Adam Wall

Good old days

                We are coming back to the good old days, although candy is not a nickel and people are on their phones 24/7, gas prices have dropped off the edge. Oil has been lowest in over 5 years, even with inflation. Prices here in Iowa are almost under two dollars, something I thought I’d never see again. Competition is heated and supply is at an all-time high.  A lot of countries are really taking a hit from the fallen prices while buyers really like the lower cost.

                Russia is entering a recession thanks to the oil prices dropping. Their country’s economy is going down the drain and inflation is at extreme rates all because oil is less profitable. Other countries whose economy is dependent of oil like Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates can survive on the lower prices for a while due to reserves. If oil stays non profitable, these countries might have serious issues. There are a lot of countries dependent on oil as well, more than just the Middle East and everyone’s economy will take a hit if the world doesn’t prepare for change. Countries like Saudi Arabia know that oil will not last forever, other technologies, short supply, and many others reasons will cause oil to continue to fall out of the market. Countries need to figure out other sources of income because sooner or later, oil will fall off the charts and bad things will happen if countries aren’t prepared for it. Their economies will crumble just like Russia’s. 

                The drop in oil prices, although it sounds great right now, might crush a lot of countries. Hopefully investments in newer energy sources will help with this cause along with creating cleaner, renewable, and more efficient energy. Oil maybe is important and good right now for the world but hopefully we can all start leaning away from it and moving on away from black gold.

Adam Wall

The Embargo

                Cuba has had the odd distinction of not becoming Americanized.  They have no imports of American goods, no McDonalds, no ford F-150’s, no new technologies.  They are stuck in a world without all of these things. They do have one thing - Cuban cigars and that’s all they need.

                This week, after decades of giving the silent treatment to Cuba, Obama finally decided to reverse the embargo on Cuba. After years and years of zero trade with them, the United States has finally had enough, they want their cigars again. It’s odd, this whole change of heart seems so sudden, They is no recent evidence of cooperation between the two countries, no talks, it all just happened. This embargo has been in place for such a long time, I’m not really sure why Obama decided to remove the embargo. Obama just decided he wanted a smoke so he took that embargo away I guess.

                The controversy is pretty anticlimactic because it does not seem like it with have a big impact on anything.  If something like this happened 20 to 25 years ago then there would be serious outrage. Today, people realize that what Castro is doing is not good, communism isn’t good but the embargo really hasn’t done anything to either country other than a minor inconvenience. Neither countries economy was destroyed or affected that much. When I first read this, I’m pretty sure I had the same reaction as everyone else in the country, “heh, cool”. But of course this is politics so people always have to disagree and rage about it so you might hear about how we’re giving into Castro and all communisms. Really though, that embargo is probably what kept Cuba going for so long.  They are one of very few communist countries and the last one to be following the Marxist/ Soviet Union beliefs.   This ideology seems to have helped them more than its hurt them.  It also probably what made millions of Cubans cross the gulf to come to Florida, land of the fancy new cars, McDonalds, and great American products. Who wouldn’t want what we have here in beautiful, free, and amazing ‘murica. 

Adam Wall

The Interview

                This week has been an odd, odd week. Who knew that Seth Rogan and James Franco could start an all-out technology war? We are used to seeing these two get high as a kite in some movie while partying all the time, but now they’re making fun of the supreme ruler of North Korea and making him a bit mad.

                Reports this week show that North Korea has been behind hacks and threats to Sony, the maker of The Interview, a comedy about going to North Korea and meeting Kim Jong Un.  The movie’s release has now been canceled by Sony and they’ve decided not to show it. The outrage in Hollywood occurring since that announcement has changed Sony’s thinking and now they will probably show it. Many people want the film to be released online for free and for everyone to see which would be amazing. I think they should show it.  I don’t think giving in to the demands of an arrogant, evil, and spoiled leader helps to prevent them from doing bad things. It will just make them more arrogant and powerful; they cannot have control over our media and entertainment. This is especially the case since its North Korea, the country who threatens every other country in the world every other day.

                It really makes me happy though that so many people around the country are standing up for this movie. They’re standing up for freedom of speech, from actors like George Clooney, to the average person, to the President of the United States, the whole country wants this movie to be released and proving that we will not give into the demands of Kim Jong Un.  The president especially asked Sony to not give in, he wants them to stand up for freedom of speech. I mean, if you’re going to give into demands, Kim Jung Un is really the last person you should give into, he threats to bomb us all and yet nothing happens, he has no resources, no money, and absolutely no respect so I really don’t understand why Sony gave in. You have to be careful though, something bad could happen, North Korea is a crazy place ruled by maniacs, they’re unpredictable and crazy. You should really be careful ticking off a guy with a gigantic ego, an army that he is really not afraid to use, and a brainwashed society.

                I really hope good things will come out of this. The movie could be released all over the world for everyone to see, free for everyone to watch and laugh at, including Kim Jong Un and his goons. I hope patriotism becomes stronger and stronger in this country,  that we can all unite again under a common enemy. I hope that North Korea finds a way to humiliate themselves as a country like they always do and I hope that this whole escapade can somehow bring an end to all the death and suffering most of the people of North Korea are feeling. Who knows, maybe Seth Rogan and James Franco can save millions of lives by making another comedy movie. 

Torture

                The United States has been known for its freedom for everyone along with fair trial and punishment, as said in the constitution/ bill of rights. This week, huge allegations and information about the CIA shows torture was used on suspects for the thing we crave the most, information. Many allegations have been made, most have been confirmed and it is really sad that our country has these terrible things happening within it. Torture is the worst things you can do to another human being, it’s monstrous and I can’t believe our country would do it, especially in the manner that we preformed it. People defend torture and say that it provides answers, solutions, and vital information to save lives, but it’s not worth it. Torture is the worst, it doesn’t provide answers, and it just provides what the person who is torturing wants to hear. Torturing doesn’t give more information, it gives false hope and conformation of being correct, when really one little lie can stop all the pain.

                The government has been hiding a lot of things from the general public lately. The NSA, spying on us to know our every move and they are doing all of this without anyone knowing about it. There is probably so much more we don’t know about our government and what goes on behind closed doors. Snowden really showed us how much in the dark the public really is.  Sure he revealed government secrets but he showed how much we don’t know about the people who are running the government for us. We had no clue that our calls, our internet searches are all being monitored, everyone is being watched and yet, the public had no clue this was going on.

                The people in power keep secrets, things that they don’t want everyone else to know. It’s the people in power, the people who allowed the torturing with the CIA to happen that we should be mad at. The president, congress, people in power allowed this and approved of it, the people in power have the power to torture anyone without the public knowing about it. It’s really unsettling how much the United States can do, especially without the consent from the rest of the public. The secret cy and power of our government is a serious issue in my eyes and something has to change. You want to know more about what’s going on in our country but you don’t want riots, chaos, or security secrets to be realized to the world, so this whole situation is a double edged sword. 

Royalty

                This week, the Dutch and Duchess of Cambridge came to America, home of the free, rebels of the unjust monarchy, and rulers of the free world. It surprised be really, the hype behind this special couple coming here.   They were at a pro basketball game, went to major fund raising events, and William even had an interview with the president. We (Americans) seem to care a lot more about the royal family than British people seem to.  The publicity they get here is ridiculous with the magazine covers, TV coverage, and “analysis”.

                Today, the British government functions mostly on a democratic level with the parliament and the prime minister having all the power. The queen has little to no say about the running of her country today.  She meets with the prime minister to talk about politics once a week, that’s about it when it comes to running the government.  They shouldn’t even be called a monarchy anymore; she shouldn’t really even be called the queen anymore when she has no power or controlled over the Kingdom.

