Exercise & Brains

Hey guys, it's Adventure Van here with a blog about exercise. Well, we all know that exercise is a great way to make your body healthier, happier, and more capable. But the more we look at the benefits, the more ways we discover that it helps us. The most recent way? Aerobic exercise is being researched to apparently have a positive effect on stopping brain shrink. The well backed results (14 separate studies involving upwards of 730 participants) state that people who do that type of exercise dramatically reduce shrinkage in their hippocampus. Basically, the more research put into exercise, the more it seems to reap.

That's Adventure Van, flexing out.

Ross 128 b: Another Jupiter?

Hey guys, it's Adventure Van here with a blog about the Ross 128 b, a planet by a red dwarf star that seems to be in the star's habitable zone. Only 11 light years away, it's been claimed that upon reaching space travel, it could be used as a colony as well as a chance to see if we can find life. But, it it so, or is our wish to find a habitable planet so strong that we're falling into a "Skeleton Men of Jupiter" trap? I'll look over the past couple of times that humanity has been sure that we got it right this time when it came to living in space.

For some reason, ever since we left the idea that the world was flat and had large domes overhead that rotated (I say that loosely, as some people still have that belief), we've fantasized over heading into the "Final Frontier". Everywhere from the popular shows Star Wars and Star Trek, to the hundreds of thousands of books that wish to bring the reader from boring ol' Terra out into the wilderness that is space. We look at the sky with rose tinted telescopes, hoping for the best whenever we see something.

So, what do I mean when I say "Skeleton Men of Jupiter"? Popular "Science Opera" writer Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote a large amount of science fiction, one of the most popular being "John Carter of Mars". But he wrote a large selection of books, including SKOJ. So why am I describing it as a trap? Because it is. Before we had powerful enough telescopes, it was theorized by the main body of astrologically inclined minds that it could be somewhat like earth. The idea caught on, and it got a large following from the sci-fi community. It's a shame that Jupiter was soon found out to be a gas planet.

We've gone over these types of things several times. We've had to deal with enthusiasm misplaced in the past, so some people are perfectly justified in the doubt that we haven't actually found a new habitable planet. Unfortunately, we've got a much wider Sci-Fi community, and most of them come up with the new planets, so we won't be able to have a Sci-Fi novels for every planet we've seen. 

Want to see the article from the group that discovered it? Here you go!

Want to read about the station that found it, and take a virtual tour of it? Here you go!

That's Adventure Van, spacing out. Huh?

Mud Puppy dissection

Hey guys, it's Adventure Van here with a blog about  Necturus maculosus, or as they're more commonly known, Mud Puppies. Specifically, I'm talking about dissection of them. I went to the Buffalo Museum of Science, where I was able to get a private dissection (because no one else came), and it was awesome. I got to take tons of pictures, so let's see the insides of a Mud Puppy! (Note, because this is a dissection, there will be an animal cut apart. If you're not okay with that, I'd recommend closing off this tab.)

The materials. Rubber Board, Scalpel, Probe, Scissors, Tweezers, and Gloves.

Mud Puppy in the bag.

Mud Puppy Top.

Mud Puppy Bottom.

Head Close Up.

Body Close Up.

Tail Close Up.

Gills. This is without ripping thru any skin, because the gills are so feathery.

Neck Segment. The line of skin that you can see is actually not what's connecting it to the body.

High-Resolution shot to capture all the separate segments of the Mud Puppy.  Also, you can see them conjoining in a line in the center. It's their version of abs.

The head from the side. It can be mistaken as a snake's head if it's from the gills up.

The Cutting Begins!

Pulling apart the flaps.

The first view of the insides.

The (fully intact) liver.

The inside after the removal of the liver.

Dissection Pins show their use.

Eggs and Ovaries. Also, semi-removed intestine.

The heart. 3 chambers.

Opened Mouth! That white blob is the tongue.

The entire intestine.

All finished! Here's the entire thing.

