Reflective Blog On My Blogs

Reflective Blog about Blogs

Throughout this whole semester I have grown significantly in my understanding in science, with microbes to be more specific. I have only done a few argument works with these blogs just because I don’t like to dispute with people. I would much rather give them an in depth discussion on what the article or story is talking about. I have honed in my analysis skills to a very high status, only because I feel like I can give my absolute best if I am picking apart the text to use what is said to my advantage. If I was to analyze my own blogs I would be harsh, only because there is almost always something that needs to be tweaked or fixed to make the analysis stronger. While writing this I realized I do use argument, every single day. Even if I’m using analysis, I have to take a side and show the reader why I think it is important to know this information in specific. So I can say that yes, with my high status of analytical work, I have had success with doing valid arguments. I feel like my main idea gets to the point, but not right away. I can’t simply just say, here is the topic, and here is why I chose it. There is so much more to it. You have to write and rewrite if it doesn't sound good. You have to connect with the audience. You can tell a lot about a person by the way they write. I am in no position say that it id a bad thing to simplify things, I just personally can’t do that. I have so much to say and want the reader to know why I said it. In my writing there is almost every rhetorical concept included. Probably not all at once, but in each piece there is one concept shown. I try to use logos a lot just because you can’t argue with proven fact, and when you do the right research, you won’t be wrong. My perception on microbes has changed drastically. I had no idea what they were and it took up until I was a sophomore in college to learn about them. They are fantastic organisms and they hold many keys to our well being to survival. I would have to say the coolest thing I learned from other peer’s blogs is that we all have our own preference. We each like to look up things that interest us and we chose to write about it. I especially liked how we got to interact and comment on the other blogs and have an intimate conversation about the microbe in specific. It was really cool to have that kind of relationship with the classmates and get to know what they think about the subject. So all in all, I have had a wonderful time in this class and I’m glad I signed up for it. My brain is packed full of knowledge and because of it I have chosen a second career path to go along with my Music degree, I will minor in biology and have a second opportunity to teach kids the things I like and find interesting. 

Original date for this blog was 9/16/2014

Redo # 2

This article, the main idea is very clear. Richard A. Lovett gives an excellent intake on how there has been many studies as well as discussions about the possibilities that there can be life on mars…

Colorful cave deposits thought to be just minerals are actually waste materials from unknown microorganisms, some scientists say. A cave scientist, Penelope Boston, in New Mexico states that "We're finding that you need to look at things you might write off as not being biological—they might be biological." Which I feel is very true, because all of these new findings are biological. Another scientist, actually a Geomicrobiologist named Diana Northup at the University of New Mexico, said that there are findings in Hawaii, New Mexico and the Portuguese Azores islands. In Hawaii the substances have a “lovely blue-green ooze” and in New Mexico they are a “Gold, crunchy looking mineral”, and in the Azores “amazing pink hexagons.” By studying these substances here on earth, it could link it to places such as mars, or eve further than that. A geochemist informs the reader that Northup’s discoveries in the caves can add “growing body” that the lava tubes could be the best places to look at on other planets. Northup mentions that with all the work done in the caves here on earth, the inside is substantially different than the outside. That could also be the case on mars as well

Nothing is unclear; Lovett did a great job at simplifying everything so I can understand what is being talked about.

I could only find that there is ethos and pathos available. Ethos simply because I felt safe with he information given, and could trust Lovett’s writing. I could trust his writing because I personally know one of his resources and I trust her as well. Pathos is here, because it goes about finding life on other planets which can be a very emotional finding for everyone. I know if they found life on other planets I would be scared, intrigued, and happy and alert all at the same time.

This does seem biased in the way that it’s in favor of finding life elsewhere. There was no indication stating that they didn’t want to discover new life on other planets.

 

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/11/091120-caves-lava-tubes-microbes-poop.html

 

Computer Wielding Microbes!

Original Due Date for Blog #11 was 4/9/2014

Blog re due #1

Microbes are Computer Geniuses? 

In this article I think the man idea comes across very effectively and immediately made me want to read the whole article.