                So why is she still the queen?  Why is there still so much publicity and hype for a family of people who do absolutely nothing all day but suck up money in some fancy palace? Well one of the answers is they do attract tourists. Millions of people a year go to see the beautiful Buckingham palace to try to get a glimpse of the royal family and feel like royalty. Millions of people buy up the magazines and watch all the media coverage to see and listen in on the gossip of the royal family.  I think women love all the information the most because it takes them back to their childhood when the wished they were a princess or the queen. The royals are such an iconic symbol of the United Kingdom that it seems like they won’t ever leave, no matter how much they cost. It still infuriates me though that people actually care about “what the royal family is up to” or what “Kate Middleton is wearing”, who cares really, in today’s society they are just regular people with a little bit more money. There is nothing special about them as sad as that might be. 

Argh Argh

                Black Beard, Jack Sparrow, and all the other pirates have been long gone for hundreds of years. But now there is a new group of rebels out there, the pirates of the technological age.  They are burning CD’s, taping and recording.  The internet has made stealing from the world so easy. Taking people’s ideas and money has become as easy as looking through a few links and some downloading then whamo - free content from the internet.

                The world is now starting to address this stealing of content. Movies, TV shows, and many other things have been shared and downloaded all over the world. This week, Pirate Bay, a major piracy website that hosts millions of torrents for downloading has been taken down by the Swedish government. Hours later the site was up and running again just as it used to be, it’s scary how these sites can just reappear so quickly and there is nothing government agencies can do about it. It is always said that nothing can be taken off the internet and this is true, especially for torrent websites and major pirating links.

                Piracy is something that won’t go away.  It’s been here for years and it will be even harder to get rid of as technology advances. It’s sad really; creative ideas that deserve attention and money get nothing because people can steal it with little to no work and have to pay no money. It could turn into a serious problem where music, movies, and entertainment become unprofitable due to so many people stealing.  Change is in the making if piracy isn’t somehow stopped.

                Just taking down websites like Sweden tried to do will not work; you can’t just get rid of pirating. People pirate because they want the content without having to pay. Some of them I don’t blame to be honest, cable can cost hundreds of dollars a month just to watch a few TV shows with a bunch of commercials, and it’s ridiculous. Things like Netflix, Cracked, Spotify, and Hulu have changed that, low prices with a lot of content make viewers and the general public happy. It gives people a reason to quit pirating because they can get a lot better quality content with little fees. People need to realize though that pirating isn’t ok, it’s stealing, people deserve the money and the respect for their hard work and that can all be taken away by downloading it for free.

                

                Chaos of Ferguson

Ferguson Missouri and racism in general is a very touchy subject today in America. Everything about racism in today’s society is so controversial and instead of fighting about if we are doing it or not, we need to just stop judging people for the color of their skin. Not generalizing, although sounding great, probably will never happen because it has never happened before in history and it won’t happen just because of the way people function, we make assumptions that often shouldn’t be made, we must try our best to stop.

                So instead of offending people or making accusations at certain people, let’s talk more about how Ferguson was handled as a country. Ferguson is a situation that if controlled better, wouldn’t have turned into total chaos. I’m all for protest, protest is a very good thing and it makes for a better country and world but the police force, the “peaceful” protestors, and of course the media elevated everything to a new level.

                It just takes a few people to ruin a party. What I feel like was a good idea at first, protest for something the people of Ferguson believe took a sharp turn for the worse when looting, violence, and other nasty things broke out around the town. Protestors stopped caring about Michael Brown and the situations surrounding that and started only caring about how to become a nightmare for the police and because of that, looting and harsh reactions from the police occurred. Protestors stopped protesting and just decide hey, let’s destroy this city’s reputation and go crazy on the police because we can, its kind of sad really that the city will forever be slandered because of this incident.

                Police didn’t help the cause either. Pointing semi-automatic weapons at unarmed civilians really doesn’t make any sense and the amount of force the police used to try and stop these protestors is a bit ridiculous. It’s odd that police are even allowed to do these things, pointing a gun at someone is a huge no-no unless you actually want to kill the thing you are pointing at and it really gives a bad persona for police forces around the country. Keeping back a few hundred protestors with such heavy weaponry causes a much larger controversy and the St. Louis police really shouldn’t have tried to be such a force. 

The Media

                The media, everyone always bags on them for over exaggerating, lying, and keeping the public from information just to promote business. Ferguson shows how powerful and influential the media can be. Showing reports and accounts of violence every 5 minutes on major new sources really causes a sense of worry for the general public. What started as a small protest in a suburb of St. Louis turned into a nationwide head line that everyone was talking about. It really blew everything out a proportion and fueled even more violence and rage into the public and Ferguson, Missouri.

                It’s scary how much our society is affected by the media. Television, newspapers, magazines, and most importantly the internet are so interconnected into our lives, everything thing we know about the world, we get from the media.   We want to know what’s going on in the world, all the bad things, the joyful things, the scary things and the fantasizing things. The media provides such an easy way to get this information but by allowing them to be our source of news, they can control what we know and what we think. Information can be manipulated, changed, and altered to the media wills, news as we know it could be totally different. Maybe I sound like some extremist who think that the government is full of lizards from another galaxy but the media can really hurt our world, a lot. Information is so valuable in today’s society because if you have the information, you have the power and the people of this world in your hands.

                Along with changing our information, our idea and our beliefs can be heavily influenced by the media. TV, magazines, and others try to be as charismatic and nice to change peoples beliefs. Talk shows and other shows where people express their opinions are examples of where your ideas of life can be changed by a simple TV show.

                Although I like everyone else love to hate on the arrogant and selfish media, technology and news has become such a plus for society. We know what’s going on thousands of miles away, we can figure out how to help, we can communicate with people in the blink of an eye. Communication as a whole has accelerated so quickly and news can travel in a matter of seconds across the world. Globalization has made us closer as a planet, our national and regional identities have started to fade and now we come together as a globe. Wars have come to a major halt, although there is still violence, our world has become so much more peaceful and we can now focus to create a better earth, all thanks to the darn media. 

For Mother Russia

                Russia is really losing it when it comes to respect around the world. Vladimir Putin can be seen everywhere being the butt of jokes and getting no respect. He is acting like a baby and maybe I’m just biased towards the freedom of the USA but Vladimir’s lack of strong leadership and not being able to just grow up could cost some serious problems for his people and his country.

                The fallen giant has now starting to take the stage again, the Winter Olympics could have been a major boost for Russia, bringing publicity and money to the mother nation. But that never happened because of how terrible the games were prepared and how they were set up. Along with a major failure of the games, Crimea and maybe the annexation of Ukraine is something that has been in the news quite often lately. Because of all the actions Russia has taken, along with terrible diplomacy displayed by Mr. Putin, the whole world is turning against Russia and they won’t survive long without the world’s support.

                Vladimir Putin probably realizes this but is taking no action to help the cause. His country’s economy is crippling with inflation and a stagnate trade. Sanctions from western countries has caused this poor economy along with oil companies in the middle east reducing oil prices so Russian oil companies can’t compete.  By putting themselves in a terrible economic position where no one wants to help them (not even China, their closest ally) the Russian people in trouble. I get so mad that an arrogant leader who thinks he’s hot stuff and just destroy people’s lives, a lot of people’s lives.

