SHARKS

Sharks are already super cool animals! So when I saw this article on how there is a large species, near blind sharks that can live upwards of two to five centuries I freaked!

It makes sense when they put the growth of a year and age together. Prey animals grow and reach sexual maturity very quickly so the species doesn't die out, while predators at the top of the food chain grow slowly and reach sexual maturity later in life. So a large shark, that is presumably at the top of the food chain, would grow very slowly (a centimeter a year) and reach sexual maturity at around 150 years old.

What interests me is how do they mate, what do they eat?
They are clearly sharks, but do they move slowly to expend less energy? Or do they expend it in quick bursts to capture prey?

The link wasn't working for me, so here is the article I got this from:
Near-Blind Shark Is World’s Longest-Lived Vertebrate

CRISPR

Where do I even start with this article.

I got so excited when I saw it. My family has a long line of cancer diagnoses and deaths, and the thought of there being a chance of there being a cure for some of the worst incurable cases brings tears to my eyes. I have been helping out with Jen's Friends for my entire life. Jen was my aunt, and though I never got to meet her, her death has brought a community together and so much change. My uncle, was also a cancer patient and we had tried everything to cure his tumor and if this had been around he would have taken it in a heart beat (and he would have been such a nerd about it too).

This article, even though it gives me so much hope, lets me down. What are the side effects? Will it trigger an immune response that can't be stopped and rampage through the body where ever the injected cells are carried off to? What were the animal trials like for this cure? Will it be available for everyone, or will it just turn out to be stupidly expensive (like all life-saving drugs)?

I am skeptical, but I really do hope that it works!

DUCKS #3

This was the final time feeding the ducks, I did this about a couple days ago, but I didn't have the time due to work and family. But I'm going to miss these little guys, cause I left work yesterday (during the lull in the rain) and they were all gone. I don't know if it is permanent or temporary, but I hope they come back soon!!

Reptile scales share evolutionary orgin with hair, feathers

What truly interests me about this article is what would the common ancestor look like?

They, the scientists, all agree that there is a common ancestor that helped the evolution of feathers and hair along. If so, was the development of these characteristics a mutation or an adaptation?

This common ancestor would have been a very interesting thing to look at, was it large or small? Did it look more avian, mammalian, or reptilian? 

Now it seems like common knowledge that lots of dinosaurs had feathers and scales mixed together (i.e. any raptor), but were there any with hair and scales?

It can be agreed on, for the most part, that dinosaurs evolved into birds (the closest living relative to a dinosaur is not a crocodile, it is the common chicken). But then, what is the closest living mammal to the dinosaur?

This article just brings up more questions and with the preservation of fossils and completion of them declining will we ever find out?

DUCKS #2

Never have I been so excited to see ducks, these little guys always hangout by the pond right next to Heritage. After the first feeding (I fed them earlier that week) they waddled right up next to me. The babies are so cute!!!

DUCKS #1

So right by Storyland (the place I work) there is a giant pond that has many ducks. Most of them have babies so they are just so cute to feed, 'cause they waddle right up to you and quack (I almost died of cuteness)!