Brettleighdicks - Biology Blog

熱和涼

admin — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 09:53:48 +0000

(思想史:中三)

熱和涼是感覺,而冷和暖是溫度,一直以來都以為它們是指同一件事,因為天氣冷所以覺得寒,因為天氣暖所以覺得熱。直至後來有一次,翻開了高等物理的課本,才發覺當風在動時,代表空氣粒子動能增加,換句話說,效果和溫度上升一樣?因此出現了矛盾,溫度上升反而令人更涼快,何解?是不是說身體的感覺並不真實反映外界的環境?
後來才知道,風之所以令人涼快,不是在於風的本身,而在於風帶動空氣粒子做成的效果,因為天氣熱,人的生理反應是會流汗,而空氣粒子動能增加的後果是增加汗的蒸發速度,汗的蒸發的效應就是被空氣的熱能啟動了液態轉氣態的物理反應,而在過程中反而吸入了比啟動能更多的熱能,因此做成身體溫度下降的效果。因此,是身體本身變得比空氣涼快,而神經系統產生感覺所反映的不是過程的本身,只是過程的結果;而感覺反映的不是外界的環境的變化,而是身體內在的環境的變化。因此科學書本上說人的感覺不敏銳,有誤差,只是對了一半,而是因為人的感覺系統只是為了人類的生存而設,不是為了準確偵測外在的環境,熱和涼是人的神經系統經過複雜的運作,而外界環境又和生物反應不停互動反饋,理性思維為了表達這一過程而用語言創造出來的慨念物件,理性思維的前提是自我意識,而自我意識又是神經系統活動的結果。我們本來是生活在一個抽象世界,而所感知的世界其實是我們神經系統整體活動所形成出來的自我意識所建構出來的心理世界,真實的物理世界我們永遠接觸不到。
人的本質,是自我中心,人是不可能完全客觀的,因此人必須明白自己的本質是什麼,才可以理解世界。人最大的錯誤,是把主觀印象的誤會為客觀的事賁,眼晴看不到眼晴自己在看,如果人再明正言順在性格上「自我中心」,則他/她和事實的實相愈走愈遠,由「being-in-the-world」變成全知全能全善的「world-being」!

Birthday Double Dactyls for Koha! (Part 2)

admin — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 05:40:09 +0000

It's no longer Koha's b-day in my time zone, but it's still Koha-day in most time zones west of here, so ...

MORE DOUBLE DACTYLS FOR KOHA! YAYZ ^_^

Seriously, the double dactyl is the most demented form of poetry ever ... hence, perfect for Koha. ^_^

(see Part 1)

Futari wa NS

Futari hitori,
Hikaru, Kirari
Team up to try to dis-
Prove Gauss's rule.

Finding no monopole,
Sadly they figure that
Ferromagnetically
Poles must be dual.

Ramutara

Ramutaarattattan!
World-weary Koha-chan
Cuts 'cross Kamchatka to
Kolkata ... more!

Finished with traveling,
Koha now looks for a
Nongeographical
Place to explore.

Sansan GOGO

DNA → RNA:
Misinformed MilkyWay
Err in directing us
Which way to go.

5-prime to 3-prime's how
Nucleotides link up
Ribonucleically
All in a row.

Olala*

Olala olala,
Mademoiselle Kusumi
A commencé à chan-
Ter en français.

Cependant, tout le monde
Trouvait son accès de
« Francocacophonie »
Vraiment mauvais.

* A rough English translation that loses all of the delicious rhyming tonguetwistery of the French:

Olala olala,
Miss Kusumi
Started to sing
In French.

However, all the world
Found her outburst of
"Francocacophonie"
Truly bad.

Yayz! I wanted to do 16 double dactyls in honor of Koha's turning 16, but since double dactyls do double duty, so to speak, 8 should be enough. ^.^

I'll probably have more double dactyls to post in the near future, though....

Pollination Habits of Endangered Texas Rice

admin — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 04:10:01 +0000

A type of wild rice that only grows in a small stretch of the San Marcos River is likely so rare because it plays the sexual reproduction game poorly, a study led by the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at The University of Texas at Austin has revealed. The first study of breeding habits of this endangered, aquatic grass (Zizania texana) observed that the pollen of Texas wild-rice can only travel about 30 inches away from a parent plant. If pollen doesn't land on a receptive female flower within that distance, no seeds will be produced. No seeds means no new plants to replenish a population that faces other survival threats........

Self-Assembling Tissues

admin — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 13:17:25 +0000

clipped from www.technologyreview.com

Living Legos can be directed to form tissue-like structures.

Tissue engineers are ambitious. If they had their way, a dialysis patient could receive a new kidney made in the lab from his own cells, instead of waiting for a donor organ that his immune system might reject. Likewise, a diabetic could, with grafts of lab-made pancreatic tissue, be given the ability to make insulin again. But tissue engineering has stalled in part because bioengineers haven't been able to replicate the structural complexity of human tissues. Now researchers have taken an important first step toward building complex tissues from the bottom up by creating what they call living Legos. These building blocks, biofriendly gels of various shapes studded with cells, can self-assemble into complex structures resembling those found in tissues.

"Living tissues have repeating functional units," says Ali Khademhosseini, a bioengineer at Harvard Medical School.

Four artificial new letters for the DNA alphabet

admin — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 11:46:28 +0000

clipped from www.newscientist.com

A NEW type of artificial DNA may form the basis of minuscule electronic devices.

Natural DNA is constructed using four bases, which form the "letters" of the genetic code. Now Masahiko Inouye and his colleagues at the University of Toyama in Japan have used DNA synthesis equipment to stitch together four new artificial bases inside the sugar-based backbone of a DNA molecule (Journal of the American Chemical Society, DOI: 10.1021/ja801058h).