                Although an easy solution isn’t just going to happen, I feel that if Mr. Putin would quit trying to get the gang (U.S.S.R/ Satellite countries) back together and would use some actually diplomacy with other counties, maybe, just maybe, the  world might start to like them again. They wouldn’t be the big bad Russia anymore that we see on TV, they could be the loving Russians who are always drinking vodka. Once they become the drunk lovers of the north, they can work on that terrible economy and infrastructure which is something in desperate need of attention. I really don’t want to see Russia’s great army being shown to the world.

GMOs

                They have been debating GMOs (genetically modified organisms) for a long time; it is one of the most controversial subjects in science. Changing the makeup and DNA of an organism to make them different is now a routine thing in science. Most of the foods we see in the grocery store are these modified organisms. They are all classified as these mutants, their genetic code or makeup is changed to give those better characteristics or traits that make them more than the rest of the farming environment.

There is a major controversy over whether or not these genetically modified organisms help or hurt humanity. They have helped us by creating so much more food.  Millions of people are eating today instead of starving because of these discoveries and scientifically modified and advanced crops. Each crop can yield so much more along with farming being much less work and hassle, creating cheaper and easier food supplies. Crops also can be modified to create healthier foods, resistance to pests, diseases, and pollution make produce much better compared to organic foods. You can read more about genetically modified organisms here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetically_modified_organism).

                GMO’s have been fought over since they were first being used in the 1970’s. People argue that genetically modified foods could have side-effects that effect out health. While most, if not all, studies have shown no correlation or side effects of genetic modification, there are still concerns surrounding these foods.  Changing an organism’s DNA is dangerous because we may not know what we are doing when we change an organism’s genetic code. Like I have said in past posts, we do know a lot about our world but we far from know all of it. Strict regulations also must be taken to protect our farms and our supply of food. The government has to set strict rules to limit companies from either completely taking over the world’s food or completely destroying it with GMO’s. Gigantic farms and companies cannot run the food of the world; small farms and nice people need to be in charge of the food of the world. There might not be any scientific evidence that tells us that eating organically makes us healthier, but we should still be worried about the threat genetically modified organisms possess.

                I personally believe the advantages out weight the disadvantages, almost a billion people are fed because of genetically modified crops. Problems could arise though but based on current evidence and science, I think that we should eat and be thankful for these mutants.   

Oil and water

                Oil and water do not mix well. It’s nearly impossible to separate them and they don’t blend at all. Oil is not good for the environment; it kills animals, makes them extremely dirty, and can totally wipe out a species. Oil is important to the world and economy though, so major ecosystems are risked to get more oil through deep-sea drilling.

                The BP oil spill is still the major example of this. In 2010, the worst oil spill in history happened off the coast of Louisiana in the Gulf. Oil gushed into the Gulf after a giant explosion of a deep sea oil rig. Read more here (http://ocean.si.edu/gulf-oil-spill). The animals and Louisiana’s oceanic habitat took a major hit from the spill.  Turtles, fish, geese, and other animals that rely on water for their habitats were devastated.  Their water turned into oily grossness and many smaller organisms were killed, completely messing up the food chain. We really don’t hear much about the oil spill anymore; BP mostly covered it all up even though they are extremely less credible now.  Just because we don’t hear about it anymore doesn’t mean everything is better.

                Completely messing up an ecosystem like that changed that area forever. There is still oil in the gulf, although there isn't much anymore, it’s still enough to have an effect on the state of the organisms that call the gulf home. Populations of fish, birds, turtles, and others are at an all-time low due to the spill. Read more here (http://www.nwf.org/what-we-do/protect-habitat/gulf-restoration/oil-spill/effects-on-wildlife.aspx). Generations were killed off causing total chaos in the food pyramid. Eggs were polluted, animals were lost without their prey because population dropped, and some many other consequences occurred and are still occurring 4 years after the spill.  

                Oil runs our modern economy. It’s known as black gold and is becoming far more valuable and important due to a higher demand and a lower supply.  Deep sea oil is prevalent because of how cheap and big the drilling area can be. Land drilling costs more because of the cost to buy land and drill while deep sea drilling is cheaper to get than land, but it is hard to get to. Deep sea drilling isn’t absolutely essential for our modern world. With advancing technology of other energy sources, we might see the dependence on oil become less and less.  That is a good thing because one disaster from these oil rigs can cause the whole environment around it to go black. 

Ebola

                You know about it Ebola if you haven’t been living under a rock for the past month.  It is a Bacterium that is having a serious outbreak in western Africa and now it is causing a major concern for, not only the African countries, but everyone else around the world. It’s a huge conversation starter.  When someone coughs you always hear someone say “It’s Ebola”. It interests me that although it has killed a few thousand in Africa and a few foreigners, it gets so much more publicity than something like Malaria or Tuberculosis which kills so many more people every year, especially in Africa.

                We can all thank video games, Hollywood, and some good traits for pandemics for causing this giant popularity and scare of the disease. Pandemic movies and video games have imprinted in our minds the ability that one super bug has, which is wiping out humanity. Although pandemics have been overhyped, they are still something to be prepared for. Any microorganism that is very good at spreading and killing can kill us all off just like that. The United States government and hospitals has really taken some heat lately for how it’s controlled the very minimum Ebola outbreak here at home. The way everything was handled made it seem like we really aren’t ready if something threatening our country was spreading in the US. There were no major procedures or rules set in place to help quarantine the patients, most hospitals don’t have the equipment to take care of an epidemic.  It is scary how unprepared we were, patients and people who have the disease could walk around town and were not quarantined for a long period of time. We need to step up our control of diseases like this, it is really important and if we aren’t ready for a super bug, bad things could happen.

                There are many other illnesses and diseases that cause major problems and kill a lot more people. Ebola is just an example of a disease that can turn into a pandemic if we aren’t careful. Steps must be taken to eliminate diseases like this before the spiral out of control and become a threat to humankind. 

Antibiotics

                Penicillin was one of the greatest inventions in history; it saved hundreds of millions of people. Today penicillin is absolutely worthless when treating bacterial infections and diseases. Doctors sometimes use it for its placebo effect on patients who “really need antibiotics”. Nature evolves with the situations given to it and bacteria can do this at a rapid pace. They can evolve so rapidly they might be catching up with us humans, the fastest evolving beings in this world.

                Bacteria are catching up with technology. We keep creating new antibiotics but over time the bacteria will gain a resistance and the medicine will be useless. As humans, we evolve unbelievably quickly which has made us incredibly successful but if bacteria are faster and become one step ahead of us, we are toast and they flourish in a world of globalization and humans.  Hundreds of antibiotics have been created and treated patients until they are unusable. Sooner or later if we aren’t careful, we will run out of treatment and bacteria can spread rampantly across the world.  

                Doctors are now much more careful when handing out antibiotics. People need to realize that a cough is not a good reason to go get antibiotics; we cannot over use them to the ground. By being cautious, bacteria can hopefully take longer to evolve and become resistant. Handing out antibiotics all willy-nilly can lead to some serious consequences. Research for new ways of killing bacteria is also becoming a major priority as the super bacteria scare is increasing. This week, scientists are using lipids and membranes to essentially bait bacteria into getting killed by our immune system. You can read more here (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/11/141102160004.htm). I think this research is absolutely essential.   Biased on how fast bacteria are evolving, we are quickly running out of antibiotics to kill this nemesis. If we run out of antibiotics with no other treatment, sickness and infections will become untreatable leading to millions of deaths. Funding and focusing on research of new methods will keep humanity from being destroyed by the microbes that surround us.  We don’t want any zombie apocalypses or pandemic attacks. If the popular game, Pandemic ever happens where we run out of antibiotics, get a ticket on the next ferry to Madagascar before it’s too late.  

