Araneus Arachnids

For those who aren't terrified of the hairy little eight-legged creatures we call spiders, congratulations.

Only 10 percent of men "admit' to having arachnophobia, fear of spiders, although I think the need to maintain masculinity may have been a factor in some cases. For the most part, spiders serve as a helpful ally in our ongoing quest to destroy annoying pests like the common house fly.

Recently at hunting camp, as I was opening one of the old window's wooden shutters, one such arachnid decided to descend upon me. I screamed, surely, and staggered backward until I felt remotely safe around 15 or 20 feet away from my attacker. I yelled "Dad! Dad! Come look at the size of this thing!" He came over slowly with a stick and began to poke at it like a small child. Before any damage could be done, I grabbed the stick and decided to try and take a few close-ups.

Absolutely ready to swat and squish at any time, I crept up to what I now believe to be a member of the Araneus family, also known as orb weavers.

These spiders which spin round flat webs to catch their food, belong to the family Araneidae.
This divides into a couple of different groups with the largest being the genus Araneus, which consists of over 1,500 species worldwide.

One such species, the barn spider as pictured above, often builds webs in open spaces and stays in a kind of retreat or hole with a strand of web attached to a nearby leaf. The spider does this so that when something touches the web with enough force to move the leaf, he or she will know they've caught something and then proceed to move in for the kill.

This species is found all over the US and Europe, and their unique "ink-blot-like" markings make them quite a spectacle of life's intricacies. The legs and under body is generally orange, but in instances such as this, the legs can take a hue of magenta, giving the legs a rather pinkish flare. The massive abdomen is naturally a work of art that can be used as both a display of superiority and as a lure of curiosity.

After my model kindly stayed in one place for me, I thanked him and let him be. It was far from a cure of my fear, spiders still seriously freak me out, but it was cool to get within centimeters of such an amazing specimen.

Could insects ever evolve into beings as intelligent as we are?

It's Sunday, and the Giants are pounding the Raiders. As I sit and wonder what to blog, I ask my roommate if insects could ever evolve into beings as intelligent as we are. He is clad in a blue Giants jersey with hat, and is clutching a small 'Giants' Nerf-football. Upon being asked this question he simply peers over and says "their brains are tiny, they could never think like we do."
A scientist could spend his life pondering the same question, only to come to that same end result--a bug's brain is incapable of functioning at our level.
The main difference between the way humans and other animals have evolved is the kind of intelligence we have. Most animals have a special kind of intelligence, known as instinct, which means that they are born with special knowledge pre-programmed into their genetics. For instance, crocodiles are born with the special knowledge of hunting. Some guidance is needed, but the basic urge to do so is already stamped into the crocodile's mind.
Other "intelligent" animals, like humans, other advanced primates, and dolphins think differently. We don't have as much intelligence already programmed into us from the get go, as our intelligence must be learned. Humans aren't born with special knowledge of how to drive cars or operate computers, we are taught. Such knowledge must be passed down from generation to generation, hopefully leaving each a bit smarter than the next.
The number of species of insect ranges from two million to 50 million, due to the fact that humans have yet to find every living organism on this planet. In the history of the world, insects have remained to be organisms of lesser intelligence. All things evolve. Some things evolve so quickly, nobody ever knows that it happened. Everyday a human being evolves many ways thanks to our ability to think. The changes around us, the feelings we conspire, everything we do can lead to evolutionary breakthroughs. We can choose.
An insect does not have the choice to learn, they are not incapable of learning, but of comprehension, the insect knows little. For example, an ant is closely following behind his cousin on the way back to their home. A large shadow moves overhead and slowly a large object is closing down on them. The shadow is a man, and the object is a right-footed Nike. It's that simple.
An ant or any insect, for that matter, really doesn't have a chance at becoming as intelligent as we are. They've been around for millions of years and have yet to change significantly because they are not meant to. Even insects have highly-organized societies and methods of survival, but these are the skills in which these insects could evolve.
It goes back to Darwin, survival of the fittest, and simple evolutionary adaptation due to a change in environment. If global warming does persist, then perhaps insects will change in ways to survive. Insects could not evolve into beings as intelligent as we are, based on what we know now and the current status of our planet's ecology.

