Last ENB Blog

Alas the year has come to an end and the final is looming. This has been a fun class and I am glad that I took it. So this blog is going out with a song and a funny scene from Psych. Thanks Dr. Rood!

This is an absolutely hilarious scene from a hilarious show!

I like the Spanish version more. 

Bio-Diesel Lab

This was the last lab of the semester, since iffy weather nixed the final one. This was pretty cool, we got to go to Dr. Rood's lab at the Mercer Law School, which is down a creepy hallway behind a door that say DO NOT ENTER. Who knows what those law students could be up to that they had to put a sign? That was my attempt at some humor and moving along. We got to see all the equipment and it took me back to my high school chemistry labs with all of the beakers and machines. It was interesting to say the least. Dr. Rood then showed us the thingy that they use to make ethanol. 

This is the machine I was talking about. It can also be used to make alcohol.

This is the chemical make-up for nitroglycerin I believe. 

And this is what the oil looks like after it has been through the machine. 

One of the alternative fuel sources that we have been hearing about all semester is using switch grass, in particular ardunodonax as a source for bio ethanol. It grows quickly, is very tall, and is better suited for this than corn. I would like to see something like that in our future. It would help with our dependence on fossil fuels, and keep greenery in the world. 

Mitochondrial Eve

Mitochondrial Eve is the source of mitochondrial DNA or mDNA in all of us and by default, mother of the human race. That explains her name, Mitochondrial Eve. From her all of the races of the world were sprung, since mDNA is passed down from the mother without the recombination that dna and rna have to go through. 

This is a representation of what scientists think she looks like.  

From her comes so many different types of people. 

Ecuadorian

Korean

Ethiopians

Scots

Cherokee

Kuwaiti 

Jamaican

American

We all came from the same mitochondrial mother, though changes and separations have made us different we are all still HUMAN

Amphioxus

The Amphioxus, is the  precursor to all vertebrates like humans and all other animals with spines. 

Today there are some that are known as Lancelet. They live in the sand, and are harvested in some parts of Asia for food. 

Macon Dog Park

       Our lab that was to take place at the Macon Dog Park, which is also called Tyler's Place, was cut short by a ridiculously bad thunderstorm. We made it about as far as Tatnell Square Park before taking cover under a tree and then walking/running back to our respective places of warmth and dryness.
       Before that however we talked about dog parks and how they are good ways to build community between dog owners since everyone there is a dog lover, it can be the basis for a friendship that otherwise would not have happened. I did learn however that taking puppies to a dog park is not a very good idea because of the risk of the puppy contracting Parvo, which is basically a death sentence for the puppy. So the moral of this story is take your dog not your puppy and make friends with the other dog owners, and always wear a rain coat if the weather looks iffy.

Here is the blog link for the Macon Dog Park http://www.macondogpark.org/

I've never had a dog, but if I did I think I would want a big dog like a Newfoundland or a Husky.

Darwin's Dilemma

Here is the link to the website about the movie we watched in lab called "Darwin's Dilemma"
http://www.darwinsdilemma.org/

It talked about the Cambrian explosion, and the fossil record that was found in the Burgess Shale, that is in British Columbia, Canada. It was discovered in 1909 by Charles Walcott, and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1981.
And here is a website about the Burgess Shale http://www.burkemuseum.org/static/bshale/index.html

The video also had some interesting animations that depict what they think the animals looked like before they were fossilized. They look very strange to me, like something out of a really bad sci-fi movie.

Bad News about Timmy the Sunflower

My dear sunflower has died. He was over hydrated, but his lack in drainage is not in vain. He is now a part of the greater circle of plant life by being a part of my mom's compost pile. Soon he will be transformed into nutritious mulch for her blueberry bushes and live on. Goodbye Timmy you were an adorable sunflower.

Ocmulgee National Monument

Awhile ago we went to the Ocmulgee National Monument, as known as the Indian Mounds. While we exploring the park and avoiding snakes, because they are super creepy animals we discovered a few things

.
1. The decomposition of leaf litter has several layers before it gets to the actual dirt floor of the forest.  There is the top layer of freshly fallen leaves, or at least relatively fresh and as you move away those there are more leaves that are slightly decomposed. That continues until the leaves are so old that they have become incorporated into the soil. All together it is at least an inch thick for the actual dirt of the ground to the top layer of leaves. That is something to think about.

