natural

• adj.

• 自然な、天然の、当然の、もっともな

関

justifiable、logical、native、naturally、nature、proper、reasonable、reasonably、spontaneous、spontaneously

　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　

WordNet

1. related by blood; not adopted
2. (craps) a first roll of 7 or 11 that immediately wins the stake
3. a notation cancelling a previous sharp or flat (同)cancel
4. someone regarded as certain to succeed; "hes a natural for the job"
5. being talented through inherited qualities; "a natural leader"; "a born musician"; "an innate talent" (同)born, innate
6. unthinking; prompted by (or as if by) instinct; "a cats natural aversion to water"; "offering to help was as instinctive as breathing" (同)instinctive
7. (used especially of commodities) being unprocessed or manufactured using only simple or minimal processes; "natural yogurt"; "natural produce"; "raw wool"; "raw sugar"; "bales of rude cotton" (同)raw, rude
8. (of a musical note) being neither raised nor lowered by one chromatic semitone; "a natural scale"; "B natural"
9. existing in or in conformity with nature or the observable world; neither supernatural nor magical; "a perfectly natural explanation"
10. existing in or produced by nature; not artificial or imitation; "a natural pearl"; "natural gas"; "natural silk"; "natural blonde hair"; "a natural sweetener"; "natural fertilizers"
11. functioning or occurring in a normal way; lacking abnormalities or deficiencies; "its the natural thing to happen"; "natural immunity"; "a grandparents natural affection for a grandchild"
12. in accordance with nature; relating to or concerning nature; "a very natural development"; "our natural environment"; "natural science"; "natural resources"; "natural cliffs"; "natural phenomena"
13. marked by suitability or rightness or appropriateness; "proper medical treatment"; "proper manners"
14. appropriate for a condition or purpose or occasion or a persons character, needs; "everything in its proper place"; "the right man for the job"; "she is not suitable for the position" (同)right
15. having all the qualities typical of the thing specified; "wanted a proper dinner; not just a snack"; "he finally has a proper job"
16. limited to the thing specified; "the city proper"; "his claim is connected with the deed proper"
17. characteristic of or existing by virtue of geographic origin; "the native North American sugar maple"; "many native artists studied abroad"
18. indigenous plants and animals
19. an indigenous person who was born in a particular place; "the art of the natives of the northwest coast"; "the Canadian government scrapped plans to tax the grants to aboriginal college students" (同)indigen, indigene, aborigine, aboriginal
20. a person born in a particular place or country; "he is a native of Brazil"
21. characteristic of or relating to people inhabiting a region from the beginning; "native Americans"; "the aboriginal peoples of Australia" (同)aboriginal
22. as found in nature in the elemental form; "native copper"
23. belonging to one by birth; "my native land"; "ones native language"
24. the complex of emotional and intellectual attributes that determine a persons characteristic actions and reactions; "it is his nature to help others"
25. the essential qualities or characteristics by which something is recognized; "it is the nature of fire to burn"; "the true nature of jealousy"
26. a causal agent creating and controlling things in the universe; "the laws of nature"; "nature has seen to it that men are stronger than women"
27. a particular type of thing; "problems of this type are very difficult to solve"; "hes interested in trains and things of that nature"; "matters of a personal nature"
28. the natural physical world including plants and animals and landscapes etc.; "they tried to preserve nature as they found it"
29. in a natural or normal manner; "speak naturally and easily"
30. through inherent nature; "he was naturally lazy" (同)by nature
31. as might be expected; "naturally, the lawyer sent us a huge bill" (同)of course, course
32. according to nature; by natural means; without artificial help; "naturally grown flowers"
33. showing reason or sound judgment; "a sensible choice"; "a sensible person" (同)sensible
34. marked by sound judgment; "sane nuclear policy" (同)sane
35. existing by nature and without artificial aid; "one of the 93 naturally occurring chemical elements"

PrepTutorEJDIC

1. 『自然のままの』,自然にある,自然が作る / 自然に関する / 『当然の』,あたりまえの / 『生まれつきの』(inborn) / 生き写しの,真に迫った / 気どらない,飾らない / (音階が)本位の / (音階の)本位音;本位記号 / 《単数形で》《話》(…の)生来の達人,(…に)最初からうってつけの人《+『for』(『as』)+『名』》
2. (目的に)『適切な』,ふさわしい / 《文》《補語にのみ用いて》《『be proper to』+『名』…に固有の,本来備わっている》 / 基準にかなった,正式の / (行き過ぎるぐらいに)礼儀正しい / 《名詞の前にのみ用いて》厳密な,正確な / 《名詞の後に置いて》厳密な意味での,真の,純粋の / 《名詞の前にのみ用いて》すばらしい,すてきな;《おもに英話》全くの
3. 全く,すっかり
4. 《名詞の前にのみ用いて》『出生地の』,母国の / 『生まれつきの』,生来の / 原産の,土地特有の / 《名詞の前にのみ用いて》土着の;《今はまれ》原住民の,原住民特有の / 天然のままの;純粋な / (…)『生まれの人』《+『of』+『名』》 / (移民・旅行者などと区別して)土着の人;《今はまれ》原住民 / (…に)固有の動物(植物);(…の)原産物《+『of』+『名』》
5. 〈U〉『自然』,自然界,万物;自然の力;《しばしば『N-』》(擬人化した)自然,自然の女神 / 〈C〉〈U〉(人・動物,あるいは物事の持っている)『本質』,性質,本性 / 〈C〉《単数形で》種類(sort, kind)
6. 『気どらずに』,自然に / 《しばしば文全体を修飾いて》『当然』,もちろん(of course) / 『生まれつき』(by nature) / 自然の力で,ひとりでに
7. (人が)『理性的な』,分別のある / (物事が)理にかなった,公正の,適度な・(価格が)手ごろな

