ABC; All biological concerns: cool

Showing posts with label cool. Show all posts

Friday, 5 July 2019

Today's youth, tomorrow's sustainability

Elijah Rona July 05, 2019 1 Comments

The youths these days have passions and high hopes for a better tomorrow. What are they doing to make their future exactly the way the want it? What are they missing?

It is an established fact that the only thing which never changes is "change" itself. This simply means that the way something was yesterday is not the way it is today and not the way it is going to be tomorrow. This is true for everything related to human activities because we are never satisfied and we always want to do things the easiest of ways. Asides wanting to do things the easiest of ways, humans will tend to stop doing what they have been doing when they discover that they have been doing it wrong. How do all these connect with the mindset of the youth? Can you connect the dots?

Talking about human wants, we have always wanted items and properties to ourselves but the way we get these properties has undergone a series of changes over the years. Primitive men scavenged for their properties, men in the past generations got their properties through trading by barter, men today work for others or sell goods to make money in order to afford properties... The question is "how would we earn in the future?".

A Revolution is coming

What is a revolution? Simply put, it is a very powerful and colossal change on man's operations. Before the 19th century, humans have only earned through farming, healing, researching and other ways. In the late 18th century, an industrial revolution occurred. This revolution transformed the way man earned. Now, humans earn through labor in various industries, these industries are found worldwide. So far, we have been doing well. We have companies like Chevron, Mercedes, Samsung, etc which are paying well but let's face the fact that these companies are becoming more and more useless as time goes by. They are becoming useless simply because mans' eye is opening to see the effect of the various industries in the world;

Emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
Production of non-biodegradable and greenhouse gas emitting goods.
Increase in the rate of Global warming in the world today.

As noted earlier, humans will stop doing what they have been doing if they find out that they have been doing it wrong. One day, a revolution will start. It is a form of revolution that will reduce or even fully stop the use of non-renewable resources, fossil fuels and production of plastics and other non-biodegradable items. When (not if but when) this revolution comes, how will we earn? What hope would the average youths have?

Read Construction of a walkway using plastic bottles

Let's talk about sustainable development

Sustainable development in simple terms, is the use of resources or production of goods today in a manner that the resources (both raw and produced) will still be readily available to coming generations. Let us look at land as a natural resource. Instead of using the normal traditional agricultural method to get (for example) 100 tomatoes from a piece of land, we would change to the modern method of farming (vertical farming, aquaponics) to get more than 1000 tomatoes and even 10,000 fishes if we like. This method of farming reduces the amount of space, water and time used to get even more than what the traditional means can get. Enclosing the plants in a greenhouse would reduce water loss by transpiration and evaporation, planting in shelves will reduce space taken and nutrients always available will reduce the time it takes for the roots of plants to get nutrients and water therefore speeding up the growth rate of plants. Modern farming is just one of many examples of sustainability.

Here's how people in different fields can be sustainable

Sustainability is not restricted to a specific career.

Petitions can be made against stores that use too much packaging. These packaging cause excess waste
Banks should provide fewer loans to firms that pollute the Earth, more loans to firms that support sustainability
The government should maintain potential tourist attractions. Clean up river and sea beaches, make waterfalls accessible by cars
More enlightenment should be done. People should be enlightened about our natural heritage and how our actions pollute our environment
Doctors should tell their patients the source of their infection. For example, patients with malaria should be taught that reducing the amount of stagnant water around them would reduce the amount of mosquitoes
Schools should teach children about the sources, effects and control of pollution

Here's how sustainability is affecting our industries

There are several ways sustainable development is affecting our industries, here's just a few:

Introduction of more solar panels and biogas is reducing the demand of generators, refineries and other industries that rely on fossil fuel
Introduction of electric cars is reducing the demand of petrol powered cars therefore affecting automobile industries and refineries
Introduction of reusable and recyclable plastics has reduced the demand of single-use plastics therefore affecting refineries and industries that make plastics

Sustainable development usually doesn't need a lot of resources for maintenance and operation. This means that when the sustainable revolution occurs, a lot of the Earths resources will be saved since individuals and companies will reuse what are being produced. As you can see, introducing these eco-friendly products and services is very good but will greatly affect our major industries. What can we do? How can we the youths survive tomorrow?

