Star Trek Expanded Universe
Star Trek Expanded Universe
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Human46

An average human.

Humans (Homo sapiens sapiens) are the native sentient humanoid species of Earth, and one of the founding races of the United Federation of Planets. As a collective group, they are sometimes called humanity.

In the Star Fleet Medical Reference Manual the Linnaean classification for humans was Homo solis.

Humans may also be called Terrans (derived from the Latin terra, meaning Earth), although use of the term in this sense is rare. It more popularly applies to humans of the mirror universe, as in Terran Empire. (The Cardăsda word for human--terhăn--derives from the Latin root as well. [Star Trek: Sigils and Unions])

Some species also use the term "Earther" in a derogatory sense when referring to humans or human-hybrids.

The Caine have the same DNA as humanity, but most of them appear dissimilar outwardly when compared to humans. (Dimensional Prophecy of Zohar)

History[]

Over the years of human history, humans have evolved as a society. Starting as a tribal and sometimes nomadic race, these tribes grew into kingdoms and nations, and some of the empires.

Two global conflicts, World War I and World War II, rocked the planet in the early to mid-20th century. This set the stage for the United Nations (the first failed attempt being called the League of Nations), which helped unify humans on Earth and attempt to bring mankind together. Even though the Cold War threatened world peace on the post-World War II Earth, the fall of Communism in many Eastern European and Soviet Union countries saw a new era ushered in on Earth. Europe grew from separate nation-states into a European Union over the latter part of the 20th and the first part of the 21st centuries.

Another global conflict, the Eugenics Wars in the late 20th century, grew into World War III in the mid-21st century. Hundreds of millions of humans perished in the wars, and humanity's development was set back many years in the resulting nuclear winter. (TOS: "Space Seed"; TNG: "Encounter at Farpoint"; Star Trek: First Contact)

Sometime during this period, religion appears to have fallen out of favor with the majority of the human population; however, the extent of the decline, the exact time period, and the cause are unknown and explanations differ from continuity to continuity. In the Star Trek: Sigils and Unions continuity, the decline is precipitous and held to have occurred as a direct result of World War III.

In 2063, Zefram Cochrane invented warp drive, launching the Phoenix into space, and, as a result, setting into motion first contact with the Vulcans. This launched humanity into a new renaissance. (Star Trek: First Contact) Humanity started to explore the stars after that.

Humans created a United Earth government by 2150 when the last country to hold out, Australia, joined the union. United Earth still existed as of the 24th century, though by that time as a member state of the Federation. (TNG: "The Price", "Conundrum", "Attached"; VOY: "Imperfection") This United Earth also created an Earth Starfleet, launching humanity's first warp 5 starship, the Enterprise (NX-01) in 2151. (ENT: "Broken Bow")

Humanity started to branch out into new colonies in the Sol system, and, by 2069, New Berlin on the Moon, Utopia Planitia on Mars and a few asteroid bases were settled. Humans also started to settle new worlds outside the Sol system as early as 2078 with the Terra Nova colony. (ENT: "Terra Nova")

In many fan continuities, the establishment of intra- and extrasolar colonies was much earlier in the 21st century.

By 2161, humans helped form the United Federation of Planets out of its precursor, the Coalition of Planets: a membership humanity remained affiliated to until at least the 24th century. (TNG: "The Price"; ENT: "These Are The Voyages...")

By the 24th century, the core body of humanity had wiped out war, hunger, disease, famine and poverty: a stark difference from humans' earlier history. The need to gain material wealth was gone, as replicators could supply almost everything humans needed and a non-monetary society was set in place. Instead, humans were expected to use their lives to better humanity as a whole as well as enrich their own lives and the lives of those around them. Some humans living on colony worlds, however, especially those not affiliated with the Federation, continued to live according to other priorities. (DS9: "Necessary Evil", "In The Cards"; Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home; Star Trek: First Contact)

While this appears communist or socialist in nature, in at least one continuity, the system is very much different. In Star Trek: The Cantabrian Expeditions, this type of system is called utopianism.

