Racism Variation

1. One of the many environmental stresses would be the cold. Cold weather negatively impacts the survival of humans by disturbing homeostasis. Naturally, our bodies' temperature is usually around 98.6°F. Homeostasis can be disturbed if our temperature gets too low, which can cause us to get hypothermia. There can be either mild or severe cases of hypothermia. In mild cases, the blood vessels become more narrow (vasoconstriction) which can cause an increase in blood pressure and also an increase in heart rate. In more moderate to severe hypothermia, one might feel confused, have difficulty with our motor skills as our muscles have to work much harder in order to control movements during this time. A person can also experience the Hunting reaction, which is the alternation of vasoconstriction (narrowing blood vessels)  and vasodilation (blood vessels widen) in the exposure of high extreme cold temperatures. In these more severe cases, heart rate and blood pressure begins to decrease. Some other symptoms include memory loss, decrease in breathing, shut off of the heart and liver is also seen as the shut off of certain organs serves as protection for keeping the brain alive. External changes in our body is also seen, such as getting frostbite. Extremely sever cases of low body temperature can even result in death. 

2. Humans have adapted to this stress by:

                                                            

• Short Term: Shivering can help bring the body back to homeostasis. By shivering, we are moving our body and muscles which help conserve heat and energy.

                                               

• Facultative: Vasoconstriction and vasodilation can be an examples of this as vasoconstriction attempts to reduce the loss of heat in the body. The narrowing of the blood vessels helps regulate warm blood flowing near the skin and that prevents heat from being lost. On the other hand,Vasodilation widens the blood vessels which then increase the blood flow and reduce the amount of energy lost, while also conserving body heat.  

                                                 

• Developmental: A layer of fat that works as insulation for a person's body in order to maintain heat. Those who live in colder areas tend to be shorter and heavier or rounder in shape in comparison to those that don't live in cold areas. Their low surface area to mass ratio helps contain body heat so that it is not lost. 

                                                   

• Cultural: Clothing layers/heavy clothing, in-door heaters, warm food/drinks can all be cultural adaptations. People in colder areas might wear a vast amount of layers or heavy clothing in order to keep warm. Those who stay in-door or even those who commute can keep themselves warm by turning on the heater. Eating warm soup or teas is also commonly used in various cultures to keep the body warm. 

3. The benefits of studying human variation from this perspective is that we get inform ourselves on the effects of specific stresses have on our body. This increases our knowledge in the sense that we learn about what happens internally and externally, and how the effects can be beneficial in helping our bodies maintain homeostasis. Overall, it can also help us learn a bit about our ancestors and how the changes in their bodies cause by environmental influences helped keep them warm during cold times. This information can be used in a productive way, for example, in this case, instead of trying to stop the shivers, I can now understand that it is a natural process and my bodies own way of trying to keep itself warm.

4. I believe that race can not be used in understanding the variation of the adaptations. The study of environmental influences on adaptations is a much better way to understand human variation because we can compare the living conditions to the way our body reacts. We all have the same organs, the same bodily functions, and most likely our bodies will react similar to others' in similar environments. Not one race's body will act different, or one race's body will have different responses to something. It will most likely be do to the environment influences.

