Human wastes goes green!?

In other parts of the world, biosolids (human waste) from sewage treatment plants are treated and used as sustainable agricultural fertilizer. Research the pros and cons of this method and take a stand whether this can be a realistic alternative to our current agricultural practices. Who are the potential stakeholders in this issue? Are we influenced by the western view of human waste as an unsanitary and disgusting nuisance?

Wow! So many questions to answer... Well, lets start off by trying to understand how biosolids are processed. So basically when we release our wastes, from the heavy dinner that we ate, it goes through many pipes that are connected to a plant. It varies in the type of treatment plant your situated in. Some wastes are directly transported to the plant, while there are others, larger systems that go through pre-treatment processes. Find out which you're in, if you are really curious! But if you are in a larger treatment system, regulations require that industrial facilities pre-treat their wastewater to remove many hazardous contaminants before it is sent to a wastewater treatment plant. Once the waste water reaches the power plant, it is still wastewater but, it is clean from any hazardous materials and chemicals.

If you live in Toronto, according to [toronto.ca], water that drains through our showers, sinks and toilets all go through the same pipes which make up 9,000 kms that transport it to one of the four plants in Toronto. Here, the waste water is cleaned to remove solids, chemicals and any other undesirable materials. Once it is cleaned, the water is sent to Lake Ontario. In the plant, bacteria and other microorganisms break down waste water into simpler forms of organic matter. From here, these materials get transported to many places, and those places are included in the following chart :

Landfill- 41%
Incineration at Highland Creek- 23%
Land Application- 11%
Pelletization- 16%
Alkaline Stablization- 5%
Site Remedation- 4%





Since we have that down, lets get into the Pros and Cons of this process being used as a sustainable agricultural fertilizer.

Pros:
(According to biosolids.com)
- improve crop production
- reduce soil erosion and protect water quality
- enrich forestland
- conserve landfill space
- provide economic incentives.

These are very good benefits for human waste, which isn't that valuable and can be created any time, by anyone. As I mentioned above, biosolids really help crop production by adding important nutrients, boosting soil water-holding capacity and reducing topsoil runoff. In the case of reducing soil erosion, biosolids help combine soil particles. The result is improved soil properties, including texture and water-holding capacity, which enhances root growth and increases the drought resistance of vegetation. The list goes on and on, but just like any idea in our world, it needs to have its consequences and the consequences of human wastes are as follows:

Cons:
(According to http://www.sencer.net/Outreach/pdfs/DCSymposium08/Posters/LUbiosolids.pdf)
- potential health hazard
- effects may be irreversible
- contamination resulting in accumulation of industrial waste
- may contain hazardous chemicals that can be transferable
- decreases property value
- ODOR!

As you know, this is not 100% guaranteed clean fertilizers so, there are potential hazards, contamination and hazardous chemicals that come into play. Also knowing that a product is growing off human wastes, automatically decreases its value. Sadly from the many benefits of using biosolids as fertilizers, there are some consequences if you carry this out.

Take A Stand as to whether this can be a realistic fertilizer. Well after learning so much about this topic, I can conclude that this COULD be a realistic fertilizer because it saves a lot of money and opens up jobs for many people, and also helps crops grown in many ways. Once this is completely tested 100% safe (removal of chemicals and hazardous materials etc.), you should go ahead and start using it as fertilizers. Of course, the next problem would be the odor. The only solution that I can come up to this problem would be to use it in farms that are far away from the city life so that other people aren't affected, and also for the farmers to wear masks to protect them from the bad smells.

Potential Stakeholders in this issue

Before any new idea comes into play in our society, it needs to go through governement officials. So you can say that one potential stakeholder is the governement. The next stakeholder in this idea are the people who do the dirty work- the farmers and gardeners. They have the choice whether or not to use biosolids as agricultural fertilizers. And last but not least, we the people of the Earth, have the final say in whether or not biosolids need to be used as agricultural fertilizers. Therefore there are four potential stakeholders in this issue and they are : the govemernment, the farmers, the gardeners and finally us, the PEOPLE of this Earth.

Are we influenced by the western view of human waste as an unsanitary and disgusting nuisance?

I think that definetly is not the case, especially at such a time, when the world is trying its best to be environmental friendly. In fact, the other parts of the world are going to think that we are trying our best to take care of the Earth and prevent it from any disasters. Althought it may smell a little and may be a LITTLE unsanitary, if the right precautions are taken, this idea should be a really good way to improve the western world's image in the trying to prevent global warming.

