Watch out! You might get what your after...

Initially when I was writing this blog-post, I thought I would have you write about aphids (little bugs) that can do photosynthesis.  Man are they cool....females can be born pregnant, males are sometimes born without a mouth.  Nonetheless, I decided that you might not think they were as cool as I did.

With the new semester, I have a bunch of new students.  In addition to new students, we also as a country have a new president.  Likely, President Obama was the president the entire time that you have been in school (since kindergarten).  So in honor of our our new president, I thought we could take a look at one of his initiatives.

https://www.outsideonline.com/2075761/trumps-wall-threatens-111-endangered-species

http://time.com/4650178/donald-trump-border-wall-environment/

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/trumps-wall-could-cause-serious-environmental-damage/

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/trump-s-border-wall-pledge-threatens-delicate-desert-ecosystems/

https://www.technologyreview.com/s/603524/trumps-border-wall-will-be-awful-for-the-environment/

https://www.technologyreview.com/s/602494/bad-math-props-up-trumps-border-wall/

Above are six different articles about the proposed Trump wall between the United States and Mexico.   First, I would like you to read at least one of the articles.  Because this is a very heated topic right now, I am going to structure your response a little differently.

1.  State which article you read and what you learned.  Write a scholarly summary of the article (at least 2 or 3 sentences).

2.  As a scientist, I would like to hear your opinion about building the wall.  It will look like this: Scientist:  As a scientist, I think ....

3.  Then I want your true opinion as of the wall.  It will look like this:  
Socially:  My opinion about the wall is ....

Overall, the entire response will have three parts.  Remember, that I would suggest to write this first in a Google Document and then paste it into the blog.  That way you can check grammar, punctuation and spelling.  This is a public blog so once you hit publish the world will see what you have to say.  Be sure to be signed in to Blogger in the upper right hand corner before you try to publish.

Most Complicated Object in the Universe

The human brain has 100 billion neurons, each neuron connected to 10 thousand other neurons. Sitting on your shoulders is the most complicated object in the known universe.                --Michio Kaku

In my newspaper this morning, there were two different articles about the nervous system.  Last week we briefly talked about nerve cells and how cell shape is directly related to cell function.  The nervous system is not only interesting, but it is a hot-spot of new research.

Brains and Lack of Sleep:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/alicegwalton/2016/12/09/7-ways-sleep-affects-the-brain-and-what-happens-if-it-doesnt-get-enough/#610622884e19

Mind-Controlled Robotics:
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-caltech-neuroscience-donation-20161206-story.html


Music Therapy and the Brain:
http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20161211/news/161219857/

Pick one of the articles above and read it.  After reading the article, write a five sentence summary in a scholarly paragraph.  If you find another article or video clip about the brain or nervous system that you would like to write about, send me a link to the article so I can preview it.  Once you have posted your paragraph, I would also like you to comment on at least one of your peer's posts.  This is the last blog post of first semester.