Week 3: Earth is flat. Anybody can see that!
Since the very beginning of the civilization, when science was in its verge of development, people used to consider that the earth is flat. They used to think that the shape of the earth is like a disk. This controversy was valid for a long period of time until the idea of the spherical earth occurred in the Greek Philosophy. This concept was first taken into consideration by Pythagoras, afterwards, his student Aristotle proved that the earth is spherical in shape on the basis of the empirical evidences.
It is a scientific controversy which is still active till the present date. In the ancient times, the people believed that earth is a plate floating on water. In the modern times, the pseudoscience believers believes that the earth is flat and all the images that are obtained from the GPS are photo shopped. All though these theories have not been proven to be true as yet.
Week 6: Gorongosa Restoration Project (GRP)
The article Narrative Fortresses portrays the Gorongosa Restoration Project which has taken place in Mozambique which is at present facing some ecological disasters. The stakeholders of this project includes the tourists, governments, NGOs, business men and local people of the Gorongosa. The NGOs have conducted several programs which have enhanced the development of the human, animals and environment of the place (Correia et al. 2017). The business men have taken initiatives in making donations and raising funds for the project. The local people have taken self-initiatives to cultivate something coffee for a better living. According to the reports, the animals were brutally killed for their natural asset in Gorongosa Natural Park. The Protected area system has been developed for the purpose of protecting them with the help of the project. Moreover, this narrative describes about the all the steps that has been taken in order to protect the natural habitat of the place.
Week 8: American burying beetles
Name of the specie: Nicrophorus americanus
Special characteristics of the specie:
- These species are recycler of the nutrients and are very important for the terrestrial ecosystem.
- These are very efficient for preventing health threats as it removes the source of food from flies.
- They feed on the fly larvae and eggs reducing their population considerably.
The specie is mainly found in the Eastern part of the North America, Rhode Islands, Eastern Oklahoma and some parts of Dakota.
It is listed as one of the endangered species.
All though the reason for the decline of the specie has not been identified properly. All though electronic bag zappers are considered to be the cause of death for these beetles as they attracts and kills them.
As the actual cause of their decline has not being identified, not much can be done for saving them. Although the electronic bag zappers for killing bugs have been banned kin certain areas for the development of those species (Jenkins et al. 2018).
Week 9: Specie Habitat
The American burying beetle is found in 35 states (which includes Missouri) and southern Canada. All though in the contemporary world, they resides in Texas, Rhode Island, and states of Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota and Arkansas.
These species are usually found in hot and humid temperature with a mild winter.
They are terrestrial animals.
The geographic range of these animals still exists in the Eastern part of the North America, Rhode Islands, Eastern Oklahoma and some parts of Dakota, although it is marked as endangered species.
The specie of the beetle is a restorer of the nutrients and preventer of the health related issues. Thus de-extinction of the specie will be a good choice (Leasure and Hoback 2017).
Week 10: Climate Impacts Grow
With the advancement in the technology the global temperature has increased to a certain extent. This has resulted in the global warming due to the production of the greenhouse gases. The term uncertainty and the prediction implies that the climatic changes cannot be completely predicted and the effect of these gases are uncertain and cannot be assumed.
I think that science has contributed a lot in increasing the global warming and release of greenhouse gas with each technological evolution it has undertaken. This is because the tech-evolution has made use of the natural resources for achieving their goals.
Week 11:
According to the quiz, I get to know that as we are utilizing natural resources so abruptly there will be a requirement of three Earths to fulfill our needs. I think that human beings have been depleting natural resources in bad manner and these would lead to extinction of many natural resources from our Earth. Therefore, we need to restrict ourselves and minimize the use of natural resource and stop over consuming it.
Week 12:
The extinction of the American burying beetle does not depend upon the invasive species. However the reason of the extinction of the American Burying beetle is not yet known.
Week 13:
As per the data that is provided, four populations are analyzed. It is seen that in the course of 4years, the population 1, both light and dark colored mice have shown considerable amount of evolution. Where as in the population 4, the light colored mouse’s population has shrunken.
The theory of the natural selection may have occur and the dominant feature that is the dark color have shown evolution in all the zones of the development.
References:
Correia, M., Timóteo, S., Rodríguez‐Echeverría, S., Mazars‐Simon, A. and Heleno, R., 2017. Refaunation and the reinstatement of the seed‐dispersal function in Gorongosa National Park. Conservation Biology, 31(1), pp.76-85.
Jenkins, T., Hoback, W.W., Leasure, D., Mulder, P. and Davis, C., 2018. Distribution of the endangered American burying beetle at the northwestern limit of its range. Insect Systematics and Diversity, 2(1), p.ixx011.
Leasure, D.R. and Hoback, W.W., 2017. Distribution and habitat of endangered American burying beetle in northern and southern regions. Journal of insect conservation, 21(1), pp.75-86.
