Lucid Dreaming, Time Well Spent ☁️

Quote of TRUTH: “If you must sleep through a third of your life, why should you sleep through your dreams too?” ~ Stephen LaBerge

An average human spends about 33 years of their life in bed; 26 years of the 33 will be spent sleeping while the rest is used up in trying to get oneself to sleep. The average life expectancy ranges from 75 to 80 years. During the time of sleep, the average person normally experiences around 4 to 8 dreams per night. Looking at the numbers, a person undergoes roughly more than 100,000 dreams in their lifetime. Dreams, where the dreamer is aware and conscious that they are dreaming, is known as lucid dreaming. Although being able to control the dream is sometimes not attainable at the start, this can be achieved in the future with more exercise. There are many benefits that the dreamer may get when they lucid dream. With this practice, one would be able to add to the list of experiences they’ve had in their life, overcome fears, discover new things, and so much more. I believe that if more people were to practice lucid dreaming they would be benefitting themselves more in every way.

 

Lucid dreaming is a gateway to opportunity. And, because of this reason, many get drawn to the idea of lucid dreaming. It allows you to do what you couldn’t or wouldn’t normally do when you are awake. Flying, tasting the clouds, planet hopping, running with lions, and the list goes on. Your mind is a powerful tool; the things it may imagine are endless. Many have practiced this and had the ability to walk when they couldn’t walk and so much more. Lucid dreaming is truly beneficial. For my experiment, I got 10 different people, half of the group boys and half of the group girls. The ages are ranging from 14-18. For a whole two weeks, after explaining to them what lucid dreaming is, I asked to practice and achieve lucid dreaming. Then, I recorded what they had experienced and if they thought it to be beneficial to them as well.

 

For the first week of the experiment, a majority of the group had a difficult time getting to lucid dream. It does take some practice so I had told them to keep trying until they had done it. The experiment took a week or so longer than I had anticipated because lucid dreaming was only properly achieved during the end of the second week and the beginning of the third week. Although not always possible, more than half of my dreamers were able to achieve lucid dreaming in less than 4 weeks, fortunately. During the third week of the experiment, this is when I started to record the results. After lucid dreaming, the group had reported feeling they had more determination as they fell asleep with their new discovery with sleeping. They also said lucid dreaming was really entertaining and had benefited with some things they had always wanted to do. One example, Chloe, age 15 and one of my volunteers in this experiment, has done modeling before but still had the lingering stage and people fright as she walked the stage. During lucid dreaming, she practiced repeatedly going up and down the stage for her modeling. When Chloe had another modeling session, she said that her confidence was noticeably better and she didn’t seem to have much problem anymore with her stage fright. This is only one of the examples from the whole group and I think it really helps prove that lucid dreaming can be really helpful when trying to solve these problems, like different fears.

 

I didn’t know the proper advice to give, at the start, to let my dreamers acknowledge they were in a dream and start lucid dreaming. However, I was able to gain good insight eventually on ideas to give my dreamers as I read a study that was done. This study was conducted by a group of researchers at Stanford who was helping their subjects they were testing to remember they were dreaming. One of the writers of the book had claimed, along with the backing of “thousands of other lucid dreamers” that lucid dreams are truly a wonderful, vivid, exhilarating, extraordinary, and intense experience. With their study, they were able to aid a few dreamers on how to achieve this. The experiment was using cues to remind the dreamer that they are dreaming. The first thing that they did was cue the dreamer as they slept with a tape-recorded message that repeatedly said: “This is a dream”. The results of this first test gave feedback on the proficiency of the tape-recorded message as a cue. Some of their subjects were able to lucid dream with this, however, the first few attempts showed the problems: it awoke the dreamer with the sound or the dreamer completely ignored the message. The next test was using vibrators strapped to the subject’s ankles. Throughout the day, as the dreamers were awake, they would practice telling themselves that they were in a dream whenever they felt the vibration. The results showed that the 11 out of 18 dreamers were able to lucid dream with the vibration cue. However, they tried another kind of cue as the vibrations “…posed a number of technical difficulties”. Finally, they tested a cue using lights. There were more results to their subjects who hadn’t even yet got to lucid dream. This research resulted in the fact that using sensory cues are useful and effective when helping to lucid dream and that the dreamers may really benefit from it. (LaBerge, S., & Rheingold, H., 1991)

 

The health benefits of lucid dreaming are also included in these lucid dreams. It is proven that those who frequently lucid dream are higher on the LOC scale (Blagrove, M., & Hartnell, S. J., 2000). LOC stands for the Locus of Control. In the 1950s, Julian Rotter brought up LOC to the surface. It is said that one with an internal locus of control believes that he or she is the one in control and have the influence to their outcomes and goals. However, those with an external locus of control believe that everything that happens to them is by fate or nature, and the only thing to blame for an inconvenience would be the outside forces. This means that with more practice of lucid dreaming, the person doing this would have a higher standard of being and have more positivity, which is good.

 

In another study conducted in Vienna by Doll, Gittler, and Holzinger (2009), they had a total of eighty-nine subjects. There were 42 women and 47 men who volunteered to be in the study, the mean age of the group was 36.25 ± 10.42 years. The purpose of the study was to see the health benefits that lucid dreaming had to those who practiced it. As the study went on, they were able to prove that the frequent lucid dreamers were able to show better mental health than those who were non-lucid dreamers. These researchers were able to make known that truly just by lucid dreaming, the mental state one is in, has the ability to become better and more improved.

In conclusion, lucid dreaming is possible to achieve and when it is achieved there are so many ways that it benefits. Although it may take some time, practice, and patience to reach that goal, it’s still out there possible to do. There are already thousands that practice it for pleasure and health benefits. I would say that my hypothesis is proven to be true as lucid dreaming is truly beneficial in so many ways and that it’s time well spent once you do master it. And, as time goes on, hopefully, lucid dreaming will be practiced by more and more people and use all their time sleeping in a better more efficient way.

 

Do you agree?

Yours truly,

L.O.A.S.H

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© Elizabeth Anne Villoria

Artificial Intelligence, taking over the world? Yes? No? Maybe….

Quote of TRUTH: “Real stupidity beats artificial intelligence every time” – Terry Pratchett

Over the past years, technology has seemed to advance faster than we could have ever imagined, especially comparing to the Paleolithic times (where all our ancestors had invented were cave paintings and fire pits, which is, by the way, still very awesome to invent). We’ve gone from having our first light bulb flicker into existence then next self-driving cars, like Tesla. Mind-blown, I know, feelings are mutual. But, now, we’re going to talk about something that isn’t common in most places (for now, or so we think), Artificial Intelligence.

1. They’re starting to camouflage with everyone else around them

What I mean by this is that they are starting to look super realistic! We have almost mastered the art of forming technology into such human-looking-like figures. To tell you the truth it is a little bit creepy. One example of this would be Yangyang, a robot which has been created. The features that were given to her have made her an almost replica of Sarah Palin!

