Topic: Southeast Asia

You are looking at all articles with the topic "Southeast Asia". We found 3 matches.

Hint: To view all topics, click here. Too see the most popular topics, click here instead.

πŸ”— Homo floresiensis

πŸ”— Anthropology πŸ”— Palaeontology πŸ”— Extinction πŸ”— Indonesia πŸ”— Archaeology πŸ”— Mammals πŸ”— Evolutionary biology πŸ”— Human Genetic History πŸ”— Primates πŸ”— Southeast Asia

Homo floresiensis ("Flores Man"; nicknamed "hobbit") is a pygmy archaic human which inhabited the island of Flores, Indonesia, until the arrival of modern humans about 50,000 years ago.

The remains of an individual who would have stood about 1.1Β m (3Β ft 7Β in) in height were discovered in 2003 at Liang Bua on the island of Flores in Indonesia. Partial skeletons of nine individuals have been recovered, including one complete skull, referred to as "LB1". These remains have been the subject of intense research to determine whether they represent a species distinct from modern humans; the dominant consensus is that these remains do represent a distinct species due to genetic and anatomical differences.

This hominin had originally been considered remarkable for its survival until relatively recent times, only 12,000 years ago. However, more extensive stratigraphic and chronological work has pushed the dating of the most recent evidence of its existence back to 50,000 years ago. The Homo floresiensis skeletal material is now dated from 60,000 to 100,000 years ago; stone tools recovered alongside the skeletal remains were from archaeological horizons ranging from 50,000 to 190,000 years ago.

Discussed on

πŸ”— Kopi Luwak

πŸ”— Food and drink πŸ”— Food and drink/Beverages πŸ”— Animal rights πŸ”— Southeast Asia

Kopi luwak (Indonesian pronunciation: [ˈkopi ˈlu.aΚ”]), also known as civet coffee, is a coffee that consists of partially digested coffee cherries, which have been eaten and defecated by the Asian palm civet (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus). The cherries are fermented as they pass through a civet's intestines, and after being defecated with other fecal matter, they are collected. These civets are increasingly caught in the wild and traded for this purpose.

Kopi luwak is produced mainly on the Indonesian islands of Sumatra, Java, Bali, Sulawesi, and in East Timor. It is also widely gathered in the forest or produced in farms in the islands of the Philippines, where the product is called kape motit in the Cordillera region, kapΓ© alamΓ­d in Tagalog areas, kapΓ© melΓ΄ or kapΓ© musang in Mindanao, and kahawa kubing in the Sulu Archipelago.

Kopi luwak is also produced in Palawan's Langogan Valley. The beans from droppings of the Asian palm civet and Palawan binturong (Arctictis binturong whitei) are collected from the forest floor and cleaned.

Producers of the coffee beans argue that the process may improve coffee through two mechanisms: selection, where civets choose to eat only certain cherries; and digestion, where biological or chemical mechanisms in the animals' digestive tracts alter the composition of the coffee cherries.

The traditional method of collecting feces from wild Asian palm civets has given way to an intensive farming method, in which the palm civets are kept in battery cages and are force-fed the cherries. This method of production has raised ethical concerns about the treatment of civets and the conditions they are made to live in, which include isolation, poor diet, small cages, and a high mortality rate.

Although kopi luwak is a form of processing rather than a variety of coffee, it has been called one of the most expensive coffees in the world, with retail prices reaching $100 per kilogram ($45/lb) for farmed beans and $1,300 per kilogram ($590/lb) for wild-collected beans. Another epithet for it is the "Holy Grail of coffees".

Discussed on

πŸ”— Running amok

πŸ”— Psychology πŸ”— Indonesia πŸ”— Southeast Asia πŸ”— Malaysia πŸ”— Southeast Asia/Brunei

Running amok, sometimes referred to as simply amok or having gone amok, also spelled amuck or amuk, from the Southeast Asian Austronesian languages (especially Malaysian and Indonesian), is "an episode of sudden mass assault against people or objects usually by a single individual following a period of brooding that has traditionally been regarded as occurring especially in Malay culture but is now increasingly viewed as psychopathological behavior". The syndrome of "Amok" is found in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV TR). The phrase is often used in a less serious manner when describing something that is wildly out of control or causing a frenzy (e.g., a dog tearing up the living room furniture might be termed as "running amok").

Discussed on