Madelyn Perkovich

      I probably won't be getting a good grade for this one, but I thought i'd announce the news that Salvador Dali had a pet ant eater. He would walk it on a leash in Paris. This guy really didn't care even a little bit. I personally don't think I've ever seen anything more iconic than this guy walking his ant eater.

Madelyn Perkovich Today i read about the birth pattern of humans. Babies may be born at extremely spontaneous times, but there is some kind of pattern for sure. The most common time to be born is 8:00 am, and the least common is 3:09 am. These patterns come in sharp spikes, and can be caused by a number of things, some of which being C sections and induced labor. When looked into, it was discovered that each delivery method actually had a distinct pattern, causing the spikes.

Madelyn Perkovich A 3,000 year old wooden big toe was found attached to a woman's skeleton, and is said to be an advanced prosthetic. For this period of time, Prosthetics were rare and not very functional, so this find was a cool find. It belonged to a priests daughter who had her big toe amputated. It was shaped and detailed by a skilled Artisian during the bronze era, and holds a lot of clues as to what may have been taking off and advancing in Medicine 3,000 years ago.

Madelyn Perkovich In searching round, I discovered that owning a business is a very big commitment. Growing up, my dad has owned multiple businesses, so I'm no stranger to the idea. Owning a business takes a lot of investment and risk. It takes mounds of dedication. In talking to business owners, some common positive things they had to say resembled "having control" or that its " rewarding in the end" Some businesses always bring in large amounts of money, so there is less stress on the owner. Other businesses however, have rough months with smaller income, and this is a larger stress factor for business owners. Personally, I believe i'd like to own a business. That being said, I wouldn't want to own a business I'm not certain would succeed, so I probably wouldn't be the best business owner. It is a large commitment and a very large responsibility. owning a business means having to be able to take criticism constructively and staying on top of ...

Madelyn Perkovich Elon Musk has officially published his paper about making humankind a multiplanetary species has been published for free, until July 5th. Musk's vision is based on a reusable rocket that will act as transportation. The architecture could actually get one million people to Mars in the next 50-100 years. This could mean incredible advancement for mankind. Musk also disclaims that there are huge risks, its going to cost a lot, and they might not succeed. For me, this is a bit scary because i'm afraid humans will destroy Mars like we are doing to the Earth. That being said, I think this is also great news because it truly shows the advancement of human technology. Personally though, I don't think I'd like to live on Mars anyway.

Madelyn Perkovich    Today in reading Scientific American, I found news of a breakthrough in fetal development . Babies in the womb can actually respond to visual stimuli of faces. Medicine has always been able to study the reaction of babies to music and sound, but never vision. Doctors shined a light that had three dots that resembled a face into the womb, and then another three dots that didn't resemble a face. The babies were more than twice as likely to respond to the face like dots. This is believed to be the case because faces are one of the first things babies see, so they tend to favor them. This breakthrough could help to discover autism in babies earlier because face recognition could play a big role in studying the babies development.

Madelyn Perkovich Today I read about Ivan Fandino, a Matador, who was gored to death in France. 36 Ivan was killed after he tripped over his cape and was impaled by a bull. It is said his heart stopped in the ambulance, and his official cause of death was a punctured lung. Fandino is actually the second Spanish bullfighter to die in the ring this year. I learned that bullfighters do not actually die all that often, even though the "sport" is still pretty popular. I personally think bloodshed activities like this should be banned for the sake of the bulls and people. Fandino was an award winning matador and his colleagues called his death a tragedy.

Madelyn Perkovich Following reading this review, I interpreted the writers view as mediocre and cliche. "A fistful of dollars" did indeed fit the form of most Westerns that I've seen. While I believed this movie was a bit predictable and standard, I still enjoyed it anyway. I feel as though the "whole cliche" of Westerns isn't exactly bad, though it can be repetitive. I still generally enjoy watching these movies even when that may be the case. In my opinion. Clint Eastwood was very good playing the well known part of a "half cowboy half gangster" and made the roll look unique. Though I think the plot is a bit over-used in westerns, I still enjoy the movies each time I watch them because I think its almost classic.

Madelyn Perkovich Today I read about the underlying causes of attraction, and the weird importance of pupils ! As it turns out, for years and even centuries, men have been more attracted to women with larger pupils. They conducted an experiment where men were shown two identical pictures of women, one with dilated pupils. The men didn't notice the dilation, but they almost always chose the woman with dilated pupils as more attractive. They described her as "soft" and "amorous", while they described the other as "selfish" and "cold". I thought this was interesting because of how deeply rooted it was.

