Horse breeding is the process by which humans interfere in equine reproduction to produce an offspring that has certain desired qualities. Over time horse breeding has produced breed or phenotypes in horses; it has also benefited the domestic horse whose chances of a successful conception, gestation and foaling are improved by selective mating.

It is known that horses were domesticated around 4,500 BCE but the origins of horse breeding are less clear. The first documentation of horse breeding is seen in the records of the Bedouin tribes of the Middle East. Their pedigrees of Arabian horses are dated 1330 AD but it can be assumed that the breeding of these horses took place for some time before they were written down. Breeding is also known to have taken place for thousands of years in western central Asia where the Akhal-Teke was developed, and in the nomadic Mongolian steppe tribes.

All human beings – old, young, sick, healthy – need sleep.  Thus, everyone should have an interest in this natural phenomenon.  However, most people never question what sleep is and why they must get it.  At the ripe age of 18 years, I thought it was high time I understand why I am always craving sleep and why I feel noticeably better when I get a certain amount of it.  This paper will explore what goes on in our bodies when we’re in this ambiguous state called “sleep”, why it is necessary to function, and how much we should be getting.

What is commonly understood as the term perspective is a kind of visual system that attempts to represent 3- dimensional space on flat surface. We know that perspective works due to a visual ‘illusion’, the way our eyes see objects, and the way our brains organize the space. The main application of perspective is in art. However, perspective is an optical phenomenon and thus it has its principal root not in art but in geometrical optics. Gerard Desargues (1593-1662), an architect and engineer in the branch of mathematics called ‘projective geometry’ first expanded and precisely worded the definition of perspective.

Ever watch your favorite TV show and wonder if Hollywood seriously takes into account the main subject on which the show is based? I was watching the TV show "Bones" the other night and an idea for a paper popped into my head; the show centers around the subject of forensic anthropology, its uses to the law and is based on a series of life-based novels written by forensic anthropologist, Kathy Reichs. But what I really want to know is whether or not Hollywood got its science right. I believe that the aspects of forensic anthropology, more specifically the subdivision of biological/physical anthropology, are not portrayed as they should be because the show chose to be focused on the drama between characters and their relationships. I decided that the best way to approach this paper was to just lay out my research and then try to draw from it whatever conclusions I possibly could.

The best place to start would be with the basic scientific subject of the show- forensic anthropology. Anthropology as a whole is comprised of three main sub-fields which are archaeology, cultural anthropology and physical anthropology (1). Forensic anthropology is a sub-discipline of the sub-field of physical anthropology and is primarily used by forensic anthropologists to better understand people around the world; the word forensic is simply referring to the application of this particular sub-field in a court of law (3). Forensic anthropologists often make huge contributions, as far as important research of the collections of human skeletal remains is concerned. The two main collection facilities in the US are the Hamann-Todd Collection located in the Cleveland Museum of Natural History and the Terry Collection located at the Smithsonian Institution down in Washington, D.C. (3). Most people who enter this field of work are usually professors, work with an allied forensic team or work in some type of museum setting as a consultant (3). The show "Bones" focuses mainly on the possibility of a crime-fighting job as being the most common for its forensic anthropologists, but neglects to mention that the other jobs of professorship and museum consultant are more likely to be had (1). This research lends its support to my hypothesis.

Professor Grobstein

11/20/06

Web Paper #2

Intersex—the third sex?

Race Wars: The debate on the importance of race as a method of classification

How do we as humans characterize and categorize ourselves? Do we look at

ourselves as one race, that is, the human race? Or do we look at ourselves as a multitude

of races of which people can belong based on varying characteristics, such as geographic

origin, facial features and skin color? During the Tuesday lab of Biology 103, the

students were asked to make an observation of two planets, Nearer and Farther.

 

If an organism is able to breathe, circulate blood, and exhibit basic physical functions, we assume it is alive. What if this same organism is without a critical part of its brain, and thusly is deaf, blind, and wholly unconscious– is this organism still alive?  How are we able to define what makes us human, or better yet, what makes us whole? Within an animal or plant life, we might consider these characteristics to be unremarkable, but within a human it is an atrocity. There are babies whose entire conception, gestation, and lives are lived out in a black hole of unconsciousness, brought on by the congenital disorder anencephaly. This disease raises more questions than it does answers; above all, it brings heartbreak to those affected by its occurrence.

What Causes Smoking Addiction:  Nicotine or Dopamine?

Growing up, I have always been told that smoking is bad.  Smoking is hazardous.  Smoking costs money.  Smoking looks unappealing.  Smoking kills.  Yet, despite all of these warnings and lessons, that surely most people have heard before, millions of people still light up.  Why, why do people continue to participate in an activity that is commonly associated with health risks such as cancer?  The most frequently used answer is an addiction to nicotine.  And this notion that nicotine causes addiction was continuously lectured to me in past mandatory health classes.  Yet, at the same time nicotine was used as an explanation, it was an incomplete reason.  What role does the substance play to result in this need for a cigarette?  Nicotine stimulates dopamine, a chemical in the brain that affects learning, motivation and pleasure [1].  Scientists have further explored the role of dopamine on addiction and are now suggesting theories that dopamine is the cause of addiction.  So, perhaps it is not nicotine that causes the addiction, but the role dopamine plays that causes the need to smoke.

When Rose E. Frisch began her research over twenty years ago, there was little interest in the subject of a woman's menstrual cycle and its connection to body fat. In fact, few knew that there was a connection, or cared to explore the idea. However, Frisch, a professor in population sciences at the Harvard School of Public Health, began receiving phone calls in the mid-seventies from women who were having fertility problems. Frisch saw a growing connection among women who were unable to conceive and their extremely slim, lean build (2, p. 14-15). Over the years, an increasing number of studies have examined the relationship between a woman's body fat percentages, its connections to fertility rates, and the effects on the menstrual cycle. Frisch's research, along with that of her colleagues, shows that there is a minimum weight according to one's height that will allow you to maintain a regular period, and therefore have children. While this may seem to be a simple concept, it was one very new to the scientific community thirty years ago, and has effected much of the way the female menstruation cycle is viewed today. More specifically, the focus has been on female athletes and the greater implications of losing one's period, including disordered eating, and loss of bone density. The relationship between body fat and one's ability to produce offspring has become an integral part of the study of women's health.