Drafts

Earthquake detection is no new technology. In fact, the first known seisometer was built in 132 CE by a Chinese astronomer by the name of Zhang Heng (1). However, simply detecting an earthquake is not enough to fully inform response teams, local leadership, and citizens. In real-time analysis of earthquake sequences, it is not currently possible to differentiate aftershocks from foreshocks-sequences that prelude larger events. However, Gulia and Wiemer have introduced a new technique that can differentiate these sequences in real time (2). This relys on data gathered from 58 other sequences, and testing these against one another (2). What results is a 95% confidence classification (2) that can help local leadership and first responders save lives.

(1) Rigg, J. (2019, August 8). The ancient earthquake detector that puzzled modern historians. Retrieved October 15, 2019, from https://www.engadget.com/2018/09/28/backlog-zhang-heng-seismoscope/?gucc....

(2) Gulia, L., & Wiemer, S. (2019). Real-time discrimination of earthquake foreshocks and aftershocks. Nature, 574(7777), 193–199. doi: 10.1038/s41586-019-1606-4

Lebanon is currently crying as there are massive forest fires occuring and it is very unspoken of. It started in the Blazes, and it started in Lebanon's western mountains.  Heavy smoke was seen over Beirut and the city of Sidon. This was the worst fires that Lebanon has been in the history of its' fires. The areas most heavily affected were in the Chouf and Metn regions, in the lush Mount Lebanon range, Greece is responding to the wildfire by sending two planes. Additionally, there is heat waves, and this is abnormal for October in Lebanon. 

One important difference between Egyptian and Sumerian religions is the use of animals in godly figures. Sumerian gods took the forms of human beings entirely without much reference to the animal world. In ancient Sumer the gods of people were people, thus many lessons could be learned from the hierarchy of the gods by the people. If the gods had inequality, the people should too. In ancient Egypt, the gods took the bodies of humans with the heads of animals found in Egypt. Each animal god was an interpretation of the animal in real life and had its characteristics. A falcon man was the god of the sky, the god of wisdom was a baboon man, and the god of ‘the returning land after a flood’ was a crocodile man. However different these religions may have been, they both used human figures as their gods. The Egyptians added animals, yet they kept most of the god human. I believe this was done to keep the gods familiar and relatable while still holding immense power.

Post-apocalyptic societies in literature often bring out violent behavior in human characters. Dystopian novels are often based off violence between others, whether it be violence between government and citizens, or violence between citizens amongst themselves. Desperate times call for despite measures and bring out acts of vehemence and desperation. Two novels that really bring out this theme of violence during post-apocalyptic events are Parable of the Sower, by Octavia Butler, and The Handmaids Tale, by Margaret Atwood.  Both novels are about a dystopian society after a post-apocalyptic event and they both show violence, but in different ways. In both novels, violence is used to control people with fear. Even in a society that is falling apart, there is always someone trying to assume control. The control is gained through fear that is induced by violence. Desire to have things is another leading driver of violence in these societies. People become desperate and will do anything to gain what they do not have. Such acts of violence include cannibalism, rape, murder, etc. It seems that when humans are put into desperate situations they become violent over basic needs such as food, clean water, companionship, sexual desires etc. Although each novel has different types of dystopian societies, in both cases citizens are not getting basic needs and commit acts of violence to get those needs

Animals played key roles in Egyptian beliefs, as they expressed an ideology to support an element of Egyptian social organization. One of these animals, the ferocious crocodile, became of clear importance. This animal displayed two behaviors, one of evil and one of good, which made the crocodile god, Sobek, both feared and worshipped. When hunting, crocodiles hide in murky waters near the banks of rivers in search of their prey. Any unsuspecting woman, child, or livestock who walked nearby could become feed for the crocodile in one quick snap. Sobek may have provided the Egyptians with a sort of public service announcement to keep people away from the Nile or at least vigilant. Crocodiles were creatures to be feared. In the wild they were hunted with spears to keep populations low Why then, were crocodiles also worshipped as a form of good? As annual floods began to recede, crocodiles would be found laying in the fertile soils Egyptian farmers would later cultivate. Therefore Egyptians saw these beasts as a sign of fertile soils. A sign of good. Some crocodiles were even brought into a temple and kept as sacred animals. 

A buffer is a solution that can resist pH change upon the addition of an acidic or basic components. It is able to moderate the pH of a reaction.

A mixture of a conjugate acid-base pair that can resist changes in pH when small volumes of strong acids or bases are added. Buffers are made of a

weak acid and its conjugate base, or a weak base and a conjugate strong acid. In a strong base and weak acid micture, the strong base is added,

and the acid present in the buffer neutralizes the hydroxide ions (OH-). Hydroxide is what makes it more basic. In a mixture with a strong acid and a

weak base, a strong acid is added, and the base present in the buffer neutralizes the hydronium ions (H30+). Hydronium ions make the solution

more acidic (acid H+ or H3O+ workup).

In scientific research, the most reported upon results are the successfully produced unexpected, question begging results that blows away theories of what people thought was true. People only read the conclusive projects, the successful experiments, and the new, best research. This is what sells best, what grabs a reader's attention, what people want to read, and what makes money for the publishing databases and journals and magazines. The world where all science is performed perfectly and all projects end with sweet relief of expectations being met just does not exist. Only the top one percent of the research done in the world gets published and acknowledged. All things are glorified and hyped and the reality gets lost. Expectations get built up that success is measured and you must complete research for it to count. The reality is that failure takes up most of your time in the scientific world. Failure and trouble shooting and learning constantly are all parts of your daily life. You can't find the answer your looking for on your first try ever, and if you do that means it was done before you and thats how you were able to arrive so easily to your conclusion. People who do reserach for the results will never get anywhere because you have to be in it for the learning, the correcting, the fixing, the messing up, the issues, and the wrongs. Otherwise you will never have the patience needed to get to the bottom of anything worth publishing. 

Feedback loops typically include a sensor, control sensor, and an effector which executes the change in the body to return back to homeostasis

How normal feedback loop for blood glucose goes:

1. we eat sugar, blood glucose rises

2. Sensor; pancreatic beta cells sense this and release vesicle stored insulin

3. control center; pancreatic beta cells (still) - insulin travels to bloodstream to fat and skeletal muscle

4. effector: fat and skeletal muscle - stores glucose. has insulin receptors which bind to insulin when it arrives. GLUT 4 (glucose transporters) are signaled to enter plasma membrane to bring glucose via facilitated diffusion back into the cell

5. result: blood glucose levels fall back down 

Steve Lima is an animal behaviorist who was interested in testing a specific form of groiup defense in birds called the many eyes effect. The many eyes effect is described as a strategy animals living in groups use to escape predators. This is the assumption that animals watch their surroundings and are paying attention to the actions of others in the group. 

In Lima's experiment, he wanted to scare a single bird and observe if other birds in his study reacted to the response of fear from the bird he tested on. To do this, he used a long tube with a ball at the end of it and pointed it at the single bird, rolling the ball down the tube to create a scenario where the bird would lock eyes on a ball rolling at a fast speed towards it. The bird fled, frightened, but the other birds did not move. This suggested that in this scenario, the many eyes effect was not taking place.