now able to see what kind of elements was in the stars!

All of this happened within a relatively short time period of our own history. Human advancement tends to come in periods, each period better and stronger than it's predecessor.

by CatRobi

Space travel

The thought of travelling to space is a rather old idea and was first published in an article from 1895 by Konstantin Tsiolkovsky where he talks about a rocket that works in the vacuum of space.
The space-age officially starts in 1957 when Russia launches the first satellite Sputnik 1 into orbit. This is were our history towards intergalactic travelling begins, and our journey to the stars. In 1969 the first human crew lands on the surface of the moon.

The first exoplanet (A planet that orbits another star) was discovered in 1995 and in 1998 the construction on a new space station International space station (ISS) was begun. The closest exoplanet seen yet (Proxima Centauri B that orbits Proxima Centauri) was discovered in 2016. 2019 was the year humans got their first image of a black hole, a great step towards understanding the universe even more.
Great plans were underway when humans went into 2020, plans involving travelling to Mars, and reusing rockets to make it more affordable and less hazardous for the environment of the planet - rockets that had already been tested for several years by Space X)
In 2029, smaller missions began to Mars, sending materials and other useful things for a future colony.
Biophysicist had successfully started a plantation on Mars and was now growing vegetables in 2038. 2040 - astronauts had been chosen to be the first to travel to Mars, and had begun their training.
In 2042, the first larger spaceship landed on Mars, carrying big structures and robotic arms to assemble the materials.
All of these events led up to a major milestone for the human race that finally happened in 2053 when the first humans set foot on the dry surface of Mars.

by CatRobi

Building a good base on Mars is crucial for the survival of the astronauts. Mars' weather can be harsh and at times unpredictable. Weather analysis had been made for several years and a seasonal pattern had been recognised. Bunker-like houses were excavated by machines sent up years before the astronauts arrived.
In 2056 the first tree started to grow on Mars - still inside an oxygenated room. Plants had been adjusted biologically to survive the harsh reality of not getting as much water and nutrients, and they were doing incredibly well. While the first colony on Mars was doing remarkably well, a mission to one of Jupiter's moons - Europa - was being planned.
The next set of crew members to go to Mars landed in 2059, and the third crew in 2063. At this point, the colony had 34 inhabitants. The new settlement was called the red city and would proudly stand on the surface for many years to come. New shipments, new ideas and new people were sent to Mars over the years, and soon the little settlement was much more than just that.
In 2091, the first human expedition to Europa - Jupiter's moon - was a success.