Vocabulary

Vocabulary
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A person's vocabulary is the set of words they are familiar with in a language. A vocabulary usually
grows and evolves with age, and serves as a useful and fundamental tool for communication and
acquiring knowledge.
Contents
[hide]
• 1 Knowing and Using a Word

• 2 Types of Vocabulary
o 2.1 Reading Vocabulary
o 2.2 Listening Vocabulary
o 2.3 Writing Vocabulary
o 2.4 Speaking Vocabulary
• 3 Focal Vocabulary
• 4 Vocabulary Growth
• 5 Passive vs. Active Vocabulary
• 6 The Importance of a Vocabulary
• 7 Native and Foreign Language Vocabulary
o 7.1 Native Language Vocabulary
o 7.2 Foreign Language Vocabulary
 7.2.1 The Effects of Vocabulary Size on Language Comprehension
o 7.3 Basic English Vocabulary
• 8 References
[edit] Knowing and Using a Word

A vocabulary is defined as "all the words known and used by a particular person". [1] However, the words
known and used by a particular person do not constitute all the words a person is exposed to. By
definition, a vocabulary includes the last two categories of this list: [2]
1. Never encountered the word.

2. Heard the word, but cannot define it.
3. Recognize the word due to context or tone of voice.
4. Able to use the word but cannot clearly explain it.
5. Fluent with the word – its use and definition.
[edit] Types of Vocabulary

Listed in order of most ample to most limited: [3]
[edit] Reading Vocabulary
A person’s reading vocabulary is all the words he or she can recognize when reading. This is the largest
type of vocabulary simply because it includes the other three.
[edit] Listening Vocabulary
A person’s listening vocabulary is all the words he or she can recognize when listening to speech. This
vobalulary is aided in size by context and tone of voice.
[edit] Writing Vocabulary
A person’s writing vocabulary is all the words he or she can employ in writing. Contrary to the previous
two vocabulary types, the writing vocabulary is stimulated by its user.
[edit] Speaking Vocabulary
A person’s speaking vocabulary is all the words he or she can use in speech. Due to the spontaneous
nature of the speaking vocabulary, words are often misused. This misuse – though slight and unintentional
– may be compensated by facial expressions, tone of voice, or hand gestures.
[edit] Focal Vocabulary

Focal Vocabulary is a specialized set of terms and distinctions that is particularly important to a certain
group; those with particular focuses of experience or activity. A lexicon, or vocabulary, is a language’s
dictionary, its set of names for things, events, and ideas. Lexicon influences people’s perception on things.
For example, many Eskimo languages have several distinct words for different types of snow that in
English are all called snow (Miller,1999). Most English speakers never noticed the differences between
these types of snow and might have trouble seeing them even if someone pointed them out. Eskimos, on
the other hand, recognize and think about the differences in snow that English speakers don’t see because
our language gives us just one word. Similarly, the Nuer of Sudan have an elaborate vocabulary to
describe cattle. The Nuer have dozens of names for cattle because of the cattle’s particular histories,
economies, and environments. English speakers can also elaborate their snow and cattle vocabularies
when the need arises. [4] [5]
[edit] Vocabulary Growth

Initially, in the infancy phase, vocabulary growth requires no effort. Infants hear words and mimic them,
eventually associating them with objects and actions. This is the listening vocabulary. The speaking
vocabulary follows, as a child's thoughts become more reliant on its ability to express itself without
gestures and mere sounds. Once the reading and writing vocabularies are attained - through questions and
education - the anomalies and irregularities of language can be discovered.
In first grade, an advantaged student (i.e. a literate student) knows about twice as many words as a
disadvantaged student. Generally, this gap does not tighten. This translates into a wide range of
vocabulary size in the fifth and sixth grade, when students know about 2,500 - 5,000 words. These young
students have learned an average of 3,000 words per year, approximately eight words per day. [6]
After leaving school, vocabulary growth plateaus. People may then expand their vocabularies by reading,
playing word games, participating in vocabulary programs, etc.
[edit] Passive vs. Active Vocabulary

Even if we learn a word, it takes a lot of practice and context connections for us to learn it well. A rough
grouping of words we understand when we hear them encompasses our "passive" vocabulary, whereas
our "active" vocabulary is made up of words that come to our mind immediately when we have to use
them in a sentence, as we speak. In this case, we often have to come up with a word in the timeframe of
milliseconds, so one has to know it well, often in combinations with other words in phrases, where it is
commonly used.
[edit] The Importance of a Vocabulary

• An extensive vocabulary aids expressions and communication
• Vocabulary size has been directly linked to reading comprehension. [7]
• A person may be judged by others based on their vocabulary [8]
• Lingusitic vocabulary is synonymous with thinking vocabulary [9]
• The greater a person’s vocabulary, the greater their understanding of themselves, society, the
economy, history, etc. [10]
[edit] Native and Foreign Language Vocabulary

[edit] Native Language Vocabulary
Native speakers' vocabularies vary widely within a language, and are especially dependent on the level of
the speaker's education. A 1995 study estimated the vocabulary size of college-educated speakers at about
17,000 word families, and that of first-year college students (high-school educated) at about 12,000.[11]
[edit] Foreign Language Vocabulary
[edit] The Effects of Vocabulary Size on Language Comprehension

Francis and Kucera[12] studied texts totaling one million words and found that if one knows the words with
the highest frequency, they will quickly know most of the words in a text:
Vocabulary Size Written Text Coverage
0 words 0%
1000 72.0
2000 79.7
3000 84.0
4000 86.8
5000 88.7
6000 89.9
15,851 97.8
By knowing the 2000 words with the highest frequency, one would know 80% of the words in those texts.
The numbers look even better than this if we want to cover the words we come across in an informally
spoken context. Then the 2000 most common words would cover 96% of the vocabulary.[13] These
numbers should be encouraging to beginning language learners, especially because the numbers in the
table are for word lemmas and knowing that many word families would give even higher coverage. But
before you start thinking you would learn a language in no time, think how well you would understand a
book in your own language where every fifth word was blacked-out! We cannot usually guess meanings
from context when that many words are missing.[14] We need to understand about 95% of a text[15] in order
to gain close to full understanding and it looks like one needs to know more than 10,000 words for that.
[edit] Basic English Vocabulary
Several word lists have been developed to provide people with a limited vocabulary either quick language
proficiency or an effective means of communication. In 1930, Charles Kay Ogden created Basic English
(850 words). Other lists include Simplified English (1000 words) and Special English (1500 words). The
General Service List,[16] 2000 high frequency words compiled by Michael West from a 5,000,000 word
corpus, has been used to create a number of adapted reading texts for English language learners. Knowing
2000 English words, one could understand quite a lot of English, and even read a lot of simple material
without problems.
[edit] References
1. ^ Cambridge Advanced Learners Dictionary [1]
2. ^ Partially composed using: “Vocabulary”. Sebastian Wren, Ph.D. BalancedReading.com [2]
3. ^ The World Book Dictionary. Clarence L. Barnhart. 1968 Edition. Published by Thorndike-Barnhart,
Chicago, Illinois.
4. ^ Miller,B.,(1999). Cultural Anthropology(4th. ed.,pg 315). New York: Allyn and Bacon
5. ^ Roberta Lenkeit "Cultural Anthropology" (3rd. ed.)
6. ^ “Vocabulary”. Sebastian Wren, Ph.D. BalancedReading.com
http://www.balancedreading.com/vocabulary.html
7. ^ Stahl, Steven A. Vocabulary Development. Cambridge: Brookline Books, 1999. p. 3. “The Cognitive
Foundations of Learning to Read: A Framework,” Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, [3], p.
14.
8. ^ The Importance Of A Good Vocabulary - Why Your Vocabulary Can Be the Make Or Break Factor In
Your Career And Life Success [4]
9. ^ Ibid
10. ^ The Importance of a Large Vocabulary. [5]
11. ^ E.B. Zechmeister, A.M. Chronis, W.L. Cull, C.A. D'Anna and N.A. Healy, Growth of a functionally
important lexicon, Journal of Reading Behavior, 1995, 27(2), 201-212
12. ^ W.N. Francis, and H. Kucera. Frequency Analysis of English Usage, Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 1982
13. ^ F.J. Schonell, I.G. Meddleton and B.A. Shaw, A Study of the Oral Vocabulary of Adults, University of
Queensland Press, Brisbane, 1956
14. ^ Liu Na and I.S.P. Nation, Factors affecting guessing vocabulary in context, RELC Journal, 1985,16, 1,
pp. 33-42
15. ^ B. Laufer, What percentage of text-lexis is essential for comprehension? in C. Lauren and M. Nordman
(eds.), Special Language: From Humans Thinking to Thinking Machines, Multilingual Matters Ltd.,
Clevedon, 1989.
16. ^ Michael West, A General Service List of English Words, Longman, Green & Co., London, 1953
[hide]
v•d•e
Lexicography
Types of reference works Dictionary · Glossary · Lexicon · Thesaurus
Biographical · Defining · Electronic · Encyclopedic · LSP · Machine-

readable · Maximizing · Medical · Minimizing · Monolingual learner's ·
Types of dictionaries
Multi-field · Picture · Reverse · Rhyming · Rime · Single-field ·
Specialized · Sub-field · Visual
Focal vocabulary · Function word · Headword · Holonymy · Hyponymy ·

Vocabulary topics Idiom · International Scientific Vocabulary · Lemma · Lexeme ·
Meronymy · Morphology · Synonym · Vocabulary size · Word
Controlled vocabulary · English lexicology and lexicography ·

Lexicographic topics Lexicographic error · Lexicographic information cost · Linguistic
prescription · Specialised lexicography
Lexicographic projects Lexigraf · WordNet

Other List of lexicographers
Speech
(Redirected from Speech communication)

This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding
citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. (July 2007)
For other uses, see Speech (disambiguation).
Speech refers to the processes associated with the production and perception of sounds used in spoken
language. A number of academic disciplines study speech and speech sounds, including acoustics,
psychology, speech pathology, linguistics, cognitive science and computer science.
Contents
[hide]
• 1 Speech production
• 2 Speech perception
• 3 Problems involving speech
• 4 See also
[edit] Speech production

Main article: Speech production
In linguistics (articulatory phonetics), manner of articulation describes how the tongue, lips, and other
speech organs are involved in making a sound make contact. Often the concept is only used for the
production of consonants. For any place of articulation, there may be several manners, and therefore
several homorganic consonants.
[edit] Speech perception

Main article: Speech perception
Speech perception refers to the processes by which humans are able to interpret and understand the
sounds used in language. The study of speech perception is closely linked to the fields of phonetics and
phonology in linguistics and cognitive psychology and perception in psychology. Research in speech
perception seeks to understand how human listeners recognize speech sounds and use this information to
understand spoken language. Speech research has applications in building computer systems that can
recognize speech, as well as improving speech recognition for hearing- and language-impaired listeners.
[edit] Problems involving speech

See also: Speech pathology
There are several biological and psychological factors that can affect speech. Among these are:
1. Diseases and disorders of the lungs or the vocal cords, including paralysis, respiratory infections,
vocal fold nodules and cancers of the lungs and throat.
2. Diseases and disorders of the brain, including alogia, aphasias, dysarthria, dystonia and speech
processing disorders, where impaired motor planning, nerve transmission, phonological processing
or perception of the message (as opposed to the actual sound) leads to poor speech production.
3. Hearing problems, such as otitis media effusion can lead to phonological problems.
4. Articulatory problems, such as stuttering, lisping, cleft palate, ataxia, or nerve damage leading to
problems in articulation. Tourette syndrome and tics can also affect speech. A lot of people also
have a slur in their voice
5. In addition to aphasias, anomia and certain types of dyslexia can impede the quality of auditory
perception, and therefore, expression. Hearing impairments and deafness can be considered to fall
into this category.
[edit] See also

Look up speech in
Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
• Esophageal speech
• Speech synthesis
• Speech recognition
• Speech encoding
• Speech delay
• Freedom of speech
• Vocalization
• Oracy
• phonation
• human voice
• vocology
This linguistics article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding

it.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speech"
Categories: Oral communication | Linguistics stubs
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Sound
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding
reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2007)
This article is about audible acoustic waves. For other uses, see Sound (disambiguation).
"Soundwave" redirects here. For the Transformer, see Soundwave (Transformers).
A membrane of a drum makes vibration
Sound is vibration transmitted through a solid, liquid, or gas; particularly, sound means those vibrations
composed of frequencies capable of being detected by ears.[1]
Contents
[hide]
• 1 Perception of sound
• 2 Physics of sound
o 2.1 Longitudinal and transverse waves
o 2.2 Sound wave properties and characteristics
o 2.3 Speed of sound
o 2.4 Acoustics and noise
• 3 Sound pressure level
o 3.1 Examples of sound pressure and sound pressure levels
• 4 Equipment for dealing with sound
• 5 References
• 6 Sound measurement
• 7 See also
• 8 External links
Perception of sound
Human ear
For humans, hearing is limited to frequencies between about 20 Hz and 20,000 Hz (20 kHz), with the
upper limit generally decreasing with age. Other species have a different range of hearing. For example,
dogs can perceive vibrations higher than 20 kHz. As a signal perceived by one of the major senses, sound
is used by many species for detecting danger, navigation, predation, and communication. Earth's
atmosphere, water, and virtually any physical phenomenon, such as fire, rain, wind, surf, or earthquake,
produces (and is characterized by) its unique sounds. Many species, such as frogs, birds, marine and
terrestrial mammals, have also developed special organs to produce sound. In some species, these have
evolved to produce song and speech. Furthermore, humans have developed culture and technology (such
as music, telephone and radio) that allows them to generate, record, transmit, and broadcast sound.
Physics of sound
The mechanical vibrations that can be interpreted as sound are able to travel through all forms of matter:
gases, liquids, solids, and plasmas. The matter that supports the sound is called the medium. Sound cannot
travel through vacuum.
Longitudinal and transverse waves
Sinusoidal waves of various frequencies; the bottom waves have higher frequencies than those above. The
horizontal axis represents time.
Sound is transmitted through gases, plasma, and liquids as longitudinal waves, also called compression
waves. Through solids, however, it can be transmitted as both longitudinal and transverse waves.
Longitudinal sound waves are waves of alternating pressure deviations from the equilibrium pressure,
causing local regions of compression and rarefaction, while transverse waves in solids, are waves of
alternating shear stress.
Matter in the medium is periodically displaced by a sound wave, and thus oscillates. The energy carried
by the sound wave converts back and forth between the potential energy of the extra compression (in case
of longitudinal waves) or lateral displacement strain (in case of transverse waves) of the matter and the
kinetic energy of the oscillations of the medium.
Sound wave properties and characteristics
Sound waves are characterized by the generic properties of waves, which are frequency, wavelength,
period, amplitude, intensity, speed, and direction (sometimes speed and direction are combined as a
velocity vector, or wavelength and direction are combined as a wave vector).
Transverse waves, also known as shear waves, have an additional property of polarization.
Sound characteristics can depend on the type of sound waves (longitudinal versus transverse) as well as
on the physical properties of the transmission medium.
Whenever the pitch of the soundwave is affected by some kind of change, the distance between the sound
wave maxima also changes, resulting in a change of frequency. When the loudness of a soundwave
changes, so does the amount of compression in airwave that is travelling through it, which in turn can be
defined as amplitude.
Speed of sound
U.S. Navy F/A-18 breaking the sound barrier. The white halo is formed by condensed water droplets
which are thought to result from a drop in air pressure around the aircraft (see Prandtl-Glauert
Singularity). [2][3]
Main article: Speed of sound
The speed of sound depends on the medium through which the waves are passing, and is often quoted as a
fundamental property of the material. In general, the speed of sound is proportional to the square root of
the ratio of the elastic modulus (stiffness) of the medium to its density. Those physical properties and the
speed of sound change with ambient conditions. For example, the speed of sound in gases depends on
temperature. In 20°C (68°F) air at sea level, the speed of sound is approximately 343 m/s (767.3 mph). In
fresh water, also at 20°C, the speed of sound is approximately 1482 m/s (3,315.1 mph). In steel the speed
of sound is about 5960 m/s (13,332.1 mph).[4] The speed of sound is also slightly sensitive (a second-order
effect) to the sound amplitude, which means that there are nonlinear propagation effects, such as the
production of harmonics and mixed tones not present in the original sound (see parametric array).
Acoustics and noise
The scientific study of the propagation, absorption, and reflection of sound waves is called acoustics.
Noise is a term often used to refer to an unwanted sound. In science and
engineering, noise is an undesirable component that obscures a wanted
Sound measurements
signal.
Sound pressure p
Sound pressure level Particle velocity v
Particle velocity level (SVL)
Main article: Sound pressure (Sound velocity level)
Particle displacement ξ
Sound pressure is defined as the difference between the average local
pressure of the medium outside of the sound wave in which it is traveling Sound intensity I
through (at a given point and a given time) and the pressure found within Sound intensity level (SIL)
the sound wave itself within that same medium. A square of this
Sound power Pac
difference (i.e. a square of the deviation from the equilibrium pressure) is
usually averaged over time and/or space, and a square root of such Sound power level (SWL)
average is taken to obtain a root mean square (RMS) value. For example, Sound energy density E
1 Pa RMS sound pressure in atmospheric air implies that the actual Sound energy flux q
pressure in the sound wave oscillates between (1 atm Pa) and (1 atm Pa),
that is between 101323.6 and 101326.4 Pa. Such a tiny (relative to Surface S
atmospheric) variation in air pressure at an audio frequency will be Acoustic impedance Z
perceived as quite a deafening sound, and can cause hearing damage, Speed of sound c
according to the table below. v•d•e
As the human ear can detect sounds with a very wide range of amplitudes, sound pressure is often
measured as a level on a logarithmic decibel scale. The sound pressure level (SPL) or Lp is defined as
where p is the root-mean-square sound pressure and pref is a reference sound pressure. Commonly
used reference sound pressures, defined in the standard ANSI S1.1-1994, are 20 µPa in air and 1
µPa in water. Without a specified reference sound pressure, a value expressed in decibels cannot
represent a sound pressure level.
Since the human ear does not have a flat spectral response, sound pressures are often frequency weighted
so that the measured level will match perceived levels more closely. The International Electrotechnical
Commission (IEC) has defined several weighting schemes. A-weighting attempts to match the response of
the human ear to noise and A-weighted sound pressure levels are labeled dBA. C-weighting is used to
measure peak levels.
Examples of sound pressure and sound pressure levels
Source of sound RMS sound pressure sound pressure level
Pa dB re 20 µPa
Theoretical limit for undistorted sound at

101,325 191
1 atmosphere environmental pressure
1883 Krakatoa eruption approx 180 at 100 miles
Stun grenades 170-180
rocket launch equipment acoustic tests approx. 165
threshold of pain 100 134
hearing damage during short-term effect 20 approx. 120
jet engine, 100 m distant 6–200 110–140
jackhammer, 1 m distant / discotheque 2 approx. 100
hearing damage from long-term exposure 0.6 approx. 85
traffic noise on major road, 10 m distant 0.2–0.6 80–90
moving automobile, 10 m distant 0.02–0.2 60–80
TV set – typical home level, 1 m distant 0.02 approx. 60
normal talking, 1 m distant 0.002–0.02 40–60
very calm room 0.0002–0.0006 20–30
quiet rustling leaves, calm human breathing 0.00006 10
auditory threshold at 2 kHz – undamaged human ears 0.00002 0
Equipment for dealing with sound

Equipment for generating or using sound includes musical instruments, hearing aids, sonar systems and
sound reproduction and broadcasting equipment. Many of these use electro-acoustic transducers such as
microphones and loudspeakers.
References
1. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin
Company. 2006. http://www.bartleby.com/61/65/S0576500.html.
2. ^ APOD: 19 August 2007- A Sonic Boom
3. ^ http://www.eng.vt.edu/fluids/msc/gallery/conden/mpegf14.htm
4. ^ The Soundry: The Physics of Sound
Sound measurement
• Decibel, sone, mel, phon, hertz
• Sound pressure level
• Particle velocity, acoustic velocity
• Particle displacement, particle amplitude, particle acceleration
• Sound power, acoustic power, sound power level
• Sound energy flux
• Sound intensity, acoustic intensity, sound intensity level
• Acoustic impedance, sound impedance, characteristic impedance
• Speed of sound, amplitude
• See also Template:Sound measurements
See also
Pitch Acoustics | Auditory imagery | Audio bit depth | Audio signal processing | Beats | Cycles |
Diffraction | Doppler effect | Echo | Music | Note | Phonons | Physics of music | Pitch | Psychoacoustics |
Resonance | Rijke tube | Reflection | Reverberation | Sonic weaponry | Sound localization | Soundproofing
| Timbre | Ultrasound |
External links
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Sound
Wikibooks has more on the topic of
Sound
• HyperPhysics: Sound and Hearing

• Introduction to the Physics of Sound
• Hearing curves and on-line hearing test
• Audio for the 21st Century
• Conversion of sound units and levels
• Sounds Amazing a learning resource for sound and waves
• Sound calculations
• Audio Check: a free collection of audio tests and test tones playable on-line
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound"

Categories: Sound measurements | Sound | Acoustics | Hearing | Waves
Death
For other uses, see Death (disambiguation).
The symbolic face of death: detail from an 18th century painting
Death in war: a soldier's corpse sprawled out in Petersburg, Virginia, 1865, during the American Civil
War
Death is the permanent termination of the biological functions that define living organisms. It refers both
to a specific event and to a condition, the true nature of which it has for millennia been a central concern
of the world's religious traditions and philosophers to penetrate; in particular, the possibility or otherwise
of what is known as life after death, or the afterlife.[1]
Numerous factors can cause death: predation, disease, habitat destruction, senescence, suicide, conflict,
malnutrition, or mere accidents resulting in terminal physical injury. The principal cause of death among
those in developed countries is disease precipitated by aging. The chief concern of medical science has
been to postpone and avert death. Paradoxically, precise medical definition of death becomes more
problematic as scientific knowledge and technology advance.
Contents
[hide]
• 1 Biological death
o 1.1 Fate of dead organisms
o 1.2 Competition, natural selection and extinction
 1.2.1 Extinction
o 1.3 Death and evolution
• 2 Death in medicine
o 2.1 Problems of definition
 2.1.1 Misdiagnosed death
o 2.2 Death and the law
o 2.3 Causes of human death
 2.3.1 Symptoms of death
 2.3.2 Autopsy
o 2.4 The quest for life extension
• 3 Death in culture
• 4 See also
• 5 References
o 5.1 Additional references
[edit] Biological death

[edit] Fate of dead organisms
In animals, humans included, small movements of the limbs (for example twitching legs or wings) known
as a postmortem spasm can sometimes be observed for some time following death. Pallor mortis is a
postmortem paleness which accompanies death due to a lack of capillary circulation throughout the body.
Algor mortis describes the predictable decline in body temperature until ambient temperature is reached.
Within a few hours of death rigor mortis is observed with a chemical change in the muscles, causing the
limbs of the corpse to become stiff (Latin rigor) and difficult to move or manipulate. Assuming mild
temperatures, full rigor occurs at about 12 hours, eventually subsiding to relaxation at about 36 hours;
however, decomposition is not always a slow process. Fire, for example, is the primary mode of
decomposition in most grassland ecosystems.[2]
Some organisms have hard parts such as shells or bones which may remain intact after decomposition has
occurred. These remains can, over time, become fossils, which are the mineralized or otherwise preserved
remains or traces (such as footprints) of animals, plants, and other organisms. Fossils vary in size from
microscopic, such as single cells, to gigantic, such as dinosaur fossils. A fossil normally preserves only a
small portion of the deceased organism, usually that portion that was partially mineralized during life,
such as the bones and teeth of vertebrates, or the chitinous exoskeletons of invertebrates. Preservation of
soft tissues, such as in mummification, is extremely rare in the fossil record.
[edit] Competition, natural selection and extinction
Main articles: Competition (biology), natural selection, and extinction
Death is an important part of process of natural selection. Organisms that are less adapted to their current
environment than others are more likely to die having produced fewer offspring, reducing their
contribution to the gene pool of succeeding generations. Weaker genes are thus eventually bred out of a
population, leading to processes such as speciation and extinction. It should be noted however that
reproduction plays an equally important role in determining survival, for example an organism that dies
young but leaves many offspring will have a much greater Darwinian fitness than a long-lived organism
which leaves only one.
[edit] Extinction
Dead as a Dodo: the bird that became a byword in English for species extinction [3]
Extinction is the cessation of existence of a species or group of taxa, reducing biodiversity. The moment
of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of that species (although the
capacity to breed and recover may have been lost before this point). Because a species' potential range
may be very large, determining this moment is difficult, and is usually done retrospectively. This
difficulty leads to phenomena such as Lazarus taxa, where a species presumed extinct abruptly
"reappears" (typically in the fossil record) after a period of apparent absence.
Through evolutional theory, new species arise through the process of speciation — where new varieties of
organisms arise and thrive when they are able to find and exploit an ecological niche — and species
become extinct when they are no longer able to survive in changing conditions or against superior
competition. A typical species becomes extinct within 10 million years of its first appearance,[4] although
some species, called living fossils, survive virtually unchanged for hundreds of millions of years. Only
one in a thousand species that have existed remain today.[4][5]
Still part of life even after death: a decomposing mole has entered Earth's biogeochemical cycle
After death the remains of an organism become part of the biogeochemical cycle. Animals may be
consumed by a predator or a scavenger. Organic material may then be further decomposed by detritivores,
organisms which recycle detritus, returning it to the environment for reuse in the food chain. Examples of
detritivores include earthworms, woodlice and dung beetles.
Microorganisms also play a vital role, raising the temperature of the decomposing matter as they break it
down into yet simpler molecules. Not all material need be decomposed fully, however. Coal, a fossil fuel
formed over vast tracts of time in swamp ecosystems, is one example.
[edit] Death and evolution
Main article: Evolution of aging
Enquiry into the evolution of aging aims to explain why almost all living things weaken and die with age
(a notable exception being hydra, which may be biologically immortal). The evolutionary origin of
senescence remains one of the fundamental puzzles of biology. Gerontology specializes in the science of
human aging processes.
[edit] Death in medicine

