1. One of the environmental stresses I chose was high altitude. This environmental stress has negatively impacts the survival of humans by disturbing homeostasis is that there are the alternating daily extremes of climate that often range from hot, sunburning days to freezing nights and are often strong and humidity low, resulting in rapid dehydration. Another environmental stress has negatively impacts the survival of humans by disturbing homeostasis is that the air pressure is lower which means this is usually the most significant limiting factor in high mountain regions. When we breathe in air at sea level, this causes oxygen to easily pass through selectively permeable lung membranes into the blood. At high altitudes, the lower air pressure makes it difficult for oxygen to enter our vascular systems. The result is hypoxia or oxygen deprivation. Hypoxia usually begins with the inability to do normal physical activities, such as climbing a short flight of stairs without fatigue. Other early symptoms of "high altitude sickness" include a lack of appetite, vomiting, headache, distorted vision, fatigue, and difficulty with memorizing and thinking clearly. In very urgent cases, pneumonia-like symptoms due to hemorrhaging in the lungs and an abnormal accumulation of fluid around the brain (cerebral edema) develop. There is also an increased risk of heart failure due to the added stress placed on the lungs, heart, and arteries at high altitudes. When we travel to high mountain areas, our bodies initially develop inefficient physiological responses. There is an increase in breathing and heart rate to as much as double, even while resting. Pulse rate and blood pressure go up sharply as our hearts pump harder to get more oxygen to the cells. These are stressful changes, especially, for people with weak hearts. Furthermore, a more efficient response normally develops as acclimatization takes place. More red blood cells and capillaries are produced to carry more oxygen. The lungs increase in size to facilitate the osmosis of oxygen and carbon dioxide. There is also an increase in the vascular network of muscles which enhances the transfer of gases.
2. One specific adaptation I chose was cultural because there is a debate about how much of this type of adaptation receives genetic influence, but these traits can include use of tools, diet, social practices, reproductive behaviors, migratory patterns, and clothing styles. The first way in which humans have adapted to this stress was increasing their fitness level after successful acclimatization to low oxygen pressure. The second way in which humans adapted to this stress was on returning to sea level after successful acclimatization to high altitude, the body usually has more red blood cells and greater lung expansion capability than needed. The third way in which humans adapted to this stress was the rate of miscarriages is usually higher at altitudes above two miles because fetuses receive less oxygen from their mothers. The fourth way in which humans adapted to this stress was the physiological changes that result in increased fitness are short term at low altitude and in a matter of weeks, the body returns to a normal fitness level.
3. The benefits of studying human variation of this perspective across environmental clines is that I learned a good amount of new information about high altitudes that I didn't know of, but now that I know it very interesting to me about the environmental issues that can happen due to high altitudes especially the health affects. This information from explorations like this can be useful to help us in any way of avoiding these health affects. An example is avoiding to breathe in air at sea level because it causes oxygen to easily pass through selectively permeable lung membranes into the blood.
4. I would use race to understand the variation of the culture adaptation by people of different races have different culture adaptations such as the different tools they use, a variety of diets and different foods, various social practices, and particular clothing styles. The study of environmental influences on culture adaptations is a better way to understand human variation than by the use of race because environmental stress has negatively impacts in many different cultures and races.
Tuesday, December 5, 2017
Tuesday, November 28, 2017
Language Blog
Part 1: After having to engage into a conversation for 15 minutes without any use of symbolic language (no speaking, no writing, or ASL) it became really silent in the whole 15 minutes. This assignment was very difficult not to communicate without language. My partner altered the way she communicated with me because she started doing facial expressions. When my partner started doing facial expressions I didn't know what she was doing or talking about. She would raise her eyebrows at someone or move her head to try to point out who to stare at the library it became funnier by the second.
My partner was the one in control of the conversation because she was nodding her head, rolling her eyes, starring at people, and I didn't know how to continue the conversation. My partner initiated and changed topics by using facial movements. I was usually asking questions as of what she was doing and she will answer my questions by her facial expressions. If I conducted this experiment with one person I would definitely be excluded from this conversation. I do believe that a conversation has a balance of power between two or more individuals, the one who would have the power in this conversation would be my partner because she keeps the conversation going no matter if you understand her or not, she keeps it going whether you know what's going on or not.
