Friday, October 29, 2010

Rainforest Biome



In the rainforest biome, there are many trees and animals livings with their own species. With lots of unique characteristics, the rainforest always seems to be a place of mystery. Used in many films as a place of destruction and yet peaceful, such as in Tarzan or Avatar, rain forests are friendly for all types of organisms (whether they be plants, animals, etc.).

Organism in it's ecological niche

A wolf's ecological niche consists of the woodlands. They live amongst trees, plants, and other animals.

Friday, October 22, 2010

Mitochondrial Eve

Mitochondrial Eve is the term used to describe the origin from which all humans have come from. Whether it be through evolution or mixed breeding.

                                                                           Africans





                                                                           Asians

 


Hispanics (possibly Puerto Rico)



                                                                      
                                                                         Caucasians (whites)

  
As the same species, it has been possible for all of these humans to reproduce and create a new breed of humans. Even with different physical attributes, they have lots in common, therefore keeping most of the same traits. With skin color, height, and other physical distributions as factors, the mixing of these humans have made the very diverse world that we live in. 

It's not easy to predict the way humans will look 1,000 years from now, but what we do know is that blonde hair and light eyes will be the first attributes to go. With the wide spread of Asians and Hispanics, the probability of the majority of humans looking like that is extremely high.

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Woods hole MBL

According to mbl.edu, the Marine Biological Laboratory, founded in 1888, is "an international center for research, education, and training in biology, biomedicine, and ecology." It is a school where students can learn hands-on training on how working in the environmental field really is.


http://www.mbl.edu/about/index.html

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Butterfly Effect analysis

 The term "butterfly effect" has been described as a "sensitive dependence on initial conditions." In other words, there must be a premiere study that later data can look back to. For example, the link below describes the trials that mathematician and meteorologist Edward Lorenz performed on the weather of Boston in the winter of 1961. He attempted to be able to predict weather into the far future but after failing on multiple studies, he realized he would have to go back to previous data from the days earlier to determine the upcoming weather in the near future. This is why even in the 21st century, weather can only be accurately predicted in short periods of time.

The prime example used in Lorenz's study was that if a butterfly flaps it's wings in South America, it could affect the weather in Central Park, New York. Meaning, one minor change in the weather can spark a change for long-term. 

 
http://www.stsci.edu/~lbradley/seminar/butterfly.html