Madelyn Perkovich In my opinion, people take risks for the sake of adventure because they are bored and want the rush. People who do these things aren't necessarily reckless, though they can be. People such as Alex Hannold that do incredibly risky things know the risk factor of what they are doing, yet continue to go farther and farther anyway. Adrenaline is one of the most intense feelings humans can feel, and it goes without saying people seek it out for that reason. People will do the craziest things to seek out a rush. Personally, I think it stems from wanting more out of life, more feeling. it takes determination and bravery to be persistent and seek out the dangerous things in life. Adrenaline rushes and adventure in my own opinion are two of the most amazing things humans can grasp and experience. Once someone feels this kind of "high: it can become addicting, almost like a drug. There aren't many things people wouldn't do to get more out of life. Even those o...

 Madelyn P Today in reading the news, I learned that when black holes collide, there is enough gravitational energy that it equals more than all the stars in the universe. I also discovered that when getting close to a block hole, you will be ripped apart limb by limb. Besides that, your wrist watch, though process, and everything else about your existence would slow dramatically. I find these things about space very interesting. If you were to orbit a black hole for three years, when you return to earth, it would be closer to a million years later.

Madelyn Perkovich Today, movies about the future include high technology, flying cars, and other obvious futuristic things. obviously, there is no certain way to tell what the future will be like. Who knows, Yellowstone could erupt tomorrow and there would be no future, or we'd have to start all over. For me, I believe the future will consist of higher technology and new understanding of what we already know. For example, I think in the far future we will have a hologram that can give us detailed updates on our body/health at any time. I also think this could potentially lead to fewer illnesses and maybe a larger population unless the governments regulate the number of kids a couple can have.I also believe that cars will all run on batteries, or maybe even fly. People will probably be more ethnically diverse, and potentially smarter. I think the education system may be different as well, because we might possibly be able to chip ourselves with certain information instead of sitti...

Madelyn P. The discovery of the Jebel Irhoud fossils raise a question that everything we thought we knew is false. How old is the homosapien species? older than we originally thought. New fossils were discovered in Africa in 1961 that dated back about 350,000 years ago. This raises a lot of speculation about the features we were formed from. The jaw was larger, and the skull was more elongated. Summing this up quickly, we have discovered new evidence about how far we as a species date back, and valuable traits have been discovered about our origins and how we lived, before we were "modern" humans.

Madelyn P. I can agree with what Peele said. Humans tend to be scared and selfish. Psychologically, people are just rooted in selfishness, which in my opinion leads to fear and close mindedness. People have the natural desire to be a part of something, especially when that something puts them on the safe side. As history shows, humans tend to retaliate and harm other races/religions/countries when they feel in danger themselves (war) but as some of us know, war will never result in peace. To people, myself included, mobs are terrifying because they posses some of humanity's greatest barbarities. People can be weak and cowardly, and the worst of us deal with this fear by wreaking havoc on others, bringing them down past the level we are on, in order to feel better. People are absolutely terrifying. Humans are completely infatuated and driven crazy by power. People will commit the worst monstrosities in order to feel a sense of power and security. I will never, ever in my life be a...

Madelyn Perkovich 6/12/2017   About his grandmother, Fredrick Douglass states "She had rocked him in infancy, attended him in childhood, served him through life, and at his death wiped from his brow the icy brow the cold death sweat, and closed his eyes forever. She was nevertheless left a slave- a slave for life- a slave in the hands of strangers;and in their hands she saw her children, her grandchildren, and her great grandchildren divided, like so many sheep,without being gratified of the small privilege of a single word, as to their or her own destiny."   In this passage, he paints a picture of true sorrow and misery. This was effective in provoking my emotions of pity and sorrow because of the absolute unfairness of it all. The human heart is delicate, that woman was human, she was attached to her children and grandchildren, they were her entire life and purpose. After her long, dreary life as a slave, she was served no justice or consolation for all her labors. ...

Madelyn P. Advances in medicine continue to become more complex, though i think this one is fairly simple. New research has led scientists and doctors to believe there is a link between impaired smell and neurodegenerative diseases. Alzheimers and Parkinsons may be closely linked to sense of smell, and doctors may be able to predict the onset of the disease by a simple smell test. studies have even shown that impaired sense of smell may be an even better predictor of these diseases than memory loss. This could be an incredible advance for the medical field in diagnosing people earlier, and apparently already has been.

Madelyn P.           I can honestly say I agree with what Alexis Bloomer. Our generation is corrupt, lazy, and entitled. If I had to be honest, my opinion is that social media is responsible (along with ourselves) for much of the corruption and behavioral issues. We've grown up in a new age where standards for personality, body image, and a stigma of being "bad" has made us all insecure. While I think what Alexis Bloomer said is true, I don't think this generation is a failure by any means. I think we have all been torn down to some degree by peers, parents wanting us to resemble them, standards, and stress. The world has changed greatly since the last generation were teens, and things are different now. In some (small) aspects, I'm proud of my generation. We have young people fighting to state their opinion, we have young women my age fighting to be heard about feminism, and we have teens fighting for equality daily. Our generation has its...

