Thursday, April 25, 2024
Friday, April 19, 2024
SCI-100 Final Project
SCI-100 Final Project
Shanon
Beck
Perspectives
in Natural Science
SCI-100-J7100
Professor
Billiot
April
19th, 2024
Perspectives in Natural Science: 7-1 Final Project
Part 1: Natural Science Topic Exploration
The main idea of my chosen news story is that
bumblebees are social creatures that can display complex, socially interactive
behaviors with the capability of social learning and replication. Which not
only opens up a lot of opportunities for us to better understand bumblebees,
but also other insects of similar intelligence, even being able to better
understand the social relationships of humans and society.
Previously I did not have much knowledge when it came
to the natural behaviors and interactions of bumblebees or other similar
insects, or how important understanding them could be to ensure future
scientific advancements. The research experiment was conducted by Dr. Alice
Bridges and Professor Lars Chittka through the use of a multi-step puzzle that
required the bumblebees to utilize social behavior and replication in order to
reach the award.
Part 2: Fundamental Questions About the Natural World
There are a number of questions I can ask in order to
gain more information about this topic, and expand the scientific understanding
we have of it: these questions include, “Are bumblebee’s able to reproduce the
learned behaviors without an incentive?”, “Do other Apidae show the ability to
learn and replicate behaviors at a social level?” and “Have bumblebee’s shown
the ability to learn and replicate behaviors socially outside of the laboratory
in their nature environment?”… That being said, my final research question is:
“Are bumblebee’s able to perform complex behaviors through social learning in
their natural environment?”
During this research I have to be extremely ware of my
personal beliefs and biases, as it could have impacted my research questions
and understanding of the topic significantly. For example, I personally believe
that we can learn a lot about both human behavior and instinct by studying more
rudimentary social behaviors exhibited by bumblebees, as well as better
understand the world. That gives me a pre-existing bias that impacts the way I
see the topic.
Major Developments in the Natural Sciences
A major development that has occurred at the
University Of Konstanz that dramatically effects the research topic I chose is…
the development and revolutionization of machine learning and computer vision
processes that have allowed scientists the ability to more-finely track the
behaviors and subtle changes in an animal. This allows a scientists to get a
more thorough understanding of an animals behaviors and allows them to predict
their behavior in a more meaningful way. For example, through the ability to track
an animals gaze in order track what their looking at.
Albeit, it is to be said, major ethical concerns can
and have occurred in past research involving animals and could very well pose
an issue for future advancements in my chosen research topic. Particularly
concerns about animal abuse and exploitation can be a major limiting factor
leading to a loss of funding and support due to lobbying by animal-protection
groups. Additionally, the idea it could be exploitation to research an animal
and take them out of their natural environment can lead to a negative public-relation
and viewpoint, leading to public outcry.
The Value of Studying the Natural Sciences
I try to look at things scientifically as often as I
can; and prefer to apply logic and reason to any events that I may come across.
For example; not too long ago I made the conscious decision to re-evaluate my
financial situation in order to better live within my means, similar to the
concept discussed in “The Earth is Full” when Paul Gilding talks to us about
how Earth is being abused by humanity because we are living far above our means
of production and sustainability.(Gilding, 2012) I believe we all can play a
crucial role in managing and decreasing the harmful effects we have on the
economy.
-
Explain the value of being a
scientifically informed citizen within your community.
Being a scientifically informed citizen can result in
significant improvement to your local community, as well as the nation and
world as a whole. Literacy in scientific principles and the scientific lens can
and will result in one being able to evaluate and determine the best possible
choice to make for the community, especially in-regards to decisions that would
improve the community, for example … understanding the damage and strain that
you can cause on the system by using and wasting excessive amounts of fresh
water.
-
Discuss the obligation of citizens to be
scientifically literate and how that could affect global contemporary issues.
Everyone has an obligation to be scientifically
literate to the best of their ability, as well as to ensure that the next
generation grows up to be literate in science, as well as the other lenses like
the humanities. If we are to continue to be successful and prosperous as a
species, we must put reason and logic at the forefront to continue scientific
advancements and to ensure that we don’t destroy ourselves in the process.
References
Bee-2-Bee
influencing: Bees master complex tasks through social interaction. (n.d.). ScienceDaily. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/03/240306150557.htm
Konstanz, U. of. (n.d.). Machine learning and
computer vision allow study of animal behavior without markers. Phys.org.
Retrieved March 26, 2024, from
https://phys.org/news/2023-07-machine-vision-animal-behavior-markers.html
Bumblebees surprise scientists with
“sophisticated” social learning. (2024, March 7). Www.bbc.com. https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-68501263
Gilding, P.
(2012, February). The Earth Is Full. Www.ted.com.
https://www.ted.com/talks/paul_gilding_the_earth_is_full/transcript?language=en