[edit] Problems of definition
What is death? A flower, a skull and an hour-glass stand in for Life, Death and Time
Historically, attempts to define the exact moment of death have been problematic. Death was once
defined as the cessation of heartbeat (cardiac arrest) and of breathing, but the development of CPR and
prompt defibrillation have rendered that definition inadequate because breathing and heartbeat can
sometimes be restarted. This is now called "death". Events which were causally linked to death in the
past no longer kill in all circumstances; without a functioning heart or lungs, life can sometimes be
sustained with a combination of life support devices, organ transplants and artificial pacemakers.
Today, where a definition of the moment of death is required, doctors and coroners usually turn to "brain
death" or "biological death"; people are considered dead when the electrical activity in their brain ceases
(cf. persistent vegetative state). It is presumed that a stoppage of electrical activity indicates the end of
consciousness. However, suspension of consciousness must be permanent, and not transient, as occurs
during certain sleep stages, and especially a coma. In the case of sleep, EEGs can easily tell the
difference. Identifying the moment of death is important in cases of transplantation, as an organ for
transplant must be harvested as quickly as possible after the death of the body.
The possession of brain activities, or ability to resume brain activity, is a necessary condition to legal
personhood in the United States. "It appears that once brain death has been determined … no criminal or
civil liability will result from disconnecting the life-support devices." (Dority v. Superior Court of San
Bernardino County, 193 Cal.Rptr. 288, 291 (1983))
Those people maintaining that only the neo-cortex of the brain is necessary for consciousness sometimes
argue that only electrical activity there should be considered when defining death. Eventually it is possible
that the criterion for death will be the permanent and irreversible loss of cognitive function, as evidenced
by the death of the cerebral cortex. All hope of recovering human thought and personality is then gone
given current and foreseeable medical technology. However, at present, in most places the more
conservative definition of death — irreversible cessation of electrical activity in the whole brain, as
opposed to just in the neo-cortex — has been adopted (for example the Uniform Determination Of Death
Act in the United States). In 2005, the Terri Schiavo case brought the question of brain death and artificial
sustenance to the front of American politics.
Even by whole-brain criteria, the determination of brain death can be complicated. EEGs can detect
spurious electrical impulses, while certain drugs, hypoglycemia, hypoxia, or hypothermia can suppress or
even stop brain activity on a temporary basis. Because of this, hospitals have protocols for determining
brain death involving EEGs at widely separated intervals under defined conditions.
[edit] Misdiagnosed death
There are many anecdotal references to people being declared dead by physicians and then 'coming back
to life', sometimes days later in their own coffin, or when embalming procedures are just about to begin.
Owing to significant scientific advancements in the Victorian era, some people in Britain became
obsessively worried about living after being declared dead.[6]
A first responder is not authorized to pronounce a patient dead. Some EMT training manuals specifically
state that a person is not to be assumed dead unless there are clear and obvious indications that death has
occurred.[7] These indications include mortal decapitation, rigor mortis (rigidity of the body), livor mortis
(blood pooling in the part of the body at lowest elevation), decomposition, incineration, or other bodily
damage that is clearly inconsistent with life. If there is any possibility of life and in the absence of a do
not resuscitate (DNR) order, emergency workers are instructed to begin resuscitation and not end it until a
patient has been brought to a hospital to be examined by a physician. This frequently leads to the situation
of a patient being pronounced dead on arrival (DOA). However, some states allow paramedics to
pronounce death. This is usually based on specific criteria. Aside from the above mentioned, conditions
include advanced measures including CPR, intubation, IV access, and administering medicines without
regaining a pulse for at least 20 minutes.
In cases of electric shock, CPR for an hour or longer can allow stunned nerves to recover, allowing an
apparently dead person to survive. People found unconscious under icy water may survive if their faces
are kept continuously cold until they arrive at an emergency room.[7] This "diving response", in which
metabolic activity and oxygen requirements are minimal, is something humans share with cetaceans
called the mammalian diving reflex.[7]
As medical technologies advance, ideas about when death occurs may have to be re-evaluated in light of
the ability to restore a person to vitality after longer periods of apparent death (as happened when CPR
and defibrillation showed that cessation of heartbeat is inadequate as a decisive indicator of death). The
lack of electrical brain activity may not be enough to consider someone scientifically dead. Therefore, the
concept of information theoretical death has been suggested as a better means of defining when true death
actually occurs, though the concept has few practical applications outside of the field of cryonics.
There have been some scientific attempts to bring dead organisms back to life, but with limited success.[8]
In science fiction scenarios where such technology is readily available, real death is distinguished from
reversible death.
[edit] Death and the law
See also: Legal death
By law, a person is dead if a Statement of Death or Death Certificate is approved by a licensed medical
practitioner. Various legal consequences follow death, including the removal from the person of what in
legal terminology is called personhood.
[edit] Causes of human death
See also: List of causes of death by rate and Leading preventable causes of death
Pope John Paul II lying in state in St. Peter's Basilica, Rome, 2005
Death can be caused by disease, suffocation/asphyxiation or prolonged lack of oxygen to the brain, or
physical trauma as a result of an accident ("unintentional circumstance"), homicide ("intentional act by
someone else"), or suicide ("intentional act against one's self").[9] The leading cause of death in developing
countries is infectious disease. The leading causes of death in developed countries are atherosclerosis
(heart disease and stroke), cancer, and other diseases related to obesity and aging. These conditions cause
loss of homeostasis, leading to cardiac arrest, causing loss of oxygen and nutrient supply, causing
irreversible deterioration of the brain and other tissues. With improved medical capability, dying has
become a condition to be managed. Home deaths, once normal, are now rare in the developed world.
In developing nations, inferior sanitary conditions and lack of access to modern medical technology
makes death from infectious diseases more common than in developed countries. One such disease is
tuberculosis, a bacterial disease which killed 1.7 million people in 2004.[10] Malaria causes about 400–900
million cases of fever and approximately one to three million deaths annually.[11] AIDS death toll in Africa
may reach 90-100 million by 2025.[12][13]
According to Jean Ziegler, who was the United Nations Special reporter on the Right to Food from 2000
to March 2008; mortality due to malnutrition accounted for 58% of the total mortality rate in 2006.
Ziegler says worldwide approximately 62 million people died from all causes and of those deaths more
than 36 million died of hunger or diseases due to deficiencies in micronutrients."[14]
Tobacco smoking killed 100 million people worldwide in the 20th century and could kill 1 billion people
around the world in the 21st century, the WHO Report warned.[15][16]
Many leading developed world causes of death can be postponed by diet and physical activity, but the
accelerating incidence of disease with age still imposes limits on human longevity. The evolutionary
cause of aging is, at best, only just beginning to be understood. It has been suggested that direct
intervention in the aging process may now be the most effective intervention against major causes of
death.[17]
[edit] Symptoms of death
Signs of death, strong indications, at the very least, that a person is no longer alive are:
• Pallor mortis, paleness which happens almost instantaneously (in the 15–120 minutes after the
death)
• Algor mortis, the reduction in body temperature following death. This is generally a steady decline
until matching ambient temperature
• Rigor mortis, the limbs of the corpse become stiff (Latin rigor) and difficult to move or manipulate
• Livor mortis, a settling of the blood in the lower (dependent) portion of the body
• Decomposition, the reduction into simpler forms of matter.
[edit] Autopsy
Rembrandt turns an autopsy into a masterpiece: The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp
An autopsy, also known as a postmortem examination or an obduction, is a medical procedure that

consists of a thorough examination of a human corpse to determine the cause and manner of a person's
death and to evaluate any disease or injury that may be present. It is usually performed by a specialized
medical doctor called a pathologist.
Autopsies are either performed for legal or medical purposes. A forensic autopsy is carried out when the
cause of death may be a criminal matter, while a clinical or academic autopsy is performed to find the
medical cause of death and is used in cases of unknown or uncertain death, or for research purposes.
Autopsies can be further classified into cases where external examination suffices, and those where the
body is dissected and an internal examination is conducted. Permission from next of kin may be required
for internal autopsy in some cases. Once an internal autopsy is complete the body is reconstituted by
sewing it back together. Autopsy is important in a medical environment and may shed light on mistakes
and help improve practices.
A necropsy is an older term for a postmortem examination, unregulated, and not always a medical
procedure.
[edit] The quest for life extension
Main article: Life extension
Life extension refers to an increase in maximum or average lifespan, especially in humans, by slowing
down or reversing the processes of aging. Average lifespan is determined by vulnerability to accidents
and age or lifestyle-related afflictions such as cancer or cardiovascular disease. Extension of average
lifespan can be achieved by good diet, exercise and avoidance of hazards such as smoking. Maximum
lifespan is determined by the rate of aging for a species inherent in its genes. Currently, the only widely
recognized method of extending maximum lifespan is calorie restriction. Theoretically, extension of
maximum lifespan can be achieved by reducing the rate of aging damage, by periodic replacement of
damaged tissues, or by molecular repair or rejuvenation of deteriorated cells and tissues.
Researchers of life extension are a subclass of biogerontologists known as "biomedical gerontologists".

They try to understand the nature of aging and they develop treatments to reverse aging processes or to at
least slow them down, for the improvement of health and the maintenance of youthful vigor at every stage
of life. Those who take advantage of life extension findings and seek to apply them upon themselves are
called "life extensionists" or "longevists". The primary life extension strategy currently is to apply
available anti-aging methods in the hope of living long enough to benefit from a complete cure to aging
once it is developed, which given the rapidly advancing state of biogenetic and general medical
technology, could conceivably occur within the lifetimes of people living today.
Many biomedical gerontologists and life extensionists believe that future breakthroughs in tissue
rejuvenation with stem cells, organs replacement (with artificial organs or xenotransplantations) and
molecular repair will eliminate all aging and disease as well as allow for complete rejuvenation to a
youthful condition. Whether such breakthroughs can occur within the next few decades is impossible to
predict. Some life extensionists arrange to be cryonically preserved upon legal death so that they can
await the time when future medicine can eliminate disease, rejuvenate them to a lasting youthful condition
and repair damage caused by the cryonics process.
[edit] Death in culture

Main article: Death in culture
Death haunts even the beautiful: an early 20th century artist says, "All is Vanity"
Death is the center of many traditions and organizations, and is a feature of every culture around the
world. Much of this revolves around the care of the dead, as well as the afterlife and the disposal of bodies
upon the onset of death. The disposal of human corpses does, in general, begin with the last offices before
significant time has passed, and ritualistic ceremonies often occur, most commonly interment or
cremation. This is not a unified practice, however, as in Tibet for instance the body is given a sky burial
and left on a mountain top. Mummification or embalming is also prevalent in some cultures, to retard the
rate of decay.
Such rituals are accompanied by grief and mourning in almost all cases, and this is not limited to human
loss, but extends to the loss of an animal. Legal aspects of death are also part of many cultures,
particularly the settlement of the deceased estate and the issues of inheritance and in some countries,
inheritance taxation.
Capital punishment is also a divisive aspect of death in culture. In most places that practice capital
punishment today, the death penalty is reserved as punishment for premeditated murder, espionage,
treason, or as part of military justice. In some countries, sexual crimes, such as adultery and sodomy,
carry the death penalty, as do religious crimes such as apostasy, the formal renunciation of one's religion.
In many retentionist countries, drug trafficking is also a capital offense. In China human trafficking and
serious cases of corruption are also punished by the death penalty. In militaries around the world courts-
martial have imposed death sentences for offenses such as cowardice, desertion, insubordination, and
mutiny.[18]
Death in warfare and in suicide attack also have cultural links, and the ideas of dulce et decorum est pro
patria mori, mutiny punishable by death, grieving relatives of dead soldiers and death notification are
embedded in many cultures. Recently in the western world, with the supposed increase in terrorism
following the September 11 attacks, but also further back in time with suicide bombers and terrorism in
Northern Ireland, kamikaze missions in World War II and suicide missions in a host of other conflicts in
history, death for a cause by way of suicide attack, and martyrdom have had significant cultural impacts.
Suicide in general, and particularly euthanasia are also points of cultural debate. Both acts are understood
very differently in contrasting cultures. In Japan, for example, ending a life with honor by seppuku was
considered a desirable death, whereas in many western cultures the idea of euthanasia is looked upon with
mixed feelings. Death is also personified in many cultures, with such creations as the Grim Reaper,
Azrael, Father Time. Such cultural ideas are part of a global fascination with death.
Abortion is the deliberate termination of a human pregnancy. This is partially legalised in many Western
countries if the mother requests it, and a doctor prescribes it, often taking into account the physical and
mental state of the mother-to-be, and the development of the fetus. In countries where abortion is legal, it
is understood that the rights of the mother outweigh the rights of the fetus. Some ethicists and religious
groups argue that this is wrong and that the fetus has a right to life. In countries where abortion is illegal,
many "back-alley" (unsafe abortions) may still occur with great risk to the health of the mother.
The inclusion of certain items in this list is disputed.

Please see the relevant discussion on the talk page.
[edit] See also

• -cide • Karōshi
• Bardo Thodol ("Tibetan Book of the Dead") • Last rites
• Burial • Legal death
• Cadaveric spasm • List of causes of death by rate
• Death, Desire and Loss in Western Culture • Leading preventable causes of death
by Jonathan Dollimore • Mortician
• Death erection • Near-death experience
• Death (personification) • Post Mortem Interval
• Death rattle • Thanatology
• Día de los Muertos, (Day of the Dead)
• Dying declaration • World War I casualties
• Euphemisms for death • World War II casualties
• Zombie
[edit] References
1. ^ The Hour of Our Death, Philippe Ariès, 1981
2. ^ DeBano, L.F., D.G. Neary, P.F. Ffolliot (1998) Fire’s Effects on Ecosystems. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.,
New York, New York, USA.
3. ^ Diamond, Jared (1999). "Up to the Starting Line". Guns, Germs, and Steel. W. W. Norton. pp. 43–44.
ISBN 0-393-31755-2.
4. ^ a b Newman, Mark. "A Mathematical Model for Mass Extinction". Cornell University. May 20, 1994.
URL accessed July 30, 2006.
5. ^ Raup, David M. Extinction: Bad Genes or Bad Luck? W.W. Norton and Company. New York. 1991.
pp.3-6 ISBN 978-0393309270
6. ^ As reflected from at least one article of literature by authors like Edgar Allan Poe, where subjects were
buried alive.
7. ^ a b c Limmer, D. et al. (2006). Emergency care (AHA update, Ed. 10e). Prentice Hall.
8. ^ Blood Swapping Reanimates Dead Dogs
9. ^ WHO: 1.6 million die in violence annually
10. ^ World Health Organization (WHO). Tuberculosis Fact sheet N°104 - Global and regional incidence.
March 2006, Retrieved on 6 October 2006.
11. ^ USAID’s Malaria Programs
12. ^ Aids could kill 90 million Africans, says UN
13. ^ AIDS Toll May Reach 100 Million in Africa, Washington Post
14. ^ Jean Ziegler, L'Empire de la honte, Fayard, 2007 ISBN 978-2-253-12115-2 p.130.
15. ^ Tobacco Could Kill One Billion By 2100, WHO Report Warns
16. ^ Tobacco could kill more than 1 billion this century: WHO
17. ^ SJ Olshanksy et al. (2006). "Longevity dividend: What should we be doing to prepare for the
unprecedented aging of humanity?". The Scientist (Scientist (The), Philadelphia) 20: 28–36.
http://www.grg.org/resources/TheScientist.htm. Retrieved on 31 March 2007.
18. ^ "Shot at Dawn, campaign for pardons for British and Commonwealth soldiers executed in World War I".
Shot at Dawn Pardons Campaign. Retrieved on 2006-07-20.
[edit] Additional references
• Pounder, Derrick J. (2005-12-15). "POSTMORTEM CHANGES AND TIME OF DEATH".

University of Dundee. Retrieved on 2006-12-13.
• Appel, JM. Defining Death: When Physicians and Families Differ” Journal of Medical Ethics Fall
2005.
• Vass AA (2001) Microbiology Today 28: 190-192 at: [1]
• Piepenbrink H (1985) J Archaeolog Sci 13: 417-430
• Piepenbrink H (1989) Applied Geochem 4: 273-280
• Child AM (1995) J Archaeolog Sci 22: 165-174
[edit] External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Death
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Death
Look up Death in
• Death at the Open Directory Project

• Death (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
• Doctors Change the Way They Think About Death
• Odds of dying from various injuries or accidents Source: National Safety Council, United States,
2001
• Causes of Death
• Causes of Death 1916 How the medical profession categorized causes of death a century ago.
• George Wald: The Origin of Death A biologist explains life and death in different kinds of
organisms in relation to evolution.
• Before and After Death Interviews with people dying in hospices, and portraits of them before,
and shortly after, death
[hide]
v•d•e
Death and related topics
Autopsy · Brain death · Clinical death · Euthanasia · Lazarus Syndrome · Persistent

In medicine
vegetative state · Terminal illness
Causes of death by rate · People by cause of death · Notable deaths in 2007 · Notable
Lists
deaths in 2008
Mortality Immortality · Infant mortality · Legal death · Maternal death · Mortality rate
Afterlife · Burial · Cremation · Decomposition · Funeral · Grief · Mourning ·

After death
Promession · Resomation · Séance · Customs · Intermediate state
Cryonics · Out-of-body experience · Near-death experience · Near-death studies ·

Research
Reincarnation research
Murder · Race-murder · Suicide · Fascination with death · Martyrdom · Sacrifices

Other (Human · Animal) · War · Personification of Death · Death and culture · Death by
country
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death"
Categories: Death | Demography
Hatred
(Redirected from Hate)

"Hate" redirects here. For other uses, see Hate (disambiguation).

"Hates" redirects here. For the German singer, see Adrian Hates.
Hatred or hate is a word that describes intense feelings of dislike. It can be used in a wide variety of
contexts, from hatred of inanimate objects (e.g. homework, vegetables) to hatred of other people, or even
groups of people. Philosophers have offered many influential definitions of hatred. Rene Descartes
viewed hate as an awareness that something is bad, combined with an urge to withdraw from it. Baruch
Spinoza defined hate as a type of pain that is due to an external cause. Aristotle viewed hate as a desire for
the annihilation of an object that is incurable by time. Finally, David Hume believed that hate is an
irreducible feeling that is not definable at all.[1]
In psychology, Sigmund Freud defined hate as an ego state that wishes to destroy the source of its
unhappiness[2]. In a more contemporary definition, the Penguin Dictionary of Psychology defines hate as a
"deep, enduring, intense emotion expressing animosity, anger, and hostility towards a person, group, or
object."[3] Because hatred is believed to be long-lasting, many psychologists consider it to be more of an
attitude or disposition than a (temporary) emotional state.
The neural correlates of hate have been investigated with an fMRI procedure. In this experiment, people
had their brains scanned while viewing pictures of people they hated. The results showed increased
activity in the medial frontal gyrus, right putamen, bilaterally in the premotor cortex, in the frontal pole,
and bilaterally in the medial insula of the human brain. The researchers concluded that there is a distinct
pattern of brain activity that occurs when people are experiencing hatred.[4]
See also
Look up hatred in
Look up hate in
Find more about Hate on
Wikipedia's sister projects:
Dictionary definitions
Textbooks
Quotations
Source texts
Images and media
News stories
Learning resources
• Ethnic cleansing
• Genocide
• Hate crime
• Hate speech
References
Further reading
• The Psychology of Hate by Robert Sternberg (Ed.)
• Hatred: The Psychological Descent into Violence by Willard Gaylin
• Why We Hate by Jack Levin
• The Psychology of Good and Evil : Why Children, Adults, and Groups Help and Harm Others by
Ervin Staub
• Prisoners of Hate: The Cognitive Basis of Anger, Hostility, and Violence by Aaron T. Beck
• Becoming Evil: How Ordinary People Commit Genocide and Mass Killing by James Waller
[hide]
v•d•e
Emotions (list)
Acceptance · Affection · Alertness · Ambivalence · Anger · Angst · Annoyance · Anticipation · Anxiety ·

Apathy · Awe · Boredom · Calmness · Compassion · Confusion · Contempt · Contentment · Curiosity ·
Depression · Desire · Disappointment · Disgust · Doubt · Ecstasy · Embarrassment · Empathy ·
Emptiness · Enthusiasm · Envy · Epiphany · Euphoria · Fanaticism · Fear · Frustration · Gratification ·
Gratitude · Grief · Guilt · Happiness · Hatred · Homesickness · Honesty · Hope · Hostility · Humiliation ·
Hysteria · Inspiration · Interest · Jealousy · Kindness · Limerence · Loneliness · Love · Lust · Melancholia ·
Nostalgia · Panic · Patience · Pity · Pride · Rage · Regret · Remorse · Repentance · Resentment · Righteous
indignation · Sadness · Saudade · Schadenfreude · Sehnsucht · Self-pity · Shame · Shyness · Suffering ·
Surprise · Suspicion · Sympathy · Wonder · Worry
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hatred"
Categories: Hate | Love | Core issues in ethics
Hidden category: Semi-protected
Shame

This article is about psychological, philosophical, and societal aspects of shame. For other uses, see
Shame (disambiguation).
Shame is, variously, an affect, emotion, cognition, state, or condition. The roots of the word shame are
thought to derive from an older word meaning to cover; as such, covering oneself, literally or figuratively,
is a natural expression of shame.[1]
Contents
[hide]
• 1 Description
• 2 Shame vs. guilt and embarrassment
• 3 Subtypes
• 4 Social aspects
• 5 See also
• 6 Footnotes
• 7 Additional references
[edit] Description
Nineteenth century scientist Charles Darwin, in his book The Expression of the Emotions in Man and
Animals, described shame affect as consisting of blushing, confusion of mind, downward cast eyes, slack
posture, and lowered head, and he noted observations of shame affect in human populations worldwide.[2]
He also noted the sense of warmth or heat (associated with the vasodilation of the face and skin) occurring
in intense shame.
A "sense of shame" is the consciousness or awareness of shame as a state or condition. Such shame
cognition may occur as a result of the experience of shame affect or, more generally, in any situation of
embarrassment, dishonor, disgrace, inadequacy, humiliation, or chagrin.[3]
A condition or state of shame may be also be assigned externally, by others, regardless of the one's own
experience or awareness. "To shame" generally means to actively assign or communicate a state of shame
to another. Behaviors designed to “uncover” or "expose" others are sometimes used for this purpose, as
are utterances like “Shame!” or “Shame on you!”
Finally, to "have shame" means to maintain a sense of restraint against offending others while to "have no
shame" is to behave without such restraint.
[edit] Shame vs. guilt and embarrassment

The location of the dividing line between the concepts of shame, guilt, and embarrassment is not fully
standardized.[4]
According to cultural anthropologist Ruth Benedict, shame is a violation of cultural or social values while
guilt feelings arise from violations of one's internal values. Thus, it is possible to feel ashamed of thought
or behavior that no one knows about and to feel guilty about actions that gain the approval of others.
Psychoanalyst Helen B. Lewis argued that "The experience of shame is directly about the self, which is
the focus of evaluation. In guilt, the self is not the central object of negative evaluation, but rather the
thing done is the focus."[5] Similarly, Fossum and Mason say in their book Facing Shame that "While guilt
is a painful feeling of regret and responsibility for one's actions, shame is a painful feeling about oneself
as a person."[6]
Clinical psychologist Gershen Kaufman's view of shame is aligned with that of Affect Theory, namely
that shame is one of a set of instinctual short-duration physiological reactions to stimulation of a given
kind (i.e., shame is a pre-cognitive affect). Kaufman considers guilt to be a learned behavior consisting
essentially of self-directed blame or contempt, with shame occurring consequent to such behaviors
making up a part of the overall experience of guilt. Here, by self-blame and self-contempt Kaufman
means the application, towards (a part of) one's self, of exactly the same dynamic that blaming of, and
contempt for, others represents when it is applied interpersonally. Kaufman saw that mechanisms such as
blame or contempt may be used as a defending strategy against the experience of shame and that someone
who has a pattern of applying them to himself may well attempt to defend against a shame experience by
applying self-blame or self-contempt. This, however, can lead to an internalized, self-reinforcing
sequence of shame events for which Kaufman coined the term "shame spiral."[7]
One view of difference between shame and embarrassment is that shame does not necessarily involve
public humiliation while embarrassment does, that is, one can feel shame for an act known only to oneself
but in order to be embarrassed one's actions must be revealed to others. In the field of ethics (moral
psychology, in particular), however, there is debate as to whether or not shame is a heteronomous
emotion, i.e. whether or not shame does involve recognition on the part of the ashamed that they have
been judged negatively by others. Immanuel Kant and his followers held that shame is heteronomous;
Bernard Williams and others have argued that shame can be autonomous.[8][9] Shame may carry the
connotation of a response to something that is morally wrong whereas embarrassment is the response to
something that is morally neutral but socially unacceptable. Another view of shame and embarrassment,
though, is that the two emotions lie on a continuum and only differ in intensity.
[edit] Subtypes
Genuine shame is associated with genuine dishonor, disgrace, or condemnation. False shame is associated
with false condemnation as in the double-bind form of false shaming; "he brought what we did to him
upon himself". Author and TV personality John Bradshaw calls shame the "emotion that lets us know we
are finite".[10] "Toxic" shame describes false, pathological shame, and Bradshaw states that toxic shame is
induced, inside children, by all forms of child abuse. Incest and other forms of child sexual abuse can
cause particularly severe toxic shame. Toxic shame often induces what is known as complex trauma in
children who cannot cope with toxic shaming as it occurs and who dissociate the shame until it is possible
to cope with.[citation needed]
In the 1990s, psychologists introduced the notion of vicarious shame, which refers to the experience of
shame on behalf of another person. Individuals vary in their tendency to experience vicarious shame,
which is related to neuroticism and to the tendency to experience personal shame. Extremely shame-prone
people might even experience vicarious shame even to an increased degree, in other words: shame on
behalf of another person who is already feeling shame on behalf of a third party (or possibly on behalf of
the individual proper).
[edit] Social aspects

This article may contain original research or unverified claims. Please improve the article by adding
references. See the talk page for details. (September 2007)
This article includes a list of references or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it has
insufficient inline citations.
You can improve this article by introducing more precise citations where appropriate. (February 2008)
Shame is considered one aspect of socialization in all societies. Shame is enshrouded in legal precedent as
a pillar of punishment and ostensible correction. Shame has been linked to narcissism in the
psychoanalytic literature. It is one of the most intense emotions. The individual experiencing shame may
feel totally despicable, worthless and feel that there is no redemption. According to the anthropologist
Ruth Benedict, cultures may be classified by their emphasis of using either shame or guilt to regulate the
social activities of their members. Shared opinions and expected behaviours that cause the feeling of
shame (as well as an associated reproval) if violated by an individual are in any case proven to be very
efficient in guiding behaviour in a group or society.
Shame is a common form of control used by those people who commit relational aggression. It is also
used in the workplace as a form of overt social control or aggression. Shamery is also a central feature of
punishment, shunning, or ostracism. In addition, shame is often seen in victims of child neglect, child
abuse and a host of other crimes against children. Parental incest is considered by child psychologists to
be the ultimate form of shaming.[citation needed]
A "shame campaign" is a tactic in which particular individuals are singled out because of their behavior or
suspected crimes, often by marking them publicly, such as Hester Prynne in Nathaniel Hawthorne's The
Scarlet Letter. In the Philippines, Alfredo Lim popularized such tactics during his term as mayor of
Manila. On July 1, 1997, he began a controversial "spray paint shame campaign” in an effort to stop drug
use. He and his team sprayed bright red paint on two hundred squatter houses whose residents had been
charged, but not yet convicted, of selling prohibited substances. Officials of other municipalities followed
suit. Former Senator Rene A. Saguisag condemned Lim’s policy.[11]
Despite this criticism, the shame campaigns continued. In January 2005, Metro Manila Development
Authority Chair Bayani Fernando announced shame campaign to target jaywalkers by splashing them
with wet rags. Sen. Richard Gordon disagreed with the shame tactic, and Rep. Vincent Crisologo called
this approach "martial law tactics". Rep. Rozzano Rufino Biazon argued jaywalkers were being treated
like cattle.[12][13]
[edit] See also