Isolation

                                In honor of Halloween weekend, we will talk about vampires, deer vampires, with fangs. The musk deer is an odd species; it’s a deer with fangs that look like Dracula. Although they have giant fangs, they are still herbivores and only eat plants and leaves. These creatures are mostly found in eastern Asia but some more endangered species are found in Pakistan and Afghanistan, located in the foresty highlands of the Himalayas.  Most species of these fanged deer have been hunted to extinction for the musk gland they possess. It is one of the rarest and expensive animal parts in the world. The gland is used to make perfumes and to give things that “musky” smell. They can be sold in some places for 20,000 USD per pound. Read more here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musk_deer).

                Humans are spread all over the world, we can be found everywhere. We think we know everything about nature and what’s going on around us. Some places in the world are completely unknown to us. Thick jungles, deep ravines and caves, and deserts are isolated from humans; the conditions are usually too rough for us.  A lot of undiscovered species can be found in these areas, especially jungles where the diversity is gigantic. We are spread all over the world and a lot of it we have discovered and learn about, but we aren’t everywhere and we as humans still have a lot to learn.

                This week, after thought to be extinct, the musk deer makes an appearance in Kashmir after sixty years of being lost. It’s odd that a species, with such a distinct feature of giant fangs hasn’t been seen in 60 years. This is also weird because Kashmir, the area where these musk deer were found after 60 years is not a desolate area. Although it is at a high elevator, it is not completely barren and it is striking to me that 60 years go by without a human sighting of an animal. It’s not like they decided to disappear from earth for a while then come back. There must be some secret society of these deer were no humans can find them. They are hiding, making sure we don’t take their beautiful and musty smelling glands. 

DNA

                Deoxyribonucleic acid or DNA is important.  DNA is a long but extremely thin strain of nucleic acids and other compounds. You can find about five feet of DNA stuffed into every single cell in your body.  Every bit of code that makes you who you are is found in every cell, coiled up into chromosomes, ready for telling our cells what proteins to make. It’s mind boggling to me that everything we are, every thought, every part of our body comes from the coding of DNA’s nucleic acids, Adenine, Guanine, Cytosine, and Thymine.

                This week, scientists figured out a little bit more about DNA. We still don’t know everything though and all this information can literally change in a flash. Studies suggest only 8.2 percent of our DNA is actually used to make proteins which is the main way our bodies are run. Only 1 percent is actually used to create proteins, the other 7 percent are just telling the cell when to start and stop coding. Read more here (http://www.sci-news.com/genetics/science-only-8-2-human-dna-functional-02083.html). Scientists and writers of this article suggest that the rest of the DNA has no use, it doesn’t help at all, and that it is non-functional. Why would we have so much DNA that doesn’t have a use? Why is it there? Do we even need it? It doesn’t seem right that 92 percent of our DNA is just sitting there in our cells doing nothing. Nature is extremely efficient, whatever you believe in, our bodies and all of biology works like a Swiss watch, every little gear and part works perfectly to run smoothly. Species die out and go extinct if they aren’t functioning the way nature wants them to.  In our bodies and make up…. Somehow or someway that other part of our DNA is used, we don’t know it yet but ever part of us is important. The appendix is thought to be useless, but scientists keep studying and are starting to find possible purpose for what they thought was a waste of space. Our bodies and evolution did not create something to be absolutely useless; everything we use has some purpose.

 We definitely do not know everything; everything we do know is minuscule compared to what we have to learn. Our knowledge is still expanding; 50 years ago we had no idea about so many processes and things our body does. There are so many unknowns in our world and in science. We cannot just push stuff off we aren’t certain about as being useless, we just need to keep looking, there is a reason for everything in this world, nothing is useless. Looking through the other ninety two percent will be hard, it is extremely difficult to find patterns with just four codes and billions and billions of digits long.  

The Vegan Diet

                Vegans and vegetarians are always saying how their diets are so much healthier and more considerate of nature. They’re right; a diet of fruits, vegetables, and some carbs consists of so much less fats and things we don’t need that are in meat and animal products. Although meat contains vital proteins we need, there are other protein options out there to obtain these proteins. Animals also take up a lot of space. Herding and keeping animals take up so many resources, acres and acres of land are needed to keep most animals for produce. So much food like corn and soy beans are used for feed to keep the animals all fat and ripe. We find that most of the crops we produce in Iowa aren’t used for human consumption but for animal feed for cows, pigs, and other farm animals. Corn for example is rarely used for humans to eat; sweet corn is only sold locally and in very small amounts.

                Scientific studies keep proving this theory to be true. This week, studies on reptiles found that groups that are mainly vegetarian tend to live longer lives than if they were meat eaters. More here (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/10/141023091813.htm). Meat eaters in reptiles are more prone to earlier sexual activity and more sexual activity causing their lives to shorten.  Evidence keeps rolling in showing the advantages to eating vegetarian. Most people love their meat products though.  A big juicy New York strip or some flavorful chicken wings are delicious to people and would be hard to live without. Like every other food out there though, moderation is key to eating healthy.

                Meat shouldn’t been counted out. Protein is packed into meat and helps muscle grow and gain strength. If found and cooked right, some meats are quite healthy without any fats. All meat diets can be found to make us stronger and more lean. Bodybuilders need meat for the large amounts of proteins contained in it. Fish is also something that is extremely important to human health.  Vital vitamins and nutrients without any fat make fish a golden food. Fish contain all the healthy and positive things meat has without fats or even a large environmental footprint. It has some Meat compared to some other healthy vegan foods can be a little unhealthy, but with moderation and knowledge of what you are eating, eating some meat can make us healthier and stronger.

Jaws

                Sharks have been known to be very dangerous creatures. They eat surfer’s legs, go on massive rampages, and are the monsters of the big blue. Based on the millions of movies made about them, and weeks of shows about them, we find that sharks are portrayed as the scariest and most dangerous animal on earth.

                This is far from true; about 10-20 fatal injuries are caused by sharks each year. That is less that vending machine incidents and air fresher incidents. Sharks are interpreted as something you have to be careful of when at the beach.  They are the menace lurking in the waters waiting for you to come and take a swim. There are so many other things in the ocean to be afraid of like rip currents, jellyfish, drowning.  All are much more deadly than the star of Jaws. Discovery Channel is a huge culprit of perpetuating fear and imprinting it on sharks. Shark Week has many programs twenty four seven for a week that show the rush and thrill of fighting these animals and working and being around them. Sharknado, a humorous movie with terrible acting and a ridiculous plot, also gave the sharks an image that they are extremely dangerous creatures when really the monster is the ocean. Thousands of people die every year from just being stupid out in the ocean, it’s a dangerous place. Not because a shark is hunting you down like everyone fears but the danger of drowning or being tangled up with something is much more common than a shark.

                Sharks should be afraid of humans, not vise-versa. We kill so many more annually for their fins, teeth, meat and other things that are totally unneeded just to kill a shark. Shark Fin soup is something common in eastern countries indulge in.   And Shark Week always seems to increase the demand for shark meat.  Maybe the reason shark attacks seem so scary and are talked about so much is because there really is not an example of any other animal that attacks humans and treats us like food.  We think that it is our job to hunt and catch animals as food not the other way around.     

The Last of Us

                Thanks to humans and our ways of destroying the beautiful world we live in, many species are becoming extinct at a wild rate. I have talked about this in a lot of other posts like save the polar bears and Ivory were we humans are affecting and killing off species and animals. We have been destroying habitats and turning many species towards extinction.

