Mote Lab

I’m not really sure why we were brought to the Mote lab. It is a disgusting, smelly fishery and was unpleasant to be at. We talked about how terrible fisheries are and it was disheartening that we went because I couldn’t tell if we were there to be disgusted or enjoy learning about the fishery. The experience in itself was very confusing. I didn’t like it at all.

I’m 100% sure the scientists at the Mote lab thought we were science students, probably from USF or New College. Why I think that is because the scientists constantly used very technical terms and said: “but you guys know about that, right?”. Yes. I do. I go to art school.

Looking at the fish was kind of cool. It was really sad to see them trapped in a small container, flopping around on top of each other. I like to think that they didn’t understand what was going on and that they were being farmed for food. Poor Sturgeons (??).

The fishery smelled terrible and it was really out of the way. If I had the choice to go by myself I wouldn’t go. If it wasn’t for the fact that we were being forced to go there for our grade I also wouldn’t have gone. The only reason why the trip was worth it was because my car-pool bought dinner at Wendy’s right after. Delicious.

What I learned at the lab was that fisheries smell terrible and are really depressing. I was uninterested in the tour the whole way through and could barely hear our guide, let alone understand his vocabulary.

I like to imagine what it would feel like to be a farmed fish. I like to try to imagine how frightening life would be as Sturgeon fish, flopping around on top of my other Sturgeon friends, then being forced somewhere else and killed.

It is a sad life to imagine.

NO IMPACT MAN – Progressive regress?

The idea of ultimate sustainability behind the “No impact man” is definitely important – the amount of things we consume, directly or indirectly, and the amount of waste we produce, are abominable. I really liked the initiative, although I think it was in many ways too extreme. We can not just reject hundreds of years of all progress and commodities that the humanity came up with to make our lives easier and explore new possibilities, and that was to a great extent what the No Impact Man was doing. Simply rejecting electricity, or services like eating out, is not a solution, or at least – not a very clever one. It only makes the life of the person who decides to do it harder. Instead, new solutions of sustainable energy and transportation should be invented. In fact, they already have been invented, but they are more expensive, and it is not in the interest of big corporations to “bother” to switch to more sustainable resources. I think the No Impact Man was really making it hard on himself, instead of trying to find solutions that would actually work for larger numbers of people, ideally – with very little or none of there people’s effort. The way of life he proposed was actually taking a lot of time and effort, and as idealist as I am, I think people are generally seeking the easiest and most effortless ways to do things (although he did save a lot of time by not having a TV, for sure). I admire his effort and it was a good call towards raising awareness and bringing the family closer together. In the long run, however, if everybody lived this way, it would kind of slow the progress, if not throw us back, in my opinion. Therefore, like I said, I think we should look for alternative solutions, instead of ridding ourselves of the long-achieved comforts.

I also think, however, that there are certain things that we can do indeed. For example, we should shop locally, use bikes or public transportation as much as we can, get rid of paper billing and paper magazines (especially that now we do have easily accessible electronic versions), use reusable cups and tumblers, and stop buying bottled water. Reducing packaging waste, recycling, and composting (if possible) are also some brilliand and easily executable ideas. Overall, I think it was an interesting project and we should be more mindful of the environment (DUH!!!), but some radical solutions that were proposed in the movie could be done better.

I’m attaching a thought-provoking image about our impact on the planer and ourselves
http://www.upworthy.com/great-advice-for-aliens-that-want-to-destroy-earth

New Spider Silk Discovery!

For over a decade now, scientist have been working to create lighter an more durable fabrics through the usage of spider silk. Spider silk has many desirable properties in terms of safety. When woven into  a fabric, spider silk can be among the most indestructible materials on our planet. A rope as thick as a pencil comprised of ‘golden orb weaver’ silk, is strong enough on its own, to stop a commercial jet in mid flight. Spider silk is one third the weight of kevlar and ten times as durable. This is because spider silk is made from a unique protein weave designed to capture insects and even small birds several times larger than the spider itself.

The original problem scientists had with using spider silk was the unwanted adhesive that coated the spider’s web. What’s more, spider could only produce small amounts of silk at a time which made it impossible to mass produce. Fortunately this problem was quickly solved when scientists realized that we already have a fairly efficient way to produce protein. That of course was milk! The spider silk gene was promptly introduced into goats. When these ‘spider-goats’ excreted their milk, the silk protein would come out too. It would come out in a liquid form rather than a thread, that could be separated from the milk and then woven. Since this discovery, manufacturers have been working to create safety devices with it such as spider kevlar and seat belts.

Up until recently goats were spliced with the ‘golden orb weaver’ spider silk gene. As scientists began to dig deeper, they realized that not every spider shares similar silk making genes. Some we significantly stronger than others. Through years of research they eventually realized that there was in fact one spider that had threads stronger than the almighty golden orb weaver and not just by a bit, but by almost twice its strength. The spitting spider, after being tested is now remodeling the spider silk producing industry. I look forward to the day when our military is clad in spider-man attire.

The Cove

The cove was a fairly informative film about the dolphin situation in Japan. It would seem that much of Japan’s older generation was hunting them in massive numbers due to an unfounded national pride in ancient dolphin hunting. I found the idea of mercury filled school lunch meat absolutely appalling and I can only imagine how the parents of these students would have reacted. I don’t necessarily see a problem with Japan hunting dolphin because they’re ‘cute’, but rather because the meat they’re obtain may cause future problems. Not only does the meat of an absolutely ridiculous amount of mercury in it, but killing so many dolphins on such a large scale can have some pretty severe consequences on the respective ecosystem. The meats primarily used in the US [pork, cow, and chicken] have already been so far removed from the environment for so long that even if they all went extinct the earth wouldn’t be effected. Unlike dolphins, domesticated cows do not play an important role in any environment. They simply exist. It’s good to know Japan didn’t decide to contaminate an entire generation over some pointless pride and stubbornness.

