Human Waste in our Food? That's pretty disgusting

Wastes from the sewers(biosolids) have and are currently being used as fertilizer for agriculture. Now, you're probably think that this is really disgusting, but it actually isn't a rare method and there are many pros to this but there also cons.

Pros

As nasty as it sounds, biosolids offer a more cheaper way of doing agriculture since it's recyclable. Production costs are lower when using biosolids and they reduce the need for commercial fertilizers. Also, you might not know it, but biosolids contain a lot of nutrients that's necessary for plants to grow. Some nutrients it includes is nitrogen, phosphorus, copper, iron, and zinc. These also keep the soils nice and fertilized. Since this kind of method would call for the creation of new industry, biosolids technically do create job opportunities. Another pro that it has is the ability to promote farming. People are gonna hear about this cost efficient, recyclable method fertilizing crops, and they're going to be really interested on how using biosolids works.

Cons

Like all good things, there is always a downside to it. Even though using biosolids provides many benefits to agriculture, it is just water mixed with human waste, which obviously inst good to consume if not treated properly. The main problem with using biosolids is that it may cause potential health problems. Anything that can cause problems to someones health shouldn't be considered the best. Now, since this is sewage water, you can't just pour this onto an open field and hope that everything will go right, you actually have to filter the sewage waste first and that method probably involves some use of various chemicals. That right there contributes to the "potential" health problems. If there are houses located near one of these types of farms, the value of that house will no doubt be lowered because nobody wants to live beside a whole field containing millions of people poo and pee. This method produces a foul stench that isn't pleasant.

So those are the pros and cons of using biosolids as fertilizer for agriculture. In my opinion, I don't really agree with it since it's just too disgusting even though its filtered and is more affordable.

Sources:

http://www.sencer.net/Outreach/pdfs/DCSymposium08/Posters/LUbiosolids.pdf

http://www.biosolids.com/benefits.html

http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/nm/nasm/sewbiobroch.htm

Commented on:

Kim Villaluz

Technology and the Human Body

There have been many types of inventions, even Canadian ones that have helped broaden our understanding of the human body and that have been used to treat patients. At some point in the past, people had never heard of ultrasounds or let alone thought that it would be possible to see a fetus inside a woman's uterus. With the invention of the Ultra sound, that became possible. Other inventions that have contributed to the understanding of internal body systems was the stethoscope and X-ray. One Canadian contribution was the invention of Insulin which has become a vital necessity to people with diabetes. Finally, another major contribution were pacemakers. There are many more technologies that were made but for now, we'll just discuss these ones.

Ultra sound machines were first used for medical purposes in the 1950s. Today, they are mainly used for monitoring the fetus in a woman's uterus or to monitor the health of a pregnant woman.

Also, another important factor about Ultrasounds is that they can be used to tell if the baby will have any health problem when they are born.

Now let's talk about the Stethoscope and X-ray. The stethoscope was invented in 1816 by Rene Laennec. The stethoscope was an important invention for internal body systems because it allowed doctors to further understand the respiratory and circulatory systems of a human. It did this by listening to the heart beat of the patient. The doctor could have easier time diagnosing any heart problems with their patients. With X-rays, which was invented by Wilhelm Conrad, used radiation to see inside a patient's body and even into the bones. These x-ray machines are good for checking if someone may have a broken bone, or ruptured blood vessels, or anything involving the digestive, respiratory, and circulatory systems.

A very important invention made by a Canadian, Federick Banting, is Insulin, which is a hormone that is created in the pancreas. Insulin turns the glucose in food into energy for our bodies. Since diabetics can't produce Insulin, they take a synthetic Insulin in order to control their blood sugar levels. Insulin was a very important invention as it saved the lives of many people around the world.

Pacemakers are another very important invention to the understanding of internal body systems. This was another Canadian Invention by John Hopps in the 1950s. There have been many modification to this device but the main point of it is to act almost like an artificial heart. It's used for people who have heart problems and whose hearts aren't beating at a reasonable rate.

Those were just a couple of inventions over the years that have helped our understanding of internal body systems, there are many more but they can be discussed some other time.

Work Sited

"The Importance of Pacemakers" Articledashboard. 31 May

http://www.articledashboard.com/Article/The-Importance-of-Heart-Pacemakers/882697

"The Importance of Insulin to Diabetics" eHow. 31 May

http://www.ehow.com/about_5101155_importance-insulin-diabetics.html

"The Importance of X-ray Technicians" ezinarticles. 31 May

http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Importance-of-X-Ray-Technicians&id=2343222

"Stethoscope" Facts. 31 May

http://www.faqs.org/health/topics/28/Stethoscope.html

"The Importance of Ultra Sounds" cbsnews. 31 May

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/03/02/uttm/americanbaby/main2529929.shtml

Blogs Commented on:

Justin Li

Judy Tan

The Farm Industry: the truth behind how our food is produced

Unfortunately, farm animals like cows, pigs, and chickens don't live a happy life on the farm. Even crop like corn don't get treated properly. First of all, there are two type of agriculture; Industrial Agriculture and Sustainable Agriculture. Industrial agriculture is using pesticides, feeds, fertilizerz,etc to increase production of food. Now, of course we want to be able to feed the earth's growing population but there must be a way better than genetically modifying animals. Sustainable agriculture is basically the complete opposite. Basically, this type of farming doesn't involve harming the animals in any way and is safe for the environment.