Sarah Palin isn’t the only one out there. There’s also Sophia and Nadine. Sophia is pretty well-known as she has been on a couple of interviews. She has even met Will Smith, and she’s actually the first robot to receive a citizenship. Nadine, on the hand, is an AI who works as a university receptionist. She was described as the “world’s most human-like robot”. Aside from looking human, these robots are able to interact as such, too. Nadine has the capability to smile, make eye contact, greet visitors, and even recognize past guests. What happens when you can’t tell artificial intelligence from an actual living and breathing human being? Imagine, just imagine, someone decides to change the entire Madame Tussaud, a wax museum (by the way, people already get confused by whether the wax figures are real or not), into AIs. Just thinking about it gives me the chills.

2. They are taking over our jobs

This problem is something that we’ve got to keep in mind. We’ve created these machines to do all these tasks and finish all these jobs for us. Yet, we somehow seem to be distracted from the fact that this would be very unfortunate for so many families and people out there.

It is estimated that 73 million U.S. jobs would be taken over by robots and automated by 2030. Yes, I actually mean millions. So for every job operated by automation, that’s another job lost for someone or their family. But here’s the wildest thing, the estimate for 73 million jobs lost is just in the U.S. alone. Looking at the bigger picture, a new report claims that, worldwide, an astonishing amount of 800 million jobs would be lost due to automation.

3. ROBOT DOGS!

You read that right. Robot. Dogs. How cool does that sound? Very much, I agree. Having a robot dog eliminates most of the migraines that you would normally get from a normal dog as it wouldn’t have to do his “business”, everywhere, if you know what I mean. The two main things that you wouldn’t have to worry about anymore would be the robot dog’s health and its hygiene.

Sony has actually announced that they would be releasing their robot dog. With a price of $2,899, they have made major improvements such as adding touch sensors for when you pet it, facial recognition for it to know its owners, a camera mapping which it uses to memorize your house’s layout, and it even has voice commands!

4. They are able to teach themselves

Yup, self-taught. The advancement of the technology that has been put in their system has actually allowed them to teach themselves. They no longer need us humans to put more information for them, they can learn what they want to learn. Remember the AI robot I told you about earlier, Sophia?  Well, according to the supposed first photographer who stepped inside the Hong King-based Hanson Robotics, Sophia might have self-taught herself what a camera was.

Another example of this would be the AI system that Google has made which taught itself to play Atari 2600 games. A study funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), showed that their program for their robot was capable of watching videos on how kitchen utensils work and able to properly copy what it saw without any humans to help them out. They even said that by 2029, because of AI increase of knowledge, they would have the same intelligence as us humans.

5. They Can Heal Themselves

The algorithm based on trial and error is what the robot uses to check its system and repair itself. The researcher’s idea is that the robot would act something like an animal and adapt to being broken as they “learn and iterate based on self-reflection”. They have been able to successfully adapt a method similar to this to AI.

Another way that robots were designed to heal themselves was by what material they were made out of. What roboticists did was create soft robots. Soft robots work by heating itself for about 40 minutes at a temperature of 80°C, then after a day when the temperature is at 25°C, the robot would restore after its damages.

6. They’re Being Weaponized

An amount reaching $2 billion dollars is said to be spent alone for AI systems in weaponry. One of the main reasons why the Pentagon and the U.S. military wants to invest this much for their weapons is to stay ahead of other countries around and be more advanced. Even though this would be helpful for an increase in security, there are still dangers that come along with it. The machines that are given the power to control their own actions may put the lives of innocent people at risk, as well.

7. Romantic Relations and AI?

Once our fellow AIs roam the earth and we can’t seem to tell if they’re human or not, there’s a high chance that most people (as in human beings) would have some type of relationship with an AI. Whether it’s romantic or not, the more we put in research and push for these robots to be made, it’s going to be inevitable to not have some contact with one AI or two. There are actually a couple of movies out there that show a glimpse of what people predict the futuristic love life of most to be, such as, Her or Ex-Machina.

According to the report of Dr. Ian Pearson, he says that “by 2050, human-on-robot sex will be more common than human-on-human sex”. Eventually, this idea would be so casual yet looking at it now just seems a bit weird. It looks as if we’re all planning to slowly steer away from humanity and merge as one with technology.

8. They’re Being Taught To Deceive

Claiming for military purposes, a research conducted at the Georgia Institute of Technology by Professor Ronal Arkin and his team have successfully implemented this deceptive behavior into a robot. Professor Arkin and his team first tested out this deceiving behavior with squirrels and birds and when they got the results they also were able to do it with robots.

This is definitely something remarkable yet scary. Even though we are programming this for when they are out at war or during some military business, they can also use these skills if they go rogue. And, how dangerous might that be? Very dangerous, very much indeed.

9. They’re Getting Good at Gaming

These artificial intelligence machines are becoming better and beating us at our own games. Literally. These are the very games that we’ve created. The games that only a small percentage of us have actually mastered after the years of practice. It’s all fun and games until it’s not. Right?

There is an artificial intelligence division within Google that is known as DeepMind. The advancement of AI has shown impressive results. They’ve been able to successfully beat our best players at chess, Go, and even Jeopardy using the skill sets that they now acquire.

One of the more famous cases would be google’s AlphaGo computer program designed to play the game Go. This game is something you’d really have to put your brain power to use as proper strategic planning is needed in order to win. And, here’s the craziest part, after just a couple of hours of training this program was able to defeat the world’s best player.

10. They May Possibly Take Over the World

Taking into account all the great progress we’ve done for both the advancement and improvement of Artificial Intelligence is truly remarkable. However, there have been expressed concerns by some of the best minds out there that going through with AI research and development may lead to our ultimate doom.

Stephen Hawking has said that AI is pretty much spelling the end of our human race. Bill Gates is very worried and knows that AI going to pose as a threat to humans. Elon Musk(LINK 20) has thrown concern and warning after warning that continuing on this path to develop AI is dangerous and even compares it to “summoning the devil”.

Artificial Intelligence has already learned to lie, self-study, create, destroy, fight, self-heal, and even think for themselves. We can’t tell the future. We can’t say for sure right now whether this would be the best thing or the worst thing to happen to us. But, what we do know is that our decisions daily to proceed with AI developments is going to affect what happens to us later on. And one day we may have an AI apocalypse but also we might not.

This is our future we’re talking about. Are we willing to risk it all? Hmmm….

 

spread your awesomeness!

Yours truly, 

L.O.A.S.H

 

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 © Elizabeth Anne Villoria

Fear? Huh? What’s that?

Quote of awesomeness: “The fears we don’t face becomes our LIMITS” ~ Robin Sharma

Fear.

*dramatic music*

We’ve at least experienced countless times throughout our life. Right? I mean, it can come from the smallest of things. Like, that time you checked your bag for your phone and couldn’t find yet it was in your hand or right in front of you the whole time. Or, that time you left the house, locking the door but then you stop in your tracks, eyes widening in horror as you feel uncertain if you brought your house keys out with you. That feeling of fear which drains your face making you look pale as if you’ve seen a ghost. That’s the feeling which most would experience when faced with such circumstances, but is this always a bad thing, is it a good thing? Yes and no. Huh? I know, confusing. But, it’s okay we’ll clear the confusingness in a bit. 