Read Campaign against plastic pollution

Innovation is the key

Innovation is the only way we can survive in the future. Ask yourself: this company that I have been dreaming to work with, isn't it owned by a fellow human? If a man/woman (when he/she was a youth) could dream of owning a very big company, employing thousands of people, why can't I have similar dreams? Why must I limit my dreams to only working under someone, therefore fulfilling his/her dreams? Why can't I be creative? Just imagine when these big companies stop or reduce operations and almost all the youths are still dreaming about working with these companies. It would be a sad situation for those who were unable to dream big. Look at Nigeria as a case study; a country where many companies are fleeing from yet the youths are still hoping they can work with these companies.

Solve problems

Your innovation or creativity should be geared towards identifying and solving problems in your society or the world at large. Lets look at Obasanjo. He found the problem of hunger then invested in Agriculture. Mark Zuckerberg found the problem of lack of communication then made facebook. Now, Facebook has pledged to use only non-exhaustible resources to generate electricity before the end of 2020. Travis Kalanick and Garrett Camp found the problem of transportation and made Uber. we hope Uber will make a pledge of using only electric cars as cabs in the nearest future.

The average mindset of the youth is a problem we see and shouldn't remain silent. Here are a few solutions.

Are you a youth?

Don't be scared to dream big
Discover your talents
Work on your talents
Discover your passions
Work on your passions
Look for the similarities between your talents and passions
Focus on these similarities because among these similarities is your purpose in life
Remain useful
Solve problems
Build a network of value-adding friends in your life
Don't stop working on yourself
Keep adding value to people
Hold a strong relationship with your God.
Think creativity, think innovation, think sustainability
Try your best to make the world a better place
Be The Change you want to see in the world

Reference:

Thursday, 4 July 2019

Construction of a walkway using plastic bottles

Elijah Rona July 04, 2019 0 Comments

Students from the department of Animal and Environmental Biology, University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria constructed a walkway using plastic bottles, their caps and wraps. Read this article to know why and how they constructed the walkway.

Why construct a walkway made of plastics?

Bad road

The road leading the building of the department is not very accessible especially in the rainy season. Students and staff passing through that road must walk on water or through grass. Something must be done, a road must be made.

Flooded road in the University of Port Harcourt

Plastic pollution

Plastics are bad for our environment. They cause flooding by blocking our drainage systems, trap and kill aquatic animals, reduce the beauty of our society and they increase in number every second. We need to come up with ways to reuse plastics. AEB students (U2016 set) came up with a way to reuse the bottles. In this case, they decided to build a walkway as a form of community service to the department. Seeing the plastic bottles, caps and wraps on the walkway will teach and motivate others that wastes can be reused, we should dispose our wastes correctly and not everything we term "waste" is useless.

Plastics litter our environment

Pile of plastic bottles collected by U2016 AEB students

What were the uses of each part of the plastic bottles?

The main bottle

Most of the plastic bottles were used as kerbs (both edges of the walkway), some were used as expansion joints while others were used on a step at the entrance of the walkway.

Plastic bottles placed as kerbs

The bottle caps

The bottle caps were used to decorate the surface of the walkway. They were used to write "U2016 SET & AEB STAFF" and make several patterns and drawings.

Pretty butterfly made by plastic bottle caps

Entrance of the walkway

The wraps

The wraps of all bottles used for the construction were stripped off before the bottles were placed. While some wraps were properly disposed, we used most for decoration of some bottles. They were placed inside the bottles so that they will be visible.

Wraps placed inside the plastic bottles

How was the walkway constructed?

The bottles were filled with sharp sand, the ground was leveled with sharp sand and mortar made of cement and coarse sand was poured on the leveled ground to make the walkway surface. On the edges of the walkway, holes were dug and the bottles were placed in the holes (filled with mortar and sand). While some parts of the walkway were decorated with the cap of plastic bottles, other parts were decorated with interlocking tiles-maker.

Leveling the ground and placing the plastic bottles

Filling more plastic bottles with sand

Finished work

Other details

2077 plastic bottles were used
102 students participated on the construction
The walkway was constructed in 5 days
34 hours were actively spent on the walkway construction.

Read Plastic pollution campaign by AEB U2016 students

What can we learn?

Problems can be solved, only when we are not silent about them.
Wastes are wastes because we are not innovative enough to have use(s) for them.
The youths of this generation are not all lazy, they just need to find what they can do and a
source of motivation.
Plastic bottles are the next big thing. They can be used for minor constructions, agricultural purposes, innovations and other forms of pet projects.