                Some species we have lost are truly amazing and were heartbreaking to lose. The Tasmanian Tiger is a prime example. As it was hunted on its remote island, it vanished almost 100 years ago. These animals where amazing and we must work to preserve some cool species like the Tasmanian tiger (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thylacine) from being wiped off the face of the earth. I would have loved to have seen these animals today but without proper care and support when needed, these creatures died out and there is no way to bring them back.

                Pandas are an example of a species that was extremely endangered and has now be restored through zoos and other places of care where humans look after the animals. It is a way to preserve these few animals we have left. Research, preservation and cute animal videos are some examples of the things these havens can give to humans. Pandas are now slowly increasing their numbers in safety with video cameras watching their every movement, making sure they are safe and cute.

                This week, one of the last few Northern White Rhinos has died. He had a quite short life for a Rhino and researchers aren’t sure why. There is now only 1 male left in this dying species. Things like this cannot happen, when the balance of a species is at stake, extreme measures must be taken to protect and preserve something we almost destroyed through hunting and poaching.  Nurturing and caring for these few animals are like a helping your sons or daughters get back on their feet. You have got to give them some motivation and protection until they finally become able to sustain themselves on their own. Let these majestic rhinos have some peace and reproduce until they have enough numbers and strength to go back out into the wild as they were before. Today the San Diego Zoo is taking care of the last hope for this spices, a pair of 2 of the 6 remaining rhino alive and are the new hope for these nearly extinct rhinos. Although the progress will be extremely slow, rhinos could regroup and become the species they once were without the hunting of their beautiful horns and environmental changes. Summery here (http://www.sciencedaily.com/videos/8071a6f99aa43614e224a4760a7eab66.htm) 

Safari Adventure

                A real African safari has to be one of the most surreal experiences out there. Seeing the most beautiful animals on earth be free in the wild is definitely on my bucket list. The lions, giraffes, and rhinos would be an amazing sight. The only thing stopping a lion from pouncing on you or an elephant from sitting on you is their laziness, and a jeep with no windows. The rush of being able to see these animals in the wild up close must feel great.

                Safaris could be harming our environment though. Just having a giant jeep follow you around all day could really hurt your hunting. Although wildlife has somewhat adapted to humans taking selfies with them, making movies out of them, and staring at them with binoculars, the wildlife still has to be effected by so much human presences. Regulations should be set and more strict in countries with these types of safaris. We cannot just let guides disturb these animals’ habitats and ways of living. Some animals are really being hurt read more here (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/safariandwildlifeholidays/7220102/Safari-Are-too-many-tourists-killing-Africas-wildlife.html).

                Hard fines and expenses have been placed on companies who do safaris though. The government is trying to help keep their wildlife safe, to a certain extent. Harder actions do need to be taken though to keep these beautiful animals the way they are. I am all for safaris, they sound like an absolute blast, but this tourist attraction should not be hurting animals. I am fine with having my trip to Africa being a little more lack-luster because I can’t get right next to the lion pack while they are hunting.

                

The Reactions

                Life is an amazing thing. With the knowledge we have, we assume life is extremely rare. The perfect conditions over billions of years are what led us from tiny single celled organisms to the amazing diversity that is our animal kingdom and our small world of unique microorganisms. The odds of life occurring elsewhere seem impossible with so many chemical reactions and situations that had to occur in perfect order for life to form.

                The thing that makes life run is the microscopic world.  Every mechanism and decision we have is biased on chemical reactions and microorganisms. This month, scientist found that bacteria in our stomach can signal and control our brain to get what they want. They control our moods, our hunger patterns, and our cravings. Read more here (http://universityofcalifornia.edu/news/do-gut-bacteria-rule-our-minds).  These tiny bacteria do everything they can to make us hate ourselves, whether it’s those donuts for breakfast or that entire bag of chips that you’re eating when you said you would have “just one”.  Getting us all fattened up and chubby is what these bacteria and microbes desire.  It’s amazing how such tiny microbes can have such a “huge” (pun-intended) effect on the person as a whole.

                From another perspective the world around us just seems so gigantic when you look at the stars, the galaxy and the universe. You feel like just a tiny speck when it comes to the world around you. But you should feel special.  We, the animals of the world are made up of millions of cells and mini ecosystems which in turn make us who we are. Some tiny microbes make us hungry, get us in a bad mood, it is not us, it is all controlled by small, nonexistent to the naked eye microbes and organisms.

                Another odd thing about us is that our consciousness, our image, our personality is probably made up of tiny reactions and microbes. Our “big” world is just a puppet of things going on at these microscopic levels. Our brain for example, based on current science, is made of neurons that are just electrocuted and sending signals throughout the brain. This is what makes us think.  It’s mindboggling to me that such a complicated thing as the mind and our thoughts are controlled by some ions shooting across a membrane. Our whole lives, everything we see and hear that is living is just controlled by some charged atoms.  It seems kind of shallow to me, like we haven’t gotten the whole story, which we probably haven’t.   I feel like something is missing and that our minds, consciousness and everyone else’s can’t just be made from an electrical charge. To me, it just defeats the purpose of life, if all we are is a bunch of chemical reactions. I want more to life than that. Why do we get emotional? Why do we have such strong feelings? Is it just giving us a better chance to survive and reproduce? I don’t want to just reproduce and die like everyone else. And although scientist are far from knowing everything, I still want to live with a purpose other than making little Adams and surviving to the best of my abilities. I want to express myself, share with others, and other cheesy things. Not just be another tool in the evolutionary and biological system, trying to keep our species the best and the fittest.     

The Key to the Prison

                Being trapped is one of the worst feelings a human can experience.  Our freedom and lives being taken and imprisoned is nothing short of torture. One of my personal worse fears is being trapped inside my own mind.  It’s something in this world that is not uncommon.  Alzheimer’s, comas, and strokes are just some of the things that can trap a person all alone in their own mind.

                This week, a scientific breakthrough was made for those who are trapped in their bodies. Doctors can now tell if a person in a vegetable state is conscious or not through their brain activity.  This is possible and you can read more here (http://sciencealert.com.au/news/20141710-26359.html).  

Hospitals do as much as they can to help these scary medical situations. Providing beds, vitamins and nutrients to keep them alive, and many other amenities to try and make the process as easy as humanly possible. They can’t do everything though.  Knowing what a makes a person comfortable and what they need when they can’t tell you makes accomplishing that goal hard, almost impossible. This is why I think being stuck in a situation where you can’t communicate, would be horrific. People sticking needles into me, bathing me, and monitoring me without asking me about it, must be the worst feeling ever.

This procedure cannot read a person’s mind. It cannot tell us what they want and need.  It can only tell us if they have some brain activity.  If they have some level of consciousness, they still cannot tell us what hurts. Being conscious would be so much worse being stuck in a situation like this. Hearing people might be great but not being able to communicate back to them must be torture. Doctors and families knowing the information of whether the patient is conscious when in a situation such as life support, etc., is extremely helpful in tough decisions. Knowing this information can make that decision of pulling the plug or not so much easier. Giving families more closure to such hard and difficult times is the most valuable thing about this. This breakthrough may not change anything, treatment wise, or even care-wise, but one thing that is for sure is that it will make this unbearable process a little bit easier.

The Kings

            Pollution and hunting has been a major problem over the last few decades. Garbage is multiplying as human population grows, chemicals disposal is not being regulated in so many regions throughout the world, and poaching/hunting is running rampant. Animals are suffering big time from their habitats and sources of food being depleted, hunted, and polluted by us.

