Twenty Questions: Only One Answer

In the article 20 Big Questions In Science, it talked about 20 big questions that scientists don't know the answer to or understand. Out of the twenty questions, the big one I really like to think about is "Are We Alone In The Universe?" This question is something that we've wondered for a long time, and I find it very fascinating. If I were to come up with a hypothesis, it would be, "If scientists have found planets whose environments and atmosphere are like Earths, then they may be suitable for other living organisms to populate those planets".

If I had my own personal 20 questions, they would be:

1. Are we alone in the universe?
2. Who's a better basketball player; Michael Jordan or Lebron James?
3. Does Big Foot exist?
4. What is my full potential?
5. What does my future contain?
6. How many hours of my life will I have wasted watching screens?
7. How much food will I have consumed in my entire life?
8. Are the Illuminati a real and functioning group?
9. What does the bible originally say (before the different translations came out)?
10. How many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie pop?
11. Is space endless? If not, what does the end look like?
12. How much time have I spent playing sports?
13. Is time travel possible?
14. Is there a maximum capacity for how much a species can evolve? And if so, when will humans ever stop evolving?
15. What is/will be my net worth in life?
16. What exactly is it like in heaven?
17. What would have happened to us all if Eden had never eaten the fruit?
18. What was it like living through the beginning of time?
19. Is there any way to change society as it is now?
20. Can there ever be peace?

Analysis of the Sweetness Lab

Today in Biology class, we did the sweetness lab. It consisted of several different sugars, and we judged which ones were sweet and which ones weren't. We were trying to answer the question " How does the structure of a Carbohydrate affect its taste (sweetness)?". And the answer was simple: Monosaccharides were the sweetest sugar because they only have one sugar ring. Disaccharides, which have two sugar rings, were less sweet than Monosaccharides but are still pretty sweet. And then Polysaccharides were the most bitter sugars, because they consisted of three or more rings.

I was working with one other person, and we both had close to the same rating for the sweetness of all the sugars. Even though we might have been close when it came to rating, there were still other reasons for us being a little off. One of the reasons could have been that we had a different amount of sugar, which could have caused different results. Also, our opinions all vary. I could give frutose a ninety, but my partner only give it a seventy-five. It just depends on our opinions. The last reason would be our taste-buds, our taste buds are all different and that could be the big reason for different answers.

NPR interviewed Dr. Robert Margolskee, a molecular neurobiologist, and talked all about the taste buds. He said that "Taste buds aren't the ones that tell your brain that something is sweet, it is the taste cells that are inside the taste bud that do all the tasting". This means that it isn't our taste buds, but the smaller taste cells (which we probably have a lot more of) that taste stuff for us and tell us what we like or not.

So overall, the experiment went good in my opinion, with some ups and downs. But it was good and I learned a lot about sugars and how they work.

Unit 2 Reflection

            Throughout the last couple weeks, we have learned a lot about the micro organisms that are in our body, our food, and that make certain chemical reactions everywhere. Speaking of which, did you know that the human body makes several thousands of chemical reactions a day, but we don't feel a thing, so how come? That is because those reactions are REALLY small. Like when we eat food with Fructose in it, it goes into our body and reacts with the amino acids in our stomach, and it does taste really good. I also got to learn about the "BIG 4 Macromolecules": Carbohydrates, lipids, Nucleic acids, and lipids. This is what all cells are made of.
           

            










 But on the side of actually having to take the notes and remember what Mr.Orre said in the Vodcast, I thought it was very hard. I had never been very good at understanding how science works, and I still don't. Science is a really hard subject for me because I can't understand all the details, but I can remember things like "All 'isms' are sugars" or "The less bonds a sugar has, the more bitter it becomes". Those key ideas stick to me, and I'm starting to find that out in Biology. But for the most part, I think I am a better student than I was when I started off in the beginning of August, because of the fact that I have to actually take notes while watching a twenty minute Vodcast on Chemical Reactions in my body; and this all helps me become a better student and understand the curriculum more.

Identifying Questions and Hypotheses

The Marshmallow experiment.


Renowned psychologist Walter Mischel is the designer of the famous Marshmallow Test, explained what self-control was and how to master it, through a simple test involving 16 little kids. The experiment was held at Stanford College in 1970. I these studies, a child was offered a choice between one small reward provided immediately or two small rewards if they waited for a short period, approximately 15 minutes, during which the tester left the room and then returned. The question posed by Doctor Mischel was probably something like "How does self-control work, and how does it carry with you throughout your years?" The question was backed up by the hypothesis, "If a child has better self-control than the other children by not eating the marshmallow for 15 minutes, then that child will be more successful in the life than the other ones". 

Prior to writing this, I had already known about the experiment for a couple of years. I heard it during a conference, and the speaker mentioned the experiment. I have also had a great interest in the subject of self-control and experiments like these, because I want to know how the people end up in the end. 

What is biology?