Sources:

http://www.toronto.ca/water/biosolids/index.htms/index.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biosolids http://www.sencer.net/Outreach/pdfs/DCSymposium08/Posters/LUbiosolids.pdf

Blogs Commented On:

Christina Chong & Rosemary Ku

You are what you eat!

Assess how societal needs (i.e. the need for healthy foods; active lifestyles) lead to scientific and technological developments related to internal systems.

What we do everyday makes us the person we are both on the inside and on the outside. The more activity we do, the better in shape we are! But these requirements are to much for some people. It's not that hard to devote a couple of hours a day to exercise. Instead, people devote themselves to watching a movie and shoving their mouths with buttery and fattened popcorn, or hitting the bar for a few drinks, or just sit at home and watch tv or surf the internet. There are so many advertisements these days for 6-pack abs or nice built arms. You don't really need those things. Keeping yourself in shape is a great achievement itself. Running, Biking, Skating or just kicking a ball around is good enough to keep your internal and external body in good shape (if its being done on a reguar basis). Doing those things such as staying home and watching tv, or surfing the internet or watching a movie is sad because this has no positive effect to the body. You gain calories, destroy your health and soon enough start regretting the things you have done. But like every other problem, we, humans find a cure for it. These societal needs have led to the scientific and technological developments which relate to the internal systems of our body. Three developments that come to mind that relate to the internal systems are the Bodybug calorie counter, liposuction, the sauna and the steam.

The Bodybug calorie counter is a weight loss gadget that has been promoted by the reality TV series, "The Biggest Loser". This is a very unique show where contestants compete for their spot to stay and keep exercising and getting fit. Who stays and who goes is determined by how much weight the contestant loses that week. The people here are examples of what i mentioned before. They don't live a healthy lifestyle, they gain calories and soon enough regret what they did and that is why they end up on this show. So next time, think before you do anything that will affect your body in a bad way. Once the show is over or your eliminated and you want to live a healthy lifestyle, you are back to the person you were long time ago. That is such a waste of time. Anyways, kinda going off track.... So the Bodybug gadget is worn around the user's arm and basically it detects the calories you burned that day with over 92% accuracy. Inside of the gadget are heat sensors and pedometers which detect heat that escape from your body. This keeps track of the number of calories that you burned and when you log onto the website, you can input this data into your page. Here you basically have a picture of how much calories you consumed that day (through the selection of food items in the system), how much you burned (through the information in your BodyBug gadget) and the difference between the two to see whether or not you need to gain calories or reduce more calories in a day. The video below describes the following device. By the way if you never knew this gadget does not come cheap. This wonderful gadget comes at a price tag of about $249.99!


One technique that comes to mind in terms of technological devices that have to do with our body is liposuction. Liposuction is a type of surgery that improves the shape of your body by removing excess fat from deposits located between the skin and muscle. According to [1] liposuction involves the use of a small stainless steel tube, called a cannula. The cannula is connected to a powerful suction pump and inserted into the fat through small incisions in the skin. Fat removal is accomplished as the suction cannula creates tiny tunnels through the fatty layers. After surgery, these tiny tunnels collapse and thus result in a better body. Why would you go through all this? Waste money, time and effort. Just live your life! Stop being lazy. We need to get out more and exercise. I am looking outside and the weather is PERFECT! I can think of 5 things that i can do right now to get my body moving and everyone should be thinking the same thing! These societal needs are just costing you money, time and effort. By the way liposuction costs about $2500.00. Set your foundation to being healthy and it will get you a long way in life (in terms of health) or pay $2500.00. You decide?

Another technological equipment (i guess you could call it that) that comes to mind, in terms of working your body would be a sauna. If you don't know what a sauna is, it is basically a hot and humid room where you just sit down and sweat automatically pours down your body. Sauna's are located in many gym and fitness centers so they have to be an advantage in terms of our body. I googled the effects of the sauna and apparently it is recommended by many doctors. According to [2], the effects of the sauna are: weight loss without effort, ease sore and tired muscles, releave back pain or arthiritis , combat cold and sinis problems, improved skin, look and feel (OH NICE!). Check out the 2nd website. It has more information on the benefits of the sauna. I used to go to the sauna rarely when i went to the YMCA but, these benefits just make me want to go everyday!

Thinking of the sauna, another technological equipment which is related to our body and the sauna is the steam room. The benefits of the steam room are similar to the sauna but one thing that I just found out, according to [3], that the steam room helps speed up your metabolism. A sauna/steam will heat your body and therefore raise your heartbeat and metabolism. When your metabolism is raised, your body burns calories quicker and more effectively. The website [4] provided an example: In a 20 minute sauna session, you can burn up to 300 calories which is the same as a short jog or a long walk.