Wikipedia preview

出典(authority):フリー百科事典『ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』「2018/06/17 02:50:12」(JST)

wiki ja

[Wiki ja表示]

ナチュラル (natural) は、本来は"自然の"や"天然の"など、人の手が入っていないありのままの状態を表す英語の形容詞である。

用語

• ナチュラル (記号) - 楽譜における記号。本位記号と訳される。変化記号も参照。
• NATURAL (プログラミング言語) - プログラミング言語の一つ。ネステッド・リレーショナル・データベース『Adabas（アダバス）』にアクセスするために独SoftwareAG社が開発し、国内ではビーコンITが販売・サポートする4GL（第四世代言語）である。
• ヤマハ株式会社の登録商標。
• バカラ (トランプゲーム)において、最初に配られたカードで勝敗が決まること。
• 特別に色彩というわけでないが、透明感が重視されるパンティストッキングにおいては、ベージュといった肌色ではない、かといって白ではない。という透明といった色（ナチュラルグレーといった）で表現される。

作品

• ナチュラル (映画) （原題：The Natural ） - 1984年制作、ロバート・レッドフォード主演の野球映画。
• 奇跡のルーキー（原題：The Natural） - 上記映画の原作となった小説。
• NATURAL (漫画) - 成田美名子の漫画。
• ナチュラル (漫画) - 麻生いずみの漫画。
• Naturalシリーズ - アダルトゲームのシリーズ。
• ナチュラル - 日本のテレビアニメ『機動戦士ガンダムSEED』及び『機動戦士ガンダムSEED DESTINY』に登場する架空の人種概念。コーディネイターとナチュラル#ナチュラルを参照。

音楽

• ИATURAL - ORANGE RANGEのアルバム。
• NATURAL (T-SQUAREのアルバム) - T-SQUAREのアルバム。
• Natural (NOKKOの曲) - 日本の女性歌手、NOKKOの1996年の楽曲で『ふたりっ子』の主題歌。
• Natural (SHERBETSのアルバム) - 日本のロックバンド、SHERBETSが2005年にリリースしたアルバム。
• Natural (岩崎宏美のアルバム) - 日本の女性歌手、岩崎宏美が2006年にリリースしたアルバム。
• Natural (MINMIのアルバム) - 日本の女性歌手、MINMIが2006年にリリースしたアルバム。
• NATURAL - 日本の音楽ユニット、CHAGE and ASKAの曲。1994年にリリースしたトリプルA面シングル「HEART/NATURAL/On Your Mark」の1曲。

企業

• ナチュラル (ドラッグストア) - 福岡県朝倉市に本社を置くドラッグストアーチェーン。
• ナチュラル (かつらメーカー) - 2006年設立。オーダーメイドかつらの新興メーカー。

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wiki en

[Wiki en表示]

For other uses, see Nature (disambiguation).

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

Hopetoun Falls, Australia

Bachalpsee in the Swiss Alps

Lightning strikes during the eruption of the Galunggung volcano, West Java, in 1982

Roads in Kerala

Nature, in the broadest sense, is the natural, physical, or material world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are part of nature, human activity is often understood as a separate category from other natural phenomena.

The word nature is derived from the Latin word natura, or "essential qualities, innate disposition", and in ancient times, literally meant "birth". Natura is a Latin translation of the Greek word physis (φύσις), which originally related to the intrinsic characteristics that plants, animals, and other features of the world develop of their own accord. The concept of nature as a whole, the physical universe, is one of several expansions of the original notion; it began with certain core applications of the word φύσις by pre-Socratic philosophers, and has steadily gained currency ever since. This usage continued during the advent of modern scientific method in the last several centuries.

Within the various uses of the word today, "nature" often refers to geology and wildlife. Nature can refer to the general realm of living plants and animals, and in some cases to the processes associated with inanimate objects–the way that particular types of things exist and change of their own accord, such as the weather and geology of the Earth. It is often taken to mean the "natural environment" or wilderness–wild animals, rocks, forest, and in general those things that have not been substantially altered by human intervention, or which persist despite human intervention. For example, manufactured objects and human interaction generally are not considered part of nature, unless qualified as, for example, "human nature" or "the whole of nature". This more traditional concept of natural things which can still be found today implies a distinction between the natural and the artificial, with the artificial being understood as that which has been brought into being by a human consciousness or a human mind. Depending on the particular context, the term "natural" might also be distinguished from the unnatural or the supernatural.

Earth

Main articles: Earth and Earth science

View of the Earth, taken in 1972 by the crew of Apollo 17.

Earth is the only planet known to support life, and its natural features are the subject of many fields of scientific research. Within the solar system, it is third closest to the sun; it is the largest terrestrial planet and the fifth largest overall. Its most prominent climatic features are its two large polar regions, two relatively narrow temperate zones, and a wide equatorial tropical to subtropical region. Precipitation varies widely with location, from several metres of water per year to less than a millimetre. 71 percent of the Earth's surface is covered by salt-water oceans. The remainder consists of continents and islands, with most of the inhabited land in the Northern Hemisphere.

Earth has evolved through geological and biological processes that have left traces of the original conditions. The outer surface is divided into several gradually migrating tectonic plates. The interior remains active, with a thick layer of plastic mantle and an iron-filled core that generates a magnetic field. This iron core is composed of a solid inner phase, and a fluid outer phase. Convective motion in the core generates electric currents through dynamo action, and these, in turn, generate the geomagnetic field.