The culture that has the advantage in communicating complex ideas within their population is the culture that speaks the language. The attitudes that the speaking culture might have toward the culture that doesn't use symbolic language is that they might get frustrated, angry, hopeless, mad, and sad because they don't know how to communicate with the other culture. Any modern situations that mirror or resemble this relationship between a culture that can speak and culture that can't is that my mother is a housekeeper and she doesn't speak English; furthermore, when we go see the house I decide to go with my mother to be her translator, and days when I'm in school she writes down the price on a sheet of paper and see's the reaction of her clients whether it's a good price or not my mom still wants me to call back to see what they thought of the price.
Part 2: After communicating with my partner for 15 minutes without any physical embellishments, no hand signals, not vocal intonation, not head, facial or body movements my own experience was just starring at my partner the whole 15 minutes usually making nothing but eye contact. I find this assignment way more difficult than part 1 because at least then I could do facial expressions, move my head around, but this time it was a just starring contest. My partner responded well with my lack of body language because she only starred at me the whole time she didn't have body movement.
This experiment says a lot about use of "signs" in our language because without them we wouldn't how to communicate if we didn't know the other persons language. Non-speech is really important language techniques in our ability to communicate effectively because we learn how to communicate with other people in different cultures and languages in a way it prepares us when it does happen. I know it's happened to me when I didn't know the language and I used signs and it helped me understand the language or what the person was trying to say. The type of information humans receive about the words a person is speaking when they "read" a person's body language is emotion in their face, emotion in the way they say it, body language in which they point to what they are looking for or what they need help with or what they want you to know.
The adaptive benefit to possessing the ability to read body language is knowing that you can understand what the person is telling you without specifically knowing his/her language. The ability to read body language help a person survive, obtain resources, and reproduce successfully is seeing the "signs" they're showing you whether it is holding their throat and coughing at the same time asking you to save their life, whether it is pointing at a particular item or place asking for help you see the "signs" the person is giving you and it's face expressions, eye movement, emotions, body language and the list goes on.
I don't know people who have difficulty reading body language and due to that I can't identify them. A situation where perhaps body language does not give you reliable information is when I was in an Armenian household when my mother was cleaning the house and the whole family was speaking their language; I thought they were all mad at each other because they were using strong hand gestures and screaming at each other and then two seconds have past and they all start laughing together. That was a situation where perhaps body language does not give you reliable information.
My partner was the one in control of the conversation because she was nodding her head, rolling her eyes, starring at people, and I didn't know how to continue the conversation. My partner initiated and changed topics by using facial movements. I was usually asking questions as of what she was doing and she will answer my questions by her facial expressions. If I conducted this experiment with one person I would definitely be excluded from this conversation. I do believe that a conversation has a balance of power between two or more individuals, the one who would have the power in this conversation would be my partner because she keeps the conversation going no matter if you understand her or not, she keeps it going whether you know what's going on or not.
The culture that has the advantage in communicating complex ideas within their population is the culture that speaks the language. The attitudes that the speaking culture might have toward the culture that doesn't use symbolic language is that they might get frustrated, angry, hopeless, mad, and sad because they don't know how to communicate with the other culture. Any modern situations that mirror or resemble this relationship between a culture that can speak and culture that can't is that my mother is a housekeeper and she doesn't speak English; furthermore, when we go see the house I decide to go with my mother to be her translator, and days when I'm in school she writes down the price on a sheet of paper and see's the reaction of her clients whether it's a good price or not my mom still wants me to call back to see what they thought of the price.
Part 2: After communicating with my partner for 15 minutes without any physical embellishments, no hand signals, not vocal intonation, not head, facial or body movements my own experience was just starring at my partner the whole 15 minutes usually making nothing but eye contact. I find this assignment way more difficult than part 1 because at least then I could do facial expressions, move my head around, but this time it was a just starring contest. My partner responded well with my lack of body language because she only starred at me the whole time she didn't have body movement.
This experiment says a lot about use of "signs" in our language because without them we wouldn't how to communicate if we didn't know the other persons language. Non-speech is really important language techniques in our ability to communicate effectively because we learn how to communicate with other people in different cultures and languages in a way it prepares us when it does happen. I know it's happened to me when I didn't know the language and I used signs and it helped me understand the language or what the person was trying to say. The type of information humans receive about the words a person is speaking when they "read" a person's body language is emotion in their face, emotion in the way they say it, body language in which they point to what they are looking for or what they need help with or what they want you to know.
