Genetics webpage

The next project we are working on will be creating a webpage in groups. We are now working on this webpage where we deal with subjects related to the main topic. Our groups webpage's subject is genetics, DNA changes, genetics ingeneering...

Click here to go to the webpage

2nd TERM

In this second term we'll deal with subjects such as medicine, health, genetics... All this are subjects which I have a very poor knowledge about even if are topics that concern me.
I think this term will be more interesting than the first one because I like more the topics we will work with, even if at the end I learnt things I didn't know and can be useful for my future.

Evolution stages of hominids

1.There are two main theories about the creation of humans we are going to talk about.

2.The first one is Adan & Eve's which is the religious one from the point of view of the Christians. This theory explains that god created the first human (Adan) and then from his rib he created Eve. They lived in heaven.

3.The other theory we would like to talk about is the scientific one. This explains that at the begining we all were bacterias and how we went evoluting until we reached what we are now.

4.So why have we evolved? In each generation, the structure of our DNA changes because we adapt to environment. For example, the monkey suffered some changes because of its moment's nature and then Australopithecus appeared.

5.Darwin's theory (the natural selection) explains that the strongest species survive, this means that the specie that adapts the best to its moment's environment is more likely to survive. 

We suffer genetic mutations, which are adantages, and these are inherited by our descendants. This is why we change or mutate.

6.The first Australopithecus appeared in Ethiopia. First they expanded all over Africa and then moved to Asia, Europe, Oceania and North and South America. Actually humans live all around the world.

7.Lucy was the first hominid that was found by us, humans. It was found in Ethiopia (Africa). It is an early female australopithecus, and it is about 3.2 million years old. We don't have her full skeleton kept, we have its %40. She was bipedal.

8.The main differences between the first hominids and us (humans) are...

We now:

  -have  a bigger brain

  -walk in an upright position

  -don't use hands to walk

  -have  a smaller jaw

9.Australopithecus Afarensis.

  They lived for 1 million years, and during that period they didn't suffer any changes or mutations. However, when that period ended they suffered a change, which made this type of hominid mutate and become another hominid. The Australopithecus changed because of the cold climate, which decrease their standard of living.

10.Homo Habilis.

This specie is known for their hability to make new things. They were the first human being making tools and they used wood, bones and rocks to made them. They are considered the last monkey of the human's evolution proccess, and all the following species are considered as humans.

11. The homo habilis was also the first human making and controling fire. This was a really important progress because the were able to cook the meat, so that they could avoid getting ill, and to protect themselves from wild animals. They used to make fire with two sticks or two rocks.

 hominid is well-known because it was the first hominid to walk in an upright position. It also improved the tools that the Homo Habilis used (their previous generation).

12.Homo Erectus.

  This hominid is well-known because it was the first hominid to walk in an upright position. It also improved the tools that the Homo Habilis used (their previous generation).

13.Homo Neanderthalensis.

  They lived in Europe 200,000 years ago. They were smaller than Homo Sapiens. They had large nasal cavities and skulls.

14.They lived in groups, in small villages. They built houses, which were usually made of bones, but they could also be built of wood. They buried their dead relatives.

15.They are famous because they were the first hominids that started to paint, inside of caves. They started to paint people, but later they changed the theme to animals they hunted, such as bisons.

16.They used caves as canvas, hands as paintbrushes and some materials (animals' blood, coal, animals' fat/grease...) as paint.

17. Homo Sapiens.

This specie is almost what we are now. The main change has been the increase on our brains size and capacity. They started to use their brain more than their ancestors, what made it adapt. 

18. Homo Sapiens Sapiens.

This is the actual specie. The difference between us and all the species who lived before is that our brain has an incredible capacity, and that we know how to use it. While we have developed, we have learnt new things and we have developed technology. 

19. Homo Lex.

Some people think we'll have bigger eyes and brain. The reason of the increase on our eye's size is not clear, but our brain will be bigger because as we will keep on using it, it's capacity will also increase.

20.The language is claimed to be the biggest problem in science. Scientists know that they communicated making weird sounds, but they don't know which hominid was the first one to creat an official language yet.

Rosalind Franklin

ROSALIND FRANKLIN

Chemist (1920-1958)

The britich chemist Rosalind Franklin is best known for her role in the discovery of the structure of DNA, and for her pioneering use of X-ray diffraction.

   

She was born in 1920 in London and died because of ovarian cancer at the age of 37. Her discoveries were related to biophysics and crystallography, participating crucially in the comprehension and the structure of DNA where she had a lot of success. She discovered the structure of DNA through X-rays. However the Medicine Novel Price was given to Watson and Crick, who took all the credit, even if the work was not theirs.

Click here to go to the page where I found this information.

Mass media & science

	SCIENCE SECTION	FREQUENCY	EXTENSION	GENERIC THEMES	PSEUDO SCIENCE
LA RAZÓN	SUB-SECTION: A TU SALUD	1 PER FORTHNIGHTLY	HALF A PAGE	CULTURE, RELIGION, SOCIETY
EL PAÍS	YES	EVERYDAY	ONE PAGE	SOCIETY, ECONOMY, SPORT	NO
NOTICIAS DE GIPUZKOA	SUB-SECTION: INTERNET & SCIENCE	ONCE A WEEK	ONE PAGE	SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, SPORT	HOROSCOPE
BERRIA	NO			SOCIETY, RELEVANT NEWS	NO
ABC	SUB-SECTION: TECHNOLOGY AND HEALTH	EVERYDAY		RELEVANT NEWS	NO
GARA	YES	EVERYDAY	HALF A PAGE	RELEVANT NEWS	NO
LA VANGUARDIA	NO			SPORT, TECHNOLOGY, LIFE	NO

 Mass media´s aim is to ensure that expecific information is disseminated to a listener.

Nowadays, science is a very important subject and we can find it almost everywhere. We can see this for example in the example before (in the table), you can notice that science appears in all the topics in a way or another.

European new

Pollution warning after Cumbria fish deaths

Some farmers, whose farm was located next to a river in Cumbria (UK), hadn´t expected that they would cause so much harm to the environment before they threw slurry to the river. 

They didn´t only kill a lot of fish, but they also affected insects and plants. Several miles of becks, which flow into the River Eamont, were polluted and completely stripped of fish.

From my poing of view farmers should ensure that slurry is used correctly, to avoid polluting nearby rivers and streams. 

This piece of news is related to different sides of science:

• Biology
• Geology
• Economy
• Laws

Click here to see where I found the information above.

European political new

Here I let you a piece of news related with Europe, that it´s one of the topics we´re working about in our subject.

Migrant crisis: Germany starts temporary border controls

Germany has introduced temporary controls on its border with Austria to cope with the influx of migrants, the interior minister has said.

Thomas de Maiziere said refugees could "not choose" their host countries and called on other EU states to do more.

"The aim of these measures is to limit the current inflows to Germany and to return to orderly procedures when people enter the country," Mr de Maiziere told a news conference.

Click here to go to the official page of the new.

Scientific Culture

This blog will be for a school subject called Scientific Culture in which we´ll work on different topics related with the society and different things that are happening in Europe at the moment.

I chose this subject to improve my english, and by the moment I think It´ll be interesting. I´ll also learn a lot about things that, until the moment, weren´t part of my knowledge.