Week 1

1.  Short bio of myself 

I am in my final trimester of my first year.  Very glad to have gone this far.  Biology is one of my last general science courses.  I am hoping to be done with all my general sciences by the end of this trimester.

2.  Although it's common knowledge by now, but being reminded again about the possible rising of sea levels in the future makes one cringe with fear.  It's articles like this that makes one sit up and think about what it is that one can do to reverse this or lessen the effects to its minimum.  Many times, people wonder how can changing one person's dietary habit, daily activities possibly help saving the environment, but this article helps to home in the idea that every little bit of action counts. 

The article about the hoax kidney donor show was also quite interesting.  I think there are various ways to get a message across and  I don't really agree with the way they've chosen to convey the message.  Also, the focus should be on treating kidney disease rather than looking for kidney donors.  I know it's unrelated, but it reminds me how a few months ago, there were talks about insurance companies trying to limit women's access to mammogram, and there was a huge outcry about it.  Yet, it has been proven that mammogram actually increases the risk of breast cancer ( http://thenewsouthwest.com/2011/mammography-screenings-increase-risk-of-breast-cancer/ ).  I also went to a talk last year held by a well-known TCM practitioner who said that "mammograms should be recommended only for your enemies, not your patients."

3.  Comments on links on Evolution:

I found David's work, "how to survive a mass extinction" quite interesting.  Things like global warming, rising of sea levels, volcanic activities, etc could all trigger a mass extinction.  David also agrees that if things continue the way they are, we are certainly heading for a mass extinction.  However, lessons can be learned from fossils to avoid it.  Surprisingly, species that tend to survive these mass extinctions are the ones no one bothers protecting:  rats, weeds, cockroaches.  May be because no one bothers to protect them and provide them with a nice, comfy habitat, they've learned to survive wherever they are and under any kind of harsh environment.  They are everywhere, they thrive and in difficult times, they survive.  May be there are valuable lessons we can learn from these creatures.