2. Also on our trek in the forest we found a creek bed that showed quite beautifully layers of soil. They were different colors suggesting different time periods with different events occurring that would cause changes in soil pigmentation. There were whites, red, oranges, and some pinks I believe. It reminds me of Providence Canyon also in Georgia, with the colors

3. Before we went on our trek, we were able to listen to a brief overview of the area's history from one of the Rangers. I learned that Macon is on the fall line between the Piedmont and the Coastal Plains regions of Georgia. Cities that fall on this line like Columbus, Macon, and Augusta popped up because these are places where the river stopped being navigable from the sea.

4. What I enjoyed most about the Indian Mounds was the view of the Macon skyline from the Great Temple Mound. It is quite a sight.

We Now Interrupt This Lack of Blogs...

So sorry for the delay of the bloggage...yes I just made that word up....but I am now here to remedy that and get super caught-up on all of them!

Go Bears! and UCONN Huskies!

Blood Sugar Graph

Negative Feedback Loops

Though possessing a less than appealing name these feedback loops are actually good for us and the environment! By definition, at least the one in our textbook "Environmental Science Fundamentals and Applications" it is "A feedback loop in which a system responds to a change by returning to its original state, or by decreasing the rate at which the change is occurring" 

For example, Dr. Rood did an example in class with his blood sugar by measuring it before eating a Snickers and measuring it for about 45 minutes afterwards. 

Another example of this is when your body is attacked by an infection, in order to fight it, the antibodies start attacking the infection and raises body temperature. This causes a fever, and when the fever breaks that means that the infection has been beaten and your body returns to normal body temperature. 

My Favorite Lake

My favorite lake in the world would have to be Loch Ness in Scotland. The word "loch" is pronounced like lock but with a Scottish accent, and in Gaelic means lake. Beyond this lake being in the super awesome country of Scotland and having the legend of the Loch Ness monster, Nessie, it also has a castle nearby, Urquhart Castle.

This is Urquhart Castle

This is Loch Ness

And this is supposedly the Loch Ness monster...

Fun Facts about Loch Ness

• It is the second largest lake in Scotland, behind Loch Lomond
• It has more fresh water in it than in England and Wales combined.
• Is one of the deepest lochs in all of Scotland, behind Loch Morar
• The Loch Ness Monster is a cryptid, meaning that it's existence is scientifically unlikely, but has been suggested. 

Hitichi Experimental Forest

These are some pictures that I took while we were on our trek in the Hitichi Experimental Forest near Lake Juliette. 

This I believe is the wild ginger that we saw while traversing the forest. Asarum Asarum I think is the genus and species name for this plant. It smelt interesting.

This is me being a total tree-hugger!

These are some panoramic photos that I made in Photoshop for my digital photography class

And this one was just beautiful!

And this is Dr. Rood swinging from a vine!!

Jackson Springs Park

            I really enjoyed our time at Jackson Springs Park. It is such a nice getaway place in the middle of Macon. It's like your in another world down there. My favorite part of the lab was learning about the history of the area : Shirley Hills (the most affluent), Highland Hills (the more middle class but still really nice), and Fort Hill (what became the projects in Macon), and learning that there used to be a zoo where the Baconsfield Kroger is located. How bizarre is that? Macon used to have a zoo! I'm glad this little part was saved. It would be a beautiful place for a photo shoot.

             I also enjoy breaking apart the rocks and seeing the different make ups of them. With the pick axes it almost felt like we were in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, despite its lack of political correctness. And going through the tunnel to and coming out on the other side of the road was pretty awesome too!

Timmy Update

Here is dear little Timmy...They grow up so fast!

Actual Playin in the Dirt

Here are some lovely pictures from our lab out at the community garden behind Centenary. 

We looked at the different plants and the bugs, and then had a brief mudfight!!

Before we went into the community garden we took a soil sample with a tool that takes a core out of the ground and we were able to see the differences in the soil types. It went from more of a dirt to the infamous Georgia red clay.

