Week 13, Memory and Magic

In terms of memory, I have thought for a long time that it is something not only within but beyond the mind. Although there are many mental activities and functions that relate to memory, we also store memory in every part of our body and possibly even in our energetic bodies.
With magic, I think sometimes we just want to be amazed and allow our analytic minds to go and then we can enjoy a magician "tricking" us...I honestly think magic is great because it brings forth a sense of curiosity and wonder.

Week 13, To live is to know...?

I don't think that to live is to know...I think that to live is to live, and knowing might be included in there but it isn't everything. The validity and truth of this statement is dependent on the definition of "knowing". What" knowing" is is a huge topic and I don't think I could answer specifically what it is because it is so deep and multi-layered...

Week Eleven, Comments on Links

I really liked all the images on the links these weeks. My favorite one was the page that had all the 3-D images of animals like fleas and ticks. I think we often times forget that those so-called "pests" are incredibly complex beings that have a completely different reality than they one we do. I think sites like these are really educational.

Week Eleven. Diversity

There doesn't seem to be too much diversity surrounding me these days. All I have are humans, the ants that have taken over my compost, and the plants I see everyday on my bike rides. Up in the hills there is more diversity and I would like to think that in the ocean too, but I am not sure of that one because of all the pollution. I like to think that I am living in this lack of species diversity so that other places in the world can teem with life. But it still saddens me a little...

Week 10, Animations

These animations are really cool...They are the closest thing to having a lab without having a lab. I could see them being really useful for any chemistry class.

Week 10, Biochemistry is the chemsitry of life

According to Wikipedia, biochemistry is the chemistry of life. To me, this seems to say that biochemistry is concerned with the the chemical reactions of molecules and elements that occur in living systems. I guess this brings up the conundrum of what is considered a living system again. Maybe it's easier to say that this definition of biochemistry states that it is the chemistry that studies the molecular interactions of nature.

Week 10, Gene Therapy

The ethics of gene therapy are very complicated. One the one hand, a lot of people seem to think that they can do a lot of good and help weed out "bad" or "unwanted" genes from the gene pool. Personally, I think it's a pretty ridiculous idea to start messing with genes on any level, even the genes of plants. We just have no idea of knowing what are the long term complications. Also, who are we to decide what we want or don't want in the gene pool. That seems like a really big decision to be made be a group of geneticists wanting to explore.