Rachel Carson

Rachel Carson, an environmentalist is a good person because she worked for the end of DDT use which caused cancer in 1 of 4 people as well as killed many plant and animal species.
Though this cause is a very good one because of the deaths, her work caused an end to the use of DDT, which was harmful to the people of malaria ridden countries because they could not protect themselves against the mosquitoes which had malaria.

Teenage Pregnancy

These statistics on teenage pregnancy were found on this site. I cannot find the actually sources for these statistics so I cannot be sure that they are accurate. However, if they are, they are quite shocking results to say the least.

• Nearly 4 out of 10 women get pregnant before turning 20.
• Every year, the US gov. spends $40 million on families that began with teen births
• the U.S. has the highest rates of teen pregnancy, birth, and abortion in the industrialized world.
• sexual activities among girls younger than 15 has increased
• in 1995, 19% of girls reported having had sex for the first time before age 15
• In one study of unplanned pregnancies in 14-21 year olds, 1/3 of the girls who had gotten pregnant had been drinking when they had sex 
• 91% of them reported that the sex was unplanned

Pregnant Jamie Lynn Spears at 16:

What is Life?

  Merriam Webster defines "life" as:

1.a : the quality that distinguishes a vital and functional being from a dead body b : a principle or force that is considered to underlie the distinctive quality of animate beings c : an organismic state characterized by capacity for metabolism, growth, reaction to stimuli, and reproduction 

 

As an English major, I tend to enjoy and agree with the definitions provided in the dictionary. This definition leaves the existence of a prion as "life" up to interpretation however. A prion does not have DNA nor RNA. They do however reproduce and somewhat grow, at an exponential rate. Because of their consistency as a protein, and not a free moving and animated being, I would not necessarily place them into the "life" category. 

Blood Type Diets

After a little googling, I found out that there are different types of suggested foods for different blood types. Though there are 4 blood types, (O, A, B, and AB) 

there are only 3 diets because the diet for AB is a mix between the diets for A and B. 

O blood types should eat lots of low-calorie foods, 

meat, exercise a lot and avoid dairy products, 

avocados, oranges, and brazil nuts.

Type A should avoid red meat, eat lots of fish and vegetables, 

and engage in little physical exercise and eat little dairy.

Type B should eat plenty of meat and dairy,fruit 

and vegetables and avoid chicken and bacon.

Though many people doubt the validity of these diets, 

I personally believe their truth. 

I am a Type O positive and my entire life I have had problems 

with large amounts of dairy although I am not lactose intolerant. 

Another thing I have had problems with is oranges. 

They said to avoid oranges because it creates an acidic condition in the body. 

This has proven to be very true in my life.

I'm honestly not positive how the blood type diets could relate 

to the discussion of mitochondrial eve. 

I guess it could relate because different peoples adapted 

to their surroundings and so did their blood types. 

A people that is not used to a certain food would not be biologically well adapted to it.

Mitochondrial Eve

This is what some people think Mitochondrial Eve looks like.

The exact way that Mitochondrial Eve may have looked is completely up to speculation. No one can know for sure. Mitochondrial Eve is believed by some to be the genetic matriarch of all man. This woman would have evolved from whatever was before her and her DNA would have passed on to all of her offspring. The only cause for her mitochondrial DNA to be passed on incorrectly would be a mutation in the DNA. Such a person would be important because she would make it possible to trace all men, of all races, back to a central location and person.

One of 5 races that could have existed near the beginning is the Orientals. These would be the people of China, Japan, and the possible origins or descendants of Mongolians and possibly Island People such as the Polynesians. The picture of this Oriental woman shows some similarities to the African women with her broad nose and dark eyes.

A second race that would have been one of the first according to the Mitochondrial Eve theory that all people came from roots in Africa would be the African man and woman.

Another group of people that could have possibly existed would be the Indian/ middle eastern people. These people could be a mix between the African and oriental or perhaps a step between them.

Another group of people that could have come about from Mitochondrial Eve are Native Indians, including Native Americans, and Eskimos. Though all of these groups have their own differences in appearance, they both seem to have some oriental roots judging by the dark hair, dark eyes, and wide noses. Hispanic people probably would be descended from this group. They would have received the dark hair, skin, and eyes of these ancestors.

 The last group would be the light skinned people. These people would be descended from a variety of their ancestors. Hair, eye, body build and even skin tone could vary widely.

Extremophiles

Barophiles:

Barophiles are organisms that can exist in extreme pressure situations. One source said that these organisms grow best at 700 atmospheres and did not grow at all at 1 atmosphere. This bacteria could be thought to be an evolved species because of its ability to survive in such an extreme condition. Such durability would certainly be a helpful gene to pass on to the next evolved organism in the chain. 

Susan

Today, we made our babies. My precious darling girl is named Susan. She is a beautiful gray and white sunflower seed that is neatly tucked into the middle of the dirt cup. I have set her in the window and I can't wait to see what happens. I plan on watering her everyday but I read online that little sunflowers need rather firm dirt in order to flourish so I am going to try not to over-do it. Hopefully, I'll see her progress in a little while.

I believe that I killed Susan unintentionally. I water her very little and yet the soil stayed very moist, perhaps too moist. Although I left her in the window to ensure that she got plenty of sunlight, little Susan has not bloomed. I am officially declaring her deceased. A replacement child will have to take her place I suppose.