Fishing – Tim Paik and Jati Darmawan

For our project we went fishing, it was fun and relaxing. At first we were having trouble getting any bites so we moved to wherever the birds were, and we also learned a lot about how to hook the bait and reel them in. Jati had the only pole so we just recorded him. Mainly we wanted to fish because it was not only a project that had fish involved, but other animals such  as birds, crustaceans and other things. Mainly this is related to biodiversity because it’s a management of fish, overfishing is a huge problem now, and luckily we were only a bunch of amateur fishers so we didn’t really catch much.

Here is a video I made that shows our trip, pretty crazy overall.

-Tim Paik

Of course it had to be Japan

Not to say that there aren’t other countries that have no problem feeding poison to kids. Well, at lest the people giving it to the kids eat it to so at least they’re not hypocrite in that area.

*60 year old Oden anyone?*

The sad thing is, even though we say that we support the individual (and Japan supports the group), it doesn’t matter if we’re miss informed or not informed at all.

I’m glad that this vid was made (though the makers seemed more interested in a adrenaline rush), and we learn about the monstrosities that humanity has inflicted on the earth. Eating fish so fast that we’ll wipe it out? Geez.

yet, the people that should hear won’t hear it. I don’t know how it is now with all that has happened to Japan since the make of the vid. I’m still irked about captured dolphins for sea world. Unless its for preservation reasons and its on open large areas, I see no reason why we still hold animals in capture. I love animals, but I’d rather see them in the natural then behind walls.

-Laurie Thomas

There’s a habit that my parents and many cooks do and that is to wash the produce to clean off the pesticides… now I found out that that they’re growing it into the foods? Well I did notice how unusually long produce stay ‘freash’a week or more after I bought them. I did notice many of the labels from other countries and only wonder how it got here to safely? I do know that flight only take a few hours and produce wont go bad in a few hours but still?

Pesticides grown into the food??

well I didn’t care for going organic before, but now I’ll be more careful. I didn’t buy much produce since they all tasted bitter, sour or more bland then water. I usually keep to the basic grains and beans, typical of the haitian diet. Usually either beef or chicken, some times turkey (I love the wing part, don’t care for white tastless meat). Then I fill the rest of my plate of veggies (what ever is on sale and in seasons) and fruit. If I can grow it or I can find it off a tree (since many floridians seems to not care about this, I go around the neighborhood and pick things off when there’s no car in the drive way) I’ll what ever I find.

I don’t typically  buy local since its usually cash only, I rather not drive out of my way, and they don’t take food stamps

-Laurie Thomas

Carbon Footprint Calculator

Colin Beavan is a man who obviously very passionate about what he is interested in. Combined with the ability to live without electricity, he successfully can say that he lowered his carbon footprint tremendously. While I’m sure that he doesn’t expect everyone that sees his documentary to live this way, he really opens the human eye to some changes that can be made.
I was personally interested in what my carbon footprint could possibly be. I’m a student living in a two bedroom apartment with very little use of air conditioning. My only downfall is that I drive a Land Rover which is practically a tank. I went on a search for a carbon footprint calculator that could possibly give me a ballpark estimate on my carbon footprint. I came across a calculator that asks you a couple questions regarding electricity, diet, transportation, and waste. (http://www.nature.org/greenliving/carboncalculator/index.htm)

Thankfully, greenhouse gas emissions are lower than the average person in the United States. The largest of my problems is surprisingly my home energy usage. I’m convinced that this number is so high because I put down that I live in Florida. I found it funny but smart that they have a donate button to offset your carbon footprint so you don’t feel as guilty:)

Whats your carbon footprint? Were you surprised by the results?

Hurricane Sandy- Polluted Rivers

A week ago, Hurricane Sandy hit the North East. The storm has left the rivers in a terrible state. An abundance of toxic chemicals has been washed into the New York Harbor, as well as the areas nearby rivers.  According to the New York Daily News, more than 630  storm-related oils spills have been reported in the state of New York. Floodwater that had been collected in Lower Manhattan tested positive for E. coli and coli form. Just knowing that all of the pollutants that soaked themselves into the city streets are now being carried out to sea is unsettling. This will only lead to more concerns about fish as a source of food.

Reduce Reuse Recycle

I think a good majority of us can say that we’ve heard the mantra “reduce, reuse, recycle,” but how many of us actually try to apply it to our lives to the best of our abilities? Our class discussion on climate control and watching the first bit of No Impact Man really got me thinking of how little we do to preserve our planet as a whole.  It’s sort of terrifying actually. Why don’t we do more to prevent our planet from dying off? Maybe it’s because we don’t see the consequences of global warming as dramatically as if we were to live up north where we could see the icecaps melting rapidly. It could also be that some of us are just waiting for “the next guy” to come along and take care of the issue. And, it’s a shot in the dark, but maybe the majority of the human race isn’t thinking about Earth’s needs because we are too wrapped up in our daily lives… Which now thinking of it, is probably the case… Anyway, one of the easiest ways to help benefit the planet is to follow that mantra of reduce, reuse, recycle and it really isn’t that difficult. We have to do our part, however small it may be. It really does help. Real talk.

I’ve even heard people say that they believe that global warming isn’t real and the planet just takes care of itself. That concept is just mind blowing to me… Like really… you don’t think that the fumes radiating from your F150 isn’t killing anything? I think that most of us need to be educated on the matter a bit more and luckily for the younger generations, I think it should start with them. When I was in grade school they would tell us how to reduce, reuse, and recycle, but we never truly applied it. We would read about it and move on. Things need to change a bit more in order for us to have a cleaner planet.

Anyway, here is some Jack Johnson.