Sunday, December 5, 2010

Silkwood

       Karen Silkwood was a women that worked for as a chemical technician for Kerr-McGee plant and later became a union activist at the plant. The plant was responsible for producing material for nuclear systems, and the employees worked with radioactive material on a daily basis including Karen Silkwood.. After finding unhealthy safety events taking place in the plant, she began to her own investigation that was going to go public. Before this could happen, she was killed in a car accident that took place the night she was supposedly going to release her evidence to a reporter. She had also had issues of being infected or burned with radioactive material that seemed to be an intentional set up. Her death was determined to be an accident because she was found with drugs and alcohol in her system but many people believe she was murdered by being run off the road.

      My opinion of the movie and the situation is that she was probably on the right track with her evidence, but i do not believe she was murdered. I think she was meant to be scared at the plant by her incidents with the radioactive material. I think they wanted to make her quit and that was all they were trying to achieve. I do think the movie was very well done to leave it up to the viewer to make up his or her own mind. It did start out very slow, but I can understand why they wanted us to completely understand her background.



Hitchiti

Wild Ginger


Wild Ginger grows in dense forest in the eastern part of the country. As you can see, the plant has heart shaped leaves and does not grow very tall. It can only reach a maximum height of about ten inches. It can grow so thick that you can barely see any part of the ground. They do have a flower that blooms in the spring and they stay close to the ground so they can be pollinated by ants.

Leaf Decomposition




Leaf litter is all the leaves that have fallen to the forest floor and start decomposing. They slowly are broken apart to come apart of the top most soil layer known as humus. This layer is filled with the most nutrients and can be ideal for growing other plants.

Southern Pine Beetle








The Southern Pine Beetle can have a great effect on tree growth even though it is just a small bug. Because the population can grow so rapidly outbreaks occur on occasion that vast loss of trees. They can go after any species of pine and range from Pennsylvania to Texas and then from New Mexico to Central America. The first indication that a tree is infected is a change in needle color. Then you will see small holes in the tree with sap leaking out. Once a tree is infected with the beetle, it is to late and they can move rapidly through a whole forest like they have done in Georgia. 




My Tree

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Aquatic Life

Diatoms



Diatoms are one of the most common types of phytoplankton, and they tend to exist in colonies. They are a good indicator of water quality and used to excess the environmental status of the ocean.

Sea Butterfly




Sea Butterflies is really a form of a type of snail. Their shell is colorless usually which makes them hard to observe. They have developed adaptations for better movement which would be their wings. They also tend to travel with the currents of the ocean.

Tropical Water Lily/ Henry Shaw Water Lily



 The Henry Shaw Water Lily was developed for gardening purposes. It was named after Henry Shaw, who developed the Missouri Botanical Gardens.

Mahi Mahi (Dolphin Fish)



Mahi Mahi is also known as Dolphin. It is a fish usually found in warmer waters, and it is highly sought after for sport fishing. They provide a good fight, beauty in the water, and a great dinner after the catch.

Crawfish



Crawfish are a form of crustaceans and can mainly be seen as little lobsters. They are found in warmer fresh water. They can be farmed for food and bait for fishing.

Walrus



The Walrus is found in the Northern Hemisphere up around the Arctic circle. At one time it was hunted so much that its population dropped dramatically, but through new policies and regulations they are making a comeback with their numbers.

Friday, October 29, 2010

Favorite Biome

The mountain biome is set in high altitude that is cold in temperature. It can have ice glaciers and usually has little or no vegetation growing in it. It will easily noticed once a person reaches this biome because there will be a timber line that indicates the climate being inadequate for trees. There is a low diversity of plants and animals found in the high mountains. It is a very harsh climate biome but is among the most beautiful scenery in the world.

Monday, October 25, 2010

Favorite Organism


A lot of people believe that great white sharks hang around warm shallow water, but in reality scientist have found that the shark travels around to very different habits. Using trackers, researchers have found that great whites travel to deep waters and very cold waters. Traveling to the deep waters is part of their life cycle somehow but no one knows why.

Friday, October 22, 2010

Mitochondrial Eve

Mitochondrial Eve is thought to be the common ancestor of all humans. It is believed that since the mitochondria DNA is passed from only the mother, then all humans have the same common mitochondrial DNA. So even though over time humans have evolved to look different, there is a part of us that remains the same. Just like with any evolution, we have developed traits and adaptations that become useful for the habitat the population is located. These adaptations can range from height, size, skin color, and other physical forms. This has been caused by humans relocating from the original location of the Mitochondrial Eve in the Great Rift Valley in Africa. As the human race spread across the world, with different habitats, the diversity of the physical appearance has become more dramatic. It is thought though that one day in the future the human race will become one race again with the same physical traits, and once again look like our common ancestor. It is thought that we will all have the same height with tan skin, dark hair, dark eyes. Below, there are pictures of Mitochondrial Eve, examples of the diversity today, and some tribes of that still remain in Africa.

                                                        Mitochondrial Eve



Diversity




Tribes


Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Butterfly Effect

The way most people know the "Butterfly Effect" is that a simple flap of a butterfly's wings can cause a dramatic weather event across the world. This effect can also be known as the Chaos Theory. Basically, it means that the simplest of actions can set in motion for events to eventually result in an enormous outcome. The theory also means that everything in the world can be tied together in some way.
http://www.fortunecity.com/emachines/e11/86/beffect.html