Nikhil Swaminathan, author of the article, researched how microorganisms can be used I ways we can’t even imagine. They can be used as computer harboring problem solvers. In a study done in North Carolina a biologist named Karmella Haynes successfully transplanted a silicon-based electronic machine that allows the microbes to solve intense mathematical problems that humans cannot. Theses problems entail things such as the “burned pancake problem”. It’s a puzzle about how to properly stack different flapjacks that are burned on one side and the perfectly cooked ones on the other. Using the fewest number of flips possible to not only arrange them so that the largest are at the bottom but to where they are golden side up. By showing a computer that can solve problems as this, could they be used to detect changes in live systems like cancer in the body or the spread of contaminants in a lake? Some researchers in Missouri Western State University inserted DNA plasmids in a single-celled organism called Escherichia Coli, ones that can cause food poisoning. They modeled a two pancake flip into two segments at random, and also added the Salmonella bacterium that is capable of flipping genetic fragments. The organisms were given a certain amount of time to see if they could complete the task in a fast manner. Only the ones with proper segment orientation survived. With this the researchers could tell which cells had correctly solved the problem because the ones who couldn’t have died.

For me I think hat everything that was said was addressed in a way that is very comprehensive. You don’t have to look things up to understand them, because the answers are all around in the text itself.

Some rhetorical concepts shown are in ethos and pathos. It’s shown through ethos because the author wrote everything in a way we can trust what he is telling us. He used reasonable resources to tell us how microorganisms can be used to solve problems we simply cannot do on our own. It has pathos because everything that is being said is connecting to the readers in an emotional level. By going about how we can’t solve these problems ourselves, seeking answers to something we can’t even see without the proper technology. It just shows how even we as humans need help from things that are “insignificant” to us.

This selection was very biased since it did only talk about one topic throughout the whole article, but I think it was very effective and proved its point!

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/dna-computer-puts-microbe/ 

Enemies Within Us!

In this article by Julie Parsonnet, she tells us about the mysteries of microbes that bring us bad tidings. We are outnumbered by some type of enemy, within our own bodies. Humans are walking ecosystems that have more microbes than cells in our bodies, which interact as well as go into our cell’s bodies. So with that, I’m basically saying that we are vessels of protection for the microbes. Some people find it hard to believe that microbes can be bad for us, even though we hear good things like, “we have successfully produced cheese and yogurt suitable for human consumption.” But a Mr. Paul Ewal wrote a book called Plague Time expressing the ways microbes can pose a threat to us. Even though Ewal wants us to know more about microbes, he ends up being over whelming to the audience with all of his information. I thought Parsonnet’s idea was ok. It was a little broad and could use more time venturing through it. She could have stated why Ewal was overwhelming in her own perspective. Nothing was unclear or confusing just because there was so little detail in it to begin with. Some questions were, why was he overwhelming and what could he have done differently? I guess she used ethos because she did persuade me to think negatively towards Ewal. Not really, only because there wasn’t a really clear message that had details and evidence backing up what she wanted to say.

http://www.americanscientist.org/bookshelf/pub/the-enemy-within

Slow-mo For Life!

Slow-Mo Microbes and the Expansion of Life

Have you ever wondered if microbes are slow or fast? Or how long they can wait to eat? The answer is, both, but in this article the microbes are very slow. Also it talks about how some microbe chose not to eat if there isn’t anything they like. Some humans can barely hold their breath under water for more than a few minutes. While some marine animals like seals can hold their breath for up to an hour. Some microbial communities can do even more then that! These microbes use so little oxygen that they can be considered to not be living. As you all know Aerobic microbes require oxygen to generate energy. Whereas anaerobic microbes can replace oxygen with sulfur and nitrate. This is less energy efficient, and helps certain microbes survive wherever they may be.  The North Pacific Gyre is the most nutrient poor place in the ocean. This means that some microbes Hans Roy, who attends the center for Geomicrobiology at Aarhus University in Denmark, found oxygen penetrating the sediment as deep as 30 metres. When food from the surface lands on the sea floor it will take about 1000 years for another piece to land on that. The bulk of large edible items will be eaten but the stuff that is left, that is not nutrient efficient becomes buried, and microbes don’t like it. So it is eaten very slowly. When there is nothing to eat the bacteria do not breathe and the oxygen just floats there.  

I believe everything in this article comes across very clearly. The details are very clear and help support what Leigh Phillips is trying to tell us. Nothing was unclear, it just seemed that I needed to brush up on certain vocabulary, and remind myself on some of the things that microbes do. I didn’t really need to ask any questions as the details helped keep most of the content clear. The author seemed to use ethos the most. Only because he’s not trying to get us emotionally involved in the text and he isn’t trying to have a huge logical base to get the message across. It was definitely not biased since there were actually two different subjects in the article as a whole. 

http://www.nature.com/news/slo-mo-microbes-extend-the-frontiers-of-life-1.10669

Live Wires... With Microbes!

