IS INTELLIGENCE INHERITED CONTOVERSY
Nature vs. Nurture - World Psychiatry. 2005 February; 4(1): 3–8. World Psychiatric Association
Are genes destiny? Have adenine, cytosine, guanine and thymine replaced Lachesis, Clotho and Atropos as the weavers of our fate?
LEON EISENBERG11Department of Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School, 641 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115-6019, USA
It is as futile to ask how much of the phenotype of an organism is due to nature and how much to its nurture as it is to determine how much of the area of a rectangle is due to its length and how much to its height. Phenotype and area are joint products. The spectacular success of genomics, unfortunately, threatens to re-awaken belief in genes as the principal determinants of human behavior. This paper develops the thesis that gene expression is modified by environmental inputs and that the impact of the environment on a given organism is modified by its genome. Genes set the boundaries of the possible; environments parse out the actual.
Keywords: Genomics, ontogenetic niche, polyphenism, collective efficacy, heritability, phenylketonuria, thalassemia, gene regulation, Williams syndrome
When I completed my psychiatric training in the United States, more than a half century ago, genetics was anathema. Psychoanalysis was viewed as the cutting edge of psychiatry and excited the best and the brightest of young residents.
Fifty years later, psychiatry in the United States has been turned upside down. The discovery of psychotropic drugs has transmuted psychiatrists into psychopharmacologists. Despite extensive evidence that manualized psychotherapies (cognitive behavior therapy and interpersonal psychotherapy) are as effective as tricyclics and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors for mild and moderate depression, interest in psychological treatments continues to wane.
Prodigious advances in neuroscience and in brain imaging have yielded a dynamic model of a brain that is shaped by experience and continues to change over the life course. To cap the revolution, the mapping of the human genome promises to make it possible to identify genes that influence risk and resistance to psychiatric disorders. Discoveries in neuroscience and genomics continue the reshaping of psychiatry into a disproportionately biological specialty where it had once been a disproportionately psychosocial specialty.
Despite the one-sidedness, the gains in our science base constitute a very considerable advance over the days when I was trained. What is unacceptable in the "new" psychiatry is a naïve genetic determinism that fails to take social context into account, just as the "old" psychiatry ignored biology. Just as I was troubled by psychoanalytic exclusivism then (brainless psychiatry), I am troubled by the dominance of a fixation on biology (mindless psychiatry) that ignores social context (1). The aim of this paper is to reiterate the central principle of evolutionary genetics: just as the unique response of the organism to its environment depends on its genome, the expression of that genome is conditioned by that environment. <snip>
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Here we demonstrate that the trajectory of change in the thickness of the cerebral cortex, rather than cortical thickness itself, is most closely related to level of intelligence.
Using a longitudinal design, we find a marked developmental shift from a predominantly negative correlation between intelligence and cortical thickness in early childhood to a positive correlation in late childhood and beyond. Additionally, level of intelligence is associated with the trajectory of cortical development, primarily in frontal regions implicated in the maturation of intelligent activity.
More intelligent children demonstrate a particularly plastic cortex, with an initial accelerated and prolonged phase of cortical increase, which yields to equally vigorous cortical thinning by early adolescence. This study indicates that the neuroanatomical expression of intelligence in children is dynamic.
Intelligence, Race, and Genetics
Robert J. Sternberg, Elena L. Grigorenko, and Kenneth K. Kidd: Yale University January 2005 - American Psychologist: Vol. 60, No. 1, 4659 http://www.apa.org/journals/releases/amp60146.pdf
Abstract: In this article, the authors argue that the overwhelming portion of the literature on intelligence, race, and genetics is based on folk taxonomies rather than scientific analysis. They suggest that because theorists of intelligence disagree as to what it is, any consideration of its relationships to other constructs must be tentative at best. They further argue that race is a social construction with no scientific definition. Thus, studies of the relationship between race and other constructs may serve social ends but cannot serve scientific ends. No gene has yet been conclusively linked to intelligence, so attempts to provide a compelling genetic link of race to intelligence are not feasible at this time. The authors also show that heritability, a behaviorgenetic concept, is inadequate in regard to providing such a link.
In conclusion, intelligence is, at this time, ill defined. Although many investigators study IQ or g as an operational definition of intelligence, these operationalizations are at best incomplete, even according to those who accept the constructs as useful (e.g., Carroll, 1993).
Research suggests that properties of intelligence beyond g may be somewhat different from those of
g (e.g., Gardner, 1983; Sternberg et al., 2000, 2001). Race is a social construction, not a biological construct, and studies currently indicating alleged genetic bases of racial differences in intelligence fail to make their point even for these socialdefined groups. In general, we need to be careful, in psychological research, to distinguish our folk conceptions of constructs from the constructs themselves.
intelligence, inherited, race, genetics, intelligence research
Nature Neuroscience - Study reveals our intelligent inheritance 11/2/01
Dr Paul Thompson, from the University of California at Los Angeles, compared 20 twin pairs, half of whom were identical and half Non-identical. Fiindings showed genetic factors accounted for differences between individuals in key areas such as intelligence and language ability.Identical twins have the same genes, whereas non-identical twins, like ordinary siblings, share about half. Features which are the same in identical, but not non-identical twins are therefore likely to be governed by genetic factors.
"We found that brain structure is under significant genetic control, in a broad anatomical region that includes frontal and language-related cortices.
"The quantity of frontal grey matter, in particular, was most similar in individuals who were genetically alike; intriguingly, these individual differences in brain structure were tightly linked with individual differences in IQ."
"The resulting genetic brain maps reveal a strong relationship between genes, brain structure and behaviour, suggesting that highly heritable aspects of brain structure may be fundamental in determining individual differences in cognition."
evidence that intelligence is largely determined before birth from a new genetic study of twins.
Grey matter volume - a measure of the density of brain cells - was strongly determined by genes, and reflected cognitive performance.
Studies suggest many cognitive skills are surprisingly
Strong genetic influences on IQ, verbal and spatial abilities, perceptual speed, and even some personality traits including
emotional reactions to stress.
How genes affect brain structure, intelligence
Public release date: 4-Nov-2001
University of California - Los Angeles
UCLA team maps how genes affect brain structure, intelligence; dramatic images shed light on brain diseases, personality differences
UCLA brain mapping researchers have created the first images to show how an individual's genes influence their brain structure and intelligence.
The findings, published in the Nov. 5 issue of the journal Nature Neuroscience, offer exciting new insight about how parents pass on personality traits and cognitive abilities, and how brain diseases run in families.
The team found that the amount of gray matter in the frontal parts of the brain is determined by the genetic make-up of an individual's parents, and strongly correlates with that individual's cognitive ability, as measured by intelligence test scores.
More importantly, these are the first images to uncover how normal genetic differences influence brain structure and intelligence.
Brain regions controlling language and reading skills were virtually identical in identical twins, who share exactly the same genes, while siblings showed only 60 percent of the normal brain differences.
This tight structural similarity in the brains of family members helps explain why brain diseases, including schizophrenia and some types of dementia, run in families.
“We were stunned to see that the amount of gray matter in frontal brain regions was strongly inherited, and also predicted an individual's IQ score,” said Paul Thompson, the study's chief investigator and an assistant professor of neurology at the UCLA Laboratory of Neuro Imaging.
“The brain's language areas were also extremely similar in family members. Brain regions that were found to be most similar in family members may be especially vulnerable to diseases that run in families, including some forms of psychosis and dementia.”
The scientists employed magnetic resonance imaging technology to scan a group of 20 identical twins, whose genes are identical, and 20 same-sex fraternal twins, who share half their genes.
Using a high-speed supercomputer, they created color-coded images showing which parts of the brain are determined by our genetic make-up, and which are more adaptable to environmental factors, such as learning and stress.
To create the maps of genetic influences on the brain, the UCLA scientists teamed up with the National Public Health Institute of Finland, and the Finnish Universities of Helsinki and Oulu.
In a national initiative, the Finnish team tracked all the same-sex twins born in Finland between 1940 and 1957 — 9,500 pairs of twins — many of whom received brain scans and cognitive tests.
Their genetic similarity was confirmed by analyzing 78 different genetic markers. These individual pieces of DNA match exactly in identical twins, and half of them match in siblings.
Recent research has shown that many cognitive skills are surprisingly heritable, with strong genetic influences on verbal and spatial abilities, reaction times, and even some personality qualities, including emotional reactions to stress.
These genetic relationships persist even after statistical adjustments are made for shared family environments, which tend to make members of the same family more similar. Until this study, little was known about how much individual genotype accounts for the wide variations among individual brains, as well as individual's cognitive ability.
The UCLA researchers are also applying this new genetic brain mapping approach to relatives of schizophrenic patients, and individuals at genetic risk for Alzheimer's disease, to screen them for early brain changes, and help understand familial risk for inherited brain disorders where specific risk genes are unknown.
Study Finds Genetic Link Between Intelligence and Size of Some Regions of the Brain
Plunging into the roiled waters of human intelligence and its heritability, brain scientists say they have found that the size of certain regions of the brain is under tight genetic control and that the larger these regions are the higher is intelligence.
The finding is true only on average and cannot be used to assess an individual's intelligence, said Dr. Paul M. Thompson, the leader of the research team and a pioneer in mapping the structure of the brain.
The measurement of intelligence has long been a controversial issue, and even more so the efforts to tease out the relative contributions of heredity and environment.
Dr. Bruce L. Miller, a neurologist at the University of California at San Francisco and an expert on brain changes in Alzheimer's disease, said Dr. Thompson's work was "an exciting study that starts to show there are some brain areas in which there are very significant genetic influences on structure."
And Dr. Robert Plomin, a psychologist who studies intelligence at the Institute of Psychiatry in London, said the high correlation found between the size of certain areas of the brain and general intelligence "does make it harder to dismiss intelligence as some meaningless construct, as some want to do."
Independent Grey matter does influence intelligence, say scientists
Scientists have for the first time linked the amount of grey matter in the brain with the ability to do well in intelligence tests. The study, confirming that grey matter really was the intellectual stuffing of the brain, also found that the amount a person had depended largely on genes. The findings emerged from a study of identical and non-identical twins who had their heads examined using a medical scanner that could distinguish between the brain's grey matter and the rest of its "white matter".
Grey matter so called because it looks grey to the naked eye is made of the central "cell bodies" of brain cells and has long been associated with intelligence despite there being little evidence to justify the link. White matter, however, is made up of the long filaments that extend from nerve cells and act as the electrically insulated "cables" transmitting messages over longer distances.