The adaptive benefit to possessing the ability to read body language is knowing that you can understand what the person is telling you without specifically knowing his/her language. The ability to read body language help a person survive, obtain resources, and reproduce successfully is seeing the "signs" they're showing you whether it is holding their throat and coughing at the same time asking you to save their life, whether it is pointing at a particular item or place asking for help you see the "signs" the person is giving you and it's face expressions, eye movement, emotions, body language and the list goes on.
I don't know people who have difficulty reading body language and due to that I can't identify them. A situation where perhaps body language does not give you reliable information is when I was in an Armenian household when my mother was cleaning the house and the whole family was speaking their language; I thought they were all mad at each other because they were using strong hand gestures and screaming at each other and then two seconds have past and they all start laughing together. That was a situation where perhaps body language does not give you reliable information.
Tuesday, November 14, 2017
1.) The Piltdown 'human' was found in South East England in the early 1900's. This piece of fossil was found by a labor who then gave it to Charles Dawson, an amateur archaeologist. This piece of fossil was given a thought to be the missing link to Darwin's theory. Dawson then met a geologist, Sir Arthur Woodward and an anatomist, Arthur Keith and Telihard. In February 1912 Dawson published his discoveries and his thought about how it has the evidence of an ape-like jawbone and human-like teeth. This cause the scientific community in uproar. For England this was great news, they finally can have proof that they also have old human-ape-like fossils found in their land. However, in 1949 they tested the fluorine content of the fossil and found out that the age of the fossil is less than 100 years old. They also found an artificial stain and the teeth had been filled on the fossil and in the end they found out that the fossil belonged to a female orangutan whose teeth had been filled so it will look like human-like teeth. Big suspicion was given to Charles Dawson who was thought wanted to make it to the high class of scientific society. Dawson also found many other fossils with the same artificial stain found in the Piltdown's fossil. In the end the discovery was just a Hoax. It doesn't have any connection between human and ape at all.
2.) The mistake was in how prideful and desperate was England. They wanted to proof that man's origins was from Britain by claiming that the fossil could be the oldest human like-fossil. They also wanted to rise up even higher and wanted to use these discoveries in their politics tactic as well. They probably didn't even bother to check and analyze the fossil many more times whether if it's really a fossil that could have be the missing link to Darwin's theory. In the end this arrogance of England brought their scientific prestige to a lower place.
3.) The positive aspect in here is that when the more modern scientist were able to date the skull and developed a better technique so that they could avoid a fraud. The scientist use fluorine to determine the age of the object would by timing the duration of how long the object would absorb the fluorine and chemical that were able to show the artificial stains in the skull and a more advance microscope. They also use the scientific methods to question whether if the skull could really be from and ape-human-like.
4.) The human factor in the case of Piltdown Hoax should be able to be removed because at that time advances chemical and advances things weren't available for them and the one who conduct the experiments were conducted purely by human alone. The human factor are much reduced in today's science because we now have technologies that would do an experiment in the most precise measure and this reduce the error margin in science.
5.) The life lesson from this hoax is that we should check something as important as the discovery some more. Also how pride or arrogance should not be involved in science because it brought down the pride in the end.
2.) The mistake was in how prideful and desperate was England. They wanted to proof that man's origins was from Britain by claiming that the fossil could be the oldest human like-fossil. They also wanted to rise up even higher and wanted to use these discoveries in their politics tactic as well. They probably didn't even bother to check and analyze the fossil many more times whether if it's really a fossil that could have be the missing link to Darwin's theory. In the end this arrogance of England brought their scientific prestige to a lower place.
3.) The positive aspect in here is that when the more modern scientist were able to date the skull and developed a better technique so that they could avoid a fraud. The scientist use fluorine to determine the age of the object would by timing the duration of how long the object would absorb the fluorine and chemical that were able to show the artificial stains in the skull and a more advance microscope. They also use the scientific methods to question whether if the skull could really be from and ape-human-like.
4.) The human factor in the case of Piltdown Hoax should be able to be removed because at that time advances chemical and advances things weren't available for them and the one who conduct the experiments were conducted purely by human alone. The human factor are much reduced in today's science because we now have technologies that would do an experiment in the most precise measure and this reduce the error margin in science.
5.) The life lesson from this hoax is that we should check something as important as the discovery some more. Also how pride or arrogance should not be involved in science because it brought down the pride in the end.