Therefore our societal needs of having a healthy lifestyle, or need for healthy foods has led to these 4 examples i mentioned above (BodyBug, Liposuction, sauna and steam) and more... But personally I feel that we could avoid these things. As kids we run around and play, but once we get older, that starts to disappear. I keep hearing stories of how our generation is going to be obese by a really young age (like 25 or something), but that reason is because there are so many technological devices (e.g. cellphones, tv, internet, facebook, ps3) that give us internal pleasure (i guess you could call it that) but that does not need to take us over. Just keep in mind that exercising and eating healthy benefits yourself in many ways and that your foundation is what will carry you along when you get older. So, next time you decide to stay at home and watch TV like a couch potato, get your bum off that couch, and go for a jog and if you can't jog, ride a bike!


[1] http://www.liposuction.com/
[2] http://www.123saunas.com/health/#weight
[3] http://www.ehow.com/about_5100620_purpose-steam-rooms.html
[4] http://sauna.lifetips.com/ http://www.24hourfitness.com/training/bodybugg/

Artificial Selection

Artificial Selection has resulted in plants that are more disease-resistant, cows that produce more milk, and racehorses that run faster. One must wonder what will come next. In the blog entry answer the following question- Under what circumstances should humans be artificially selecting plants or animals, if any?

First of all, we need to understand what Artificial Selection is. Artificial Selection is another term for selective breeding, and the word itself is self-explanatory... you select your breed with a combination of traits. This term was made up by Charles Darwin in contrast to natural selection which is inherited from generation to generation to improve things such as survival and reproductive ability. As grade.11 Biology students, we have learned about Gregory Mendel and his studies into Monohybrid and Dihybrid crosses and Charles Darwin's study of evolution and natural selection. These studies by these two great scientists has revolutionized our lives. We are now able to manipulate certain phenotypes of offspring by selectively breeding or artificial selection of plants and animals.

Artificial Selection plays such an important role in our lives, even though we don't know it. This break through is having so many positive impacts to what we do in our daily lives. In today's world, people are looking to produce plants and animals that possess desirable traits through artificial selection. Benefits such as high crop yields, being resistant to disease, high growth rate, size and many other phenotypical characteristics are being created so that the organism and species will benefit, and in turn benefit us, humans. The daily vegetables that we eat such as cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, collards, and kale are all members of the same species, Brassica oleracea. Therefore, artificial selection has started to impact vegetables. In terms of animals, dogs are good examples of artificial selection. For example, artificial selection for increasingly large heads in bulldogs means that many bulldog puppies must now be born by Cesarean Section, where they cut open the mother's womb. This is not a trait that occurs in nature, but with the aid of veterinary medicine, it's possible to select an animal's characteristics. Pigs are also artificially selected by man to produce the largest amount of meat. Right there, is another benefit for humans.













There are boundaries to everything we do in our daily lives. Its unbelievable to know that horses are being artificially selected to run faster in horse races. Why would you want to do that? There has to be a reasonable purpose to what some people do. You can't just go around artificially selecting phenotypes of animals and creating it according to what you want. Animals have their rights too. We shouldn't abuse anything, just keep it under control and be reasonable to what you want. Angela mentioned in her blog that chickens are such a great demand they have enhanced chickens to be more convenient by adding more meat and no feathers. This change causes a lot of problems because now the chickens will be more prone to diseases and parasites, and also mate unsuccessfully due to their disabled wing. Like come on! Are you kidding me? Looking at this picture disturbs me. How selfish can you be? Leave the poor chicken alone! Just let them live their lives properly.

Therefore, as I conclude my bio blog, I would just like to say that there is nothing wrong with artificially selecting phenotypes prior that they are in good hands (taken care by professionals), there is a reasonable purpose (e.g. disease-resistant) behind selecting the phenotypes, and that no harm comes to them. These are reasonable circumstances under which humans should artificially select plants and animals.



Work Cited:

http://animals.howstuffworks.com/pets/dog2.htm
http://www.learner.org/courses/essential/life/session5/closer1.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_selection
http://www.biology-online.org/2/12_selective_breeding.htm

Designer Babies? what the heck!

