Sunflower Seed

                                                              What Could Have Been
                                       

"Sunflower (Helianthus annuus) is an annual plant native to the Americas. It possesses a large inflorescence (flowering head). The sunflower is named after its huge, fiery blooms, whose shape and image are often used to depict the sun. It has a rough, hairy stem, broad, coarsely toothed, rough leaves and circular heads of flowers. The heads consist of many individual flowers which mature into seeds, often in the hundreds, on a receptacle base. From the Americas, sunflower seeds were brought to Europe in the 16th century, where, along with sunflower oil, they became a widespread cooking ingredient. Leaves of the sunflower can be used as cattle feed, while the stems contain a fiber which may be used in paper production."

Initially I had great hopes for the plant and watered it daily or as needed. The plant began to sprout and made it to about 4 inches long. Then thanksgiving break happened and I left Sunny untended and it soon passed away. I opened my window and spread its remains into the environment.

This is the simulated progression of my plant if I had been a better parent.

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Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunflower

Important Figure From Macon Cemetery

                                                      Rodney Maxwell Davis

Davis was born on April 7, 1942, in Macon, Georgia to Gordon N. Davis and Ruth A. Davis. He attended elementary school and high school there and graduated from Peter G. Appling High School, May 29, 1961.Shortly after graduation, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in his hometown, August 31, 1961; then reported for recruit training with the First Recruit Training Battalion Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina. Upon completion of recruit training in December 1961, he was transferred to the Marine Corps Base, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, and underwent Individual Combat Training with the Second Battalion, First Infantry Training Regiment, graduating the following February. Ordered to the Republic of Vietnam in August 1967, he was assigned duty as a Platoon Guide with Company B, First Battalion, Fifth Marines, First Marine Division. On September 6, 1967, he was operating with his unit in the Quang Nam Province on a search and clear mission during Operation Swift, when they were attacked by a large North Vietnamese force. Elements of the platoon were pinned down in a trench line by mortars, heavy automatic and small arms fire. He went from man to man encouraging them on and also returning fire at the same time. An enemy hand grenade fell in the trenches his men were fighting from and without hesitation he threw himself upon the grenade. He saved his fellow Marines in this selfless act and thus earned the nation's highest military decoration: the Medal of Honor.

Rodney Davis currently has a U.S. naval ship with his name on it. The USS Rodney M. Davis



Davis now has a monument that is Dedicated to his service and his title as only Macon born resident to be awarded the medal of honor.


Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodney_M._Davis
http://www.public.navy.mil/surfor/ffg60/Pages/default.aspx#.UMeU6YNWyuI
http://www.macon.com/2012/11/06/2239888/rodney-davis-memorial-to-be-unveiled.html
http://www.veteranstoday.com/2012/04/16/vietnam-veteran-marine-medal-of-honor-recipient-needs-your-help-and-your-support-can-you-give/davis-memorial/

                                 Mitochondrial Eve

                                                

In the field of human genetics, Mitochondrial Eve refers to the most common recent ancestor (MRCA) of modern humans. In other words, she was the most recent woman from whom all living humans today descend, on their mother's side, and through the mothers of those mothers and so on, back until all lines converge on one person. Because all mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is generally passed from mother to offspring without recombination, all mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) in every living person is directly descended from hers by definition.

                                                                                   Tribes of Man

              

The theory is that all humans originated from north eastern Africa and from there spread across the world. Along the way each of the different groups began to develop traits, or mutations in their DNA. These mutations in their DNA was due in part to environmental changes Peoples that moved to colder climates needed less energy to be devoted to melanin production, and instead used it to build up fats in the body.

                                                         Human Genome Project

Completed in 2003, the Human Genome Project (HGP) was a 13-year project coordinated by the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Institutes of Health. During the early years of the HGP, the Welcome Trust (U.K.) became a major partner; additional contributions came from Japan, France, Germany, China, and others. See our history page for more information.

Project goals were to

identify all the approximately 20,000-25,000 genes in human DNA,

determine the sequences of the 3 billion chemical base pairs that make up human DNA,

store this information in databases,

improve tools for data analysis,

transfer related technologies to the private sector, and

address the ethical, legal, and social issues (ELSI) that may arise from the project.

Though the HGP is finished, analyses of the data will continue for many years. Follow this ongoing research on our Milestones page. An important feature of the HGP project was the federal government's long-standing dedication to the transfer of technology to the private sector. By licensing technologies to private companies and awarding grants for innovative research, the project catalyzed the multibillion-dollar U.S. biotechnology industry and fostered the development of new medical applications.

                                                        Individuals with Unique attributes.

Sources

     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitochondrial_Eve

http://www.raceandhistory.com/cgi-bin/forum/webbbs_config.pl/noframes/read/662

http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/home.shtml