The California Science Museum is a great place which has an area all about what this thing called fear is. Let me tell you what I learned when I visited this (very very very awesome and educational and fun and cool) museum! It seems that in society, the feeling of fear grows stronger as more people get scared or afraid? And, just a simple tweet or news from the media, some politician, famous person, or interest group could easily spread such feeling of fear. However, fear also does have a role in today’s entertainment and an example for this would movies! Yes, people do buy tickets to watch that new scary movie which they would probably regret later on as they leave the theatre on purpose. And, because of how fear grabs our attention even though we might not enjoy it all the time, it helped in forming what shows in movies, television, magazines, books, and even popular novels. This shows how fear and culture have shaped each other.

When faced with a scary or dangerous situation, the three responses which most do are Fight, Flight, and Freeze. Let’s put the three responses to action! Scenario time!!:

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One day you find yourself hiking with your friends. It’s a beautiful sunny day and you start wondering why you tried to stay at home earlier as your friends bugged you on coming with them. You and your friends are having an awesome time as you lead the way going back home. Suddenly, in the corner of your eye, you spot a spider a few feet in front of you. The thing is you have arachnophobia which is the fear of spiders and this odd feeling in your stomach starts to overcome you and you suddenly:

 

|3 RESPONSES|

|Fight|

Cry? Kick? Scream? 

“SPIDER!!!!!!”, you scream so loud the ground seems to tremble.

This doesn’t necessarily mean that you start punching the spider, although that would be quite hard considering the spider would see you coming and try dodging you. Also, considering the arachnophobia, going nearer to the spider or even touching would probably not be the best or first idea to come to mind. To fight could also mean to just cry or scream. This response would be on the more responsive side when faced with a situation such as this. 

|Flight|

run. Run. RUN. RUN!!!! – yours truly, brain

The spider seems to agitate you as you look directly at it. You get this feeling that it the spider is giving you an intense scare which makes your heart skip a beat. Suddenly, the only message your brain fires at you is: run. Run. RUN. RUN!!!! You take one more glance at the hairy creature minding its business (possibly nibbling on a leaf, if spiders even do that), a shiver going down your spine, and you start running as fast as your feet could go. Your friends watch as you zoom past them as if you were the flash. All you want to do is get as far away from the spider. This response, my friend, is the flight (no you don’t actually fly, though that would be cool) when faced with situations like this, you run. 

|Freeze|

don’t. move.

You take one look at the spider. You stop talking and the thoughts of the beautiful sunny day and the joke your friend just made which made you send a thunderous roar of laughter fades away. Your heart is pounding and you just want to scream or run but your feet seem to plant in its place and your mouth stays shut. The fear slows the flow of blood to your skin redirecting it to the skeletal muscles causing the color of your face to be drained, and causing you to look pale. Your eyes are wide open and glued to the spider as if you were anticipating its next moves. Your friends wave in front of your face as sweat drips down your brow. “Don’t. Move.” this is what your brain seems to signal throughout your body as faced with a fearful situation such as this.

|QUESTION|

Which response would you do?

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Fear helps us because it keeps us safe. Like, in the movie Inside Out with all the emotions going on in Riley’s head, fear was able to keep her safe a few times. An example would be when she was running but then the fear emotion suddenly stopped her as she came close to a wire, fearing she would have tripped. 

The museum even has like these small hubs with different fears like the fear of sound! I sat down then suddenly this loud sound when off and yes I jolted which was also recorded then showed to me in slow motion. 

Stop laughing, it’s not funny. I mean, fine, just a little. But, anyway the fear is innate as it’s been with us since birth- I read it in the museum so my reaction was completely (very funny actually, my parents and sisters couldn’t stop laughing) normal.

There are so many things to learn about this and interactive fun stuff to do at the California Science Museum. I’m sure you’ll enjoy!

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Annoying ways that fear can pop up and just ruin something:

You walk up to the stage encouraged as you start to speak.

You look at the audience and the crowd seems to be astonishingly big. Then your glossophobia jumps in. And, then you end up saying:

“Friends, Romans, countrymen lend me your (suddenly your fright comes in and you say)- fears”. Huh? Wasn’t it supposed to be ears? Oh well, must have been that scare.

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Hope you’re having an awesome day, afternoon or night! Till my next blog, Bye!

Yours truly,

L.O.A.S.H

 

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 © Elizabeth Anne Villoria 

The great powers that come with wind turbines.

Wind turbines were invented way before you. Like a thousand years earlier. Circa A.D. times, Wind Mills already existed. Did you know that way back even in 5000 BC Egyptians already started using the concept of wind power for their boats? Yup, they did. Pretty awesome, I know.

My Question: Why are wind turbines not everywhere?

I would have thought that with these thousands of years that have passed we would have been able to establish some worldwide wind turbine system put both onshore and offshore around this planet. Although some would debate that it would be a disadvantage to some wildlife such as birds and bats and also some complaints on the noise pollution it creates, we can find a way to fix that problem (right?).

The simple principle on which wind turbines use to create energy and produce electricity

There is a small device attached to the very end of the wind turbine (kind of like a tail) which has two to three blades (but instead of being sharp it’s rounded and caved like a spoon and its movement is similar to that of mini propellers) and is known as an anemometer. This device (anemometer) is connected to a rotor which is connected to the main shaft which is connected to and spins a generator which produces and create electricity! 

 

Creds: Department of Energy

 

There are a minimum and maximum speed of air which is needed for the wind turbine to move or stop (especially if the winds are too strong). And, according to WilloWindEnergy (which is both a developer and operator of wind farms in the UK), the wind turbine would need a minimum wind speed of 4 to 5 meters per second (circa 10 miles per hour) and a maximum wind speed of 15 meters per second (circa 33 miles per hour). 

What is the difference between offshore and onshore wind turbines?

First and the main difference between the two types are the locations. Offshore wind turbines are in the ocean and onshore wind turbines are on land.

 

Offshore Wind Turbine

Offshore wind turbines are farther away from humans which makes it safer and less irritating (with its noise pollution). Also, because winds are usually higher at sea, they built these wind turbines to be stronger and they are also better at producing as well. But, unfortunately, it is more difficult to install offshore wind turbines compared to onshore because it’s like in the middle of the ocean. Okay, fine, not exactly at the center of the ocean but really far from civilization in the middle of rough waves and strong winds. Also, the wind turbines (offshore) have the disadvantage of having less maintenance as it’s not such an easy task to grab a boat with the tools and fix the underground wires or other problems that may occur. According to GroundSure, they install the wind turbines in open water by bringing the parts and assembling the parts like a kit. They ship the parts, dividing them by their main components and then when they’re at their location they assemble the turbine piece by piece. Also, the drilling is different (and in my opinion) much harder than onshore because they need to drill deep underneath the seabed whereas onshore wind turbines just need to drill a deep hole underneath the surface of the earth (on land, which should be obviously easier. At least, I think it will).