The artificial DNA is more stable than natural DNA, which may make it a good candidate for turning into molecular electronic wires, able to conduct electrons along their length.

So far the team has made only short strands of artificial DNA, around 100 bases long. But Inouye plans to experiment with naturally occurring enzymes, both to make longer strands of the molecule, and to make it copy itself, just like regular DNA.

Combining natural and unnatural bases could produce a whole range of interesting molecules

Farms in the sky

admin — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 10:52:21 +0000

just imagine..

clipped from www.iht.com

What if "eating local" in Shanghai or New York meant getting your fresh produce from five blocks away? And what if skyscrapers grew off the grid, as verdant, self-sustaining towers where city slickers cultivated their own food?

Dr. Dickson Despommier, a professor of public health at Columbia University, hopes to make these zucchini-in-the-sky visions a reality. Despommier's pet project is the "vertical farm," a concept he created in 1999 with graduate students in his class on medical ecology, the study of how the environment and human health interact.

The idea, which has captured the imagination of several architects in the United States and Europe in the past several years, just caught the eye of another big city dreamer: Scott Stringer, the Manhattan borough president in NewYork.

Despommier estimates that it would cost $20 million to $30 million to make a prototype of a vertical farm, but hundreds of millions to build one of the 30-story towers that he suggests could feed 50,000

for a complete view see Vertical Farms

When can empathy move us to action?

admin — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 10:07:51 +0000

Emotional empathy attunes us to another person's inner emotional world, a plus for a wide range of professions, from sales to nursing—not to mention for any parent or lover.

clipped from www.sharpbrains.com

We often emphasize the importance of keeping cool in a crisis. But sometimes coolness can give way to detachment and apathy.

We saw a perfect example of this in the response to Hurricane Katrina, whose devastation was amplified enormously by the lackadaisical response from the agencies charged with managing the emergency. As we all witnessed, leaders at the highest levels were weirdly detached, despite the abundant evidence on our TV screens that they needed to snap to action. The victims' pain was exacerbated by such indifference to their suffering. So as we prepare for the next Katrina-like disaster, what can the science of social intelligence—especially research into empathy—teach policy makers and first responders about the best way to handle themselves during such a crisis?

The differences between these forms of empathy highlight the challenges we face in responding to other people's pain. But they also make clear how the right approach can move us to compassionate action.

And so cognitive empathy alone is not enough. We also need what Ekman calls "emotional empathy"—when you physically feel what other people feel, as though their emotions were contagious. This emotional contagion depends in large part on cells in the brain called mirror neurons, which fire when we sense another's emotional state, creating an echo of that state inside our own minds.

Keep on reading at Sharp Brains

I Am of This Land - Dan Landeen and Jeremy Crow

admin — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 03:16:30 +0000

I Am of This Land (Wetes pe m'e wes): Wildlife of the Hanford Site (A Nez Perce Nature Guide)
Dan Landeen and Jeremy Crow (compilers)
Nez Perce Tribe Environmental Restoration and Waste Management Department
1997

This is a neat book I found secondhand. It's a combination of natural history of various animals at the Hanford site in Washington state, and stories about the animals from Nez Perce mythology. The two areas are well blended for a wonderful look at the wild creatures that the Hanford nuclear site features.

The first section of the book is a summary of Nez Perce culture, to give context for the rest of the material. There's also a good reminder of the history of the tribe in relation to the United States government, including land grabs and other abuses by the latter. Considering the book is produced by the tribe itself, one can most likely trust to its accuracy.

The rest of the book includes brief explanations of the various animals--mammals, birds, and more--found at the Hanford site, as well as a special section on harmful animals such as poisonous spiders. The information for each animal is not particularly long--usually a sentence or two, if that. So don't take this as your only field guide. However, there's good (if a bit dated) information on the status of each species (endangered, threatened, etc.) as well as how commonly it's found on site. Myths are interspersed throughout the text.

Overall, it's a neat little compilation. I'd recommend it for anyone interested in Nez Perce culture and myth, as well as anyone who like critters of any sort.

Five pawprints out of five.

Want to buy this book?

Reason For Hope - Jane Goodall

admin — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 02:28:32 +0000

Reason For Hope: A Spiritual Journey
Jane Goodall
Warner Books, 1999
282 pages

Biologist and chimpanzee expert Jane Goodall has authored a number of informative and approachable books. This one combines a summary of her life with her spiritual insights. Often ecospiritual in nature rather than "Worship God!", the book allows the reader a sensitive look into Goodall's personal thoughts on her experiences of the past few decades, as well as her thoughts on contemporary issues in animal welfare and environmentalism.

Reason For Hope is divided into chapters that each focus on a particular theme, such as solitude, war, evil and healing. While the material that Goodall covers is often familiar to people who have read her other works, there are some new writings as well. A variety of photos allows more depth to the text, putting faces to names. The book ends on a positive note, extolling the virtues of--and need for--hope. Instead of feeling as though there's nothing we can do, instead Goodall explains the problems we face, and through her patient and courageous example, inspires us to continue the good fight.

Even though Goodall is a self-described Christian, there is much in here to interest pagans, particular those of an ecospiritual persuasion. You won't find preaching and proselytization. Instead, Goodall glories in the wonders of this world and the potential for human depth and growth in harmony with the rest of the world. It's an inspiring read, and one I intend to return to.

Five pawprints out of five.

Want to buy this book?

Wed., 7/16: Austin program speaking about science education and religion

admin — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 00:40:12 +0000

From Tony's Curricublog I've learned there is to be a program this coming Wednesday, 7/16, in Austin, Texas, speaking about the dangers of creationism to science education.

I have no personal knowledge of the speakers or those hosting the event, but I figured those in the Austin area may be interested nonetheless. Visit Tony's Curricublog for more information.