Madelyn Perkovich            Today I read an article about a bizarre star that keeps repeatedly dimming in our solar system. Astronomers can't figure out exactly why, either. Typically, stars can dim when clouds of dust or gas pass over them, but these two instances typically have certain characteristics associated with such circumstances. Astronomers are almost certain there is no way it could be either of these things. "Tabby Star" (the stars nickname) is being closely watched by a number of telescopes all with different functions of observation. One theory astronomers are suggesting is that the dimming is due to a Dyson Sphere, a mega structure used by advanced or alien civilization to retain energy from the star to support the civilization. So, in conclusion, Tabby star may be proof that alien life forms exist, and are feeding off its energy the same way we do with our sun.

Madelyn Perkovich              Before viewing in class, I've watched this movie before with my dad. I will say, he laughed much more than I, probably due to the fact this was a "more of his time" movie. That being said, I really enjoyed the film and its lighthearted, funny nature. My dad and I have watched more than a few western films together, and this is the one I find favorable. In reading the review article, I'd have to say I agree completely. I think the movie was very funny, witty, lighthearted, and suspenseful. I also think the cinematography was very good considering the period of time in which it was filmed. I enjoy all types of movies so this being a western wasn't a "bore" for me, like it might be for some people my age. I agree that this movie must have set a new standard for action westerns, and upon reading the article, I can appreciate the different direction the director went in. Something I appreciate most t...

Madelyn Perkovich        I'm not going to lie, my heart beat pretty fast reading this one. I've always been interested in science, particularity physics. Exploring theories on human existence and the composition of our universe can entertain me for hours, it leaves me with the adrenaline of something bigger, heavier, and deeper than day to day life. This is probably the craziest, most mind blowing theory I've read, and before you think its ridiculous, please read the article. So, are we just a computer simulation ? This is actually a legit scientific hypothesis. Moderator Neil DeGrasse Tyson believes it to be as high as a 50/50 chance we are just a program on someones hard drive. Reading on this previously, it is said that a higher up universe, or advanced people from the future could want to simulate the past for entertainment or ancestral purposes. Computers this advanced to make up an entire existence are not far out of reach, even for us. As for prov...

Madelyn Perkovich        In reading these two passages, I've realized that as a culture, we do not sing publicly or aloud like we used to. I'm not sure how other countries or cultures go about singing, but I'd like to compare us. Singing can be hard and embarrassing, and as society has grown, we seem to always be worried about others opinions of almost every aspect of ourselves. Feeling shameful is, to most, something we avoid at all costs. I think its unfortunate singing has become a casualty of our face-saving culture. Singing, like countless other things, has become something we leave to the celebrities. This, after reading the prompt, deeply and bothers me.

Madelyn Perkovich         When asked about my opinion of Rapid City, I don't typically have much to say. Many teenagers in particular would have negative opinions, I believe this is because they feel limited living here. For example, I don't particularly love living here. That being said, I don't think Rapid City is a bad place to live. For me, I don't enjoy being here because I have many more places I'd like to see and experience. I want to see as much of the world as I can, and as I've grown and established more individuality within myself, I've come to develop preferences. For instance, I would prefer to live somewhere warm, with a beach near by, and a larger spectrum of things to do. I believe you grow as a person the more you travel, and I constantly chase that feeling of growth. So no, I don't hate Rapid, but I don't want to be here either.          Rapid city is a comfortable place, far from lots of the...

       Madelyn Perkovich           In reading about recent news on quantum gravity and mechanics, I discovered that Loop Quantum Gravity (LQG) may be linked closer to String Theory than previously thought. Typically, these two theories in science contradict each other, and prove to be incompatible. Recent discoveries relating to a black hole has left string theorists rethinking what they knew about black holes, and could build a link between these two theories. String theory is the theory that everything is made up of tiny strings, some with loose ends and some attached, pulling and twisting. LQG is the theory that everything is made up of small chunks in space, vibrating and moving about. For a long time, the two theories and the scientists studying them kept separate, which is unfortunate because studying physics should not be that way. In my reading I was excited to learn there could be a new found link bet...

Daily writing prompt   6/5/17         To "know thyself" is to understand who you are, and what makes you who you are. understanding oneself and the individuality that comes along with a person is the pressing question that leaves many people confused, especially through young adulthood. If you were to ask a person, "who are you?" many would freeze, or simply tell you about thing they like and do not. I believe knowing oneself is far deeper and more complex than the simple makeup of our tendencies in every day life.        When Socrates and Plato gave the advice to "know thyself", I believe they were right to recognize its importance. I don't yet know exactly who I am, and that is okay, because I'm always growing and changing. I probably won't be the same person with the same though process in three months, and that's exciting to me. That being said, I know myself in different ways. for example, I know what kin...