Saturday, December 4, 2010

Silkwood


Karen Silkwood was a hard working woman who only wanted what was best for the people she loved and herself. Silkwood worked for Kerr-McGee, a company that created plutonium rods for nuclear reactors. While working at Kerr-McGee, Karen Silkwood discovered that the company was engaging in unethical behaviors that risked the lives of all its employees. I think that stories like this are disturbing no matter how fuzzy or blatant the facts are. But I also think that stories like this can be the basis of a great debate; when instances like this arise I am at a loss as to who can we trust to look out for people and the environment safety. Silkwood could not count on her union or the company. I wonder if the decades since the Silkwood debacle have brought will change in corporate accountability, or are things still the same?

Trip to Hitchiti Experiment Forest

So I Put My Hand In A Tree Hole......

Eh! I've done worse....

Aquatic Critters!!!

Friday, October 29, 2010

Temperate Forest Biome


Temperate deciduous forests are found in the middle latitudes around the globe and have four distinct seasons: Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter. During the fall, trees change color and then lose their leaves. This is in preparation for the winter season. Because it gets so cold, the trees have adapted to the winter by going into a period of dormancyA forest has many layers of plant life. There are the small plants such as shrubs, moss, ferns, and lichens which grow quietly beneath the shadows of the tall trees. 


Ecological Niche


This Black Panther’s Ecological Niche
Territory-10 square mile area of a South American Rainforest
Food- Native birds but mostly native mammals, hunted at night.
Water- Water pools in the rainforest
Shelter – Heavy tree branches

Friday, October 22, 2010

Every woman alive today received her mitochondria from her mother. If we trace the passage of the mitochondria back one generation to the mothers, we have fewer women than today. If we trace back another generation, we find an even smaller number, and with each previous generation this number decreases. Eventually this traces back to a single woman from whom all women alive today received their mitochondrial DNA. Mitochondrial Eve lived approximately 200,000 years ago. It is believed that she lived in Africa and from her all of the tribes of the world were created. Although, many races developed after some of her descendents migrated  to other regions, all races have a connection because of this common ancestor.