DNA: Setting People Fee

Recently DNA has become a huge part of the criminal justice system, and how we catch criminals. From the tiniest trace of DNA, an individual's whole identity can be mapped out with amazing precision. Beginning in the late 80's DNA was playing a minor role in the criminal justice system, and it was only a little later, in the mid-90's, when DNA was being used to not only catch criminals, but also freeing the wrongly accused who have been sent to jail.

In 1986, a young white women was found raped and murdered near some train tracks in a black neighborhood. Due to the circumstances at which police had found the young women,  the case soon received national attention. After a few days, police detained, interrogated and arrested a 17 year old male, as well as a couple of his friends. The physical evidence that the teenagers had indeed killed the women, or were even near the scene, were thin in court. But relying on the testimonies of the few witnesses they had, the prosecutor had won all three cases, and the teenagers were sentenced to life in jail. 

However, years later, the three teenagers were building up their case of innocence in jail. DNA and seminal fluids taken from the crime scene was argued to have been at least one of the teenager's, but upon closer examination, it turned out that that was not true. The defendants had known that, but with such solid evidence against their sentence, why and how had they ended up in prison- for life? Eighteen months after writing a letter explaining their circumstances to Catherine Zellner, the teenagers had a retrial and, 15 years after being arrested, they walked out as freemen. If it wasn't for Zellner, who worked with Project Innocence, an organization focused on freeing the wrongly accused, convincing the judge of a trial using the DNA evidence, these men would have most likely never gotten out of prison. It also turns out that, after the two men who actually committed the crime confessed, the police had fabricated the whole story of the three teenagers. The police working the case had also fabricated eyewitness statements and the confession of one of the teenagers. But because of new DNA technologies, the teenagers accused of a crime they didn't do, walked out free men, 15 years after their initial arrest.

The idea that a tiny trace of DNA can reveal the whole truth of crime, is mind blowing. But if it means freeing people who have been wrongly accused of crimes, then I'm totally for it. Listening to this case has given me a new-found respect for my dead skin cells!

To listen to the story of the case, click HERE

Be Happy, Be Healthy

Maybe you've heard the phrase "an apple a day keeps the doctor away", but what about "a laugh a day keeps the doctor away"?

 The idea that humor could actually affect the immune system has been a question on a lot of people's minds. In fact  in 2007 there was study conducted with 40 students to measure the correlation between laughter and health. They concluded the test showed no direct effects and more evidence was needed to be found.

Though they concluded what they did, I still find this pretty cool. It does make sense that laughter could have a positive impact on the immune system. With developing technologies in the world today, I'm sure the answer to this intriguing question is not far away. But for now I'll just stick to laughing 30 minutes each day.

Click HERE to read the study summary.

Lucy the Chimpanzee

Around the late 1960s, a psychological experiment  was conducted by Dr. Maurice Temerlin, to explore what happened if he and his wife raised a baby chimpanzee as if she was their own daughter. Over the course of twelve years Lucy the chimp had learned to make tea, dress herself, draw with markers, and even communicate with sign language. Before long Lucy had started to grow a lot, having developed the strength to rip apart the Temerlin's house, and the couple had to stop their experiment. They wanted to release Lucy into the wild to honor her, but unfortunately she had become so attached to her family, she became depressed, she didn't eat, and got very sick. Within 2 years of the Temerlin's stopping their experiment, a friend of Lucy's, who had supervised the chimp's release, found the skeleton of Lucy. She had appeared to be skinned and her hands and feet were no were to be found. This suggests that poachers, must likely aware of Lucy's relationship with humans, had taken advantage of her.

I thought this story was pretty powerful, and although Lucy's end was tragic, I think the experiment was worthwhile. It showed us that under the care of humans, chimps can become more and more like us. After billions of years of evolution, only ten years can dissolve the gaps between the two species.

Listen to Lucy's story on Radiolab HERE

Thinking Like a Mountain

"The cowmen who cleans his range of wolves does not realize that he is taking over the wolf's job of trimming the herd to fit the range. He has not learned to think like a mountain."

In the article "Thinking Like a Mountain" by Aldo Leopard, he describes a scene in nature of how everything need to be in balance to survive. For example, wolves control the population of deer, who would otherwise eat all the plants up if they overpopulate. Leopard suggests that while cowmen try to protect their cows from wolves, they don't see that the increased cow population will lead a shortage in natural resources.

I agree with Mr. Leopard and I like how he used the mysterious howl of the wolf to tie everything together. He is a very interesting writer and made me think about different relationships in nature and how we humans fit into it.

What it Takes to be a Tree

"It takes a magnifying glass to look at a giant tree..."  This was a quote from science writer Richard Preston. In his TED talk in 2008, he explained the vastness of Sequoias, how each tree is its own ecosystem and how massive these beasts are. Preston explained that the moss and lichen developed on one of these trees could have taken 700 hundred years to grow, and even the smallest plant could help direct oxygen down into the trees roots. No wonder a magnifying glass would be helpful.

 So few people have climbed these trees that the unexplored canopy can be described as a lost world. Even species still undiscovered live and thrive in these trees. In 2006, Preston was part of a climbing team that found an unknown type of golden brown ant on Hyperion, one of the largest Sequoias. Curiously enough, those ants were never found on any other redwood.

But these trees were not the only thing Preston talked about. In the East, a deadly invasive tree parasite, the Woolly Adelgid, has killed a lot of the eastern Hemlocks causing many complex ecosystems to be lost. Most like that parasite, the pine beetle here in Colorado has done a considerable amount of damage too.

This TED talk was very interesting and I would love to learn more about trees, their own ecosystems and also how to stop the spread the stop of deadly invasive species like the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid and the Pine Beetle. But for now I think I'm going to take my magnifying glass and look around the forest a bit...


Interested too? Click HERE to see Richard Preston's TED talk.