Universities and scientific institutions are in the unique position of offering help in three, interrelated areas:
- Through the development and/or strengthening of capacity;
- Through knowledge in the form of research, methodology, technologies and assessments;
- Through direct actions in conservation, sustainable use and benefit sharing.
Cooperation between the Secretariat and the academic and research community can take many forms, and be approached from a number of different angles. Such cooperation can also be a platform for universities to expand their scientific and technical cooperation in support of biodiversity with institutions in other nations, particularly developing country states.
This section briefly outlines just a few of the potential areas for collaboration and types of activities that could be envisaged under each.


The railway on the street that was to become the Counterbalance began life as part of the Front Street Cable Railway. Composed of three segments, the northern and last to be finished segment ran from the cable car power house at 2nd & Denny north up 2nd Ave. N. to Aloha, then west to Queen Anne Ave., and then north to its terminus at Highland Dr. (Bradley St.). Completed on March 1, 1891, the northward extension was separately incorporated as the North Seattle Cable Railway. It was built with a cheap and impermanent wooden conduit, forcing a replacement within the first ten years of the line.
In early 1893 David T. Denny and associates purchased a majority interest in the cable car line, with the plan to incorporate it into another downtown railway company they owned. Before that could happen, the 1893 financial panic ensued and Denny lost control of the company. The company struggled for years, finally going bankrupt around 1898, due mainly to poor service and weak financial condition. Sold to the bondholders under foreclosure, the line was reorganized as the First Avenue Railway, but could not compete with the parallel line electric railway running along 2nd Avenue (a non-Queen Anne section of the route), and subsequently was refused a franchise by the city to convert to electricity, which forced the sale of the line to the Seattle Electric Company in 1900.
In order for the new electric cars to safely climb and descend the steep hill on Queen Anne Ave., Seattle Electric installed a counterbalance between Mercer and Comstock Streets. As a car approached each end, it stopped, and the counterbalance attendant would hook up the car to the counterbalance, a heavy 16-ton weight attached to a cable that would move the opposite direction to the travel of the street car. The weight aided the electric cars in climbing the hill, as well as reducing the use of brakes on the downhill route.
Once in a rare while the counterbalance weight wasn’t connected, and downhill passengers were then in for quite a ride! Listen to Martha, who grew up on Queen Anne, talk about one of those fateful days:
Seattle Municipal Street Railway outfitted cars #311 through 320 for the West Queen Anne Counterbalance line. Built in 1902 by the Stephenson Car Co., most cars served until end of service in August, 1940.
The last counterbalance car climbed Queen Anne Hill on August 10, 1940.
Read an article at Historylink.org about the Counterbalance.
Streetcars of Queen Anne
There were numerous streetcars that ran on Queen Anne, beginning with the Front St. Cable Railway in 1891, and continuing up to 1940, when the last line was replaced by a bus.
Although the Counterbalance is the most famous (with its cable car heritage), six other lines were running on the hill in 1910, as shown in this map redrawn at right, which was reconstructed from the R. L. Polk Seattle Directory of that year.
Historic Routes of Queen Anne Streetcars
EAST QUEEN ANNE: A branch line, running north from Galer along Second Ave. N to Blaine, thence west along Blaine to Queen Anne Ave. Makes connections with West Queen Anne and North Queen Anne and McGraw street lines.
BALLARD BEACH: From Pioneer Square, thence northwest along First Ave. to Denny Way, west to Western Ave., northwest to First Ave. W, north to W. Mercer, west to Beach Dr. northwest along Beach Dr. and Elliott Ave. to Fifteenth Ave. U, north to Thorndyke Ave., northeast to Thirteenth Ave. W, north to Salmon Bay, crossing Salmon Bay, thence north along Fourteenth Ave. NW to W Forty-seventh, west to Ballard Ave., continuing to downtown Ballard. (Ed. Interesting crossing across Salmon Bay, as the current Ballard Bridge was not yet built.)
FREMONT AND BALLARD: From Pioneer Square north and northwest along First Ave. to Pike, east to Westlake Ave., thence north and northwest along Westlake Ave. to Fourth Ave. N, north along Fourth Ave. N and Fremont Ave. to Ewing, west to Evanston Ave., north to Kilbourne, northwest to Third Ave. NW, north to W Forty-first, west to Sixth Ave. NW, north to W Forty-fifth, west to Eighth Ave. NW, north W Forty-seventh, west to Ballard Ave., to Ballard. Note: parts of PHINNEY AVE. and WALLINGFORD AVE. lines run through the Westlake section also.
KINNEAR PARK: From First Ave. S and Jackson, thence north and northwest along First Ave. S and First Ave. to intersection of Denny way and First Ave. N, thence north along First Ave. N to Harrison, west to Queen Anne Ave., north to W Mercer west to First Ave. W, north to W Roy, west to Second Ave. W, north to Olympic pl., west and northwest along Olympic pl. and Olympic way to Tenth Ave. W, thence north along Tenth Ave. W to W Crockett, the terminus. NORTH QUEEN ANNE AND McGRAW ST.: From Second Ave. S and Jackson, thence west along Jackson to Occidental Ave., north to Main, east to Second Ave. S, north and northwest along Second Ave. S to Cedar, northeast to Fifth Ave. N, north to Aloha, east to Taylor Ave., north to E Queen Anne Dr, northwest to Fifth Ave. N, north to Boston, west to Queen Anne Ave., north to W McGraw, west to Seventh Ave. W, north to W Ray, the terminus.
NORTH QUEEN ANNE AND RAY ST.: From Second Ave. S and Jackson, thence along Jackson, west to Occidental Ave., north to Main, east to Second Ave. S, north and northwest along Second Ave. S and Second Ave. to Second Ave. N, north to Roy, east to Third Ave. N, north to Aloha, east to Taylor Ave., north to E Queen Anne Dr, northwest to Fifth Ave. N, north to Boston, west to Queen Anne Ave., north to W Ray, the terminus.
WEST QUEEN ANNE: From Walker and First Ave. S, thence north and northwest along First Ave. S and First Ave. to intersection of Denny way and First Ave. N, thence north along First Ave. N to Harrison, west to Queen Anne Ave., north to W Galer, west to Sixth Ave. W, north to W Crockett, west to Seventh Ave. W, north to W McGraw, the terminus. A branch of this line runs north along Queen Anne Ave. from Harrison to Blaine, connecting with E Queen Anne line.
Railway Lines Source: R.L.Polk & Co. 1910 Seattle Address Directory


