Bio Week 2

One of the things that struck me in our discussion about evo/devo was the extreme similarity of our genomes to other species and how those genomes get differentiated in development. The fact that genes are switched on and off so that very similar genomes can create two very different species is truly amazing. You have to then wonder at what is directing these genes to switch on and off? As well as wondering what those extra "off" genes we have do for us? Just like we have so much extra brain power that we do not use, we have so much genetic material that apparently goes unused. Unlikely that it is just pure junk - it must be there for a purpose, but what is it?
Another thing that interested me was how much time and dedication it takes to make one new discovery about evolution, and just how contentions these theories and discoveries can be. Through one fossil -- Lucy, they could start to extrapolate so much about our history. The idea of looking at pelvis size and then understanding family development (smaller pelvis = smaller brain size of children = more vulnerable youth = longer time with the parents in a family unit) is so cool. Our physiology truly can influence our social patterns. It might go the other way too - social patterns influencing our physiology - think the neck and wrist problems of phone users. It is interesting to think about how we might be evolving now and how that might be playing into our larger social themes.


Sleep:
I honestly didn't notice much change this week with my sleep patterns - they seem to be pretty steady from the last month or so. I've noticed my health tends to have a greater affect on my sleep than anything else, but maybe I should start monitoring my health based on the moon phases - it'd be an interesting experiment.

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