Both industrial and sustainable agriculture have their pros and cons. Industrial agriculture is relied on the most because it can produce large amounts of food at a fast rate which is good because the earth's population is getting larger. Not only is production volume high, but it's also cheap which explains why fast food is cheaper than an organically made salad. It's true that we need more food at a cheaper price, but there are also flaws to this type of agriculture. The methods used for this are unethical and harm the environment and the animals. Animals are given chemicals and antibiotics to make them have more meaty flesh. This can lead them to gaining more fat getting heart attacks. Since these factories usually stuff of the animals in a small shed, diseases spread rapidly and may affect the workers and even the food produced. The following video is a factory in Iowa which contains footage of baby male chicken

WARNING: This video is VERY disturbing as it contains footage of the chicks being put into a grinder.

Thankfully, there is such a thing called Sustainable agriculture. Farms that do sustainable agriculture usually follow traditional methods which are how farming should be. No chemicals or pesticides are used and everything is done organically. The food that is produced is healthier because the soil is one the main components used. This is fact since soil contains a lot more nutrients rather than using chemicals, which may also contain poisons in them. But, there are some flaws to Sustainable agriculture. Like the fact that it's more expensive since they usually wait for the animals to grow big instead of forcing them to. That is why you see organic food in grocery stores being a lot more expensive than non-organic food.

So, my final answer to the question of whether the benefits of only relying on highly productive livestock outweigh the risks of reducing biodiversity is no. If the farms are going to be harming the environment and animals just to make things faster and cheaper, then it's not worth it. It's unethical what those Industrial farms are doing and not fair to the animals. After watching the video above, it's really got me thinking of just how cruel farms really are.

Sources:

Undercover Camera at Farm Factory(Video)

Sustainable Agriculture(Information)

Industrial Agriculture(Information)

Blogs Commented on:

Justin Li

Inggrid Wibowo

Designer Babies; Are they really necessary?

First of all, you should know what exactly what a designer baby is before you can properly form an opinion. Basically it's what the media calls the future of having people choose what type of genes they want the baby to have.

In my opinion, gene therapy is good technique that scientists have discovered but should only be used for emergency and not for your own selfishness. If you know diabetes has been running in your family for a while, I think it's reasonable to maybe get a doctor to replace the gene that cause it with a normal one. That's exactly what gene therapy is. But I don't think you try and add genes that can make your child good looking. I find that to be very shallow and it makes it look like you think your child is ugly.

Currently, I wouldn't say that things are getting out of hand but I would say that we should slow down a bit before they actually do. If it gets to the point where we can choose every detail of what our child will be, then I will say that things are getting out of hand. That would just ruin the moment of having your first child. But this won't happen since it's legal to only to two type of gene therapy procedures.

The first thing that is legal to do is choosing what sperm will fertilize the egg which can help determine what sex the child will be. The other legal thing to do is scanning the embryo looking for any genetic diseases and replacing them with normal ones. This is called Pre-Implantation Genetic Diagnosis. This is one technique that I think can be very good for humanity in general. It lowers the percentage of kids with genetic disorders and may even save some children's lives. Your not using the technique for anything selfish but your doing it for the good of your child. So in my opinion, Gene Therapy is only necessary if you know you have a genetic disorder that runs in the family that you would you like to prevent occurring in your child.

Sources: What is a Designer Baby(Information)

CartoonStock Drawing(Picture)

Blogs I commented on: Justin Li's&Kyle Tran's

The Positive Side of Human Intervention in our Ecosystems

Usually when people think about human intervention in our ecosystems, they often think of negative things like deforestation, pollution, etc. Although this may be true, there is a whole other side of positive things that different organization do by interference.

One of those Organizations is Green Peace.

Green Peace focuses on reducing pollution, stop humans from destroying the habitats of animals and basically just keeping our world Green. They use non-violent ways to show the problems of our ecosystems and what they cause. Green Peace's main goals are to protect Biodiversity in our Ecosytems,and to stop pollution, in forests, oceans, etc. They do this by gathering people who want to help out and working together as a team to do what it takes to stop the help our Biodiversity.

That video is an example of the kind of things the members of Green Peace do. This was in the UK where a couple of Green Peace swimmers stop a massive oil drilling ship from heading to it's drill site. There interference may have stopped the occurrence of another oil spill which would end up polluting the ocean, killing hundreds of animals.

Green Peace also deals with preventing the extinction of animals. In February 2010, Green Peace was able to work with Loblaws and convince them to stop selling sharks, skates, Orange Roughy, and Patagonian tooth fish. Reason being was being these animals were at risk of being extinct later in the years.

Green Peace is an Organization that we should all admire because there doing all this hard work to protect our species for no pro-fit at all. It's up to us to help them in succeeding in their goals because without us, they wouldn't be doing anything at all and we would see many habitats get destroyed by human pollution and destruction. So, i hope that you realize the type of human intervention that Green Peace does has a positive affect.



Sources: Green Peace's Mission(Information)
Green Peace Successes(Information)
Green Peace Logo(Picture)
Green Peace Swimmers(Video)

Blogs commented Kimberley Villaluz&Kyle Tran