Want to collect dragonflies in PA, like this beautiful Emerald? Better make sure you have a fishing license! Photo (CC BY 2.0) by Andy Deans: https://flic.kr/p/eDNaCx
I get lots of questions about how to collect insects legally in Pennsylvania, especially when students are enrolling for ENT 432. I think it’s about time I post what I know—at least what I think I know—in case the information is useful to others. Note that this info is structured for students interested in general collecting, mainly for the collection requirement in ENT 432, and the reader should contact relevant agencies about research opportunities and permits. See also Chris Grinter’s excellent web page on permits; it’s a great starting point for information.
(1) You need a fishing license to collect aquatic insects, regardless of where you collect them (i.e., even on private land if it’s not your year-round residence!) Know that before you start collecting anywhere in PA! As the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission states (see this information sheet (PDF)):
Pennsylvania law defines “fishing” as the act of angling, or to catch, take, kill or remove or the attempt to catch, take, kill or remove from any waters or other areas within or bordering the Commonwealth any fish by any means or method for any purpose at all.
PA law also states that “… fishes include aquatic macroinvertebrates” (also in information sheet (PDF)). If you want to collect Odonata (up to 50 larvae per day), Ephemeroptera, Dytiscidae, Hydrophilidae, Haliplidae, etc. you need a fishing license. Also note that if you collect in certain streams at certain times of year you need a valid trout/salmon stamp in addition to your fishing license. More information is available at the PA FBC website.
(2) Be mindful of federally and otherwise protected species! Check state (aquatic species) and federal listings and understand that you can’t collect these species without special permits you are unlikely to have. For PA that includes the Rusty Patched Bumble Bee (Bombus affinis), American Burying Beetle (Nicrophorus americanus), and other species that are unlikely to occur here (1, 2, 3, 4) … but you never know!
(3) You can collect on private land, with owner’s permission. This one is easy. You can collect any insect (except see points 1 and 2 above) you want on my property in Pine Grove Mills, or your uncle’s land in Beaver county, or your grandmother’s farm near Lancaster, as long as you’ve been given permission.
(4) You can collect on Penn State property. No one has ever told me no. In fact, they’ve encouraged collecting for the purposes of growing the collection at the Frost and for helping students learn entomology! See the PSU hunting info site for a few maps and a list of rules. If you want to collect in more public places, such as the Arboretum, it’s best to get permission first. Don’t forget to re-read points 1 and 2 above, though.
(5) You can collect recreationally in U.S. National Forests. Don’t forget your PA fishing license for aquatic species, and be mindful of threatened and protected species! Grab your gear and head up to the Allegheny National Forest.
(6) You can collect in Pennsylvania State Forests, with a few exceptions. With points 1 and 2 in mind, feel free to explore Pennsylvania’s State Forests and collect insects! As with Pennsylvania State Game lands (see point 7 below), some types of collecting methods are apparently not allowed under existing rules, including bait traps and collecting plant parts.
(7) You can collect on Pennsylvania State Game lands, with a few exceptions. The State Game Lands rules (see also this PDF) don’t seem to preclude insect collecting, with the exception of points 1 and 2 above (remember your fishing license!). Some rules apparently impact certain types of collecting, though, and you must be mindful of hunting seasons (e.g., know when to wear fluorescent orange). You can harvest “mushrooms and fruits of berry-producing plants” but you cannot “gather, cut, dig, remove or otherwise injure any plants or parts thereof, including trees, shrubs, vines, flowering plants and cultivated crops”. So, no collecting galls, leaf mines, etc. You also cannot “feed wildlife or place any food, fruit, hay, grain, chemical, salt or other minerals”, so no bait traps. And you cannot “construct, place, maintain, occupy, use, leave or abandon any structures or other tangible property”, which might exclude Malaise and other, similar traps from your approach.
(8) You need a permit to collect in PA State Parks. We have an amazing park system in this state, and my impression is that it’s relatively easy to get collecting permits for reasonable educational and research activities. Points 1 and 2 above apply to collecting in state parks, so remember your fishing license! The fishing license alone should allow you to collect aquatic insects without further permitting, but other insects would require permits. See state park rules (PDF). You can also join the Entomological Society of Pennsylvania and get listed on their blanket state parks collecting permit. That’s super easy and cheap! See their contact information to inquire about permits.
(9) You need permits to collect in National Wildlife Refuges. Permit applications are available on the web. Pennsylvania has several refuges, and points 1 and 2 above still apply. You probably will not be collecting in National Wildlife Refuges for ENT 432.
(10) You need permits to collect in National Parks, and we’d need a MOU to house the specimens at the Frost. There are several National Parks in PA. For ENT 432 it’s best to avoid collecting in these areas.
Did I miss anything? Have any suggestions for updates? Post a comment below!
ENT 432 students collect insects at a Hg-vapor light at Powdermill Nature Reserve. We had permission to collect from the director. Photo (CC BY 2.0) by Hillary Morin: https://flic.kr/p/KZmHH7


Machine Learning: Categories and Definitions
We breathe in a world where technology is growing so fast that many people can’t keep up. One of these technologies is artificial intelligence. This relatively new trend in computer science has brought about fundamental changes in people’s lives. Artificial intelligence is a bit difficult to define, but we can say that it is a combination of different sciences to make machines smart. One of the most popular subfields of artificial intelligence is machine learning, which is hotly debated nowadays.
To learn more about AI and machine learning click here.
Suppose cleaning the floor. If the machine detects dirt, starts cleaning, and terminates the job when the floor gets cleaned, it is much better than when a human does it, as the machine does not get tired, does not get sick, and does not skive off.
The machine must be able to answer the following questions to get ready for cleaning the floor:
- When is the floor dirty?
- When is the floor clean?
- When should it start cleaning the floor?
- How long should it continue cleaning the floor?
This is machine learning that helps the computer to learn and improve its performance continuously.
Since machines do not have brains and nervous systems, machine learning models come to our aid here. The device receives data from the environment, transmits it to learning models. The model makes decisions based on the circumstances.
Examples of machine learning in everyday life
- Smartphones automatically detects faces and unlocks the phone
- Faces identification of smartphone cameras.
- Instagram, Facebook, and other social networks show ads and suggestions based on the user’s interests and tastes.
- Amazon and other online stores offer exciting products based on user search history.
- self-driving cars (Of course, they are not yet part of everyday life)
These are a few examples of machine learning.
Categories of Machine learning
Machine learning is generally divided into three categories:
- Supervised Learning
- Unsupervised Learning
- Reinforcement Learning
What is supervised learning?
As you can guess from what the name implies, the machine needs an observer or guide in supervised learning, just like someone sitting behind the wheel and learning to drive. In this case, the coach sits next to the person to give him the necessary advice. Similarly, in this type of learning, a series of pre-prepared data is delivered to the machine as a guide, and the machine makes the decisions required according to the relevant model.
What is unsupervised learning?
In this case, the machine does not need help. It can discover the relationships between the data through observations. After receiving various data, the device can find the relationships between them. An example of unsupervised learning is a machine that can distinguish between two vehicle models by clustering based on patterns.
What is reinforcement learning?
In this kind of machine learning, the device continually strengthens itself and tries to learn new things about an agent or environment. This method tries to solve the problem with trial and error. The machine will get a reward if it makes a correct decision and receives a fine if it gets a bad outcome. In this kind of learning, the device tries to be more successful in its future decisions.
The difference between data mining and machine learning
Data mining was introduced in 1930 and aimed to find useful, hidden, and valid information from a massive amount of data. However, machine learning was introduced in 1950 and involves applying a model derived from educational data to new data. Both techniques have something in common: they try to find useful data, but they differ in terms of responsibility, origin, implementation, nature, applications, and techniques used.
Data mining tries to extract meaningful rules and relationships from the data, but the learning machine tries to teach the computer the extracted rules. We can develop our model while applying data mining techniques. The main difference between data mining and machine learning is that information extraction is not possible without human intervention in data mining. Still, in machine learning, human presence is up to the stage of selecting and applying the machine learning algorithm, and then the results are used once and for all. The results of the learning machine are more accurate than data mining.
Is automation the same as machine learning?
If you think machine learning is a new and exciting name for automation, think again. These two branches are entirely different.
Automation is based on the rules—a series of tasks to be done with a predefined pattern. But in machine learning, machines learn new things from their previous experiences. This means that computers can make different decisions or change their performance.
An excellent example of difference between automation and machine learning is email service. When you send emails automatically, you are using automation, and when we put a spam detection filter on it, we engage in machine learning.
Machine learning strives to improve automation steps significantly.