The atmospheric conditions have been significantly altered from the original conditions by the presence of life-forms, which create an ecological balance that stabilizes the surface conditions. Despite the wide regional variations in climate by latitude and other geographic factors, the long-term average global climate is quite stable during interglacial periods, and variations of a degree or two of average global temperature have historically had major effects on the ecological balance, and on the actual geography of the Earth.

Geology

Main article: Geology

Geology is the science and study of the solid and liquid matter that constitutes the Earth. The field of geology encompasses the study of the composition, structure, physical properties, dynamics, and history of Earth materials, and the processes by which they are formed, moved, and changed. The field is a major academic discipline, and is also important for mineral and hydrocarbon extraction, knowledge about and mitigation of natural hazards, some Geotechnical engineering fields, and understanding past climates and environments.

Geological evolution

Three types of geological plate tectonic boundaries.

The geology of an area evolves through time as rock units are deposited and inserted and deformational processes change their shapes and locations.

Rock units are first emplaced either by deposition onto the surface or intrude into the overlying rock. Deposition can occur when sediments settle onto the surface of the Earth and later lithify into sedimentary rock, or when as volcanic material such as volcanic ash or lava flows, blanket the surface. Igneous intrusions such as batholiths, laccoliths, dikes, and sills, push upwards into the overlying rock, and crystallize as they intrude.

After the initial sequence of rocks has been deposited, the rock units can be deformed and/or metamorphosed. Deformation typically occurs as a result of horizontal shortening, horizontal extension, or side-to-side (strike-slip) motion. These structural regimes broadly relate to convergent boundaries, divergent boundaries, and transform boundaries, respectively, between tectonic plates.

Historical perspective

Main articles: History of the Earth and Evolution

An animation showing the movement of the continents from the separation of Pangaea until the present day.

Earth is estimated to have formed 4.54 billion years ago from the solar nebula, along with the Sun and other planets. The moon formed roughly 20 million years later. Initially molten, the outer layer of the Earth cooled, resulting in the solid crust. Outgassing and volcanic activity produced the primordial atmosphere. Condensing water vapor, most or all of which came from ice delivered by comets, produced the oceans and other water sources. The highly energetic chemistry is believed to have produced a self-replicating molecule around 4 billion years ago.

Plankton inhabit oceans, seas and lakes, and have existed in various forms for at least 2 billion years.

Continents formed, then broke up and reformed as the surface of Earth reshaped over hundreds of millions of years, occasionally combining to make a supercontinent. Roughly 750 million years ago, the earliest known supercontinent Rodinia, began to break apart. The continents later recombined to form Pannotia which broke apart about 540 million years ago, then finally Pangaea, which broke apart about 180 million years ago.

During the Neoproterozoic era, freezing temperatures covered much of the Earth in glaciers and ice sheets. This hypothesis has been termed the "Snowball Earth", and it is of particular interest as it precedes the Cambrian explosion in which multicellular life forms began to proliferate about 530–540 million years ago.

Since the Cambrian explosion there have been five distinctly identifiable mass extinctions. The last mass extinction occurred some 66 million years ago, when a meteorite collision probably triggered the extinction of the non-avian dinosaurs and other large reptiles, but spared small animals such as mammals. Over the past 66 million years, mammalian life diversified.

Several million years ago, a species of small African ape gained the ability to stand upright. The subsequent advent of human life, and the development of agriculture and further civilization allowed humans to affect the Earth more rapidly than any previous life form, affecting both the nature and quantity of other organisms as well as global climate. By comparison, the Great Oxygenation Event, produced by the proliferation of algae during the Siderian period, required about 300 million years to culminate.

The present era is classified as part of a mass extinction event, the Holocene extinction event, the fastest ever to have occurred. Some, such as E. O. Wilson of Harvard University, predict that human destruction of the biosphere could cause the extinction of one-half of all species in the next 100 years. The extent of the current extinction event is still being researched, debated and calculated by biologists.

Atmosphere, climate, and weather

Blue light is scattered more than other wavelengths by the gases in the atmosphere, giving the Earth a blue halo when seen from space

Main articles: Atmosphere of Earth, Climate, and Weather

The Earth's atmosphere is a key factor in sustaining the ecosystem. The thin layer of gases that envelops the Earth is held in place by gravity. Air is mostly nitrogen, oxygen, water vapor, with much smaller amounts of carbon dioxide, argon, etc. The atmospheric pressure declines steadily with altitude. The ozone layer plays an important role in depleting the amount of ultraviolet (UV) radiation that reaches the surface. As DNA is readily damaged by UV light, this serves to protect life at the surface. The atmosphere also retains heat during the night, thereby reducing the daily temperature extremes.

Terrestrial weather occurs almost exclusively in the lower part of the atmosphere, and serves as a convective system for redistributing heat. Ocean currents are another important factor in determining climate, particularly the major underwater thermohaline circulation which distributes heat energy from the equatorial oceans to the polar regions. These currents help to moderate the differences in temperature between winter and summer in the temperate zones. Also, without the redistributions of heat energy by the ocean currents and atmosphere, the tropics would be much hotter, and the polar regions much colder.

Lightning

Weather can have both beneficial and harmful effects. Extremes in weather, such as tornadoes or hurricanes and cyclones, can expend large amounts of energy along their paths, and produce devastation. Surface vegetation has evolved a dependence on the seasonal variation of the weather, and sudden changes lasting only a few years can have a dramatic effect, both on the vegetation and on the animals which depend on its growth for their food.

