Hannah

Week 4

Warmth without CO2: Notes from 12.5 Million Years Ago
According to the National Science Foundation, climate researchers discovered that though high CO2 causes high temperatures now, 12.5 million years ago the earth was warmer than is now, but had less CO2. Researchers think that the difference is due to different ocean composition than we have today, specifically that the boundary between warm surface water and cold deep water in the ocean was much deeper than is today. This, hypothesized researchers, could have shifted the clouds and vapor to cause warmer weather.

http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=124393&org=NSF&from=news

What does this mean for us?
Researcher Christina Ravelo says, "this study highlights the importance of ocean circulation in determining climate conditions," she furthers, "climate sensitivity is possibly at an all-time high"

What do YOU think?
With ocean circulation deemed critical in climate determination, and CO2 rates raising, what do you think rising temperatures would do to ocean circulation? http://oceanmotion.org/html/impact/conveyor.htm cites that ocean circulation is "vulnerable" and that the rising temperatures might cause the ice caps to melt and the ocean to warm shifting currents causing "less warm water flow[ing] north across the equator, the southern oceans will warm. The thermal equator (band of highest temperatures) would therefore likely shift south. The tropical rain belts would follow, altering rainfall patterns. Decreased downwelling would deliver less oxygen to the deep ocean, and decreased upwelling would carry fewer nutrients up from the bottom, potentially devastating ocean ecosystems." Week 3

Sunlight: Plants Use It A Lot
As some of you may have noticed when trying to scrounge up moss and ferns for extra credit in biology, not many plants are alive in the dead of winter. Conspiracy theories aside, this is most likely due to the different angle on which the light from the sun hits the earth less directly than in the summer making the winter months less sunny. But why isn't the (albeit minimal, but still present) sunlight in the winter sufficient for plant growth?

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/05/120526191222.htm

This study explains that photoreceptor protein FKF1 is omitted by plants late in the day. Only if there is enough light, is the protein activated. If you remember wayyy back when during the winter months, the sun set much earlier and there wasn't much light during the late afternoon. However in the summer, there is a lot more light which means the protein is activated. The FKF1 protein then activates the Flowering Locus T protein which causes flowering.

Researchers involved in this experiment think that they can take advantage of this information to better harvest crops. This is good news for the ever expanding human population. Though some, most famously Thomas Malthus, contend that the food supply is limited and it is only time until humans expand beyond it, others believe that technology increases as fast as the population does.

What do YOU think? Concerned about a Malthusian disaster or are you confidant that there will always be enough food to eat?

Week 2

A scientist, a doctor, and a lawyer all walk into a bar...
http://www.npr.org/2012/05/17/152268501/pennsylvania-doctors-worry-over-fracking-gag-rule

Today in class we discussed the gray area at the intersection of science, ethics, and law. Linked above is another ethically, legally and scientifically charged dilemma.

The article addressed the new law in Pennsylvania which states that doctors can now legally access a list of trade marked chemical secrets involved in fracking. Though Pennsylvania doctors are given access to the exact chemicals, doctors are not legally covered regarding disclosure to patients or other doctors about the specific chemicals.

It is my opinion that we should not allow companies to keep secret the chemicals they are putting into the earth. I think that it creates incentive to extract natural gas no matter the cost to the people living near that land. The only people disclosure of chemicals disadvantages is the companies extracting the gas because other companies previously unable to front the price of the trade secrets would have access technological knowledge necessary to start fracking for oil. The increased amount of companies drilling for oil, and perhaps the most efficient way common knowledge would increase the amount of oil supplied, reducing the price of oil.

However, if the chemicals were found to be alarmingly toxic enough to cause a public backlash, there would be less of a market for the oil and therefore make oil and natural gas more expensive meaning there would be more of an incentive to develop alternative energy.

Week 1

=__Sex Lives of B____utterflies__=

http://today.uci.edu/news/2012/05/nr_butterfly_120516.php

Rather than evolve a different color, Heleconius butterflies are cross breeding with other species of butterflies. This widens their gene pool and gives these butterflies access to a wider range of phenotypes.

//But What About Us?//
No worries, this discovery is applicable to humans too! Human DNA is not the special snowflake some creationists would like to have you believe. Instead, our DNA is partially ours, as well as mixed with some Neanderthal and other species' DNA!

Watch this video to find out more about early humans' sex lives: media type="youtube" key="wj0qx56cwOw" width="425" height="350"