.....sometimes really blows. Getting into the low teens over the weekend caused me to hide over a friends appartment and cuddle in front of the heater and drink hot coco. It didn't last long - my friend said she had to turn it down because her electric bill would be too much.

Wearing 234983298490230 layers before stepping inside and then still not being able to take them off when coming inside is such a norm up here.

When I was taking my Genetics class last year, there was one thing constantly beaten into our heads: our (human) DNA is about 95% 'junk' DNA (meaning, it does not code for anything), while only 5% is expressed and makes up who we are.

Now, that may not be so true.

Researchers now estimate the age of more than one million variants, or changes to our DNA code, found across human populations. The vast majority proved to be quite young and may not be "junk" DNA.

Due to the such explosion of the human population in such a short of period of time (a few million to several billion - a blink of an eye in evolutionary terms), there is such an accumulation of genes that natural selection has not had the time to 'catch up' with our expansion and explosion. The result? There is more variation than we can think of.

'The researchers sequenced in exhaustive detail protein-coding genes from 6,515 people, compiling a list of every DNA variation they found — 1,146,401 in all, of which 73 percent were rare" (Keim). Crazy, right? That means there is a pretty big chance that you could carry protein-coding genes that may make you unique - and a rarity.

So, remember when you were told when you were younger how you were a special little snowflake? And then in college, you were told you were just like everyone else and not unique? Well, start believe in your childhood self once again: the current human population carries the highest variable amount of genes that this planet has seen.

Link to Article: http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/11/recent-human-evolution-2/#more-139047

If there is anything that is guarenteed, it is that I love me some furry canine creatures with some big paws. Left, a picture of my dog from this previous Halloween dressed in my brothers work clothes... he's cute and looks very upset, awww.

While checking my morning e-mail this morning, I get a weekly email alert from e! Science News (Not E!, that E is....crappy) with this article in the list of the smorgasbord of science-y updates. This one caught my eye.. It's been about three days since I saw my dog and I already miss him. Plus, it really fascinates me to understand how other animals identify objects.

According to Emilie van der Zee and colleges from the University of Lincoln, UK, dogs learn to associate words with objects in a completely different way that we do. At an early age, we learn how to identify a ball by the size and shape of the object. However, it was concluded in this study that dogs associate textures to objects instead of shape after a period of of exposure to objects of similar size and shape. It is a different perspective of the world... it shows that even though both canines and humans are in the same kingdom, our evolutionary history takes part in many things, including processing and association of information. I wonder if there are animals more closely related to canines that also process information this way...

It also explains perfectly why my dog, Charlie, loved eating the edges of the table when he was a puppy. It possibly had the same texture as rawhide or a toy.  I wonder what he associates meat or ice cream with.

Link to article: http://esciencenews.com/articles/2012/11/21/call.a.ball.dogs.learn.associate.words.with.objects.differently.humans.do

    I often don't talk about my relationships. No really, I don't. I'm not exactly "boy crazy", or ever had been. I guess I am desensitized to the opposite sex. However, when one of my dear friends at school states that they haven't seen their significant other in 5 hours (or sometimes, even less), I can't help but get annoyed.

    I am in a long distance relationship. The love of my life (and the person I have had a crush on since I was fourteen years old... say it with me.... *awwwwwwwww*) is over 800 miles away from me completing his degree in Nuclear Engineering in the deep south, while I am all the way in the tundra, layering clothes and counting down the hours until I graduate. We live completely different lives, but somehow always find a way to make time for each other for a quick phone call at night when we're both hunkered in bed, or a long-distance movie date.

    I feel like with this distance, we appreciate each other a lot more. We rarely fight, and when we do, it stems from the frustration of being so far away from one another, which we quickly identify. I feel that those couples who are together all the time and argue all the time, is just, well... not healthy. Bryan and I are two different people and two different lives and although we love each other very much, we don't cling to each other. I have seen many relationships while in college (and been in some myself) that fed off being with them all. the. time. it was unhealthy. When you do not have any balance or "free time" when you are young and in a relationship, how can you develop yourself as an individual?

    I am blessed to have the man in the life that I do. He was the first person to drop everything when I was discharged from the hospital after being sick and drove 500 miles just to spend time with me and make sure I was okay. We always talk about how much we miss each other and think of plans when we are reunited (usually once every semester), and how we are going to be together so very soon.

    Long distance relationships are definitely a challenge, but they are worth it. Its nice to have someone that I could call on a moments notice and listen to me, and vise versa. Although I'm on the outside looking in, I have only seen a handful of relationships that  still function in a healthy matter while spending exuberant amount of time together.  I think it takes strong, already independent individuals for this to work.

    I wouldn't want to look like I was co dependent on my significant other to define my existence, I want my significant other to be an extension of myself - even when they are 500+ miles away.