Stupidtity and Alcohol

Have you ever wondered if people you knew in high school as the “Drinkers” turned out? A study conducted on rats may show an ugly truth of a life of stupidity.

In a recent study carried out by scientists and podcasted Karen Hopkin, it has shown that adolescent rats, exposed to alcohol, are more likely to make high-risk decisions in their later life. This study has opened our eyes to the possible likelihood of this happening to humans that drink in their teen years conforming to stupidity because of their young hearted decisions.

I believe this could be true in cases for people who are already predisposed to stupidity are going to be the people that drink in high school, so this cant be proven in humans. I would compare this statistic to giving someone with a genetic predisposition to encountering Schizophrenia in their life marijuana, which has been thought to increase likelihood of getting Schizophrenia in people with certain genetics, and saying it causes Schizophrenia. It is truly invalid.

Megachickens?! Selective Breeding Vs. Genetic Modifications

Many people are concerned about the capabilities of scientists and Breeders to make super strong animals and plants. There are Many concerns and benefits of Genetic Modifications and Selective breeding which I will adress in this blog

In selective breeding, they choose the animals that display the trait they are looking for. they then continually breed brackets of different animals having this trait until they naturally have a super animal. a concern of selective breeding is certainly the living conditions of these animals. They are often kept in very close quarters and only kept for their genetic traits. Benefits include more meat, more fruit and other such obvious benefits.

Genetic Modification is defined as the direct manipulation of an organism's genes. This means they modify the set of directions in an animal to make it non average comparatively to a normal one. Sometimes these are good for the animal such as resistance to disease. Concerns raised about Genetic Modification are the power scientists actually have and they could do so much that is ethically wrong.

A scientist born in 1822 named Gregor Mendel was the first to notice heredity by studying generations of peas and their color. He discovered the role each parent plays is different per case and led scientists in the future to discovering all of genetics. I believe he would think the modification to genes of animals was brilliant, but ethics would be questioned in some cases. I also didn't know him as a person I have only studied his scientific discoveries.

I believe that the most threatening of these two techniques is definitely Genetic Modification. This one concerns me the most because of the things they do not do but could easily do. The only reason they dont is because people would question their ethics. Something could also go terribly wrong with using science freely and destroy and raise havoc in the area of its creation. Genetic Modification is surely not the answers to all our problems and should be used with caution.

This is a selectively bred Belgian Blue Cow

This Rabbit has been genetically modified to make it glow in the dark using a gene from a jelly fish

What is the cost of "Ecosystem Services"?

Ecosystem services are sometime taken for granted in many places but they are worth a lot more than they seem. I have recently listened to a podcast explaining what these services actually mean and do titled, "Why Ecosystem Services Matter" by 60 Second Earth.

An ecosystem service is a naturally occurring circumstance that protects or betters an ecosystem in some way. An Example would bestorm protection offered by wetlands that was destroyed and caused New Orleans to be devastated by hurricane Katrina.

Determining a cost for these services would be very difficult but they are definitely worth a fortune for what they provide for people

Contemplating the Eradication of Mosquitos

Many may find themselves wondering if the world would truly be better off without the large population of disease spreading mosquitos. In a recent Biology assignment, my class and I have read an article, "A World Without Mosquitos" by Janet Fang which weighs the pros and cons of extirpating mosquitos from many different perspectives.

With over 3500 species of mosquitos defined, it is difficult to fathom exterminating every single one of them. There are actually some positive things that come of mosquitos and they contribute in many ways to the environment. One plus to mosquitos is their role in pollination of some plants. Another; Mosquitos spread deadly diseases which may kill good people, but they are much needed in population control of our vastly growing human population. 

I believe it is impossible to completely do away with every species of mosquitos due to the ridiculous amount of them. I am not one to say whether it would benefit the globe or not because I have not studied in depth the impact in erasing these creatures but if I had to say now, I would keep them because of the accelerating human population growth. The Mosquitos supply a natural way to balance our population.

Stopping the Origins Of AIDS

The way HIV originated has been questioned since it started to spread to other countries. The common misconception is that it was cause by fornication with a monkey but it is caused from something called Bush Meat. This is setting traps and catching animals that are usually primates. Nathan Wolfe discusses the dangers and effects of Bush Meat and how it spreads zoonatic viruses, viruses that can be transferred from animals to humans,  in a TED Talk.

In his speech, he explained why it is important to know what Bush Meat is and how diseases are able to transfer that way. He showed maps of other diseases entering the human population like SARS, HIV, and others. He revealed his plan of tracking and preventing these diseases from the start and monitering the average amount of bushmeat that is diseased. He has done this by having locals put a drop of blood on filter paper to test later when he makes visits to those communities. He has a very global outlook on preventing and stopping HIV and other zoonatic diseases.

I believe That HIV can be slowed down but I don't think it can be stopped at this point. I do think it is possible other diseases from spreading by raising awareness to locals in the jungles where they originate. These diseases should be taken very seriously and maximum efforts should be applied to stop them in their tracks.

Chimps Being Put Back To Use For Testing

Morality has been questioned as scientists want to move Chimps that have not been used for testing in over a decade from Alamogordo Primate Facility to be tested after their retirement. By the end of
2011, they will all be sent to the Southwest National Primate Research Center in San Antonio, Texas. They have been exposed to HIV and Hepatitis C previously in their lives in testing. The transport would save the US $2 Million dollars a year and it would diminish over 40 jobs. I believe all these chimps must rightfully be sent back to testing because this will prevent more chimps having to be used that are not diseased and already tested. Although it seems immoral to send these chimps back, They are said to just be taking liver and blood samples because they have already been exposed to the critical illnesses that need to be cured in people. Testing these chimps could also come out with breakthrough results because of all the time the subjects have spent with these life threatening diseases. Chimps may have to die and be tested, but it is all very necessary to solve todays scientific mysteries.

Is Water a Deathly Substance?

Some people do it for money, some do it to rehydrate and all need it, but can you have too much water? The answer is yes. In 2005, a woman played in a contest called "Hold your, Wee for a Wii" and drank some six liters of water within three hours. She won, of course not without consequences. She went home with a headache that proved to actually kill her. She was diagnosed with water intoxication. Her brain cells swelled up and started bursting because that was the only place left for he water to go. Many more people are diagnosed with and die from this every year more than you think.