 

Onshore Wind Turbines in Scotland

 

Onshore wind turbines, on the other hand, have their advantages and disadvantages as well. For your onshore wind turbine (just like the offshore wind turbine) you’ll need to dig a hole where you will place the turbine. The depth of this hole would be around 1 meter or 3 feet but it varies with the size of your wind turbine. The bigger the turbine = the bigger the drill and dig. Most cons lie on the noise pollution they omit, the dangers of wildlife getting hit by this that onshore wind turbines, and apparently, they also don’t look a pleasant sight to some.

 

Creds: Union of Concerned Scientist This is the revolution of how wind turbines came to be today and probably in the near future.

 

How do we calculate wind power?

We can calculate the wind power that is used by the anemometer on the wind turbines with the equation: P = 1/2 ρ A v³  

P = power

 

ρ = density of air 

 

A = area wind passing through (which is perpendicular to the wind)

 

v = wind velocity (m/s)

How do we choose which is the best place to put a wind turbine?

First, you should:

Choose a location

1. Avoid slow winds
2. Avoid turbulent wind
3. NEVER put the wind turbine on top of a building
   1. It creates loud noises which won’t be pleasant for the people in the building
   2. It’s not always a site for everyone to enjoy
   3. It might not be that stable (compared to the once that have a foundation and are built and stabilized underneath the earth surface a bit

High wind speed tip:

1. Open areas are best
2. Upppp high (but not on a building [<— REMEMBER])
   1. If you want it on a higher area just extend the stand to be longer (but you will also most likely need to dig deeper, as well)

And, according to the wind energy association, 

The output of a wind turbine depends on the turbine’s size and the wind’s speed through the rotor. An average onshore wind turbine with a capacity of 2.5–3 MW can produce more than 6 million kWh in a year – enough to supply 1,500 average EU households with electricity.

BIGGER TURBINE = MORE POWER

BIGGER TURBINE = DIG DEEPER

Something that just blew my mind with it’s awesomeness…….

If you check out this website, you will see (in real time) the movement of wind happening around the globe! And, that’s not all! You can also see the global map of wind, weather, and ocean conditions. Here’s a small take on what you will see once you visit the website.

Mind – blowing,

I know,

I know.

Check it out!

 

So, here we are again: why don’t we have more wind turbines? It mostly lies on a couple of problems such as —> the fund. Although you might think that the price of the wind turbines by themselves is quite reasonable (especially considering the length and how much non-polluting energy and electricity it can produce), you would still have to consider all the other factors such as taxes, labor, and transportation expenses on the bill. But, with global funding, greater engineers (to solve the endangerment to flying wildlife and loud sounds emitted), awesome artists (to fix the “looks” maybe so that it could be a sight to sore eyes, too) and imagine that! Teamwork. Passion. We can probably make this work. And, think about it, we could even reduce the problems that come with burning fossil fuel in the long term.

Yours truly,

L.O.A.S.H

In Danjugan, Day 3: What Bird is that?

APRIL 20, 2017 | DAY 3

5:30 – 7:00 am

Our wake up call was thirty minutes earlier than our normal routine and we all started to prepare. My roommates and I changed quickly and then headed down to meet up with the others. As all the colored groups assembled, we headed out team by team into the limestone forest. We went our normal route to one of the beaches as we were getting hyped for the day.

Apparently, we were doing bird watching! It was a really fun adventure. Each team was handed three pages of different birds each. We spotted a few migratory birds in the distance which seemed to be lounging on top of a branch. As we walked near the end of the beach, we started to play these learning games. Before the answers were revealed, we were given chances to guess the answer to their questions about birds. This also helped teams to earn more points and really just have fun. A few of the questions asked were:”

Q: “How many species of birds are found on Danjugan Island?”

A: “72 species are found on the island”

Q: “Which bird sounds like a witch laughing?”

A: “Umm, Philippine Cuckoo Dove?”

Everyone was putting their ideas and asking their questions and really learning. As questions about which bird was this or that came up, everyone stared intently at their laminated papers of bird species. There was a time when one of the AL’s asked which birds had a yellow body and black tail me and another camper both screamed “BLACK-NAPED ORIOLE!”. Just in case you were wondering, the number of points earned for this question was 1000 and I couldn’t help but try. We got it correctly and I and the other camper split it into 500 each for our teams.

This is what the pages of birds species they handed out.

A bird that stuck to my mind as we went on with our interactive lesson was the bird called Olive-backed Sunbird. It was a small but beautiful bird. The male (olive-backed) Sunbird had a shiny bluish breast which was used to attract the female birds. Did you know that male birds are sometimes way more attractive compared to the female birds? An example of a certain type of bird compared with its opposite sex is the following:

   

[Disclaimer: I do NOT own these photos.]

The bird on the right is the male while the bird on the left is female. According to Scientific American, it was Charles Darwin who “developed much of the theory that helps explain this. He proposed that traits promoting survival in individuals are favored by the process of natural selection, whereas traits that help the individuals of just one sex (usually the males) compete for mates are favored by sexual selection. Sexual selection is responsible for many of the features unique to one sex in a given species. These features can be divided into two general categories: those acting as weapons that allow males to fight for access to females (antlers on deer, for example) and those acting as ornaments that attract the attention of females, such as long tails on birds”.

So long story short, some males have the different burst of colors and other features to use as weapons against other males to access female birds and attract female birds to mate.

Another activity we did was identify different species of birds according to their sound! As the AL grabbed her phone out and started to play a bird sound, the beach seemed to hush as all the campers huddled around trying to remember what kind of bird it was. This was fairly hard as we’ve gotten a few birds mixed up. I forgot to mention, but last night, we were also learning the bird sounds and which bird it matched to. Another thing we learned was the anatomy of a bird.

After we finished spotting birds and trying to name them as they swooped by us, we headed back to the camp to enjoy some breakfast.

7:30 – 9:00 am

After eating our breakfast, we all just relaxed for about 15 minutes as we played some board games and talked about we learned and other things.

We then started our lecture about Climate Change and Renewable Energy. Did you know that in 2015, it was recorded as the hottest year? Did you know that 2016 is recorded as the hottest year in history? And, did you know that 2017 is set to be the hottest year next? You’ve probably heard it all. The climate change is getting worse. Our Ice Caps are melting. Our polar bears losing their homes. Beach fronts and other cities are starting to sink. Heat waves are taking people’s lives. This has been a major problem for a long time.

Did you know that the kids and plenty of other people and families have to wear a mask as they live their lives in Beijing? Below are pictures from an article written by Mashable where they wrote about Beijing such as:

When Sean Gallagher first visited Beijing in 2005, they simply called it “fog.”

The British photographer, who has lived in Asia for the past decade, noticed that very few people in Beijing truly considered the city’s notorious air pollution much of an issue.

That attitude shifted in 2006 when Beijing hosted the Summer Olympics and the city’s choking pollution became an issue in the Chinese press.

“It entered people’s consciousness, but wasn’t something people took action to protect themselves against,” Gallagher said.

