Week 14, reflections on week 13 discussions

Crows offer clues to cognition

I like looking at this article just after reading about the dolphins and their amazing cognition.  I like how it compares the crows to a 7 year old child.  In our group we talked about how children in our society are coddled so that they aren't able to figure out simple life skills, but that a 3 year old child living in the jungle of Costa Rica might be as "smart" as the crow.  It is pretty neat that crows can solve problems in interesting ways.  I wonder if they could pass this information on to their offspring, as dolphins can.  I would like to know what age children dolphins are smarter than.  

week 14- Dolphins

   Couldn't agree more.  Dolphins are so cool, smart beautiful, playful, amazing, it is terrible to keep them confined for use in shows etc.  I love reading about all dolphins' amazing attributes.  It definitely makes me want to spend the rest of the night watching youtube videos about dolphins in the wild.  

   All I know is that sometimes when I am surfing, dolphins swim by, and sometimes they even surf in the waves, and it is out of this world amazing.  It is so cool to see them playing in the waves, and the energy they bring is palpable.  If the water is freezing, or I just got destroyed by a big set, and the dolphins swim by, my mood is lifted and my day is better.  

   And for this reason I agree that they should only be living in their natural habitat, interacting with their dolphin friends and family.  I love the author's passion about dolphins, but I can't help but think about all other animals.  Probably anyone who spent 25 years studying a particular species, and loved them, would be opposed to confining them for use in amusement parks and zoos.  Animals are always at their most awesome in nature.  But the author made a particularly good case for dolphins.

week 13- Earthworms Detoxify Pesticides at a high Cost

This article talks about the hardships faced by earthworms who live in pesticide treated, conventionally farmed soil, versus the healthy lifestyle enjoyed by those in organic fields.  However, it is cool that they have adapted to living in the contaminated soil, even if they have to fight harder to live there.  They have to use more energy and don't weigh as much as worms in organic soil, showing they are less well nourished.  They are using a lot of energy to detoxify themselves.  This is another example of why its so important to support the organic food movement .  I wonder if the worms processing the toxins, help to "clean" the soil, or if the toxins remain in the feces of the worms.  The article did not say.  But it makes me want to hit up the local farmers market!

the human species is living as if it had more than one planet to occupy…”

the human species is living as if it had more than one planet to occupy…” 

  Humans population growth rate is increasing at an alarming rate, we produce a tremendous amount of waste and require incredible amounts of resources.  Most people are not even aware that this is an issue.  People are pretty caught up in their lives, and don't think about trying to compost their waste or reuse a plastic bag.  I just heard someone say "10 cents for a bag? Thats the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard!"  Though she did not appreciate having to dig into the bottom of her Tori Burch purse to find a dime, I don't think she will remember to bring her reusable bag next time.    People are not educated or willing to change their daily lives to make any significant change to the world.  Maybe we are in a destructive cycle now, but the Earth will take care of itself.  

week 12

Fukushima radiation near Half Moon Bay?

This title is enough to get us all a little worked up.  But the author maintained the radiation at the beach is from naturally occurring elements in the sand that doesn't pose a threat to human health.  In fact they came about when the Eatrth was being formed, which is pretty cool.  But it shows how worried people are about it all and how we can get upset pretty fast with a viral youtube clip.  My boss recently gave me a bottle of pills containing some blocker against radiation for when the radiation arrives in the ocean currents.  "Its not a matter of if, its a matter of when" he said smugly.   
Another article we read last week "Radioactive Fukushima Waters Arrive at West Coast of America" said "the amount of Fukushima radioactivity in this seawater is minisucle…and poses no concern at all. And never will."  Those italics get me a little worked up.  Never?  Didn't they already cause come concern?   Its a topic that gets people heated but it was interesting to read these articles and learn more about the scientific data so we can be more informed about this topic and follow this event with a little better background and more informed perspective.  

Week 12

Bacteria - crazy little critters!

It is so cool how bacteria live symbiotically with us and other organisms.  They are responsible for doing so much--manufacturing vitamin K in our gut for us and putting the sour in San Francisco sourdough.  They come in a variety of shapes and sizes, and they are one of the oldest organisms on the planet and they live in all corners of the world.  They can also cause a lot of harm to humans if they get out of control.  This article talks a little about the development of antibiotics and how it revolutionized medicine.  People must have been truly amazed at the power when antibiotics first became available. It is interesting that antibiotics often work by targeting the ribosomes of bacteria which are slightly differentn from eukaryotic (as in human) ribosomes. In that way the bacteria is killed iwthout damaging the eukaryotic cell.  Pretty neat.


Also super cool are the archeans--"tiny prokaryotic organisms that live only in extreme environments: boiling water, super-salty pools, sulfur-spewing volcanic vents, acidic water, and deep in the Antarctic ice."  They live only in the harshest of neighborhoods.  The article does not elaborate on archeans.

Life in Oceanic Crust- Woah!

'Parallel universe' of life in oceanic crust could be Earth's largest ecosystem

Pretty wild stuff.  Its awesome to imagine the largest ecosystem on earth existing in a place no one had really considered before, living in a way never thought possible before.  The scientist said "we need to stretch our brains to consider that there should be much to discover."  I think thats the best part--stretching our brains to think about life in a new way, and being open and excited about discovery.

The author drives home the message that life will find a way, no matter the obstacles.  Though the comparison is weak, I remembered how I love seeing tiny wildflowers growing on high mountain passes, or a dwarfed tree clinging to a cliffside seemingly growing out of the granite.  Blasted by wind, covered most of the year by snow, life will pop out when given the chance of a few sunny days.  There are people who's lives are so foreign to ours that maybe we would deem it inhospitable for life.  Likewise, microbes are making a go of it on the ocean crust.

The author also points out the likelihood for life on other planets.  Why wouldn't there be?  It will just be in a form we will have to really stretch our minds to even begin to see.  Pretty cool to try to think about!