Are Viruses Alive free essay sample

Viruses can’t function on their own and depend on a host cell for their energy and reproduction. Viruses cannot reproduce unless they get inside a living host cell. Once a virus attaches itself to a host cell it dissolves a hole through the membrane and goes to the nucleus to force the host cell to replicate the virus. Viruses are parasites. Bacteria can function on their own, metabolizing and converting carbohydrates to energy. Bacteria reproduce by growing to twice its size and then splitting into two cells. Viruses are not classified and grouped into a level of biological organization like other life forms are. Bacteria are classified to have two levels of biological organization, Atoms and Molecules. 2. According to the article readings, website reviews and lecture notes we were asked to review: †¢ Name the characteristics of life viruses seem to lack as they differ from the lecture outline. Considering all characteristics of life described in the lecture outline beginning with the hierarchy of Biological Organization to Evolve: Viruses have the biological organization of atoms and molecules because they are made up of nucleic acid and protein. We will write a custom essay sample on Are Viruses Alive or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Viruses lack the emergent property of living things, which is the cell. They are not classified in any kingdom of organisms. Viruses compensate by attaching themselves to a host cell and dissolving the cell membrane and then they enter the nucleus of the host cell and force the nucleus to replicate the virus. Viruses lack the ability to metabolize and convert carbohydrates to usable energy. Viruses compensate by using the energy from the host cell. Viruses lack a sense of responsiveness because it happens at a cellular level, which they do not have. Viruses lack DNA because all of them do not have it. They compensate for this by using what they do have. Some viruses have a single strand RNA that is unraveled and replicated by the host cell and some viruses have a single strand DNA that is also replicated by the host cell. They lack the ability to reproduce and develop without the assistance of a host cell. Viruses are constantly changing and mutating for their struggle to survive. 3. Based on what I have learned in the readings and lecture background it is my opinion that viruses are not living agents or organisms. They do not have the basic characteristics of life, which is the cell. They cannot function or survive on their own. They cannot produce energy or reproduce on their own. I would describe them as a parasite borrowing life from other cells. 4. Why hasn’t a vaccine against the AIDS virus been invented yet? When the AIDS virus was first discovered in affected mostly gay men and then intravenous drug users. There was no big rush from the drug companies or anyone for that matter to find a cure. The majority of the cases were from Africa and other third world countries that were poor so the drug companies knew that they could not make a lot of money if they did find a cure. More recently there is a push to find a cure because more people are becoming infected with the HIV virus that causes AIDS. The problem today is having the scientific community as a whole work together and share the information to find a cure. b. Briefly summarize the progress of the HIV/AIDS vaccine in one paragraph: There has recently been an examination under study of the theory that some imperfect HIV vaccines may allow people that are infected with HIV virus live longer and healthier lives. Drs. Norman Letvin M. D. of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School and Mario Roederer Ph D. of the NIAID Vaccine Research Center (VRC) are the two teams of researchers working on this theory.

