Pelagibacter ubique

I was reading in the news paper this morning how the Gulf of Mexico is going to be open to Red Snapper fishing this Fall, when typically it is restricted. However, because the BP oil spill prevented much fishing this summer, Red Snapper fishing will be allowed.

This got me thinking about other fish and specifically microorganisms in the ocean. I wondered what kind of effect the oil in the ocean had on the most abundant microorganisim in the ocean, that being Pelagibacter ubique, a species of bacteria. After some internet research, I didn't find anything. I was just curious about the effects the oil had on the bacteria itself.

I remember one of my professors once saying that Peilagibacter ubique is so abundant, that if you take its dry weight, and compare it to the dry weight of all the animals in the ocean, the Pelagibacter ubiue would weight more. That just always fascinated me. And if not for learning that bit of knowledge, I may of never remembered Pelagibacter ubique even exists.

Football Semester

I find it quite sad sometimes that I can let a "game" really take control of my emotions. Case in point, last Sunday my favorite team, The Dallas Cowboys lost in embarrassing fashion. After the game I found it very difficult to study for a lab quiz I had the next day. My mind was still on that #%*&ing game! Well, I decided to take a shot of nyquil and head to bed. I woke up early the next morning and didn't turn on my computer or t.v., so that my attention could be on studying. I spent the morning studying and ended up doing well on my quiz. I just really dislike that I have to try extremely hard to separate myself from my emotion as a football fan, as an armchair quarterback so to speak. It is a REAL struggle, but one in which I am happy to say that has never gotten the best of me. I find spring college semesters a bit more laid back for me. However, during fall semesters, I end up having to schedule my studying around my football viewing pleasure on the weekends. Sad to say.

Donkeys and Elephants

American politics can be quite an interesting soap opera. It makes for some engaging television, much like some of my favorite shows of recent past (Lost, Sopranos, etc.). However with the politics in this country, we don't have to wait a whole week to catch the next episode. We have a two party system that vies for the presidency, senate and house, that I liken to a cult. Why? Well think about it. I find it impossibly difficult to understand how one party can encompass every passionate thought and opinion of thousands of individuals. I constantly find my friends, who define themselves as democrats or republicans, contradicting themselves when they have thoughts and opinions opposite to that of the party they support. And when I point out said contradiction, they jump around the issue, much like politicians. I find it quite amusing when they do so. Furthermore, I also find it entertaining when I see politicians engaging in political "poo-flinging" through television and interviews. Why can't we just have more debates in the television realm. Sit Glenn Beck and Keith Olberman in a room(two political commentators that are extreme right and left) and have them duke it out, rather than take jabs at each other through their respective programs.

But I myself an independent voter. I don't like the idea of blindly following the ideology of one party, defending everything they do. Because these two parties are not perfect as we have seen with the current administration and the previous one as well. Yet you see politicians, media types, and followers defending every bad decision (going to war in Iraq, or passing multiple preposterous spending bills in the middle of a recession). Its not registered democrats and republicans who's votes matter, because they will always vote one way. Its the third group that matters, the independent thinkers like me. That would be epic television.

But I do believe this two party system has been vital for our success as a country. As a country we tend to not stray to far to the left, nor to far to the right. In essence it is a system of checks and balances and one in which I like and am comfortable with as an American. I love that we have social programs to help those in need, I love what capitalism has given our country. I think the balance we have struck between these two ideologies has given us fortitude to succeed as a country.

Ectotherms, really bug me.

Pun intended. By that, I mean ectotherms of the insect variety really bother me. It never fails, this time of year they are out in full force gathering around sources of heat such as porch lights. If I'm quick enough I can make it in and out with only a minimal amount of these ectothermic creatures making into my house. Every evening when I come home they are buzzing around, all over the window and door. Insects of all sizes. I've see roaches, beatles, junebugs, the occasional dragon fly, moths, grass hoppers, crickets and many many many other insects, of which whose names I am unaware of.

I wish the android application market for phones carried an insect identification app. There is an app called Shazam, in which your phone can just listen to a song and then identify the name of the song and artist. Well I wish there was an app in which I can just take a picture of a insect and in a matter of seconds I can have all the information I want, including it's identification. However most times I am uninterested in the bugs name and am more interested in how they react to a spray of Raid. Yes, there are times I will purposely go out side with the sole intent of spraying around the porch lights. I am surprised that I don't see many spiders spinning their webs around the porch as there seems to be quite a variable buffet for them every evening. But then again, I'm sure I'd spray them too.

As much as they bug me as I'm trying to get in and out of my house in the evening, these ectotherms are interesting creatures. I find it fascinating how a creature's environment affects its body temperature and metabolism. I am reminded of an experiment we conducted in my ecology course, in which we placed insects of various sizes in a refrigerator. After a good amount of time we took them out and they were unable to move. We observed the time it took for these creatures to take up heat from their environment and start moving again.

So basically the underlying thought of me stating that ectotherms really bug me, is that I wish it was holiday season. So that along with turkey, football, the semester ending, Christmas and New years, colder temperatures will make passage into my house a lot more comfortable.

To blog or not to blog. . .

As I embark on my last semester of undergraduate education at the University of Texas Pan-American, I find an interesting challenge ahead of me. That challenge being, to blog. Actually it is not a challenge per say, but rather a requirement for my Biological Writing course. What an interesting concept for us students to embrace as we surge ahead in this course. I'm actually looking forward to engaging my thoughts and putting them out there in cyberspace for all the world and my mom to read. Well maybe just the world. I won't tell my mother about my blog. I fear of the educator in her will attempt correct my prose at every line and sentence. But I digress. . .

The first day of my Biological Writing course was not only interesting because of the blogging we are going to be doing, but because of my professor was a really engaging. I don't say that to score points because I know he will be reading this blog. I say that because I find that instructors with entertaining delivery, and that have passion for their discipline, tend to really peak their student's attention. Or at least this student.

I had thought about blogging before, but never fully delved into the idea of it. I thought to myself "What do I blog about?" Well the rubric for blogging in my Biological Writing course seemed to finally answer that question for me. That being, to blog about whatever is on my mind. Hence the title of my blog Daydreamt In Cyberspace. This blog will really just be a random collection of musings, usually science themed in nature, brought on by my thoughts and daydreaming. Perhaps it will develop into something more at a later date, we shall see.

So to answer the question posed in my title, I choose "to blog". Really it's not a question at all since blogging is a component to my grade for the course, but I like to be a little shakespearin at given times. I do look to gain a learning objective from this blogging. What that objective is at this point, I'm not sure, but in 15 weeks or so I think I'll know.