Mike White's Blog

David Owen is a huge advocate for sustainability. He started out his talk by describing what makes a perfectly sustainable city. These included walking everywhere, used less electricity, and found other forms of transportation besides cars. Surprisingly, the city that conforms to this ideal sustainable society is New York City. I know when I think of New York I don’t associate it with sustainability. As I started thinking about it, however, New Yorkers’ main source of transportation is walking. Although New York is often pictured as jam packed with cars, research has shown that New York’s energy consumption is extremely low.

Outside of New York in the suburbs, almost every family owns a car. Not only this, but most families own multiple cars! I know my family owns three cars. Owning multiple cars, according to Owen, is a huge factor in energy consumption. This is one reason New York has a lower carbon footprint than other places: most residents do not own a car.

Owen also stated that even though we are developing more energy efficient products, our consumption of these products are increasing. For example, we have made air conditioners much more efficient then they once were. Now that they are more efficient, we simply turn up the air condition when we get hot instead of opening a window. We are creating more energy efficient produce, but our increased use of these resources has surpassed the point to which these advances reduces our carbon footprint. This is why technological advancements cannot alone solve the problem. Owen said that it will take multiple approaches and changes to help create real change and become more sustainable like New York.

I don’t know about you, but these lizards remind me of one of those little dinosaurs from Jurassic The frill-necked lizard, also called the frilled dragon, is known for the large ruff of skin which usually lies folded back against its head and neck. This frill is mainly used to ward of predators. Scientists have also claimed that the frill helps with thermoregulation. The frilled lizard is native to the deserts of Australia. As adults, these lizards  can grow to be one a meter long with their frill being about a foot in diameter.

In a situation in which the frilled dragon feels endangered, it will puff up its frill which is made of bright orange and red colors to ward the predator off. If these tactics do not work, the frilled dragon will flee to a nearby tree. Normally, these creatures are quadrupedal, meaning they walk on four legs. However, when in danger they begin to sprint on two legs. Below is a video of a frilled dragon running (Please disregard the music!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1zatX4z0PU

The frilled dragon may seem like a scary creature, but it would rather run away then attack you. So if anyone is planning on going to Austrailia, watch out for these freaky lizards!

The tarsier monkey is different from most primates for a variety of reasons. The most prominent attribute is its size. The tarsier monkey is one of the smallest primates in the world. The other notable feature is its large eyes. It looks like the tarsier’s eyes are about to pop out of its head! But let’s be honest, how cute are they? I know you’re thinking you just want to take one home and keep it forever. You’re not alone.

Being just 10-15cm in length, the tarsier is one of the smallest primates in the world. Being this small allows them to hang onto branches without breaking them, making them good arboreal mammals. Their long hind limbs – twice as long as their body – make it possible for them to jump from tree to tree. Even one day after their birth, they can already climb trees.

The thing that stands out about these animals are their large eyes. In fact, their eyes are the size of their brain, about 16mm around. Despite its large eyes, the tarsier is nocturnal. They feed on mainly insects at night; however, they have been known to prey on snakes, lizards, birds, and bats.

An interesting thing scientists have discovered about the tarsier is that their brains don’t work the same way as other primates. The way the brain is structured differently, and the connections between parts of the brain differ from those of other primates. Neurologists believe that this characteristic, along with some evidence from the fossil record, indicate that the tarsier arose in an early and independently line of primate evolution.

These South Asian primates may be small, but they are still interesting species of primates. Their numbers in the wild are dwindling, but conservation efforts are being made to try and preserve what is left of them. So far, few conservation efforts have been successful; however, the Tarsier Research and Development Center is a semi wild enclosure that is the most successful conservation effort for these animals. In 2008, the tarsier was put on the 25 most endangered primates list. Hopefully, with future efforts we will be able to keep these cute little fur balls around.

The angler fish is an interesting deep sea creature that is known for its strange light on its head. This light attaches to the top of the fishes head and extends right in front of his mouth. You all may know this fish from the Movie Finding Nemo. This fish attacked the two main characters when they wandered into the darkness of the deep sea. Like with the real fish, the terrifying fish in the movie lured the main characters by attracting them with the light before attacking them. The use of this light, or illium, is to attract prey by using bioluminescent tissue to create a light. This is where the fish gets its name: it uses the light to “angle” for fish (sort of like fishing). 

The angler fish inhabits the oceans near Europe and the Mediterranean Sea. The movie Finding Nemo portrays this fish as living near Sydney Australia, which is blatantly false. In these waters, the anglerfish feeds on juvenile fish such as dogfish, skate, and sand eels. To catch these fish, it stays in one place until a fish comes up to the light. The nerves of the anglerfish fire when the light is touched that signals its mouth to open and swallow the fish. What is interesting is that the male anglerfish doesn’t have teeth, only females do.

The anglerfish also has a unique way of reproducing. When a male fish comes into contract with a female fish, he will fuse himself to her. When bonded at a young age, the anglerfish doesn’t grow eyes or a intestinal organs.

The anglerfish is an incredible organisms, and is well-known because of the movie Finding Nemo. I know they look ugly, but at the depths of the ocean they live in, there is no light for their mates to determine the magnitude of their beauty.

Last night, I attended the the lecture by former Irish President Mary Robinson. I wanted to attend because I felt like it was a once in a lifetime opportunity to listen to a President speak. I think the perspective of a President made her speech unique to anything I have listened to before. There were two major ideas that I took from her lecture: the idea that anyone can make a difference and to stick to your beliefs.

President Robinson brought up the idea that anyone can make a difference several times. She claimed that people make a difference even through small efforts. The example she used was “reduce, reuse, and recycle.” By doing small things such as reducing the amount of waste you produce can have significant impacts on the environment. I also found her message about how you can be whatever you want to be. The fact that she was a woman and both of her parents were doctors didn’t stop her from getting into politics and making a difference. Especially being at this point in my life where I get to choose what I want to do, it is inspiring to hear her say that I can be anything I want to be.

She also hit on the topic of sticking to your beliefs. She talked about how if she was well-liked while being a Senator, she wasn’t doing her job right. This meant that she needed to inspire change that she believed in, regardless of whether it was a popular idea or not. An example of this was when she tried passing a bill on contraceptives (a topic that wasn’t very popular). She stood with her bill even though she was under fire for talking about a topic as sensitive as contraceptives. She battled through the heat and eventually inspired change in family planning. I will take this lesson throughout my life and stick to the values I believe in.

Listening to President Robinson was a very unique experience. I loved hearing her views on leadership through the perspective of a President. I learned valuable lessons about leadership and life that I will try to incorporate into my own life.