Is DDT Morally Right or Wrong?

Rachel Carson wrote a book called Silent Spring that details the relationship between man made chemical compounds and the environment. Through this book, much needed reform took place nationally as well as locally. It can even be said that Rachel Carson was a pioneer some 50 years before the modern day Green Movement. With these great changes, a new, unexpected issue arose in Africa. Every year between 350-500 million people die from Malaria with 90% of those being in Africa. Africa's moderate climate harbors a large constigency of the mosquito carriers.The most basic and effective treatment against this deadly disease is chemically treated netting, household and community wide insecticide spraying as well as periodic spraying. Should regulations be laxed in order to provide a more effective anti-malaria treatment?

Mitochondrial Eve

Mitochondrial Eve is a select field of study in human genetics. Its main focus is on the idea of a direct link between all humans to a single ancestor. It has been estimated that Mitochondrial Eve lived around 200,000 years ago. This theory came about through the genetic idea that maternal descent goes through a mother and her mother and eventually her mother to the point of all female linages converging. With this said, people from completely different continents should have some genetic similarities.


Mitochondrial Eve


Southern Sudan


Zulu Tribe


Asian: Chinese


Hispanic


Meditteranean


Irish


Australian


Spain

As anyone can see, the physical diversity is obvious. A deeper look though, into the genectics of each person will reveal a common link between each group.

Amphioxus

Amphioxus are lancelets who are commonly found in sandy areas in tropical waters. These small creatures can not only serve as a means of nutrition, but also as scientific research. The fasicination found in Amphioxus is in its origins. Dating back over 500 million years ago, these prehistoric animals hold a valuable clue to the evolution of vertibrates. In particular, scientist are interested in how these animals portray how vertebrates shed old, unused genes as a result of genetic drift and natural selection. These ideas were touched on in the book "Origins of Life" as well as in our class discussion. Amphioxus along with bacteria each exhibit a real circumstance where evolution has led to a change in physical and chemical structures.

The Mystery of Polywater

Common H2O or water is one of the most versitile compounds ever analyzed. Its unique properties pertaining to heat and bonding allow this combination of molecules to function in a broad array of arenas. With this said, during the 1960's a new form of water appeared on the horizon titled "Polywater." This new form of water was said to have a lower freezing point, higher boiling point as well as a viscosity rougly 15 times that of common water. These claims were made by a group of Russian Scientist 1966. This time period was one of great friction between the United States and the USSR for a meriad of reasons. Competition between the two countries soon broke out, as in other fields, to discover this new mystery of polywater. Before long hundreds of scintific articles were being published throughout the two countries making claims of the unique physical and chemical properties of polywater. As the research intensified, so did the speculation over what would be made of the polywater if it did exist. Many theorized that if in the right circumstances polywater could polerimerize fresh water like rivers or streams. This only escalated the race between the two countries ultimately leading to another breakthrough in research. After some years of testing, some labs noticed that polywater was only obtainable in very small amounts, thus hampering further test. Upon further review it was discovered that the actual properties of polywater were mearly contaminants within normal water such as sulfide and phospholipids. These contaminants were linked to improperly cleaned glassware and poor testing techniques. Thus in the end polywater's fluctuations in properties such as melting point were just the existance of the contaminants. After this discovery, research came to a halt and proved as a prime example of how important it is to clean your glassware properly.

citations: On Being a Scientist: Responsible Conduct in Research, 2nd edition, a report by the Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy, part of the National Research Council. Published by National Academy Press, Washington, D.C.,in 1995.

Rood, Dr. Brian. Scientific Inquiry. Mercer University. 24 Sept. 2010

Bonsai Kitten

Below is a link to the bonsai kitten website. This site claims to sell kittens in jars stating that they are, "Dedicated to perserving the long lost art of body modification in housepets." It has a section that details the process through which they put the kittens into the jar along with a photo gallery. Along with these are a guestbook and a sales section. Obviously this is not an actual website, but it is creative and a lttle entertaining.

http://www.ding.net/bonsaikitten/bnw.html