I think everyone has been a least fascinated in the period of the dinosaurs. From growing up with tyrannosaurus toys, to the modern day films like Jurassic World, it is close to impossible to forget that these magical beings, once walked the very ground we do today. Dinosaurs fascinate a lot of people, including me, for many reasons but I know for myself, one thing that I find myself stuck on is that at one period in time, all of the dinosaurs became flushed out and extinct.. or did they?

Scientists have made some of the most incredible findings with fossilized rocks. From finding almost the entire structure of a dinosaur from thousands of years ago, to finding some fossilized cells making it possible to do even more thorough research, it is no surprise that dinosaur discoveries are still on our radar.

It was discovered that birds are actually evolved from a group of dinosaurs called Theropods. Of course, this has been discovered through the findings of multiple fossils and such, but as it turns out Theropods and the birds we see today, have the same structure of feet, that we see on present day birds. Theropods walked on two legs back in the times of dinosaurs just like how birds in modern day can walk on both their feet. Something that we see in modern day birds is that size was an evolutionary adaption to be able to survive and have the best chance of survival. Being smaller is not only an advantage to not be seen by your prey, but also to move around more quick with a lot less weight, especially since many birds these days can fly.

It is believed that dinosaurs, being the in reptilian family, are also linked to modern day animals such a turtles, snakes and etc, but this research has yet to be studied more extensively through fossils and such.

Sourceshttp://img07.deviantart.net/2961/i/2012/329/f/6/theropod_phylogeny_by_ntamura-d5m5qnu.jpghttp://smashinghub.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/big-bird-photographs-1.jpghttps://www.quantamagazine.org/http://scienceline.ucsb.edu/http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0369610/

One of the most confusing concepts to wrap my own brain around when I think of the capabilities of animals is the action of hibernating. Did you know some animals can hibernate, meaning they don’t wake up, drink, eat or go to the bathroom over as long as a 6 month period! If you’re like me and you just read that, you’re probably asking yourself how that is even possible without resulting in something as serious as death?

In researching this specific topic, I found myself to become more and more fascinated in the process of hibernating and what goes on inside the bodies of these animals that allows them to perform such an incredible thing. In many animals, hibernation lasts over the course of a time when their food source will be unattainable, such as harsh winters. In these hard times, these older animals will usually go out and collect as much food as possible and store it in these newly dug dens. Now if you’re wondering why they collect food when I said some animals don’t wake up to eat, sleep, or drink at all during this long period of time, that’s because the key word was some. Specific kinds of bears such as Grizzly and Black Bears don’t wake up whatsoever during this time will most other kinds of animals who hibernate do.

When these animals wake up it is usually because their bodies send a signal that they are running low on food and an impulse wakes them up out of their deep slumber and quickly take a bite to eat and a sip of water and then back to bed they go.

When these animals hibernate there are brown fat and regular white fat. This special kind of brown fat creates patch like surfaces on organs such as the heart that generate extra heat, as these animals are usually hibernating during a harsh winter. This brown fat that these animals are able to produce is a key function in the reason hibernation is possible. During hibernation, a heart beat can get to about 80-4 beats per minute. If one of us was to stumble upon a bear in hibernation we would most certainly assume it was dead.

When the hibernation period is over and the animals wake up, this is primarily why they store up so much food during this time. Can you imagine waking up after 7 months of a deep sleep and how hungry you would feel? In fact, most animals who hibernate need to come out of their burrows asap to begin to scavenge for food again, as this time they have lost a giant amount of their body fat, which in turn helps them to stay warm.

Sources:

https://qph.is.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-03ad8ad38f980772a9455854046f8596?convert_to_webp=true

https://search.yahoo.com/yhs/search;_ylt=A0LEVj.WYfpV6ucADiEnnIlQ;_ylu=X3oDMTByOHZyb21tBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzcg–?p=hibernation+video+site%3Ayoutube.com&vs=www.youtube.com&fr=yhs-mozilla-002&hspart=mozilla&hsimp=yhs-002

http://www.howitworksdaily.com/

http://sciencemadesimple.com/

An issue that has been debated and fought over for years now is the question “Should we allow people to have wild animals as pets”. It’s very important to define what a “wild” animal is, because this definition can be very controversial to many people. Any animal, no matter if you domesticate it or not, should be considered a wild animal.