Piltdown Hoax

      The Piltdown hoax became an infamous mystery for scientists beginning in 1912. Amateur archaeologist Charles Dawson, came across a fossil skull (with the help of a laborer) that appeared to be primitive. The piece of the skull was found in a gravel pit in Piltdown, more specifically Sussex, England.  A scientific significance would be that it would have taught us about common lineage between apes and humans. This would be the missing branch that scientists so desperately searched for, a skull that showed both human and ape characteristics. Most of all, it was a discovery that would have given us the answer to the mystery of the earliest Englishman. Scientists were very excited with this discovery because it would mark the U.K as extremely historical and important due to its connection with human evolution. The Piltdown man appeared to be everything scientists expected it to be, which seemed great at the time because it verified their theories. The hoax went unnoticed for various years, but later the truth came into light when other scientists began making discoveries regarding other early human fossils. The fossils found after the Piltdown man confirmed controversy because they did not show to have had a big brain or the same jaw shape as the Piltdown man. This lead to the utilization of advanced technology to look further into the Piltdown fossil. Scientists were extremely humiliated that this went unnoticed for such a long period of time. Those involved working with the skull felt embarrassed that for so long, they were working on something that wasn't real.
      Just like any other human, scientists also have faults. Some of the human faults that came into play in this event were the excitement that blinded scientists from the truth. It was mentioned that people from other parts of the world had already been doubting whether the discovery was true or not, but the scientists involved never really questioned it until much later. There was a lot of pride and a sense of privilege that came along in working with a discovery that impacted the history of human evolution. I think if there wasn't so much pride, then there wouldn't have been a lack of questioning and a lack of wanting to know more. The scientific process should have lead them to keep asking questions regarding the discovery. Nonetheless, how can someone not be excited about a finding like this?
      Scientific tests such as the fluorine test measured the fluorine content of the fossil, and that allowed scientists to date it. After testing the Piltdown man, the results showed that the fossil was about a hundred thousand years old, which was really quite young. Another test was the full-scale analysis which had more accurate dating methods. Scientists realized that the stains on the skull were not real, they were created along with cutting that was involved. With the use of a microscope, they noticed that the teeth on the jaw had been purposely filed down by someone. The jawbone was dated to be less than 100 years old and actually belonged to an orangutan.  Finally, they concluded that the skull was actually made up of both human and orangutan remains. Each discovery of a fault let to another, which eventually determined the Piltdown man as a fraud.
     I don't believe that by removing the "human" factor from science, there will be a reduction of errors like this happening again. I would not want to remove the human factor from science. I think human input is essential important and beneficial in the science world. Although technology and machines can be very accurate, humans are needed to guide the information into a new direction. There is only so much machines can do, and also only so much humans can do. They both go hand in hand to provide us with the most accurate information possible.
      The life lesson that I got from this historical event was to always question information given from an unverified source. No matter how beneficial and life changing the information might appear to be, one must not settle and we must continue to do our own person research before announcing the discovery out to the world. It is good to remain skeptical, especially in the science field, it is much better to be safe than sorry.  

Analogy/Homology

1. Homology:

  

 a. Two different species that posses a homologus trait would be a turtle and an alligator. The two     species do not look alike, however, their anatomical structures have adapted in order to survive living in different environments. Turtles are reptiles of the order Testudines, while alligators are also large reptiles, they are part of the Alligatoridae of Crocodylia family.

b. The homologus trait the two species share would be found in the limbic structure. Their forelimbs share the structure of the humerus, radius, ulna, carpals, metacarpals, and phalanges despite how different each might appear on the outside. Both use their forelimbs to get around, however the shapes are much different. Turtles forelimbs are much smaller in size, and also the skin covering the forelimbs is much tougher on the alligator. Alligators use their limbs to slowly swim, however they mainly rely on their tail when trying to swim fast. Turtles on the other hand, rely on the limbs to walk and swim. The two exhibit differences because of the different environments. They had to learn to adapt in order to survive, which is why we see differences in speed, differences in length of the nails, and toughness of the skin.

c. The ancient lobe-finned fish might have been the common ancestor between the two. Although the fish has fins, the limbic structure (bones) contains the same components as that of the turtle and the alligator. The ancient lobe-finned fish also shares the same embryonic tissue as the others.

d.  

 

2. Analogy:

a. Two different species that posses an analogous trait would be a platypus and a duck. The platypus is a mammal that spends most of its time in the water. They are carnivorous and swim in order to find their food underwater most of the time. Ducks on the other hand, are aquatic birds that are part of the waterfowl family. They also spend most of the time in around the water. The platypus and the duck are similar, however, they have analogous traits because they do not have a common ancestor who possesses their similarities.

b.  Some of the analogous traits would be seen in the similarities of the beak. They both use the beak for the same functions of finding food, both have their nostrils on the beak. Another similarity is seen in their webbed feet. Lastly, the main similarity would be that they both lay eggs instead of birthing live species. 

c. I don't think the common ancestor (if any) possessed the analogous trait of laying eggs because platypus are mammals while ducks are birds. There is no relation between the platypus and the avian family. Their functions of the beak, webbed feet, ability to lay eggs shares no evolutionary similarity. 

d.  

 

Protein Synthesis

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Scientific Method Scenario

1. It is possible that the student is falling asleep in class simply because he sits in the back of the class where there might be poor ventilation for him. The warmer temperature might cause a shift of his concentration and ease him into falling asleep 15 minutes into the lecture.

2. Test:

a. I would test the hypothesis by asking the professor to arrange a seating chart where the student sits closer to the front or closer to an air vent. 

b. If the student manages to stay awake throughout the lecture, my hypothesis would be supported.

c. My hypothesis would be falsified if he continued to sleep even after changing to a seat with more ventilation.  

3. An untestable explanation that would not be classified as a scientific hypothesis would be that there are tiny invisible sleep fairies that pull down his eyelids until he completely falls into deep sleep during the lectures.

 
 

 
 

Stranded on a desert island

If I were stranded on a desert island, the two items that I would take with me would be a water purifier and a knife. The water purifier would help keep me hydrated while the knife can be used for various things such as cutting open coconuts, crabs, making spears, etc.