Grey's Anatomy Season 11 Episode 21: Semi-unexpected twist
Hakuna Matata
8:42 AM
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Saturday, April 25, 2015
Monday, March 30, 2015
Concerning Fish: Of course.
Anonymous
11:00 PM
Recently, GreenPeace has released a video criticizing the purse-seining industry (for tuna). Apparently, purse-seinning companies aren't happy about it. They claim that it is highly biased. Well of course they will! What else would they do?
Sit back and, be oh, right, we have a whole bunch of bycatch, whatevs. NO! Of course not! They will obviously counter GreenPeace's claims. Is this not human nature?
Whether or not either argument has significant value, I am currently unsure. However, what I will agree with, is bycatch must at all costs, be limited. Even if the purse-seining community contributes little to this issue (which is highly unlikely) it contributes! You know what happens when dozens, hundreds, or thousands of industries do the same thing? We end up with a problem. Common sense no? It seems not. When will people understand that if you do something, it is likely thousands, or millions of others do the same thing? And just as 1+1=2, 1+1,000,000 others = 1,000,001. If that makes any sense.
Sit back and, be oh, right, we have a whole bunch of bycatch, whatevs. NO! Of course not! They will obviously counter GreenPeace's claims. Is this not human nature?
Whether or not either argument has significant value, I am currently unsure. However, what I will agree with, is bycatch must at all costs, be limited. Even if the purse-seining community contributes little to this issue (which is highly unlikely) it contributes! You know what happens when dozens, hundreds, or thousands of industries do the same thing? We end up with a problem. Common sense no? It seems not. When will people understand that if you do something, it is likely thousands, or millions of others do the same thing? And just as 1+1=2, 1+1,000,000 others = 1,000,001. If that makes any sense.
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Sunday, March 29, 2015
Ridiculing the ridiculous: "I don't like fish, so who cares if there'regone"
Anonymous
5:28 PM
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I'm starting a new series called: ridiculing the ridiculous. Which is a series by me, rebutting, frankly absurd comments. These lines are often the ones that catch us out, they are so utterly stupid and said in complete ignorance that we fail to come up with an argument. Not because we can't prove them wrong, but because we are caught off guard with the sheer naïveté.
"I don't like fish, so I don't care if they're gone."
So I assume you don't like dolphins, sharks, seals, bears, birds, or in fact anything else that lives and breathes? Indeed why should you care? It's only the stake of the planet you're talking about. Ever seen the Lion King? Remember the opening song? It's the circle of life. Ring any bells? Recall that everything is connected please. So remove all fish what are you left with? Well I'd like you to fill in the gaps. How's that dream of going to Fiji treating you?
Concerning Sharks: It's about time
Anonymous
3:30 AM
According to WildAid demand for shark-fin soup has fallen by as much as 70%. About time. This of course is fantastic news, if these statistics are even vaguely true, it seems that sharks are finally getting a break. If shark finning had continued at previous rates, or forbid even higher, there would have been an inevitable collapse. Finally, they have a chance.
A chance to recuperate. We've waged war on a community that never asked for it. It's about time we act like the civilized creatures we like to call ourselves. Otherwise we better start asking ourselves what exactly civilization means.
A chance to recuperate. We've waged war on a community that never asked for it. It's about time we act like the civilized creatures we like to call ourselves. Otherwise we better start asking ourselves what exactly civilization means.
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Saturday, March 28, 2015
Concerning Racehorses: This isn't living
Anonymous
5:21 PM
Born in a field.
Raised in a barn.
Trained from birth.
Forced to run.
Aching limbs.
Pounding heart.
Determined to please.
Can't go on.
Running from day one till they can no longer serve.
Sold with malice.
Shot without dignity.
Broken and alone.
Slavery is still a thriving business.
Raised in a barn.
Trained from birth.
Forced to run.
Aching limbs.
Pounding heart.
Determined to please.
Can't go on.
Running from day one till they can no longer serve.
Sold with malice.
Shot without dignity.
Broken and alone.
Slavery is still a thriving business.
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Friday, March 27, 2015
Concerning Horses: Riding on hacks
Anonymous
3:00 AM
I ride. You probably know this if you be been following me for a while.
Every other week I ride on a hack. Not my favorite experience, especially in winter. Why you ask?
Horses are runners: they see danger, they run. Not the best response for the rider on top of the spooking horse.
Most freak out sessions are thoroughly avoidable if people (the general public) knew a little bit more about horses. Thus I an here to educate you.
