Drabble Geeks

Geeks…Being Total Geeks.

Tag: science

The New Extinction

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As I was reading, I thought it was quite timely that news about the “re-emergence” of an extinct species was announced: the dire wolf. I will go a bit into that later; however, I want to discuss The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History by Elizabeth Kolbert first. One of the draws that led me to this book was our current understanding of extinction. It was just amazing that there was a universal belief that no species ever died out, up until the 1700s, when people would find fossils and bones that did not match any species that were alive at the time. We also didn’t have the meteoroid hypothesis about what killed off the dinosaurs until the 80s. It just blew my mind how recent it was. Next, the author covered the more modern extinctions and how the migration of Homo sapiens aligns with the extinction of several species, and how to current activities may lead to the next mass extinction without a random catastrophe.

Now, onto the subject of making a species come back from extinction. As it may not be such a surprise with the dire wolves, we have not brought a species from extinction. As far as I know, science has not gone that far yet. The dire wolves are just grey wolves with some genes edited, but they are very cute, nonetheless. Even if they did come back from extinction, the species would still be considered functionally extinct, since the scientists are not trying to breed the wolves together. Also, as was brought up with Jurassic Park, I’m not sure that we should consider bringing species back, as cool as it would be. Evolution has continued without the existence of these species, so there would be no natural protections, unless you consider humans poaching them, which, I believe, would inevitably happen. Any de-extinct species would, in my opinion, be a glorified invasive species. In this example, wolves are considered top predators in their environment and would probably have no natural failsafe to keep the ecosystems aligned. I personally believe that we should focus on keeping the species that are still alive alive, rather than trying to create new species for us to protect or protect against. (But that might be none of my business.)

How Does It Hold Up: Bones Pt 2

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It was over 3 years ago that I started rewatching on of my favorite shows, Bones. As I said in my last post, the first six seasons were my favorite season, and I’m here to tell you that that has not changed. It didn’t take me long to finish the show because I cannot binge watch correctly. I just found better things to do with my time, such as watching Law & Order: Special Victims Unit from the very beginning. I am 100% confident that the only reason why I finished watching the show was because it was being taken off of Hulu, and I didn’t want to find a different streaming service just to watch one show. It became such as drag to watch that only got exciting every now and again. The last season is probably the best of this later half since it does close some plot holes that have been in the show for years. Either way, if I were to rewatch this show again, I will be sticking to the first six season. As of now, the latter seasons do not really exist and are some random person’s head cannon.

Bad, Science!

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As we look toward the future, we must also look to that past to make sure that we do no back the same mistakes, especially when we talk about it from an ethical perspective. We do not want to cause harm, but we also want people to understand what we are saying as scientists, or at least that is what I was always told. Then I bumbled my way into reading The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot.

This is one of the stories of science going wrong. As someone involved in science, I believe that these are things that must be discussed to not happen again. The story starts with how the first-ever human cell line was discovered and then is a train wreck from there. This book goes into the African American population’s distrust of the health care system, which stems from racism and lack of science literacy. It takes this abstract idea that most people have about the ethics behind science and then makes it much more real by adding a face. If you are interested in science in any way, I would consider this a must-read. We have to learn from the past mistakes to make significant innovations in the future.

Searching for Bones

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One of my favorite shows is Bones. Even though it is officially done, I would love something that is very similar. That is how I find myself watching Sakurako-san no Ashimoto ni wa Shitai ga Umatteriu, A Corpse is Buried Under Sakurako’s Feet, or Beautiful Bones. Really long names, but it is fitting with the anime. After looking a bit into it, this anime is based on a novel. I follows an awkwardly scientist who loves putting together skeletons and ends up helping the police on cases were there is nothing but skeletal remains of humans. Sometimes she steps in before that because of the incessant nature of her lovable sidekick. I greatly enjoyed the show. It was fast paced in everything seemed to be going somewhere. My main complaint is that the show doesn’t really end. It feels as though they hoped they would get a second season and didn’t. There’s just this huge cliffhanger. Maybe there is something else that I just missed when I was looking around for more, or I might just need to read the book. Either one is a possibility at this point.