Investigating the crime forensics use all possible evidences and materials that could be found at the crime scene, for instance, blood, DNA, mitochondrial DNA and so forth. Blood is fluid connective tissue that fills the cardiovascular system of vertebrates, including humans, and some invertebrates. Plasma (52-60%) and formed elements (40-48%) are two main components of it.
Plasma contains water and dissolved substances such as proteins and other organic and mineral compounds. Albumin, globulin and fibrinogen are the main plasma proteins. Water composes about 90% of plasma. Inorganic substances such as cations and anions form about 1%. Organic substances are divided into nitrogenous (proteins, amino acids, urea, creatinine, ammonia, metabolites of purine and pyrimidine nucleotides), and nitrogen-free (glucose, fatty acids, pyruvic, lactate, phospholipids, cholesterol). Plasma also contains gazes (oxygen and carbon dioxide) and active substances (hormones, vitamins, enzymes and neurotransmitters).
Blood formed elements are represented by erythrocytes, platelets and leukocytes. Erythrocytes or red blood cells are the most numerous among formed elements. Mature erythrocytes contain no nucleus and have a shape of biconcave discs. Red blood cells contain protein bearing iron – hemoglobin. Platelets or thrombocytes are limited by cell membrane fragments of cytoplasm of giant cells in marrow megakaryocytes. White blood cells or leukocytes are the part of the immune system. They are involved in immune reactions, excreting the T-cells that recognize the virus and all sorts of harmful substances, and B-cells that produce antibodies, macrophages, which destroy these substances (Hess 2009).
Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is a macromolecule that provides storage, transmission from generation to generation and implementation of the genetic program of development and functioning of living organisms. Each chromosome, which is located in the cell nucleus, consists of two parts connected by a bridge. Both parts contain chromatin, which is heavily compacted before the cell divides, and form spiral-shaped filaments which are called chromatids. The latter contain a molecule of deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA, which is the carrier of genetic information (genome) (Tong 2009).
DNA resembles twisted stairs in its structure, and therefore it is also defined as a double spiral. It consists of two very thin filaments, which are connected by bridges. Nucleotides are the structural units of this spiral. Each nucleotide consists of three parts which are sugar, phosphoric acid residue and a nitrogenous basis (adenine, thymine, cytosine or guanine).
Two bases, adenine – thymine and cytosine – guanine, form spiral stairs steps, being connected with each other via hydrogen links. Phosphoric acid residues form a stair railing, and sugar molecules are the connecting links of a DNA chain. Separate fragments, which are called genes, compose DNA molecule.
Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is DNA contained in mitochondria, the organelles of eukaryotic cells. Mitochondrial DNA is a closed circular double-stranded molecule which has 16 569 base pairs in human cells what is relatively small amount comparing with the total DNA in cells. In general, mtDNA encodes two rRNA, 22 tRNAs and 13 subunits of respiratory chain enzymes, which is no more than half of proteins found in it. In particular, seven subunits of ATP-synthases, three cytochrome oxidase subunits and one subunit of ubiquinol-cytochrome-c-reductase are encoded under the control of mitochondrial genome. Moreover, all proteins, except for one, two ribosomal and six tRNAs are transcribed from a heavy DNA chain, and 14 other tRNA and a protein are transcribed from the lighter DNA chain (Bond 2007).
Knowledge about these unique forms of biological evidence can be used to identify or eliminate suspects in a crime. DNA dactylography is method which is used in forensic identification of individuals according to the unique DNA sequences which individual has. Although 99.9% of human DNA sequences have the same composition, nevertheless DNA of different people is quite unique. In DNA profiling, repetitive elements in the selected portion of the genome are analysed (Takayanagi 2003).
The process starts with the preparation of the DNA sample. The buccal (cheek) swab is the most preferred method of the reference sample selection. If this is not possible to take it in this way, other methods to collect samples of blood, saliva, semen, or other suitable fluid or tissue from personal items can be used. Samples obtained from blood of biological relatives, can serve as an indicator of an individual profile, as well as human remains, which were previously profiled. Afterwards, the control sample is analyzed to generate individual’s DNA profile to determine whether there are genetic similarities.
At the present time the DNA profiling is based on the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and uses short tandem repeats (STR). This method analyzes the areas which have a high degree of polymorphism and short repeated sequences. These DNA segments can be used to distinguish between individuals (McCartney 2006).
It is sometimes impossible to obtain complete information on the short tandem repeats for highly degraded samples. In such situations, mtDNA is analyzed because there are many copies of mtDNA in the cell, whereas nuclear DNA can have no more than 1-2 copies. Mitochondrial analysis is a useful adjunct in determining the precise identification in such cases as the search for missing persons, when there are relatives related through the maternal line only.
Analysis of mtDNA is carried out in population studies. Polymorphism of mtDNA is widely used to establish the degree of divergence between different human populations.
Bond, John W. Value of DNA Evidence in Detecting Crime. Journal of Forensic Sciences, January 2007, Volume 52, Number 1, pp. 128-136. Print.
Hess, Karen M., Orthmann, Christine Hess. Criminal Investigation. 2009. pp. 142-143. Print.
McCartney, Carole. The DNA Expansion Programme and Criminal Investigation. British Journal of Criminology, March 2006, Volume 46, Number 2, pp. 175-182. Print.
Takayanagi, K., Asamura, H., Tsukada, K., Ota, M., Saito, S., Fukushima, H. Investigation of DNA extraction from hair shafts. International Congress Series, January 2003, Volume 1239, Number 69, pp. 759-764. Print.
Tong, Stephen., Bryant, Robin P., Horvath, Miranda A. H. Understanding Criminal Investigation. 2009. pp. 101-102. Print.


1A Diffusion: The purpose of this part of the lab was to test diffusion of small molecules through a selective permeable membrane. We were testing with solution color and the presence of glucose.
1B Osmosis: The purpose of the osmosis portion of the lab was to test the relationship between solute concentration and the movement of water through a selectively permeable membrane.
1C Water Potential: The purpose of this experiment was to gain an understanding of how the molarity of a solute affects the transfer of water in solutions.
1E Plasmolysis: The purpose of the Onion Plasmolysis lab was to examine how highly concentrated solutions affect diffusion and the contents of a cell.
1A Diffusion: The membrane allows molecules to pass through through the process of diffusion. However a selectively permeable membrane only allows some molecules to pass through but not others. Molecules go from a higher concentration to a lower concentration.
1B Osmosis: Osmosis is a process where molecules of a solvent pass through a semipermeable membrane from a less concentrated solution into a more concentrated one, thus equalizing the concentrations on each side of the membrane.
1C Water Potential: The term "water potential" refers to the tndency of water to move around from one place to another. In general, water moves from areas of high water potential to areas of low water potential.
1E Plasmolysis: A plant cell, such as the onion cell in the experiment, strives to be at a full state, so that it may retain its structure. It achieves this in a hypotonic solution, but wilts and dies in isotonic and hypertonic solutions respectively. Plasmolysis is when the cell has lost so much water that the cytoplasm inside pulls away from the cell wall and can cause the cell wall to collapse.
1A Diffusion: we had the dialysis bag put into the solution of iodine and distilled water for diffusion to occur. before hand we had to prepare the bag using water.
1B Osmosis: We filled six dialysis bags, one with 0 M distilled water and the rest with sucrose solutions of 0.2 M, 0.4 M, 0.6 M, 0.8 M, and 1.0 M and measured the mass difference and amount of percentage change of mass after they soaked in a cup of water for 30 minutes.
1C Water Potential: We measured out equal amounts of distilled water and sucrose solutions of 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, and 1.0 molarities into plastic cups. We then hole-boring device to cut cylindrical cores out of our potatoes, and placed four similarly sized cores in each cup. We left these cups to sit overnight so that the osmosis could reach equilibrium.
1E Plasmolysis: We placed the onion cells on a wet mount and placed them underneath a microscope. Then, using a dropper, placed 3 drops of 15% NaCl solution onto the slide, pushing it over onto our cell. After that, we followed the same procedure, only this time using fresh water instead.
1A Diffusion: The bag solution color was colorless initially and then final it was black. For the presence of glucose the bag had glucose to begin with so ended with having glucose. For the beaker the color was red initially and then lighter red in the end. For presence of glucose it had none to begin with then in the end it had glucose.
1B Osmosis: After the bags soaked in cups of water for 30 minutes they had fairly significant mass differences and thereby significant percent changes in mass. The bag with 0 M distilled water had a loss of mass and negative percent change in mass while the dialysis bags with sucrose in them from .2 M and up gained mass and increase in percent changes in mass.
1C Water Potential: The masses of the potato cores in the distilled water increased overnight by a good amount, and the mass of the cores in the 0.2M sucrose increased as well, if less so. However, the cores in the rest of the cups saw a decrease in mass, with the severity of the mass decrease being bigger in solutions with higher concentrations.
1E Plasmolysis: before the application of the NaCl solution, the onion cells were mostly a bright pink/red color. When we used the solution, the shade of the cell grew darker, and the color retracted from the inner edges of the cell. Using the fresh water, the cell went back to its previous state.
Graphs and Charts:
|Dialysis Bag results|
|Percent change in mass of dialysis bags graph|
1C Water Potential:
|--The top layer shows the regular onion cell, while the bottom shows the plasmolyzed cell.|
1A Diffusion: The results concluded that iodine and glucose were the molecules that went through the process of diffusion to have equilibrium. The bag received the iodine which made its drastic color change while the beaker received glucose.
1B Osmosis: The dialysis bag containing water had a negative mass difference and negative percent change because more water exited the dialysis bag than entered. That occurred because there was a larger amount of distilled water in the bag than out of it, causing the selectively permeable membrane to transfer the distilled water out of the bag, making it lose mass. The dialysis bags with sucrose in them from .2 M and up had positive mass differences and positive percent changes in mass because more water entered the bag than exited. That occurred because there wasn't any water in the bag in the first place, causing the selectively permeable membrane to transfer water inside the bag, making the bag gain mass.
1C Water Potential: The increase in mass of the potato cores in the water and low-concentration sucrose was due to a higher water potential in those solutions. Because the water potential in the potato cores was less than that of the solutions they were submerged in, the water moved into the cores and their masses increased. When the molarity of the sucrose began to reach higher than 0.2M, however, the water potential of the cores ended up being higher than that of the solutions, so the water moved out of the cores, causing the drop in mass.
1E Plasmolysis: The application on the NaCl solution created a hypertonic environment, causing the cell to lose water and convert to a plasmolyized state. The water inside of the cell flowed out into the solution in order to balance out the NaCl to Water ratio and reach equilibrium. When we poured fresh water back into the cell, the process was reversed and a hypotonic environment was created. The cell reverted back to being full, as the greater concentration of water on the outside of the cell proceeded to flow back.
1A Diffusion: We found out that starch was not one of the molecules that passed through the membrane and that glucose was the one that was allowed through the selectively permeable membrane.
1B Osmosis: In conclusion it can be determined that if water and another solution differ in concentration and are separated by a selectively permeable membrane, water will move between the membrane until both sides contain equal amounts of water.
1C Water Potential: Looking at the results of our experiment, it can be concluded that higher solute concentrations result in lower water potential, which causes the water to move into those solutions with high solute.
1E Plasmolysis: These results confirm that a hypotonic solution allows a plant cell to retain its turgidity and live, while the hypertonic solution causes it to lose water and become inneffective. DETRITUS!


