Are Humans Good or Bad?

Most of the time I post about animals and science, but some pretty serious topics have been on my mind lately.  I have asked a few of my close friends if they think humans are born good, bad, or neutral?  It has been proven time and time again, a child's upbringing has a huge influence on their future and behavior.  The route of my question goes back to the time honored question of nature vs. nurture.  Can people overcome a bad upbringing to do good things?  Can good people throw away every opportunity to do great evil? 

Personally I believe people have the propensity to do both good and bad.  Good people choose to do bad things at time, and sometimes a bad person does something kind and altruistic.  At heart I'm a optimist, I think people have an ingrained desire to do good.  People often think they are doing the right thing but society has judged it as wrong.  Misunderstandigns are all about perspective.  I try very hard in my personal life to be self accountable, I don't hold myself to any standard but the one set by myself.  In that sense I don't believe it is my place to judge others as right or wrong.  (I would make a terrible judge or lawyer, my journey to be a biologist is looking better and better everyday.)  I'm really shocked at the daily amount of judging others do to each other, it seems everyone spends so much time trying to control one another that they have lost control over themselves.  If we all took it upon ourselves to look within and just do good things because it is the right thing to do, life would dramatically improve.  Today's world is littered with ridiculous lawsuits, cut-throat businesses,  people acting plain mean.  Life is hard, we can't always go around with fake smile plastered on our faces, but it is an active choice to wake-up everyday.  It is also a conscious choice to be a good person who does the right thing just because. 

What are your thoughts on human nature?  What kind of person do you consider yourself?
Animal posts will return soon, don't worry.
Cass

Owls: Silent but Deadly

Anyone who has been following my blog knows what an animal fact nut I am, and side note: if you ever go to any zoo or park with me I give an amazing tour.  But, back to owls, everyone knows owls as the silent predator.  They are mostly gliders to be able to fly without excessive flapping.  But the question is why would they want to be quiet hunters?  The general public believes it is so they can sneak up on their prey, but owls are very quick by the time they spot a mouse or rodent it is very likely to become their dinner.  They need to be quiet so they can hear their prey.  Mice and other rodents, live on the forest floor and blend in decently with the foliage.  It isn't easy to spot them, but they make lots of scratching noises while they dig for seeds and nuts.  Owls have another neat attribute that their ears are very lopsided, one is high the other is low.  You will often see owls cock their head at odd angles, this just enhances the juxtaposition of their ears to either hear a scratching mouse down below or listen for enemies up above.  Their silent flying allows them to zero in to scratchy mice down below. 

Owls also have amazing eyes, think of how big their eye to head ratio is.  Their eyes are tubular rather than round allowing more light to enter the eye to give maximum brightness.  This tubular shape makes the owl farsighted, they cannot see close up very well (giving more reason to need that specially adapted hearing).  The tubular shape doesn't allow the eyes to move, so their neck can flex 270 degrees in either direction and 90 degrees vertically to compensate. 

That's it for now, if you have an animal you want me to write about let me know!  Every animal has a story and reason why it looks and acts the way it does.

Lots of love,

Cass

Save the Frogs, Save the World

Today, I’d like to introduce the concept of a bio-indicator.  In the past, I have given out a number of examples of biomimicry, but how many of you know are aware of the idea of bio-indicators?  These are organisms that will be initially (and greatly) affected when the environment is stressed.  In the past, coal miners would take canaries into the mine with them, as the birds were very sensitive to leaking methane gas that could result in an explosion.  Today, we are all aware of (and with good reason somewhat worried about) our close connection to the environment.  Of the many animal bio-indicators, my favorite is the frog.

Frogs have a three-part life cycle consisting of an aquatic egg, an aquatic tadpole, and the semi-aquatic adult.  The key word for all of its life stages is “aquatic”, for changes to the environment often first show up in the water.  Altered salinity, nutrients, and the presence of toxic chemicals can affect the frog at any of its life stages.  Their eggs are separated from the water by only a thin membrane, and both tadpoles and adults have a specialized semi-permeable skin that readily lets in environmental contaminants.  The loss of frogs due to environmental change creates multiple problems for their ecosystem.  Leftover frog egg membranes act as a fertilizer for algae, which then acts as a water filter.  Adult frogs are hungry and effective pest control agents, unless you are fond of mosquitoes.  Frog eggs, tadpoles, and adults provide food for an ecosystem’s worth of other animals, particularly birds and snakes.  There are also direct connections between frogs and humans.  This week, the Nobel prizes were awarded, and in the past, ten percent of all the prizes ever given for physiology have been awarded to scientists studying frog skin.  The popular Fire Belly Toad produces bellykinin, a secretion medically useful in reducing high blood pressure.  White’s Tree Frog produces caerin, a secretion that is being investigated for its effectiveness in reducing HIV transmission.  Today worldwide, my favorite bio-indicator the frog, is rapidly disappearing.  The silence, where there was once a chorus of singing and croaking should be ringing in our ears like an alarm clock, that something is not well with the world in which we live.  

Save those frogs,

Cass

Super Sloths

People and animals often get judged at first glance.  First impressions often follow us around for a lifetime.  I'm often guilty of the same thing, but I have been trying to make a real effort to take that deep look at a person or animal.  A wise lady once told me, "the greatest complement you can give someone is getting to know them."  This was a few years ago, at the time I kinda laughed those words off as the ramblings of a lonely older lady, but she was right.  

