Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Gooseberry!




Isn't this thing super cool looking? This is called a sea gooseberry, or scientifically Pleurobrachia pileus. But lets just say the sea gooseberry. Many divers along the Norwegian coast come across these gooseberries. They float near the surface, and on night dives they can be spotted with just a flash light. Commonly they are found in rock pools and low tides. Can you imagine just flashing your light into the sea and seeing that?! So crazy. They are easily overlooked though because they are only 2.5 cm in diameter. They have two tentacles that can reach as much as 20 times their body length. Cool thing also about thier tentacles is that they can be retracted into pockets inside its body. They flash the rainbow colors because they retract light, and they are really pretty because of that. The rhythmic beating of the cilia allow them to swim. Some sea gooseberries will even eat each other for food. But they also eat fish eggs and larvae, molluscs, and copepod crustaceans. They catch their pray with their long tentacles, which they then real in to their mouth.


I found this REALLY cool video of the sea gooseberry and its movement. Man what an amazing creature!




http://www.arkive.org/sea-gooseberry/pleurobrachia-pileus/range-and-habitat.html

Friday, April 16, 2010

Antibiotics!

The use of antibiotics in animals in factory farms totally should be regulated. I think it is awful to use antibiotics to make the animals bigger. Its like getting implants or collagen to have more food. Its fake! On the website it talks about using the antibiotics to help prevent diseases, which could be a nice thought, but I am pretty sure most people are using the antibiotics to make the animals bigger so they make more money.

I also think it is not cool because this whole idea is not only harming the animals, but it is making us humans ill as well. Where is the benefit then? I really hope this antibiotic thing gets regulated or even completely gotten rid of. Leave the animals alone and just make them natural!

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Evolutionary Theory.

A theory is a "comprehensive explanation supported by abundant evidence". To say that evolution is a theory, it has evidence, but it cant be proven exactly. That doesn't mean it is not true, just not proven. Because of the evidence people chose to believe it, but not all people do. A lot of people take offense to evolution for a couple of reasons. One reason is that a lot of people don;t want to think that our smart and powerful people came from what they refer to as dumb monkeys. Although, apes are very intelligent, and people just don;t see it that way. When you do look at the similarities, it makes some sense. Another reason that people take offense is because people believe in God, and that God created man. (This is where I stand) I think people also don't believe it because they don;t see evolution happen, because it takes so long for noticeable change, that it doesn't even seem like change. I think it is just one of the explanations of the natural world. I am sure that Darwin and such people weren't trying to screw with peoples heads and bash on all the other beliefs out there. They observed things, and saw some sort of connection and ran with it. That is all. Just like all of the other theories out there.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Genetics help on number 6!

I am sooo confused! What is the difference between a & b and c & d? I was reading the lecture and I think I fugred out c & d. So I mainly need help with a & b.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Cellular Respiration

Humans would not be able to function on anaerobic cellular respiration alone. They need both of these processes to produce ATP in order to survive. The oxygen we need is produced through aerobic respiration. When it doesn’t happen, like in anaerobic, our muscles can shut down. Which is very bad obviously. That doesn’t really explain why we are most active. I believe that us mammals are more active because of our surrounding and environment. Crocodiles and cold blooded animals live in water, or at least like to be in water or kind of lone areas. This has made them adapt to a kind of boring and less active lifestyle. Mammals like us are more active because of our own surroundings. We like to be around other people and do a lot of activities. In the end like that, I don’t think ATP works that way. Just because cold blooded animals have more ATP, doesn’t mean they are supposed to be more active. It just means they produce more ATP.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

fooooooooood

So I chose to look at the label for one of my favorite snacks. Cheeeez its! Honestly, I really like the reduced ones becuase growing up my mom always got those because she ate them and wanted better ones for her diet. So I just grew used to the taste of those ones, and the other ones are just too much for me. But anyways, when looking at the chemicals they contain I really wasn't sure what the chemicals were. I took a good guess. Niacin, Thiamin Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid, TBHQ, and Paprika Oleoresin. The Ingredients are Enriched flour,Vegetable oil, Skim Milk Cheese, Salt, Milk, Paprika, Yeast, Cheese cultures and Soy Lecithin. It is a pretty even amount of both. And the chemicals in it don't seem to scary so I feel like they aren't that bad.

I think it is a good thing that the label companies have to give out the amount of transfat in a product. Trans fat can be BAD! It is the fat that sometimes you can't get rid of! bad bad BAD! They raise your bad cholesterol levels and lower your good cholesterol levels. These fats increase the risk for heart disease and stroke. This is why people are so concerned about them now. It didn't used to be as big of a deal, but that is because people didn't know what trans fats were. They didnt realize how bad for you they are. With all the obsity in America, I feel like now that companies have to let people be more aware of this, it may help decrease the numbers. (http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3045792)

While still looking at the cheez its. I think it is half and half about the natural and lab ingredients. I am not a good judge at that though. So someone correct me if I am wrong. When it comes to eating though, I try to stay healthy, but I don't do that great of a job. But like I said earlier, my parents like the low calorie and reduced fat snacks, so that helps out a lot. I am not that tempted to eat that much junk while I am at home. The worst part about trying to eat healthy is where I work. Since I work at an ice cream store, the temptation to eat all that junky and fattening ice cream is always there. But Baskin Robbins recently has been trying to incorrporate a healthy thing, and we have a few low fat ice creams that are soo good. So I usually just stick with those. The concern for my health comes in with the fact that high blood pressure and cholesterol runs in the family. So I really try to be more concerned with my eating in order to avoid those risks later on in life.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Hello! I am Danielle and I attend Sierra College. I am taking this class because I need it for my major. I really am not a science person, but its one of my last science classes so I am going to try my hardest to get through. This semester I am taking 19 units. I know, its crazy, but that is what happens when you want to transfer in two years and you haven't decided what you want to do in the first year. haha. I work part time as well at a Baskin Robbins where I scoop ice cream and make the yummy ice cream cakes. That's me! =]