By Josh Sager
While public mass transit is available to anyone within its operating area, it is disproportionately utilized by working- and middle-class Americans, particularly Americans of color. This disparity in who rides our nation’s buses and subways means that austerity targeted at mass transit systems has an extremely regressive impact on the American population—in short, it affects the poor and vulnerable far more than it does the rich.
According to a study by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), 65.6% of all mass transit riders make less than $50,000 a year while only 9.5% make over $100,000. The study also indicates that most riders are regular riders, who utilize the mass transit system to transport themselves to their place of employment.
Racial minorities utilize mass transit in disproportionately higher percentages then Caucasian Americans. In aggregate, 47.6% of mass transit riders are either African American or Hispanic, while only 40.6% are white. This disparity may not look large, but when one considers that the 2011 census indicates that only 29.8% of the US population is Black or Hispanic (approximately, 90 million people, out of 310 million Americans), we see that this is a significant disparity. It is important to note that the ridership percentages are in aggregate, and that some areas have significantly higher percentages of minority ridership (for example, the Detroit Transit system has a much higher percentage of riders of color than Boston).
Due to financial concerns that arose during the Great Recession, federal and state governments have looked towards cutting as much as they can out of their budgets. Unfortunately, many of these austerity measures have been directed towards the funding that mass transit systems require to remain functional. According to a recent study, approximately 80% of American mass transit systems have had their budgets cut to the point where they needed to alter their operations or rates since the 2008 economic crash.
These cuts manifest themselves in three ways.
Fares Increase. Rather then cut services, some mass transit systems choose to increase fares in order to increase their revenue. These increases allow the transit system to keep running by shifting the burden from state funds onto the riders.
Increasing fares in order to keep the busses and trains running may sometimes be necessary, but the poor and middle-class people who depend upon mass transit are the ones who foot the bill. These are the people who are unable to easily afford an alternative form of transportation and who use public mass transit to get to work. Rich people don’t usually end up paying a significant portion of the fare increases simply because they are a very low proportion of the ridership.
In recent years, we have seen numerous cities ask for fare increases in their mass-transit systems—one such example of this increase is Boston’s MBTA system. During 2012, the MBTA increased fares by significant percentages for both bus and subway fares (the increase depends upon the type of fare, and you can go to MBTA.com to see the table announcing the new rates).
Services are cut. Reducing coverage to less-profitable transit lines (like cutting service to some areas outside of central hubs) allows transit systems to sustain the core services at a standard price. Cutting services for mass transit lines in order to save money has the potential to be extremely disruptive to people on less populated lines. When relatively few people travel along a transit line, it is sometimes cost-effective to cut services during non-peak hours, or even shut down the line completely.
Unfortunately, this method of cutting costs in transit systems leads to blind spots in communities outside of the transit system’s central hubs. Areas with less economic activity are more likely to be cut, leaving workers in those areas stranded. Once a service line is cut, those living in the affected area will need to find new methods of transportation and there is simply no easy replacement to mass transit—cabs, car services and car rentals are too expensive, while bikes limited to those physically able to use them.
Maintenance and upkeep are reduced. Minor problems like broken seats and dirty stations may be simply ignored in favor of keeping the entire system running below cost limits. Some cities simply let non-vital problems in their transit system go unattended. This reduction in maintenance can result in consequences as benign as decreased sitting space, but can also lead to serious delays due to breakdown.
Cutting maintenance isn’t regressive, per se, but it makes it much more unpleasant for all transit riders. When seats are broken, cars are coated in graffiti, and stations are in a state of disrepair, the daily commute for working class riders is simply made needlessly more difficult, uncomfortable and unreliable.
The Big Picture. When looking at mass transit austerity, we must not disregard the good of the program while assessing what to cut from it. Millions of Americans rely upon mass transit for their livelihood and any cuts or fare increases to these programs burden these people.
Cuts to mass transit may appear penny wise, but they are truly pound foolish. If you make it difficult or more expensive for workers to travel to their jobs, it is not only unfair, but a burden on the economy. Rather than being able to spend their money taking care of their families, these workers are forced to waste more on transport. Their buying power is decreased and the economy loses important demand for goods.
The budgets of cities and states must be balanced in some way, but there are better ways than cutting vital mass transit. Rather than fixing budgets through shifting the burden onto the poor, we could utilize slight increases on higher income tax brackets in order to add money to state and local general funds, which could make transit cuts unnecessary. This method of balancing the budget would spare the working- and middle-classes cuts and cost increases that they cannot afford by taking a little from those who are now paying record low percentages of their incomes in taxes.
If state and local governments are unable or unwilling to protect their mass transit systems from cuts, then the federal government must step in. By passing a relatively small economic stimulus focusing upon supporting local and state mass transit through the federal government, these vital mass transit programs can be preserved. Some federal legislators have pushed this type of stimulus—Obama even suggested this as part of his American Jobs Act—but such legislation has yet to be successfully passed.
It is entirely possible to balance budgets without cutting mass transit services that are vital to the people who can least afford to pay; we must demand that our politicians not eviscerate our public transit systems.


Bucknell Studies in Latin American Literature and Theory
Epic, Empire, and Community in the Atlantic World studies the epic poem Espejo de paciencia by Silvestre de Balboa, written in 1608 in order to commemorate the abduction of bishop Fray Juan de las Cabezas Altamirano, which took place near the town of Bayamo in the eastern part of Cuba on April 29, 1604. Marrer-Fente argues that the disappearance of the Espejo de paciencia manuscript during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries did not prevent the poetic world described in the text from founding a trope of enduring possibilities in Cuban literature. Epic, Empire, and Community in the Atlantic World makes a salient contribution to Cuban colonial studies by offering a comparison between Balboa's poem and the works of other contemporary authors from the Canary Islands, Spain, Spanish America, emphasizing the relevance of transatlantic relations in the poetic production of the period.
About the author:
Raúl Marrero-Fente is Assistant Professor of Spanish at the University of Minnesota.
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... >> Natural Science >> Zoology >> Intertidal Zone
Highest Rated Sign
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Definition: A portion of an ocean's continental shelf that gets exposed to air during low tides and submerged at high tides.
Source: Hickman, C.P., et al. 2011. Integrated Principles of Zoology. Fifteenth Edition. McGraw-Hill Higher Education.