This topic is very shocking! Who ever knew that our world has come to such a tragic state, that we have started to modify our own babies. The Bible states that we, humans are born in the image of God. Why are we trying to change that! Do you think God would want to look a certain way, or want his creation to start changing their ways? Our society is changing very drastically towards a negative path, and it is very disappointing to hear about such a shocking idea.

[1]Basically, designer babies is a name given by journalists to describe the frightening scenario of using genetic technologies to modify embryos and choosing desirable or cosmetic characteristics for their babies. [1]Now a days, advanced reproductive technologies are allowing parents and doctors to screen embryos for genetic disorders and selecting the healthy embryos. This will decrease the chances of a baby being born with genetic diseases.

I had found a video on Youtube, and if you have the chance please take a look at it. I know its 9 minutes long, but it will deepen you understanding of the topic. Most of my information is based on the video and its a really great tool that will help you understand the topic of Designer Babies.



How is this possible?

[1]A technique called InVitro Fertilization or IVF fertilizes the eggs with sperm in test-tubes outside the mother's body in a laboratory. Right now it is legal to carry out only two types of advanced reproductive technologies in humans. One involves choosing the type of spem that will fertilize the egg (this is used to determine the sex and the genes of the baby). The other technique screens the embryo for genetic diseases. In this case, only some embryo's (the good ones) are then implanted back into the mother's womb. The process is known as Pre-Implantation Genetic Diagnosis.

Mice 2x larger than normal mouse?

Of course like all scientific outbreaks for the human body, they have to be tested on animals first. In this case, rats were chosen to lead this experiment. The very first gene that was added to an embryo was a gene coding for growth hormones. The growth hormone gene from a rat was placed into a mouse embryo and when the mouse was born and it grew up, it grew up to twice the size of a normal mouse. Oh my gosh! What could this lead to? Could humans grow twice as tall?

The Future of Designing Babies

In reality, an artificial gene carrying an endless number of genes could be built. With the creation of an artificial chromosome, in the laboratory scientists can create a brand new chromosome that has hundreds of new genes and we can take that entire chromosome and enter it back into the embryo. This gives the genome a greater chance of being modified. So if this continues, it might even be possible to buy artificial chromosomes off the shelf. A perfect chromosome for anything you wished: physique, height, hair color, eye color and even longevity. Something interesting that came up during my research was that, the modification of genes could also increase artificial intelligence. But before an artificial chromosome like that could be put into a child, it would have to be tested on animals first. For this they have chosen the chimpanzees, since they share 99% of human DNA, so technically they are identical to human beings.




Already put to use?

People around the world have already conducted this process of designing their own babies. [4]One example is a couple, by the name of Monique and Scott Collins who have learned to their delight two years ago, when their long-wished-for daughter Jessica was born after genetic pre-screening at a fertility clinic in Fairfax, Virginia. Jamie Whitaker is one of the sweetest designer babies, along with his predecessors Adam Nash from Colorado in 2000 and an anonymous British girl in 2002. So as you can see many babies have already born with the use of this technology. Surprisingly before writing this blog, i never heard of it. That is a picture of Jamie Whitaker, one of the designer babies.











Consequences of Designing Babies

[5]This process is not cheap, and costs at least $20 000.00 according to newsvine.com. Looks will start to take over what really matters in this world. People are going to be judged based on looks, which will lead to segregation. What happens to the people who cannot afford this special treatment? What happens to them? Obviously they will be put aside. After all that, history will repeat itself and we would soon have ourselves another crisis where people will be segregated based on how they look. Do we really need all that?Although this technology has its benefits, people would not understand that and think beyond the big picture. So preventing such genetic disorders in a child when they are born is a great support for the cause, but would we really understand it that way. I can predict right now that this technology will start being put into the wrong use and it will get out of control.























Like I said in the beginning, creating the perfect baby is just plain wrong. Biotechnology is not used that way. It is suppose to provide aid to certain situations and finding cures to illnesses. How could you possible think of messing with a babies genes? Why are we trying to ruin the anxiety which builds up when you have the baby and you wonder what it would look like? Why would you want to ruin that special moment when you take the first look at your baby? It's magic which is showered onto us by the blessings of God. Why are we trying to play around with that? I do not approve to the cosmetic benefits of this technology, and if you have any views on this topic please share them.

[1] http://www.bionetonline.org/English/content/db_cont1.htm
[2] http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,989987,00.html
[3] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TN9ep4B9Hw0
[4] http://www.mindmagazine.com/story/designbaby.htm
[5] http://malathy.newsvine.com/_news/2006/05/16/198093-designer-babies-cost-us19000

The Circle of Life- what goes around, comes around

Watch and carefully take a look at this video.