Look up Shame in
• Badge of shame
• Blushing
• Modesty
[edit] Footnotes
Emotion

This article includes a list of references or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it
lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations where
appropriate. (March 2008)
For other uses, see Emotion (disambiguation).
"Emotional" redirects here. For other uses, see Emotional (disambiguation)
An emotion is a term for a mental and physiological state associated with a wide variety of feelings,
thoughts, and behavior. Emotions are subjective experiences, or experienced from a individual point of
view. Emotion is often associated with mood, temperament, personality, and disposition. The English
word 'emotion' is derived from the French word émouvoir. This is based on the Latin emovere, where e-
(variant of ex-) means 'out' and movere means 'move'.[1] The related term "motivation" is also derived
from movere.
Emotions can be divided between 'cognitive' theories of emotions and 'non-cognitive' theories of
emotions; or instinctual emotions (from the amygdala), and cognitive emotions (from the prefrontal
cortex). Some psychologists divide emotions into basic and complex categories, where base emotions lead
to more complex ones. Emotions can be categorized by their duration. Some emotions occur over a period
of seconds (e.g. surprise) where others can last years (e.g. love). No definitive taxonomy exists.
A related distinction is between the emotion and the results of the emotion, principally behaviours and
emotional expressions. People often behave in certain ways as a direct result of their emotional state, such
as crying, fighting or fleeing. Yet again, if one can have the emotion without the corresponding behaviour
then we may consider the behaviour not to be essential to the emotion. The James-Lange theory posits
that emotional experience is largely due to the experience of bodily changes. The functionalist approach
to emotions (e.g.,Nico Frijda) holds that emotions have evolved for a particular function, such as to keep
the subject safe.
Contents
[hide]
• 1 Classification
• 2 Theories
o 2.1 Somatic theories
 2.1.1 James-Lange theory
o 2.2 Neurobiological theories
o 2.3 Cognitive theories
 2.3.1 Perceptual theory
 2.3.2 Affective Events Theory
 2.3.3 Cannon-Bard theory
 2.3.4 Two-factor theory
 2.3.5 Component process model
• 3 Disciplinary approaches
o 3.1 Evolutionary biology
o 3.2 Sociology
o 3.3 Psychotherapy
o 3.4 Computer science
• 4 Notable theorists
• 5 See also
• 6 References
• 7 Further reading
[edit] Classification
Main article: Emotion classification
There has been considerable debate concerning how emotions should be classified. Firstly, are emotions
distinctive discrete states or do they vary more smoothly along one or more underlying dimensions? The
circumplex model of James Russell (1979) is an example of the latter, placing emotions along bi-polar
dimensions of valence and arousal. Another popular option is to divide emotions into basic and complex
categories, where some emotions are considered foundational to the existence of others (e.g. Paul Ekman).
In this respect complex emotions may be regarded as developments upon basic emotions. Such
development may occur due to cultural conditioning or association. Alternatively, analogous to the way
primary colors combine, primary emotions could blend together to form the full spectrum of human
emotional experience. For example interpersonal anger and disgust could blend to form contempt.
Robert Plutchik proposed a three-dimensional "circumplex model" which describes the relations among
emotions. This model is similar to a color wheel. The vertical dimension represents intensity, and the
circle represents degrees of similarity among the emotions. He posited eight primary emotion dimensions
arranged as four pairs of opposites. [2] Some have also argued for the existence of meta-emotions which
are emotions about emotions.[3] In general discussion centres around which emotions or dimensions
should be considered foundational. Combined views are also available.
Another important means of distinguishing emotions concerns their occurrence in time. Some emotions
occur over a period of seconds (e.g. surprise) where others can last years (e.g. love). The latter could be
regarded as a long term tendency to have an emotion regarding a certain object rather than an emotion
proper (though this is disputed). A distinction is then made between emotion episodes and emotional
dispositions. Dispositions are also comparable to character traits, where someone may be said to be
generally disposed to experience certain emotions, though about different objects. For example an
irritable person is generally disposed to feel irritation more easily or quickly than others. Finally some
theorists (e.g. Klaus Scherer, 2005) place emotions within a more general category of 'affective states'.
Where affective states can also include emotion-related phenomena such as pleasure and pain,
motivational states (e.g. hunger or curiosity), moods, dispositions and traits.
[edit] Theories
Theories about emotions stretch back at least as far as the Ancient Greek Stoics, as well as Plato and
Aristotle. We also see sophisticated theories in the works of philosophers such as René Descartes[4],
Baruch Spinoza[5] and David Hume. More recent theories of emotions tend to be informed by advances in
empirical research. Often theories are not mutually exclusive and many researchers incorporate multiple
perspectives in their work.
[edit] Somatic theories
Somatic theories of emotion claim that bodily responses rather than judgements are essential to emotions.
The first modern version of such theories comes from William James in the 1880s. The theory lost favour
in the 20th Century, but has regained popularity more recently thanks largely to theorists such as António
Damásio, Joseph E. LeDoux and Robert Zajonc who are able to appeal to neurological evidence.
[edit] James-Lange theory
Main article: James-Lange theory
William James in the article 'What is an Emotion?' (Mind, 9, 1884: 188-205) argued that emotional
experience is largely due to the experience of bodily changes. These changes might be visceral, postural,
or facially expressive. Danish psychologist Carl Lange also proposed a similar theory at around the same
time and thus the resulting position is known as the James-Lange theory. This theory and its derivates
state that a changed situation leads to a changed bodily state. As James says 'the perception of bodily
changes as they occur IS the emotion.' James further claims that 'we feel sorry because we cry, angry
because we strike, afraid because we tremble, and not that we cry, strike, or tremble, because we are
sorry, angry, or fearful, as the case may be.'
This theory is supported by experiments in which by manipulating the bodily state, a desired emotion is
induced.[6] Such experiments also have therapeutic implications (e.g. in laughter therapy, dance therapy).
The James-Lange theory is often misunderstood because it seems counter-intuitive. Most people believe
that emotions give rise to emotion-specific actions: i.e. "I'm crying because I'm sad," or "I ran away
because I was scared." The James-Lange theory, conversely, asserts that first we react to a situation
(running away and crying happen before the emotion), and then we interpret our actions into an emotional
response. In this way, emotions serve to explain and organize our own actions to us.
[edit] Neurobiological theories
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding
reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2008)
Based on discoveries made through neural mapping of the limbic system, the neurobiological explanation
of human emotion is that emotion is a pleasant or unpleasant mental state organized in the limbic system
of the mammalian brain. If distinguished from reactive responses of reptiles, emotions would then be
mammalian elaborations of general vertebrate arousal patterns, in which neurochemicals (e.g., dopamine,
noradrenaline, and serotonin) step-up or step-down the brain's activity level, as visible in body
movements, gestures, and postures. In mammals, primates, and human beings, feelings are displayed as
emotion cues.
For example, the human emotion of love is proposed to have evolved from paleocircuits of the
mammalian brain (specifically, modules of the cingulated gyrus) designed for the care, feeding, and
grooming of offspring. Paleocircuits are neural platforms for bodily expression configured millions of
years before the advent of cortical circuits for speech. They consist of pre-configured pathways or
networks of nerve cells in the forebrain, brain stem and spinal cord. They evolved prior to the earliest
mammalian ancestors, as far back as the jawless fishes, to control motor function.
Presumably, before the mammalian brain, life in the non-verbal world was automatic, preconscious, and
predictable. The motor centers of reptiles react to sensory cues of vision, sound, touch, chemical, gravity,
and motion with pre-set body movements and programmed postures. With the arrival of night-active
mammals, circa 180 million years ago, smell replaced vision as the dominant sense, and a different way of
responding arose from the olfactory sense, which is proposed to have developed into mammalian emotion
and emotional memory. In the Jurassic Period, the mammalian brain invested heavily in olfaction to
succeed at night as reptiles slept — one explanation for why olfactory lobes in mammalian brains are
proportionally larger than in the reptiles. These odor pathways gradually formed the neural blueprint for
what was later to become our limbic brain.
Emotions are thought to be related to activity in brain areas that direct our attention, motivate our
behavior, and determine the significance of what is going on around us. Pioneering work by Broca (1878),
Papez (1937), and MacLean (1952) suggested that emotion is related to a group of structures in the center
of the brain called the limbic system, which includes the hypothalamus, cingulate cortex, hippocampi, and
other structures. More recent research has shown that some of these limbic structures are not as directly
related to emotion as others are, while some non-limbic structures have been found to be of greater
emotional relevance.
[edit] Cognitive theories
There are a number of theories of emotions that argue that cognitive activity in the form of judgements,
evaluations, or thoughts are necessary in order for an emotion to occur. This, it is argued[who?], is necessary
to capture the fact that emotions are about something or have intentionality. Such cognitive activity may
be conscious or unconscious and may or may not take the form of conceptual processing. An influential
theory here is that of Richard Lazarus (1991). A prominent philosophical exponent is Robert C. Solomon
(e.g. The Passions, Emotions and the Meaning of Life, 1993). The theory proposed by Nico Frijda where
appraisal leads to action tendencies is another example.
[edit] Perceptual theory
A recent hybrid of the somatic and cognitive theories of emotion is the perceptual theory. This theory is
neo-Jamesian in arguing that bodily responses are central to emotions, yet it emphasises the
meaningfulness of emotions or the idea that emotions are about something, as is recognised by cognitive
theories. The novel claim of this theory is that conceptually based cognition is unnecessary for such
meaning. Rather the bodily changes themselves perceive the meaningful content of the emotion as a result
of being causally triggered by certain situations. In this respect emotions are held to be analogous to
faculties such as vision or touch, which provide information about the relation between the subject and the
world in various ways. A sophisticated defense of this view is found in philosopher Jesse Prinz's book
Gut Reactions (2004) and psychologist James Laird's book Feelings: The Perception of Self (2007).
Related views are also found in the work of Peter Goldie and Ronald de Sousa.
[edit] Affective Events Theory
Main article: Affective Events Theory
The Affective Events Theory is a communication-based theory developed by Howard M. Weiss and
Russell Cropanzano (1996), that looks at the causes, structures, and consequences of emotional
experience (especially in work contexts.) This theory suggests that emotions are influenced and caused by
events which in turn influence attitudes and behaviors. This theoretical frame also emphasizes time in that
human beings experience what they call emotion episodes - a “series of emotional states extended over
time and organized around an underlying theme” (Weiss & Beal, 2005, p. 6). This theory has been
utilized by numerous researchers to better understand emotion from a communicative lens, and was
reviewed further by Howard M. Weiss and Daniel J. Beal in their article, Reflections on Affective Events
Theory published in Research on Emotion in Organizations in 2005.
[edit] Cannon-Bard theory
Main article: Cannon-Bard theory
In the Cannon-Bard theory, Walter Bradford Cannon argued against the dominance of the James-Lange
theory regarding the physiological aspects of emotions in the second edition of Bodily Changes in Pain,
Hunger, Fear and Rage. Where James argued that emotional behaviour often precedes or defines the
emotion, Cannon and Bard argued that the emotion arises first and then stimulates typical behaviour.
[edit] Two-factor theory
Main article: Two factor theory of emotion
Another cognitive theory is the Singer-Schachter theory. This is based on experiments purportedly
showing that subjects can have different emotional reactions despite being placed into the same
physiological state with an injection of adrenaline. Subjects were observed to express either anger or
amusement depending on whether another person in the situation displayed that emotion. Hence the
combination of the appraisal of the situation (cognitive) and whether participants received adrenaline or a
placebo together determined the response. This experiment has been criticized in Jesse Prinz (2004) Gut
Reactions.
[edit] Component process model
A recent version of the cognitive theory comes from Klaus Scherer which regards emotions more broadly
as the synchronization of many different bodily and cognitive components. Emotions are identified with
the overall process whereby low level cognitive appraisals, in particular the processing of relevance,
trigger bodily reactions, behaviors, feelings, and actions.
[edit] Disciplinary approaches

Many different disciplines have produced work on the emotions. Human sciences study the role of
emotions in mental processes, disorders, and neural mechanisms. In psychiatry, emotions are examined as
part of the discipline's study and treatment of mental disorders in humans. Psychology examines emotions
from a scientific perspective by treating them as mental processes and behavior and they explore the
underlying physiological and neurological processes. In neuroscience sub-fields such as affective
neuroscience, scientists study the neural mechanisms of emotion by combining neuroscience with the
psychological study of personality, emotion, and mood. In linguistics, the expression of emotion may
change to the meaning of sounds. In education, the role of emotions in relation to learning are examined.
Social sciences often examine emotion for the role that it plays in human culture and social interactions.
In sociology, emotions are examined for the role they play in human society, social patterns and
interactions, and culture. In anthropology, the study of humanity, scholars use ethnography to undertake
contextual analyses and cross-cultural comparisons of a range of human activities; some anthropology
studies examine the role of emotions in human activities. In the field of communication sciences, critical
organizational scholars have examined the role of emotions in organizations, from the perspectives of
managers, employees, and even customers. A focus on emotions in organizations can be credited to Arlie
Russell Hochschild's concept of emotional labor. The University of Queensland host's EmoNet([1]), an
email distribution list comprised of a network of academics that facilitates scholarly discussion of all
matters relating to the study of emotion in organizational settings. The list was established in January,
1997 and has over 700 members from across the globe.
In economics, the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and
services, emotions are analyzed in some sub-fields of microeconomics, in order to assess the role of
emotions on purchase decision-making and risk perception. In criminology, a social science approach to
the study of crime, scholars often draw on behavioral sciences, sociology, and psychology; emotions are
examined in criminology issues such as anomie theory and studies of "toughness", aggressive behavior,
and hooliganism. In law, which underpins civil obedience, politics, economics and society, evidence
about people's emotions is often raised in tort law claims for compensation and in criminal law
prosecutions against alleged lawbreakers (as evidence of the defendant's state of mind during trials,
sentencing, and parole hearings). In political science, emotions are examined in a number of sub-fields,
such as the analysis of voter decision-making.
In philosophy, emotions are studied in sub-fields such as ethics, the philosophy of art (e.g., sensory-
emotional values, and matters of taste and sentiment), and the philosophy of music. In history, scholars
examine documents and other sources to interpret and analyze past activities; speculation on the
emotional state of the authors of historical documents is one of the tools of interpretation. In literature and
film-making, the expression of emotion is the cornerstone of genres such as drama, melodrama, and
romance. In communication studies, scholars study the role that emotion plays in the dissemination of
ideas and messages. Emotion is also studied in non-human animals in ethology, a branch of zoology
which focuses on the scientific study of animal behavior. Ethology is a combination of laboratory and
field science, with strong ties to ecology and evolution. Ethologists often study one type of behavior (e.g.
aggression) in a number of unrelated animals.
[edit] Evolutionary biology
This section does not cite any references or sources.

Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and
removed. (July 2008)
Perspectives on emotions from evolution theory were initiated in the late 19th century with Charles
Darwin's book The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals.[7] Darwin's original thesis was that
emotions evolved via natural selection and therefore have cross-culturally universal counterparts.
Furthermore animals undergo emotions comparable to our own (see emotion in animals). Evidence of
universality in the human case has been provided by Paul Ekman's seminal research on facial expression.
Other research in this area focuses on physical displays of emotion including body language of animals
and humans (see affect display). The increased potential in neuroimaging has also allowed investigation
into evolutionarily ancient parts of the brain. Important neurological advances were made from this
perspectives in the 1990s by, for example, Joseph E. LeDoux and António Damásio.
American evolutionary biologist Robert Trivers argues that moral emotions are based on the principal of
reciprocal altruism. The notion of group selection is of particular relevance. This theory posits the
different emotions have different reciprocal effects. Sympathy prompts a person to offer the first favor,
particularly to someone in need for whom the help would go the furthest. Anger protects a person against
cheaters who accept a favor without reciprocating, by making him want to punish the ingrate or sever the
relationship. Gratitude impels a beneficiary to reward those who helped him in the past. Finally, guilt
prompts a cheater who is in danger of being found out, by making them want to repair the relationship by
redressing the misdeed. As well, guilty feelings encourage a cheater who has been caught to advertise or
promise that he will behave better in the future.
[edit] Sociology
Main article: Sociology of emotions
We try to regulate our emotions to fit in with the norms of the situation, based on many - sometimes
conflicting - demands upon us which originate from various entities studied by sociology on a micro level
-- such as social roles and 'feeling rules' the everyday social interactions and situations are shaped by --
and, on a macro level, by social institutions, discourses, ideologies etc. For example, (post-)modern
marriage is, on one hand, based on the emotion of love and on the other hand the very emotion is to be
worked on and regulated by it. The sociology of emotions also focuses on general attitude changes in a
population. Emotional appeals are commonly found in advertising, health campaigns and political
messages. Recent examples include no-smoking health campaigns and political campaign advertising
emphasizing the fear of terrorism.
[edit] Psychotherapy
Depending on the particular school's general emphasis either on cognitive component of emotion,
physical energy discharging, or on symbolic movement and facial expression components of emotion,
different schools of psychotherapy approach human emotions differently. While, for example, the school
of Re-evaluation Counseling propose that distressing emotions are to be relieved by "discharging" them -
hence crying, laughing, sweating, shaking, and trembling.[8] Other more cognitively oriented schools
approach them via their cognitive components, such as rational emotive behavior therapy. Yet other
approach emotions via symbolic movement and facial expression components (like in contemporary
gestalt therapy[9]).
[edit] Computer science
Main article: Affective computing

In the 2000s, in research in computer science, engineering, psychology and neuroscience has been aimed
at developing devices that recognize human affect display and model emotions (Fellous, Armony &
LeDoux, 2002). In computer science, affective computing is a branch of the study and development of
artificial intelligence that deals with the design of systems and devices that can recognize, interpret, and
process human emotions. It is an interdisciplinary field spanning computer sciences, psychology, and
cognitive science.[10] While the origins of the field may be traced as far back as to early philosophical
enquiries into emotion,[11] the more modern branch of computer science originated with Rosalind Picard's
1995 paper[12] on affective computing.[13][14] Detecting emotional information begins with passive sensors
which capture data about the user's physical state or behavior without interpreting the input. The data
gathered is analogous to the cues humans use to perceive emotions in others. Another area within
affective computing is the design of computational devices proposed to exhibit either innate emotional
capabilities or that are capable of convincingly simulating emotions. Emotional speech processing
recognizes the user's emotional state by analyzing speech patterns. The detection and processing of facial
expression or body gestures is achieved through detectors and sensors.
[edit] Notable theorists

In the late nineteenth century, the most influential theorists were William James (1842 – 1910) and Carl
Lange (1834 - 1900). James was an American psychologist and philosopher who wrote about educational
psychology, psychology of religious experience/mysticism, and the philosophy of pragmatism. Lange was
a Danish physician and psychologist. Working independently, they developed the James-Lange theory, a
hypothesis on the origin and nature of emotions. The theory states that within human beings, as a response
to experiences in the world, the autonomic nervous system creates physiological events such as muscular
tension, a rise in heart rate, perspiration, and dryness of the mouth. Emotions, then, are feelings which
come about as a result of these physiological changes, rather than being their cause.
In the twentieth century, some of the most influential theorists on emotion have now passed away. They
include Magda B. Arnold (1903-2002), an American psychologist who developed the appraisal theory of
emotions; Richard Lazarus (1922-2002), an American psychologist who specialized in emotion and stress,
especially in relation to cognition; Robert Plutchik (1928-2006), an American psychologist who
developed a psychoevolutionary theory of emotion. In addition, an American philosopher, Robert C.
Solomon (1942 – 2007), contributed to the theories on the philosophy of emotions with books such as
What Is An Emotion?: Classic and Contemporary Readings (Oxford, 2003).
Influential theorists who are still active include psychologists, neurologists, and philosophers including:
• Lisa Feldman Barrett - Social psychologist specializing in affective science and human emotion
• António Damásio (1944- ) - Portuguese behavioral neurologist and neuroscientist who works in
the US
• Paul Ekman (1934- ) - Psychologist specializing in study of emotions and their relation to facial
expressions
• Barbara Fredrickson - Social psychologist who specializes in emotions and positive psychology.
• Nico Frijda (1927- ) - Dutch psychologist who specializes in human emotions, especially facial
expressions
• Peter Goldie - British philosopher who specializes in ethics, aesthetics, emotion, mood and
character
• Joseph E. LeDoux (1949- ) - American neuroscientist who studies the biological underpinnings of
memory and emotion, especially the mechanisms of fear
• Jesse Prinz - American philosopher who specializes in emotion, moral psychology, aesthetics and
consciousness
• Klaus Scherer (1943- ) - Swiss psychologist and director of the Swiss Center for Affective
Sciences in Geneva; he specializes in the psychology of emotion
• Ronald de Sousa (1940- ) - English-Canadian philosopher who specializes in the philosophy of
emotions, philosophy of mind and philosophy of biology.
• Robert Zajonc (1923- ) - Polish-American social psychologist who specializes in social and
cognitive processes such as social facilitation
• Arlie Russell Hochschild (1940- ) - American sociologist whose central contribution was in
forging a link between the subcutaneous flow of emotion in social life and the larger trends set
loose by modern capitalism within organizations.
[edit] See also

Look up Emotion in
• Affect (psychology)
• Emotion in animals
• Emotions and culture
• Emotion and memory
• Emotional expression
• Feeling
• List of emotions
• Mood (psychology)
• Sociology of emotions
• Somatic markers hypothesis
[edit] References
External links
• Facial Emotion Expression Lab
• CNX.ORG: The Psychology of Emotions, Feelings and Thoughts (free online book)
• Humaine Emotion-Research.net: The Humaine Portal: Research on Emotions and Human-
Machine Interaction
• Kerstin Dautenhahn: Socially Intelligent Agents
• PhilosophyofMind.net: Philosophy of Emotions portal
• Swiss Center for Affective Sciences
• The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Emotion
• University of Arizona: Salk Institute: Emotion Home Page
• eqi.org
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Instinct

For other uses, see Instinct (disambiguation).
Instinct is the inherent disposition of a living organism toward a particular behavior. Instincts are
unlearned, inherited fixed action patterns of responses or reactions to certain kinds of stimuli. Examples
of instinctual fixed action patterns can be observed in the behavior of animals, which perform various
activities (sometimes complex) that are not based upon prior experience and do not depend on emotion or
learning, such as reproduction, and feeding among insects. Sea turtles, hatched on a beach, automatically
move toward the ocean, and honeybees communicate by dance the direction of a food source, all without
formal instruction. Other examples include animal fighting, animal courtship behavior, internal escape
functions, and building of nests.
Instinctual actions - in contrast to actions based on learning which is served by memory and which
provides individually stored successful reactions built upon experience - have no learning curve, they are
hard-wired and ready to use without learning, but do depend on maturational processes to appear.
Biological predispositions are innate biologically vectored behaviors that can be easily learned. For
example in one hour a baby colt can learn to stand, walk, and run with the herd of horses. Learning is
required to fine tune the neurological wiring reflex like behavior. True reflexes can be distinguished from
instincts by their seat in the nervous system; reflexes are controlled by spinal or other peripheral ganglion,
but instincts are the province of the brain.
Contents
[hide]
• 1 Overview
• 2 Evolution
• 3 The Baldwin Effect
• 4 Definitions
o 4.1 Scientific definition
o 4.2 In humans
• 5 See also
• 6 References
[edit] Overview
Technically speaking, any event that initiates an instinctive behavior is termed a key stimulus (KS) or a
releasing stimulus. Key stimuli in turn lead to innate releasing mechanisms (IRM), which in turn produce
fixed action patterns (FAP). More than one key stimulus may be needed to trigger a FAP. Sensory
receptor cells are critical in determining the type of FAP which is initiated. For instance, the reception of
pheromones through nasal sensory receptor cells may trigger a sexual response, while the reception of a
"frightening sound" through auditory sensory receptor cells may trigger a fight or flight response. The
neural networks of these different sensory cells assist in integrating the signal from many receptors to
determine the degree of the KS and therefore produce an appropriate degree of response. Several of these
responses are determined by carefully regulated chemical messengers called hormones. The endocrine
system, which is responsible for the production and transport of hormones throughout the body, is made
up of many secretory glands that produce hormones and release them for transport to target organs.
Specifically in vertebrates, neural control of this system is funneled through the hypothalamus to the
anterior and posterior pituitary gland. Whether or not the behavioral response to a given key stimuli is
either learned, genetic, or both is the center of study in the field of behavioural genetics. Researchers use
techniques such as inbreeding and knockout studies to separate learning and environment from genetic
determination of behavioral traits. The definitions of what constitutes instinct in humans beyond infancy
is conjectural. It could be said that as well as obvious instincts such as breathing, sex-drive, desire to
communicate, etc., humans also have an instinct toward knowledge[citation needed]. The will to invent solutions
to requirements, to present self and possessions aesthetically and to be organised economically, culturally,
religiously and politically could be described as instincts to promote survival, which are further enhanced
by learning which is not instinctive.
In a situation when two instincts contradict each other, an animal may resort to a displacement activity.
[edit] Evolution
Instinctive behavior can be demonstrated across much of the broad spectrum of animal life. According to
Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection, a favorable trait, such as an instinct, will be selected for
through competition and improved survival rate of life forms possessing the instinct. Thus, for
evolutionary biology, instincts can be explained in terms of behaviors that favor survival.
A good example of an immediate instinct for certain types of bird is imprinting. This is the behaviour that
causes geese to follow around the first moving object that they encounter, as it tends to be their mother.
Much work was done on this concept by the psychologist Konrad Lorenz.
[edit] The Baldwin Effect

In 1896, James Mark Baldwin offered up "a new factor in evolution" through which acquired
characteristics could be indirectly inherited. This "new factor" was termed phenotypic plasticity: the
ability of an organism to adjust to its environment during the course of its lifetime. An ability to learn is
the most obvious example of phenotypic plasticity, though other examples are the ability to tan with
exposure to the sun, to form a callus with exposure to abrasion, or to increase muscle strength with
exercise. In addition, Baldwin pointed out that, among other things, the new factor could explain
punctuated equilibria. Over time, this theory became known as the Baldwin effect.
The Baldwin effect functions in two steps. First, phenotypic plasticity allows an individual to adjust to a
partially successful mutation, which might otherwise be utterly useless to the individual. If this mutation
adds to inclusive fitness, it will succeed and proliferate in the population. Phenotypic plasticity is typically
very costly for an individual; learning requires time and energy, and on occasion involves dangerous
mistakes. Therefore there is a second step: provided enough time, evolution may find an inexorable
mechanism to replace the plastic mechanism. Thus a behavior that was once learned (the first step) may in
time become instinctive (the second step). At first glance, this looks identical to Lamarckian evolution,
but there is no direct alteration of the genotype, based on the experience of the phenotype.
[edit] Definitions
[edit] Scientific definition
The term "instincts" has had a long and varied use in psychology. In the 1870s, Wilhelm Wundt
established the first psychology laboratory. At that time, psychology was primarily a branch of
philosophy, but behavior became increasingly examined within the framework of the scientific method.
This method has come to dominate all branches of science. While use of the scientific method led to
increasingly rigorous definition of terms, by the close of the 19th century most repeated behavior was
considered instinctual. In a survey of the literature at that time, one researcher chronicled 4000 human
instincts, meaning someone applied the label to any behavior that was repetitive. As research became
more rigorous and terms better defined, instinct as an explanation for human behavior became less
common. In a conference in 1960, chaired by Frank Beach, a pioneer in comparative psychology and
attended by luminaries in the field, the term was restricted in its application. During the 60's and 70's,
textbooks still contained some discussion of instincts in reference to human behavior. By the year 2000, a
survey of the 12 best selling textbooks in Introductory Psychology revealed only one reference to
instincts, and that was in regard to Freud's referral to the "id" instincts.
Any repeated behavior can be called "instinctual." As can any behavior for which there is a strong innate
component. However, to distinguish behavior beyond the control of the organism from behavior that has a
repetitive component we can turn to the book "Instinct"(1961) stemming from the 1960 conference. A
number of criteria were established which distinguishes instinctual from other kinds of behavior. To be
considered instinctual a behavior must a) be automatic, b) be irresistible, c) occur at some point in
development, d) be triggered by some event in the environment, e) occur in every member of the species,
f) be unmodifiable, and g) govern behavior for which the organism needs no training (although the
organism may profit from experience and to that degree the behavior is modifiable). The absence of one
or more of these criteria indicates that the behavior is not fully instinctual. Instincts do exist in insects and
animals as can be seen in behaviors that can not be changed by learning. Psychologists do recognize that
humans do have biological predispositions or behaviors that are easy to learn due to biological wiring, for
example walking and talking.
If these criteria are used in a rigorous scientific manner, application of the term "instinct" cannot be used
in reference to human behavior. When terms, such as mothering, territoriality, eating, mating, and so on,
are used to denote human behavior they are seen to not meet the criteria listed above. In comparison to
animal behavior such as hibernation, migration, nest building, mating and so on that are clearly
instinctual, no human behavior meets the necessary criteria. And even in regard to animals, in many cases
if the correct learning is stopped from occurring these instinctual behaviors disappear, suggesting that
they are potent, but limited, biological predispostions. In the final analysis, under this definition, there are
no human instincts.
[edit] In humans
Some sociobiologists and ethologists have attempted to comprehend human and animal social behavior in
terms of instincts. Psychoanalysts have stated that instinct refers to human motivational forces (such as
sex and aggression), sometimes represented as life instinct and death instinct. This use of the term
motivational forces has mainly been replaced by the term instinctual drives.
Instincts in humans can also be seen in what are called instinctive reflexes. Reflexes, such as the Babinski
Reflex (fanning of the toes when foot is stroked), are seen in babies and are indicative of stages of
development. These reflexes can truly be considered instinctive because they are generally free of
environmental influences or conditioning.
Additional human traits that have been looked at as instincts are: sleeping, altruism, disgust, face
perception, language acquisitions, "fight or flight" and "subjugate or be subjugated". Some experiments in
human and primate societies have also come to the conclusion that a sense of fairness could be considered
instinctual, with humans and apes willing to harm their own interests in protesting unfair treatment of self
or others.[1][2]
Other sociologists argue that humans have no instincts, defining them as a "complex pattern of behavior
present in every specimen of a particular species, that is innate, and that cannot be overridden." Said
sociologists argue that drives such as sex and hunger cannot be considered instincts, as they can be
overridden. This definitory argument is present in many introductory sociology and biology textbooks,[3]
but is still hotly debated.
[edit] See also

