Institute of Nature Studies and Animal Behavioral Research
Recycling in Nature
Nature maintains balance, and its systems help in this task without waste. For this purpose, a recycling system is needed; an example is the nutrient cycle (Banerjee, 2022). Its essence is that nutrients, such as water, carbon, oxygen, and other minerals, circulate in nature. Animals and plants absorb them, and after their death and decomposition, the substances are transferred and released into nature. In the process of decomposition of large plants or animals, smaller organisms help to release minerals. As a result, nature maintains an internal balance, effectively using its resources.
Animal Behavior vs. Human Behavior
People and animals live together on Earth, and people usually believe they are significantly different from animals. However, all species strive for survival, prosperity, and interaction with their environment. Although people operate verbal speech and animals use other methods, they all communicate with each other (Marston, 2019). Reinforcement, that is, a positive action result, often directs human and animal behavior. If actions lead to negative consequences, it most likely will not happen again. However, the more significant development and abstractness of people’s thinking allows them to build their behavior, considering their experience and plans for the future. They also assess the right and wrong in their actions and have more needs. Animals, in turn, are guided by the present moment and more primitive needs.
Compare Natures Nomenclature with Human Nomenclature
Each object, phenomenon, or creature has its own name in this world. The nomenclature can be considered as a naming process or an existing system of terms and titles (“Nomenclature,” n.d.). Naming is a human feature of behavior that helps to systematize the world. People gave names to things both created by nature and artificially. Therefore, anything done by nature has not the name written on it if people did not write it. At the same time, people often write titles on artificial things, for example, using logos.
Mental, Emotional Health & Wellness Centre
Mental and emotional well-being is necessary for a person’s happy and fulfilling life. Wellness Centre studies various features of human psychology, including deviations and possibilities for improvement. For example, a person may continue to believe in something even if it contradicts reality. This state is called delusion and implies difficulties in distinguishing the real from the imaginary (Casarella, 2020). An example of such beliefs is confidence in conspiracy, deception, or surveillance. In some cases, delusion may not have a significant impact on a person’s life. However, delusion is often an important symptom; after noticing it, one needs to seek help.
Delusion can manifest as an independent disorder or as a symptom. One of the dangerous conditions it can testify to is schizophrenia. People may interpret reality wrongly with such a severe disease (“Schizophrenia,” 2020). For example, hallucinations, disordered thinking, delirium, and other manifestations may occur (“Schizophrenia,” 2020). Schizophrenia without treatment significantly interferes with everyday life, and interventions are necessary to control the condition. Symptoms can change, but some therapy is possible with the essential support from specialists.
Astronautical Space Exploration Centre
The universe has a rich history and a long development period. Figure 1 shows that 13.7 billion years have passed since the big bang and the universe’s birth (“History,” 2019). The explosion occurred in seconds, but the first atoms formed only 300,000 years later. A few hundred million years later, after the beginning, the first stars appeared. After nine billion years, that is, almost 4.5 billion years ago, a Solar System emerged, including the Earth. Recent research demonstrates that the Earth has formed in 5 million years (Nace, 2020). In a short time amid the universe’s existence, people appeared that now study space.
Space and the universe are filled with mysteries that the Astronautical Space Exploration Centre seeks to solve. It has many unique objects and phenomena – stars of various sizes, meteorites, meteor showers, nebulae, and galaxies. For example, meteoroids are rock-like objects in space that can vary in size from dust to asteroid (“Meteors,” 2021). If such things enter the planet’s atmosphere and burn, they become meteors. If an object persists and falls on the ground, it is called a meteorite. At the same time, when stones enter the atmosphere at high speed, they evaporate. Consequently, people can notice flashes or light streaks, called shooting stars. A large number of meteors, which appears in the atmosphere, is called a meteor shower. If they fall to the ground, a meteorite shower occurs. Thus, many phenomena in space are associated even with simple rocks.
The stars that people see in the sky are other extraordinary objects in space. They are burning spheres of gas, the brightness of which sometimes allows seeing them in the sky (Swan, 2022). Scientists estimate that the universe contains nearly 200 billion trillion stars (Jackson, 2021). The sun that warms Earth is also a star, but not the largest in the universe. Scientists divide stars into seven types depending on their temperature and size. The blue giants are the biggest and hottest stars in the universe (Swan, 2022). At the same time, all stars except the sun are very far from the Earth, and therefore, people do not feel their light and heat.
Genomic Research Centre
Each person is an individual, and the Genomic Research Center studies what makes people unique – DNA. It is a deoxyribonucleic acid, which contains nucleotides – biological units transmitting hereditary information about a person (“DNA,” 2022). DNA can be considered as a specific instruction for the body on how to develop or maintain health. To perform this task, cells read the code contained in DNA and generate the necessary proteins. The sequence that cells read is called the gene, which contributes to creating unique structures in the body (“DNA,” 2022). DNA plays a crucial role in human life, affecting all processes in the body.
With all the uniqueness of people, their features are determined only by a small proportion of genes. For example, people have 99.9% of genes in common with each other, and only 0.1% identify all unique traits and features (Ramsey & Lee, 2018). Moreover, humans share some DNA with other species – animals and even plants. For instance, humans and chimpanzees have 96% of genetic similarity (Ramsey & Lee, 2018). A breed of cat, Abyssinian domestic, shares 90% of its genes with humans (Ramsey & Lee, 2018). A significant percentage of genetic information shared with humans also exists in mice, cattle, and even bananas – 85%, 80%, and 60%, respectively (Ramsey & Lee, 2018). These data demonstrate how influential genes are in determining personal uniqueness.
The particles inside humans are incredible, but it is striking that a significant part of the body is empty space. People’s bodies consist of a large number of small particles – atoms. In a close study, scientists found that the atom contains 99.9% of emptiness (Clegg, 2020). This discovery contributed to the assumption that all physical objects, including the human body, have 99.9% of empty space (Clegg, 2020). Thus, scientific research helps better to understand the human body and its extraordinary abilities.
References
Banerjee, N. (2022). Nature’s efficient recycling system makes sure nothing ever goes ‘to waste.’ Web.
Casarella, J. (2020). Delusions and delusional disorder. Web.
Clegg, B. (2020). What is the human body made of? Web.
DNA explained and explored. (2022). Web.
History of the Universe timeline. (2019). Web.
Jackson, D. (2021). How many stars are there in space? The Conversation. Web.
Marston, D. (2019). Insights on how animal and human psychology relate. Web.
Meteors & meteorites. (2021). Web.
Nace, T. (2020). Earth was created much faster than previously thought, a study shows. Forbes. Web.
Nomenclature. (n.d.) In Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Web.
Ramsey, L., & Lee, S. (2018). Humans share almost all of our DNA with cats, cattle and mice. Independent. Web.
Schizophrenia. (2020). Web.
Swan, T. (2022). Different types of stars in the universe. Web.