Nine years later, they wear the mask.”…….

 

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At least the Chinese government is taking this seriously and making changes like they “banned new coal-fired power plants in major cities” and China’s renewable energy is doing great.

Yes, this is just one of the many problems that are occurring. Another example is what is happening in India. There have been so many heat waves that have victimized thousands of people. In 2010, 1300 lives were gone. In 2013, 1500 lives were taken. In 2015, another heat wave came and took 2,500 lives more. Also, there are “tens of millions of Indian lives” that are in poverty which also puts about 1.3 billion people (a quarter of India’s population) who doesn’t have electricity and lives on less than $1.25 a day to have no air – conditioner (which is seen as middle-class luxury) and struggle in finding a way to survive through the terrible heat (Waldman).

Before continuing, I shared to the camp my own experience of the Yolanda Typhoon which some say was the effect of climate change. We had to barricade our windows as the wind kept hitting it and composing these loud shaky sounds which made us worry about our windows breaking. We also had to go through about 1 month of brown out which was hard as we took turns at night to fan each other and help exchange flashlights and candles to navigate our way through the house at night. One thing which I was utterly terrified about was our neighborhoods restaurant’s roof flew off. The roof was big and strong and destroyed a couple of houses just a couple blocks from our house. If you looked down when you go outside, you could see leaves or smithereens of rocks going around in small circles which just showed the directions the winds were moving, which seemed to be everywhere.

Other campers told their experiences as well. We then went on from the drastic changes the earth has gone through and climate changes and tipping points to renewable energy.

We all raised our hands as we tried guessing and explaining the different types of renewable energy and what we know about them. What is “Renewable Energy” or “Green Energy” you might ask. Well, it’s energy which is generated from natural sources such as the sun, the wind, water or hydro, the rain, the tides, and geothermal heat. The good thing about renewable energy compared to coal is that it won’t deplete or run out and (AND) it’s naturally replenished.

As you may have heard, there are already many different types of renewable energy such as:

• Solar
• Wind Power
• Hydroelectric Energy (Energy from Water)
• Biomass (Energy from Plants)
• Geothermal Power

I feel that we all are competent to save our world and restoring it back to it’s healthier self. If we all and try to do our part even if it’s just a little (such as spreading the word or not littering) we could make a difference.

9:30 – 12:00

After learning more on climate change and renewable energy, each group was given a piece of manila paper and some crayons. We were going to draw down what we loved most or enjoy about mother nature. We put a line to divide the paper for four people in our group (just like everyone else). When we all finished our assignment, each group showed their drawing to their teammate. Each group was quietly explaining why we drew what we drew to each other. My idea was to draw a tree because I’ve grown up loving trees and walking through them in the quiet and beautiful forests. I also love how trees help to make air and have shelters for birds and other animals and look magnificent. Then, I added a saw next to a tree and the money sign. For the last requirement, I drew a sign that showed no plastic and no deforestation. All the other campers did an amazing job, too! Another camper from another group color drew a group of fish, cyanide, and trash (like plastic) being thrown in the water and then to protect these awesome creatures were MPA or MSA areas which are also known as Marine Protected (or Secured) Area.

After this, we were all then handed another sheet of Manila paper and told to draw a symbol. A symbol of mother nature. Or, just nature.

As everyone sat on their separate tables with their group, we all seemed to be thinking. Four minds for each group were just quite for like two minutes just wondering what would be a good idea.

Eventually, the cabana was filled with excited talk about what their project would be. In my team (the white group, YEAH!), we made up the idea to draw a big shield with trees, fish, animals, and even a mountain to fill some of the space up. Outside the shield, we put smoke, cyanide and other things that affect nature. When everyone else finished, each group was supposed to show the drawing that we made as a well as an explanation about it. As our turn came up, we had this small debate going on about who would talk about it. I immediately got the paper and held it up so that I would be the holder and not the speaker. Eventually, we coordinated into all speaking up a little. We told everyone we wanted these things inside the shield to be protected and everything outside to be stopped or lessened. Another camper from another group color actually told the ALs to give us some extra points because of the inspiration for the shield idea.

We refueled our minds with some snacks that they handed out like puto.

After this, we prepared for a little island exploration and ventured into the limestone forest.

12:30 – 5:00 pm

L. U. N. C. H. Party lunch!!! We were celebrating one of the campers birthdays! I was surprised haha. A cake came in and everyone started singing. After getting a slice and some spaghetti.

Before I tell you what happened next, I just need to say I was innocent. I was not the culprit and I don’t know how I got dragged into this. I was just sitting there with my cake eating and having a happy life when one of my friends smudged a cake on my face. I paused for awhile trying to understand the situation. I laughed before standing up and getting ready to get them back. Then, a few of my other friends targeted me and I just got them back. Hahaha. It was a good moment and time.

We were actually given a 2 hour “free time”. We had the choices to just hanging out with other, kayak, swim and others. A few campers chose to do some snorkeling and I decided to do some kayaking with some friends. An AL had to accompany us because of the recent spottings of boxed jellyfish. I rowed around the Morey lagoon looking at the bottom to find some urchins. We even saw some fire corals! I nearly bumped into a few things but eventually, I decided to go back to shore because the sun just wouldn’t stop heating us up.

After awhile, we may have regretted the decision in not joining the group of campers who recently left to snorkel. The first group which left used the boat to get to their destination. As we just sat on the beach wondering what to do, we saw a few campers with an AL who were about to swim somewhere. We asked if we could join them and they gladly waited for us. We quickly changed, got our snorkel and swam. We swam all the way to the boat. Then, we swam all the way to the other campers who were pretty far from the boat. They were surprised to see us but then we all started looking down into the deep ocean to look for some sea creatures.

We got so lucky!! There were about 20 big and long barracudas below us! It wasn’t that close don’t worry. It looked amazing they kept swimming back and forth all together. Did you know that it’s safer to be around barracudas when they are in a group rather when they are just alone? It’s because when a barracuda is alone, they feel more insecure and uneasy which makes them attack more easily when they get scared.

More minutes pass and I realized I was the only girl left in the water with the other guys and a few ALs. We took one last look at the barracudas and a few underwater shots and swam back to the boat.

5:00 – 6:30 pm

We sat down in the dining cabana as our swimming attire slowly dripped all its water out and eventually dried up. We did another lesson but this time on mangroves for about 30 minutes. FACTS:

FACTS:

Q: “Why are Mangroves important?”

A: Mangroves are home to small fish and crustaceans. And, did you know that they help in calming the waters when strong waves come in and also reduce the impact from tsunamis? They even help stop erosions from happening on the shoreline, too! Mangroves pretty much are our shield against tsunamis, storms and help save lives and properties. While doing all these things, mangroves also work as a home to different animals and provide wood, fruits, seafood, medicine, and fiber.

We learned more about how they help and how important they are.

Everyone went back to their cabanas to change or prepare to go to the beach because we were going to have an activity!