By Zoe Tabary
LONDON, Dec 4 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Ransom-hungry pirates, polar explorers, offshore oil giants - the race for the riches of the world's final frontier is on.
From Thailand to Alaska, the battle to tap ever-dwindling resources from minerals to fish is spurring new conflicts over who has the right to the treasures of the deep seas.
As India, China and Brazil seek new sources of cobalt, copper and nickel to build the gadgets demanded by their booming populations, they are preparing to mine a new realm - the dark depths of the ocean.
Over the next decade India will spend more than $1 billion to develop and test deep-sea technologies - including human-piloted exploration submarines - in the Indian Ocean that could give access to once inaccessible mineral riches up to 6.8 miles (11 km) under water.
"We have to depend on ocean resources sooner or later ... there is no other way," said Gidugu Ananda Ramadass, head of India's deep-sea mining project at the National Institute of Ocean Technology in the southern city of Chennai.
But mining the seas - home to the vast majority of life on Earth - carries huge risks and could cause irreversible damage to the environment, campaigners warn.
Oceans - which scientists say are less understood than the moon or Mars - cover more than 70 percent of the Earth's surface, yet less than 20 percent of their seafloor has been mapped or observed, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
And what lies below the waves is worth trillions of dollars.
The so-called "blue economy" of marine resources is expected to contribute $3 trillion to the world's GDP by 2030 - equivalent to the size of the UK economy - up from $1.5 trillion in 2010, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
But from overfishing, to a rush to mine deep seas, to slavery on fishing boats, the world's oceans are a source of growing dispute, not least over who should get access to them.
Experts say oceans are a neglected area of global governance despite the United Nations' 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the 193 member states agreeing in 2015 to a global goal to sustainably manage and protect marine resources.
"Oceans' governance is the classic public good challenge," said Dominic Waughray, head of the World Economic Forum's Centre for Global Public Goods.
Smart rules are essential to keep oceans healthy - but because nobody owns them, "we have a real problem", he said.
Liz Karan, senior manager for the high seas at Pew Charitable Trusts, a non-profit organisation, said existing regulations were patchy and had struggled to protect ecosystems in international waters.
But a proposed U.N. treaty to protect ocean biodiversity - and prevent over-exploitation - could change that.
Negotiations on a legally binding treaty – which would cover the high seas, or ocean areas that extend beyond national boundaries capped at 200 nautical miles from coasts – began in September and aim to reach an agreement by 2020.
But government and U.N. action are only part of the answer, experts caution.
"Governments are good at setting targets, but to really get things done you're going to need more than hoping U.N. agencies alone can fix this," said Waughray.
He said technology and monitoring tools to enforce the would-be treaty would be crucial.
So who are the main players controlling Earth's final frontier? And how will the global hunt for resources affect the communities who now depend on the seas to survive?
FISHING UNDER THREAT
From fast-expanding tourist resorts to disputes over maritime borders, fishing communities are finding their main source of income increasingly under threat.
In southern Thailand, a tourism boom is pitting the Chao Lay, or people of the sea, against land developers, while marine conservation efforts also limit their traditional fishing grounds.
"Our lives have changed. We have to go further and dive deeper to catch fish, and that is affecting our health," said Ri Fongsaithan, an Urak Lawoi community elder.
Some Chao Lay have taken their plight to the courts, fighting eviction from their homes.
According to Brad Adams of Human Rights Watch, an advocacy group, the Chao Lay "generally do not assert ownership rights because they believe that land and water should not be owned or controlled by one person, but rather shared by many".
The legal fight over the sea is also playing out at national levels.
The Latin American nations of Colombia and Nicaragua, for instance, have for decades fought over a cluster of islands in the western Caribbean - and the fishing rights around them.
In 2012, a ruling by the International Court of Justice redrew the maritime borders around the archipelago of San Andres, Providencia and Santa Catalina in favour of Nicaragua, reducing the expanse of sea belonging to Colombia.
The loss of waters – and of income – has hit the islands' artisanal fishermen hard, with some saying the money they make from fishing cannot even pay for the fuel to power their boats.
"Our territory at the end of the day is the ocean," said Erlid Arroyo, secretary of agriculture and fishing at the governor's office in San Andres. He estimated lost income from the court ruling at "millions and millions of dollars".
But the crisis has spurred a rethink of the island's fishing industry, he said, with the government training fishermen to catch fish in other areas and make more of their catch.
These islands' underwater riches might not last, however. In the last few decades, the oceans have undergone unprecedented warming while currents have shifted.
From the waters off the east coast of the United States to the coasts of West Africa, the changes are causing fish and other sea life to seek out new waters - leaving the communities that depend on them facing disruption as a result.
For other communities, fishing regulations present the most potent threat.
For decades the Inupiaq, a Native Alaskan group living north of the Arctic Circle, have argued that international limits on subsistence whaling were not big enough to meet their food needs.
"They controlled what we could hunt and what we could eat," said Roy Nageak, a retired whaling captain, referring to when the International Whaling Commission (IWC) set quotas on catching bowhead whales in 1977 to protect existing stocks.
The Inupiaq hired scientists to convince the IWC that whale stocks were still healthy and to increase the quota, said Crawford Patkotak, an Inupiaq whaling captain.
Then ensued a constant struggle to negotiate and renew whaling quotas with the IWC - which expired every five-six years - the indigenous group said.
Inupiaq leaders welcomed the International Whaling Commission's decision in September to reaffirm their shared quota of 56 whales per year, increase the number of unused strikes permitted to carry over into the next year, and to renew aboriginal quotas automatically.
"We'll now be able to hunt in peace without the anxiety of worrying about an expiring quota," said Patkotak.
Much of the quest for ocean resources, however, lies not near its surface but in its depths.
Technological advances and growing demand for minerals used in consumer electronics have fueled a rush to mine the deep seas.
When Oscar-winning director James Cameron ventured in 2012 on a record-breaking solo dive to the deepest-known place on Earth in the Pacific Ocean, he described a flat, desolate landscape, 50 times larger than the Grand Canyon.
But new technology like autonomous robots and deep-diving submarines could allow scientists to unearth treasures like copper, nickel and cobalt.
Resource-hungry countries are racing ahead in the hunt for minerals, with India planning to explore a 75,000-square-km (29,000-square miles) area of the Indian Ocean - equal to about 2 percent of the country's size.
"We are exploring Mars, we are exploring the moon. Why don't we explore our own oceans?" asked Ramadass, of India's National Institute of Ocean Technology.
China, the world's second-largest economy, is seeking minerals in the eastern Pacific Ocean. And Brazil has won rights to explore the Rio Grande Rise off its southeastern coast, in the southern Atlantic Ocean.
"The more (natural) resources are exhausted on the continent, the more interesting marine mining will become," said Lauro Julio Calliari, an oceanographer at Brazil's Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul.
But, with little of the deep ocean mapped or explored, environmentalists worry about the potential loss of species not yet well understood - or even recorded.
Sediment plumes and disturbance caused by mining could wipe out habitats, including for slow-growing corals and fish, said Richard Mahapatra, managing editor of the New Delhi-based science and environment magazine Down To Earth.
In the longer run, disturbing oceans, which absorb carbon dioxide and heat, could affect how they regulate the world's climate, he added.
"We should not rush (deep sea mining). Otherwise we will head towards another disaster," he said.
The hunt for yet another ocean resource - offshore oil - could have disastrous consequences for marine wildlife, campaigners warn.
Last December, Italian oil producer Eni began drilling a new well in U.S. waters off the north coast of Alaska – the first company to drill in the area since 2015, and a move warily eyed by indigenous communities.
Arnold Brower Jr., executive director of the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission (AEWC), worries that potentially devastating oil spills could affect whale food sources, including krill.
"Of course we're concerned because we've seen the mess down in the Gulf of Mexico - BP's blowout," he said, referring to the Deepwater Horizon oil drilling rig that exploded in 2010, causing the worst spill in history.
SLAVERY AT SEA
Determining who owns or has the right to the ocean's resources raises another question: Who should police them?
The multi-billion-dollar seafood industry has come under scrutiny – particularly in Thailand – after investigations showed widespread slavery, human trafficking and violence on fishing boats and in onshore processing facilities.
Experts said slavery was also rife on fishing vessels in Cape Town's luxurious waterfront in South Africa.
Part of the problem stems from a lack of oversight on fishermen's working conditions on the high seas, said Brandt Wagner, head of the transport and maritime unit at the International Labour Organization, a U.N. agency.
The main international convention regulating crew safety and conditions on fishing vessels - called the Cape Town Agreement - was adopted in 2012 by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), a U.N. agency.
But only 10 countries have signed it, according to the Pew Charitable Trusts, a non-profit.
"So the international law which is most needed to make sure the fishing vessels are safe is not yet in force," said Wagner.
Dane du Plessis, with South African charity Biblia, has tried to identify and help exploited fishermen when their boats dock in the port of Cape Town.
"People ignore what's going on because these fishermen, they're poor, they're uneducated," he said,
Migrant fishermen told the Thomson Reuters Foundation they were routinely abused by employers, including being punched, forced to drink dirty water and subjected to racist slurs.
Experts hope that could change with stricter enforcement of fishing regulation.
In May a Taiwanese trawler was detained – and later released – in Cape Town after crew complaints about working conditions.
The detention was the first under the International Labour Organization's Fishing Convention , which seeks to improve fishermen's working conditions.
Du Plessis worries, however, that efforts to identify victims of slavery aboard fishing vessels are "only scratching the surface".
"I believe there's worse things happening," he said. "The ocean is so vast - and what happens there, none of us will know."
Authorities are trying to police another kind of criminal wreaking havoc on the seas - pirates.
While piracy has decreased worldwide in the past decade, the Gulf of Guinea off the coast of West Africa has become an increasing target for pirates who steal cargo and demand ransoms, according to the International Maritime Bureau (IMB).
Ships in or around Nigerian waters were the target of a series of piracy-related incidents last year, with 10 kidnappings involving 65 crew members, the IMB said in a report in January.
MAPPING THE UNKNOWN
Crucial to protecting oceans as pressure mounts is understanding what lies at the bottom, experts say.
A U.N.-backed initiative, called Seabed 2030, is trying to do that by pooling data from around the world to produce a publicly available map of the entire ocean seafloor by 2030.
"Can you imagine operating on the land without a map, or doing anything without a map?" asked Larry Mayer, director of the U.S.-based Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping, a research body that develops tools for underwater mapping.
"We depend on having that knowledge of what's around us - and the same is true for the ocean," he said.
The project initiated by the Nippon Foundation, a Japanese philanthropic organisation, and GEBCO, a non-profit association of ocean experts, aims to improve knowledge of marine biodiversity, predict disasters and protect deep-sea resources.
From underwater drones to crowdsourced data from fishing boats, new technology could drastically speed up the mapping process, researchers said.
"With advanced sonar technology it really is like seeing. I think we've come out of the era of being the blind man with the stick," said Robert Larter, a marine geophysicist at the British Antarctic Survey.
Advances in technology could also help in the fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, with theft estimated to be worth $23.5 billion a year, experts said.
A range of platforms are tracking fishing on the high seas and in marine reserves, aided by radio and satellite data that transmits vessel locations and movements, allowing authorities to identify illegal behaviour.
But political infighting is a roadblock in the way of data and knowledge-sharing, said Julian Barbiere of UNESCO's Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, which is supporting the Seabed 2030 initiative.
Some countries are reluctant to share what they consider strategic data with the project, he said, largely due to national security concerns or because it comes from areas with sensitive geopolitical tensions, such as the disputed South China Sea.
But too much is at stake for countries to hoard data, he said.
"(It) goes back to this principle: the ocean is an international space by definition ... part of the common heritage of mankind," said Barbiere. (Reporting by Zoe Tabary and Adela Suliman in London, Rina Chandran in Rawai Beach, Gregory Scruggs and Max Baring in Utqiagvik, Annie Banerji in Chennai, Anastasia Moloney in San Andres, Inna Lazareva in Cape Town and Karla Mendes in Rio de Janeiro; Editing by Laurie Goering and Belinda Goldsmith. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's and LGBT+ rights, human trafficking, property rights and climate change. Visit http://news.trust.org)
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.