One area of entertainment where this issue was been a predominant problem, is in Zoo’s. If you go to a Zoo, every animal there is from the wild in one form or another. There have protests and objections to the practice of Zoo’s, but they are still here today. Why is this you may ask? Many Zoo’s take into captivity, animals who have been left behind by their mothers, animals with defects and the list goes on. This is one of the most retaliated points among this dispute and has allowed Zoo’s to continue on in their field of entertainment.

Many people debating this issue, believe that it is ok to have wild animals even as close to in our homes, as long as the animals are still babies. When the animals get of age to the point where they have developed the capability to cause harm to a family members, they should be released into the wild and that is a safe and efficient way to handle this. I think anyone reading this could agree that this idea is not only ridiculous sounding, but absolutely unjust to the animals. When an animal such as a tiger is born into the wild, it is taught from the first day they’re born crucial instinctual skills and performance skills that can only be learned in their true and natural habitat. Taking this away is not only lessening he chance of survival among the ENTIRE species itself, but also setting them up to be killed if they are to be released one day into the wild.

A film I have seen recently seen and partially inspired to write this blog post is named Grizzly Man. At the beginning of this film it shows multiple footage of Timothy Treadwell and his girlfriend at the time, interacting with wild bears. Treadwell was a fiercely passionate bear activist and believed that he could live and interact among the bears and it was acceptable. I don’t want to spoil the ending but this film conveys a message that human interaction with any wild animals is not necessarily natural and we should leave the wild in their habitat. This film is truly a gem of its kind as it not only shows interaction with wild bears and this bear activist by the name of Timothy Treadwell, but the message is telling people everywhere that wild instincts will take over any animal, no matter how well “trained” you might think they are.

Sources:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0427312/

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/10/10/1412903539129_wps_24_Subject_Tippi_Hedren_in_a.jpg

http://www.watchdocumentary.tv/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/grizzlyman1-265×250.jpg

http://www.livescience.com/33870-domesticated-animals-criteria.html

As you can see by the title, something that has fascinated me this week was stumbling upon a study about sleep. Every study you look at about sleep, there are still gaping wide questions and many “if” “and” or “but” insights attached to this study but the giant question we all want answered is “Why do we sleep?!” As sad as this answer may be, it still has yet to be determined. The body organism is such a complex system filled with veins and nerves and organs, that a lot of questions, are still unknown.

Many people who research this topic, like to compare it to other necessities our bodies need to continue the regulation of our health and keep us alive. Some of these comparisons range from eating to breathing, both things our bodies naturally regulate, to maintain our daily functions. Just how when our bodies tell us it’s time to eat, by sending less than desirable hunger cravings in our stomachs, when we need to sleep our bodies tell us by the way it reacts.

• Eating = full
• Drinking = quenched
• Breathing = balanced
• Sleeping = rejuvenated

We all can agree that when we wake up from a long and deep sleep, we feel rejuvenated and our functions feel replenished. This is because this IS happening when we are asleep. When we sleep one of the big things happening is our cells all over our bodies (hair, skin, nails, etc) are growing anew.

In other studies, there have been a few theories. These theories consist of the Inactivity Theory, Energy Conservation Theory and Restorative Theory.

Inactivity Theory:

Although there are a few valid arguments that have come to the surface against this theory, it is still most certainly possible. It’s believed that we adapted sleep for the reason to protect ourselves, mostly at night time. Some predators hunt in the night and it’s believed that instead of moving around and being active, this state of being still and in a trance of sleep, served as a protective instinct we learned. Many believe that this ties in with the reason we sleep at night is because those active in the day, as it is hard to say were to be injured more and not as alert, due to our inability to see in the dark, therefore we slept.

Energy Conservation/Restorative Thoery:

Another two theories that tie into each other are pretty self explanatory in that we sleep because we restore the energy and things our bodies burned up and used during the day. During this deep sleep, we conserve our energy so that when we wake up, we can perform at our bests whether that be school, hunting, exercising and etc.

Sources:

http://healthysleep.med.harvard.edu/

http://a.dilcdn.com/bl/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2013/10/gallery_monstersinc_05.jpg

I think one of the most interesting questions I’ve come across when thinking about our bodies is why we yawn in the first place. The reason this question interests me so much is because I’ve noticed that many people yawn when they’re tired or sleepy, but does this action of yawning trigger some kind of regulation in our body to help us function? Does it wake us up? Is yawning contagious like the myth we all believe?