Climate is a measure of the long-term trends in the weather. Various factors are known to influence the climate, including ocean currents, surface albedo, greenhouse gases, variations in the solar luminosity, and changes to the Earth's orbit. Based on historical records, the Earth is known to have undergone drastic climate changes in the past, including ice ages.

A tornado in central Oklahoma

The climate of a region depends on a number of factors, especially latitude. A latitudinal band of the surface with similar climatic attributes forms a climate region. There are a number of such regions, ranging from the tropical climate at the equator to the polar climate in the northern and southern extremes. Weather is also influenced by the seasons, which result from the Earth's axis being tilted relative to its orbital plane. Thus, at any given time during the summer or winter, one part of the Earth is more directly exposed to the rays of the sun. This exposure alternates as the Earth revolves in its orbit. At any given time, regardless of season, the northern and southern hemispheres experience opposite seasons.

Weather is a chaotic system that is readily modified by small changes to the environment, so accurate weather forecasting is limited to only a few days. Overall, two things are happening worldwide: (1) temperature is increasing on the average; and (2) regional climates have been undergoing noticeable changes.

Water on Earth

The Iguazu Falls on the border between Brazil and Argentina

Main article: Water

Water is a chemical substance that is composed of hydrogen and oxygen and is vital for all known forms of life. In typical usage, water refers only to its liquid form or state, but the substance also has a solid state, ice, and a gaseous state, water vapor, or steam. Water covers 71% of the Earth's surface. On Earth, it is found mostly in oceans and other large bodies of water, with 1.6% of water below ground in aquifers and 0.001% in the air as vapor, clouds, and precipitation. Oceans hold 97% of surface water, glaciers, and polar ice caps 2.4%, and other land surface water such as rivers, lakes, and ponds 0.6%. Additionally, a minute amount of the Earth's water is contained within biological bodies and manufactured products.

Oceans

A view of the Atlantic Ocean from Leblon, Rio de Janeiro.

Main article: Ocean

An ocean is a major body of saline water, and a principal component of the hydrosphere. Approximately 71% of the Earth's surface (an area of some 361 million square kilometers) is covered by ocean, a continuous body of water that is customarily divided into several principal oceans and smaller seas. More than half of this area is over 3,000 meters (9,800 feet) deep. Average oceanic salinity is around 35 parts per thousand (ppt) (3.5%), and nearly all seawater has a salinity in the range of 30 to 38 ppt. Though generally recognized as several 'separate' oceans, these waters comprise one global, interconnected body of salt water often referred to as the World Ocean or global ocean. This concept of a global ocean as a continuous body of water with relatively free interchange among its parts is of fundamental importance to oceanography.

The major oceanic divisions are defined in part by the continents, various archipelagos, and other criteria: these divisions are (in descending order of size) the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and the Arctic Ocean. Smaller regions of the oceans are called seas, gulfs, bays and other names. There are also salt lakes, which are smaller bodies of landlocked saltwater that are not interconnected with the World Ocean. Two notable examples of salt lakes are the Aral Sea and the Great Salt Lake.

Lakes

Lake Mapourika, New Zealand

Main article: Lake

A lake (from Latin lacus) is a terrain feature (or physical feature), a body of liquid on the surface of a world that is localized to the bottom of basin (another type of landform or terrain feature; that is, it is not global) and moves slowly if it moves at all. On Earth, a body of water is considered a lake when it is inland, not part of the ocean, is larger and deeper than a pond, and is fed by a river. The only world other than Earth known to harbor lakes is Titan, Saturn's largest moon, which has lakes of ethane, most likely mixed with methane. It is not known if Titan's lakes are fed by rivers, though Titan's surface is carved by numerous river beds. Natural lakes on Earth are generally found in mountainous areas, rift zones, and areas with ongoing or recent glaciation. Other lakes are found in endorheic basins or along the courses of mature rivers. In some parts of the world, there are many lakes because of chaotic drainage patterns left over from the last Ice Age. All lakes are temporary over geologic time scales, as they will slowly fill in with sediments or spill out of the basin containing them.

Ponds

The Westborough Reservoir (Mill Pond) in Westborough, Massachusetts.

Main article: Pond

A pond is a body of standing water, either natural or man-made, that is usually smaller than a lake. A wide variety of man-made bodies of water are classified as ponds, including water gardens designed for aesthetic ornamentation, fish ponds designed for commercial fish breeding, and solar ponds designed to store thermal energy. Ponds and lakes are distinguished from streams via current speed. While currents in streams are easily observed, ponds and lakes possess thermally driven micro-currents and moderate wind driven currents. These features distinguish a pond from many other aquatic terrain features, such as stream pools and tide pools.

Rivers

The Nile river in Cairo, Egypt's capital city

Main article: River

A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing toward an ocean, a lake, a sea or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including stream, creek, brook, rivulet, and rill; there is no general rule that defines what can be called a river. Many names for small rivers are specific to geographic location; one example is Burn in Scotland and North-east England. Sometimes a river is said to be larger than a creek, but this is not always the case, due to vagueness in the language. A river is part of the hydrological cycle. Water within a river is generally collected from precipitation through surface runoff, groundwater recharge, springs, and the release of stored water in natural ice and snowpacks (i.e., from glaciers).

