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American Robin (Turdus migratorius)

May 6, 2024

Southeastern Pennsylvania

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On This Day In History

March 5th, 1938: American biologist Lynn Margulis was born. Her widespread contributions rewrote our understanding of early life and her ideas were so radical they were rejected and ignore for a decade before she was vindicated.

It’s thanks to Dr. Margulis that we understand why the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell!

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I love this!

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Gaia Theory by James Lovelock & Lynn Margulis

Gaia is defined as a complex entity involving Earth’s biosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and geosphere. 

The totality of Gaia constitutes a cybernetic, homeostatic, self-regulating feedback system which seeks an optimal environment for all life on Earth. 

Gaia’s existence can be summarized with three principal characteristics: 

1. Gaia has the tendency to keep constant conditions for all terrestrial and aquatic life. 

2. Gaia has vital organs at her core, as well as expendable or redundant ones at her periphery. The effects of what we do to Gaia may depend greatly on where we do them. 

3. Gaian responses to changes obey the rules of cybernetics, in which time, constants, feedback loops, losses, and gains are all important factors. Thus, regulations measured in thousands of years are slow to change for the worse, but equally slow, if not slower, to change for the better. 

Therefore, living within Gaia, there are consequences for each of our actions. 

Ultimately, Gaian regulation of a state fit for life on Earth is a property of the whole evolving system of biosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and geosphere. 

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Shero

Lynn Margulis

DID YOU KNOW? THE MITOCHONDRIA IS THE POWERHOUSE OF THE CELL! KNOW YOU KNOW!

And Lynn Margulis is the woman who figured out where they came from--and rewrote modern biology in the process.

[Margulis in a greenhouse]

Born Lynn Petra Alexander (1938-2011), Margulis is a woman whose accomplishments were integral to science but who did not get the recognition that was her due. Today she's often known as Carl Sagan's first wife, but Margulis was an academic rebel and a pioneer who fought for multiple scientific theories against the scientific establishment--and was always eventually vindicated.

Margulis was born to a Jewish family in Chicago, Illinois. A smart but easily bored child, she was constantly getting in trouble--when she wasn't skipping grades. She earned her bachelor's degree by age 19 and got her master's in genetics and zoology at age 22. She got her PhD from the University of California, Berkeley in 1965--at just 27 years old.

In 1966, she wrote "On the Origin of Mitosing Cells", which was rejected by over a dozen journals before being published in the Journal of Theoretical Biology and making a lot of people very angry. She argued that complex eukaryotic cells, like the ones humans have, are created by the process of endosymbiosis. This is where two more primitive prokaryotic cells join together and, instead of one dying, they live as a single cell. She faced criticism for this idea for decades before being experimentally validated.

[Mitochondria]

She also fought for the Gaia hypothesis, the scientific idea that living things self-regulate the planet on which they live, as well as supporting the five kingdom classification of life on earth (animals, plants, fungi, protists, and monera). These were also the subject of serious scientific debate, and Margulis defended them ardently.

Not all her ideas ended up proving her right as successfully as did these (in fairness: classification debates are still ongoing, but it's thanks to Margulis that the five kingdoms are still a part of said debates), but these made her a seminal part of 20th-century scientific advancement. Endosymbiosis and the Gaia hypothesis, now accepted and taught in textbooks, are essential to our understanding of how the first life on Earth grew and changed.

[Margulis in a lab]

Margulis was called "Science's Unruly Earth Mother" and one of the 50 most important women in science. She was also told, "Your research is crap. Don't ever bother to apply again." by a grant application response. Changing accepted science doesn't happen right away.

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Advice for anyone who wants to get into birding!

You don’t have to travel far or go to super remote places to see good birds. That’s one of the great things about them! Birds are very accessible (too accessible) wildlife. You can see cool species doing cool things at your local park, wooded lot, retention pond, or landfill.

Don’t feel like you have to shell out for super expensive binoculars/scopes/cameras/etc, especially when you’re just starting out. 

NEVER make eye contact with a wild bird

Your local Audubon chapter or other bird club can be a great resource for learning local hotspots, and building up your ID skills. These clubs are usually happy (desperate) for new blood

Wear body armor no less than 4 inches thick. Kevlar highly recommended

A good field guide is a must have. Even experienced birders keep one on hand for reference. There are also great bird ID apps. I use Merlin myself

If a bird’s shadow passes over you, you must burn all your clothes and purify your body immediately.

I always recommend visiting bodies of water for novice birders. First, they’re great places to see wildlife in general. But mostly it’s that wading birds and waterfowl are big, easier to ID, conspicuous, usually stationary, and the nearby water is convenient for emergency purification rituals.

Yes, they are watching you too.

Remember, birds are wildlife and can easily become stressed out. Please give them their space, especially in the spring and summer breeding season.

Birds do not have teeth. If you see one grinning at you do not trust it, it is a trick!

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Memories

Another view of the lake Papa built, where I swam and studied aquatic ecology before the term was coined. (at Red Oak, Georgia)

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Millo-Millo - Camille Mugnier.

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Falcons and Shorebirds 2020 from Nick Dunlop on Vimeo.

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Green Cay Wetlands - October 21, 2021 from Betsy Stibal on Vimeo.

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In The Arms Of The Angel from Joe Ward on Vimeo.

Composed by Sarah McLachlan Performed & Arranged by Joe Ward

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The Starling and Falcon Dance from Nick Dunlop on Vimeo.

Watch Peregrine Falcons hunt European Starlings

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I Won't Sing Here Anymore from Ross Productions on Vimeo.

"I Won't Sing Here Anymore" from the new release by Koonce-Ross-Fraser entitled "New American Blues". Nine new tracks available at CDbaby for individual tracks or the entire CD: store.cdbaby.com/cd/kooncerossfraser This video is produced by Doug Fraser and myself and featuring Jon. On the track I’m on acoustic, Doug on bass, Mel Kubik on harmonium, Tony Furtado on bottleneck, and Rindy Ross on harmonies. Marv Ross 'I Won't Sing Here Anymore' © 2019 Marvin Webster Ross (ASCAP) Narrow Dude Music

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Bal-A-Vis-X from OSDE on Vimeo.

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You Gotta Believe from Nina Paley on Vimeo.

Why not believe in Her?

Directed animated etc. by Nina Paley Music: "You Gotta Believe" (Norman Whitfield) sung by the Pointer Sisters, circa 1976

Scene for feature-film-in-progress Seder-Masochism Free goddess gifs at blog.ninapaley.com/2018/01/01/24-free-goddess-gifs/

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LOVELY (Week 2) from ANNA - The Black Pants Girl on Vimeo.

Choreography by Anna Maria Terlinden (The Black Pants Girl) Song by Billie Eilish and Khalid

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Burrowing Owls - Vista View Park - May 13, 2019 from Betsy Stibal on Vimeo.