• Maladaptivity
• Biological Imperative
• Organism
• Nature
• Preparedness (learning)
• Psychological nativism
[edit] References
1. ^ Researchers wonder if fairness instinct has been bred into the human race (summary of a Philadelphia
Inquirer article of 2000)
2. ^ Programme 4 - Natural Born Heroes - BBC, Wednesday 13 November 2002
3. ^ Sociology: An Introduction - Robertson, Ian; Worth Publishers, 1989
Beach, F. A. The descent of instinct. Psychol. Rev. 62:401-10.
[hide]
v•d•e
Neuroethology
Feedforward · Coincidence detector · Umwelt · Instinct · Feature detector · Central

Concepts pattern generator (CPG) · NMDA receptor · Lateral inhibition · Fixed action pattern ·
Krogh's Principle · Hebbian theory · Anti-Hebbian Learning · Sound localization
Theodore Holmes Bullock · Walter Heiligenberg · Niko Tinbergen · Konrad Lorenz ·

History Eric Knudsen · Donald Griffin · Donald Kennedy · Karl von Frisch · Erich von
Holst · Jörg-Peter Ewert
Methods Whole Cell Patch Clamp
Animal echolocation · Waggle dance · Electric fish · Vision in toads · Frog hearing
Model Systems
and communication · Infrared sensing in snakes · Caridoid escape reaction
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instinct"
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Laughter
(Redirected from Laugh)

This article includes a list of references or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it
lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations where
appropriate.
For other uses, see Laughter (disambiguation).
"Laugh" redirects here. For the 2002 rock album, see Laugh (Keller Williams album).
Two girls laughing
Late 19th century or early 20th century depiction of different stages of laughter on advertising cards
Laughter is an audible expression, or appearance of merriment or happiness, or an inward feeling of joy

and pleasure (laughing on the inside). It may ensue (as a physiological reaction) from jokes, tickling, and
other stimuli. Inhaling nitrous oxide can also induce laughter; other drugs, such as cannabis, can also
induce episodes of strong laughter. Strong laughter can sometimes bring an onset of tears or even
moderate muscular pain.
Laughter is a part of human behaviour regulated by the brain. It helps humans clarify their intentions in
social interaction and provides an emotional context to conversations. Laughter is used as a signal for
being part of a group — it signals acceptance and positive interactions with others. Laughter is sometimes
seemingly contagious, and the laughter of one person can itself provoke laughter from others as a positive
feedback.[1] An extreme case of this is the Tanganyika laughter epidemic. This may account in part for the
popularity of laugh tracks in situation comedy television shows.
The study of humor and laughter, and its psychological and physiological effects on the human body is
called gelotology.
Contents
[hide]
• 1 Laughter in animals
o 1.1 Non-human primates
o 1.2 Rats
o 1.3 Dogs
o 1.4 Humans
o 1.5 Gender differences
• 2 Laughter and the brain
• 3 Causes
• 4 Notes
• 5 References
• 6 See also
o 7.1 Video
[edit] Laughter in animals

Laughter is not confined or unique to humans, despite Aristotle's observation that "only the human animal
laughs". The differences between the laughter of chimpanzees and humans may be the result of
adaptations that evolved to enable human speech. However, some behavioral psychologists argue that
self-awareness of one's situation, or the ability to identify with another's predicament are prerequisites for
laughter, and thus certain animals are not laughing in the "human manner".
Laughter is a rich experience and expression in human beings. Thus there are several shades of smiling
and laughing expressions. They involve elaborate neurophysiological and physiological processes. Such
laughter is not often seen in animals. Nevertheless, one can not deny occurrences of primitive laughter in
terms of experience and expression in animals. Owners of pets can vouch on this point, if they understand
when their pet is happy and how it expresses the same.[citation needed]
According to Dr. Shriniwas Kashalikar, self awareness is conscious concommitant of the physiological
processes involving laughter or smiling reflex [response] and its grades, degrees or spectrum varies
according to phylogenetic development, with no clear cut demarcation. The emotional ingredients [such
as contempt, hatred, ridicule, sarcasm, love, amusement etc] are variable and involve different
neurophysiological and physiological processes.[citation needed]
Self awareness and ability to identify with another's predicament may be prerequisite to intellectual jokes
with specific references and contexts, but not for laughing behavior as such. Laughing also feels good.
An Orangutan "laughing"
Research of laughter in animals may identify new molecules to alleviate depression, disorders of
excessive exuberance such as mania and ADHD, or addictive urges and mood imbalances.
[edit] Non-human primates
Chimpanzees, gorillas, bonobos and orangutans show laughter-like vocalizations in response to physical
contact, such as wrestling, play chasing, or tickling. This is documented in wild and captive chimpanzees.
Chimpanzee laughter is not readily recognizable to humans as such, because it is generated by alternating
inhalations and exhalations that sound more like breathing and panting. It sounds similar to screeching.
The differences between chimpanzee and human laughter may be the result of adaptations that have
evolved to enable human speech. It is hard to tell, though, whether or not the chimpanzee is expressing
joy. There are instances in which non-human primates have been reported to have expressed joy. One
study analyzed and recorded sounds made by human babies and bonobos (also known as pygmy
chimpanzees) when tickled. It found that although the bonobo’s laugh was a higher frequency, the laugh
followed the same spectrographic pattern of human babies to include as similar facial expressions.
Humans and chimpanzees share similar ticklish areas of the body such as the armpits and belly. The
enjoyment of tickling in chimpanzees does not diminish with age. A chimpanzee laughter sample.
Goodall 1968 & Parr 2005
Brown Rat
[edit] Rats
It has been discovered that rats emit long, high frequency, ultrasonic, socially induced vocalization during
rough and tumble play and when tickled. The vocalization is described a distinct “chirping”. Humans
cannot hear the "chirping" without special equipment. It was also discovered that like humans, rats have
"tickle skin". These are certain areas of the body that generate more laughter response than others. The
laughter is associated with positive emotional feelings and social bonding occurs with the human tickler,
resulting in the rats becoming conditioned to seek the tickling. Additional responses to the tickling were
those that laughed the most also played the most, and those that laughed the most preferred to spend more
time with other laughing rats. This suggests a social preference to other rats exhibiting similar responses.
However, as the rats age, there does appear to be a decline in the tendency to laugh and respond to tickle
skin. The initial goal of Jaak Panksepp and Jeff Burgdorf’s research was to track the biological origins of
joyful and social processes of the brain by comparing rats and their relationship to the joy and laughter
commonly experienced by children in social play. Although, the research was unable to prove rats have a
sense of humour, it did indicate that they can laugh and express joy. Panksepp & Burgdorf 2003 Chirping
by rats is also reported in additional studies by Brain Knutson of the National Institutes of Health. Rats
chirp when wrestling one another, before receiving morphine, or when mating. The sound has been
interpreted as an expectation of something rewarding. Science News 2001
[edit] Dogs
The dog laugh sounds similar to a normal pant. But by analyzing the pant using a sonograph, this pant
varies with bursts of frequencies, resulting in a laugh. When this recorded dog-laugh vocalization is
played to dogs in a shelter setting, it can initiate play, promote pro-social behavior, and decrease stress
levels. In a study by Simonet, Versteeg, and Storie, 120 subject dogs in a mid-size county animal shelter
were observed. Dogs ranging from 4 months to 10 years of age were compared with and without exposure
to a dog-laugh recording. The stress behaviors measured included panting, growling, salivating, pacing,
barking, cowering, lunging, play-bows, sitting, orienting and lying down. The study resulted in positive
findings when exposed to the dog laughing: significantly reduced stress behaviors, increased tail wagging
and the display of a play-face when playing was initiated, and the increase of pro-social behavior such as
approaching and lip licking were more frequent. This research suggests exposure to dog-laugh
vocalizations can calm the dogs and possibly increase shelter adoptions. Simonet, Versteeg, & Storie
2005 A dog laughter sample. Simonet 2005
[edit] Humans
Laughter is a common response to tickling
Recently researchers have shown infants as early as 17 days old have vocal laughing sounds or
spontaneous laughter. Early Human Development 2006This conflicts with earlier studies indicating that
babies usually start to laugh at about four months of age; J.Y.T. Greig writes, quoting ancient authors, that
laughter is not believed to begin in a child until the child is forty days old. [2] "Laughter is Genetic" Robert
R. Provine, Ph.D. has spent decades studying laughter. In his interview for WebMD, he indicated
"Laughter is a mechanism everyone has; laughter is part of universal human vocabulary. There are
thousands of languages, hundreds of thousands of dialects, but everyone speaks laughter in pretty much
the same way.” Everyone can laugh. Babies have the ability to laugh before they ever speak. Children
who are born blind and deaf still retain the ability to laugh. “Even apes have a form of ‘pant-pant-pant’
laughter.”
Provine argues that “Laughter is primitive, an unconscious vocalization.” And if it seems you laugh more
than others, Provine argues that it probably is genetic. In a study of the “Giggle Twins,” two exceptionally
happy twins were separated at birth and not reunited until 43 years later. Provine reports that “until they
met each other, neither of these exceptionally happy ladies had known anyone who laughed as much as
she did.” They reported this even though they both had been brought together by their adoptive parents
they indicated were “undemonstrative and dour.” Provine indicates that the twins “inherited some aspects
of their laugh sound and pattern, readiness to laugh, and perhaps even taste in humor.” WebMD 2002
Raju Mandhyan states "The physical and psychological benefits of laughter come second only to the
physical and psychological benefits of sex."
[edit] Gender differences
Men and women take jokes differently. A study that appeared in Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences found in a study, 10 men and 10 women all watched 10 cartoons, rating them funny or not funny
and if funny, how funny on a scale of 1–10. While doing this, their brains were scanned by functional
magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Men and women for the most part agreed which cartoons were
funny. However, their brains handled humor differently. Women’s brains showed more activity in certain
areas, including the nucleus accumbens. When women viewed cartoons they did not find humorous, their
nucleus accumbens had a “ho-hum response.” A man's nucleus accumbens did not react to funny
cartoons, and its natural activity level dropped during unfunny cartoons.
Researchers suspect the element of surprise may be at the heart of the study. They suggested that maybe
women did not expect the cartoons to be funny, while men did the opposite. When the men in the study
“got what they expected, their nucleus accumbens were calm.” However, the women’s brains could have
had increased activity when they were “pleasantly surprised” by the cartoons’ humour. Researchers also
suspect that men might have been “let down by unfunny cartoons, causing a dip in that brain area’s
activity.”
It was indicated that this study might be a clue about the different emotional responses between men and
women and could help with depression research. The research suggests men and women “differ in how
humour is used and appreciated,” says Allan Reiss, M.D. WebMD 2005
[edit] Laughter and the brain
Principal fissures and lobes of the cerebrum viewed laterally. (Frontal lobe is blue, temporal lobe is
green.)
Modern neurophysiology states that laughter is linked with the activation of the ventromedial prefrontal
cortex, which produces endorphins after a rewarding activity.
Research has shown that parts of the limbic system are involved in laughter[citation needed]. The limbic system
is a primitive part of the brain that is involved in emotions and helps us with basic functions necessary for
survival. Two structures in the limbic system are involved in producing laughter: the amygdala and the
hippocampus[citation needed].
The December 7, 1984 Journal of the American Medical Association describes the neurological causes of
laughter as follows:
"Although there is no known 'laugh center' in the brain, its neural mechanism has been the subject
of much, albeit inconclusive, speculation. It is evident that its expression depends on neural paths
arising in close association with the telencephalic and diencephalic centers concerned with
respiration. Wilson considered the mechanism to be in the region of the mesial thalamus,
hypothalamus, and subthalamus. Kelly and co-workers, in turn, postulated that the tegmentum
near the periaqueductal grey contains the integrating mechanism for emotional expression. Thus,
supranuclear pathways, including those from the limbic system that Papez hypothesised to mediate
emotional expressions such as laughter, probably come into synaptic relation in the reticular core
of the brain stem. So while purely emotional responses such as laughter are mediated by
subcortical structures, especially the hypothalamus, and are stereotyped, the cerebral cortex can
modulate or suppress them."
This section may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards.
Please improve this article if you can. (July 2008)
[edit] Causes
Common causes for laughter are sensations of joy and humor, however other situations may cause
laughter as well.
A general theory that explains laughter is called the relief theory. Sigmund Freud summarized it in his
theory that laughter releases tension and "psychic energy". This theory is one of the justifications of the
beliefs that laughter is beneficial for one's health.[3] This theory explains why laughter can be as a coping
mechanism for when one is upset, angry or sad.
Philosopher John Morreall theorizes that human laughter may have its biological origins as a kind of
shared expression of relief at the passing of danger.
For example, this is how this theory works in the case of humour: a joke creates an inconsistency, the
sentence appears to be not relevant, and we automatically try to understand what the sentence says,
supposes, doesn't say, and implies; if we are successful in solving this 'cognitive riddle', and we find out
what is hidden within the sentence, and what is the underlying thought, and we bring foreground what
was in the background, and we realize that the surprise wasn't dangerous, we eventually laugh with relief.
Otherwise, if the inconsistency is not resolved, there is no laugh, as Mack Sennett pointed out: "when the
audience is confused, it doesn't laugh" (this is the one of the basic laws of a comedian, called
"exactness"). It is important to note that the inconsistency may be resolved, and there may still be no
laugh. Due to the fact that laughter is a social mechanism, we may not feel like we are in danger,
however, the physical act of laughing may not take place. In addition, the extent of the inconsistency
(timing, rhythm, etc) has to do with the amount of danger we feel, and thus how intense or long we laugh.
This explanation is also confirmed by modern neurophysiology (see section Laughter and the Brain)
[edit] Notes
1. ^ Camazine, Deneubourg, Franks, Sneyd, Theraulaz, Bonabeau, Self-Organization in Biological Systems,
Princeton University Press, 2003. ISBN 0-691-11624-5 --ISBN 0-691-01211-3 (pbk.) p. 18
2. ^ J.Y.T. Greig, The Psychology of Comedy and Laughter
3. ^ M.P. Mulder, A. Nijholt (2002) "Humour Research: State of the Art"
[edit] References
[edit] See also
• Evil laugh
• Fatal hilarity
• Gelotology
• Laughter in Literature
• Nervous laughter
• Pathological laughing and crying
• Joke
[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Laughter
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Laughter
Look up Laughter in
• The Origins of Laughter

• Humor therapy for cancer patients
• Etymology of Gelotology
• More information about Gelotology from the University of Washington
• How Stuff Works - Laughter
• Where Did Laughter Come From?
• Humor Theory
• Formulae of laughter
[edit] Video
• Therapeutic laughter video
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laughter"

Category: Laughter
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Brain
For other uses, see Brain (disambiguation).

