Mental Time Travel in Animals?

This article discussed the possibility of Mental Time Travel in Animals. Mental Time Travel was defined in the article as mentally thinking –or traveling- back to a past occurrence and recalling specific details. Previously, it had been argued that the function was possible only in humans, and that other animals could not mentally travel back in time. This article however looked to prove otherwise. In humans, two of the major distinct memory systems are the episodic system and the semantic system. While the Semantic system recalls individual facts about a person’s knowledge of the world, the Episodic recalls memories of personal experiences. The System that functions in episodic memory is assumed to only exist in Human brains. This Study performed tests analyzing the behavior of Scrub Jay birds in order to disprove this assumption. Clayton, Dickinson, and their colleagues argued that the Jays are be able to mentally travel back in time to previous experiences in order to recall where their food is stored and when it will begin to decompose. It was found that the Scrub Jays can form integrative memories of what was stored when and where, and can adjust their recovery attempts based on how long ago they stored their food, allowing them to recover it before it decomposes.

This research showed groundbreaking evidence for our analysis of memory functions in animals. The researches divided their findings into two options. Either the Jay can functionally recall episodic memories, and therefore they process is not unique to humans, or, the Jays have developed a mental system over thousands of years allowing them to subconsciously store the location and time of their storage as a Semantic memory, allowing them to recall it without mentally time traveling. If Option one were correct, then the idea of human uniqueness in recalling memory would be reconsidered. If option two were correct, then more studies would have to be done possibly testing different birds for the ability of mental time traveling.

The article was very interesting and very engaging. There were not an impenetrable amount of technical terms, so it was easy to read and understand. One flaw of the article was that it seemed to recall many hypotheses of previous authors, and some of them seemed to contradict each other.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6VH9-496NS6S-2&_user=10&_coverDate=09%2F30%2F2003&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=gateway&_origin=gateway&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=1699687397&_rerunOrigin=scholar.google&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=c4c9d5d23c444d1e5377e5181437b578&searchtype=a

“F.D.A. Panel to Consider Warnings for Artificial Food Colorings”

Harris, Gardiner. "“F.D.A. Panel to Consider Warnings for Artificial Food Colorings”." New York Times. 29 Mar. 2011. Web. 29 Mar. 2011. .

“F.D.A. Panel to Consider Warnings for Artificial Food Colorings” is an article about the safety of artificial food colorings. Although approved by the FDA for sometime, artificial colorings are being reassessed by the federal government, and they are discussing whether foods containing such dies should have warning labels. This reassessment is a result of observations suggesting artificial colorings are linked to behavior problems in children, such as hyperactivity. While many typical children are unaffected, kids with behavioral disorders might experience heightened symptoms. While some say they have observed the effects of artificial colorings firsthand, others argue that it is all just an urban legend. Some consumer advocacy groups have argued that the dyes be removed from the food supply completely. Changes to artificial food dyes have been taking place for over a century as dyes discovered to be toxic and carcinogenic have been replaced with “safe” ones. The F.D.A. has suggested that these problems in children could result from an allergy or a “unique intolerance to these substances and not to any inherent neurotoxic properties.”

This information is very important in today’s society. Especially in America, foods containing artificial coloring are everywhere and are being consumed more and more. The sooner a decision can be made about whether or not these dyes are actually harmful, the sooner something can be done about it. Depending on what happens with these studies, the foods we see on the shelves of store could change dramatically.

This article clearly explained the concern with artificial colorings and why they are being reassessed. Although the article addresses that research on pediatric behaviors are difficult to construct, but it would have been helpful if it included some information about some of the studies that have been done to put things into context.

Norfolk Botanical Gardens Eagle Nest Cam

Follow this link to Eagle Cam


It leads to a public TV web page in Virgina. The page contains a 24 hour streaming web camera trained on a bald eagle nest. It also contains a blog area on the right side of the page, in which there is an ongoing discussion about the eagles and their nesting habits. Also the bottom of the page contains slide show compiled of parts of the camera's streams from previous days/weeks. A very interesting site!