Streams

A rocky stream in Hawaii

Main article: Stream

A stream is a flowing body of water with a current, confined within a bed and stream banks. In the United States, a stream is classified as a watercourse less than 60 feet (18 metres) wide. Streams are important as conduits in the water cycle, instruments in groundwater recharge, and they serve as corridors for fish and wildlife migration. The biological habitat in the immediate vicinity of a stream is called a riparian zone. Given the status of the ongoing Holocene extinction, streams play an important corridor role in connecting fragmented habitats and thus in conserving biodiversity. The study of streams and waterways in general involves many branches of inter-disciplinary natural science and engineering, including hydrology, fluvial geomorphology, aquatic ecology, fish biology, riparian ecology, and others.

Ecosystems

Loch Lomond in Scotland forms a relatively isolated ecosystem. The fish community of this lake has remained unchanged over a very long period of time.

Lush green Aravalli Mountain Range in the Desert country-Rajasthan, India. A wonder how such greenery can exist in hot Rajasthan, a place well known for its Thar Desert

An aerial view of a human ecosystem. Pictured is the city of Chicago

Main articles: Ecology and Ecosystem

Ecosystems are composed of a variety of abiotic and biotic components that function in an interrelated way. The structure and composition is determined by various environmental factors that are interrelated. Variations of these factors will initiate dynamic modifications to the ecosystem. Some of the more important components are: soil, atmosphere, radiation from the sun, water, and living organisms.

Peñas Blancas, part of the Bosawás Biosphere Reserve. Located northeast of the city of Jinotega in Northeastern Nicaragua.

Central to the ecosystem concept is the idea that living organisms interact with every other element in their local environment. Eugene Odum, a founder of ecology, stated: "Any unit that includes all of the organisms (ie: the "community") in a given area interacting with the physical environment so that a flow of energy leads to clearly defined trophic structure, biotic diversity, and material cycles (i.e.: exchange of materials between living and nonliving parts) within the system is an ecosystem." Within the ecosystem, species are connected and dependent upon one another in the food chain, and exchange energy and matter between themselves as well as with their environment. The human ecosystem concept is grounded in the deconstruction of the human/nature dichotomy and the premise that all species are ecologically integrated with each other, as well as with the abiotic constituents of their biotope.

A smaller unit of size is called a microecosystem. For example, a microsystem can be a stone and all the life under it. A macroecosystem might involve a whole ecoregion, with its drainage basin.

Wilderness

Old growth European Beech forest in Biogradska Gora National Park, Montenegro.

Main article: Wilderness

Wilderness is generally defined as areas that have not been significantly modified by human activity. Wilderness areas can be found in preserves, estates, farms, conservation preserves, ranches, national forests, national parks, and even in urban areas along rivers, gulches, or otherwise undeveloped areas. Wilderness areas and protected parks are considered important for the survival of certain species, ecological studies, conservation, and solitude. Some nature writers believe wilderness areas are vital for the human spirit and creativity, and some ecologists consider wilderness areas to be an integral part of the Earth's self-sustaining natural ecosystem (the biosphere). They may also preserve historic genetic traits and that they provide habitat for wild flora and fauna that may be difficult or impossible to recreate in zoos, arboretums, or laboratories.

Life

Female mallard and ducklings – reproduction is essential for continuing life

Main articles: Life, Biology, and Biosphere

Although there is no universal agreement on the definition of life, scientists generally accept that the biological manifestation of life is characterized by organization, metabolism, growth, adaptation, response to stimuli, and reproduction. Life may also be said to be simply the characteristic state of organisms.

Properties common to terrestrial organisms (plants, animals, fungi, protists, archaea, and bacteria) are that they are cellular, carbon-and-water-based with complex organization, having a metabolism, a capacity to grow, respond to stimuli, and reproduce. An entity with these properties is generally considered life. However, not every definition of life considers all of these properties to be essential. Human-made analogs of life may also be considered to be life.

The biosphere is the part of Earth's outer shell – including land, surface rocks, water, air and the atmosphere – within which life occurs, and which biotic processes in turn alter or transform. From the broadest geophysiological point of view, the biosphere is the global ecological system integrating all living beings and their relationships, including their interaction with the elements of the lithosphere (rocks), hydrosphere (water), and atmosphere (air). The entire Earth contains over 75 billion tons (150 trillion pounds or about 6.8×10¹³ kilograms) of biomass (life), which lives within various environments within the biosphere.

Over nine-tenths of the total biomass on Earth is plant life, on which animal life depends very heavily for its existence. More than 2 million species of plant and animal life have been identified to date, and estimates of the actual number of existing species range from several million to well over 50 million. The number of individual species of life is constantly in some degree of flux, with new species appearing and others ceasing to exist on a continual basis. The total number of species is in rapid decline.

Evolution

An area of the Amazon Rainforest shared between Colombia and Brazil. The tropical rainforests of South America contain the largest diversity of species on Earth.

Main article: Evolution

The origin of life on Earth is not well understood, but it is known to have occurred at least 3.5 billion years ago, during the hadean or archean eons on a primordial Earth that had a substantially different environment than is found at present. These life forms possessed the basic traits of self-replication and inheritable traits. Once life had appeared, the process of evolution by natural selection resulted in the development of ever-more diverse life forms.

Species that were unable to adapt to the changing environment and competition from other life forms became extinct. However, the fossil record retains evidence of many of these older species. Current fossil and DNA evidence shows that all existing species can trace a continual ancestry back to the first primitive life forms.

The advent of photosynthesis in very basic forms of plant life worldwide allowed the sun's energy to be harvested to create conditions allowing for more complex life. The resultant oxygen accumulated in the atmosphere and gave rise to the ozone layer. The incorporation of smaller cells within larger ones resulted in the development of yet more complex cells called eukaryotes. Cells within colonies became increasingly specialized, resulting in true multicellular organisms. With the ozone layer absorbing harmful ultraviolet radiation, life colonized the surface of Earth.