Week 9 Blog

Microbial Wires

The message that Charles Q. Choi sends to his readers comes across very clearly. He let’s us know that there are bacteria that can use soil as electrical grids. This means that the bacteria can use the currents in the soil to help send messages to one another by using electrons. Electrons are vital for both microbial and human life. For microbes they help them process food sources that they normally couldn't digest properly. For humans they help the microbes, them the microbes in return help the humans. It’s a process that shows a commensalism relationship. This is supported by details that are not to biased nor hard to understand. I found nothing in the text that made it hard to read or understand because everything was written in a way that is comprehensible. The details and research done about this subject were fact based and true, from my own research done after reading the article. There were no questions raised because I understood the material and also had done my own research about it. The only rhetorical concepts I can pick out are Logos, because the whole article is based on logic and hard fact! The author could have used Ethos, to help us trust what is written, like giving more examples on the situations provided. It was very objective because there was a lot of subject put in this short article and I can’t say it was unbiased because he only talked about  how the microbes use soil to transmit electrons to send messages to one another. So with that it is very biased.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/06/120608-microbes-bacteria-electricity-minerals-chemicals-swap-science/?rptregcta=reg_free_np&rptregcampaign=20131016_rw_membership_r1p_us_ot_w#

To Swine or Not To Swine? That Is The Question!

In this article about Swine Flu, I learned a lot. Most of us think that Swine Flu just came out of nowhere are that we are at a great risk of getting it. The pandemic in 1918 was about Swine Flu, and many scientist blame pigs for causing millions of deaths during that time. Now, according to researchers from the University of Arizona and the University of Edinburgh on the 16^th-18^th of February 2014, they say that the whole cause of it was from birds. The researches stated that the systems they have used for years to figure out the gene sequences of the virus and disease are flawed. Worobey (one of the researchers) and his colleagues conducted a tree diagram with 80,000 influenza viral genome sequences. The tree diagram has samples from bats, pigs, birds, cows and humans.  The phylogenetic analysis showed that most of the genetic elements found in the strands from the 1918 outbreak possibly came from the North American Avian Influenza virus, carried by either domestic or wild birds. One thing about the Swine Flu virus now, H3N2v that began in 2011, is that the v means it is variant that only infects pigs, but still has a way of infecting humans. So be safe!

The main idea comes across very smooth and there was nothing confusing about the text. My only question I would say is that how could they barley find out that their methods are flawed? I think Logos are most present here, because they used fact to back up everything stated and they also test weather their findings were try or not. This seemed very unbiased because they didn’t target just birds themselves, they tested other animals for the virus as well. 

http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/39189/title/Not-Swine-Flu/ 

http://www.medicinenet.com/swine_flu/article.htm

Something Evil? or, Something worth Knowing?

In this article about the H5N1 Influenza Virus, Robert L. Dorit goes into great depth about the shear seriousness of the disease. Dorit state how we as humans have overcame some pretty bad diseases in the 1900’s such as Tuberculosis, Pneumonia, and Diphtheria;  just to name a few. Nowadays, there are some horrible diseases and infections that we’re coming into contact with, and that are showing us that we all aren’t safe. In Thailand and China the Bird Flu is starting to make its way to Turkey, Siberia, and Eastern Europe. The disease is coming from the poultry that they’re selling to the countries around them. This is starting to cause a world wide spread of Avian Influenza. This pandemic can cause large-scale deaths all over the world.  To me, I think the main idea comes across very fluid. Everything from telling us about pre diseases, to ones that are here with us now, is very smart. It’s a great way to start off any type of writing on certain diseases that can harm us. I didn't know that Pneumonia was with us for that long. That’s 100 years. It literally blew my mind. Nothing comes across as unclear or confusing because everything stated is categorized and well thought out. I think that this passage is like 80% Logos and 20% Pathos, because most of the information given is statistical and is going through personal experience through a world view. Pathos comes in because Dorit is targeting a hugely consumed animal, poultry, to get us interested in reading. Also in the title, “Something Evil this way comes!” because your thinking, “why is the Flu considered something evil?” it’s just the Flu (that was one of my questions.) This was much unbiased because the Avian Influenza virus is strictly related to birds. That’s where the disease comes from. 

http://www.americanscientist.org/bookshelf/pub/something-wicked-this-way-comes 

Dogs, Dust and Allergens!