George J. Schaller
- President, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, 1934–1941
- Born: October 6, 1874
- Died: July 15, 1964
George J. Schaller was the second governor of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, serving from March 2, 1934, to March 1, 1941. (In 1935, his title changed to president.)
Schaller was born in Storm Lake, Iowa, in 1874. His banking career began in 1902 at the Citizens First National Bank in Storm Lake, which he and his father organized. He became president in 1922 and continued as head of the bank until 1933 when the board of directors of the Chicago Fed asked him to become acting governor during the leave of absence of James B. McDougal. When McDougal retired in 1934, Schaller was elected governor.
A New York Times article stated “the election of Mr. Schaller is regarded as significant for two reasons: 1) he was practical which the directors in Chicago favored and 2) was not considered the ‘brain trust’ in which the Federal Reserve Board seemed to favor.” 1
The Banking Act of 1935 changed the title of governor to president and Schaller was elected for a five-year term. The Banking Act also capped the Federal Reserve’s trend toward centralization by creating the Federal Open Market Committee to conduct the System’s open market operations. Congress also gave the Federal Reserve a new monetary policy tool, the authority to change member banks’ reserve requirements. During Schaller’s presidency, the Chicago Fed commemorated its twenty-fifth anniversary of the Federal Reserve System in 1939.
Upon his retirement in 1941, Schaller returned to Storm Lake and the Citizens First National Bank of Storm Lake, Iowa.
Schaller died in 1964.
Written by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. See disclaimer.


An editorial article out in the New England Journal of medicine has raised some interesting revisits to the questions concerning beverage selection and risk for obesity. In particular the depressing increase in adolescent obesity not only in developed but developing countries because of the significant future health complications that spill out from these issues.
Sugars contained in soft drinks represent a substantial source of caloric intake in the USA and are likely to be similar here in the UK – that is almost 15% of daily calories are derived from soft drinks sweetened with sugar.
Unlike carbohydrates with high fibre content, sugar-sweetened beverages are nutrient-poor and are often associated with consumption of salty foods and fast foods. An emerging association between the increased consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and coronary heart disease is a major concern.
Three papers published in the NEJM this month highlight potential explanations of mechanisms that increase risk for obesity.
The study by Qi and colleagues examined the interaction between the intake of sugar-sweetened beverages and a genetic-predisposition score that was calculated on the basis of 32 body-mass index (BMI) loci associated with obesity in women and men from two large prospective cohorts and in an independent replication cohort. This study provides strong evidence that there is a significant interaction between an important dietary factor — intake of sugar-sweetened beverages — and a genetic-predisposition score, obesity, and the risk of obesity. Hence, participants with a greater genetic predisposition may be more susceptible to the adverse effects of sugar-sweetened beverages on obesity; this is a clear example of gene–environment interaction.
The study by de Ruyter et al looks at the effects on weight of swapping drinks. Whilst there are some limitations due to non-completion of 26% of the participants the results clearly suggest that masked replacement of a sugar-containing beverage (104 kcal) with a sugar-free beverage significantly reduced weight gain and fat accumulation in normal-weight children.
Ebbeling and colleagues randomly assigned 224 overweight and obese adolescents who regularly consumed sugar-sweetened beverages to experimental and control groups. The experimental group received a 1-year intervention consisting of home delivery of noncaloric beverages. This intervention was designed to decrease consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, with a follow-up for an additional year.
The difference in the primary outcome, the change in BMI at 2 years between the experimental and control groups, was not significant. However, at 1 year, significant changes in BMI were observed, particularly among Hispanic participants suggesting that once the access to the drinks was discontinued that habits were restored.
High fructose corn syrup has also been implicated as it promotes hepatic lipogenesis and the development of insulin resistance. As such it may add additional complications in the attempt to manage peoples long term dietary choices.
Of course industry and politics resist attempts to apportion blame of impose taxation levies to encourage consumer choice, BUT….
“It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it”
— Upton Sinclair 1878-1968


“When we see healthier eating, we see more disease prevention and less hospital stays, which means less money spent on healthcare,” says Leah Sarris, chef and program director of The Goldring Center for Culinary Medicine at Tulane University, where medical students are learning to cook to better advise the health of their patients. By getting them to approach food preparation with ease and awareness, this next generation of doctors is striving to provide building blocks for long-term health management.
Students also teach free cooking classes to the public. Because medical students are being trained to prescribe healthy eating to their patients, Sarris says, the community classes are essential to their learning.
“The hands-on component gets people to talk about food instead of nutrients. Food is something that unites us and we can all understand,” Sarris says.
Written by Jasleena Grewal for YES! Magazine. Read the full article here.
Each week we post articles, poems, and essays that relate to food sovereignty, health & wellbeing, and eating culture.


