Pollen

of humans have, much like the shark or the alligator. According to Dave Goulson, a biologist and Professor of Biology at the University of Sussex, the first bees began to evolve from predatory wasps millions of years ago when they discovered that pollen is an excellent source of protein. Gradually, these…

It was a warm quiet Okanagan evening and as I sat out on the deck and watched a small car enter the driveway. A tall elderly gentleman unfolded from the car to sell a jar of honey. This seemingly insignificant gesture was the beginning of becoming the owners of “Arlo’s Honey Farm”. As green as grass and armed with a beekeeping book founder’s husband purchased – she jumped in and did her best. The bees have taught her many things, aside from a fast track education in beekeeping. The first lesson…

people use honey, whether it’s on biscuits or in a recipe. Without the honey that they provide for us, many recipes would go to waste. Bees produce honey, and we take the honey from them to sale at our local stores. Bees also spread pollen around when they take pollen off…

animals, where would they stand? It’s clear that plants have behavior to certain environmental change. I wonder how much of that was actually from ‘thought’. Right now, intelligent behavior of plants is considered to be “an emergent property of cells” (Pollen 11) . The article compares how that concept isn’t as farfetched as use of neutrons. I don’t think that plants can have higher consciousness, but it’s clear that something is allowing the…

Another analogy Thomson uses is “people-seeds”. This could be something like pollen; you can take as many precautions as you want from avoiding pollen to get into your house, but there is always still a way. What if “people-seeds” or pollen flies in through your window and plants itself onto your carpet. The woman takes as many precautions as possible, such as buying the most protective screen there is so she does not get any “pollen” in. The screen ends up being defective and a seed gets in and…

Genetically Modified Corn Genetically modified corn has many disadvantages and advantages. One advantage is that corn is being genetically modified to be herbicide resistant and to produce its own pesticide. Another advantage is that crop yields are being increased through genetic modification. The disadvantages are environmental issues such as, the decrease of insect populations due to the growth of corn that produces its own pesticide. Also, Genetic Modification is a growing field and the…

In "First Flower" a group of botanists and paleobotanists reveal how that "abominable mystery" is starting to move towards a solution. NOVA captures images of how they are continuing to inspire new scientific discoveries today. It all begins in northern China, where amidst the country's rich, volcanic conditions for fossil-finding, Professor Sun Ge and his team first unearth the Archaefructus fossil from an ancient lake in a region where dinosaurs once roamed. Sun Ge brings his amazing find to…

available to them without the honeybee. Flowering plants need some way to transfer pollen from one flower to another in order for reproduction…

looking for at supermarkets to avoid processed foods. Pollen tries to clear up “our current state of confusion” by giving his readers three “rules of thumb” to follow when shopping (06). The first rule Pollan states is that the readers should not eat anything that their great grandmothers would not be able to recognize, to a time “before the advent of most modern foods”(06). Using this rule will keep processed foods out of the cart. Pollen uses a quote from Joan Gussow to point out that eating…

Michael Pollan's essay “Why Bother” argues that each individual should contribute in making insignificant life changes in order to improve the conditions of climate change. Although without co-operation and scientific certainty, it wouldn't be possible to make the required level of change. During this essay, Pollan addresses that it would not greatly impact human life making small changes to support the environment. Instead, the difficulty is realizing it will only take small changes from…