One animal who doesn't get the respect it deserves is the Sloth.  This animal moves extremely slow, is very helpless if ever on the ground, overall not impressive looking.  But, the Sloth is actually extremely well adapted for its lifestyle.  Sloths come in two varieties, two-toed and three-toed.  They spend so much time hanging upside down, with their legs above their bodies, their hairs grow away from the extremities, the opposite of other mammals, in order to provide protection from the elements. In moist conditions, the fur hosts two species of symbiotic cyanobacteria, which serves two benefits for the Sloth. It gives the fur a green tinge which help camouflage the Sloth. The bacteria also provides nutrients to the Sloth, who will lick them off the fur. Their claws are razor sharp and are curved to make ideal attachments on a tree limb, it's like having super strong coat hangers growing out of your arms.  If a predator catches sight of a Sloth, these claws make good deterrents.  Picture a heavy predator trying to walk out on a limb to make a Sloth into a snack, already the predator is very unstable but in addition they also have to dodge a grumpy Sloth with dagger claws, it's typically not worth it to snag the Sloth up in a tree.  A Sloth lives in a single tree most of its life and only comes down once a week to use the restroom.  The Sloth likes to dig a small hole at the base of its tree for its privy, therefore fertilizes his own tree.  A defining feature of the Sloth is also how it got it's name, it is incredibly slow.  This has many reasons, first off, the Sloth fur already blends in nicely with the trees and green bark, you move nice a slow so you literally look "one with the tree".  Second reason for their snail like speed is it uses much less energy.  Great bursts of speed use up lots of energy and calories.  It is very hard to consume mass amounts of nutrients from plants alone, much more work than meat.  So a Sloth is a master conservationist for calories! 

I'm sure the Sloth has even more abilities that people have yet to discover, but the important point is always keeping an open mind when seeing something you don't understand.  Their is reason that creature was created that way.  As humans it is our job to not be judgemental and to take the advice of an 80 yr old lady and get to know them.  I assure you it wont be time wasted.

Thanks for reading,

Cass

New But Is It Improved?

So I came across this post in the msn news feed today http://slate.me/pzmQ1A it is all about enhancement of our environment and focuses specifically on human enhancement.  Now humans have tried our best to conform the world and environment to our preference, but in the end, nature keeps on winning.  For example, bacteria and viruses keep getting stronger, each year we have to take a guess at a new flu vaccine.  Despite all our technological advances we cannot even combat a simple flu virus.  This article talks about the various ways humans have altered themselves to be their ideal, but with nanotechnology blooming what could happen next?  When I hear the word nanotechnology I envision microscopic robots being inject into us to purge our bodies of infection an disease...  Initially this seems amazing, but then I think a little deeper.  How do these nanobots know when to stop, what is preventing them from attacking healthy tissue, what else could go wrong?  Right now, I'm holding onto my faith that nature still has made a better solution, we humans just haven't found ways to utilize it. 
On the whole humans are extremely narrow minded, we see the world as something to conform to our own will, instead of looking at ourselves as one part to the whole.  We may be influential, but in no means do we control everything.  Control shouldn't be a main goal.  The objective should be to work in harmony with the world and use our power/influence to help it excel in a manner that will allow humans and many other creatures to live for the longest duration possible.  All organisms on this world have a finite lifespan, even our world and sun will eventually die.  This is simply natural order.  In contrast it is also natural for all organisms to want to live as long as possible in order to propagate as many offspring as possible.  So how do we battle these dueling pre-sets within ourselves?  A big question that truthfully I don't think anyone has a certain answer.  A few things are for certain, humans will continue pushing their bodies and technology to the limit, nature will continue finding ways around it.  Other than that it is all variable.  To be continued...
Cass

So You've Had a Bad Day

I had a rotten few days, my house is infested with fleas, and nothing seems to kill them.  I've been feeling low about my appearance and just plain exhausted most days.  This all reminds me of a piece I wrote awhile ago about what to do when you're feeling rotten, hopeless, and defeated.  Keep fighting my friends, good things happen to good people. 

Sometimes there are no positives to a situation, but those are the times one draws upon a reserve store of emotion and energy deep that lies deep inside.  I use the absolutely bleak moments as fuel to make a huge change.  It’s like hitting rock bottom, once you’re there, it is now possible to stand and push off and the perfect time to make huge life changes. 

For multiple reasons, the modern environment has caused individuals to lose sight of the power they have in themselves.  One needs to have faith in themselves first and foremost.  We rely on doctors or drugs to heal us; others have become dependent on antidepressants and try to find answers in a pill instead of doing some soul searching.  People with problems now look to the government to bail themselves out.  Life is hard for everybody.  There is never a simple easy answer, or everyone would do it.  I believe that if you are confident in your own abilities, you can survive any situation and turn it into a positive.  While a positive attitude is infectious and helpful, attitude alone cannot make changes in your life.   It is up to each individual to actively seek out ways to improve their lives in any area.  Actions, drive, and perseverance are the only paths that are guaranteed to bring results. 

Lastly here's a song that has sometimes mad me cry harder, sometimes cheered me up, both were absolutely necessary at the time. 

Cass

The Sleep Diet

So it seems my little intro of Biomimicry sparked a lot of great conversations, and inspired the hell out of me.  Last time I explained what Biomimicry was, but what do I see as the great use for it?  I think it can go far beyond a reason to conserve the planet, it could be used as a way to greatly increase efficiency for any business.  It is also an amazing source of ideas. 

The other day I was talking to my best friend Mallory about polar bears and some of their unique attributes.  Why would humans want to be more polar bear-like?  Polar bears can gain muscle mass and strength simply by sleeping.  Human muscle mass is driven by mechanical factors mainly exercise (lots of exercise).  Humans force muscle mass building by eating protein and can even take steroids to speed up the break-down and build up of muscles.  Unfortunately once a human stops using their muscles they break down into fat.  A polar bear takes the completely opposite strategy by eating large amounts of fat and slowing down muscle breakdown.  What person wouldn't want to be able to eat tons of fat, sleep as much as they want and wake up with less fat and more muscle?  That is the true dream diet!