This article is about the brains of all types of animals, including humans. For information specific to the
human brain, see Human brain.
A chimpanzee brain
The brain is the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate, and most invertebrate, animals. Some
primitive animals such as jellyfish and starfish have a decentralized nervous system without a brain, while
sponges lack any nervous system at all. In vertebrates, the brain is located in the head, protected by the
skull and close to the primary sensory apparatus of vision, hearing, balance, taste, and smell.
Brains can be extremely complex. The human brain contains roughly 100 billion neurons, linked with up
to 10,000 synaptic connections each. These neurons communicate with one another by means of long
protoplasmic fibers called axons, which carry trains of signal pulses called action potentials to distant
parts of the brain or body and target them to specific recipient cells.
From a philosophical point of view, it might be said that the most important function of the brain is to
serve as the physical structure underlying the mind. From a biological point of view, though, the most
important function is to generate behaviors that promote the welfare of an animal. Brains control behavior
either by activating muscles, or by causing secretion of chemicals such as hormones. Even single-celled
organisms may be capable of extracting information from the environment and acting in response to it.[1]
Sponges, which lack a central nervous system, are capable of coordinated body contractions and even
locomotion.[2] In vertebrates, the spinal cord by itself contains neural circuitry capable of generating reflex
responses as well as simple motor patterns such as swimming or walking.[3] However, sophisticated
control of behavior on the basis of complex sensory input requires the information-integrating capabilities
of a centralized brain.
Despite rapid scientific progress, much about how brains work remains a mystery. The operations of
individual neurons and synapses are now understood in considerable detail, but the way they cooperate in
ensembles of thousands or millions has been very difficult to decipher. Methods of observation such as
EEG recording and functional brain imaging tell us that brain operations are highly organized, but these
methods do not have the resolution to reveal the activity of individual neurons. Thus, even the most
fundamental principles of neural network computation may to a large extent remain for future
investigators to discover.[4]
Contents
[hide]
• 1 Macroscopic structure
o 1.1 Bilaterians
o 1.2 Invertebrates
o 1.3 Vertebrates
o 1.4 Mammals
o 1.5 Primates, including humans
• 2 Microscopic structure
• 3 Development
• 4 Functions
o 4.1 Neurotransmitter systems
o 4.2 Sensory systems
o 4.3 Motor system
o 4.4 Arousal system
o 4.5 Brain energy consumption
• 5 Effects of damage and disease
• 6 Brain and mind
• 7 How it is studied
o 7.1 Neuroanatomy
o 7.2 Electrophysiology
o 7.3 Lesion studies
o 7.4 Computation
o 7.5 Genetics
• 8 History of its study
• 9 Notes
• 10 References
• 11 Further reading
[edit] Macroscopic structure
Brains of 8 species of mammals
The brain is the most complex biological structure known,[5] and comparing the brains of different species
on the basis of appearance is often difficult. Nevertheless, there are common principles of brain
architecture that apply across a wide range of species. These are revealed mainly by three approaches. The
evolutionary approach means comparing brain structures of different species, and using the principle that
features found in all branches that descend from a given ancient form were probably present in the
ancestor as well. The developmental approach means examining how the form of the brain changes during
the progression from embyronic to adult stages. The genetic approach means analyzing gene expression in
various parts of the brain across a range of species. Each approach complements and informs the other
two.
The cerebral cortex is a part of the brain that most strongly distinguishes mammals from other vertebrates,
primates from other mammals, and humans from other primates. In non-mammalian vertebrates, the
surface of the cerebrum is lined with a comparatively simple layered structure called the pallium.[6] In
mammals, the pallium evolves into a complex 6-layered structure called neocortex. In primates, the
neocortex is greatly enlarged in comparison to its size in non-primates, especially the part called the
frontal lobes. In humans, this enlargement of the frontal lobes is taken to an extreme, and other parts of
the cortex also become quite large and complex.
The relationship between brain size, body size and other variables has been studied across a wide range of
species. Brain size increases with body size but not proportionally. Averaging across all orders of
mammals, it follows a power law, with an exponent of about 0.75[7] This formula applies to the average
brain of mammals but each family departs from it, reflecting their sophistication of behavior.[8] For
example, primates have brains 5 to 10 times as large as the formula predicts. Predators tend to have larger
brains. When the mammalian brain increases in size, not all parts increase at the same rate. The larger the
brain of a species, the greater the fraction taken up by the cortex.[9]
[edit] Bilaterians
Body plan of a generic bilaterian animal. The nervous system has the form of a nerve cord with segmental
enlargements, and a "brain" at the front.
With the exception of a few primitive forms such as sponges and jellyfish, all living animals are
bilaterians, meaning animals with a bilaterally symmetric body shape (that is, left and right sides that are
approximate mirror images of each other).
All bilaterians are thought to have descended from a common ancestor that appeared early in the
Cambrian period, 550-600 million years ago.[10] This ancestor had the shape of a simple tube worm with a
segmented body, and at an abstract level, that worm-shape continues to be reflected in the body and
nervous system plans of all modern bilaterians, including humans.[11] The fundamental bilaterian body
form is a tube with a hollow gut cavity running from mouth to anus, and a nerve cord with an enlargement
(a "ganglion") for each body segment, with an especially large ganglion at the front, called the "brain".
[edit] Invertebrates
Drosophila
For invertebrates—insects, molluscs, worms, etc.—the components of the brain differ so greatly from the
vertebrate pattern that it is hard to make meaningful comparisons except on the basis of genetics. Two
groups of invertebrates have notably complex brains: arthropods (insects, crustaceans, arachnids, and
others), and cephalopods (octopuses, squids, and similar molluscs).[12] The brains of arthropods and
cephalopods arise from twin parallel nerve cords that extend through the body of the animal. Arthropods
have a central brain with three divisions and large optical lobes behind each eye for visual processing.[12]
Cephalopods have the largest brains of any invertebrates. The brain of the octopus in particular is highly
developed, comparable in complexity to the brains of some vertebrates.
There are a few invertebrates whose brains have been studied intensively. The large sea slug Aplysia was
chosen by Nobel Prize-winning neurophysiologist Eric Kandel, because of the simplicity and accessibility
of its nervous system, as a model for studying the cellular basis of learning and memory, and subjected to
hundreds of experiments.[13] The most thoroughly studied invertebrate brains, however, belong to the fruit
fly Drosophila and the tiny roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans.
Because of the large array of techniques available for studying their genetics, fruit flies have been a
natural subject for studying the role of genes in brain development.[14] Remarkably, many aspects of
Drosophila neurogenetics have turned out to be relevant to humans. The first biological clock genes, for
example, were identified by examining Drosophila mutants that showed disrupted daily activity cycles.[15]
A search in the genomes of vertebrates turned up a set of analogous genes, which were found to play
similar roles in the mouse biological clock—and therefore almost certainly in the human biological clock
as well.[16]
Like Drosophila, C. elegans has been studied largely because of its importance in genetics.[17] In the early
1970s, Sydney Brenner chose it as a model system for studying the way that genes control development.
One of the advantages of working with this worm is that the body plan is very stereotyped: the nervous
system of the hermaphrodite morph contains exactly 302 neurons, always in the same places, making
identical synaptic connections in every worm.[18] In a heroic project, Brenner's team sliced worms into
thousands of ultrathin sections and photographed every section under an electron microscope, then
visually matched fibers from section to section, in order to map out every neuron and synapse in the entire
body.[19] Nothing approaching this level of detail is available for any other organism, and the information
has been used to enable a multitude of studies that would not have been possible without it.
[edit] Vertebrates
This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding
reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2008)
The brain of a shark.
The brains of vertebrates are made of very soft tissue, with a texture that has been compared to Jello.[20]
Living brain tissue is pinkish on the outside and mostly white on the inside, with subtle variations in
color. Vertebrate brains are surrounded by a system of connective tissue membranes called meninges that
separate the skull from the brain.[21] This three-layered covering is composed of (from the outside in) the
dura mater ("hard mother"), arachnoid mater ("spidery mother"), and pia mater ("soft mother"). The
arachnoid and pia are physically connected and thus often considered as a single layer, the pia-arachnoid.
Below the arachnoid is the subarachnoid space which contains cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), which circulates
in the narrow spaces between cells and through cavities called ventricles, and serves to nourish, support,
and protect the brain tissue. Blood vessels enter the central nervous system through the perivascular space
above the pia mater. The cells in the blood vessel walls are joined tightly, forming the blood-brain barrier
which protects the brain from toxins that might enter through the blood.
The first vertebrates appeared over 500 million years ago (Mya), during the Cambrian period, and may
have somewhat resembled the modern hagfish in form.[22] Sharks appeared about 450 Mya, amphibians
about 400 Mya, reptiles about 350 Mya, and mammals about 200 Mya. No modern species should be
described as more "primitive" than others, since all have an equally long evolutionary history, but the
brains of modern hagfishes, lampreys, sharks, amphibians, reptiles, and mammals show a gradient of size
and complexity that roughly follows the evolutionary sequence.[23] All of these brains contain the same set
of basic anatomical components, but many are rudimentary in hagfishes, whereas in mammals the
foremost parts are greatly elaborated and expanded.
All vertebrate brains share a common underlying form, which can most easily be appreciated by
examining how they develop.[24] The first appearance of the nervous system is as a thin strip of tissue
running along the back of the embryo. This strip thickens and then folds up to form a hollow tube. The
front end of the tube develops into the brain. In its earliest form, the brain appears as three swellings,
which eventually become the forebrain, midbrain, and hindbrain. In many classes of vertebrates these
three parts remain similar in size in the adult, but in mammals the forebrain becomes much larger than the
other parts, and the midbrain quite small.
Neuroanatomists usually consider the brain to consist of six main regions: the telencephalon (cerebral
hemispheres), diencephalon (thalamus and hypothalamus), mesencephalon (midbrain), cerebellum, pons,
and medulla.[25] Each of these areas in turn has a complex internal structure. Some areas, such as the
cortex and cerebellum, consist of layers, folded or convoluted to fit within the available space. Other areas
consist of clusters of many small nuclei. If fine distinctions are made on the basis of neural structure,
chemistry, and connectivity, thousands of distinguishable areas can be identified within the vertebrate
brain.
Some branches of vertebrate evolution have led to substantial changes in brain shape, especially in the
forebrain. The brain of a shark shows the basic components in a straighforward way, but in teleost fishes
(the great majority of modern species), the forebrain has become "everted", like a sock turned inside out.
In birds, also, there are major changes in shape.[26] One of the main structures in the avian forebrain, the
dorsal ventricular ridge, was long thought to correspond to the basal ganglia of mammals, but is now
thought to be more closely related to the neocortex.[27]
Main anatomical regions of the vertebrate brain.
Several brain areas have maintained their identities across the whole range of vertebrates, from hagfishes
to humans. Here is a list of some of the most important areas, along with a very brief description of their
functions as currently understood (but note that the functions of most of them are still disputed to some
degree):
• The medulla, along with the spinal cord, contains many small nuclei involved in a wide variety of
sensory and motor functions.
• The hypothalamus is a small region at the base of the forebrain, whose complexity and importance
belies its size. It is composed of numerous small nuclei, each with distinct connections and distinct
neurochemistry. The hypothalamus is the central control station for sleep/wake cycles, control of
eating and drinking, control of hormone release, and many other critical biological functions.[28]
• Like the hypothalamus, the thalamus is a collection of nuclei with diverse functions. Some of them
are involved in relaying information to and from the cerebral hemispheres. Others are involved in
motivation. The subthalamic area (zona incerta) seems to contain action-generating systems for
several types of "consummatory" behaviors, including eating, drinking, defecation, and
copulation.[29]
• The cerebellum modulates the outputs of other brain systems to make them more precise. Removal
of the cerebellum does not prevent an animal from doing anything in particular, but it makes
actions hesitant and clumsy. This precision is not built-in, but learned by trial and error. Learning
how to ride a bicycle is an example of a type of neural plasticity that may take place largely within
the cerebellum.[30]
• The tectum, often called "optic tectum", allows actions to be directed toward points in space. In
mammals it is called the "superior colliculus", and its best studied function is to direct eye
movements. It also directs reaching movements, though. It gets strong visual inputs, but also
inputs from other senses that are useful in directing actions, such as auditory input in owls, input
from the thermosensitive pit organs in snakes, etc. In some[which?] fishes, it is the largest part of the
brain.[31]
• The pallium is a layer of gray matter that lies on the surface of the forebrain. In reptiles and
mammals it is called cortex instead. The pallium is involved in multiple functions, including
olfaction and spatial memory. In mammals, where it comes it dominate the brain, it subsumes
functions from many subcortical areas.[32]
• The hippocampus, strictly speaking, is found only in mammals. However, the area it derives from,
the medial pallium, has counterparts in all vertebrates. There is evidence that this part of the brain
is involved in spatial memory and navigation in fishes, birds, reptiles, and mammals.[33]
• The basal ganglia are a group of interconnected structures in the forebrain, of which our
understanding has increased enormously over the last few years. The primary function of the basal
ganglia seems to be action selection. They send inhibitory signals to all parts of the brain that can
generate actions, and in the right circumstances can release the inhbition, so that the action-
generating systems are able to execute their actions. Rewards and punishments exert their most
important neural effects within the basal ganglia.[34]
• The olfactory bulb is a special structure that processes olfactory sensory signals, and sends its
output to the olfactory part of the pallium. It is a major brain component in many vertebrates, but
much reduced in primates.[35]
[edit] Mammals
The hindbrain and midbrain of mammals are generally similar to those of other vertebrates, but dramatic
differences appear in the forebrain, which is not only greatly enlarged, but also altered in structure.[36] In
mammals, the surface of the cerebral hemispheres is mostly covered with 6-layered isocortex, more
complex than the 3-layered pallium seen in most vertebrates. Also the hippocampus of mammals has a
distinctive structure.
Unfortunately, the evolutionary history of these mammalian features, especially the 6-layered cortex, is
difficult to work out.[37] This is largely because of a "missing link" problem. The ancestors of mammals,
called synapsids, split off from the ancestors of modern reptiles and birds about 350 million years ago.
However, the most recent branching that has left living results within the mammals was the split between
monotremes (the platypus and echidna), marsupials (opossum, kangaroo, etc.) and placentals (most living
mammals), which took place about 120 million years ago. The brains of monotremes and marsupials are
distinctive from those of placentals in some ways, but they have fully mammalian cortical and
hippocampal structures. Thus, these structures must have evolved between 350 and 120 million years ago,
a period that has left no evidence except fossils, which do not preserve tissue as soft as brain.
[edit] Primates, including humans
Main article: Human brain
The primate brain contains the same structures as the brains of other mammals, but is considerably larger
in proportion to body size.[9] Most of the enlargement comes from a massive expansion of the cortex,
focusing especially on the parts subserving vision and forethought.[38] The visual processing network of
primates is very complex, including at least 30 distinguishable areas, with a bewildering web of
interconnections. Taking all of these together, visual processing makes use of about half of the brain. The
other part of the brain that is greatly enlarged is the prefrontal cortex, whose functions are difficult to
summarize succinctly, but relate to planning, working memory, motivation, attention, and executive
control.
[edit] Microscopic structure
Structure of a typical neuron
Neuron
Dendrite
Soma
Axon
Nucleus
Node of
Ranvier
Axon Terminal
Schwann cell
Myelin sheath
The brain is composed of two broad classes of cells, neurons and glia.[39] Neurons receive more attention,
but glial cells actually outnumber them by at least 10 to 1. Glia come in several types, which perform a
number of critical functions, including structural support, metabolic support, insulation, and guidance of
development.
The property that makes neurons so important is that, unlike glia, they are capable of sending signals to
each other over long distances.[40] They send these signals by means of an axon, a thin protoplasmic fiber
that extends from the cell body and projects, usually with numerous branches, to other areas, sometimes
nearby, sometimes in distant parts of the brain or body. The extent of an axon can be extraordinary: to
take an example, if a pyramidal cell of the neocortex were magnified so that its cell body became the size
of a human, its axon, equally magnified, would become a cable a few inches in diameter, extending
farther than a mile. These axons transmit signals in the form of electrochemical pulses called action
potentials, lasting less than a thousandth of a second and traveling along the axon at speeds of 1–100
meters per second. Some neurons emit action potentials constantly, at rates of 10–100 per second, usually
in irregular temporal patterns; other neurons are quiet most of the time, but occasionally emit a burst of
action potentials.
Axons transmit signals to other neurons, or to non-neuronal cells, by means of specialized junctions called
synapses.[41] A single axon may make as many as several thousand synaptic connections. When an action
potential, traveling along an axon, arrives at a synapse, it causes a chemical called a neurotransmitter to be
released. The neurotransmitter binds to receptor molecules in the membrane of the target cell. Some types
of neuronal receptors are excitatory, meaning that they increase the rate of action potentials in the target
cell; other receptors are inhibitory, meaning that they decrease the rate of action potentials; others have
complex modulatory effects on the target cell.
Axons actually fill most of the space in the brain.[42] Often large groups of them travel together in bundles
called nerve fiber tracts. In many cases, each axon is wrapped in a thick sheath of a fatty substance called
myelin, which serves to greatly increase the speed of action potential propagation. Myelin is white in
color, so parts of the brain filled exclusively with nerve fibers appear as white matter, in contrast to the
gray matter that marks areas where high densities of neuron cell bodies are located. The illustration on the
right shows a thin section of one hemisphere of the brain of a Chlorocebus monkey, stained using a Nissl
stain, which colors the cell bodies of neurons.[43] This makes the gray matter show up as a dark blue, and
the white matter show up as a paler blue. Several important forebrain structures, including the cortex, can
easily be identified in brain sections that are stained in this way. Neuroanatomists have invented hundreds
of stains that color different types of neurons, or different types of brain tissue, in distinct ways; the Nissl
stain shown here is probably the most widely used.
[edit] Development
Diagram depicting the main subdivisions of the embryonic vertebrate brain. These regions will later
differentiate into forebrain, midbrain and hindbrain structures.
The brain does not simply grow; it develops in an intricately orchestrated sequence of steps.[44] Many
neurons are created in special zones that contain stem cells, and then migrate through the tissue to reach
their ultimate locations.[45] In the cortex, for example, the first stage of development is the formation of a
"scaffold" by a special group of glial cells, called radial glia, which send fibers vertically across the
cortex. New cortical neurons are created at the bottom of the cortex, and then "climb" along the radial
fibers until they reach the layers they are destined to occupy in the adult.
Once a neuron is in place, it begins to extend dendrites and an axon into the area around it.[46] Axons,
because they commonly extend a great distance from the cell body and need to make contact with specific
targets, grow in a particularly complex way. The tip of a growing axon consists of a blob of protoplasm
called a "growth cone", studded with chemical receptors. These receptors sense the local environment,
causing the growth cone to be attracted or repelled by various cellular elements, and thus to be pulled in a
particular direction at each point along its path. The result of this pathfinding process is that the growth
cone navigates through the brain until it reaches its destination area, where other chemical cues cause it to
begin generating synapses. Taking the entire brain into account, many thousands of genes give rise to
proteins that influence axonal pathfinding.
The synaptic network that finally emerges is only partly determined by genes, though. In many parts of
the brain, axons initially "overgrow", and then are "pruned" by mechanisms that depend on neural
activity.[47] In the projection from the eye to the midbrain, for example, the structure in the adult contains a
very precise mapping, connecting each point on the surface of the retina to a corresponding point in a
midbrain layer. In the first stages of development, each axon from the retina is guided to the right general
vicinity in the midbrain by chemical cues, but then branches very profusely and makes initial contact with
a wide swath of midbrain neurons. The retina, before birth, contains special mechanisms that cause it to
generate waves of activity that originate spontaneously at some point and then propagate slowly across
the retinal layer.[48] These waves are useful because they cause neighboring neurons to be active at the
same time: that is, they produce a neural activity pattern that contains information about the spatial
arrangement of the neurons. This information is exploited in the midbrain by a mechanism that causes
synapses to weaken, and eventually vanish, if activity in an axon is not followed by activity of the target
cell. The result of this sophisticated process is a gradual tuning and tightening of the map, leaving it
finally in its precise adult form.
Similar things happen in other brain areas: an initial synaptic matrix is generated as a result of genetically
determined chemical guidance, but then gradually refined by activity-dependent mechanisms, partly
driven by internal dynamics, partly by external sensory inputs. In some cases, as with the retina-midbrain
system, activity patterns depend on mechanisms that operate only in the developing brain, and apparently
exist solely for the purpose of guiding development.
In humans and many other mammals, new neurons are created mainly before birth, and the infant brain
actually contains substantially more neurons than the adult brain.[49] There are, however, a few areas
where new neurons continue to be generated throughout life. The two areas for which this is well
established are the olfactory bulb, which is involved in the sense of smell, and the dentate gyrus of the
hippocampus, where there is evidence that the new neurons play a role in storing newly acquired
memories. With these exceptions, however, the set of neurons that are present in early childhood is the set
that are present for life. (Glial cells are different: as with most types of cells in the body, these are
generated throughout the lifespan.)
Although the pool of neurons is largely in place by birth, their axonal connections continue to develop for
a long time afterward. In humans, full myelination is not completed until adolescence.[50]
There has long been debate about whether the qualities of mind, personality, and intelligence can mainly
be attributed to heredity or to upbringing; the nature versus nurture debate.[51] This is not just a
philosophical question: it has great practical relevance to parents and educators. Although many details
remain to be settled, neuroscience clearly shows that both factors are essential. Genes determine the
general form of the brain, and genes determine how the brain reacts to experience. Experience, however,
is required to refine the matrix of synaptic connections. In some respects it is mainly a matter of presence
or absence of experience during critical periods of development.[52] In other respects, the quantity and
quality of experience may be more relevant: for example, there is substantial evidence that animals raised
in enriched environments have thicker cortices (indicating a higher density of synaptic connections) than
animals whose levels of stimulation are restricted.[53]
[edit] Functions
From a biological perspective, the function of a brain is to generate behaviors that promote the genetic
fitness of an animal.[54] To do this, it extracts enough relevant information from sense organs to refine
actions. Sensory signals may stimulate an immediate response as when the olfactory system of a deer
detects the odor of a wolf; they may modulate an ongoing pattern of activity as in the effect of light-dark
cycles on an organism's sleep-wake behavior; or their information may be stored in case of future
relevance. The brain manages its complex task by orchestrating functional subsystems, which can be
categorized in a number of ways: anatomically, chemically, and functionally.
[edit] Neurotransmitter systems
Main article: Neurotransmitter systems
With few exceptions, each neuron in the brain releases the same chemical neurotransmitter, or set of
neurotransmitters, at all of the synaptic connections it makes with other neurons.[55] Thus, a neuron can be
characterized by the neurotransmitters it releases. The two neurotransmitters that appear most frequently
are glutamate, which is almost always excitatory, and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), which is
almost always inhibitory. Neurons using these transmitters can be found in nearly every part of the brain,
making up, numerically, more than 99% of the brain's entire pool of synapses.[citation needed]
Nevertheless, the great majority of psychoactive drugs exert their effects by altering neurotransmitter
systems not directly involving glutamatergic or GABAergic transmission.[56] Drugs such as caffeine,
nicotine, heroin, cocaine, Prozac, Thorazine, etc., act on other neurotransmitters. Many of these other
transmitters come from neurons that are localized in particular parts of the brain. Serotonin, for example
—the primary target of antidepressant drugs and many dietary aids—comes exclusively from a small
brainstem area called the Raphe nuclei. Norepinephrine, which is involved in arousal, comes exclusively
from a nearby small area called the locus ceruleus. Histamine, as a neurotransmitter, comes from a tiny
part of the hypothalamus called the tuberomammilary nucleus (histamine also has non-CNS functions, but
the neurotransmitter function is what causes antihistamines to have sedative effects). Other
neurotransmitters such as acetylcholine and dopamine have multiple sources in the brain, but are not as
ubiquitously distributed as glutamate and GABA.
[edit] Sensory systems
Main article: Sensory system
One of the primary functions of a brain is to extract biologically relevant information from sensory inputs.
[57]
Even in the human brain, sensory processes go well beyond the classical five senses of sight, sound,
taste, touch, and smell: our brains are provided with information about temperature, balance, limb
position, and the chemical composition of the bloodstream, among other things. All of these modalities
are detected by specialized sensors that project signals into the brain. In non-humans, additional senses
may be present, such as the infrared heat-sensors in the pit organs of snakes; or the "standard" senses may
be used in nonstandard ways, as in the auditory "sonar" of bats.
Every sensory system has idiosyncrasies, but here are a few principles that apply to most of them, using
the sense of hearing for specific examples:[58]
1. Each system begins with specialized "sensory receptor" cells. These are neurons, but unlike most
neurons, they are not controlled by synaptic input from other neurons: instead they are activated
by membrane-bound receptors that are sensitive to some physical modality, such as light,
temperature, or physical stretching. The axons of sensory receptor cells travel into the spinal cord
or brain. For the sense of hearing, the receptors are located in the inner ear, on the cochlea, and are
activated by vibration.
2. For most senses, there is a "primary nucleus" or set of nuclei, located in the brainstem, that gathers
signals from the sensory receptor cells. For the sense of hearing, these are the cochlear nuclei.
3. In many cases, there are secondary subcortical areas that extract special information of some sort.
For the sense of hearing, the superior olivary area and inferior colliculus are involved in
comparing the signals from the two ears to extract information about the direction of the sound
source, among other functions.
4. Each sensory system also has a special part of the thalamus dedicated to it, which serves as a relay
to the cortex. For the sense of hearing, this is the medial geniculate nucleus.
5. For each sensory system, there is a "primary" cortical area that receives direct input from the
thalamic relay area. For the auditory system this is the primary auditory cortex, located in the
upper part of the temporal lobe.
6. There are also usually a set of "higher level" cortical sensory areas, which analyze the sensory
input in specific ways. For the auditory system, there are areas that analyze sound quality, rhythm,
and temporal patterns of change, among other features.
7. Finally, there are multimodal areas that combine inputs from different sensory modalities, for
example auditory and visual. At this point, the signals have reached parts of the brain that are best
described as integrative rather than specifically sensory.
All of these rules have exceptions, for example: (1) For the sense of touch (which is actually a set of at
least half-a-dozen distinct mechanical senses), the sensory inputs terminate mainly in the spinal cord, on
neurons that then project to the brainstem.[59] (2) For the sense of smell, there is no relay in the thalamus;
instead the signals go directly from the primary brain area—the olfactory bulb—to the cortex.[60]
[edit] Motor system
Main article: Motor system
Motor systems are areas of the brain that are more or less directly involved in producing body
movements, that is, in activating muscles. With the exception of the muscles that control the eye, all of the
voluntary muscles[61] in the body are directly innervated by motor neurons in the spinal cord, which
therefore are the final common path for the movement-generating system.[62] Spinal motor neurons are
controlled both by neural circuits intrinsic to the spinal cord, and by inputs that descend from the brain.
The intrinsic spinal circuits implement many reflex responses, and also contain pattern generators for
rhythmic movements such as walking or swimming.[63] The descending connections from the brain allow
for more sophisticated control.
The brain contains a number of areas that project directly to the spinal cord.[64] At the lowest level are
motor areas in the medulla and pons. At a higher level are areas in the midbrain, such as the red nucleus,
which is responsible for coordinating movements of the arms and legs. At a higher level yet is the primary
motor cortex, a strip of tissue located at the posterior edge of the frontal lobe. The primary motor cortex
sends projections to the subcortical motor areas, but also sends a massive projection directly to the spinal
cord, via the so-called pyramidal tract. This direct corticospinal projection allows for precise voluntary
control of the fine details of movements.
Other "secondary" motor-related brain areas do not project directly to the spinal cord, but instead act on
the cortical or subcortical primary motor areas. Among the most important secondary areas are the
premotor cortex, basal ganglia, and cerebellum:
• The premotor cortex (which is actually a large complex of areas) adjoins the primary motor cortex,
and projects to it. Whereas elements of the primary motor cortex map to specific body areas,
elements of the premotor cortex are often involved in coordinated movements of multiple body
parts.[65]
• The basal ganglia are a set of structures in the base of the forebrain that project to many other
motor-related areas.[66] Their function has been difficult to understand, but one of the most popular
theories currently is that they play a key role in action selection.[67] Most of the time they restrain
actions by sending constant inhibitory signals to action-generating systems, but in the right
circumstances, they release this inhibition and therefore allow their targets to take control of
behavior.
• The cerebellum is a very distinctive structure attached to the back of the brain.[30] It does not
control or originate behaviors, but instead generates corrective signals to make movements more
precise. People with cerebellar damage are not paralyzed in any way, but their body movements
become erratic and uncoordinated.
In addition to all of the above, the brain and spinal cord contain extensive circuitry to control the
autonomic nervous system, which works by secreting hormones and by modulating the "smooth" muscles
of the gut.[68] The autonomic nervous system affects heart rate, digestion, respiration rate, salivation,
perspiration, urination, and sexual arousal—but most of its functions are not under direct voluntary
control.
[edit] Arousal system
Main article: Sleep
Perhaps the most obvious aspect of the behavior of any animal is the daily cycle between sleeping and
waking. Arousal and alertness are also modulated on a finer time scale, though, by an extensive network
of brain areas.[69]
A key component of the arousal system is the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), a tiny part of the
hypothalamus located directly above the point at which the optic nerves from the two eyes cross.[70] The
SCN contains the body's central biological clock. Neurons there show activity levels that rise and fall with
a period of about 24 hours, circadian rhythms: these activity fluctuations are driven by rhythmic changes
in expression of a set of "clock genes". The SCN continues to keep time even if it is excised from the
brain and placed in a dish of warm nutrient solution, but it ordinarily receives input from the optic nerves,
through the retinohypothalamic tract (RHT), that allow daily light-dark cycles to calibrate the clock.
The SCN projects to a set of areas in the hypothalamus, brainstem, and midbrain that are involved in
implementing sleep-wake cycles. An important component of the system is the so-called reticular
formation, a group of neuron-clusters scattered diffusely through the core of the lower brain.[69] Reticular
neurons send signals to the thalamus, which in turn sends activity-level-controlling signals to every part of
the cortex. Damage to the reticular formation can produce a permanent state of coma.
Sleep involves great changes in brain activity.[71] Until the 1950s it was generally believed that the brain
essentially shuts off during sleep,[citation needed] but this is now known to be far from true: activity continues,
but the pattern becomes very different. In fact, there are two types of sleep, slow wave sleep (usually non-
dreaming) and REM sleep (dreaming), each with its own distinct brain activity pattern. During slow wave
sleep, activity in the cortex takes the form of large synchronized waves, where in the waking state it is
noisy and desynchronized. Levels of the neurotransmitters norepinephrine and serotonin drop during slow
wave sleep, and fall almost to zero during REM sleep; levels of acetylcholine show the reverse pattern.
[edit] Brain energy consumption
PET Image of the human brain showing energy consumption
Although the brain represents only 2% of the body weight, it receives 15% of the cardiac output, 20% of
total body oxygen consumption, and 25% of total body glucose utilization.[72] The demands of the brain
limit its size in some species, such as bats.[73] The brain mostly utilizes glucose for energy, and deprivation
of glucose, as can happen in hypoglycemia, can result in loss of consciousness. The energy consumption
of the brain does not vary greatly over time, but active regions of the cortex consume somewhat more
energy than inactive regions: this fact forms the basis for the functional brain imaging methods PET and
fMRI.[74]
[edit] Effects of damage and disease

Main article: Neurology
Even though it is protected by the skull and meninges, surrounded by cerebrospinal fluid, and isolated
from the bloodstream by the blood-brain barrier, the delicate nature of the brain makes it vulnerable to
numerous diseases and several types of damage. Because these problems generally manifest themselves
differently in humans than in other species, an overview of brain pathology and how it can be treated is
deferred to the Human brain, Brain damage, and Neurology articles.
[edit] Brain and mind

Main article: Philosophies of mind
Mind and Brain portal
Understanding the relationship between the physical brain and the functional mind is a challenging
problem both philosophically and scientifically.[75] The most straightforward scientific evidence that there
is a strong relationship between the physical brain matter and the mind is the impact physical alterations
to the brain, such as injury and drug use, have on the mind.[citation needed]
The mind-body problem is one of the central issues in the history of philosophy,[76] which asks us to
consider if the correlation between the physical brain and the mind are identical, partially distinct, or
related in some unknown way. There are three major schools of thought concerning the answer: dualism,
materialism, and idealism. Dualism holds that the mind exists independently of the brain;[77] materialism
holds that mental phenomena are identical to neuronal phenomena;[78] and idealism holds that only mental
substances and phenomena exist.[78] In addition to the philosophical questions, the relationship between
mind and brain involves a number of scientific questions, including understanding the relationship
between thought and brain activity, the mechanisms by which drugs influence thought, and the neural
correlates of consciousness.
Through most of history many philosophers found it inconceivable that cognition could be implemented
by a physical substance such as brain tissue.[79] Philosophers such as Patricia Churchland posit that the
drug-mind interaction is indicative of an intimate connection between the brain and the mind, not that the
two are the same entity[80]. Even Descartes, notable for his mechanistic philosophy which found it possible
to explain reflexes and other simple behaviors in mechanistic terms, could not believe that complex
thought, language in particular, could be explained by the physical brain alone[citation needed].
[edit] How it is studied

Main article: Neuroscience
Neuroscience seeks to understand the nervous system, including the brain, from a biological and
computational perspective.[81] Psychology seeks to understand behavior and the brain. Neurology refers to
the medical applications of neuroscience. The brain is also the most important organ studied in psychiatry,
the branch of medicine that works to study, prevent, and treat mental disorders.[82] Cognitive science seeks
to unify neuroscience and psychology with other fields that concern themselves with the brain, such as
computer science (artificial intelligence and similar fields) and philosophy.
Some methods of examining the brain are mainly useful in humans, and are described in the human brain
article. This section focuses on methods that are usable across a wide range of animal species. (However,
the great majority of neuroscience experiments are done using rats or mice as subjects.)
[edit] Neuroanatomy
Main article: Neuroanatomy
The oldest method of studying the brain is anatomical, and until the middle of the 20th century, much of
the progress in Neuroscience came from the development of better stains and better microscopes. Much
critical information about synaptic function has come from study of electron microscope images of
synapses. On a larger scale, neuroanatomists have invented a plethora of stains that reveal neural
structure, chemistry, and connectivity. In recent years, the development of immunostaining techniques has
allowed staining of neurons that express specific sets of genes.
[edit] Electrophysiology
Electrophysiology allows scientists to record the electrical activity of individual neurons or groups of
neurons.[83] There are two general approaches: intracellular and extracellular recordings.
Intracellular recording uses glass electrodes with very fine tips in order to pick up electrical signals from
the interior of a neuron. This method is very sensitive, but also very delicate, and usually is carried out in
vitro—i.e., in a dish of warm nutrient solution; using tissue that has been extracted from the brain of an
animal.
Extracellular recording uses larger electrodes that can be used in the brains of living animals. This method
cannot usually resolve the tiny electrical signals generated by individual synaptic connections, but it can
pick up action potentials generated by individual neurons, as well as field potentials generated by
synchronous synaptic activity in large groups of neurons. Because the brain does not contain pain
receptors, it is possible using these techniques to record from animals that are awake and behaving
without causing distress. The same techniques have occasionally been used to study brain activity in
human patients suffering from intractable epilepsy, in cases where there was a medical necessity to
implant electrodes in order to localize the brain area responsible for seizures.[84]
[edit] Lesion studies
In humans, the effects of strokes and other types of brain damage have been a key source of information
about brain function. Because there is no ability to experimentally control the nature of the damage,
however, this information is often difficult to interpret. In animal studies, most commonly involving rats,
it is possible to use electrodes or locally injected chemicals to produce precise patterns of damage and
then examine the consequences for behavior.
[edit] Computation
Main article: Computational neuroscience
A computer, in the broadest sense, is a device for storing and processing information. In an ordinary
digital computer, information is represented by magnetic elements that have two possible states, often
denoted 0 and 1. In a brain, information is represented both dynamically, by trains of action potentials in
neurons, and statically, by the strengths of synaptic connections between neurons.[85] In a digital computer,
information is processed by a small set of "registers" that operate at speeds of billions of cycles per
second. In a brain, information is processed by billions of neurons all operating simultaneously, but only
at speeds around 100 cycles per second. Thus brains and digital computers are similar in that both are
devices for processing information, but the ways that they do it are very different. Computational
neuroscience encompasses two approaches: first, the use of computers to study the brain; second, the
study of how brains perform computation.[85] On one hand, it is possible to write a computer program to
simulate the operation of a group of neurons by making use of systems of equations that describe their
electrochemical activity: such simulations are known as biologically realistic neural networks. On the
other hand, it is possible to study algorithms for neural computation by simulating, or mathematically
analyzing, the operations of simplified "units" that have some of the properties of neurons but abstract out
much of their biological complexity.
Most programs for digital computers rely on long sequences of operations executed in a specific order,
and therefore could not be "ported" into a brain without becoming extremely slow. Computer scientists,
however, have found that some types of problems lend themselves naturally to algorithms that can
efficiently be executed by brainlike networks of processing elements. One very important problem that
falls into this group is object recognition. On a digital computer, the seemingly simple task of recognizing
a face in a photo turns out to be tremendously difficult, and even the best current programs don't do it very
well. The human brain, however, reliably solves this problem in a fraction of a second. The process feels
almost effortless, but this is only because our brains are heavily optimized for it. Other tasks that are
computationally a great deal simpler, such as adding pairs of hundred-digit numbers, feel more difficult
because the human brain is not adapted to execute them efficiently.
The computational functions of brain are studied both by neuroscientists and computer scientists. There
have been several attempts to build electronic computers that operate on brainlike principles, including a
supercomputer called the Connection Machine, but to date none of them has achieved notable success.
Brains have several advantages that are difficult to duplicate in an electronic device, including (1) the
microscopic size of the processing elements, (2) the three-dimensional arrangement of connections, and
(3) the fact that each neuron generates its own power (metabolically).
[edit] Genetics
Recent years have seen the first applications of genetic engineering techniques to the study of the brain.[86]
The most common subjects are mice, because the technical tools are more advanced for this species than
for any other. It is now possible with relative ease to "knock out" or mutate a wide variety of genes, and
then examine the effects on brain function. More sophisticated approaches are also beginning to be used:
for example, using the Cre-Lox recombination method it is possible to activate or inactivate genes in
specific parts of the brain, at specific times.
[edit] History of its study

Main article: History of the brain
Early views were divided as to whether the seat of the soul lies in the brain or heart. On one hand, it was
impossible to miss the fact that awareness feels like it is localized in the head, and that blows to the head
can cause unconsciousness much more easily than blows to the chest, and that shaking the head causes
dizziness. On the other hand, the brain to a superficial examination seems inert, whereas the heart is
constantly beating. Cessation of the heartbeat means death; strong emotions produce changes in the
heartbeat; and emotional distress often produces a sensation of pain in the region of the heart
("heartache"). Aristotle favored the heart, and thought that the function of the brain is merely to cool the
blood. Democritus, the inventor of the atomic theory of matter, favored a three-part soul, with intellect in
the head, emotion in the heart, and lust in the vicinity of the liver.[87] Hippocrates, the "father of
medicine", was entirely in favor of the brain. In On the Sacred Disease, his account of epilepsy, he wrote:
Men ought to know that from nothing else but the brain come joys, delights, laughter and sports, and sorrows,
griefs, despondency, and lamentations. ... And by the same organ we become mad and delirious, and fears and
terrors assail us, some by night, and some by day, and dreams and untimely wanderings, and cares that are not
suitable, and ignorance of present circumstances, desuetude, and unskilfulness. All these things we endure from the
brain, when it is not healthy…
—Hippocrates, On the Sacred Disease[88]
The famous Roman physician Galen also advocated the importance of the brain, and theorized in some
depth about how it might work. Even after physicians and philosophers had accepted the primacy of the
brain, though, the idea of the heart as seat of intelligence continued to survive in popular idioms, such as
"learning something by heart".[89] Galen did a masterful job of tracing out the anatomical relationships
between brain, nerves, and muscles, demonstrating that all muscles in the body are connected to the brain
via a branching network of nerves. He postulated that nerves activate muscles mechanically, by carrying a
mysterious substance he called pneumata psychikon, usually translated as "animal spirits". His ideas were
widely known during the Middle Ages, but not much further progress came until the Renaissance, when
detailed anatomical study resumed, combined with the theoretical speculations of Descartes and his
followers. Descartes, like Galen, thought of the nervous system in hydraulic terms. He believed that the
highest cognitive functions—language in particular—are carried out by a non-physical res cogitans, but
that the majority of behaviors of humans and animals could be explained mechanically. The first real
progress toward a modern understanding of nervous function, though, came from the investigations of
Luigi Galvani, who discovered that a shock of static electricity applied to an exposed nerve of a dead frog
could cause its leg to contract.
Drawing by Santiago Ramon y Cajal of two types of Golgi-stained neurons from the cerebellum of a
pigeon
The ensuing history of brain research can perhaps be epitomized by a quip from Floyd Bloom: "The gains
in brain are mainly in the stain".[90] The purport of this line is that progress in brain research has come for
the most part not from theoretical work, but from advances in technology. Each major advance in
understanding has followed more or less directly from the development of a new method of investigation.
Until the early years of the 20th century, the most important advances were literally derived from new
stains. Particularly critical was the invention of the Golgi stain, which (when correctly used) stains only a
small, and apparently random, fraction of neurons, but stains them in their entirety, including cell body,
dendrites, and axon. Without such a stain, brain tissue under a microscope appears as an impenetrable
tangle of protoplasmic fibers, in which it is impossible to determine any structure. In the hands of Camillo
Golgi, and especially of the Spanish neuroanatomist Santiago Ramon y Cajal, the new stain revealed
hundreds of distinct types of neurons, each with its own unique dendritic structure and pattern of
connectivity.
In the 20th century, progress in electronics enabled investigation of the electrical properties of nerve cells,
culminating in the work by Alan Hodgkin, Andrew Huxley, and others on the biophysics of the action
potential, and the work of Bernard Katz and others on the electrochemistry of the synapse.[91] The earliest
studies used special preparations, such as the "fast escape response" system of the squid, which involves a
giant axon as thick as a pencil lead, and giant synapses connecting to this axon. Steady improvements in
electrodes and electronics allowed ever finer levels of resolution. These studies complemented the
anatomical picture with a conception of the brain as a dynamic entity. Reflecting the new understanding,
in 1942 Charles Sherrington visualized the workings of the brain in action in somewhat breathless terms:
The great topmost sheet of the mass, that where hardly a light had twinkled or moved, becomes now a sparkling
field of rhythmic flashing points with trains of traveling sparks hurrying hither and thither. … It is as if the Milky
Way entered upon some cosmic dance. Swiftly the head mass becomes an enchanted loom where millions of
flashing shuttles weave a dissolving pattern, always a meaningful pattern though never an abiding one; a shifting
harmony of subpatterns.
—Sherrington, 1942, Man on his Nature[92]
[edit] Notes
Food
For the Jan Švankmajer short film, see Food (film).