The Trouble With Christmas

The Trouble With Christmas is a book written by Tom Flynn. This book presents a series of arguments why Christmas, and other holidays in that time period, should be flat out abandoned, or at least not put into the "All Of America Celebrates This, So If You Don't, You're An Outsider." In this book, he presents the problems from Santa to the Solstice, and even if you don't agree with everything he says, you end up at least having a few laughs along the way.  So, let's see what the Trouble With Christmas is.

He starts out with picking apart the past when it comes to Christmas, from the DWAMQs (Dead White Anglo Males and Queen) that made it related to Christianity and the (almost) demise from the Anti-Christianity raids of Oliver Cromwell, that started a wave even he couldn't control. After the kings were reinstated, Christmas had become little more then to close shops and play cards. It wasn't until the need for a holiday like it appeared, and Charles' Dickens "A Christmas Carol" came out, that once again it became a thing that had to be celebrated or be an outsider.

He goes on to about how the Santa myth is detrimental to a kid's psyche, trust, and critical thinking. The 'willing deceit' of children by parents is not only go to lead to major issues at a critical time when most kids are already pulling away from their parents, but the fact that most of society also lied to them about his existence immediately pulls them away from the some of the people they've been taught to trust from birth, and the society they will one day enter. So why do these disillusioned kids continue to put the myth on to their children? Some argue it's just that they'll be looked down on as 'Scrooges' and 'Grinches' if they don't teach their children, and others say that it's a subconscious need for revenge.

And then we come to the present, where in modern day America, we've only recently heard a president claim that we're able to say "Merry Christmas" again. First, Flynn counters the idea that America is a Christian Nation that seems to be held dearly to the majority of Christians hearts by talking about all the documents by prominent Americans at the founding of America (e.g. George Washington and Benjamin Franklin) talking about how they wished America to be religiously neutral, to counter the English's Christianity. Building on that point, there's no real reason that Americans of all religions should feel the need to celebrate an arbitrary holiday, Christmas, in a theoretically religious neutral county.

Going on to talk about how in our schools, stores, and homes, the fact that everyone is celebrating Christmas is often just taken and used, despite the fact that we have plenty of people in America that have separate choices. Taking examples from around the USA, he goes on to talk about how in most places that tried to remove all religious statements and icons, such as crosses, crescents, and Christmas and other main holidays, were almost immediately attacked for being an attack on Christianity. Using this info, he then affirms the fact that most institutions, public or private, invariably favor Christians over many other religions.

So, what did I think of this collection of arguments that was enclosed in this book? Well, some of it's strongest points do seem to congregate against the idea of a Santa Claus. This book's arguments make it seem that the best idea is to get rid of the Big Brother-esque, nightmare inducing, over used carrot and rod bludgeon for once and for all. However, it does suffer from some continual errors, like when it says that you should teach your children that as much as Santa Claus isn't real, that other kids have a right to believe in him, then going on to say a paragraph later that you should get your kids to tell others that Santa isn't real. Other then a couple of those problems, it ends up being a good, funny yet serious read.

I'd recommend reading it, be it for the agreement to your own beliefs, the idea of reading something new or interesting, trying to get new ideas from it, or if you just want to have a thing you can read and get mad about. Here's a link to get your hands on it: this is a link. This is not.

That's Adventure Van, reading away!

Photo Atlas for Biology: Report

Hey guys, it's Adventure Van here with a blog about the book Photo Atlas for Biology. Done by James W. Perry and David Morton, this book is a collection of pictures about all things biology. Be it plant cells, fish, or dissected rodents, this book will probably have a picture and an explanation for it. Well charted out, easy to read, and in soothing colors, if you have any interest in biology, I'd recommend it. It's for basically all age groups, meaning that you'll never really grow out of it or find it too mature for you. And the pictures are of great quality, beautiful lighting and perfect specimens. Basically, get it if you can.

Adventure Van, sciencing out.