            Big and majestic predators around the world are taking the largest punch from us. Without predators keeping populations at a healthy level, ecosystems could collapse easily, read more here. (http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/15/science/when-predators-vanish-so-does-the-ecosystem.html). High-level predators are not monsters, as the wise Mufasa from Lion King says, “Everything you see exists together in a delicate balance. As king, you need to understand that balance and respect all creatures, from the crawling ant to the leaping antelope.”

            We cannot treat high-level predators as dangerous and scary animals that must be destroyed. They may be able to rip a humans face off, but they are beautiful, majestic, and important to nature. Humans have that mentality that “just because something is dangerous means it should be killed”. This might have helped ten thousand years ago when we were trying not to get killed daily by wild beasts. But today, we killed off so many species and creatures that we don’t need to be worried about being eaten alive. With this wrong attitude towards dangerous predators causes hunting of them “just for the thrills” and poaching for their rare and “exotic” hides and resources. These animals aren’t prizes to show off to your friends and they are not signs that you are tougher than nature.  They are magnificent creatures that should not be killed by humans, especially if their population is endangered.

            Pollution also hurts the big predators of the world. Biological magnification (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biomagnification) is one way major predators are in a decline. Sharks, tuna, and bald eagles are examples of creatures that have taken hits from this phenomenon. We need to stop chemical pollution because even small amounts of bad chemicals can turn into serious problems for top-tiered carnivores due to Bio-magnification.

            Carnivores who are king of the land are the ones we make movies for, not the boring herbivores that roam the valley. Without these types of animals, our ecosystems will crash out of control and our children’s movies will become so boring.

Deep Dark

Our oceans are gigantic with 70% of the world being covered in water. There are so many species, ecosystems, and fish living out in the big blue.

            Although it takes up most of earth, we barely know anything about the vast, open oceans. The reefs close to home and land are being destroyed, and the vast open ocean is a mystery to us. As humans, we are losing our water-life, reefs are dying off at massive rates due to tourist, pollution, etc. and these reefs are home to the most amazing and colorful organisms in the world.

            We know more about the moon than we do about most areas of our oceans. Once you get far, far way from land, the ocean becomes like a desolate wasteland of nothing but seawater for 20,000 feet. No animals, no plants, just ocean, it sounds like a nightmare to me. A few years ago, I went snorkeling in the ocean off the coast of Belize (a small Central American country on the gulf side) and the reefs and fish were beautiful. It was amazing that everywhere you looked, a different colored fish, or piece of coral would appear. Sometimes fish would just surround you.  They were interested and curious about you.  One thing that always intrigued me about that trip was that although you were basically in paradise, a little ways out beyond the reef was the Drop Off. The Drop Off is not like what you see in Finding Nemo.  Its not just a few feet drop into the club where all the dangerous and less attractive fish live.  It is an abyss. The heaven turns into blackness; there is no life, no light, nothing. It just drops straight off into miles and miles of nothingness. It’s really creepy and off-putting.  Plus once you get low enough you run into these (http://list25.com/25-most-terrifying-deep-sea-creatures/) guardians of hell, like the one from Finding Nemo.

            I am glad we don’t explore the open ocean that much. It seems like more of a waste of time to explore that much space, when there really isn’t much their but a few squids. It’s creepy, desolate, and sounds like the last place I want to be. I really don’t want to know what is going on out there in the deep and mysterious land of blue. The moon or Mars sounds like a much cooler place to explore. Hopefully, there aren’t any demons roaming mars like there are roaming the deep waters, miles below our world.

Save the Polar Bears?

            Everyone’s heard of the crisis that is occurring to our albino bears.  Humans are causing the earth to warm up due to greenhouse gases and damaging the ozone layer. Read more about here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ozone_layer, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming ). So much attention has been raised about stopping this environmental crisis. Millions of people have rallied and protested oil companies, government spending, and other things that could really destroy our environment. Problems really are starting to arise because of global warming. Ice caps are at an all time low and our overall average temperature is rising slowly. It could be us humans or it could just be earth going through cycles of hot and cold. No matter what the cause of these events is, slowing down the use of fossil fuels will save humans a lot of hassle in the long run.

The world is starting to now respond to this threat against our earth. The use of fossil fuels is starting to decline.  Electrical cars and reusable energy are reasons to look forward to a future where we no longer hurt our planet and its inhabitants. Our Coca-Cola bears might have hope yet with advancing technology and raised awareness of our environment.

            Understanding all of this I still believe we should not as a country, rush to go green. Fossil fuels are still extremely efficient and have low cost (for now). We cannot rush into green energy or we will use up too much of our time and resources to the green project and not see the big picture. Technology and innovation for better and more efficient clean energy should be funded and researched which we see our world doing. Tesla, an electrical car company, is creating efficient, clean, and cheap cars that could soon leave dirty gas powered cars in the dust.

            Wind energy for example here in Iowa is making huge gains. By filling cornfields with endless amounts of wind turbines, clean energy is produced and polar bears are not losing their little ice homes. Solar energy is filling the desert.  Slowly but surely, it’s becoming a more and more efficient method to create clean energy. Extremely efficient ways of using our energy will also help the cause of creating a world without harmful energy sources.

            The polar bears should be smiling; within the next decade we could see fossil fuels becoming the past and new clean energy methods taking their place. Hopefully, if we can stop damaging our atmosphere with greenhouse gases, our planet then should drop back down to a normal average temperature. The ice caps will multiply and the artic ocean will freeze, leaving the bears to party again with a glass of Coke and a home full of ice.

            

Zoos

            Seeing all those animals, the camels, the lions and the geckos just gets me ready for an adventure to see more of these beautiful animals in the wild. Zoos are amazing, it is the only place to see the world of animals and learn about them without paying thousands of dollars traveling all over the world. The best field trips as a kid were going to the zoo, to see all the magnificent animals.

            Zoos have always been the place to take the kids. It is a great place to go. You learn about animals and biology while having fun looking at big cats, laughing dogs (hyenas), rhinos and insects. Even as an adult, sometimes you might be in the mood to go see the giraffes or something like that. You may get creepy looks from parents, but a protective moms feeling does nothing to keep you from riding that camel by yourself. Children are just an excuse to go to the zoo.

            Over the years, zoos have improved drastically. They have gone from tiny little concrete cages for animals to giant habitat-filled enclosures.  These ultra-deluxe enclosures are safe havens for the creatures. Food, medicine, etc. all being provided for and all the animals have to do is sit there and look good. Most people don’t like the concept of zoos. It does make sense to not like them with the animals locked up and trapped without the freedom they deserve. If humans were stuck in some enclosure, we would go insane within a week, bored out of our minds. Other animals I think are different, freedom is a term that varies based on whom you ask. Freedom for one person could be totally different to another. Most creatures on earth are not like us when it comes to being caged up.  Most creatures would be super happy just to have a little bit of space, food, and someone to talk too. While if we were without our freedom and breathing space, caged up in an “enclosure”, we change. Shawshank Redemption shows this unbelievably well. It shows that after being locked up, people are not what they used to be when they get out, even with people around to talk to, being locked up with no rights hurts people. Brooks, a character from the film was locked up most his life with no freedom, he could not take the pressure and ended his life. Animals aren’t like us, it does not hurt them, but I can’t prove that.