Foods from plant sources
Food portal
Food is any substance, usually composed primarily of carbohydrates, fats, water and/or proteins, that can
be eaten or drunk by an animal or human for nutrition or pleasure. Items considered food may be sourced
from plants, animals or other categories such as fungus or fermented products like alcohol. Although
many human cultures sought food items through hunting and gathering, today most cultures use farming,
ranching, and fishing, with hunting, foraging and other methods of a local nature included but playing a
minor role.
Most traditions have a recognizable cuisine, a specific set of cooking traditions, preferences, and
practices, the study of which is known as gastronomy. Many cultures have diversified their foods by
means of preparation, cooking methods and manufacturing. This also includes a complex food trade
which helps the cultures to economically survive by-way-of food, not just by consumption.
Many cultures study the dietary analysis of food habits. While humans are omnivores, religion and social
constructs such as morality often affect which foods they will consume. Food safety is also a concern with
foodborne illness claiming many lives each year. In many languages, food is often used metaphorically or
figuratively, as in "food for thought".
Contents
[hide]
• 1 Food sources
o 1.1 Plants
o 1.2 Animals
• 2 Production
• 3 Preparation
o 3.1 Animal slaughter and butchering
o 3.2 Cooking
 3.2.1 Cooking equipment and methods
 3.2.2 Raw food
o 3.3 Restaurants
o 3.4 Food manufacture
• 4 Commercial trade
o 4.1 International exports and imports
o 4.2 Marketing and retailing
o 4.3 Prices
• 5 Famine and hunger
o 5.1 Food aid
• 6 Safety
o 6.1 Allergies
• 7 Diet
o 7.1 Cultural and religious diets
o 7.2 Diet deficiencies
o 7.3 Moral, ethical, and health conscious diet
• 8 Nutrition
• 9 Legal definition
• 10 See also
• 11 Notes
• 12 References
Food sources
Almost all foods are of plant or animal origin, although there are some exceptions. Foods not coming
from animal or plant sources include various edible fungi, such mushrooms. Fungi and ambient bacteria
are used in the preparation of fermented and pickled foods such as leavened bread, alcoholic drinks,
cheese, pickles, and yogurt. Many cultures eat seaweed, a protist, or blue-green algae (cyanobacteria)
such as Spirulina.[1] Additionally, salt is often eaten as a flavoring or preservative, and baking soda is used
in food preparation. Both of these are inorganic substances, as is water, an important part of human diet.
Plants
A variety of foods from plant sources
Many plants or plant parts are eaten as food. There are around 2,000 plant species which are cultivated for
food, and many have several distinct cultivars.[2]
Seeds of plants are a good source of food for animals, including humans because they contain nutrients
necessary for the plant's initial growth. In fact, the majority of food consumed by human beings are seed-
based foods. Edible seeds include cereals (such as maize, wheat, and rice), legumes (such as beans, peas,
and lentils), and nuts. Oilseeds are often pressed to produce rich oils, such as sunflower, rapeseed
(including canola oil), and sesame.[3] One of the earliest food recipes made from ground chickpeas is
called hummus, which can be traced back to Ancient Egypt times.
Fruits are the ripened ovaries of plants, including the seeds within. Many plants have evolved fruits that
are attractive as a food source to animals, so that animals will eat the fruits and excrete the seeds some
distance away. Fruits, therefore, make up a significant part of the diets of most cultures. Some botanical
fruits, such as tomatoes, pumpkins and eggplants, are eaten as vegetables.[4] (For more information, see
list of fruits.)
Vegetables are a second type of plant matter that is commonly eaten as food. These include root
vegetables (such as potatoes and carrots), leaf vegetables (such as spinach and lettuce), stem vegetables
(such as bamboo shoots and asparagus), and inflorescence vegetables (such as globe artichokes and
broccoli). Many herbs and spices are highly-flavorful vegetables.[5]
Animals
Various raw meats

Main article: Animal source foods
Animals can be used as food either directly, or indirectly by the products they produce. Meat is an
example of a direct product taken from an animal, which comes from either muscle systems or from
organs. Food products produced by animals include milk produced by mammals, which in many cultures
is drunk or processed into dairy products such as cheese or butter. In addition birds and other animals lay
eggs, which are often eaten, and bees produce honey, a popular sweetener in many cultures. Some
cultures consume blood, some in the form of blood sausage, as a thickener for sauces, a cured salted form
for times of food scarcity, and others use blood in stews such as civet.[6]
Production
Tractor and Chaser Bin

Main article: Agriculture
Food is traditionally obtained through farming, ranching, and fishing, with hunting, foraging and other
methods of subsistence locally important. More recently, there has been a growing trend towards more
sustainable agricultural practices. This approach, which is partly fueled by consumer demand, encourages
biodiversity, local self-reliance and organic farming methods.[7] Major influences on food production are
international organizations, (e.g. the World Trade Organization and Common Agricultural Policy),
national government policy (or law), and war.[8]
Preparation
While some food can be eaten raw, many foods undergo some form of preparation for reasons of safety,
palatability, or flavor. At the simplest level this may involve washing, cutting, trimming or adding other
foods or ingredients, such as spices. It may also involve mixing, heating or cooling, pressure cooking,
fermentation, or combination with other food. In a home, most food preparation takes place in a kitchen.
Some preparation is done to enhance the taste or aesthetic appeal; other preparation may help to preserve
the food; and others may be involved in cultural identity. A meal is made up of food which is prepared to
be eaten at a specific time and place.[9]
Animal slaughter and butchering
Workers and cattle in a slaughterhouse.
The preparation of animal-based food will usually involve slaughter, evisceration, hanging, portioning
and rendering. In developed countries, this is usually done outside the home in slaughterhouses which are
used to process animals en mass for meat production. Many countries regulate their slaughterhouses by
law. For example the United States has established the Humane Slaughter Act of 1958, which requires
that an animal be stunned before killing. This act, like those in many countries, exempts slaughter in
accordance to religious law, such as kosher shechita and dhabiĥa halal. Strict interpretations of kashrut
require the animal to be fully aware when its carotid artery is cut.[10]
On the local level a butcher may commonly break down larger animal meat into smaller manageable cuts
and pre-wrapped for commercial sale or wrapped to order in butcher paper. In addition fish and seafood
may be fabricated into smaller cuts by a fish monger at the local level. However fish butchery may be
done on board a fishing vessel and quick-frozen for preservation of quality.[11]
Cooking
Main article: Cooking

Cooking with a Wok in China
The term "cooking" encompasses a vast range of methods, tools and combinations of ingredients to
improve the flavor or digestibility of food. Cooking technique, known as culinary art, generally requires
the selection, measurement and combining of ingredients in an ordered procedure in an effort to achieve
the desired result. Constraints on success include the variability of ingredients, ambient conditions, tools,
and the skill of the individual cooking.[12] The diversity of cooking worldwide is a reflection of the myriad
nutritional, aesthetic, agricultural, economic, cultural and religious considerations that impact upon it.[13]
Cooking requires applying heat to a food which usually, though not always, chemically transforms it, thus
changing its flavor, texture, appearance, and nutritional properties.[14] Cooking proper, as opposed to
roasting, requires the boiling of water in a container, and was practiced at least since the 10th millennium
BC with the introduction of pottery.[15] There is archaeological evidence of roasted foodstuffs at Homo
erectus campsites dating from 420,000 years ago.[16]
Cooking equipment and methods
There are many types of cooking equipment used for cooking. Ovens are one type of cooking equipment
which can be used for baking or roasting and offer a dry-heat cooking method. Different cuisines will use
different types of ovens, for example Indian culture uses a Tandoor oven is a cylindrical clay oven which
operates at a single high temperature,[17] while western kitchens will use variable temperature convection
ovens, conventional ovens, toaster ovens in addition to non-radiant heat ovens like the microwave oven.
Ovens may be wood-fired, coal-fired, gas, electric, or oil-fired.[18]
A stainless steel frying pan.
Various types of cook-tops are used as well. They carry the same variations of fuel types as the ovens
mentioned above. cook-tops are used to heat vessels placed on top of the heat source, such as a sauté pan,
sauce pot, frying pan, pressure cooker, etc. These pieces of equipment can use either a moist or dry
cooking method and include methods such as steaming, simmering, boiling, and poaching for moist
methods; while the dry methods include sautéing, pan frying, or deep-frying.[19]
Traditional asado
In addition, many cultures use grills for cooking. A grill operates with a radiant heat source from below,
usually covered with a metal grid and sometimes a cover. An open bit barbecue in the American south is
one example along with the American style outdoor grill fueled by wood, liquid propane or charcoal
along with soaked wood chips for smoking.[20] A Mexican style of barbecue is called barbacoa, which
involves the cooking of meats and whole sheep over open fire. In Argentina, asado is prepared on a grill
held over an open pit or fire made upon the ground, on which a whole animal is grilled or in other cases
smaller cuts of the animal.[21]
Raw food
Many types of sushi ready to be eaten.
Certain cultures highlight animal and vegetable foods in their raw state. Sushi in Japan is one such cuisine
that features raw sliced fish, either in sashimi, nigiri, or maki styles.[22] Steak tartare and salmon tartare are
dishes made from diced or ground raw beef or salmon respectively, mixed with various ingredients and
served with baguette, brioche or frites.[23] In Italy, carpaccio is a dish of very thin sliced raw beef, drizzled
with a vinaigrette made with olive oil.[24] A popular health food movement known as raw foodism
promotes a mostly vegan diet of raw fruits, vegetables and grains prepared in various ways, including
juicing, food dehydration, not passing the 118 degree mark, and sprouting.[25]
Restaurants
Tom's Restaurant, a restaurant in New York
Many cultures produce food for sale in restaurants for paying customers. These restaurants often have
trained chefs who prepare the food, while trained waitstaff serve the customers. The term restaurant is
credited to the French from the 19th century, as it relates to the restorative nature of the bouillons that
were once served in them. However, the concept pre-dates the naming of these establishments, as
evidence suggests commercial food preparation may have existed during the age of the city of Pompeii, as
well as an urban sales of prepared foods in China during the Song Dynasty. The coffee shops or cafes of
17th century Europe may also be considered an early version of the restaurant.[26] In 2005 the United
States spent $496 billion annually for out-of-home dining. Expenditures by type of out-of-home dining
was as follows, 40% in full-service restaurants, 37.2% in limited service restaurants (fast food), 6.6% in
schools or colleges, 5.4% in bars and vending machines, 4.7% in hotels and motels, 4.0% in recreational
places, and 2.2% in other which includes military bases.[27]
Food manufacture
Packaged household food items

Main article: Food manufacture
Packaged foods are manufactured outside the home for purchase. This can be as simple as a butcher
preparing meat, or as complex as a modern international food industry. Early food processing techniques
were limited by available food preservation, packaging and transportation. This mainly involved salting,
curing, curdling, drying, pickling, fermentation and smoking.[28] During the industrialization era in the
19th century, food manufacturing arose.[29] This development took advantage of new mass markets and
emerging new technology, such as milling, preservation, packaging and labeling and transportation. It
brought the advantages of pre-prepared time saving food to the bulk of ordinary people who did not
employ domestic servants.[30]
At the start of the 21st century, a two-tier structure has arisen, with a few international food processing
giants controlling a wide range of well-known food brands. There also exists a wide array of small local
or national food processing companies.[31] Advanced technologies have also come to change food
manufacture. Computer-based control systems, sophisticated processing and packaging methods, and
logistics and distribution advances, can enhance product quality, improve food safety, and reduce costs.[30]
Commercial trade
International exports and imports
Food imports in 2005
World Bank reported that the EU was the top food importer in 2005 followed at a distance by the USA
and Japan. Food is now traded and marketed on a global basis. The variety and availability of food is no
longer restricted by the diversity of locally grown food or the limitations of the local growing season.[32]
Between 1961 and 1999 there has been a 400% increase in worldwide food exports.[33] Some countries are
now economically dependent on food exports, which in some cases account for over 80% of all exports.[34]
In 1994 over 100 countries became signatories to the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on
Tariffs and Trade in a dramatic increase in trade liberalization. This included an agreement to reduce
subsidies paid to farmers, underpinned by the WTO enforcement of agricultural subsidy, tariffs, import
quotas and settlement of trade disputes that cannot be bilaterally resolved.[35] Where trade barriers are
raised on the disputed grounds of public health and safety, the WTO refer the dispute to the Codex
Alimentarius Commission, which was founded in 1962 by the United Nations Food and Agriculture
Organization and the World Health Organization. Trade liberalization has greatly affected world food
trade.[36]
Marketing and retailing
Packaged food aisles of supermarket in Portland, Oregon
Food marketing brings together the producer and the consumer. It is the chain of activities that brings
food from "farm gate to plate."[37] The marketing of even a single food product can be a complicated
process involving many producers and companies. For example, fifty-six companies are involved in
making one can of chicken noodle soup. These businesses include not only chicken and vegetable
processors but also the companies that transport the ingredients and those who print labels and
manufacture cans.[38] The food marketing system is the largest direct and indirect non-government
employer in the United States.
In the pre-modern era, the sale of surplus food took place once a week when farmers took their wares on
market day, into the local village market place. Here food was sold to grocers for sale in their local shops
for purchase by local consumers.[13][30] With the onset of industrialization, and the development of the food
processing industry, a wider range of food could be sold and distributed in distant locations. Typically
early grocery shops would be counter-based shops, in which purchasers told the shop-keeper what they
wanted, so that the shop-keeper could get it for them.[13][39]
In the 20th century supermarkets were born. Supermarkets brought with them a self service approach to
shopping using shopping carts, and were able to offer quality food at lower cost through economies of
scale and reduced staffing costs. In the latter part of the 20th century, this has been further revolutionized
by the development of vast warehouse-sized out-of-town supermarkets, selling a wide range of food from
around the world.[40]
Unlike food processors, food retailing is a two-tier market in which a small number of very large
companies control a large proportion of supermarkets. The supermarket giants wield great purchasing
power over farmers and processors, and strong influence over consumers. Nevertheless, less than ten
percent of consumer spending on food goes to farmers, with larger percentages going to advertising,
transportation, and intermediate corporations.[41]
Prices
Consumers worldwide faced rising food prices, it was reported on March 24, 2008. Reasons for this
development are freak weather, dramatic changes in the global economy, including higher oil prices,
lower food reserves and growing consumer demand in China and India. In the long term, prices are
expected to stabilize. Farmers will grow more grain for both fuel and food and eventually bring prices
down. Already this is happening with wheat, with more crops to be planted in the United States, Canada
and Europe in 2009. However, the Food and Agriculture Organization projects that consumers still face at
least until 2018 more expensive food. It is rare that the spikes are hitting all major foods in most countries
at once. Food prices rose 4 percent in the United States 2007, the highest rise since 1990, and are expected
to climb as much again 2008. As of December 2007, 37 countries faced food crises, and 20 had imposed
some sort of food-price controls. In China, the price of pork has jumped 58 percent in 2007. In the 1990s
and 1980s, farm subsidies and support programs allowed major grain exporting countries to hold large
surpluses, which could be tapped during food shortages to keep prices down. But new trade policies have
made agricultural production much more responsive to market demands -- putting global food reserves at
their lowest since 1983.[42]
Food prices are rising, wealthier Asian consumers are westernizing their diets, and farmers and nations of
the third world are struggling to keep up the pace. The past five years have seen rapid growth in the
contribution of Asian nations to the Global Fluid and Powdered Milk Manufacturing industry, which in
2008 accounts for more than 30% of production, while China alone accounts for more than 10% of both
production and consumption in the Global Fruit and Vegetable Processing and Preserving industry. The
trend is similarly evident in industries such as Soft Drink and Bottled Water Manufacturing, as well as
Global Cocoa, Chocolate and sugar Confectionery Manufacturing, forecast to grow by 5.7% and 10.0%
respectively during 2008 in response to soaring demand in China and Southeast Asian markets [43].
Famine and hunger

Italian €2 commemorative coin of 2004 celebrating the World Food Programme
Food deprivation leads to malnutrition and ultimately starvation. This is often connected with famine,
which involves the absence of food in entire communities. This can have a devastating and widespread
effect on human health and mortality. Rationing is sometimes used to distribute food in times of shortage,
most notably during times of war.[8]
Starvation is a significant international problem. Approximately 815 million people are undernourished,
and over 16,000 children die per day from hunger-related causes.[44] Food deprivation is regarded as a
deficit need in Maslow's hierarchy of needs and is measured using famine scales.[45]
Food aid
Food aid can benefit people suffering from a shortage of food. It can be used to improve peoples' lives in
the short term, so that a society can increase its standard of living to the point that food aid is no longer
required.[46] Conversely, badly managed food aid can create problems by disrupting local markets,
depressing crop prices, and discouraging food production. Sometimes a cycle of food aid dependence can
develop.[47] Its provision, or threatened withdrawal, is sometimes used as a political tool to influence the
policies of the destination country, a strategy known as food politics. Sometimes, food aid provisions will
require certain types of food be purchased from certain sellers, and food aid can be misused to enhance
the markets of donor countries.[48] International efforts to distribute food to the neediest countries are often
co-ordinated by the World Food Programme.[49]
Safety
Main article: Food safety
Salmonella bacteria is a common cause of foodborne illness, particularly in undercooked chicken and
chicken eggs
Foodborne illness, commonly called "food poisoning," is caused by bacteria, toxins, viruses, parasites,
and prions. Roughly 7 million people die of food poisoning each year, with about 10 times as many
suffering from a non-fatal version.[50] The two most common factors leading to cases of bacterial
foodborne illness are cross-contamination of ready-to-eat food from other uncooked foods and improper
temperature control. Less commonly, acute adverse reactions can also occur if chemical contamination of
food occurs, for example from improper storage, or use of non-food grade soaps and disinfectants. Food
can also be adulterated by a very wide range of articles (known as 'foreign bodies') during farming,
manufacture, cooking, packaging, distribution or sale. These foreign bodies can include pests or their
droppings, hairs, cigarette butts, wood chips, and all manner of other contaminants. It is possible for
certain types of food to become contaminated if stored or presented in an unsafe container, such as a
ceramic pot with lead-based glaze.[50]
Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) Flowchart
Food poisoning has been recognized as a disease of man since as early as Hippocrates.[51] The sale of
rancid, contaminated or adulterated food was commonplace until introduction of hygiene, refrigeration,
and vermin controls in the 19th century. Discovery of techniques for killing bacteria using heat and other
microbiological studies by scientists such as Louis Pasteur contributed to the modern sanitation standards
that are ubiquitous in developed nations today. This was further underpinned by the work of Justus von
Liebig, which led to the development of modern food storage and food preservation methods.[52] In more
recent years, a greater understanding of the causes of food-borne illnesses has led to the development of
more systematic approaches such as the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP), which
can identify and eliminate many risks.[53]
Allergies
Main article: food allergy
Some people have allergies or sensitivities to foods which are not problematic to most people. This occurs
when a person's immune system mistakes a certain food protein for a harmful foreign agent and attacks it.
About 2% of adults and 8% of children have a food allergy.[54] The amount of the food substance required
to provoke a reaction in a particularly susceptible individual can be quite small. In some instances, traces
of food in the air, too minute to be perceived through smell, have been known to provoke lethal reactions
in extremely sensitive individuals. Common food allergens are gluten, corn, shellfish (mollusks), peanuts,
and soy.[54] Allergens frequently produce symptoms such as diarrhea, rashes, bloating, vomiting, and
regurgitation. The digestive complaints usually develop within half an hour of ingesting the allergen.[54]
Rarely, food allergies can lead to a medical emergency, such as anaphylactic shock, hypotension (low
blood pressure), and loss of consciousness. An allergen associated with this type of reaction is peanut,
although latex products can induce similar reactions.[54] Initial treatment is with epinephrine (adrenaline),
often carried by known patients in the form of an Epi-pen.[55]
Diet
A package of halal-certified frozen food (steamed cabbage buns) from Jiangsu province, China
Main article: Diet (nutrition)
Cultural and religious diets
Dietary habits are the habitual decisions a person or culture makes when choosing what foods to eat.[56]
Although humans are omnivores, many cultures hold some food preferences and some food taboos.
Dietary choices can also define cultures and play a role in religion. For example, only kosher foods are
permitted by Judaism, and halal/haram foods by Islam, in the diet of believers.[57] In addition, the dietary
choices of different countries or regions have different characteristics. This is highly related to a culture's
cuisine.
Children in this photograph from a Nigerian orphanage show symptoms of malnutrition, with four
illustrating the gray-blond hair symptomatic of kwashiorkor.
Diet deficiencies
Dietary habits play a significant role in the health and mortality of all humans. Imbalances between the
consumed fuels and expended energy results in either starvation or excessive reserves of adipose tissue,
known as body fat.[58] Poor intake of various vitamins and minerals can lead to diseases which can have
far-reaching effects on health. For instance, 30% of the world's population either has, or is at risk for
developing, Iodine deficiency.[59] It is estimated that at least 3 million children are blind due to vitamin A
deficiency.[60] Vitamin C deficiency results in scurvy.[61] Calcium, Vitamin D and phosphorus are inter-
related; the consumption of each may affect the absorption of the others. Kwashiorkor and marasmus are
childhood disorders caused by lack of dietary protein.[62]
Moral, ethical, and health conscious diet
Many individuals limit what foods they eat for reasons of morality, or other habit. For instance
vegetarians choose to forgo food from animal sources to varying degrees. Others choose a healthier diet,
avoiding sugars or animal fats and increasing consumption of dietary fiber and antioxidants.[63] Obesity, a
serious problem in the western world, leads to higher chances of developing heart disease, diabetes, and
many other diseases.[64] More recently, dietary habits have been influenced by the concerns that some
people have about possible impacts on health or the environment from genetically modified food.[65]
Further concerns about the impact of industrial farming (grains) on animal welfare, human health and the
environment are also having an effect on contemporary human dietary habits. This has led to the
emergence of a counterculture with a preference for organic and local food.[66]
Nutrition
USDA Food Pyramid

Between the extremes of optimal health and death from starvation or malnutrition, there is an array of
disease states that can be caused or alleviated by changes in diet. Deficiencies, excesses and imbalances in
diet can produce negative impacts on health, which may lead to diseases such as scurvy, obesity or
osteoporosis, as well as psychological and behavioral problems. The science of nutrition attempts to
understand how and why specific dietary aspects influence health.
Nutrients in food are grouped into several categories. Macronutrients means fat, protein, and
carbohydrates. Micronutrients are the minerals and vitamins. Additionally food contains water and dietary
fiber.
Legal definition
Some countries list a legal definition of food. These countries list food as any item that is to be processed,
partially processed or unprocessed for consumption. The listing of items included as foodstuffs include
any substance, intended to be, or reasonably expected to be, ingested by humans. In addition to these
foodstuffs drink, chewing gum, water or other items processed into said food items are part of the legal
definition of food. Items not included in the legal definition of food include animal feed, live animals
unless being prepared for sale in a market, plants prior to harvesting, medicinal products, cosmetics,
tobacco and tobacco products, narcotic or psychotropic substances, and residues and contaminants.[67]
See also
• Category:Lists of foods
• Contemporary Food Engineering
• Food and Bioprocess Technology
• Non-food crop
• Optimal foraging theory
• Sustainable food system
Notes
Fruit

For other uses, see Fruit (disambiguation).
Fruit and vegetable output in 2004
The term fruit has different meanings dependent on context, and the term is not synonymous in food
preparation and biology. In botany, which is the scientific study of plants, fruits are the ripened ovaries of
flowering plants. In many plant species, the fruit includes the ripened ovary and surrounding tissues.
Fruits are the means by which flowering plants disseminate seeds, and the presence of seeds indicates that
a structure is most likely a fruit, though not all seeds come from fruits.[1] No single terminology really fits
the enormous variety that is found among plant fruits.[2] The term 'false fruit' (pseudocarp, accessory fruit)
is sometimes applied to a fruit like the fig (a multiple-accessory fruit; see below) or to a plant structure
that resembles a fruit but is not derived from a flower or flowers. Some gymnosperms, such as yew, have
fleshy arils that resemble fruits and some junipers have berry-like, fleshy cones. The term "fruit" has also
been inaccurately applied to the seed-containing female cones of many conifers.[3]
Contents
[hide]
• 1 Botanic fruit and culinary fruit

• 2 Fruit development
o 2.1 Simple fruit
o 2.2 Aggregate fruit
o 2.3 Multiple fruit
o 2.4 Fruit chart
• 3 Seedless fruits
• 4 Seed dissemination
• 5 Uses
o 5.1 Nutritional value
o 5.2 Nonfood uses
• 6 Production
• 7 See also
• 8 References
[edit] Botanic fruit and culinary fruit
Venn diagram representing the relationship between (culinary) vegetables and (botanical) fruits. Some
vegetables fall into one or both categories. Like tomatoes etc.
Many true fruits, in a botanical sense, are treated as vegetables in cooking and food preparation because
they are not sweet. These botanical fruits include cucurbits (e.g., squash, pumpkin, and cucumber),
tomato, peas, beans, corn, eggplant, and sweet pepper, spices, such as allspice and chillies.[4]
Occasionally, though rarely, a culinary "fruit" is branded as a true fruit in the botanical sense. For
example, rhubarb is often referred to as a fruit, because it is used to make sweet desserts such as pies,
though only the petiole of the rhubarb plant is edible.[5] In the culinary sense, a fruit is usually any sweet
tasting plant product associated with seed(s), a vegetable is any savoury or less sweet plant product, and a
nut any hard, oily, and shelled plant product.[6]
Although a nut is a type of fruit, it is also a popular term for edible seeds, such as peanuts (which are
actually a legume) and pistachios.[7] Technically, a cereal grain is a fruit termed a caryopsis. However, the
fruit wall is very thin and fused to the seed coat so almost all of the edible grain is actually a seed.
Therefore, cereal grains, such as corn, wheat and rice are better considered edible seeds, although some
references list them as fruits.[8] Edible gymnosperm seeds are often misleadingly given fruit names, e.g.
pine nuts, ginkgo nuts, and juniper berries. A Folk taxonomy is a vernacular naming system which
describes how non-scientists categorize items.
[edit] Fruit development