The first game they asked us a question “who’s good at running or who likes to run and tag?”. One of my friends raised her hand. This game was a demonstration of silt and soil. All the other campers were silt and the It (my friend who volunteered to be the tagger) was supposed to touch us. We were given a measured big space where were suppose to run to the other side without being tagged. If we were to be tagged, then we would have to stop at our place (not moving) and try to move our arms join the tagger (but in the place we got tagged). The only person who would get to run and the tag was the It. This game was so fun and we did the second round trying to implement a good strategy. We let everyone run first and while the It is distracted with the people who first ran, we would try to run all the way to the other side. Works like a charm.

The next activity we did was in the water. And, it had TEAMWORK in it. Wait, song intermission:

“What’s gonna work? Teammmmm Workkk!!!”

What’s gonna work? Teammm Work!!!”

To those who know where this is from, You’re AWESOME! But, to those who don’t know this song, You’re Still AWESOME!!

Now, getting back to what we did…. Each group went together and the tallest went to the back and the shortest at the front (which is me). We were only three because one of our teammates wasn’t feeling so good. While we were in the water, each group had to cling on to each other in a line with the legs and had to row using their arms. We did a few races and it was tiring but really enjoyable. A few more ecology games and we started to head back to the camp after a few sunset shot.

6:30 – 10:00 pm

We were all excited to finally have a (one bucket of water) shower! When we finished showering and changed into much more comfy clothes, we waited for dinner. Some of us were just resting in our cabanas, playing some guitar, singing and talking.

After some dinner, we closed all the lights and everyone quietly looked down at the lagoon. We spotted some Bioluminescent Algae! It was glowing. Every time a fish moved, it touched the algae and made it illuminate. These algae are widespread on the surface of the water and produce a blue and green light when moved or disturbed by motion, just what the fish was doing! They produce a flash of blue-green light whenever the water they are living in is disturbed by motion.

We had a long and amazing day which everyone enjoyed. I’m looking forward to tomorrow! We learned so much today 🙂

(to be continued)

~ L.O.A.S.H

 

In Danjugan, Day 1: Exploration of the Island (part 2)

Day 1 (again):

Where was I? Oh, yeah…

We reached our destination! Yay. We were assigned to drop our bags over at one of the tables before anything. I remember one of the first things that we were all told was about the eco toilet (which the place where you do the number 2). Btw, it was already lunch. Time to eatttt. The other kids went into the dining area already while I took a quick glimpse of the place. When I decided to join the rest I went up the small bamboo steps up to the dining area which was hovering over (with the aid of some concrete) the Moray Lagoon. The water was so clear and blue. Also, the reason to why the Lagoon had a Moray in it was because if you looked at the water you could see Moray Eels. They can look scary sometimes but also they made the water look lively if that makes sense.

As I stared at the dining area, I had no idea where to sit. Most of the tables were taken and I didn’t know where to sit. Also, I didn’t plan on sitting alone. And as I’ve mentioned before, most who came were with a relative or friend so they had a person to eat with.

I gathered my strength and decided to take a seat with a table that had 3 occupied seats. I said “hi” and we started to have a good conversation. In just a few minutes we all became friends.

While everyone finished their remaining lunch, one of the camp directors started introducing all the other camp members which we call ALs. Apparently, we were gonna be split up into four teams. Each team would be lead by one adult leader (or AL). All the AL’s each took turns in introducing themselves and their background about where they came from and why they’re in the camp. There was one scientist who came from Germany and who was going to teach us about fish and corals.

Also, we were told that for the answers that we got correct or for the behavior or actions that we did right we would get points for our teams. And of course, with being late or others our points could go down. Once we finished acquainting with our teams and AL’s, we all went out of the dining cabana and made a circle. Apparently, we were going to say our name and a dance. It went one way around the circle. When it reached my turn like everyone else, I shouted “LIBI!” and did this awkward dance move which everyone then shouted “LIBI!” and the same move. This was just a fun way to acquaint ourselves with everyone.

There are actually four cabanas for all the campers. Two are for the girls and two are for the boys. One of the main rules is that no boys allowed in the girl’s cabana and vise versa. There were about 5 girls in my cabana while there was about 7 in the other girl’s cabana.

When we finished preparing ourselves for swimming and trekking, we heard our call (KUUUUUWEEEEE (which is a bird call which came from one of the ALs)).

Most of the things you would hear (from the Camp Director) when all the campers gathered are “look at me if you could hear me” or “clap twice if you could hear me“. These were some of the ways to gather the attention when everyone was being loud.

Anyways, back to the learning center. We were briefed about the island and the different beaches and lagoons. At this point, there were a few questions in which you could earn a few points from. We were also briefed about first aid and other things to be aware of while we do our trek. We were ready. We were instructed to bring our snorkel, other gear (if you have any), waterproof bag (if you need for things you want to bring which you don’t want to get wet), water bottle, sunscreen and insect repellent. If you forgot to bring your snorkel gear (just like me ;D) don’t worry! You could rent a snorkel or any other gear at one of the gear stall area on the island. All you have to do is sign your name and Tadaaa!

Because each team had its separate color (in my case, color white), we had to wrap a different color per team on the snorkel. We then headed out team by team. While passing one of the bridges, we saw big sea urchins at the bottom. Wanna know why they were hanging out there? Well, above the bridge is a bat cave. And, the bat cave goes all the way down. The urchins liked the bat poop. Mmmm.

We passed by turtle beach and typhoon beach. And, after waiting for the other teams at some sort of bar (rehydrating ourselves with some water), we swam to the beach reaching one of the far rafts with the ALs and our teams.

Good thing for the tapes wrapped our snorkels when the others were still snorkeling you could still identify which ones were part of your team. We were shown the different corals and fishes. It seemed to explode with colors! It was beautiful.

We made our way back with a sunset trek. The sky was orange and the light slowly made its way down. Our night ended with some dinner and finally a bath! Even though it’s only one bucket per person, I agree that it’s a good amount to use. Here’s the tip, use the tabo twice to wash away the sand and wet your hair, then shampoo and soap, then another wash. Done! You’ll probably have some leftovers.

Just before sleeping, we all sat around in a circle at the dining area after pushing away the chairs and tables to the side. One of the ALs told us that this was our community building and that it will be one of the only times we’ll be doing it. As we sat down in a circle, we shared what we enjoyed throughout the day and something we liked to build in our community. On a sheet of Manila Paper, a circle was drawn. Inside the circle, we would throw out ideas we would like to have in our community, an example, trust or respect for others.

The picture above is the paper that we all made. In our community, we had the power of choice, the power of two feet, and the power of experts. Inside our community, we wrote down words we wanted for our Danjugan community. As you may see above, we wanted positivity, trust, support, friendship respect, understanding for each other in our Danjugan family.

After this, we went to our cabanas and slept. Well, the truth is I talked to my roommates (cabana mates) before sleeping. We were having a small debate whether or not we should leave the chips in the cabana. Laziness kinda went around and we decided to leave the food in the room.

We put our mosquito nets properly around our mattresses and finally slept. 😉

(to be continued)

~ L.O.A.S.H

Aurora Borealis

Aurora Borealis. Yes. The colorful lights in the sky. Just one of God’s many surprising creations.