Microbes

A microscopic mite Lorryia formosa.

Main article: Microbe

The first form of life to develop on the Earth were microbes, and they remained the only form of life until about a billion years ago when multi-cellular organisms began to appear. Microorganisms are single-celled organisms that are generally microscopic, and smaller than the human eye can see. They include Bacteria, Fungi, Archaea, and Protista.

These life forms are found in almost every location on the Earth where there is liquid water, including in the Earth's interior. Their reproduction is both rapid and profuse. The combination of a high mutation rate and a horizontal gene transfer ability makes them highly adaptable, and able to survive in new environments, including outer space. They form an essential part of the planetary ecosystem. However, some microorganisms are pathogenic and can post health risk to other organisms.

Plants and animals

Main articles: Plant and Animal

A selection of diverse plant species

A selection of diverse animal species

Originally Aristotle divided all living things between plants, which generally do not move fast enough for humans to notice, and animals. In Linnaeus' system, these became the kingdoms Vegetabilia (later Plantae) and Animalia. Since then, it has become clear that the Plantae as originally defined included several unrelated groups, and the fungi and several groups of algae were removed to new kingdoms. However, these are still often considered plants in many contexts. Bacterial life is sometimes included in flora, and some classifications use the term bacterial flora separately from plant flora.

Among the many ways of classifying plants are by regional floras, which, depending on the purpose of study, can also include fossil flora, remnants
of plant life from a previous era. People in many regions and countries take great pride in their individual arrays of characteristic flora, which can vary widely across the globe due to differences in climate and terrain.

Regional floras commonly are divided into categories such as native flora and agricultural and garden flora, the lastly mentioned of which are intentionally grown and cultivated. Some types of "native flora" actually have been introduced centuries ago by people migrating from one region or continent to another, and become an integral part of the native, or natural flora of the place to which they were introduced. This is an example of how human interaction with nature can blur the boundary of what is considered nature.

Another category of plant has historically been carved out for weeds. Though the term has fallen into disfavor among botanists as a formal way to categorize "useless" plants, the informal use of the word "weeds" to describe those plants that are deemed worthy of elimination is illustrative of the general tendency of people and societies to seek to alter or shape the course of nature. Similarly, animals are often categorized in ways such as domestic, farm animals, wild animals, pests, etc. according to their relationship to human life.

Animals as a category have several characteristics that generally set them apart from other living things. Animals are eukaryotic and usually multicellular (although see Myxozoa), which separates them from bacteria, archaea, and most protists. They are heterotrophic, generally digesting food in an internal chamber, which separates them from plants and algae. They are also distinguished from plants, algae, and fungi by lacking cell walls.

With a few exceptions—most notably the two phyla consisting of sponges and placozoans—animals have bodies that are differentiated into tissues. These include muscles, which are able to contract and control locomotion, and a nervous system, which sends and processes signals. There is also typically an internal digestive chamber. The eukaryotic cells possessed by all animals are surrounded by a characteristic extracellular matrix composed of collagen and elastic glycoproteins. This may be calcified to form structures like shells, bones, and spicules, a framework upon which cells can move about and be reorganized during development and maturation, and which supports the complex anatomy required for mobility.

Human interrelationship

Despite their natural beauty, the secluded valleys along the Na Pali Coast in Hawaii are heavily modified by introduced invasive species such as She-oak.

Although humans comprise only a minuscule proportion of the total living biomass on Earth, the human effect on nature is disproportionately large. Because of the extent of human influence, the boundaries between what humans regard as nature and "made environments" is not clear cut except at the extremes. Even at the extremes, the amount of natural environment that is free of discernible human influence is diminishing at an increasingly rapid pace.

The development of technology by the human race has allowed the greater exploitation of natural resources and has helped to alleviate some of the risk from natural hazards. In spite of this progress, however, the fate of human civilization remains closely linked to changes in the environment. There exists a highly complex feedback loop between the use of advanced technology and changes to the environment that are only slowly becoming understood. Man-made threats to the Earth's natural environment include pollution, deforestation, and disasters such as oil spills. Humans have contributed to the extinction of many plants and animals.

Humans employ nature for both leisure and economic activities. The acquisition of natural resources for industrial use remains a sizable component of the world's economic system. Some activities, such as hunting and fishing, are used for both sustenance and leisure, often by different people. Agriculture was first adopted around the 9th millennium BCE. Ranging from food production to energy, nature influences economic wealth.

Although early humans gathered uncultivated plant materials for food and employed the medicinal properties of vegetation for healing, most modern human use of plants is through agriculture. The clearance of large tracts of land for crop growth has led to a significant reduction in the amount available of forestation and wetlands, resulting in the loss of habitat for many plant and animal species as well as increased erosion.

Aesthetics and beauty

Pinguicula grandiflora, commonly known as a Butterwort

Beauty in nature has historically been a prevalent theme in art and books, filling large sections of libraries and bookstores. That nature has been depicted and celebrated by so much art, photography, poetry, and other literature shows the strength with which many people associate nature and beauty. Reasons why this association exists, and what the association consists of, are studied by the branch of philosophy called aesthetics. Beyond certain basic characteristics that many philosophers agree about to explain what is seen as beautiful, the opinions are virtually endless. Nature and wildness have been important subjects in various eras of world history. An early tradition of landscape art began in China during the Tang Dynasty (618–907). The tradition of representing nature as it is became one of the aims of Chinese painting and was a significant influence in Asian art.