In my article, Susan Lynch from the University of California has shown that living with animals such as dogs and cats can increase how diverse bacteria in dust can be. She tested their bacteria rich dust on mice; by feeding it to them.  Lynch is a very smooth writer. She helps the reader at the very beginning what is to be addressed. For me, I had no idea that dogs are practically immune to airborne allergens. Lynch went very deep on her findings by informing us that in 2010, her team found that houses who occupy dogs and sometimes cats harbor a border range of bacteria in dust then that of houses who don’t occupy animals. My only one true question was that when Lynch stated that she tested this problem on mice, I was confused. But when I got more into the reading I put two and two together to understand what she is talking about. Dogs are just naturally immune to airborne allergens. I felt that Lynches’ logos concept is very straightforward. She was very smart about looking up things that needed research as well as testing things out herself to get what she needed to know. There were some points where ethos can be addressed, because the way Lynch did all of her structured research which shows how she thinks and processes things in her mind.

 http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/38660/title/Dogs--Dust-Microbes--and-Allergies/

Microbial cars, generators and wind turbines...

Microbes turned into energy?

http://www.ecofriend.com/microbes-genetic-engineering-team-offer-green-hope.html

In my article, I read about how Microbes can be turned into fine energy sources. These energy sources can range from wind power, solar power, and batter/generator power. Elizabeth Svoboda tells us about how and why these microbes can be turned into energy. The main idea comes across very clearly because Elizabeth goes straight into what she wants to say and how she wants to say it. The level of detail in this article is adequate and serves purpose. An Environmental Engineer by the name of Bruce Logan, in Penn State discovered microorganisms called Methanogens. Methanogens can reduce Carbon Dioxide into Methane very efficiently says Logan. When the microbes receive a high electric jolt they use the electrons to combined protons and CO2 to create methane gas. The methane can later be stored to be used to power generators, vehicles, ECT. If they exploit the microbe’s chemistry they can find better and more beneficial ways to make energy sources like solar and wind energy. I did not know that microbes could be used for such acts; it makes things much simpler, without it being so simple, because dealing the science behind how microbes react to different stimuli, can be very difficult. It make my knowledge base want to know more about the subject because I want to know just how these organisms can be used to power such things as generators and cars. Everything in the text seems to be very straightforward and to the point. Svoboda seemed like she didn’t want to beat around the bush and go into great detail because it isn’t necessary to do so. The only question I had was, how can the organisms power these objects? The only rhetoric style that could be found would be Logos, simply because Svoboda had very logical views and showed the audience straight fact on this topic.

 http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/096#.Uus3FT1dWSo

We Gut Microbes come in peace!

Blog Assignment FLC609: Microbial Ecology, English 102/ Biology 110

I think the message Michael Tennesen is trying to tell us comes across very clearly. He lets us know that there are premature infants being treated at the Duke University Medical Center, a neonatologist by the name of Susan LaTuga is researching stool samples of said infants to study the human micro biome (the huge population of microbes, which include, fungi, viruses, and bacteria that reside in the gut.)  So, the article is about research on the human micro biome, and hoping they can see how the normal microbial communities work in healthy babies, to help fix unhealthy babies microbial communities. I personally think there are too much details, I found myself getting a bit lost going from different people and the different jobs they did to help make this research possible. I think the text supports my knowledge base because a lot of the topics we've covered so far in class pertain to everything Tennesen has mentioned. As I mentioned before I thought there were too many details and wish Tennesen stay with things that didn't make you have to retain ten different topics at once. The information is different in the sense that he is talking about the Human Microbial Biome in infants, and that’s something that hasn't been covered in class yet. I came across one question, how are there 200 trillion microbes on/in our bodies (more than cells) and we’re not in any intended danger? How does something with a higher number of occupants not over run our system functions? Rhetorical concepts if any would have to be Logos. Tennesen isn't trying to win over his audience with emotion, or trustworthiness. Tennesen’s main goal is for the audience is to measure how much reason is behind what he wants us to know, and that everything stated is coming from a logical perspective.

http://discovermagazine.com/2011/mar/04-trillions-microbes-call-us-home-help-keep-healthy#.UuMdZtLn-1s

This duel Microbiology and English 102 class is pretty sweet! I feel totally connected between the two, and both classes will help each other in the process of teaching my about Microbes and Writing skills. I will pass this class :)

http://sgugenetics.pbworks.com/w/page/24676935/Fun%20Facts%20gp5