Aurora, such an alluring name, after all, it is latin for the Roman goddess of dawn and sunrise. But, aside from its name, there are so many fascinating facts about this greenish sometimes blue and red skylights. Did you know you could find these colors on Saturn, Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune, too!? Well, yes, it’s true! Let’s go to space to see them.

Okay, okay. Let’s slow down a bit.

If you want to see these lights without leaving earth, the best places would be north America or Europe. And according to Service Borealis, these Aurora Borealis collisions between electrically charged particles released from the sun that enter the earth’s atmosphere and collide with gasses such as oxygen and nitrogen.

Yours truly,

L.O.A.S.H

Dying Paradises of the Philippines

The Philippine waters are usually full of beautiful fish and colorful, live corals. Taking a look back it can change your views on a lot of things. You could have discovered a variety of different colors, shapes, and sizes. There were such a great amount of schools (of fish) you could see as you swam around and had your sunset walks. Everything might have looked great on the outside with shimmering light blue water which seemed so perfect you couldn’t believe your eyes. But, the real story is within. You can’t always see what’s happening on the outside so we have to really dive in and find out. And, while there are many other beautiful utopias (^_~), we will be concentrating on the Philippines waters.

Philippines waters: Some are protected… Some aren’t

Because of the Philippines bountiful amount of marine life, 100 scientists have claimed it (the Philippines) to be the world’s “center of marine biodiversity”. That is a pretty great achievement. So that means 100 different people (that are scientist!!) have all agreed on the fact that the Philippines is full on boasting with underwater sea creature…… cool! And, if you go scuba diving, in some areas, you would feel like you were just transported into a new world. We need to learn to take care of this.

Intro to the Coral Triangle: Underwater heaven 

Did you know that the Philippines is part of the Coral Triangle? This (the coral triangle) is a marine area stretching far across six countries which are Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Timor – Leste and Solomon Islands. Others say that it’s nearly the size half of America.Anyways, the Coral triangle is mostly famous for its astonishing amount of corals ranging from 500 to 600 different species of reef – building corals.But, that is not all! This (slightly broken) triangle supports, nurtures, and maintains more than 2000 species of reef fish!! It was on 2007 that the WWF started its Coral Triangle Program. The WWF has taken up the challenge to protect the Coral Triangle and develop sustainable solutions to help the inhabitants of the region. With the help of the USAID, the Conservation Internation, The Nature Conservancy, and the WWF are all working together on policy, fisheries management, marine protected areas and climate change adaption.

Donsol bay: Sneak peak of the biggest fish in the world

Also, the biggest fish swims within the 2000 species of reef fish.This fish is called the whale shark! If you haven’t heard of one or seen one you could watch (the awesome film) Finding Dory. And, yes, this type of fish is called a whale shark. If you want to see and swim with these big fishes, you could go on an adventure to Donsol bay which is also connected with the Coral Triangle. This is one of the many Paradises of the Philippines where you could go to enjoy the bar, hotel, restaurant and more! And, don’t worry….. Whale Sharks, the biggest fish in the world, eats the tiniest living organism in the ocean…. you are safe (most likely) just follow the rules and regulations of not touching them, riding them and chasing them (there is still more). Also, these creatures are very gentle and curious (so they will most likely try to approach you) but you should avoid making any physical contact with the oils on your skin may harm the Whale Shark. And, the good thing about this bay is that it is a marine protected area and that is why you could only snorkel with the Sharks (fish, remember they are fish). Although there is another place called Oslob (in Cebu) where you could find these fish but I advise not to go because it is a huge tourist attraction which has destroyed most of the forms of environmental awareness.

Also, if you are planning to visit, the beach is alluring.

Tubbataha Reef

The Tubbataha Reef is one of the 240 protected areas in the Philippines. It is located at the center of the Sulu Sea. This reef was once a very peaceful, filled with color and life area but it is currently suffering from overfishing, exploitation, and destruction. When other fishing grounds started declining of its fishes, sailors went to Tubbuataha in hopes of more fish in their motorized boats. Some of the problems that evolved over time (very quickly), was that the sailors started using (very, very bad) techniques for fishing like utilizing cyanide (extremely toxic salts that contain anion CN⁻) and dynamite fishing (the practice of using explosives to kill schools of fish). Also, because the boats they (the sailors who started filling up the Tubbataha Reef) used were motorized which polluted the reef with a lot of oil.

Dynamite fishing === Bad…. just bad

This was too much. Explosions?!? This is illegal.

The decision was made with the help of some scuba divers and environmentalists who campaigned to turn the Tubbataha Reef into a national marine park. On August 11, 1988, with the aid of the President, Corazon Aquino, the Proclamation no. 306 was signed, which helped the establishment of 2 (not 1 but 2) Tubbatha reefs into a national marine park of 82,000 acres. Because of this (big) step, Philippines had just done a first time for declaring a marine area into a national park. This national marine park was then being properly taken care of by rangers sent by the Presidential Task Force.

Throughout their (the rangers) early years of protecting the park, they had a few problems. One of their struggles were that in 1996, sliding and shifting sand caused the unstableness of the rangers wooden structure tents. They overcame their problems (yay!) and the marine park rangers are now settled in a styrofoam-reinforced concrete structure. Their location is found on the Southeast Islet on the Tubbataha’s North Atoll. And, they have got their cool equipment with them such as patrol boats, utility boats, radars, radio communications, geo-positioning system (GPS) units, and basic research equipment. 24 hours/7 days a week is the times that the natural park is being guarded by (armed) rangers.

There are plans made by the World Wildlife Fund (or WWF) to make a modernized ranger station that was announced during the 25th anniversary of the Tubbataha’s Reef’s national park declaration in 2013. And, as the WWF says, legendary heroes need great hideouts – Batman had his Batcave, Darth Vader had two Death Stars and Voltes V had Camp Big Falcon.WWF, the Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park boasts of unparalleled biodiversity levels. Over 360 hard coral and 600 fish species inhabit the park, which continuously seeds the Sulu Sea with life!!! And, this reef is also a UNESCO World Heritage.This means that this park was listed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as a special cultural or physical significance.

Future “bat cave” envisioned by the WWF

 

 

 

 

 

 

I just wanted to say thank you to the rangers that are helping guard the Tubataha Reef against exploitation. Thank you for caring about our environment here in the Philippines. Because of the rangers that make it their job to watch on a daily basis, the Tubataha Reef is properly being taken care of. Also, thank you to the strong campaign composed of scuba divers and environmentalist (people who really cared and spent time in the ocean) who made it possible for this reef to be protected and noticed, more!

Trivia: Did you know that on the back of the 1000 pesos bill you could spot the Tubbataha? Now you know!

 

Going there: “Are we there (the national water park) yet?” 