The development sequence of a typical drupe, the nectarine (Prunus persica) over a 7½ month period,
from bud formation in early winter to fruit ripening in midsummer (see image page for further
information)
Main article: Fruit anatomy
A fruit is a ripened ovary. Inside the ovary is one or more ovules where the megagametophyte contains
the megagamete or egg cell.[9] The ovules are fertilized in a process that starts with pollination, which
involves the movement of pollen from the stamens to the stigma of flowers. After pollination, a tube
grows from the pollen through the stigma into the ovary to the ovule and sperm are transferred from the
pollen to the ovule, within the ovule the sperm unites with the egg, forming a diploid zygote. Fertilization
in flowering plants involving both plasmogamy, the fusing of the sperm and egg protoplasm and
karyogamy, the union of the sperm and egg nucleus.[10] When the sperm enters the nucleus of the ovule
and joins with the megagamete and the endosperm mother cell, the fertilization process is completed.[11]
As the developing seeds mature, the ovary begins to ripen. The ovules develop into seeds and the ovary
wall, the pericarp, may become fleshy (as in berries or drupes), or form a hard outer covering (as in nuts).
In some cases, the sepals, petals and/or stamens and style of the flower fall off. Fruit development
continues until the seeds have matured. In some multiseeded fruits, the extent to which the flesh develops
is proportional to the number of fertilized ovules.[12] The wall of the fruit, developed from the ovary wall
of the flower, is called the pericarp. The pericarp is often differentiated into two or three distinct layers
called the exocarp (outer layer - also called epicarp), mesocarp (middle layer), and endocarp (inner layer).
In some fruits, especially simple fruits derived from an inferior ovary, other parts of the flower (such as
the floral tube, including the petals, sepals, and stamens), fuse with the ovary and ripen with it. The plant
hormone ethylene causes ripening. When such other floral parts are a significant part of the fruit, it is
called an accessory fruit. Since other parts of the flower may contribute to the structure of the fruit, it is
important to study flower structure to understand how a particular fruit forms.[3]
Fruits are so diverse that it is difficult to devise a classification scheme that includes all known fruits.
Many common terms for seeds and fruit are incorrectly applied, a fact that complicates understanding of
the terminology. Seeds are ripened ovules; fruits are the ripened ovaries or carpels that contain the seeds.
To these two basic definitions can be added the clarification that in botanical terminology, a nut is not a
type of fruit and not another term for seed, on the contrary to common terminology.[4]
There are three basic types of fruits:
1. Simple fruit
2. Aggregate fruit
3. Multiple fruit
[edit] Simple fruit
Epigynous berries are simple fleshy fruit. From top right: cranberries, lingonberries, blueberries red
huckleberries
Simple fruits can be either dry or fleshy, and result from the ripening of a simple or compound ovary with
only one pistil. Dry fruits may be either dehiscent (opening to discharge seeds), or indehiscent (not
opening to discharge seeds).[13] Types of dry, simple fruits, with examples of each, are:
• achene - (buttercup, strawberry seeds)

• capsule - (Brazil nut)
• caryopsis - (wheat)
• fibrous drupe - (coconut, walnut)
• follicle - (milkweed)
• legume - (pea, bean, peanut)
• loment
• nut - (hazelnut, beech, oak acorn)
• samara - (elm, ash, maple key)
• schizocarp - (carrot)
• silique - (radish)
• silicle - (shepherd's purse)
• utricle - (beet)
Lilium unripe capsule fruit.
Fruits in which part or all of the pericarp (fruit wall) is fleshy at maturity are simple fleshy fruits. Types of
fleshy, simple fruits (with examples) are:
• berry - (redcurrant, gooseberry, tomato, avocado)

• stone fruit or drupe (plum, cherry, peach, apricot, olive)
• false berry - Epigynous accessory fruits (banana, cranberry, strawberry (edible part).)
• pome - accessory fruits (apple, pear, rosehip)
[edit] Aggregate fruit
Dewberry flowers. Note the multiple pistils, each of which will produce a drupelet. Each flower will
become a blackberry-like aggregate fruit
Main article: Aggregate fruit
An aggregate fruit, or etaerio, develops from a flower with numerous simple pistils.[14] An example is the
raspberry, whose simple fruits are termed drupelets because each is like a small drupe attached to the
receptacle. In some bramble fruits (such as blackberry) the receptacle is elongated and part of the ripe
fruit, making the blackberry an aggregate-accessory fruit.[15] The strawberry is also an aggregate-
accessory fruit, only one in which the seeds are contained in achenes.[16] In all these examples, the fruit
develops from a single flower with numerous pistils.
Some kinds of aggregate fruits are called berries, yet in the botanical sense they are not.
[edit] Multiple fruit
Main article: Multiple fruit
A multiple fruit is one formed from a cluster of flowers (called an inflorescence). Each flower produces a
fruit, but these mature into a single mass.[17] Examples are the pineapple, edible fig, mulberry, osage-
orange, and breadfruit.
In some plants, such as this noni, flowers are produced regularly along the stem and it is possible to see
together examples of flowering, fruit development, and fruit ripening
In the photograph on the right, stages of flowering and fruit development in the noni or Indian mulberry
(Morinda citrifolia) can be observed on a single branch. First an inflorescence of white flowers called a
head is produced. After fertilization, each flower develops into a drupe, and as the drupes expand, they
become connate (merge) into a multiple fleshy fruit called a syncarpet.[18]
There are also many dry multiple fruits, e.g.
• Tuliptree, multiple of samaras.

• Sweet gum, multiple of capsules.
• Sycamore and teasel, multiple of achenes.
• Magnolia, multiple of follicles.
[edit] Fruit chart
To summarize common types of fruit (examples follow in the table below):
• Berry -- simple fruit and seeds created from a single ovary

o Pepo -- Berries where the skin is hardened, like cucurbits
o Hesperidium -- Berries with a rind, like most citrus fruit
• Epigynous berries(false berries) -- Epigynous fruit made from a part of the plant other than a
single ovary
• Compound fruit, which includes:
o Aggregate fruit -- multiple fruits with seeds from different ovaries of a single flower
o Multiple fruit -- fruits of separate flowers, packed closely together
• Other accessory fruit -- where the edible part is not generated by the ovary
Types of fruit
False berry Aggregate Multiple Other

True berry Pepo Hesperidium
(Epigynous) fruit fruit accessory fruit
Blackcurrant,
Redcurrant, Apple, Apricot,
Gooseberry, Peach, Cherry,
Pumpkin, Blackberry,
Tomato, Orange, Banana, Pineapple, Green bean,
Gourd, Raspberry,
Eggplant, Guava, Lemon, Lime, Cranberry, Fig, Sunflower
Cucumber, Boysenberry,
Lucuma, Chili Grapefruit Blueberry Mulberry seed,
Melon Hedge apple
pepper, Strawberry,
Pomegranate, plum,
Kiwifruit, Grape,
[edit] Seedless fruits
An arrangement of fruits commonly thought of as vegetables, including tomatoes and various squash
Seedlessness is an important feature of some fruits of commerce. Commercial cultivars of bananas and
pineapples are examples of seedless fruits. Some cultivars of citrus fruits (especially navel
oranges),satsumas, mandarin oranges table grapes, grapefruit, and watermelons are valued for their
seedlessness. In some species, seedlessness is the result of parthenocarpy, where fruits set without
fertilization. Parthenocarpic fruit set may or may not require pollination. Most seedless citrus fruits
require a pollination stimulus; bananas and pineapples do not. Seedlessness in table grapes results from
the abortion of the embryonic plant that is produced by fertilization, a phenomenon known as
stenospermocarpy which requires normal pollination and fertilization.[19]
[edit] Seed dissemination

Variations in fruit structures largely depend on the mode of dispersal of the seeds they contain. This
dispersal can be achieved by animals, wind, water, or explosive dehiscence.[20]
Some fruits have coats covered with spikes or hooked burrs, either to prevent themselves from being
eaten by animals or to stick to the hairs, feathers or legs of animals, using them as dispersal agents.
Examples include cocklebur and unicorn plant.[21][22]
The sweet flesh of many fruits is "deliberately" appealing to animals, so that the seeds held within are
eaten and "unwittingly" carried away and deposited at a distance from the parent. Likewise, the nutritious,
oily kernels of nuts are appealing to rodents (such as squirrels) who hoard them in the soil in order to
avoid starving during the winter, thus giving those seeds that remain uneaten the chance to germinate and
grow into a new plant away from their parent.[4]
Other fruits are elongated and flattened out naturally and so become thin, like wings or helicopter blades,
e.g. maple, tuliptree and elm. This is an evolutionary mechanism to increase dispersal distance away from
the parent via wind. Other wind-dispersed fruit have tiny parachutes, e.g. dandelion and salsify.[20]
Coconut fruits can float thousands of miles in the ocean to spread seeds. Some other fruits that can
disperse via water are nipa palm and screw pine.[20]
Some fruits fling seeds substantial distances (up to 100 m in sandbox tree) via explosive dehiscence or
other mechanisms, e.g. impatiens and squirting cucumber.[23]
[edit] Uses
Nectarines are one of many fruits that can be easily stewed.
Many hundreds of fruits, including fleshy fruits like apple, peach, pear, kiwifruit, watermelon and mango
are commercially valuable as human food, eaten both fresh and as jams, marmalade and other preserves.
Fruits are also in manufactured foods like cookies, muffins, yoghurt, ice cream, cakes, and many more.
Many fruits are used to make beverages, such as fruit juices (orange juice, apple juice, grape juice, etc) or
alcoholic beverages, such as wine or brandy.[24] Apples are often used to make vinegar.Fruits are also used
for gift giving, Fruit Basket and Fruit Bouquet are some common forms of fruit gifts.
Many vegetables are botanical fruits, including tomato, bell pepper, eggplant, okra, squash, pumpkin,
green bean, cucumber and zucchini.[25] Olive fruit is pressed for olive oil. Spices like vanilla, paprika,
allspice and black pepper are derived from berries.[26]
[edit] Nutritional value
Fruits are generally high in fiber, water and vitamin C. Fruits also contain various phytochemicals that do
not yet have an RDA/RDI listing under most nutritional factsheets, and which research indicates are
required for proper long-term cellular health and disease prevention. Regular consumption of fruit is
associated with reduced risks of cancer, cardiovascular disease, stroke, Alzheimer disease, cataracts, and
some of the functional declines associated with aging.[27]
[edit] Nonfood uses
Because fruits have been such a major part of the human diet, different cultures have developed many
different uses for various fruits that they do not depend on as being edible. Many dry fruits are used as
decorations or in dried flower arrangements, such as unicorn plant, lotus, wheat, annual honesty and
milkweed. Ornamental trees and shrubs are often cultivated for their colorful fruits, including holly,
pyracantha, viburnum, skimmia, beautyberry and cotoneaster.[28]
Fruits of opium poppy are the source of opium which contains the drugs morphine and codeine, as well as
the biologically inactive chemical theabaine from which the drug oxycodone is synthysized.[29] Osage
orange fruits are used to repel cockroaches.[30] Bayberry fruits provide a wax often used to make candles.
[31]
Many fruits provide natural dyes, e.g. walnut, sumac, cherry and mulberry.[32] Dried gourds are used as
decorations, water jugs, bird houses, musical instruments, cups and dishes. Pumpkins are carved into
Jack-o'-lanterns for Halloween. The spiny fruit of burdock or cocklebur were the inspiration for the
invention of Velcro.[33]
Coir is a fibre from the fruit of coconut that is used for doormats, brushes, mattresses, floortiles, sacking,
insulation and as a growing medium for container plants. The shell of the coconut fruit is used to make
souvenir heads, cups, bowls, musical instruments and bird houses.[34]
[edit] Production
Top Ten fresh fruit Producers — 2005
Country Production (Int $1000) Footnote Production (MT) Footnote
India 1,052,766 C 6,600,000 F
Vietnam 438,652 C 2,750,000 F
People's Republic of China 271,167 C 1,790,000 F
Indonesia 255,216 C 1,600,000 F
Nigeria 223,314 C 1,400,000 F
Iran 223,314 C 1,400,000 F
Myanmar 183,436 C 1,150,000 F
Papua New Guinea 129,203 C 810,000 F
Nepal 82,945 C 520,000 F

Democratic People's Republic 78,160 C 490,000 F
of Korea
No symbol = official figure,F = FAO estimate, * = Unofficial figure, C = Calculated figure;
Production in Int $1000 have been calculated based on 1999-2001 international prices
Source: Food and Agricultural Organization of United Nations: Economic and Social Department: The Statistical Division
Top Ten tropical fresh fruit Producers — 2005
Country Production (Int $1000) Footnote Production (MT) Footnote
Philippines 389,164 C 3,400,000 F
Indonesia 377,718 C 3,300,000 F
India 335,368 C 2,930,000 F
People's Republic of China 177,413 C 2,164,000 F
Colombia 131,629 C 1,150,000 F
Thailand 83,556 C 730,000 F
Pakistan 60,893 C 532,000 F
Brazil 55,513 C 485,000 F
Bangladesh 31,934 C 279,000 F
Mexico 28,615 C 250,000 F
No symbol = official figure, F = FAO estimate, * = Unofficial figure, C = Calculated figure;
Production in Int $1000 have been calculated based on 1999-2001 international prices
Source: and Agricultural Organization of United Nations: Economic and Social Department: The Statistical Division
[edit] See also

• List of culinary fruits
• Fruit trees
• Tutti frutti
• Fruitarianism
[edit] References
Planet
This article is about the astronomical objects. For "planet" as defined by astrologers, see Planets in
astrology. For the related but distinct class of objects, see Dwarf planet. For other uses, see Planet
(disambiguation).
Artist's depiction of the extrasolar planet HD 209458 b orbiting its star
A planet, as defined by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), is a celestial body orbiting a star or
stellar remnant that is massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity, is not massive enough to cause
thermonuclear fusion, and has cleared its neighbouring region of planetesimals.[a][1][2]
The term planet is ancient, with ties to history, science, myth, and religion. The planets were originally
seen by many early cultures as divine, or as emissaries of the gods. Even today, many people believe in
astrology, which holds that the movement of the planets affects people's lives, although such a causation
is rejected by the scientific community. As scientific knowledge advanced, human perception of the
planets changed, incorporating a number of disparate objects. Even now there is no uncontested definition
of what a planet is. In 2006, the IAU officially adopted a resolution defining planets within the Solar
System. This definition has been both praised and criticized, and remains disputed by some scientists.
The planets were thought by Ptolemy to orbit the Earth in deferent and epicycle motions. Though the idea
that the planets orbited the Sun had been suggested many times, it was not until the 17th century that this
view was supported by evidence from the first telescopic astronomical observations, performed by Galileo
Galilei. By careful analysis of the observation data, Johannes Kepler found the planets' orbits to be not
circular, but elliptical. As observational tools improved, astronomers saw that, like Earth, the planets
rotated around tilted axes, and some share such features as ice-caps and seasons. Since the dawn of the
Space Age, close observation by probes has found that Earth and the other planets share characteristics
such as volcanism, hurricanes, tectonics, and even hydrology. Since 1992, through the discovery of
hundreds of extrasolar planets (planets around other stars), scientists are beginning to understand that
planets throughout the Milky Way Galaxy share characteristics in common with our own.
Planets are generally divided into two main types: large, low-density gas giants, and smaller, rocky
terrestrials. Under IAU definitions, there are eight planets in the Solar System. In order from the Sun, they
are the four terrestrials, Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars, then the four gas giants, Jupiter, Saturn,
Uranus, and Neptune. Many of these planets are orbited by one or more moons, which can be larger than
small planets. As of December 2008, there are 333 known extrasolar planets, ranging from the size of gas
giants to that of terrestrial planets.[3] This brings the total number of identified planets to at least 341. The
Solar System also contains at least five dwarf planets: Ceres, Pluto (formerly considered to be the Solar
System's ninth planet), Makemake, Haumea and Eris. No extrasolar dwarf planets have yet been detected.
Contents
[hide]
• 1 History
o 1.1 Antiquity
o 1.2 Modern times
o 1.3 Former classifications
o 1.4 2006 definition
• 2 Mythology
• 3 Formation
• 4 Solar System
o 4.1 Dwarf planets
• 5 Extrasolar planets
• 6 Interstellar "planets"
• 7 Attributes
o 7.1 Dynamic characteristics
 7.1.1 Orbit
 7.1.2 Axial tilt
 7.1.3 Rotation
 7.1.4 Orbital clearance
o 7.2 Physical characteristics
 7.2.1 Mass
 7.2.2 Internal differentiation
 7.2.3 Atmosphere
 7.2.4 Magnetosphere
o 7.3 Secondary characteristics
• 8 See also
• 9 Notes
• 10 References
History
Main articles: History of astronomy and Definition of planet
See also: Timeline of solar system astronomy
The idea of planets has evolved over its history, from the divine wandering stars of antiquity to the earthly
objects of the scientific age. The concept has also now expanded to include worlds not only in the Solar
System, but in hundreds of other extrasolar systems. The ambiguities inherent in defining planets have led
to much scientific controversy.
Antiquity
See also: Geocentric model
Early printed rendition of a geocentric cosmological model
In ancient times, astronomers noted how certain lights moved across the sky in relation to the other stars.
Ancient Greeks called these lights "πλάνητες ἀστέρες" (planetes asteres: wandering stars) or simply
"πλανήτοι" (planētoi: wanderers),[4] from which the today's word "planet" was derived.[5][6]
In ancient Greece as well as in ancient India,[7] ancient China, ancient Babylon and indeed all pre-modern
civilisations,[8][9] it was almost universally believed that Earth was in the centre of the Universe and that all
the "planets" circled the Earth. The reasons for this perception were that stars and planets appeared to
revolve around the Earth each day,[10] and the apparently common sense perception that the Earth was
solid and stable, and that it is not moving but at rest.
The Greek cosmological system was taken from that of the Babylonians,[11] a contemporary
Mesopotamian civilisation from whom they began to acquire astronomical learning from around 600 BC,
including the constellations and the zodiac.[12] In the 6th century BC, the Babylonians had a highly
advanced level of astronomical knowledge, and had a theory of the planets centuries before the ancient
Greeks. The oldest planetary astronomical text that we possess is the Babylonian Venus tablet of
Ammisaduqa, a 7th century BC copy of a list of observations of the motions of the planet Venus that
probably dates as early as the second millennium BC.[13] The Babylonians also laid the foundations of
what would eventually become Western astrology.[14] The Enuma anu enlil, written during the Neo-
Assyrian period in the 7th century BC,[15] comprises a list of omens and their relationships with various
celestial phenomena including the motions of the planets.[16] The Sumerians, predecessors of the
Babylonians who are considered as one of the first civilizations and are credited with the invention of
writing, had identified at least Venus by 1500 BC.[11] Conversely, there is no evidence of a comparable
knowledge of the planets in the earliest written Greek sources, such as the Iliad and the Odyssey.[14]
By the first century BC, the Greeks had begun to develop their own mathematical schemes for predicting
the positions of the planets. These schemes, which were based on geometry rather than the arithmetic of
the Babylonians, would eventually eclipse the Babylonians' theories in complexity and
comprehensiveness, and account for most of the astronomical movements observed from Earth with the
naked eye. These theories would reach their fullest expression in the Almagest written by Ptolemy in the
2nd century AD. So complete was the domination of Ptolemy's model that it superseded all previous
works on astronomy and remained the definitive astronomical text in the Western world for 13 centuries.
[17][13]
To the Greeks and Romans there were seven known planets, each presumed to be circling the Earth
according to the complex laws laid out by Ptolemy. They were, in increasing order from Earth (in
Ptolemy's order): the Moon, Mercury, Venus, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn.[17][18][6]
Modern times
See also: Heliocentrism
The five naked-eye planets have been known since ancient times, and have had a significant impact on
mythology, religious cosmology, and ancient astronomy. As scientific knowledge progressed, however,
understanding of the term "planet" changed from something that moved across the sky (in relation to the
star field); to a body that orbited the Earth (or that were believed to do so at the time); and in the 16th
century to something that directly orbited the Sun when the heliocentric model of Copernicus, Galileo and
Kepler gained sway.
Heliocentrism (lower panel) in comparison to the geocentric model (upper panel)
Thus the Earth became included in the list of planets,[19] while the Sun and Moon were excluded. At first,
when the first satellites of Saturn were discovered at the end of the 17th century, the terms "planet" and
"satellite" were used interchangeably – although the latter would gradually become more prevalent in the
following century.[20] Until the mid-19th century, the number of "planets" rose rapidly since any newly
discovered object directly orbiting the Sun was listed as a planet by the scientific community.
In the 19th century astronomers began to realize that recently discovered bodies that had been classified
as planets for almost half a century (such as Ceres, Pallas, and Vesta), were very different from the
traditional ones. These bodies shared the same region of space between Mars and Jupiter (the Asteroid
belt), and had a much smaller mass; as a result they were reclassified as "asteroids". In the absence of any
formal definition, a "planet" came to be understood as any "large" body that orbited the Sun. Since there
was a dramatic size gap between the asteroids and the planets, and the spate of new discoveries seemed to
have ended after the discovery of Neptune in 1846, there was no apparent need to have a formal
definition.[21]
However, in the 20th century, Pluto was discovered. After initial observations led to the belief it was
larger than Earth,[22] the object was immediately accepted as the ninth planet. Further monitoring found
the body was actually much smaller: in 1936, Raymond Lyttleton suggested that Pluto may be an escaped
satellite of Neptune,[23] and Fred Whipple suggested in 1964 that Pluto may be a comet.[24] However, as it
was still larger than all known asteroids and seemingly did not exist within a larger population,[25] it kept
its status until 2006.
In the 1990s and early 2000s, there was a flood of discoveries of similar objects in the same region of the
Solar System (the Kuiper belt). Like Ceres and the asteroids before it, Pluto was found to be just one
small body in a population of thousands. A growing number of astronomers argued for it to be
declassified as a planet, since many similar objects approaching its size were found. The discovery of
Eris, a more massive object widely publicised as the "tenth planet", brought things to a head. The IAU set
about creating the definition of planet, and eventually produced one in 2006. The number of planets
dropped to the eight significantly larger bodies that had cleared their orbit (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars,
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus & Neptune), and a new class of dwarf planets was created, initially containing
three objects (Ceres, Pluto and Eris).[26]
In 1992, astronomers Aleksander Wolszczan and Dale Frail announced the discovery of planets around a
pulsar, PSR B1257+12.[27] This discovery is generally considered to be the first definitive detection of a
planetary system around another star. Then, on October 6, 1995, Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz of the
University of Geneva announced the first definitive detection of an exoplanet orbiting an ordinary main-
sequence star (51 Pegasi).[28]
The discovery of extrasolar planets led to another ambiguity in defining a planet; the point at which a
planet becomes a star. Many known extrasolar planets are many times the mass of Jupiter, approaching
that of stellar objects known as "brown dwarfs".[29] Brown dwarfs are generally considered stars due to
their ability to fuse deuterium, a heavier isotope of hydrogen. While stars more massive than 75 times that
of Jupiter fuse hydrogen, stars of only 13 Jupiter masses can fuse deuterium. However, deuterium is quite
rare, and most brown dwarfs would have ceased fusing deuterium long before their discovery, making
them effectively indistinguishable from supermassive planets.[30]
As large Kuiper belt and scattered disc objects were discovered in the late 1990s and early years of the
twenty-first century, a number including Quaoar, Sedna and Eris were heralded in the popular press as the
'tenth planet', however none of these received widespread scientific recognition as such, although Eris has
now been classified as a Dwarf Planet.
Former classifications
The table below lists Solar System bodies formerly considered to be planets:
Bodies Notes
Classified as planets
in antiquity, in
Sun, Moon accordance with the
definition then used.
The four largest

moons of Jupiter,
known as the
Galilean moons after
their discoverer
Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto Galileo Galilei. He
referred to them as
the "Medicean
Planets" in honor of
his patron, the Medici
family.
Five of Saturn's larger

moons, discovered by
Titan,[b] Iapetus,[c] Rhea,[c] Tethys,[d] and Dione[d] Christiaan Huygens
and Giovanni
Domenico Cassini.
The first known