Although natural wonders are celebrated in the Psalms and the Book of Job, wilderness portrayals in art became more prevalent in the 1800s, especially in the works of the Romantic movement. British artists John Constable and J. M. W. Turner turned their attention to capturing the beauty of the natural world in their paintings. Before that, paintings had been primarily of religious scenes or of human beings. William Wordsworth's poetry described the wonder of the natural world, which had formerly been viewed as a threatening place. Increasingly the valuing of nature became an aspect of Western culture. This artistic movement also coincided with the Transcendentalist movement in the Western world. A common classical idea of beautiful art involves the word mimesis, the imitation of nature. Also in the realm of ideas about beauty in nature is that the perfect is implied through perfect mathematical forms and more generally by patterns in nature. As David Rothenburg writes, "The beautiful is the root of science and the goal of art, the highest possibility that humanity can ever hope to see".

Matter and energy

The first few hydrogen atom electron orbitals shown as cross-sections with color-coded probability density

Main articles: Matter and Energy

Some fields of science see nature as matter in motion, obeying certain laws of nature which science seeks to understand. For this reason the most fundamental science is generally understood to be "physics" – the name for which is still recognizable as meaning that it is the study of nature.

Matter is commonly defined as the substance of which physical objects are composed. It constitutes the observable universe. The visible components of the universe are now believed to compose only 4.9 percent of the total mass. The remainder is believed to consist of 26.8 percent cold dark matter and 68.3 percent dark energy. The exact arrangement of these components is still unknown and is under intensive investigation by physicists.

The behavior of matter and energy throughout the observable universe appears to follow well-defined physical laws. These laws have been employed to produce cosmological models that successfully explain the structure and the evolution of the universe we can observe. The mathematical expressions of the laws of physics employ a set of twenty physical constants that appear to be static across the observable universe. The values of these constants have been carefully measured, but the reason for their specific values remains a mystery.

Beyond Earth

Planets of the Solar System (Sizes to scale, distances and illumination not to scale)

NGC 4414 is a spiral galaxy in the constellation Coma Berenices about 56,000 light-years in diameter and approximately 60 million light-years from Earth

Main articles: Outer space, Universe, and Extraterrestrial life

Outer space, also simply called space, refers to the relatively empty regions of the universe outside the atmospheres of celestial bodies. Outer space is used to distinguish it from airspace (and terrestrial locations). There is no discrete boundary between the Earth's atmosphere and space, as the atmosphere gradually attenuates with increasing altitude. Outer space within the Solar System is called interplanetary space, which passes over into interstellar space at what is known as the heliopause.

Outer space is sparsely filled with several dozen types of organic molecules discovered to date by microwave spectroscopy, blackbody radiation left over from the big bang and the origin of the universe, and cosmic rays, which include ionized atomic nuclei and various subatomic particles. There is also some gas, plasma and dust, and small meteors. Additionally, there are signs of human life in outer space today, such as material left over from previous manned and unmanned launches which are a potential hazard to spacecraft. Some of this debris re-enters the atmosphere periodically.

Although the Earth is the only body within the solar system known to support life, evidence suggests that in the distant past the planet Mars possessed bodies of liquid water on the surface. For a brief period in Mars' history, it may have also been capable of forming life. At present though, most of the water remaining on Mars is frozen. If life exists at all on Mars, it is most likely to be located underground where liquid water can still exist.

Conditions on the other terrestrial planets, Mercury and Venus, appear to be too harsh to support life as we know it. But it has been conjectured that Europa, the fourth-largest moon of Jupiter, may possess a sub-surface ocean of liquid water and could potentially host life.

Astronomers have started to discover extrasolar Earth analogs – planets that lie in the habitable zone of space surrounding a star, and therefore could possibly host life as we know it.

See also

• Force of nature
• Human nature
• Natural history
• Naturalism
• Natural landscape
• Natural law
• Natural resource
• Natural science
• Natural theology
• Nature reserve
• Nature timeline
• Nature versus nurture
• Nature worship
• Naturism

Media:

• Natural History, by Pliny the Elder
• Nature, by Ralph Waldo Emerson
• Nature, a prominent scientific journal
• National Wildlife, a publication of the National Wildlife Federation
• Nature (TV series)
• Natural World (TV series)

Organizations:

• The Nature Conservancy
• Nature Detectives

Philosophy:

• Mother Nature
• Nature (philosophy)
• Naturalism, any of several philosophical stances, typically those descended from materialism and pragmatism that do not distinguish the supernatural from nature; this includes the methodological naturalism of natural science, which makes the methodological assumption that observable events in nature are explained only by natural causes, without assuming either the existence or non-existence of the supernatural
• Balance of nature (biological fallacy), a discredited concept of natural equilibrium in predator–prey dynamics

External links

• The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (iucnredlist.org)
• The Wild Foundation – The heart of the global wilderness conservation movement (wild.org)*
• Fauna & Flora International is taking decisive action to help save the world’s wild species and spaces (fauna-flora.org)
• European Wildlife is a Pan-European non-profit organization dedicated to nature preservation and environmental protection (eurowildlife.org)
• Nature Journal (nature.com)
• The National Geographic Society (nationalgeographic.com)
• Record of life on Earth (arkive.org)
• BBC – Science and Nature (bbc.co.uk)
• PBS – Science and Nature (pbs.org)
• Science Daily (sciencedaily.com)
• European Commission – Nature and Biodiversity (ec.europa.eu)
• Natural History Museum (.nhm.ac.uk)
• Encyclopedia of Life (eol.org).
• Science.gov – Environment & Environmental Quality.
• Check123 – Nature videos (Check123.com)
• Art of the Nature Timelines on Wikipedia
• Nature, BBC Radio 4 discussion with Jonathan Bate, Roger Scruton & Karen Edwards (In Our Time, Jul. 10, 2003)

UpToDate Contents

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• 1. ナチュラルキラー（NK）細胞大顆粒リンパ球性白血病 natural killer nk cell large granular lymphocyte leukemia
• 2. 経管腔的内視鏡手術（NOTES） natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery notes
• 3. 造血腫瘍の分類 classification of the hematopoietic neoplasms
• 4. NK細胞欠損症候群：治療 nk cell deficiency syndromes treatment
• 5. 帝王切開：術前の問題 cesarean delivery preoperative issues

English Journal

• Planetary health: protecting human health on a rapidly changing planet.