Thursday, November 2, 2017
1. For your homologous traits provide the following information
a) The two different species that possess the homologous trait is the ground squirrel and the macaw because they both are vegetarian and only eat plants and plant extracts to survive.
b) Macaws have breaks and generally live in the forests or rain forests where they eat plants and plant extracts. Ground squirrels live on the ground not the trees and are considered varmints because the ruin crops and they also eat a variety of seeds which is similar to the macaw as they are both vegetarians.
c) The common ancestors to these two species were both ground mammals and after researching on them both even their ancestors had vegetarian appetites to survive.
d)
2. For your analogous traits provide the following information
a) The two different species that possess the analogous traits are the turtle and the snail because they both have shells to protect them from the outside world and predators.
b) The turtle has a protective shell as does the snail. They are both slow which the shell provides protection for this and predators. The turtles shell in some cases are hard as bone and made of bone where as the snail needs their shell other than protection because they have no bones at all.
c) No the ancestor would not have the train of the protective shell and the species is reptile would is more commonly equipped with other protections rather than a shell. And the ancestors of snails don't all have protective shells at all.
d)
a) The two different species that possess the homologous trait is the ground squirrel and the macaw because they both are vegetarian and only eat plants and plant extracts to survive.
b) Macaws have breaks and generally live in the forests or rain forests where they eat plants and plant extracts. Ground squirrels live on the ground not the trees and are considered varmints because the ruin crops and they also eat a variety of seeds which is similar to the macaw as they are both vegetarians.
c) The common ancestors to these two species were both ground mammals and after researching on them both even their ancestors had vegetarian appetites to survive.
d)
2. For your analogous traits provide the following information
a) The two different species that possess the analogous traits are the turtle and the snail because they both have shells to protect them from the outside world and predators.
b) The turtle has a protective shell as does the snail. They are both slow which the shell provides protection for this and predators. The turtles shell in some cases are hard as bone and made of bone where as the snail needs their shell other than protection because they have no bones at all.
c) No the ancestor would not have the train of the protective shell and the species is reptile would is more commonly equipped with other protections rather than a shell. And the ancestors of snails don't all have protective shells at all.
d)
Thursday, October 26, 2017
Thursday, October 19, 2017
One of the five individuals I chose was Alfred Russel Wallace because he had the most influence over Darwin's development of his theory of Natural Selection. Alfred Russel Wallace had a positive influence because he was a co-discoverer of the theory although Darwin has gotten most of the credit.
The contribution that Alfred made to the scientific community was that his important ideas about Natural Selection during on eight-year expedition. Alfred collected more than one hundred thousand insects, birds and animal species, which he gave to the British museums.
"If the environment changes, the traits, that are helpful or adaptive to that environment will be different." This point was directly affected by Alfred Russel Wallace's work. The Wallace effect noticing how certain species of plants and animals adapt to their environment and avoid hybrid mating, which means they would have a greater reproduction success rate.
Darwin couldn't have developed his theory of natural selection without the influence and ideas of Alfred Russel Wallace because they both conjoined their theories together in 1858. Both Darwin and Wallace theories created the theory of natural selection and without the work of Wallace being seen by Darwin he may have never been convinced enough to publish his own work.
The attitude of the church affected Darwin and the publication of his book because he knew the affect it would have on them and the anger and frustration about the theory of evolution. Back in these days, they believed in the bible and god's word and they didn't believed Darwin's theories and talked bad about them. Darwin was discouraged, but then he got confident with the work he did with Wallace and he pushed to get forward regardless of the outcome.
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Alfred-Russel-Wallace
The contribution that Alfred made to the scientific community was that his important ideas about Natural Selection during on eight-year expedition. Alfred collected more than one hundred thousand insects, birds and animal species, which he gave to the British museums.
"If the environment changes, the traits, that are helpful or adaptive to that environment will be different." This point was directly affected by Alfred Russel Wallace's work. The Wallace effect noticing how certain species of plants and animals adapt to their environment and avoid hybrid mating, which means they would have a greater reproduction success rate.
Darwin couldn't have developed his theory of natural selection without the influence and ideas of Alfred Russel Wallace because they both conjoined their theories together in 1858. Both Darwin and Wallace theories created the theory of natural selection and without the work of Wallace being seen by Darwin he may have never been convinced enough to publish his own work.
The attitude of the church affected Darwin and the publication of his book because he knew the affect it would have on them and the anger and frustration about the theory of evolution. Back in these days, they believed in the bible and god's word and they didn't believed Darwin's theories and talked bad about them. Darwin was discouraged, but then he got confident with the work he did with Wallace and he pushed to get forward regardless of the outcome.
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Alfred-Russel-Wallace
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