As many know, within the religious context the term “myth” does not necessarily mean fiction (as in “not true”). However, I have noticed that even within religious circles there is a tendency to link the term myth with fiction. Take, for example, the story of David and Goliath. I believe that the story of David and Goliath is based on history, but if I call it a myth, people tend assume that I am saying it did not actually happen. Therefore, I tend to like to say that a story has a mythic function, rather than saying it is a myth.
The same can happen with the term “parable.” There is nothing in the term that says whether the story is based on fact or fiction. Thus the parable of Jesus about the Unjust Judge may or may not be based on a real woman in need of justice and a judge in need of a conscience. However, people tend to believe that a parable is fiction. Therefore, I would rather talk about a story having a parabolic function.
A story functions as a myth or a parable based on the culture it is expressed in. So what defines a mythic or parabolic function of a story? Let me suggest the following (no, I am not being original here):
MYTHIC: having the quality of supporting, justifying, or explaining a cultural value.
PARABOIC: having the quality of challenging or contradicting a cultural value.
Consider the story of David and Goliath. I believe it is a historical event, but it was told and retold because it had a mythic function. Ancient Israel saw itself as small compared to big and powerful nations around it. Yet it saw itself as having a special relationship with God, such that if it was faithful to God and courageous, Israel would be victorious. The story of David and Goliath explained and supported this self-perception with David being the faithful and courageous Israel, and Goliath the big, strong and Godless nations surrounding Israel.
In some other cultures David and Goliath also has a mythic function even if the symbols change. In the United States, for example, the high value placed on the individual and individualism gives a different interpretation to the story. Goliath is the powerful unfeeling corporation or government bureaucracy. David is the seemingly powerless individual. However, when he stands on the side of what is right and refuses to give up, David (and individualism) can again be victorious.
However, one could imagine a culture where David and Goliath has a parabolic function. A highly disciplined and militarized culture may find itself cheering for Goliath. David and Goliath may be a cautionary tale in this culture where strength, discipline and maturity can sadly be overcome. The hearer must be taught the sad truth that all matter of training and weaponry can be overcome by “a lucky hit.”
Since missions involves expressing divine truth in a way that is accessible to a specific culture, the proper use of stories with mythic or parabolic functions within the culture is valuable. Few people are impressed by propositional truth. Most find narrative as being more compelling… as long as it hits home with the culture it is shared in.
Thus, understanding the culture and utilizing (or creating) stories that resonate mythically or parabolically is vitally important for being both an agent of change as well as an agent of preservation.
- Counter-Cultural Contextualization (missionmusings.wordpress.com)
- <Note: This is part of my book, “Theo-Storying: Reflections on God, Narrative, and Culture“>


A Fraction consists of two numbers separated by a line.
The top number (or numerator) tells how many fractional pieces there are. In the
fraction 3/8, we have three pieces.
The denominator of a fraction tells how many pieces an object was divided into.
The fraction 3/8 tells us that the whole object was divided into 8 pieces.
If the denominators of two fractions are the same, the fraction with the
largest numerator is the larger fraction.
For example 5/8 is larger than 3/8 because all of the pieces are the same and
five pieces are more than three pieces.


- Hinduism has no single scripture but many.
- They include the Vedas and their corollaries sometimes called collectively "the Vedic scriptures."
- There are two main divisions:
- shruti – that which is heard (revealed truth)
- smriti – that which is remembered (realised truth)
- Sanskrit is the language of most canonical texts, but many subsidiary texts are written in the vernacular.
The concept of Hinduism being a single monolithic religion is recent, dating
back only to the 19th century. Many scholars liken Hinduism to a family of
religions, with all affiliated members bearing a family resemblance. Thus
any definition of Hinduism is somewhat arbitrary and requires qualification.
One such definition is "the followers of Vaidika Dharma," or those
who follow the religious teachings outlined in the Vedas and their corollaries.
Hindu religious literature is divided into two main categories:
- Shruti – that which has been heard
- Smriti – that which has been remembered
Shruti is canonical, consisting of revelation and unquestionable truth, and is considered eternal. It refers mainly to the Vedas themselves.
Smriti is supplementary and may change over time. It is authoritative only
to the extent that it conforms to the bedrock of shruti.
There are different opinions about the relative validity and importance of each. Some Hindus stress the foundational importance of shruti, whereas others say that in making truths accessible, smriti is more important today. Belief in universal truth suggests to some Hindu thinkers that any teaching that corresponds to real knowledge can also be accepted as "Veda." Hence there are numerous writings considered to be "Vedic," including many vernacular works. It is important to note that:
- The divide between Shruti and Smriti is often contested.
- The divide is not discrete but can be represented as a continuum, with some texts more canonical than others.
Most key texts are written in classical Sanskrit, considered the sacred language
of the gods. The script itself is termed "devanagari" – literally
"from the cities of the gods." (For more information on Sanskrit,
please see Sanskrit and Sanskriti).
Many subsidiary texts, particularly by medieval bhakti writers, are in local
vernaculars, such as Tamil, Brajbasi, Gujarati, and Bengali.
The content of Vedic scripture is divided into three main sections, though the third one, upasana-kanda, is sometimes omitted:
- Karma-kanda – largely dealing with ritual sacrifice aimed at enjoyment (world-accepting)
- Jnana-kanda – philosophical texts aimed at knowledge through renunciation (world-denying)
- Upasana kanda – texts focusing on worship of God and service to him (world-accommodating/transcending)
These three largely correspond to the three main paths – Karma-yoga, Jnana-yoga, and Bhakti-Yoga (see Four Main Paths).
The most important books in the shruti and smriti are listed below. They are here grouped into ten categories to aid memorisation. The main texts within both shruti and smriti are explored in this section.
For popular purposes in the UK, the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, the Puranas and the Bhagavad-gita are most commonly used.
Ten Principal Texts
- Main shruti texts (3)
- The Four Vedas
- The 108 Upanishads
- The Vedanta Sutra
- Main smriti texts (4)
- The Itihasas (histories or epics)
- The Bhagavad-gita (philosophy)
- The Puranas (stories and histories)
- The Dharma Shastra (law books)
- Other texts (4)
- The Vedangas (limbs of the Vedas)
- The Upavedas (following the Vedas)
- Sectarian texts (e.g. agamas, tantras)
- Vernacular literature
- The Epics are the Ramayana and Mahabharata
- The "other texts" are usually classified as smriti. Some consider the Vedangas to be shruti.
- The sectarian texts mainly deal with ritual procedures, and include the Vaishnava Pancharatra, the Shaiva Agamas and Tantras, and the Shakta Devi Shastra and Tantra
Sacred texts are sources of:
- Philosophical concepts
- Information on personal values
- Practical injunctions
- Story and myth
- Prayers and mantras
- Details of worship/liturgy
- Various arts and sciences
- Sacred texts are treated with respect; they are never placed directly on the floor, nor touched with feet or dirty hands.
- Prayers are often recited before using or consulting them.
- Texts are often wrapped in silk cloth.
- Sometimes they are placed in a shrine and offered worship.
- Ancient texts were etched on leaves, such as palm.
- Books are used for recitation, personal study, theological training, pravachan (see Other Forms of Worship) and consultation on matters of spiritual and secular law.
Related Values and Issues
- The differences between belief, opinion and truth
- The need for authority
- In what ways does secular literature fulfill a similar role to scripture e.g. as a means to information?
- Are there any parallels in the need to accept the opinion, advice or judgment of others? How should it be accepted?
- How important is it for a teacher to make any topic accessible to students
(as smriti attempts to do)? What are the benefits and possible pitfalls
in doing this?
- Veda – knowledge, from the root vit, "to know"
- Vedic – often refers to the period of compilation of the Rig Veda (i.e.
the Vedic period). Hindus themselves often use the term to describe anything
connected to the Vedas and their corollaries (e.g. Vedic culture).
Meaning and Purpose
- How do we determine the meaning and purpose of life?
- Does written authority play a role?


1 entry found.
Common Name: Crocus
Botanical Name: Crocus spp. (KRO-kus)
Decorative Life: Varies greatly by cultivar and temperature and to a lesser degree by light levels. Individual flowers last from 2-5 days but the entire plant longevity can be as high as 7-12 days if sold at the sprout stage of development and held in a cool environment.
Post Harvest Care
- Display in cool area for maximum life.
Harvest Instructions: Harvest and market at the sprout stage of development.
- Is a member of the Iridaceae (iris family).
- Native from the Mediterranean region to South West Asia.
- Common relatives include iris, ixia, freesia and gladiolus.
- Produced from corms, not bulbs. Corms are modified stems.
- Classed as a monocotyledon, leaves mostly parallel veined.
- Flowers are tubular, flaring to cup-shaped at ends, up to 3 inches long.
- No fragrance of consequence.
Availability: Winter - spring.
Flower Color: Yellow, blue and/or white, often stripped.
Storage Specifics: 34-38F.
- "Crocus": Greek name of the saffron (C. sativus).
- Can purchase corms, plant them, follow growing instructions and allow them to produce flowers thus extending the enjoyment period.
- The American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology lists this species as an allergy-safe pollen producing plant.
- Will generally do well in light levels at least bright enough to read a newspaper in comfort up to full sun.
Recent Findings: While the following is not a recent research finding to say the least, it still is very applicable today. Pfeffer (1897 as reported by Wood, 1953) showed that when light causes a less than one degree F increase in crocus temperature that flower opening can be stimulated whereas an equal fall in temperature can cause the flower to close.