High altitude is harmful to a human's ability to have proper homeostasis for two reasons: firstly, high altitude is usually accompanied by extreme climates. Secondly, air pressure makes it difficult for the human body to efficiently use the oxygen in blood. High altitude air actually has the same amount of oxygen as sea level air, but our lungs are specifically wired to extract oxygen at sea level. High altitude has less air pressure, which means the air is thinner. This thin air makes it difficult for human lungs to get the normal amount of oxygen. This leads to hypoxia, or oxygen deprivation. Symptoms range from lack of appetite, vomiting, headaches, and fatigue to pulmonary and cerebral edema. These last two can be deadly if one does not return to normal altitudes in a matter of days.

In the short term, our bodies deal with high altitude by increasing breathing and heart rate. We also tend to get higher blood pressure. Later, with regard to facultative adaptation, our bodies create more red blood cells and capillaries so that more oxygen can be carried. Lungs get larger as they work to separate oxygen and carbon dioxide, and muscles grow larger vascular networks to transport more gases. An example of developmental adaptation to higher altitudes is the production of more hemoglobin, which is the part of blood that carries the oxygen. In Peru and Bolivia, this is also accompanied by increased lung expansion. One example of cultural adaptation to higher altitudes is the way in which the people of the Andes mountains treat their food. Because the climate is hot during the day and freezing at night at high altitudes, they began preserving their potatoes by freeze-drying them. After harvesting the potatoes, they set them out in the sun to dry during the day, and then they leave them out at night to freeze.

The benefits of the study of human variation are important because science is a wholly human endeavor. While most humans may live at or close to sea level, there are some who brave high altitudes on a daily basis. Their experiences are just as important to science as anyone else's. Studying the ways in which certain peoples have adapted to higher altitude can be helpful particularly in the field of medicine. For instance, during a football game between the Denver Broncos and the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2007, one player from Pittsburgh named Ryan Clark suffered an injury that led to the removal of his gall bladder and spleen. It turned out that Clark was a carrier of the sickle cell trait. At normal altitudes, it was not a problem. But Denver is one mile above sea level, and the thin air combined with his sickle cell trait proved to be too much for his body. After this incident, Clark was never able to play in Denver again. Situations like that are one big reason it is important to understand high altitude and the effect it has on the human body.

Race is simply a superficial idea that stems from adaptations made by specific people groups. It is a bi-product of environmental influences and has no real scientific application. If I understand correctly, it is sort of a "which came first, the chicken or the egg" issue. In this case, environmental adaptations certainly came first, and race came second. The first was natural, and the second is the work of society. Race might be a worthwhile and useful topic for a sociologist or a historian, but not an anthropologist. I think racism is largely based on laziness. Race has become an easy way to form judgement of people we do not know. Rather than do the work of understanding other people individually, people use stereotypes.

The Piltdown Hoax assignment

       The Piltdown hoax revolves around a fossil skull that was found in the village of Piltdown in England during the early 1900's.  The man responsible for the finding went by the name of Charles Dawson, who was an amateur archaeologist. The significance was twofold: first, it was Britain's first discovery of modern man's ancestors on its own soil. This was important because Britain had long been jealous of the fact that Germany and France had found many fossils of neanderthals within their territory. Secondly, it was important because it looked as if it would bridge the gap between apes and men in scientists understanding of human evolution. The theory of evolution at the time was more firm than it was during Darwin's time, but it was still contested. Thus, the Piltdown Man served as a victory for evolutionists who could finally point to a fossil that could connect men and apes.  It was even believed that the Piltdown Man was proof that humans developed big brains before they began walking on two feet. (Now we know that the opposite is true; humans acquired big brains after walking on two feet.) The hoax was discovered in 1953, when new technologies allowed scientists to accurately date the fossils involved. British scientists were embarrassed because while the Piltdown Man had been their darling, scientists from other countries had always been suspicious of their findings. It turned out that the jaw was probably an Orangutan's, and the teeth had simply been filed down to be more human-like. Around 40 fossilized finds had been discovered at Piltdown, and it turned out that all of them were fakes.
        The scientists that bought the Piltdown Man as legitimate succumbed to typical human downfalls such as pride and naivety. The scientists of Britain were especially susceptible to the hoax because they so badly wanted Britain to be on the same level as Germany and France with regard to early human findings. There was also a lot of competition between scientists within Britain, especially at the Natural History Museum. This competition led to a certain level of blindness with their findings.
         The integrity of science revolves around the idea that everything is questionable. Of course there are things we are almost completely sure about in science, but it can be dangerous to blindly accept a so-called consensus. Even 40 years after the discovery, scientists were thoughtful enough to test the nitrogen content and apply chemical tests to the Piltdown remains. The scientific method requires testing of a hypothesis until it is confirmed; even if it took 40 years, the scientific method still successfully rooted out the hoax. Once new technology was available, scientists returned to the case.
          It is not possible to remove the human factor from scientists because as of yet, we do not have any artificial intelligence that could possibly replace human ingenuity. And even if we did, that would take away the joy of scientific discovery. The reason for scientific advancement is, at its core, related to humans' ability to enjoy it. Of course science is partly utilitarian, but it is also partly an endeavor that quenches our thirst for discovery.
          The lesson here is simply to be careful. Lies get accepted as truth when people do not do their due diligence. We should not accept ideas from people simply because of their status or because of high emotional stakes. Emotion is an important part of the human experience, but its involvement in science should merely be as motivation to find the truth.

1.      A. Coyotes (Canis latrans) are brownish-grey members of the Canidae family. They are sometimes called brush wolves or prairie wolves because of their resemblance to their larger relatives. Foxes are another member of the Canidae family. They come in different colors, depending on their habitat. Arctic foxes, for instance, are white during the winter and more grey-brown during other seasons. Foxes are similar to cats in many ways even though they are in the same family as dogs.

B. Both the coyote and the fox have claws that are meant more for traction when running or digging to uncover food or create a den. (Unlike cats, who use their claws more as a weapon.)

C. The common ancestor of the fox and the coyote is in the Canidae family, which unilaterally has claws.

D. 

 

2.      A. Honeybees (Apis mellifera) are invertebrates that live in colonies. Hawks are large birds of prey that hunt rodents, lizards and snakes.

B. Honeybees have wings that allow them to travel from their hives to the flowers that provide their food. Hawks also have wings, but have very little genetic similarity to bees. However, they have wings for similar reasons; so that they can eat. They use their effective eyesight to soar in the sky and spot their prey.

C. The common ancestor between these two most likely did not have wings, since hawks trace back their lineage to reptiles. While honeybees and hawks are both in the Animalia kingdom, their similarities do not continue past that.

D. 

DNA decoding assignment

GGC CCG CCC ATT TAC ACC TAA GGG AAC GCA TGC ATT CTG TGG TGT ATC GTA TAG ATG

The Scientific Method: The Sleepy Man


1. It is possible that the classroom is too warm and that the temperature of the classroom is putting him to sleep.

2. Test:

a. I would test this hypothesis by asking the teacher to lower the temperature in the class for a particular day. I am altering the conditions by changing the temperature of the room.

b. If the student were to stay awake amidst the colder temperature, this would support my hypothesis.

c. If he still fell asleep, it would suggest that my hypothesis was falsified.

3. An example of an untestable, unfalsifiable explanation would be that the student is plagued by an undetectable and unknown mystery sickness that consistently put him to sleep fifteen minutes into the teacher's lectures.