In this video, two polar bears were living their daily lives, but started to realize that something was wrong. The ice in which they lived in most of their lives, started to sink and they were discussing what could possibly cause the sinking of ice. They come up with bizarre conclusions but in the end, they question that humans might have played a part in it. One of them says, "Do you think for one moment, that the humans would do this to us?"

Well, do we? Do we actually realize that every single action we do to comfort ourselves has an effect on this beautiful planet and everything within it. No, we don't! Do we realize it when we buy a luxurious car with high fuel consumption, that we will be polluting the atmosphere? Do we realize that when we are too lazy to turn that light off before we sleep, that we will waste energy which in turn, causes the burning of fossil fuels, which in turn, causes greenhouse gases that will pollute our atmosphere? Again, no we don't! All the things we do have a chain affect and the outcome of it harms our planet. All that we do now, will come back to us in the future and it is already starting to show that sign in the form of Global Warming.

Naturally occurring gases in the atmosphere act like the glass that covers the Earth by trapping heat from the sun so that the Earth's temperature is warm enough to sustain life for humans, plants and animals. That glass is slowly starting to crack as a result of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that are being released into our atmosphere, destroying those naturally occurring gases. This is known as Global Warming. We, humans have increased the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by almost 20% from 1958 to 2004. [1] This has caused the surface temperature to increase drastically in the last 10, 000 years. [1] If this doesn't reduce in the upcoming years, Earth's biodiversity might come to an end.

The effects of Global Warming have affected the mighty polar bear, also known as Ursus Maritimus. This is the world's largest bear species and the largest land carnivore. These species habitat on ice especially in the Arctic Sea, and depend on it for most of their survival such as, feeding, mating, traveling and giving birth. The polar bear is a very unique specie due to its ability of adapting to harsh and freezing temperatures. These polar bears have not one, but two layers of fur and can survive temperatures as cold as 50 below zero Fahrenheit [4]. Did you know that although polar bears fast during maternity, they are highly alert and reactive and although they do not eat, drink, or urinate they not only survive during maternity, but even grow [1]. As you can see, polar bears have capabilities that even exceed humans. Bears do not develop osteoporosis because bears never lose bone mass. So if we keep these species alive for a long time and derive insights from their ways of living, we can lead to new treatment options for osteoporosis. Therefore, polar bears are such a unique and important part of our biodiversity that they can even help humans in the future, find for cure certain diseases.


Unfortunately, these mighty hunters are most likely to be extinct by the end of this century due to Global Warming [1]. Global Warming shrinks the Arctic Sea up to 5% every 10 years [3]. If you do the math, in the next 200 years or less, the Arctic Sea will be totally wiped out off the face of the Earth. Due to the shrinking of ice in the Arctic Sea, most of the polar bears are forced to live ashore during summer fasting. Also, many reports of polar bear deaths have occurred due to drowning since their home ground has melted away[4]. Also, if the Earth's temperature starts to increase, the polar bears will overheat because as I mentioned above, every part of their body is designed to prevent heat from escaping and they cannot simply survive if the temperature of the Arctic keeps increasing. All this boils down to Global Warming and if this keeps up, the polar bear will be like the dinosaurs, EXTINCT!

Something needs to be done, and soon before it’s too late. Humans are so intelligent that they have created technology with cell phones having mp3 players and camera's, to body parts that work for the handicapped. So why can't we put an end to this! We are saving our own planet and in fact, our own lives! Stewards are people who take care of their surroundings. So, are we stewards of the Earth? Well, you can answer that yourself. Are we going to be stewards of the Earth? Yes we can, by making a change! For those of us who aren't as smart in building new technology to reduce Global Warming, we can do our small part by walking or taking the TTC instead of the driving the car, and turning off that light or computer before we head to bed and by not thinking about luxury, but standard. Like my mom says, is it a need or is it a want? So every time you plan on buying something that you want, which will have an effect on our biodiversity, ask yourself if you really need it. And, by doing all this we shall hopefully call ourselves "stewards of the Earth".

While I was browsing Youtube, I had also found another video concerning Global Warming. If you have the time, please take a look at it. It is very useful and informative and narrated by the famous movie star Leonardo Dicaprio.



[1]http://www.daversitycode.com/earthscope/
[2]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDIP71Lviys
[3]http://www.naturecanada.ca/climate_change_polar.asp
[4]http://www.bearplanet.org/global-warming-polar-bears.shtml
[5]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3pujlkSTqo