• Myers SS1.
• Lancet (London, England).Lancet.2018 Dec 23;390(10114):2860-2868. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(17)32846-5. Epub 2017 Nov 13.
• PMID 29146123

• The path to longer and healthier lives for all Africans by 2030: the Lancet Commission on the future of health in sub-Saharan Africa.

• Agyepong IA1, Sewankambo N2, Binagwaho A3, Coll-Seck AM4, Corrah T5, Ezeh A6, Fekadu A7, Kilonzo N8, Lamptey P9, Masiye F10, Mayosi B11, Mboup S12, Muyembe JJ13, Pate M14, Sidibe M15, Simons B16, Tlou S17, Gheorghe A18, Legido-Quigley H19, McManus J20, Ng E21, O'Leary M21, Enoch J21, Kassebaum N22, Piot P23.
• Lancet (London, England).Lancet.2018 Dec 23;390(10114):2803-2859. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(17)31509-X. Epub 2017 Sep 13.
• PMID 28917958

• Knowledge, competencies and attitudes regarding external post-mortem physical examination: A survey among German post-graduate trainees in general practice.

• Valentini J1,2, Goetz K2,3, Yen K4, Szecsenyi J2, Dettling A5, Joos S1, Steinhaeuser J3, Flum E2.
• The European journal of general practice.Eur J Gen Pract.2018 Dec;24(1):26-31. doi: 10.1080/13814788.2017.1389884. Epub 2017 Nov 23.
• PMID 29168414

• Lectin ZG16p inhibits proliferation of human colorectal cancer cells via its carbohydrate-binding sites.

• Mito A1,2, Nakano Y1, Saitoh T1, Gouraud SSS3, Yamaguchi Y4, Sato T5, Sasaki N5, Kojima-Aikawa K6,7.
• Glycobiology.Glycobiology.2018 Dec 1;28(1):21-31. doi: 10.1093/glycob/cwx088.
• PMID 29069492

Japanese Journal

• 耐震診断による上部構造評点を用いた木造在来軸組構法住宅の地震特性能評価

• 広島工業大学紀要. 研究編 42, 191-197, 39479-00-00
• NAID 120005403279

• Plasticity of Morphology in Subterranean Stems in Long and Short Day in the Lotus (<i>Nelumbo nucifera</i>)

• The Horticulture Journal, 2018
• NAID 130005709391

• Morphological and Simple Sequence Repeat Analysis to Clarify the Diversity of Natural <i>Lilium japonicum</i> and <i>L. auratum</i> Hybrids in the Hybrid Zone of the Izu Peninsula, Japan

• The Horticulture Journal, 2018
• NAID 130005661833

• Effects of Crossing and Selection for Seven Generations Based on Flower Vase Life in Carnations (<i>Dianthus caryophyllus</i> L.), and the Relationship between Ethylene Production and Flower Vase Life in the Breeding Lines

• The Horticulture Journal, 2018
• NAID 130005549223

Related Links

• naturalの意味・使い方｜英辞郎 on the WEB：アルク

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• Imagine Dragons - Natural (Lyrics) - YouTube

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★リンクテーブル★

リンク元	「proper」「reasonable」「自然」「spontaneous」「nature」
拡張検索	「natural resistance」「natural line width」

「proper」

　　[★]

• adj.

• 適切な、適当な、妥当な、適した、もっともな、本来の、固有の

関

adequate、adequately、appropriate、appropriately、apt、correct、endemic、fit、fittingly、germane、in itself、inherent、inherently、intrinsic、justifiable、natural、neatly、original、originally、pertinent、primarily、properly、reasonable、suitable、suitably、suited、valid

　 　 　 　 　 　

「reasonable」

　　[★]

• adj.

• 合理的な、適切な、もっともな、妥当な、当然の

関

adequate、adequately、appropriate、appropriately、correct、fittingly、justifiable、logical、natural、naturally、neatly、pertinent、proper、properly、rational、rationally、reasonably、suitably、valid

　 　 　

「自然」

　　[★]

英

• nature、natural、native、spontaneous、naturally、spontaneously

関

原住民、自然発症、自然発症的、自発性、自発的、性質、当然、ネイチャー、本質、未変性、もっとも、天然、ネイティブ

「spontaneous」

　　[★]

• adj.

• 自発性の、自発的な、自然発症の、自然な

関

autochthonous、native、natural、naturally、nature、spontaneity、spontaneously、voluntarily、voluntary、willing

　 　

「nature」

　　[★]

• 性質、本質、自然、ネイチャー

関

character、disposition、essence、native、natural、naturally、propensity、property、spontaneous、spontaneously

　 　 　 　 　 　

「natural resistance」

　　[★]

• 自然抵抗性

関

disease resistance、innate immunity、natural immunity、natural resistant

「natural line width」

　　[★]

• 固有幅

関

natural breadth