In my research I’ve found that there are a giant handful of studies and opinions on why we actually yawn and what it does for us. From the newest studies to the oldest studies, it seems as a sum of all of these study conclusions, yawning does in fact trigger some form of help in our bodies functions.

A new study done by Sir Francis Walshe, a British neurologist, has discovered something in one of those outside of the box studies that just so happened to stumble upon him in another research test. Walshe found that while he was doing trials on patients who were parylized, the patients, while yawning, would be able to obtain function in the side of their body that had been parylized. The best guess is that this is able to happen because of something in the brain. This kind of information is a giant break in the study of not only yawning, but the human body and has yet to be explained.

Another big researched area in yawning, is that yawning is linked to our ability to empathize with one another. One of the break through findings of this study was because children were observed and when these children became mature enough to develop the skill set to empathize, this skill set was paralleled with when these children began to yawn.

Not ONLY are these the other studies in yawning, but it is also a strong theory that we as a species, yawn to communicate. Just like when you look at a bed of new born kittens, who cannot yet see, one of these kittens yawns in the nest of cuddled kittens to signal that it is time for the whole litter to be tired and get some sleep. This translates over into humans and is thought that yawning is a form of communication amongst our species to signal that we are indeed feeling something others around us should feel.

Many other trials have been done with yawning, some leading towards success and some left at dead ends. A strong theory that we yawn to send a flow of oxygen to the brain and throughout our bodies, although a good theory, has yet to be more proved than disproved at this point in time. In fact, it is believed that another reason why our bodies yawn is because it sends a signal throughout our body that our brains need to be cooled down, resulting in a yawn. Why these two theories may have collided is because they both have to do with sleep. When we are tired, our brains tend to over heat, just like a piece of machinery that needs to be cooled down from over working.

Sources: http://www.newyorker.com/science/maria-konnikova/the-surprising-science-of-yawning

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/why-do-we-yawn-nothing-to-do-with-boredom–were-just-cooling-our-brains-say-scientists-9356468.html

http://www.bing.com/th?id=JN.sJAbVUDpnIrFhLjs7nEdLQ&pid=15.1&P=0&w=300&h=300

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7mYclB2oypk/TWrlhBPvHxI/AAAAAAAAALc/mwjhBbuZ9kU/s1600/yawn4.jpg

Hi, ya’ll!

My name is Maxim, but everyone calls me Max. I am an incoming freshman at Penn State University and I’m stoked, to say the least. For my freshman year, I have decided to enroll in DUS (Division of Undergraduate Studies), as I want to focus on gen-ed courses this year, while I am still deciding on my major. Something I’m strongly considering is Marketing, but my dream at the moment is to further my education to get into the real estate.

To kick this off, I was born in a small country in Europe that nobody ever hears about, Moldova. When I was about 1 year old my parents flew to Moldova and adopted both my sister and I and I have lived here in State College, PA ever since. Growing up here I have to admit, was a bit boring to say the least, so when I graduated high school, I knew I had to get out and explore. I ended up moving across the United States to the big state of Texas, where I lived for a year. I decided taking a gap year was the best decision for me, as hopping back into school sounded absolutely DREADFUL to me. I had a few friends in Texas and decided to take a leap of faith, and I’ve never been more proud of a decision I’ve made for myself.

Moving back to State College was a bit challenging, to say the least, as living in such a large area in Dallas, you get accustomed to everything being larger than life and exciting, as well as fast pace. I moved back to State College, because I knew I wanted to start college and I couldn’t think of a more fitting place than Penn State, and I’m very happy with my decision.

When it came down to picking a class, Science was never my strongest suit, as it always involved some sort of math, which was and still is, my WORST subject. When I sat down with my advisor and explaining my view, she recommended that Science200 would be the perfect fit for me, as it’s designed for students who aren’t interested in going into a Science major of any sorts. We’ve had a few classes by now and I have to admit, Andrew is making me think about things I’ve never thought about before such as there being 100,000,000 galaxies?! WHAT?! I’m definitely looking forward for the following classes and meeting my fellow peers.

picture: http://yalsa.ala.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/texas.jpg