If you are planning to visit this heaven, you will have to take a plane ride to Puerto Princesa. Then from there, it will take about 10 hours to get to the park from Puerto Princesa. That’s a pretty long time but I am absolutely sure that it will be worth the time that was taken. Maybe you could bring some board games or books on your 10-hour trip. Also, the best times to go there would be around mid-March until mid-June…. the waters are calmer at those times. You could also check this, http://www.gopalawan.travel/travel-info/tubbataha-reefs-natural-park, website for more info to book.

Coron: Almost got destroyed by Nickelodeon

“Excitement is something that could blind people from seeing the true about how it could destroy life.” ~ L.O.A.S.H

This was a direct quote from me ^_~. When I wrote “Excitements” I was referring to the one that Nickelodeon was planning to set up. Just recently, Nickelodeon made the plan and announced that they were going to make an underwater theme park in Coron. For me, this sounded so fun I mean I love theme parks but what it also sounded like was that this park was going to be the very thing that would destroy Coron.

In case you haven’t heard of Coron I will be giving you guys a “short” introduction about it. In Palawan, Coron is a first class municipality (a city or town that has corporate status and local government). It’s beach and waters are usually quite and calm. The view is spectacular and the water seems to be crystal clear. After 742 steps of hard – earned sweat, you could watch the sunset in a beautiful angle.

Anyways, proceeding about the theme park. There was a report on January 13-14 where Nickelodeon retracted from building the park because…

 

That was all just a glimpse of what is happening here in the Philippines. There so many people and netizens who are trying to bring a change and help. The Philippines has helped countless people in providing them food and livelihood. But, recently due to the overheating and climate change, more and more fish are dying and more and more people are having a difficult time. Before, if you were to be catching fish you would just take a few hours and barely exert any hard work and your boat would be overflowing with fish. But now, the workload would be longer, harder and less fish would be brought home. This affects all of us. For example, in the market, since it’s become more difficult to catch seafood, the prices will be raised.  We all have a chance to change this. We are all in this together. If you want to help and make a change you can. When you go swimming or have a casual afternoon stroll, you could help by picking up trash. You could teach your local neighborhood more about this. You don’t need millions to help. You. Can. Make. A. Big. Change.

We all have a chance to change this. We are all in this together. If you want to help and make a change you can. When you go swimming or have a casual afternoon stroll, you could help by picking up trash. You could teach your local neighborhood more about this. You don’t need millions to help. You. Can. Make. A. Big. Change.

Yours truly,

L.O.A.S.H

Artificial Intelligence

Are you with Artificial Intelligence? Or not? Unfortunately, if you choose to go against or with artificial intelligence,  it will still happen.

While robots have been around for a long time, artificial intelligence is something more complex. A diagnostic for blood cells are robots but artificial intelligence has its own “mind”. There are countless people who program and try to shape up the artificial intelligence. But, scientist and inventors, such as Elon Musk are highly worried about the dangers that artificial intelligence could bring up to our lives. I’m still thinking what side I should pick because AI has a lot of pros and cons.

Pros and Cons of Artificial Intelligence

Advantages:

1. More Intelligent
2. Quicker in thinking
3. Can easily download wanted information
4. They have better precision and accuracy
5. Can do dangerous jobs such as space exploration while making them create their own decisions and leaving them to manage themselves
6. Can do monotonous jobs as they don’t get bored like we humans do
7. Faster actions = Faster decisions
8. Help humans to make the world a better place
9. If we get visited by aliens (hopefully in peace), we will look more advanced with these AI

 

Disadvantages:

1. Steal the simplest of jobs
2. High expenses in creating these robots
3. Might take over the world
4. Too precise? What if you told your AI car to bring you to your home in 5 minutes. But then you end up in your house at the precise time but with helicopters and police cars chasing you? You get the point right? Artificial Intelligence ‘likes’ having what they are told like their goals being done as they were programmed to do it, but it isn’t always that good.
5. Artificial Intelligence is also used in bombs and other military and war stuff so in the wrong hands this could cause CHAOS!
6. What if the AI’s start thinking for themselves and they think that humans are a threat to earth? And, in order to stop us, they might sneak nanobots into our brain and controls us! Or, our lives might just turn into the movie Terminator.

OPV of Artificial Intelligence

OPV stands for Other Peoples Views

AI Developer:

• This is hard to develop
• This is the future
• People better appreciate these AI’s we are developing
• Wow, these are pricey to manufacture

Physicist:

• Could end mankind – Stephen Hawkings

Engineers:

• We must become robots to avoid AI domination – Elon Musk
• If these AI’s get to think on their own, will they have the ability to be the engineers of this world instead of our people?
• After years of studying at school, I could just be replaced by one of these AI’s?!

Government:

• When other people get their hands on this…. we will be in trouble
• What if people use these AI’s to hack into our system?

Doctors:

• I can just imagine. Just our normal robots such as

Kids and Teens:

• Cool! Robot friends
• Will our lives turn into terminator? What if it’s just the bad robot?

Teachers:

• They can pretty much know everything if they are programmed to….. they could replace us.

Schools:

• Hmm, this would be hard to afford
• These AI’s could help improve our systems and educate better!

Astronauts:

• Now we don’t have to do such dangerous jobs
• Good thing these things don’t puke

Military:

• It’s easier to win in war
• Maybe if two sides of a war has AI’s, whoever wins, no person will get injured
• If these AI’s falls into the wrong hands, we will be getting ourselves into trouble.

 

Well, that’s it, guys! So, comment down below if you’re against AI’s or support it!

Yours truly,

L.O.A.S.H

Do Fish Feel Pain?

Would you still go fishing for fun if fish could scream in pain and cry? Would you still go fishing for fun if you knew fish could feel pain? I’ve come by quite a few articles mentioning that fish do not feel pain as they do not have enough brain power. Would you believe this? 

Lynne Sneddon is a researcher working at the Roslin Institute in Edinburgh who believes that fish, in fact, do feel pain. She also mentioned that they have quite a similar stress response when compared to humans. Dr. Sneddon has then come to the conclusion that when a hook impales their lip or mouth it causes them to feel pain because of the destruction of tissue. Okay, fine, maybe destruction was an over reaction but seriously I think it would be weird if a fish wouldn’t feel anything even though they are being hooked.

Let’s get science-y.

Since Dr. Sneddon knew that even though she and her team discovered the same receptors that mammals have that warn the brain of things that could harm them in a trout it wouldn’t be enough. It’s proof, but not strong enough evidence. She then took it to step two. Dr. Sneddon experimented on a trout by injecting the fish with damaging substances. Dr. Sneddon then claimed that the fish, after three hours, started to perform in an anomalous behavior.

Even with these findings, it took some convincing. Fortunately, a corporation which is known as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals immediately took in the research and even mentioned that it’s really unfortunate as people cannot see it’s obvious that fish feel pain.

Do you believe that they feel pain? But what draws people to believe that they have no brain, like Professor James D. Rose and Bruno (Mars, just kidding) Broughton (biologist and scientific advisor), is that they believe that they “technically don’t have a brain”.

Pick your side and comment down below! I think that fish do feel pain, by the way, even though they don’t have the capacity to scream in agony (although this would be weird).

Yours truly,

L.O.A.S.H