asteroids, from their
discoveries between
1801 and 1807 until
their reclassification
Ceres,[e] Pallas, Juno, and Vesta as asteroids during
the 1850s.[31]
Ceres has
subsequently been
classified as a dwarf
planet.
Astrea, Hebe, Iris, Flora, Metis, Hygeia, Parthenope, Victoria, Egeria, Irene, Eunomia More asteroids,
discovered between
1845 and 1851. The
rapidly expanding list
of planets prompted
their reclassification
as asteroids by
astronomers, and this
was widely accepted
by 1854.[32]
Kuiper belt object
beyond the orbit of
Pluto[f] Neptune. In 2006,
Pluto was reclassified
as a dwarf planet.
2006 definition
Main article: 2006 definition of planet
With the discovery during the latter half of the 20th century of more objects within the Solar System and
large objects around other stars, disputes arose over what should constitute a planet. There was particular
disagreement over whether an object should be considered a planet if it was part of a distinct population
such as a belt, or if it was large enough to generate energy by the thermonuclear fusion of deuterium.
In 2003, The International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group on Extrasolar Planets made a
position statement on the definition of a planet that incorporated the following working definition, mostly
focused upon the boundary between planets and brown dwarves:[2]
The IAU's 2006 decision was prompted by discovery of the largest trans-Neptunian objects.
1. Objects with true masses below the limiting mass for thermonuclear fusion of deuterium (currently
calculated to be 13 times the mass of Jupiter for objects with the same isotopic abundance as the
Sun[33]) that orbit stars or stellar remnants are "planets" (no matter how they formed). The
minimum mass and size required for an extrasolar object to be considered a planet should be the
same as that used in the Solar System.
2. Substellar objects with true masses above the limiting mass for thermonuclear fusion of deuterium
are "brown dwarfs", no matter how they formed or where they are located.
3. Free-floating objects in young star clusters with masses below the limiting mass for thermonuclear
fusion of deuterium are not "planets", but are "sub-brown dwarfs" (or whatever name is most
appropriate).
This definition has since been widely used by astronomers when publishing discoveries of exoplanets in
academic journals.[34] Although temporary, it remains an effective working definition until a more
permanent one is formally adopted. However, it does not address the dispute over the lower mass limit,[35]
and so it steered clear of the controversy regarding objects within the Solar System.
The matter of the lower limit was addressed during the 2006 meeting of the IAU's General Assembly.
After much debate and one failed proposal, the assembly voted to pass a resolution that defined planets
within the Solar System as[1]:
A celestial body that is (a) in orbit around the Sun, (b) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid
body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape, and (c) has cleared the
neighbourhood around its orbit.
Under this definition, the Solar System is considered to have eight planets. Bodies which fulfill the first
two conditions but not the third (such as Pluto, Makemake and Eris) are classified as dwarf planets,
provided they are not also natural satellites of other planets. Originally an IAU committee had proposed a
definition that would have included a much larger number of planets as it did not include (c) as a criterion.
[36]
After much discussion, it was decided via a vote that those bodies should instead be classified as dwarf
planets.[37]
This definition is based in theories of planetary formation, in which planetary embryos initially clear their
orbital neighborhood of other smaller objects. As described by astronomer Steven Soter:[38]
The end product of secondary disk accretion is a small number of relatively large bodies (planets) in either non-
intersecting or resonant orbits, which prevent collisions between them. Asteroids and comets, including KBOs,
differ from planets in that they can collide with each other and with planets.
In the aftermath of the IAU's 2006 vote, there has been controversy and debate about the definition,[39][40]
and many astronomers have stated that they will not use it.[41] Part of the dispute centres around the belief
that point (c) (clearing its orbit) should not have been listed, and that those objects now categorised as
dwarf planets should actually be part of a broader planetary definition. The next IAU conference is not
until 2009, when modifications could be made to the IAU definition, also possibly including extrasolar
planets.
Beyond the scientific community, Pluto has held a strong cultural significance for many in the general
public considering its planetary status since its discovery in 1930. The discovery of Eris was widely
reported in the media as the tenth planet and therefore the reclassification of all three objects as dwarf
planets has attracted a lot of media and public attention as well.[42]
Mythology
See also: Days of the week and Naked-eye planet
The gods of Olympus, after whom the Solar System's planets are named
The names for the planets in the Western world are derived from the naming practices of the Romans,
which ultimately derive from those of the Greeks and the Babylonians. In ancient Greece, the two great
luminaries the Sun and the Moon were called Helios and Selene; the farthest planet was called Phainon,
the shiner; followed by Phaethon, "bright"; the red planet was known as Pyroeis, the "fiery"; the brightest
was known as Phosphoros, the light bringer; and the fleeting final planet was called Stilbon, the gleamer.
The Greeks also made each planet sacred to one of their pantheon of gods, the Olympians: Helios and
Selene were the names of both planets and gods; Phainon was sacred to Kronos, the Titan who fathered
the Olympians; Phaethon was sacred to Zeús, Kronos's son who deposed him as king; Pyroeis was given
to Ares, son of Zeus and god of war; Phosphorus was ruled by Aphrodite, the goddess of love; and
Hermes, messenger of the gods and god of learning and wit, ruled over Stilbon.[13]
The Greek practice of grafting of their gods' names onto the planets was almost certainly borrowed from
the Babylonians. The Babylonians named Phosphorus after their goddess of love, Ishtar; Pyroeis after
their god of war, Nergal, Stilbon after their god of wisdom Nabu, and Phaethon after their chief god,
Marduk.[43] There are too many concordances between Greek and Babylonian naming conventions for
them to have arisen separately.[13] The translation was not perfect. For instance, the Babylonian Nergal
was a god of war, and thus the Greeks identified him with Ares. However, unlike Ares, Nergal was also
god of pestilence and the underworld.[44]
Today, most people in the western world know the planets by names derived from the Olympian pantheon
of gods. While modern Greeks still use their ancient names for the planets, other European languages,
because of the influence of the Roman Empire and, later, the Catholic Church, use the Roman (or Latin)
names rather than the Greek ones. The Romans, who, like the Greeks, were Indo-Europeans, shared with
them a common pantheon under different names but lacked the rich narrative traditions that Greek poetic
culture had given their gods. During the later period of the Roman Republic, Roman writers borrowed
much of the Greek narratives and applied them to their own pantheon, to the point where they became
virtually indistinguishable.[45] When the Romans studied Greek astronomy, they gave the planets their own
gods' names: Mercurius (for Hermes), Venus (Aphrodite), Mars (Ares), Iuppiter (Zeus) and Saturnus
(Kronos). When subsequent planets were discovered in the 18th and 19th centuries, the naming practice
was retained: Uranus (Ouranos) and Neptūnus (Poseidon).
Some Romans, following a belief possibly originating in Mesopotamia but developed in Hellenistic
Egypt, believed that the seven gods after whom the planets were named took hourly shifts in looking after
affairs on Earth. The order of shifts went Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury, Moon (from the
farthest to the closest planet).[46] Therefore, the first day was started by Saturn (1st hour), second day by
Sun (25th hour), followed by Moon (49th hour), Mars, Mercury, Jupiter and Venus. Since each day was
named by the god that started it, this is also the order of the days of the week in the Roman calendar after
the Nundinal cycle was rejected – and still preserved many modern languages.[47] Sunday, Monday, and
Saturday are straightforward translations of these Roman names. In English the other days were renamed
after Tiw, (Tuesday) Wóden (Wednesday), Thunor (Thursday), and Fríge (Friday), the Anglo-Saxon gods
considered similar or equivalent to Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, and Venus respectively.
Since Earth was only generally accepted as a planet in the 17th century,[19] there is no tradition of naming
it after a god (the same is true, in English at least, of the Sun and the Moon, though they are no longer
considered planets). The name originates from the 8th century Anglo-Saxon word erda, which means
ground or soil and was first used in writing as the name of the sphere of the Earth perhaps around 1300.[48]
[49]
It is the only planet whose name in English is not derived from Greco-Roman mythology. Many of the
Romance languages retain the old Roman word terra (or some variation of it) that was used with the
meaning of "dry land" (as opposed to "sea").[50] However, the non-Romance languages use their own
respective native words. The Greeks retain their original name, Γή (Ge or Yi); the Germanic languages,
including English, use a variation of an ancient Germanic word ertho, "ground,"[49] as can be seen in the
English Earth, the German Erde, the Dutch Aarde, and the Scandinavian Jorde.
Non-European cultures use other planetary naming systems. India uses a naming system based on the
Navagraha, which incorporates the seven traditional planets (Surya for the Sun, Chandra for the Moon,
and Budha, Shukra, Mangala, Bṛhaspati and Shani for the traditional planets Mercury, Venus, Mars,
Jupiter and Saturn) and the ascending and descending lunar nodes Rahu and Ketu. China and the countries
of eastern Asia influenced by it (such as Japan, Korea and Vietnam) use a naming system based on the
five Chinese elements: water (Mercury), metal (Venus), fire (Mars), wood (Jupiter) and earth (Saturn).[47]
Formation
Main article: Nebular hypothesis
It is not known with certainty how planets are formed. The prevailing theory is that they are formed
during the collapse of a nebula into a thin disk of gas and dust. A protostar forms at the core, surrounded
by a rotating protoplanetary disk. Through accretion (a process of sticky collision) dust particles in the
disk steadily accumulate mass to form ever-larger bodies. Local concentrations of mass known as
planetesimals form, and these accelerate the accretion process by drawing in additional material by their
gravitational attraction. These concentrations become ever denser until they collapse inward under gravity
to form protoplanets.[51] After a planet reaches a diameter larger than the Earth's moon, it begins to
accumulate an extended atmosphere, greatly increasing the capture rate of the planetesimals by means of
atmospheric drag.[52]
An artist's impression of protoplanetary disk
When the protostar has grown such that it ignites to form a star, the surviving disk is removed from the
inside outward by photoevaporation, the solar wind, Poynting-Robertson drag and other effects.[53][54]
Thereafter there still may be many protoplanets orbiting the star or each other, but over time many will
collide, either to form a single larger planet or release material for other larger protoplanets or planets to
absorb.[55] Those objects that have become massive enough will capture most matter in their orbital
neighbourhoods to become planets. Meanwhile, protoplanets that have avoided collisions may become
natural satellites of planets through a process of gravitational capture, or remain in belts of other objects to
become either dwarf planets or small Solar System bodies.
The energetic impacts of the smaller planetesimals (as well as radioactive decay) will heat up the growing
planet, causing it to at least partially melt. The interior of the planet begins to differentiate by mass,
developing a denser core.[56] Smaller terrestrial planets lose most of their atmospheres because of this
accretion, but the lost gases can be replaced by outgassing from the mantle and from the subsequent
impact of comets.[57] (Smaller planets will lose any atmosphere they gain through various escape
mechanisms.)
With the discovery and observation of planetary systems around stars other than our own, it is becoming
possible to elaborate, revise or even replace this account. The level of metallicity – an astronomical term
describing the abundance of chemical elements with an atomic number greater than 2 (helium) – is now
believed to determine the likelihood that a star will have planets.[58] Hence it is thought less likely that a
metal-poor, population II star will possess a more substantial planetary system than a metal-rich
population I star.
Solar System
See also: List of Solar System bodies in hydrostatic equilibrium
The terrestrial planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars (Sizes to scale)
The four gas giants against the Sun: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune (Sizes to scale)
According to the IAU's current definitions, there are eight planets in the Solar System. In increasing
distance from the Sun, they are:
1. Mercury
2. Venus
3. Earth
4. Mars
5. Jupiter
6. Saturn
7. Uranus
8. Neptune
Jupiter is the largest, at 318 Earth masses, while Mercury is smallest, at 0.055 Earth masses.
The planets of the Solar System can be divided into categories based on their composition:
• Terrestrials: Planets that are similar to Earth, with bodies largely composed of rock: Mercury,
Venus, Earth and Mars.
• Gas giants: Planets with a composition largely made up of gaseous material and are significantly
more massive than terrestrials: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune. Ice giants, comprising Uranus
and Neptune, are a sub-class of gas giants, distinguished from gas giants by their significantly
lower mass, and by depletion in hydrogen and helium in their atmospheres together with a
significantly higher proportion of rock and ice.
Planetary attributes
Orbital Orbital Inclination Rotation

Equatorial [a] Orbital Named
Name [a] Mass radius period to Sun's period Rings Atmosphere
diameter eccentricity moons
(AU) (years) equator (°) (days)
Mercury 0.382 0.06 0.39 0.24 3.38 0.206 58.64 — no minimal
Venus 0.949 0.82 0.72 0.62 3.86 0.007 -243.02 — no CO2, N2

Terrestrial
s
Earth[b] 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 7.25 0.017 1.00 1 no N2, O2
Mars 0.532 0.11 1.52 1.88 5.65 0.093 1.03 2 no CO2, N2
Jupiter 11.209 317.8 5.20 11.86 6.09 0.048 0.41 49 yes H2, He
Saturn 9.449 95.2 9.54 29.46 5.51 0.054 0.43 52 yes H2, He
Gas giants
Uranus 4.007 14.6 19.22 84.01 6.48 0.047 -0.72 27 yes H2, He
Neptun
3.883 17.2 30.06 164.8 6.43 0.009 0.67 13 yes H2, He
e
a
Measured relative to the Earth.
b
See Earth article for absolute values.
Dwarf planets
Main article: Dwarf planet
Before the August 2006 decision, several objects were proposed by astronomers, including at one stage by
the IAU, as planets. However in 2006 several of these objects were reclassified as dwarf planets, objects
distinct from planets. Currently five dwarf planets in the Solar System are recognized by the IAU: Ceres,
Pluto, Haumea, Makemake and Eris. Several other objects in both the Asteroid belt and the Kuiper belt
are under consideration, with as many as 50 that could eventually qualify. There may be as many as 200
that could be discovered once the Kuiper belt has been fully explored. Dwarf planets share many of the
same characteristics as planets, although notable differences remain – namely that they are not dominant
in their orbits. Their attributes are:
Dwarf planetary attributes
Orbital Orbital Inclination Rotation

Equatorial Orbital
Name Mass[c] radius period to ecliptic period Moons Rings Atmosphere
diameter[c] eccentricity
(AU) (years) (°) (days)
Ceres 0.08 0.000 2 2.5–3.0 4.60 10.59 0.080 0.38 0 no none
29.7–
Pluto 0.19 0.002 2 248.09 17.14 0.249 −6.39 3 no temporary
49.3
35.2–
Haumea 0.37×0.16 0.000 7 285.38 28.19 0.189 0.16 2
51.5
38.5–
Makemake ~0.12 0.000 7 309.88 28.96 0.159 ? 0 ? ? [d]
53.1
37.8–
Eris 0.19 0.002 5 ~557 44.19 0.442 ~0.3 1 ? ? [d]
97.6
c
Measured relative to the Earth. d A temporary atmosphere is suspected but has not yet been directly
observed by stellar occultation.
By definition, all dwarf planets are members of larger populations. Ceres is the largest body in the
asteroid belt, while Pluto and Makemake are members of the Kuiper belt and Eris is a member of the
scattered disc. Scientists such as Mike Brown believe that there may soon be over forty trans-Neptunian
objects that qualify as dwarf planets under the IAU's recent definition.[59]
Extrasolar planets
Main article: Extrasolar planet
HR 8799, the first extrasolar planetary system to be directly imaged

The first confirmed discovery of an extrasolar planet orbiting an ordinary main-sequence star occurred on
6 October 1995, when Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz of the University of Geneva announced the
detection of an exoplanet around 51 Pegasi. Of the 306 extrasolar planets discovered by August 2008,
most have masses which are comparable to or larger than Jupiter's, though masses ranging from just
below that of Mercury to many times Jupiter's mass have been observed.[60] The smallest extrasolar
planets found to date have been discovered orbiting burned-out star remnants called pulsars, such as PSR
B1257+12.[61] There have been roughly a dozen extrasolar planets found of between 10 and 20 Earth
masses,[60] such as those orbiting the stars Mu Arae, 55 Cancri and GJ 436.[62] These planets have been
nicknamed "Neptunes" because they roughly approximate that planet's mass (17 Earths).[63] Another new
category are the so-called "super-Earths", possibly terrestrial planets far larger than Earth but smaller than
Neptune or Uranus. To date, five possible super-Earths have been found: Gliese 876 d, which is roughly
six times Earth's mass,[64] OGLE-2005-BLG-390Lb and MOA-2007-BLG-192Lb, frigid icy worlds
discovered through gravitational microlensing,[65][66] and two planets orbiting the nearby red dwarf Gliese
581. Gliese 581 d is roughly 7.7 times Earth's mass,[67] while Gliese 581 c is five times Earth's mass and
the first terrestrial planet found within a star's habitable zone.[68]
It is far from clear if the newly discovered large planets would resemble the gas giants in the Solar System
or if they are of an entirely different type as yet unknown, like ammonia giants or carbon planets. In
particular, some of the newly-discovered planets, known as hot Jupiters, orbit extremely close to their
parent stars, in nearly circular orbits. They therefore receive much more stellar radiation than the gas
giants in the Solar System, which makes it questionable whether they are the same type of planet at all.
There may also exist a class of hot Jupiters, called Chthonian planets, that orbit so close to their star that
their atmospheres have been blown away completely by stellar radiation. While many hot Jupiters have
been found in the process of losing their atmospheres, as of 2008, no genuine Chthonian planets have
been discovered.[69]
More detailed observation of extrasolar planets will require a new generation of instruments, including
space telescopes. Currently the COROT spacecraft is searching for stellar luminosity variations due to
transiting planets. Several projects have also been proposed to create an array of space telescopes to
search for extrasolar planets with masses comparable to the Earth. These include the proposed NASA's
Kepler Mission, Terrestrial Planet Finder, and Space Interferometry Mission programs, the ESA's Darwin,
and the CNES' PEGASE.[70] The New Worlds Mission is an occulting device that may work in
conjunction with the James Webb Space Telescope. However, funding for some of these projects remains
uncertain. The first spectra of extrasolar planets were reported in February 2007 (HD 209458 b and HD
189733 b).[71][72] The frequency of occurrence of such terrestrial planets is one of the variables in the Drake
equation which estimates the number of intelligent, communicating civilizations that exist in our galaxy.
[73]
Interstellar "planets"
Main article: Rogue planet
Several computer simulations of stellar and planetary system formation have suggested that some objects
of planetary mass would be ejected into interstellar space.[74] Some scientists have argued that such objects
found roaming in deep space should be classed as "planets". However, others have suggested that they
could be low-mass stars.[75] The IAU's working definition on extrasolar planets takes no position on the
issue.
In 2005, astronomers announced the discovery of Cha 110913-773444, the smallest brown dwarf found to
date, at only seven times Jupiter's mass. Since it was not found in orbit around a fusing star, it is a sub-
brown dwarf according to the IAU's working definition. However, some astronomers believe it should be
referred to as a planet.[75] For a brief time in 2006, astronomers believed they had found a binary system of
such objects, Oph 162225-240515, which the discoverers described as "planemos", or "planetary mass
objects". However, recent analysis of the objects has determined that their masses are probably each
greater than 13 Jupiter-masses, making the pair brown dwarfs.[76][77][78]
Attributes
Although each planet has unique physical characteristics, a number of broad commonalities do exist
between them. Some of these characteristics, such as rings or natural satellites, have only as yet been
observed in planets in the Solar System, whilst others are also common to extrasolar planets.
Dynamic characteristics
See also: Kepler's laws of planetary motion
Orbit
The orbit of the planet Neptune compared to that of Pluto. Note the elongation of Pluto's orbit in relation
to Neptune's (eccentricity), as well as its large angle to the ecliptic (inclination).
All planets revolve around stars. In the Solar System, all the planets orbit in the same direction as the Sun
rotates. It is not yet known whether all extrasolar planets follow this pattern. The period of one revolution
of a planet's orbit is known as its sidereal period or year.[79] A planet's year depends on its distance from
its star; the farther a planet is from its star, not only the longer the distance it must travel, but also the
slower its speed, as it is less affected by the star's gravity. Because no planet's orbit is perfectly circular,
the distance of each varies over the course of its year. The closest approach to its star is called its
periastron (perihelion in the Solar System), while its farthest separation from the star is called its apastron
(aphelion). As a planet approaches periastron, its speed increases as it trades gravitational potential energy
for kinetic energy, just as a falling object on Earth accelerates as it falls; as the planet reaches apastron, its
speed decreases, just as an object thrown upwards on Earth slows down as it reaches the apex of its
trajectory.[80]
Each planet's orbit is delineated by a set of elements:
• The eccentricity of an orbit describes how elongated a planet's orbit is. Planets with low
eccentricities have more circular orbits, while planets with high eccentricities have more elliptical
orbits. The planets in the Solar System have very low eccentricities, and thus nearly circular orbits.
[79]
Comets and Kuiper belt objects (as well as several extrasolar planets) have very high
eccentricities, and thus exceedingly elliptical orbits.[81][82]
•
Illustration of the semi-major axis
The semi-major axis is the distance from a planet to the half-way point along the longest diameter
of its elliptical orbit (see image). This distance is not the same as its apastron, as no planet's orbit
has its star at its exact centre.[79]
• The inclination of a planet tells how far above or below an established reference plane its orbit
lies. In the Solar System, the reference plane is the plane of Earth's orbit, called the ecliptic. For
extrasolar planets, the plane, known as the sky plane or plane of the sky, is the plane of the
observer's line of sight from Earth.[83] The eight planets of the Solar System all lie very close to the
ecliptic; comets and Kuiper belt objects like Pluto are at far more extreme angles to it.[84] The
points at which a planet crosses above and below its reference plane are called its ascending and
descending nodes.[79] The longitude of the ascending node is the angle between the reference
plane's 0 longitude and the planet's ascending node. The argument of periapsis (or perihelion in the
Solar System) is the angle between a planet's ascending node and its closest approach to its star.[79]
Axial tilt
Earth's axial tilt is about 23°.
Planets also have varying degrees of axial tilt; they lie at an angle to the plane of their stars' equators. This
causes the amount of light received by each hemisphere to vary over the course of its year; when the
northern hemisphere points away from its star, the southern hemisphere points towards it, and vice versa.
Each planet therefore possesses seasons; changes to the climate over the course of its year. The time at
which each hemisphere points farthest or nearest from its star is known as its solstice. Each planet has two
in the course of its orbit; when one hemisphere has its summer solstice, when its day is longest, the other
has its winter solstice, when its day is shortest. The varying amount of light and heat received by each
hemisphere creates annual changes in weather patterns for each half of the planet. Jupiter's axial tilt is
very small, so its seasonal variation is minimal; Uranus, on the other hand, has an axial tilt so extreme it is
virtually on its side, which means that its hemispheres are either perpetually in sunlight or perpetually in
darkness around the time of its solstices.[85] Among extrasolar planets, axial tilts are not known for certain,
though most hot Jupiters are believed to possess negligible to no axial tilt, as a result of their proximity to
their stars.[86]
Rotation
The planets also rotate around invisible axes through their centres. A planet's rotation period is known as
its day. All planets in the Solar System rotate in a counter-clockwise direction, except for Venus, which
rotates clockwise[87] (Uranus is generally said to be rotating clockwise as well[88] though because of its
extreme axial tilt, it can be said to be rotating either clockwise or anti-clockwise, depending on whether
one states it to be inclined 82° from the ecliptic in one direction, or 98° in the opposite direction).[89] There
is great variation in the length of day between the planets, with Venus taking 243 Earth days to rotate, and
the gas giants only a few hours.[90] The rotational periods of extrasolar planets are not known; however
their proximity to their stars means that hot Jupiters are tidally locked (their orbits are in sync with their
rotations). This means they only ever show one face to their stars, with one side in perpetual day, the other
in perpetual night.[91]
Orbital clearance
The defining dynamic characteristic of a planet is that it has cleared its neighborhood. A planet that has
cleared its neighborhood has accumulated enough mass to gather up or sweep away all the planetesimals
in its orbit. In effect, it orbits its star in isolation, as opposed to sharing its orbit with a multitude of
similar-sized objects. This characteristic was mandated as part of the IAU's official definition of a planet
in August, 2006. This criterion excludes such planetary bodies as Pluto, Eris and Ceres from full-fledged
planethood, making them instead dwarf planets.[1] Although to date this criterion only applies to the Solar
System, a number of young extrasolar systems have been found in which evidence suggests orbital
clearing is taking place within their circumstellar discs.[92]
Physical characteristics
Mass
A planet's defining physical characteristic is that it is massive enough for the force of its own gravity to
dominate over the electromagnetic forces binding its physical structure, leading to a state of hydrostatic
equilibrium. This effectively means that all planets are spherical or spheroidal. Up to a certain mass, an
object can be irregular in shape, but beyond that point, which varies depending on the chemical makeup
of the object, gravity begins to pull an object towards its own centre of mass until the object collapses into
a sphere.[93]
Mass is also the prime attribute by which planets are distinguished from stars. The upper mass limit for
planethood is roughly 13 times Jupiter's mass, beyond which it achieves conditions suitable for nuclear
fusion. Other than the Sun, no objects of such mass exist in the Solar System; however a number of
extrasolar planets lie at that threshold. The Extrasolar Planets Encyclopedia lists several planets that are
close to this limit: HD 38529c, AB Pictorisb, HD 162020b, and HD 13189b. A number of objects of
higher mass are also listed, but since they lie above the fusion threshold, they would be better described as
brown dwarfs.[60]
The smallest known planet, excluding dwarf planets and satellites, is PSR B1257+12 a, one of the first
extrasolar planets discovered, which was found in 1992 in orbit around a pulsar. Its mass is roughly half
that of the planet Mercury.[60]
Internal differentiation
Illustration of the interior of Jupiter, with a rocky core overlaid by a deep layer of metallic hydrogen
Every planet began its existence in an entirely fluid state; in early formation, the denser, heavier materials
sank to the centre, leaving the lighter materials near the surface. Each therefore has a differentiated
interior consisting of a dense planetary core surrounded by a mantle which either is or was a fluid. The
terrestrial planets are sealed within hard crusts,[94] but in the gas giants the mantle simply dissolves into
the upper cloud layers. The terrestrial planets possess cores of magnetic elements such as iron and nickel,
and mantles of silicates. Jupiter and Saturn are believed to possess cores of rock and metal surrounded by
mantles of metallic hydrogen.[95] Uranus and Neptune, which are smaller, possess rocky cores surrounded
by mantles of water, ammonia, methane and other ices.[96] The fluid action within these planets' cores
creates a geodynamo that generates a magnetic field.[94]
Atmosphere
See also: Extraterrestrial atmospheres

Earth's atmosphere
All of the Solar System planets have atmospheres as their large masses mean gravity is strong enough to
keep gaseous particles close to the surface. The larger gas giants are massive enough to keep large
amounts of the light gases hydrogen and helium close by, while the smaller planets lose these gases into
space.[97] The composition of the Earth's atmosphere is different from the other planets because the various
life processes that have transpired on the planet have introduced free molecular oxygen.[98] The only solar
planet without a substantial atmosphere is Mercury which had it mostly, although not entirely, blasted
away by the solar wind.[99]
Planetary atmospheres are affected by the varying degrees of energy received from either the Sun or their
interiors, leading to the formation of dynamic weather systems such as hurricanes, (on Earth), planet-wide
dust storms (on Mars), an Earth-sized anticyclone on Jupiter (called the Great Red Spot), and holes in the
atmosphere (on Neptune).[85] At least one extrasolar planet, HD 189733 b, has been claimed to possess
such a weather system, similar to the Great Red Spot but twice as large.[100]
Hot Jupiters have been shown to be losing their atmospheres into space due to stellar radiation, much like
the tails of comets.[101][102] These planets may have vast differences in temperature between their day and
night sides which produce supersonic winds,[103] although the day and night sides of HD 189733b appear
to have very similar temperatures, indicating that that planet's atmosphere effectively redistributes the
star's energy around the planet.[100]
Magnetosphere
Schematic of Earth's magnetosphere
One important characteristic of the planets is their intrinsic magnetic moments which in turn give rise to
magnetospheres. The presence of a magnetic field indicates that the planet is still geologically alive. In
other words, magnetized planets have flows of electrically conducting material in their interiors, which
generate their magnetic fields. These fields significantly change the interaction of the planet and solar
wind. A magnetized planet creates a cavity in the solar wind around itself called magnetosphere, which
the wind cannot penetrate. The magnetosphere can be much larger than the planet itself. In contrast, non-
magnetized planets have only small magnetospheres induced by interaction of the ionosphere with the
solar wind, which can't effectively protect the planet.[104]
Of the eight planets in the Solar System, only Venus and Mars lack such a magnetic field.[104] In addition,
the moon of Jupiter Ganymede also has one. Of the magnetized planets the magnetic field of Mercury is
the weakest, and is barely able to deflect the solar wind. Ganymede's magnetic field is several times
larger, and Jupiter's is the strongest in the Solar System (so strong in fact that it poses a serious health risk
to future manned missions to its moons). The magnetic fields of the other giant planets are roughly similar
in strength to that of Earth, but their magnetic moments are significantly larger. The magnetic fields of
Uranus and Neptune are strongly tilted relative the rotational axis and displaced from the centre of the
planet.[104]
In 2004, a team of astronomers in Hawaii observed an extrasolar planet around the star HD 179949,
which appeared to be creating a sunspot on the surface of its parent star. The team hypothesised that the
planet's magnetosphere was transferring energy onto the star's surface, increasing its already high 14,000
degree temperature by an additional 750 degrees.[105]
Secondary characteristics
Several planets or dwarf planets in the Solar System (such as Neptune and Pluto) have orbital periods that
are in resonance with each other or with smaller bodies (this is also common in satellite systems). All
except Mercury and Venus have natural satellites, often called "moons." Earth has one, Mars has two, and
the gas giants have numerous moons in complex planetary-type systems. Many gas giant moons have
similar features to the terrestrial planets and dwarf planets, and some have been studied as possible abodes
of life (especially Europa).[106][107][108]
The rings of Saturn
The four gas giants are also orbited by planetary rings of varying size and complexity. The rings are
composed primarily of dust or particulate matter, but can host tiny 'moonlets' whose gravity shapes and
maintains their structure. Although the origins of planetary rings is not precisely known, they are believed
to be the result of natural satellites that fell below their parent planet's Roche limit and were torn apart by
tidal forces.[109][110]
No secondary characteristics have been observed around extrasolar planets. However the sub-brown
dwarf Cha 110913-773444, which has been described as a rogue planet, is believed to be orbited by a tiny
protoplanetary disc.[75]
See also
Astronomy portal
Solar System portal

Space portal
• Extraterrestrial skies
• Hypothetical planetary object
• Landings on other planets
• Minor planet – celestial body smaller than a planet
• Planetary habitability
• Planetary science
• Exoplanetology
• Planets in astrology
• Planets in science fiction
• Theoretical planetology
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Vocabulary

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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• 1 Knowing and Using a Word

[edit] Knowing and Using a Word

1. Never encountered the word.

[edit] Types of Vocabulary

[edit] Reading Vocabulary

[edit] Listening Vocabulary

[edit] Writing Vocabulary

[edit] Speaking Vocabulary

[edit] Focal Vocabulary

[edit] Vocabulary Growth

[edit] Passive vs. Active Vocabulary

[edit] The Importance of a Vocabulary

[edit] Native and Foreign Language Vocabulary

[edit] Foreign Language Vocabulary

[edit] The Effects of Vocabulary Size on Language Comprehension

Vocabulary Size Written Text Coverage

[edit] Basic English Vocabulary

Types of reference works Dictionary · Glossary · Lexicon · Thesaurus

Biographical · Defining · Electronic · Encyclopedic · LSP · Machine-

Focal vocabulary · Function word · Headword · Holonymy · Hyponymy ·

Controlled vocabulary · English lexicology and lexicography ·

Lexicographic projects Lexigraf · WordNet

(Redirected from Speech communication)

[edit] Speech production

[edit] Speech perception

[edit] Problems involving speech

[edit] See also

This linguistics article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding

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A membrane of a drum makes vibration

Longitudinal and transverse waves

Sound wave properties and characteristics

Examples of sound pressure and sound pressure levels

Source of sound RMS sound pressure sound pressure level

Theoretical limit for undistorted sound at

Stun grenades 170-180

rocket launch equipment acoustic tests approx. 165

threshold of pain 100 134

hearing damage during short-term effect 20 approx. 120

jet engine, 100 m distant 6–200 110–140

jackhammer, 1 m distant / discotheque 2 approx. 100

hearing damage from long-term exposure 0.6 approx. 85

traffic noise on major road, 10 m distant 0.2–0.6 80–90

moving automobile, 10 m distant 0.02–0.2 60–80

TV set – typical home level, 1 m distant 0.02 approx. 60

normal talking, 1 m distant 0.002–0.02 40–60

very calm room 0.0002–0.0006 20–30

quiet rustling leaves, calm human breathing 0.00006 10

auditory threshold at 2 kHz – undamaged human ears 0.00002 0

Equipment for dealing with sound

• See also Template:Sound measurements

• HyperPhysics: Sound and Hearing

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound"

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For other uses, see Death (disambiguation).

The symbolic face of death: detail from an 18th century painting

[edit] Biological death

[edit] Competition, natural selection and extinction

Main articles: Competition (biology), natural selection, and extinction

[edit] Death and evolution