Graded Paper, Science vs Religion, and Anthropogenic Noise

Good News! As you all know I just started my master's program through the University of Nebraska. One of my first assignments was to write a research paper on the history of the scientific method. This may sound easy and a little boring but it was neither. The professor required no original thought and even required that every sentence of the paper be cited. So if you wanted to say something like "Aristotle's influence extended for 2,000 years." You had to find a reference for it. Imagine writing five pages and finding a citation for every sentence. My reference section at the end had about 30 sources. But by doing it this way I did learn a lot. So it was a good exercise. Anyway I turned that in a couple of weeks ago and got the grade back today: 25/25! I honestly don't think the paper deserves that grade. It is poorly written. But I am excited.

We also have weekly discussion groups. This weeks topic was "Is it surprising that monks/priests contributed a lot to biological understanding?" Basically it is a discussion on science versus religion; assuming that they are enemies. I felt a little uncomfortable with the topic because I felt it overgeneralized religious views on science and perpetuated the stereotype that there is a conflict between science and religion. Personally I don't see a conflict. I think they are both ways to explore truth with very different methodology. Of course, I believe the religious methodology brings us truth faster, more effectively and with proper perspective. But I also think science and deductive thought play a huge role in our understanding of the natural world.

Currently I am working on my other class, Current Issues in Biology. In this class I have to prepare a power-point presentation which will be peer reviewed by 15 other students. It needs to be on a current research topic in biology. I am intimidated by this assignment. I graduated from BYU 7 years ago and have not really been involved in biology since then. However, I think I found a great topic. On Monday I was jogging and a very loud jet flew overhead. I noticed that several birds flew away from the noise of the jet. So I thought to myself "I wonder what impact that noise has on the birds?" I began to research this a little bit and it is a field of study in conservation biology called anthropogenic (effects of humans) noise. What I have read so far is extremely interesting. Across the world they have noticed that animals are changing their behaviors because of human noise. Birds and whales are especially impacted. Birds are changing the pitch of their songs so they can be heard over the city noises. This change may lead to speciation. Anyway I will be working on this for the next month. I have to turn it in on July 5th. I will also have another paper to write for the first class due June 23rd. Good thing Dave is busy at Children's Hospital.