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Monthly Archives: July 2011

Science and doubt in the Global Warming arena

Thursday, July 21st, 2011 | STEPHEN BRONI | No Comments

Doubt:

  to be uncertain about; consider questionable or unlikely; hesitate to believe. 2 . to distrust

It’s an individual thing, right? We read something  `we’ decide .

But can doubt also be `manufactured’ , promulgated  by  orchestrated action?

 I would strongly recommend  you listen to podcast of recent Michael King Memorial Lecture here in New Zealand entitled Science and Doubt  by American Professor of History  & Science Studies Naomi Oreskes. 

http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/writers/audio/2493432/michael-king-memorial-lecture-on-science-and-doubt

Download it to your Ipod  and listen to it on your way down to camp.

Then make up your own mind

Zoology Students

Tuesday, July 12th, 2011 | hamvi58p | No Comments

Lisa and the Zoology Team have asked that the Zoology students read through the following information prior to their project work.

Dear Zoology students

You will find some activities attached here to help prepare you for the Zoology project during this camp. We will be focusing on invasive species, in particular species found within urban areas. As I’m sure you are all aware, this topic can be quite emotive, particularly when addressing issues of impact on native communities and management and control methods. We have asked you to research a couple of questions related to invasive species, gather some viewpoints on invasive species and control, and then finally to do a bit of research into a specific role. At the end of the project we will be undertaking a role play activity where you will be taking on a specific persona and have to argue your case for control. We do realise that the role you are assigned may not reflect your own personal view point, but sometimes they are actually the easiest to argue! 

Just a reminder to make sure you bring warm clothes, sturdy boots and a torch or headlamp for our early morning excursion on the tuesday. Remember its COLD in Dunedin and snow is predicted this week already.

Looking forward to working with you all again.

The Zoology team.

Questions to think about over the holidays

There are many introduced species in New Zealand:  >2,000 plant species, 32 mammals, and 33 birds have been introduced. But not all of them are considered to be invaders.

Can you think about the following, and be prepared to discuss when we meet.

  1. What is the definition of an invasive species?

 

2.    What makes an invasive species a pest?

Here are two quotes about possums: think about the implications of these different viewpoints of possums and be prepared to discuss them.

1.            This quote is by S. Bracegirdle of Egmont Skins and Hides, in the Taranaki Daily News (June 2011), describing his business which collects dead possums, plucks them for fur to sell to wool factories for possum/wool garments:

 “We’re turning a pest into something creative” 

2.            This quote is by Potts (2009, Society and Animals Vol 17: pp 1-20):

“Possums are positioned not only as unwanted and dangerous foreign invaders but also as unworthy of compassion and deserving of persecution: it is as if possums are responsible for the prejudice and malice they now face”

Finally, please gather three viewpoints from your family or acquaintances on possums as pests and their knowledge of current methods of possum control.

1.

2.

3.

Role Play Exercise

Management and control of invasive species is often a very emotive subject resulting in a wide range of very different viewpoints. It is important that we consider all of these different views when  planning and implementing management programmes. This exercise is designed to give you an opportunity to explore some very divergent view points.

Scenario:

It has been proposed by a group of local environmentalists that an area of land, which includes a cluster of farms (some dairy), significant remnants of native vegetation, and including some small urban areas, be managed to be predator-free with the purpose of improving its biodiversity value. Given that it has been recommended that possum management strategies should include the development of community processes that can assist in the design of appropriate strategies, the leader of the group proposing this plan has organised a meeting at which local stakeholders can express their opinions about the concept of the plan and the control methods used.

Each of you has been assigned an identity. Be prepared to make a statement based on your identity and defend your point of view. You need to agree on whether the eradication should go ahead, and the methods used to carry out the eradication. Feel free to immerse yourself in your role!

Roles:

  1. Department of Conservation worker –  Alise
  2. Animal Health Board inspector – Rueben
  3. Dairy farmer whose daughter’s dog died after scavenging a possum that had died from 1080 poisoning – Hannah
  4. Fur trapper – Jenny
  5. Animal rights activist and passionate Greenie – Jamie-Leigh
  6. Urban dweller – Ellyce

`Optogenetics’: The Stuff of Science Fiction?

Thursday, July 7th, 2011 | STEPHEN BRONI | No Comments

When  I was  a wee lad back in Scotland  one of my favourite films  was  a movie called  `Fantastic Voyage’.
Based on an Issac Asimov novel it’s about a group of scientists who, along with their hi-tech sub are  miniaturised  and injected into the body of an emminent scientist. Their  mission:-  to  perform some very targeted brain surgery from within using lasers.
(The film is often most remembered by film reviewers for a  scene where our hero has to rip ‘giant’ (to them) `phagocytosing’ white blood cells from a wetsuit-clad Raquel Welsh.  At the time I was way too young to understand why `that scene’ was so appealing to grown-ups!   Especially when there were so many other cool scenes of them travelling  through the blood stream, lungs, inner ear and finally in the brain surrounded by  hanging  neurones!).
Anyway, when I read this article on `Optogenetics’ -a new technology that  potentially allows scientists to switch  individual neurones on and off by means of light –  the movie leapt into my mind and I  became intrigued to read on.

 It’s  a  facinatating concept  and another example of 21st century ingenuity from   the rapidly expanding world of nanotechnology.

Check it out here:-

http://the-scientist.com/2011/07/01/optogenetics-a-light-switch-for-neurons/

or read full article here

http://the-scientist.com/2011/07/01/the-birth-of-optogenetics/

P.S. For all the film buffs out there, a remake of ‘Fantastic Voyage’ in rumoured to be one of James Cameron’s latest projects.

Capacitor Charging-Discharging

Friday, July 1st, 2011 | KEV KNOWLES | No Comments

I’ve set up a virtual lab for you to investigate how a capacitor charges and discharges.

  1. Download this file : Capacitor
  2. Open the AC&DC circuit construction kit here
  3. Load the capacitor file. It will display a capacitor circuit.
  4. Add the voltage chart with the connections across the capacitor [red to the left, black to the right]
  5. Add the current chart with the connection beside the red V connector.
  6. The capacitor charges through the top loop [and switch]
  7. It discharges through the bottom loop.
  8. You can investigate the following
    1. Change the supply voltage Vs [initial 10V]
    2. Change the capacitance [initial 0.1F]
    3. Change the charge resistance [initial 10 ohm]
    4. Change the discharge resistance [initial 5 ohm]
  9. You could also use the built in stopwatch to investigate the time constant