Wednesday, 13 February 2019

Major differences between 10 sets of look alike animals

Elijah Rona February 13, 2019 0 Comments

Do you know how to identify a crocodile when it's placed with an alligator? Do you know the difference between a panther and a jaguar? What about toads and frogs? Read this article to learn the differences between 10 sets of look alike animals.

Differences between 10 sets of look alike animals

Differences between Butterflies and Moths

Butterflies and Moths are very similar insects and belong to the order Lepidoptera under the class Insecta under the phylum Arthropoda. Many actually think that moths are butterflies. Well, here are their differences:

You're most likely to find butterflies during the day because butterflies are diurnal which means they're more active in the day. Moths however are nocturnal meaning they're more active at night so you're most likely to find moths at night.
Butterflies are colorful and have beautiful patterns in their wings but Moths mostly have faded patterns and are mostly white, black and grey.
When at rest, butterflies stretch their wings horizontally or vertically but moths fold their wings so their abdomen is fully covered.
The antennae of butterfly is club-shaped, meaning that it's straight from the bottom but swelled at the top but for moth, the antennae is feathery.

Butterflies and moths

Differences between Crocodiles and Alligators

How do you know that you saw an Alligator yesterday? What makes you feel it was not a Crocodile? Well, here are the differences between Alligators and Crocodiles:

The snout (mouth part) of a crocodile is pointed from the body, it is v-shaped. The snout of an alligator is wide, it is u-shaped.
Alligators in the world can only be found in some parts of USA and China however, crocodiles can be found worldwide so if you aren't in the US or China, you're most likely to see crocodiles.
When their mouth is closed, the teeth of Alligators are hidden but the teeth of Crocodile are not fully covered
Crocodiles are generally larger in size and longer than Alligators
Crocodiles are more aggressive than alligators
Crocodiles prefer to live in saline water while Alligators prefer fresh water like swamps

Crocodiles and alligators

Differences between Toads and Frogs

Toads and frogs are both amphibians. They both start their life-cycles as tadpoles and they look alike in almost every way. How can you differentiate both?

Habitat: Although they both hatched and started their life in water, toads (when matured) live in land but frogs continue to live in/around water
Skin: The skin of frogs is wet, smooth and slimy but that of toads is bumpy, dry and rough.
Limbs: They both hop but the limbs of Frogs are structured better for hopping because it is stronger and looks thicker
Eyes: The eyes of frogs bulge out more than the eyes of toads
Eggs: Toads lay their eggs connected to each other like they're in long chain but frogs lay their eggs connected to each other in a cluster-form

Frogs and Toads

Differences between Tigers, Jaguars, Panthers, Leopards, Cheetahs, etc

They're all cats and we love them. Although, lion is also a cat, it is unique can easily be identified. Let's learn the differences between the big cats:

Panthers: Just so you know, there isn't an animal species called panther. "Panther" as a term refers to the melanin (fully black) version of big cats like jaguars, leopards, etc. That's how we got "Black Panther"
Tigers: They're the largest of the cats. They don't have spots in their body, they have stripes instead. They can be found in Asia. They're solitary. Tigers love swimming and even have webbed paws.
Cheetahs: They can be found in the plains of Africa. Cheetahs are the fastest land animals in the world, they're good climbers as well. The best way to identify cheetahs is the tear-mark in their face. The tear-mark is like a black line (like tears) connecting their eyes to mouth.
Jaguars: They can be found in central and southern America and they're the biggest cats in their habitats. They're good swimmers and love water. Jaguars, unlike Tigers, have spots on their fur. These spots called rosettes have holes in their middle.
Leopards: They're the smallest of the big cats in their habitat. They can be found in Africa and Asia. They also have rosettes both theirs is smaller and sometimes have no space in the middle. They're excellent swimmers but don't like water.

Clockwise from top left: tiger, jaguar, cheetah and leopard

Do you know that is unfair to call lions the kings of the jungle? Here's the reason why: 5 wrong animal stereotypes that will make you rethink nature

Differences between Sponges and Corals

They can mostly be found in the same places, they're both animals and both look like plants. Here are some differences between sponges and corals:

They aren't in the same phylum. Sponges are in Phylum Porifera while corals are in phylum Cnideria.
Sponges are more primitive than corals. Corals are related to more complex animals like sea anemones, jellyfishes, etc.
Sponges feed and excrete through cells in their wall that aid in diffusion. Corals however, gain nutrition through a relationship with plants like algae
Sponges are generally soft in texture but corals can be soft or hard
Sponges have pores and large openings which help in diffusion.