How to Identify a Pseudoscience

How to Identify a Pseudoscience A pseudoscience is a fake science that makes claims based on faulty or nonexistent scientific evidence. In most cases, these pseudosciences present claims in a way that makes them seem possible, but with little or no empirical support for these claims. Graphology, numerology, and astrology, are all examples of pseudosciences. In many cases, these pseudosciences rely on anecdotes and testimonials to back up their often outlandish claims. How to Identify Science vs. Pseudoscience If you are trying to determine if something is a pseudoscience, there are a few key things you can look for: Consider the purpose. Science is focused on helping people develop a deeper, richer and fuller understanding of the world. Pseudoscience often focuses on furthering some type of ideological agenda.Consider how challenges are dealt with. Science welcomes challenges and attempts to disprove or refute different ideas. Pseudoscience, on the other hand, tends to greet any challenges to its dogma with hostility.Look at the research. Science is supported by a deep and ever-growing body of knowledge and research. Ideas around the topic may have changed over time as new things are discovered and new research is performed. Pseudoscience tends to be fairly static. Little may have changed since the idea was first introduced and new research might not exist.Can it be proven false? Falsifiability is a key hallmark of science. This means that if something is false, researchers could prove that it was false. Many pseudoscientific claims are simply untestable, so there is no way for researchers to pr ove these claims false. Example Phrenology is a good example of how a pseudoscience can capture the public attention and become popular. According to the ideas behind phrenology, bumps on the head were thought to reveal aspects of an individuals personality and character. Physician Franz Gall first introduced the idea during the late 1700s and suggested that the bumps on a persons head corresponded to the physical features of the brains cortex. Gall studied the skulls of individuals in hospitals, prisons, and asylums and developed a system of diagnosing different characteristics based upon the bumps of a persons skull. His system included 27 faculties that he believed directly corresponded to certain parts of the head. Like other pseudosciences, Galls research methods lacked scientific rigor. Not only that, any contradictions to his claims were simply ignored. Galls ideas outlived him and grew wildly popular during the 1800s and 1900s, often as a form of popular entertainment. There were even phrenology machines that would be placed over a persons head. Spring-loaded probes would then provide a measurement of different parts of the skull and calculate the individuals characteristics. While phrenology was eventually dismissed as a pseudoscience, it did have an important influence on the development of modern neurology. Gall’s idea that certain capabilities were linked to certain parts of the brain led to a growing interest in the idea brain localization, or the notion that certain functions were linked to specific areas of the brain. Further research and observations helped researchers gain a greater understanding of how the brain is organized and the functions of different areas of the brain. Sources: Hothersall, D. (1995). History of Psychology. New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc. Megendie, F. (1855). An elementary treatise on human physiology. Harper and Brothers. Sabbatini, R.M.E. (2002). Phrenology: The History of Brain Localization. Wixted, J. (2002). Methodology in experimental psychology. Capstone.

New Methods of Human Communication and their Importance Essay

New Methods of Human Communication and their Importance - Essay Example Today, communication to a great extent occurs through technological means. The existence of the mobile phone and social networking websites has made the world smaller and communications easier. However, the question remains as to whether there has actually been an increase in the amount that people talk to each other because of such inventions. Has communication between people increased as a result of the improvement in systems of communications? On the other hand, one also needs to look into the question as to whether the modern methods of communication that are present today have actually improved communication between people or whether the whole affair is a misconception or a mirage. This paper shall look into these questions and attempt to facilitate a discussion of the matter. With the introduction of the telephone, it became possible for people to communicate events and activities over long distances. Due to high costs and limited availability, the use of the telephone was limi ted during its initial stages but later, its use became widespread. The use of the letter reduced and there were many feelings and emotions that were left uncommunicated as a result. The written word could carry a lot of nuances in passages that a conversation on the telephone could not. Letters were written with deliberation and time was consumed during the composition of letters, unlike the conversations that are heard on telephones. The lack of speed in the delivery of letters had its own charm that the telephone could not replicate. There are often representations of people who are unable to communicate over the telephone in popular culture that indicate that the speed of communication in some cases kills the thought that goes behind communication. It is with the introduction of newer methods of communication all over the world that theories regarding the inadequacy of language and methods of communication came to be proposed by many thinkers. While this may seem like a paradox, proximity between the communicants can lead to an alienation between them. On the other hand, conversations on the telephone and especially on the mobile phone have a certain spontaneity associated with them that is natural to the manner in which it is used. While it may obviously not have the polish of a conversation carried on through letters, one is allowed to scream and lisp over the phone in a manner that is quite unimaginable in a conversation of letters. It also enables people to know where the other is, immediately, if one has made a plan to go to a certain place with other people. The opportunity to vent one’s anger is infinitely more effectively employable over a phone conversation that any other means of communication. Thus, one can see that with the invention of newer methods of communication, there are newer forms of information that are created and newer content that is modified so as to be placed in the framework of the new forms. Thus, it is not as if people do not communicate more, but both the forms and the content of communication has changed in the world of today. This is owing to the proliferation of newer methods of communication, the mobile phone being one of them. In many situations,