Genomic Revolution

One of my favorite sites to find short, interesting videos that I can use to spice up class is TED.com.  I feel a bit like a crack dealer here by providing the first taste, but if you have never been there before, check it out and be prepared to spend the rest of the day doing nothing but clicking on video after video.  The one below is on the Genomic Revolution.  Click the video below to learn about how your life is going to change thanks to the genomic revolution.

  

Your 3.5 Billion Year Old Family Tree

One of the coolest bits about teaching students evolution is that they get to learn that they are related to every living thing.  For example, Dunkleosteus, the critter pictured above, is your 185 millionth great-grandparent.  If you take your family tree even further back you can find that you and that oak tree outside share an ancestor from about 1.4 billion years ago. 

More Climate Change Leads To Less Guacamole

For those of us who live in the midwest, the reality of Climate Change can be a bit of a tough sell.  Just yesterday, in fact, while I was in the locker room at my gym, a whole group of severely underdressed men placed one leg up on the benches and proceded to scandalize the rest of us not only with body parts that should not be as obviously displayed as these were, but also with comments like, "Where's this 'global warming' I keep hearing so much about, and "Man - I'd take a little of that so called 'global warming' those scientists are always yammering on about."

Without a decent understanding of the facts of climate change, these comments are to be expected.  This is primarily due to the fact that, unlike other parts of the country, our recent weather has been somewhat mild.  I say that having just lived through what is most likely a climate change induced polar vortex for the past several months, but for some reason cold weather doesn't really conjur up images of climate change in most people's minds.  Our relatively cool summers and, until recently, the warmish winters have not given most midwesterners a good dose of what the rest of the planet has been experiencing.  The term "Global Warming" is still commonly used and, although it is true that many places on the planet will warm up, not all changes will be in the form of higher temperatures.  Some of the changes are going to be in the form of more severe weather, some in the form of droughts, and some in the form of colder than normal temperatures, at least for a while.

And if you are a fan of the fast food-ish restaurant Chipotle, some of the changes will hit us a little closer to home.

Chipotle recently announced that, “Increasing weather volatility or other long-term changes in global weather patterns, including any changes associated with global climate change, could have a significant impact on the price or availability of some of our ingredients.”  What this is basically saying is that certain staples from the restaurant like guacamole or salsa might not be available should the price of those ingredients increase too much.  For the full story, check out Think Progress or Time  

***Update***

Chipotle is not saying that there will be a shortage of avocados this year due to climate change.  This statement made by Chipotle was part of a regular risk disclosure statement to the SEC.  All companies do this, and in these statements, companies disclose all of the possible risk factors that might affect business.  The Chipotle statement is unique in that it is the first to explicitly state climate change as a viable risk factor that could affect business.