Corals

Sponges

Differences between Ants and Termites

Both ants and termites are mistaken for the same insects. Very few people care to know their differences because they're both feared and hated for causing harm. Is that really true? Here's their differences:

Although they're both in phylum Arthropoda and class Insecta, ants are in order Hymenoptera and family Formicidae while termites are in order Isoptera and can be found in several families
Ants are scavengers (meaning they search for food). They may live in decaying wood or other materials but they don't eat them. They send their workers to go search for food. Termites however, eats plant tissues, wood and almost anything so termites are actually the destructive species.
Wings: Not all of their species have wings. You can identify winged termites through their long and uniform wings (all their wings are the same in size). Winged ants can be identified through their wings almost the size of their body while some are smaller than the others.
Antennae: The antennae of ants is elbowed while that of termites is blunt (almost straight).
The waist of ants is thin so it creates a visible segmentation between the thorax and abdomen but Termites have an almost uniform body.

Ants and termites

Differences between Bees, Wasps and Hornets

They're all stringing insects and we don't want to get close to any of them. How can you differentiate a bee from a wasp or from a hornet? Keep reading:

Bees: They appear fuzzy because of the many hairs in their body. Their nest which is usually big is called a beehive and it is made from wax. Bees produce honey and store it in their honeycomb. If they sting an animal, their stinger remains in the body of that animal so they may likely die. They will only sting when they feel threatened. Bees pollinate flowers.
Wasps: They can easily be identified by their sharp yellow and black rings coloration. They have a thin and long waist so their abdomen is distanced from their thorax. They make their nest through chewing wood to make it soft and building it in a corner. They can sting more than once and even lay eggs on their preys (humans aren't their preys). Only the females sting.
Hornets: They're not so different from wasps. They're generally larger, are white with black rings. Hornets and wasps are carnivorous and can sting multiple times.

Differences between Goats, Sheep and Rams

People love calling themselves sheep and hate it when they're called goats. Not all sheep have wool so how can they differentiate goats from sheep? What about rams?

Rams: They're simply male sheep, identified by their testicles.
Fur: Sheep can have wool or hair but goats have just hairs.
Tail: They can easily be identified by their tails, Sheep tail bends downward but goats tail bends upwards.
Beards: Sheep don't have beards but goats do.
Horns: Most sheep lack horns but goats have horns.
Odor: When male goats mature, they emit a very sharp and distinctive smell.

Differences between Monkeys, Chimpanzees, Gorillas, etc

Just like humans, they're all primates. Excluding monkeys they're all apes. Wait what? Monkeys aren't apes? Why? How? here are the ways to identify these animals

Monkeys: Monkeys have tails but apes don't. Monkeys are usually small and very active. Baboons are monkeys. Monkeys can be found worldwide except Antarctica
Apes: Apes don't have tails, they are more developed, have larger brains and closer to humans than monkeys. Apes includes chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans, etc. How do we identify them?
Gorillas: They look strong and heavy. They're actually the largest primates. They are covered with hair ranging from black to reddish black. The older the males get, the more grey the hair color on their back becomes. Adult males are known as silver backs. They can be found in Africa
Chimpanzees: They're the most social apes so whenever you see one, there are great chances of others being around. They're mostly on ground an move by knuckle walking. Their arms are usually longer than their legs.
Orangutans: They can mostly be found in trees. They have large cheeks. They are mostly solitary. They have a dark reddish hair.

Differences between Turtles and Tortoises

They're both reptiles and have a shell. Both animals are shy in nature. People often use their names interchangeably. Well, they're different animals and here are their differences:

Habitat: Tortoises dwell on land but turtles live in water most of the times.
Tortoises are mostly found in Africa and Asia but turtles are mostly found in Africa and America
Shell: The shell of tortoises bulges out and looks like a dome but that of turtles is streamlined for easy movement in water
Feeding: Tortoises are mostly herbivorous but turtles are omnivorous.
Limbs: The forelimbs of turtles are straight and almost flat (streamlined) for easy swimming but the limbs of tortoises are generally thick and bent.

Tortoises and turtles

Bonus

Differences between venomous and non-venomous snakes

Do you know the differences between venomous and non-venomous snakes? Learn these differences by reading an older article here in this blog. Read the article here: Know the differences between venomous and non venomous snakes

Did you like the article or learnt something new? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below. Do well to share the article with friends as well.

References:

Search This Blog