AP Biology Students' Organ System Projects

The Third Quarter Project I

Must be a well-made PowerPoint, Summary Handout and Class Presentation of the Organ System you volunteered to present to the class!  You have been chosen a group to work with and your group has elected to examine a particular human organ system.  It is the job of your group to present the relevant information about that system to the class on the date that posted on the Ed-line Calendar.  You will have time in class to work on your presentation and it is expected that you work outside of class on it as well.  In addition to the presentation, you will compile a summary sheet of information for the class about your system. 

Animal Organ Systems

Evolution of the Organ System

Include a description of how the organ system evolved in relation to the phylogeny of the animal kingdom. Your presentation should summarize the organs and functions of the systems in the major animal phyla. The usual phyla and representative organisms are as follows: Cnidaria-jellyfish, Platyhelminthes-Planaria, Nematoda-Ascaris, Annelida-Earthworm, Arthropoda-Grasshopper

Human Organ System and Function

What are the major organs?  What is the system’s function?  How is the system involved in the maintenance of homeostasis?  What is the functional unit of the system and how does it work within the system?

Functional Unit/Functioning of the System

List the organs and their roles. Include pictures to indicate how the structure is related to the function of the organ. Explain functional unit and how it works. Describe how this system interacts with the other systems in the body?

Malfunctions of the Organ System

Identify and describe any of the major malfunctions that alter the normal function of the organ system.

E-mail Presentation

You must E-mail me a copy of your presentation and summary handout well before its due date so that I can run off copies of a handout of your presentation for your classmates to take notes during your presentation.

B. Davies, L. Florek and S. Monaco - Sensory and Motor Systems

Davies Florek Monaco Sensory and Motor Mechanisms Project

C. Grealy - Sensory and Motor Systems

Grealy Sensory_and_Motor_system FINAL

Colvin, Faselt, Torres - Nervous System

Rwf Apbio Nervous System Project

Pennoyer - Nervous System

Pennoyer APBIOLOGYNERVOUSSYSTEMfinal[2]

T.Tao - Endocrine System 

Hormones and the Endocrine System on Prezi

Amboss, Gray - Endocrine System

Gray Amboss Endocrine Presentation

 

Carpenter - Animal Reproduction

Carpenter Animal Reproduction Carpenter Animal Reproduction

Bothwell, Cody, Detwiler - Animal Reproduction

Cody Bothwell Detwiler Reproductive system E

R. Grunseich - Osmoregulation (Excretory System)

Grunseich Osmoregulation and Excretion

K. Bianco, K. Bopp, B. Mattes - Osmoregularity (Excretory System)

 

Mattes Etal Osmoregulation

G. Sargent - Immune System 

Sargent Immune System

K. Noonan, S. Blessing, C. Louka - Immune System

Noonan Blessing Louka The Immune System-FINAL

E.Delaney - Circulatory and Respiratory Systems

Delaney CircResp Project

S. Braumuler, P. Gordon , M. Pascale - Circulatory and Respiratory Systems

Braumuller Circ Resp





Carpenter Animal Reproduction

Mice Missing Protein Burn More Fat

Scientists in Philadelphia who have been performing genetic tests on mice have recently made a discovery that could help people fight obesity. Yuxiang Sun of Baylor College of Medicine released a report on Decembere 13th that described his discovery concerning the hormone ghrelin. He performed tests in which mice were genetically modified so that they lacked the ghrelin receptor. These mice burned more energy and stayed thinner than mice that lacked only ghrelin or had both the hormone and the receptor. The reason that they gave for this discovery has that when there was an absence of the receptor, the brown fat cells in the mice made more of a protein called UCP1. This protein is responsible making the power plants of a cell less efficient. Therefore, since UCP1 is causing the brown fat cells to be less efficient, the fat cells end up burning themselves for energy and even end up using fat from white fat cells.
This discovery is crucial to the fight against obesity, because humans also have brown fat cells. If scientists where to create a drug that removed ghrelin receptors from thee brown fat cells in humans, it is possible that humans could automatically burn the amount of calories equivalent to that burned on a 2.5 mile walk. This drug could change the lives of so many people, as there would be a way for people to reach healthy weight and fight obesity without changing their diet and exercise routine.
At this time, Yuxiang Sun is working to determine whether the burned brown fat is directly related to the absence of the receptor or if the mutation caused a change to the nervous system of the mice. In order to find the answer to this question, Sun is simply removing the ghrelin receptor from only the brown fat cells. The sooner Sun is able to determine the cause of the increased fat burning, the sooner other scientists will be able to construct a drug that pinpoints this fat burning area.
If I were to change something about the article, I would rearrange the information that the author presented the reader with. The information in the article jumped back and forth between the hormone, the brown fat and humans, making it difficult to understand her train of thought.