There are 12 soils types in the world and they are as follow : Alfisols, Andisols, Aridisols, Entisols,Gelisols, Histosols, Inceptisols, Mollisols, Oxisols, Spodosols, Ultisols, and Vertisols.
Here is a handy-dandy link to a handy-dandy website that will tell you all about them! http://soils.cals.uidaho.edu/soilorders/orders.htm
And here is one to a handy-dandy poster!
http://www.soils.usda.gov/technical/soil_orders/

Inceptisols which sounds like a type of soil that will steal into your minds and see your thoughts (Reference to Inception) :) is a type of soil that exhibits minimal horizon development. They are the second most common soil in the ice-free land area, the most being Entisols. They do however support about 20% of the world's population, the most of all the soil orders.  In America they are concentrated in the New England area, as seen in this map.

Lab #3 Plant Identification

Last Wednesday on a very hot day in Macon, GA also known as Maconga, our lab group set forth to discover the plants, trees and shrubberies that inherit our dear campus at Mercer University.
quick side note:

The fact that we were looking at shrubberies took me back to Monty Python and the Holy Grail soo......Ni!!!

I just couldn't help myself. So without further ado here is an incomplete list of the entire walk, but one that is sufficient for this lab report, which requires 5 trees that cannot be cut down with a herring, 5 shrubberies from Roger the shrubber, and 5 plants that currently do not have a potential Monty Python reference. 

Trees

1. Ginkgo Biloba

Besides having a super awesome name, this handy dandy tree is dioecious which means that there are male trees and female trees. They cannot reproduce on their own. This tree is also the national tree of China.

2. Water Oak -Quercus Nigra

This is the type of oak tree that was in my backyard growing up. I always think of this type of oak tree when I hear "Oak".

3. Crepe Myrtle - Lagerstroemia

This beautiful tree is all over the South. I think that it's beautiful and almost a crime to cut them down to stumps. They're too pretty for that.

4. Magnolia Grandiflora or Magnolia Trees

These are great climbing trees...great ones to fall out of too. They are beautiful especially when they bloom with there large white flowers. It's just a beautiful scene that is associated with the South and it's elegance.

5. Dogwoods- Cornus Florida

This tree also known as the flowering dogwood is one of my favorite trees of all time! It's so pretty when it blooms, especially if there is more than one color of blossoms around. 

Plants

1. Aloe

From wikipedia I learned that Aloe is actually a genus which has over 400 species, the super cool plant we have here is actually Aloe Vera or true aloe. It has medicinal qualities and is awesome on a sunburn.

2. Phlox 

This pretty flower grows around Tarver Library, and there are 67 species of it. I think the kind we have here is the moss phlox.

3.Hostas

This is the Hosta plant, it loves sunlight which is probably why it is not thriving next to the administration building. There may be as many as 45 species of hosta plants, and on a side note these are my mom's favorite.

4. Mexican Petunia

The Mexican Petunia, or Ruellia angustifolia is also known as Britton's Wild Petunia and the Mexican Bluebell. It is a native to Mexico, is drought resistant, and has a long bloom period. 

5. Monkey Grass

This common hedging grass is also known as mondo grass, fountain plant, and Ophiopogon japonicus. In Chinese medicine the tuber can be used for hacking coughs, dry tongue and mouth, and constipation.

Shrubs (That were not designed, arranged, or sold by Roger the shrubber)

1. Holly Ilex

This pokey holiday oriented bush, is formally called Holly Ilex, and the berries are actually called drupes.

2. Azaleas

These beautiful plants are a big deal in the South and have two sub-genera of Rhododendron, Pentanthera and Tsutsuji. At Callaway Gardens, every year they have an Azalea bowl when their azaleas bloom. It is gorgeous.

3. Oakleaf Hydrangeas

 The Oakleaf Hydrangea is one of two species of hydrangea that are native to the Southeast, the other being the silver leaf hydrangea. It's proper name is hydrangea quercifolia.

4. Rusty Blackhaw

This is the Rusty Blackhaw or Viburnum rufidulum. It's fall color is a burgundy red, and it has good drought and cold tolerance. 

5. Southern Highbush Blueberry

 This delicious shrub is known in the scientific realm as Vaccinium corymbosum. I know it as a blueberry bush.  The berries ripen during the summer months and they delicious!

Hooray for nature walks!