Energy: A Factor in Extinction

In class today we discussed the extinction of animals, along with various factors that have led them to become extinct. The leading cause of most animal species becoming dyeing out is some type of extreme altercation to their habitat. For example, the Dodo bird became extinct because of humans inhabiting the island they were living on. When the Portuguese settled the island of Mauritius, they brought with them animals to live off of. Both the animals and the Portuguese would use these birds as a food source, ultimately leading them to extinction.

However, according to researchers, some animals are more susceptible than others to becoming extinct due to habitat changes and human activity. Placental mammals, such as bats and rodents, expend more energy than marsupials, such as kangaroos, performing the same task. While most may think that a animals with a larger body mass would have the tendency to use up more energy while performing comparable tasks. However, this is not always the case. Birds tend to use up more energy to drink water than what large species of lizards use, even though the bird is smaller and has less body mass.

According to the article, orangutans expend less energy swinging through treetops than humans do sitting on the couch watching television. Orangutans use nearly 30% less energy than expected for their body mass, making them the most energy efficient primate. This could be why orangutan are able to survive on a limited food supply, and are able to better cope with their deteriorating and endangered habitats. This adaptation enables them to adapt to their limited food supply and will allow them to reduce overall energy needs, making it easier for orangutan to meet their daily intake when food is scarce.


Source: http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2010/08/orangutans-go-green.html?ref=hp

Excessive Gaming

Today in class we discussed the correlation between video games and obesity in adolescence. We compared our personal childhood experiences to those of children in today’s society. We concluded that as children we were forced to play outside, and were limited in the amount of time we could allocate towards playing video games. In today’s society, children are being allowed to play video games for hours on end.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, otherwise known as the AAP, excessive video gaming, or pathological gaming, has contributed to a plethora of physical and mental health issues. In addition to obesity, excessive gaming can lead to depression, anxiety, and performance in school. After conducting a study on 3,000 children in Singapore, researchers discovered 9% of them were addicted to gaming. They discovered that these children had the tenancy to experience higher levels of depression, anxiety, social phobia, along with other mental health concerns. Students who significantly reduced their gaming habits also reduced their levels of depression along with other mental effects.

A child is considered to be addicted, or a pathological gamer, if video games cause issues in their daily life. On average, pathological gamers play more than 31 hours of video games per week. AAP has recommended that children of elementary school age should not play more than one hour of video games per day, and high school aged students shouldn’t exceed two hours.

According to the Entertainment Software Association, “there simply is no concrete evidence that computer and video games cause harm”. The organization claimed that, according to research, video games can be used to improve our lifestyles through education, health and business aspects.

I personally feel that parents need to monitor their child's activities more closely. There is no reason that children should be allowed to play 31 hours of video games a week. I personally feel that the extent to which video games are being played has led many children to be diagnosed with attention disorders such as ADD and ADHD. If parents became more active in the life of their children this would not be an issue. Instead, they stick their child in front of the television with some gaming device, and use it as a babysitter.

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/01/17/gaming.depression/index.html?iref=allsearch

Robot can Detect it is being Ignored

In class we discussed the ability of a room-sized computer created by IBM that acted as a contestant on Jeopardy. This robot, named Watson, was able to beat out human contestants on the show. However, Georgia Tech University’s Socially Intelligent machines Lab created a robot that is able to sense when you are ignoring it. Once the robot, named Simon, detects that you are ignoring him, he attempts to regain your attention. Simon is able to detect a person’s behavior by using a camera that assesses the person’s mannerisms. Currently, the robot is able to accurately identify behaviorism's 80% of the time.

I feel that this technology could prove to be beneficial in hospitals. For example, previously in the semester we had a class discussion on how robot technology was being used in the medical industry as a means of communication between patients and doctors. This enables patients to receive the best medical care from doctors in countries abroad. The technology is in the process of becoming advanced so that it can perform medical procedures through a robot. Experts claim that this will allow for more precision and accuracy, as the robot will not have human qualities such as shaky hands.