1. For some reason horses don't like umbrellas, so we would all appreciate it, if you closed them.
2. Apparently Christmas trees are a source of terror, please hold them in an upright position
3. Leash your dogs! Please, don't let them run in-between, under, and through the horses: a. it spooks them b. if the horse spooks and kicks your dog, it probably won't be getting up anytime soon
4. Don't walk up directly behind a horse (especially with a stroller), if that horse kicks you (or your baby), the end picture is not going to be pretty
5. Please wait for a minute, until we've passed, to go sledding down the hill
6. Don't rev your engine, nobody thinks that's cool.
7. If you're a kid please don't scream, if you're a parent please stop your child from screaming, if you're an adult, I hope you've outgrown the tendency to scream
That's if for now. Some of these, whatever you'd like to call them, are not just to make our lives easier, but to prevent accidents. People need to understand that if a child runs directly in front of a horse, there is a likelihood that it will spook. And you don't want a horse to kick your child.
2. Apparently Christmas trees are a source of terror, please hold them in an upright position
3. Leash your dogs! Please, don't let them run in-between, under, and through the horses: a. it spooks them b. if the horse spooks and kicks your dog, it probably won't be getting up anytime soon
4. Don't walk up directly behind a horse (especially with a stroller), if that horse kicks you (or your baby), the end picture is not going to be pretty
5. Please wait for a minute, until we've passed, to go sledding down the hill
6. Don't rev your engine, nobody thinks that's cool.
7. If you're a kid please don't scream, if you're a parent please stop your child from screaming, if you're an adult, I hope you've outgrown the tendency to scream
That's if for now. Some of these, whatever you'd like to call them, are not just to make our lives easier, but to prevent accidents. People need to understand that if a child runs directly in front of a horse, there is a likelihood that it will spook. And you don't want a horse to kick your child.
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Thursday, March 26, 2015
Osmorality: Freshwater vs. Saltwater Fish
Hakuna Matata
9:50 PM
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Now all organisms need to keep certain internal conditions constant, this is called homeostasis. For most organisms these need to be kept within a narrow margin: temperature, pH, glucose levels, and Osmolarity.
So why do we need to keep Osmolarity pretty steady? Do you remember the concept of osmosis? The diffusion of water molecules across a semi-permeable membrane from an area of low solute concentration to an area of high solute concentration. Do you remember the structure of a plant cell? They have rigid cell walls allowing them to absorb water without any detrimental effects. They can also lose water and keep their structure. Do you remember the animal cell? No cell wall to be found. So what do you think happens when too much water enters it. Well to put it bluntly, it explodes. So yeah. We don't want that. On the flip side too little water will cause them to shrivel. Not sure what the negative consequences of that are... But it certainly isn't desired.
So our bodies need to be able to keep our cells in a isotonic solution. So what does that mean? An isotonic solution means that the concentration of solute (salts) is the same on the inside as the outside. This doesn't mean that there is no movement of water molecules into and out of the cell, but the net movement is 0.
What would have in the solution was hypertonic? Well if something is hypertonic there is more solute on the outside then there is on the inside. Meaning that water will move out of the cell to the higher concentration of salt on the outside, this will cause the cells to shrink.
If the solution it hypotonic meaning the concentration of salts is lower on the outside than in the cells, water molecules will move into the cells. Causing them to go *kaboomy*
So what does this mean for a water dwelling comrades? Freshwater fish live in hypotonic environments, meaning that water will want to go in to the fish. So what do they do? Well they only eat, they don't drink any water. And their urine is highly dilute. This allows them to control the amount of water in their bodies.
On the other side of extremes we have saltwater fish. They live in highly hypertonic environments. So what water wants to do is leave their bodies to go into the water with a high solute concentration. So what these fish do is drink a lot of water, and have highly concentrated urine. This allows them to maximize the amount of water in their bodies.
Hope this was vaguely interesting.
Concerning Fish: Hehem.
Anonymous
3:00 AM
I think it's about time to refine our question. We've asked: how can we stop overfishing? And the answer: well I dearly hope it's rather obvious to you, stop (or at least decrease) fishing. Common sense, no? Alright, we know the answer to question one. And guess what? Fish stocks are going up. Finally.
Now guess what all the industries are demanding? Higher quotas. Hehem. Do you see the fatal flaw in this logic? I've even talked about it in other posts. So if you truly don't know the answer, feel free to read them. Anyway, perhaps the more essential question we should be asking is; how do we make people actually care about fish- beyond as a food source.
Now you understand the fundamental issue, people simply don't care about fish. Why? Well, I'm not entirely certain.
I guess they aren't fluffy: well neither are dolphins.
They live in a medium unavailable to humans: neither do birds or dolphins.
So in conclusion, I don't know. All I do know, we need to change this mind set. Otherwise we will remain in a perpetual cycle of unsustainable fishing and overfishing. Think of it like a yoyo diet. Not healthy, and at the end of the day thoroughly useless.
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