Science Friday - Marine Life Edition

***Here are the answers***
1. fish gills 2. a squid sucker 3. shark skin
Tune in next Friday for another edition of Science Friday!

It's Friday and that means it's Science Friday! For this installment of What Is It?, I have a couple SEMs for you to ponder. Send me your guesses. And remember, the theme for today is Marine Life...

Matrixology

11:00 pm

12:30 am

1:45 am

3:00 am

5:15 am

6:30 am

7:05 am

These are the times that Harper (and I) got up last night. She's usually a good sleeper - except when she's sick. And last night she was sick. Don't worry. She's fine. It's just a cold. 

I'm telling you this as a bit of a disclaimer. I am a little tired this morning and my brain is a little fuzzy. That being said, this post is about to get a little weird. Stick with me. Remember, I'm tired...

Ok, so I'm driving in the car this morning and it's raining and gray and cloudy. Suddenly, a clip from the movie The Matrix Revolutions pops into my head. It's the part where Neo and Trinity are fighting the machines in the machine world and to avoid being overtaken by them, they fly their ship above the clouds. It's at that moment that Trinity realizes that while the machine world is dark and raw and violent, above the clouds the world is bright, peaceful, and beautiful. 

Here's the clip (yeah, I actually found it on-line. Amazing.).

 

Anyway, what made me think about this clip this morning is that when I look at the sky and it's gray and rainy, 9 times out of 10 I totally forget that just above the clouds, the sky is blue and the sun is out. Maybe I need to expand my perspective a little. 

Miscelaineous Music - November Edition

I'm a sucker for singer/songwriters and Ray Lamontagne is one of the best. I pretty much like everything he does, but the song that I posted today, Shelter,  is what initially got me hooked.
  
                                       

I know that Harper loves me best, but I also know that she has way more fun with her dad than she does with me.                                                             

                                        

Harper has been perfecting a new trick. She's getting pretty good at it too. It's only a matter of time before life as we know it is over...

                                        

Science Friday - Sex Edition

Let's talk about sex. No, not that kind of sex. I mean let's talk about gender. No fewer than 8 of my friends are currently pregnant. Speculation abounds as to who's having what - a boy or a girl, that is. With all the old wives tales floating around out there, I feel that as a scientist I am obligated to shed light on the biological side of the issue. So without any further ado (drumroll please...), the father alone determines the sex of the baby. Yes, it's true. You can either thank or blame your child's father for the gender of your baby. 

Scanning electron micrograph of a human X chromosome

Think of it like this. We all know that we inherit half of our chromosomes from our mother and half from our father. We also know that our sex chromosomes determine our gender and that 2 X chromosomes (XX) make a female, while having 1 X and 1 Y chromosome (XY) makes a male. So, when your parents' chromosomes were being divided up, your mother could only give you an X but your father could either give you an X or a Y. If he gave you an X, you would be XX = girl. If he gave you a Y, you would be XY = boy. Note - the color represents which parent you got the chromosome from. Red represents the chromosome you got from your mom and blue represents the chromosome you got from your dad.  

Yes, all science humor really is that bad...

Chicken Soup

My friend, LC, is sick. I hate it when people are sick. I feel powerless to make them feel better and I don't like feeling powerless. So, in a meager attempt to not feel so powerless, I am going to do what I can to make LC feel better. LC loves Harper and Harper loves LC. Today, I am posting some pictures of Harper specifically so LC can look at them and feel better. 

   

Oh yeah. By the way, I'm praying too. And that also makes me feel less powerless. 

How Harper Spent Election Night 2008