Cemetery

For this lab we traveled to the Riverside Cemetery and talked about some historical dates in Macon's history. We discussed people dying in 1918 due to the Spanish Flu. This was remarkable because this flu hit mostly adults around our age group rather than affecting the extremely old and young like most flus do.  It turns out that this flu hit this age group because soldiers coming back from the war had this bacteria and would spread it when they would "go out" on the weekends.
That being said, we looked for people in the cemetery who died in the year 1918. We also looked for people who died in the years 1900 and 2000 to compile data for population tables.

Biodiesel

Biodiesel refers to a vegetable oil- or animal fat-based diesel fuel consisting of long-chain alkyl (methyl, propyl or ethyl) esters. Biodiesel is typically made by chemically reacting lipids (e.g., vegetable oil, animal fat (tallow)) with an alcohol.
Biodiesel is meant to be used in standard diesel engines and is thus distinct from the vegetable and waste oils used to fuel converted diesel engines. Biodiesel can be used alone, or blended with petrodiesel. Biodiesel can also be used as a low carbon alternative to heating oil. We also discussed bioethanol which can be used in making "moonshine" using special equipment.

Mitochondrial Eve

In the field of human genetics, Mitochondrial Eve refers to the matrilineal "MRCA" (most recent common ancestor). In other words, she was the woman from whom all living humans today descend, on their mother's side, and through the mothers of those mothers and so on, back until all lines converge on one person. Because all mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is generally passed from mother to offspring without recombination, all mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) in every living person is directly descended from hers by definition. Mitochondrial Eve is the female counterpart of Y-chromosomal Adam, the patrilineal most recent common ancestor, although they lived thousands of years apart.
It's very incredible to hear that everyone in the world can be traced back somehow to this one person. It really helps give a better sense of inter-connectedness to your fellow man/woman.

Amphioxus (Lancelet)

The Amphioxus, is also known as a Lancelet. These tiny creatures are found in sand in shallow temperate and tropical waters and in Asia they are actually harvested to eat. These animals are extremely important in terms of evolution and zoology, because it gives us a window into the past to see about the origins of vertebrates in animals. Lancelets also prove to be quite useful for evolution because it helps scientists theorize about how vertebrates have used old genes to perform new functions.

Macon Dog Park

For this lab we walked to the Macon Dog Park which is only a few blocks away from campus. Here we took samples of the water from the river that will eventually flow into the Ocumulgee. We are seeing how much fecal matter there is by putting it into a machine that keeps it at 44.5 degrees Celsius, which is the same temperature as your stomach/intestines. We also discussed some of the positives and negatives that come with a dog park.
Personally, I think it's a good thing to have a dog park in a community. It allows for people with a common interest to meet new people, as well as give their animal some much needed exercise in most cases. It also is something that can be aesthetically pleasing to a community. If there is just a barren field or possibly something that wasn't very good, a dog park could be a good way to spruce up the area surrounding a community. Overall, the positives far outweigh the possible negatives that dog parks bring to a community as a whole.

Darwin's Dilemma

For this lab we watched a movie called "Darwin's Dilemma" which was discussing evolution and Charles Darwin. This video is the greatest refutation of Darwin's theory that evolution is a gradual process over millions of years. Darwin hoped that future scientists would be able to piece together his theory and make it stronger, provided that there was evidence.
What this video shows, however, is the "explosion" of complex organisms which later became known as the "cambrian explosion" in the scientific community. What this was, was that in an extremely short time (in terms of the earth), hundreds of new and complex organisms appeared on the Earth that weren't there before. One thing that I found interesting was the analogy of a clock used to describe this rapid growth. If the whole planet was determined in a 24 hour period, the first 18 hours would still be simple, one-celled organisms. Within TWO minutes, all the organisms, complex and simple, would be created. That is how rapid this "cambrian explosion" was. This movie was dry at times, but overall pretty interesting because this was a part of evolution and science that I had never heard before.

Hitchiti Experimental Forest

For this lab we traveled to Hitchiti Experimental Forest for a (long) hike. We stopped a few times to look at some rocks and plants and eventually found our way to our end point at the river. We discussed there that because of the rocks and shallow water, it is nearly impossible for boats to travel this far south on the river. It was a nice hike considering I haven't been on a nature walk in a very long time, but I'm not gonna lie, it was quite long. We found a snake near one of the rivers as well.