Of Strong Will and Profound Ideas

For the last half-century, and many years prior, scientists have studied the universe. Theories upon theories have been formulated in an effort to answer the ultimate question: How did the universe begin?

The article, Stephen Hawking Is Making His Comeback, pays tribute to a man and a dream to find the answers to our universe. Simply, the man's will in unchallengeable. Having been diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease in 1963, his mindset has not lessened, if anything it has grown substantially.

Imagine losing control of your body. Imagine struggling with the main functions that you've used every day to get out of bed, take a shower, or get dressed. Imagine being one of the most brilliant minds in the world with these problems.

HOW DOES ONE HANDLE the problem of solving the mysteries of the universe, while incapable of using a pen or pencil? HOW DOES ONE HANDLE the constant drive to explore knowledge and test theory in a subject few find remotely understandable? HOW DOES ONE HANDLE combining relativity, thermodynamics, and quantum mechanics to suggest an unproven theory with only the mind as a tool for research?

This article is definitely inspiring. The fact that he is still around is a testament to his will and his purpose as a physicist. An average person with a tenth of Hawking's strength could not amount to what he achieves on a daily basis.

(i) Lede (20%): I think the lede is quite strong, I feel like I'm in that place, and more importantly I feel as though I am being introduced to someone very special. It's easy to read, easy to get into. I'd give the lede a 18 out of 20 mainly because there was really a stabbing grabber, but it remains great as it is.

(ii) Content (20%): As far as content goes, this deserves a 20 out of 20. No questions seemed left unanswered and there is such a wealth of his history as well as the history of his research, that it feels complete.

(iii) Organization (20%): Love it. I thought it was very refreshing to have the conclusion tie into the lede after a lengthy 10 page article. The article seems very well rounded, and things play out as the actual happenings occurred in history. 20 out of 20.

(iv) Quality of writing (20%): I think the quality of writing in this piece keeps up with the quality of the work and person described. Transitions and quotes are introduced with nice fluidity. The article reads well and doesn't require a rest although it gets heavy at points. The writing fully encompasses his journey and triumph, so I believe it's an easy 20 out of 20.

(v) Clarity of exposition (20%):The entire article portrays a man in a deep struggle with disease and unimaginable questions to answer. The writing is thick in spots and extremely scientific. For the most part, the writing is legible to the average person, but in some areas there could possibly be room for a more understandable analogy. 18 out of 20.

96/100 Article..in my opinion.

What is an esker?

Often known locally as a "horseback," an esker is a long and narrow, slightly raised stretch of sediment. You see, around 1.5 million years ago glaciers began melting, forming rivers underneath. As with all rivers, they carried sediment quite easily across the landscape. The glaciers then completely melted, leaving behind a range of twisting ridges in regions such as Manitoba, Canada and Maine in the U.S..

The name esker comes from the Irish word eiscir, which means: "a ridge or elevation, especially one separating two plains or depressed surfaces." The term was used to describe long, winding ridges, which we now know to be deposits of glacial flows. The best-known example of such an esker is the Eiscir Riada, which runs the entire width of the island of Ireland from Dublin to Galway.

At the time of the glacial melting, much of the sediment from these rivers was carried out to the ocean to become marine sediment. That which was not carried to sea was left behind in long ridges of mineral deposit which are used today as highways.

These ridges are snake-like casts of a prehistoric landscape composed of glaciers and the rivers running underneath. Besides the fact that these places provide a descent vantage point and in most cases keep your feet dry, we can actually imagine how these rivers once flowed. When an esker is comprised of finer sediments, one can tell that 1.5 million years ago this part of the region was a particularly slow going river. In some cases all that's left behind is silt, which indicates an extremely fast paced water flow once passed through.

Even our own Adirondacks are home to several eskers, with a pair near Star Lake in the Western region.