Childhood Lessons

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I am an avid learner, much to the hatred of some people. One of my ideas of a good night is snuggling in a blanket watching a documentary. Now, this is not technically a documentary, but I think it should be close, and that thing is Bill Nye Saves the World. I just recently finished watching the series on Netflix, and I absolutely loved it. It reminded me of having the teacher in elementary school rolling in a gigantic television instead of teaching. The only difference is that instead of going over everyday science concepts, he had to go over some real-world stuff that is affecting our everyday lives. For that reason, it does get a tiny bit political at times, but in my personal opinion, it is not over the top. At times it feels heavy-handed, but it’s not that bad overall. If you love learning science, even from a childhood hero, I would recommend it. It truly made me feel like a kid again.

A World Without Birds

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As someone who wants to help save the environment, it’s actually quite surprising, that this is my first time reading the book Silent Spring by Rachel Carson. As the book that started the entire Environmental Revolution for the United States. It actually was not at all what I was expecting. It might have been because I’m not really interested in the impact that humans are doing that affect humans, it did not affect me as much as I was hoping. In my eyes, there are enough people focusing on human health, while I just want to save the animals. They are too cute not to want to save. There were moments where I just didn’t care enough about what she was saying. While we were discussing the book in class, I would mention and think about all the good things she was doing, but at the moment, I just wanted to hear about what was going on with the animals. If that makes me a bad person, I’m not ashamed. I love me some animals.

Religious History Reimagined Pt 1

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With more books being written in this series, I felt that it was time to get back into the Robert Langdon series by Dan Brown. I started to adventure with the first book Angels and Demons. Yes, this is the first book and not The Da Vinci Code like so many people think. To start, I would like to say that I will be using the word mythos when describing aspects of this series. The word “mythos,” according to Merriam-Webster, is a pattern of beliefs expressing often symbolically the characteristic or prevalent attitudes in a group or culture. By using this word, I am not trying to express my own opinions of the religions and cultures expressed in these novels. If there is a better word that could be used, feel free to say so. I will take it into consideration. But, on with the review…

The first thing I have to say is how well researched this series is. I had the privilege to read the illustrated edition. It was amazing to see pictures of all of the places explored in the novel. This novel explores the “battle” between science and religion. It is well done in a way that doesn’t choose a side. Every character has different opinions regarding the matter, and everyone respects the other’s opinions. The dialogue in this way is well written and not really a fluff piece. I also enjoyed how points of view shifted. It is not often that changes in point of view are done so seamlessly, but it was well done here. All the characters are believable and intriguing. I loved everything about this book. I personally don’t really know much about the Catholic church. After asking my best friend about it as they are Catholic, I realized that it was much more accurate than I thought. They told me that the mythos of the church as it related to the book and different things. They also explained some things that I didn’t quite get, so that was also amazing. Also, from reading the acknowledgments at the end, I realized that the author actually went to the places described in the book. If that doesn’t add to it, I don’t know what does.

How Does It Hold Up: Bones Pt. 1

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Most recently, I have been rewatching Bones. It is one of my favorite procedural shows because of its application of forensic science. I absolutely loved it because it showed science and a real-world application for it. Not only that, but I scientist all had different personalities. I have seen other shows were characters that fall into a certain type all have the same personality. I decided to rewatch this show because I stopped watching the shows a few years before it went off the air. If I am remembering correctly, I stopped watching because I hated a plot line to the story was going down. I’ve seen some promos from after that point where it seemed like to show was getting on a better track before the show ended. The review for right now is on the first half of the show or pre-pregnancy as I like to call it. The first six seasons held some of my favorite episodes. There were some cringe-worthy moments, but I embraced every single one of them. It felt really good to be a part of the squint squad again. I felt every heartbreak and every cry of rejoicing as if I had watched it for the first time. I can definitely see myself watching these six seasons over and over again.