Masked Thief

                They lurk in the dark, hide in the shadows waiting for the right time to strike.  They are Raccoons - the unbelievable and annoyingly witty animals that survive in the real world, scavenging and stealing our food, causing chaos in your local suburban area.  ‘Coons have magic abilities making human traps and obstacles no problem for these masked thieves, they are untrapable and cannot be seen unless wanting too. They move in the dark, only coming out when the sun has gone down and the humans have long been asleep, leaving the opportunity to wreak havoc on suburbia.

                Raccoon's dominate the United States. They can be found in every state (excluding Alaska) terrorizing homeowners and their precious gardens and garbage cans. Raccoons are an iconic backyard occurrence in this country.  Every discussion at the monthly neighborhood meeting is how the coons’ destroyed the house or how they ate the cat. The hero and king of the wild frontier, Davy Crockett made coons’ famous by sporting the Raccoon hunter hat look, turning raccoon hats into a giant craze with every cool kid having one or wanting one.

                How have they had so much success in the world of humans, you ask?  Smarts is the key to their success. They adapt and learn different environments at an extremely fast pace, along with teaching their young all of their tips of annoying a human. They learn traps, doors, locks, and all the things you use to try and stop them.  They only get smarter and stronger. Their wits are like no other animal making them able to thrive so easily in the harsh environment we humans have created. They are also not very picky. Omnivores are what it is called when an animal eats vegetation and meat, but raccoons take it a step further by eating everything. The trash, the hamster, or anything else that it can fit in its garbage disposal of a mouth will be eaten if it’s hungry enough. 

                In conclusion, humans can’t stand raccoons because they finally found an animal that can outsmart and outwit them. We humans like to keep our pride, but those thieves keep stealing it, along with our garbage.

                

Bullet Ants

            Pain, although no one really likes it, it is extremely important in keeping us alive and keeping us from having bruises and cuts all over the place. Pain lets us know what parts of our body our injured along with keeping us away from things that hurt us. It may seem like it would be pretty awesome to not feel pain, but without it, sores, broken bones, etc would affect our body and we wouldn't even know about it. Pain is what keeps us alive, without it, we could kill ourselves without knowing it in a few days. Although it’s extremely important to us, pain in bucket-loads can make us immobile and lose track of everything but pain. Bullet Ants use pain to keep predators away.

             Bullet ants live in Rain forest low land areas such as Nicaragua, Honduras, and Paraguay. They’re mostly found beneath trees, gathering food for the hive and protecting the queen. As long as you don’t bother them, trust me you don’t want to, they won’t bother you. If you are completely absent-minded and decided hey, YOLO, I’m going annoy these ants, then prepare your body for the worst pain in the world. This is not an understatement either.  Based on the Schmidt sting pain index, the Bullet Ant sting is the most painful in the world, above even the tarantula hawk wasp. The sting is not deadly but it can cause paralysis and shaking for a few days following the sting.  Along with it being the worst pain in the world, it doesn't stop. Some people have experienced pain lasting up to a full day.  Victims have described it as “Waves of excruciating pain” or it feels like getting shot, which is why it’s called the bullet ant. Here is an example of some of the pain and torture of the sting (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=it0V7xv9qu0).

           

What makes it so much more painful than other stings is the way it just messes with your entire central nervous system. Sodium ion channels get blocked, causing our body just to go on full panic mode and send tons of pain signals to the brain, making the fury and torture that bullet ants use to defend themselves.

            Fun Fact: Today, members of the manly and kind of insane Satere-Mawe tribe like to use this pain to prove how tough they are. They put on the gloves of death (stingers inside a pouch) just to feel the worst feeling in the world. Sounds like a fun and entertaining initiation for a Frat house.  

Dart-Frogs

            They jump around, some being extremely dangerous and all have blindingly vibrant pigments in their skin. Poison Dart Frogs are tiny little frogs with the smallest being the size of a fingernail and largest about two inches long.  They are mostly found in Latin and South American jungles. Each different species of poison dart frog has its own vivid coloration, from midnight blue to bright yellow and everything in between.

            This week a new species of poison dart frog was found in Panama. It is tiny, really super tiny at about 12mm long. This is about the size of a nickel.  They also have bright electric orange skin. The poison of this creature is still being tested for its toxicity level in its venom due to the frog just being discovered. These creatures are remarkable and beyond attractive with their jet-black eyes and neon orange colored skin.

            The biology behind these types of frogs is complicated and interesting.  Poison on their skin is not lethal, but it can still pack a serious punch if you decide to prey on and swallow a poisonous dart frog. Terrible taste and/or a gut-wrenching stomachache are side effects of eating a Poison Dart Frogs skin. Sometimes though, the poison in poison dart frogs can be used for medicinal purposes. Painkillers are usually made from the same chemicals that are found in these frogs poison. The color of their skin also affects the way these tiny frogs can survive such a scary jungle. When an animal eats a PDF and survives these nasty side effects it will learn and interprets that the frog with a radiant colored skin should not be eaten. This is why frogs have such bright colored skin such as bright yellow or deep crimson red; animals learn to avoid these vivid pigments so they don’t end up sick.  Over time conditioning occurs and these frogs now have little to no predators.

Fun fact: Poison Dart Frogs get their cool name from actually being used to make darts poisonous. Natives extract the frog’s poison and put them onto darts used in blow-dart guns.  The poison usually gives excruciating pain to the victim and the darts can be only semi-dangerous. So Indian Jones is not going die if some Indian with a blow-dark gun hits him. 

Ivory

            Elephants are amazing creatures. They roam Africa acting like a boss with their sharp and masculine tusks weighing in around 5 tons. They are heading into extreme endangerment though due to poaching and this is not just the African elephant. Elephants have very large tusks, which are ivory.  Ivory is derived from the teeth and tusks of animals. Elephant’s tusks have some of the largest amounts of ivory making them worth tremendous amounts of money.  They are in high demand for making all kinds of art in Eastern societies and are very valuable because of how rare it is to find them due to it being illegal to obtain and elephants are dieing at outrageous rates.

            Ivory has been used for thousands of years as a luxury material. It is used mainly for sculpting figurines and other novelty things. Gigantic and intricate sculptures could be made with this material due to the toughness yet ease of carving a piece of ivory. Ivory from tusks has also been used to make dominoes, dagger and sword hilts, and smoking pipes. Ivory used to be quite a bit more abundant until about the mid 1900’s when animals producing this sought after resource became endangered.  Today we only see ivory used in jewelry and other types of small objects. Ivory smuggling and harvesting is illegal in most countries around the world making it expensive, hard to find, and morally and legally wrong to have possession of it.

            Poachers are evil people killing endangered and helpless animals just to make quick cash. They are killing off multiply species other than elephants such as rhinos, lions, and other beautiful animals by not only hunting them until extinction, they are destroying animal habitats and causing mass deforestation. Fish and birds also are being hunted for eggs, oils, and other materials. Parrots, Bald Eagles, and rare fish are examples of species that are under serious watch and still need major protection from poachers.  A lot of animals are at risk with over-hunting and action needs to take place. The poaches are the real animals in these situations, some poachers are so desperate to make money, they have been fending off and shooting rangers so they don’t have to be punished for the horrid things they've done to our world.

            Luckily, countries are now taking action to stop these heinous crimes. Smuggling is being cracked down on in most African countries, plus imports are being searched as well in most Eastern Asian countries where the ivory craze is the greatest. Rangers and hunters who track poachers are also increasing in numbers and are become better and better at their jobs at stopping poachers. Hunting poachers is becoming easier and easier with country’s military supply of highly advanced equipment. Although poaching is still destroying our nature habitats, countries are taking steps in the right direction in preserving the animal kingdom.