Biology[]

Humans fit into the classification mammalian humanoid as bilaterally symmetrical bipedal primates (basically meaning they stand upright and walk on two feet). By the 24th century, a typical human's average lifespan was around 120 years, although, in some cases, this could be much higher. (TNG: "Encounter at Farpoint")

They require Class M environmental conditions, and breathe oxygen through two lungs, to survive. The range of temperatures the typical human body can withstand is a lot wider than many other species, including bearing colder temperatures better than Klingons and Cardassians and higher temperatures better than Andorians. The typical human's physical strength tends to be less than a Vulcan's or a Klingon's, but humans tend to be more resilient than the other two. (DS9: "Distant Voices")

Like many species, humans have some redundancies in their anatomy. Humans could function with only one lung or one kidney for example. With the body's ability to store and use both water and fat, they could survive for days or weeks without water or food, respectively.

Unlike many species, humans have no facial or body bony ridges, but still demonstrate diversity with different skin tones and colors, eye colors, facial shapes, hair colors and so on, giving each one an individual appearance (the exceptions being multiple-baby births where the babies are identical).

Human blood is iron-based, and each human has one blood type based around three antigens being present or absent, with the most common blood types being A+ and O+.

The species has two sexes: male and female. After fertilization, a female carries a baby or babies for approximately nine months before giving birth. With humans being very genetically compatible with some other races, cross-breeding is not uncommon, especially with Vulcans, Klingons and Betazoids. (TOS: "Babel", et al; TNG: "The Emissary"; VOY: "Caretaker", et al; TNG: "Encounter at Farpoint", et al.)

The human genome is considered to be of an especially pliable, or "labile" nature, meaning that it submits easily to alien influences, allowing hybridization to take place with relative ease compared to hybrids involving some other species. One theory about this is that unlike on some worlds, human DNA diverged little from that of the ancient Progenitors that seeded the galaxy with their humanoid progeny. That said, the requirement of medical help is not automatically ruled out, and in the case of human hybrids who seek to have children with other species (or even with one of the species from whom they themselves are descended), medical help to the degree required by some non-human species may still be required. (Star Trek: Sigils and Unions essay--"Hybrid Theory")

Genetic modification and evolution of the species[]

The term metahumanity is often used for any evolved types of humanity, e.g. the New Humans. (Dragon Ball Z vs. Star Trek: The Beginning of Infinity)

The M'Tar and Na'arbi are experts at genetic engineering, and modified several humans (as well as other races) to enhance their latent abilities. Examples include giving Daniel Radke telepathic and telekinetic abilities, as well as superhuman strength and stamina and Garrett advanced mathematical processing skills. (Star Trek: The Prospect Chronicles: "Lady Lazarus")

In general, transhumanist practices such as genetic engineering and elective bioengineering were frowned upon. (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan; DS9: "Doctor Bashir, I Presume") Some exceptions to this policy were made, like for emergency replacement of a heart with an artificial one. (TNG: "Tapestry").

Engineering absolutely required for survival, such as to allow a human hybrid to be born without threatening the life of the child or the mother, or to engineer out a life-threatening genetic disease, is permitted. There are strict laws governing the process, however: no attempts to create a superior race to either parent's race are permitted, nor is the introduction of any traits or genetic material not from either parent's DNA permitted unless material absolutely must be spliced in as a "patch" where the child otherwise could not live. (Star Trek: Sigils and Unions essay--"Hybrid Theory")

Star Trek: Sigils and Unions alternate universe[]

In one alternate universe in which the Dominion won the war against the Alpha Quadrant allies, humanity was afflicted (ca. 2375) with a virus that genetically altered the species, engineering into it the Cardassian hierarchical instinct; the modification is believed to have been species-wide across all of former Federation territory. They had hoped this would provide a control mechanism over what they saw as a headstrong species. While it may have delayed the inevitable revolution, one still came nonetheless.

By the time the human, Cardassian, and other species' rebellions overthrew the Dominion, the modifications--known as the Graft--had been in place for at least 45 years, making humanity's course of action from that point forward a matter of serious ethical debate, given that two generations had been born with the Graft and knew nothing else, and some who were already born but infected at a very early age were in the same situation as their younger peers, as they lacked sufficient memories to fully comprehend the difference between how they were pre-and post-Graft. Some humans in this universe speak of Cardassians as their "cousins" due to the existence of shared, subconscious tonal and nonverbal cues between species and other social similarities that arose due to the Graft. (Star Trek: Sigils and Unions--"The Nature of the Beast")

External links[]

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