http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/67610/title/Mice_missing_protein_burn_more_fat

New Planet: Small but Tough

Recently, a new planet has been found beyond our solar system by NASA’s Kepler spacecraft. The most interesting part of this discovery is that it is the smallest planet found outside our solar system and it is the first found to be made of solid materials. Kepler – 10b, as the planet is now titled, has a mass about 5 times larger than Earth’s and a diameter only 1.4 times larger than Earth’s. The partially molten new planet was discovered, also, to be too hot to contain any liquid water and therefore life. Scientists find that this new discovery is a great step forward. Solid rocky planets are ideal to scientists because chemical reactions that form the building blocks of life are believed to happen most readily on solid surfaces.
In March 2009, the Kepler spacecraft was launched. A few months later, the craft recorded a “periodic dip in light from a star called Kepler -10.” This dip suggested to scientists that the star has a planet that whips about Kepler -10 in a 20 hour orbit. Kepler researches studied the dimming closely and after looking through the Keck I Telescope atop Hawaii’s Mauna Kea it was noted that some 565 light-years from Earth a planet was tugging slightly on Kepler – 10. In order to examine the new planet, the Kepler team inspected the star at one-minute intervals using the spacecraft. Through an analysis of the strength and frequency of tiny flickers of light from within the star, the team noted the planet’s precise measurements, which revealed that Kepler -10b must be “composed entirely of solid silicate and metal grains.” The estimated temperature of the planet’s surface reached up to 1,500 degrees Celsius. In February, the team also plans on announcing “newly discovered exoplanets”, just like Kepler – 10b
Author Ron Cowen, did a great job explaining this article. It was a very interesting topic, however was confusing as well. I found that during the article I was confused as to which space object the author was describing. I was hard to tell if it was talking about the start or the planet. Also, I believe that the article never mentioned the Kepler Team’s director, which I would have found to be very helpful. Although this was an interesting article, I wish that it was clearer.

http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/68586/title/New_planet_small_but_tough

AP Biology Genetic Disease Projects

          For their second project of the second marking period, the AP Biology classes were asked to research a genetic disease. Unlike the first project for this marking period, which require the students to produce a triptych poster the students were given a wider range of choices. Their project could be be a well-made PowerPoint Presentation, a Web Site presentation, a comic strip, a storyboard, an animation, video or almost anything. The end product should be a Museum Quality Presentation on a Genetic Disorder. The display should incorporate your creative and artistic talents as well as scientific information.

           The final presentation must include the following sections/information: 

History of the Disease

         A description of when the disease was first identified and by whom.

Symptoms of the Disease

          A description and discussion of how the disease affects those who have the disease and also how it may affect their families.

Cause of the Disease

          A description and discussion of the known/hypothesized etiology of the disease. Be sure to be very specific in this section, if possible describe the exact “mutation” that is thought to produce the ineffective products that are at the root of the disease.

Treatments for the Disease

          A description of any procedures that may be used to alleviate/cure the affected individual’s symptoms.

Identification of the Disease

          A description of any protocols that may be used to determine carriers and/or individuals who might have the disease and the probabilities of their passing the disease to their offspring.

Bioethical Considerations

          A description and discussion of any ethical problems/considerations that may arise in relation to the disease.

The following students' Powerpoint presentations can be seen by clicking on the provided links, which will upload their Powerpoint Shows:

S. Blessing - Sickle Cell Anemia

K, Bopp - Cystic Fibrosis

H. Bothwell - Neimann-Pick Disease

A. Cody - Alzheimer's Disease

L. Detwiler - Macular Degeneration

R. Faselt - Angelmann Syndrome

S. Monaco - Cancer

K. Noonan - Noonan Syndrome

G. Sargent - Werner's Syndrome
X. Tao - Autism

The following are the students' triptych poster presentations:

Nicole - Down's Syndrome

Erin - Muscular Dystrophy

Caitlin - Autism

Ryan - Hemophilia

Jane - Albinism