Week 12: Cell Biology

Mitosis vs Meiosis

I like this animation a lot. It was a little bit interactive since we had to click through each step. I t was helpful to see the two processes side by side and have the descriptions of what made them similar and different at each step. Very useful learning tool!

Citric Acid Cycle

This animation was also very good. I really liked having the audio as well so I didn't have to read through as much since the citric acid cycle seems pretty complex. It was very long. Also it took a lot of focus and repeating/replaying steps to grasp the process being presented. I still have a difficult time understanding all the steps, but it was a very good tool for learning. I would probably just need to dedicate more time and effort into understanding all the processes going on there.

Class discussion

The article "Ringing the alarm for Earth" reminded me of dangerous trajectory we are on in terms of over population. A friend once likened all of the good we try to do in terms of conservation and being green, reducing our footprints, etc., to throwing a pebble into the vast Grand Canyon that is overpopulation. There are too many humans on the planet right now already and the population is continuing to grow exponentially. This subject is strangely still very taboo in our culture. For some reason population control is seen as a barbaric, anti-American, anti-freedom idea, and yet, if we do not make the choices to control our population now voluntarily, we will run into the limits of our finite world that will control our population without our say and it will most likely be tragic and terrible. It is a major issue that I grapple with in my own life. The question of whether or not to have children, knowing that it further burdens the few remaining resources left on this planet. It is a controversial and essential debate.

"If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading." - Lao Tzu

Week 11: The Chemistry of Life

Animation

I don't know if words with arrows or certain arrangements of words would necessarily qualify as an animation. I thought the "animations" were cool, but would have perhaps enjoyed more of a visual picture instead of flow charts. Although I do know people who really like flow charts. It was also nice to have the expanded information for the periodic table in one place.

Last week's discussions

The nuclear disaster in Japan, though horribly tragic, will hopefully give us pause and allow people to really consider the ramifications of nuclear power and other "as long as it doesn't catastrophically fail we'll be just fine, but if it does we're all totally f*%#ed" technologies. We humans have the ability to use our brains to predict what will happen next, and yet we fail to use that foresight constantly.

I also found it interesting that 98% of radiation exposure comes from drinking milk. Just another reason to not consume dairy! It makes me wonder, how many reasons do we need?

Midterm

I chose Green Chemistry as my topic because I felt I could relate most easily. Being "green" is something I strive to do in my daily life. I feel strongly that we as a species have overstepped our boundaries and have placed ourselves and all other living creatures in a very bad position. the topics of over shoot, global climate change, peak oil and others both fascinate and frighten me. I will continue to do what I can to do the best I can.

Week 8: A Question of Balance

Semiconductor of the Week: Silicon

Silicon by mass is the 8th most abundant element found in the universe! That seems like such an amazing thing to know. I don't know how they figured out all of the contents of the universe, but somehow they know. I also don't know who "they" are, but I'm impressed. On Earth silicon makes up 27.7% of the mass of the Earth's crust making it the second most abundant element in the crust after oxygen. Silicon is a very useful element, able to form everyday things such as glass, cement and ceramics as well as many different kinds of plastics. Silicon has 4 electrons in its outer electron orbital that prefers 8 just like Carbon, giving it the ability to combine with many other elements to make all types of different molecules. We use trace amounts of silicon in our bodies to metabolize plants, which makes me, being solely a plant eater, very appreciative to silicon for helping me consume yummy plants!

Chembalancer

This site was super fun! I really liked doing the balancing games. It was good practice for the math section of my brains that have not been used very often lately.

General Chemistry - Balancing Equations

I didn't like how I had to actually download and save each file on my computer to look at them. That seems somewhat inefficient and generally I would rather just open something in its own website rather than downloading unknown files on to my computer. That being said, I did download the file since I have to do this assignment, and then the darn thing wouldn't open or play or anything. So I didn't get to check out this link even though I tried.