Dreadnaughts

            Dinosaurs dominated the earth for hundreds of years, until meteor strikes, volcanic eruptions, and Mayan calendars killed them all off. Kind of sad really that such a cool group of animals ceased to exist, I always wanted a velociraptor as a pet. Dinosaurs are amazing, everyone knows that, they are giant reptile dragons that roamed the world, being all-around awesome creatures. T-Rexes, Pterodactyls, and 50-ton monsters are some of examples of the king of the reptiles, the great ones that dominated our pre-historic world with their strength and power.

            This last week, Archaeologist digging around for more fossils discovered and identified gigantic bones belonging to the mighty and not so majestic Dreadnaught. These creatures are unbelievable. First off, they’re name sounds like some cool Power Ranger super-villain. “Dreadnaught, destroyer of worlds” just fits perfectly. The tank of a creature was actually named after the largest battleship of its time, Dreadnaught (fears nothing).

           

            The Dreadnaughts fear nothing due to their mind-boggling size. Classified now as the largest land animal without doubt. More than seventy percent of its fossils have been recovered, meaning this species shows a prime example/structure to other creatures like it or even bigger than it (Brachiosaurs, Argentinosaurus, etc). No matter if it’s the biggest or not, these beasts weighed 60 tons!  That’s more than a Boeing 373.  Also it is about 20 tons heavier than the second largest animal right now, the Futalognkosaurus. Dreadnaughts are herbivores as well, which is amazing considering they gained all that weight by eating salad. Like others of its kind, Dreadnaughts must eat constantly 24/7 because they are so dang huge, luckily they have very long necks to reach for every last bit of food.  This dinosaur is almost too large for it’s own good.  If it fell over it would actually crush itself from its own weight.

            Every boy wants a dinosaur, they got cool T-Rexes on their lunchboxes, clothing, backpacks, and watches to show it. Dreadnaughts will be the next big thing in a little kid’s world because of the Dreadnaughts amazing size and their amazing name. 

The Most Dangerous Animal

            We aren't the strongest or the fastest creatures out there, yet we dominate the world. We use intelligence and advanced communication to be top of the food chain.  WE ARE HUMANS!

            Tens of thousands of years ago, our ancestors (Homo Sapiens) first began to roam the planet. Located around the East Africa/Middle East region of the world, humans hunted and scavenged, living in groups while raising kids and having a wail of a time doing pre-historical activities. Hunting was done through patience, either by getting the whole clan and slowly killing a large prey, or out-running a prey in a long distance game of cat and mouse. Humans don’t have the physical capabilities that most animals have.  We can’t jump as high and we don’t have anything special when it comes to strength.  And we definitely can’t run as fast. Human bodies are not built too kill a tiger with our bare hands or out sprint a cheetah.  Humans bodies are built to run long distances, we run on two legs that are complicated springs consisting of muscle and tendons.  No other animal has this skill set.  Being able to run long distances gives humans a huge advantage. If our ancestors wanted food, they would chase an animal for miles and miles until the prey becomes too tired to continue, leaving our ancestors a free meal.

            Humans can also adapt and learn any set of situations. We live all over the world, adapting to the cold, hot, dry and extremely wet. Humans are the only creatures that have been able to spread across the world, adapting extremely quickly to the environments around us. Using our higher intelligence and adaptation abilities and inventions such as clothing, shelters, and air conditioning can help us live with comfort in these harsh environments. 

            Adapting to not only an environment around us, but also using problem solving abilities too stay alive is what makes humans so deadly. The Fight or Flight response in our brains gives us honed decision making skills in times of stress. Weapons and other hunting techniques make it possible for humans to kill any beast, large or small. The spear for example is an example of the ingenuity to solve the problem of hunting prey. Spears and other weapons allowed humans to make any animal prey. As weapons continued to advance, some of the most physically talented animals could die in seconds at the hands of a human and his ingenuity.  

            Lastly, and most importantly, humans communicate and interact like no other species does. Teamwork wins fights, and our highly advanced communication through language and signals allows us survive much easier. Working together to adapt to an environment, hunting, or scavenging helps us as humans become stronger and dominate the animal kingdom.  Communication today along with our advanced minds and capabilities has made us dominate the world with cities of millions of people. You can’t go anywhere in the world without finding humans. We eat anything and kill anything that gets in our way of living, making us top of the food chain and the most dangerous animals on the planet.  

Big Guy

            Fear of spiders is one of the most prominent phobias in the world, with good reason too, spiders are freaking scary. They bite with venomous fangs and spin those terrorist webs to trap everything in its path. They’re also even more scary when they’re big - the bigger they are the more frightening they become. One of the biggest and scariest of all is the tarantula. They’re hairy, gigantic, and have terrifying fangs. They’re extremely popular in Hollywood and in the movies for being the prime example of the fear of spiders.

Tarantulas have over 900 different species.  They are identified by their extremely large and hairy bodies. The different types of tarantulas are dispersed all over the world, from the tip of Africa to California. Although they’re very big, there are many predators to the Tarantula. Most wasps are trained to kill these beasts even though they are a lot smaller than the arachnid. The hairs on the spider’s body are one of their only defenses against wasps and other insects such as giant centipedes. The hairs create irritation on the predator.

            Now you might be thinking these guys are not that dangerous because all they have is some hair to protect them. Technically, tarantulas do have fangs to eat their prey but the venom is quite minimal and being bitten multiple times can only cause some minor hallucinations. They actually are the gentle giants of the spider kingdom.  They are very large and scary looking but not that deadly. They are so gentle that they have become domesticated and have become quite a common pet. Removing fangs and feeding them are quite simple.  And tarantulas are easy to find and catch which makes them an inexpensive pet.  So now you don’t have to quiver in your boots whenever you run into one of these giant arachnids, they are actually sort of nice creatures. 

            

Exotic Pets

            Imagine a bald eagle flying around your home, with its 7-foot wingspan and freedom blazing from every feather. Now imagine that same freedom bird ripping your face off because he’s just a little hungry and he has been having a bad day. As a kid, I always wanted a panther, with sleek jet-black fur, and bright golden eyes. I’d ride him all over the place, go to the mall and watch everyone quiver in his or her boots over my majestic creature on his leash. As cool as it would be to have a panther or a bald eagle as a pet, they’re still wild and they will kill you if they need to, plus they’re extremely expensive. The most exotic animal that is semi-possible to obtain is probably a chimp or monkey. Even then, so much time and money would be consumed trying to keep said pet.

           

            So why do these rare pets take up so many resources? First reason is just the rarity and the difficultly of catching some wild animals. Some prices for exotic animals, such as a macaw, can cost almost ten thousand dollars.  A chimpanzee can cost more that sixty thousand dollars. That’s right, these animals cost more than a brand new car. These prices will become even higher as their habitats are being destroyed and their friends being caged to be sent to other owners. The government and other associations won’t let just anyone have these extremely dangerous pets, for good reasons. Hours upon hours of training are needed to learn about these exotic animals to finally get the approval to obtain a pet you desire.

           

            You can’t just put some rare exotic animal in a kennel and fed it hamster food. Depending on the pet you have, some people have to build special enclosures for their pets costing thousands of dollars. Animals eat a lot as well, we know that, your dog can scarf down a steak in about 10 seconds. Food is expensive and feeding your exotic animal its “rare” diet could cost you as much, if not a lot more, than feeding a kid.

            Owning an exotic pet is a lot of work. Thousands of dollars are spent on food, shelter, and transportation. As much as I love the idea of owning a panther, I probably need to wait until I win the lottery.