The Adventure of the Sperm and Egg Essay Example for Free

The Adventure of the Sperm and Egg Essay Let me introduce myself, I am Penny the Egg and today I will embark on one of the most exciting times in my life span. This has been a long expedition and now that I have reached the infundibulum, this is the outer portion of a female fallopian tube. The name I was in the medical word is â€Å"Ova†, most people just call me egg but my name again is Penny. I have been in contact with a germ cell named Seymour. His medical name is sperm and he lives inside the male human body. Seymour and I have been dreaming about this adventure for our whole lives. I am hope everything goes as planned and Seymour and I get to meet. After we meet, we will become one to create another male or female embryo which will grow into a human baby. As the â€Å"Great Change† occurs, medically that would be puberty for a female; I was one of 2 million ova that once lived inside the female. After the great change there are around 400,000 of my sisters and I left. We all live inside the follicle; these are thin capsules inside the ovaries. Out of the 400,000 of us that survived the great change, only 400 or so of us will reach fulfillment and become a ripened ova (Nevid, Rathus Fichner-Rathus, 2011). When I have ripened to fulfillment I will leave the safety of the ovary where I spent my childhood, I have made my way to where I am now, the fallopian tube. This is where I will wait for Seymour to arrive. It takes me some time to travel down the fallopian tube, and during this time is when my female host will ovulate, and then two weeks later my host will menstruate unless Seymour and I create life. The length of my travel is around 4 inches, but I must travel different parts of the tube in order to be totally ready to meet Seymour. As I travel the fallopian tube, I will come a crossed various small groups who call themselves Cilia. The Cilia groups have miniature hair-like projections that help me along my travels’. I could not make it an inch a day without the help of the Cilia. I dream about Seymour and our meeting day and worry that my female host will not allow me to be discharged with her menstruation. I have now been in the fallopian tube for just over a day now and I pray that Seymour is skillful enough to make it in enough time to help me create life. If Seymour does not arrive within two day of my leaving the ovary, I will not be here to meet him and no life will be created (Nevid, Rathus Fichner-Rathus, 2011). I am the type of egg to worry all the time, I wonder if Seymour’s trip is going according to plan? I just hope Seymour is strong and fast enough to out swim his brother’s taking this adventure also. Hello everyone my name is Seymour the sperm, I ‘m sure by now you know Penny and I am sure she told you I have millions of brothers’. Honestly, I cannot wait to take that adventure because it is too crowded and very uncomfortable for me in here. I just hope I am strong enough and can survive the adventure, why worry? You ask, because many of us do not survive and it can be a very fatal because it is a false adventure, but I know that to keep life going I must swim as fast and hard as I can to meet my Penny. My Life began in a place in the male host body called the testicles. This is where I went through a 72 days process of spermatogenesis. In order for me to meet Penny inside her female host, I had to endure this process. I have been told that Penny only holds the X chromosome (female), and I contain a Y chromosome (male) and the X chromosome. Once Penny and I meet our sex chromosome will connect and I have one of the most important jobs at this point I will decide if Penny and I will create the life of a male or female, because I alone can make I male with the Y chromosome (Nevid, Rathus Fichner-Rathus, 2011). After my preparation for my adventure, I make my way to the epididymis while in this transition, I continue to mature. It will take a few more weeks for me to be able to move to the Vans Deferens tube of my male host. I will continue my adventure to meet my Penny by making my way into the seminal vesicle; this is where I get all my nourishment from seminal fluid rich in fructose. The nutrition I receive from the fructose in the seminal fluids is what will make me strong enough to out swim my brothers’ to meet Penny. I have discovered I look a lot like a tadpole. I have a tail that whips back and forth to move me forward. Before I matured to this â€Å"tadpole† stage my movements were conducted by the contractions in the epididymis, Vans, Deferens, and just like Penny, I also had help from groups of cilia (Nevid, Rathus Fichner-Rathus, 2011). As the prostate and Cowper’s are making secretions, I continue my adventure. The secretions the other organs are making are what my brothers’ and I will mix with in the ejaculation proses. Yes, I made it to the point I am ready to be ejected from the male’s penis darning sexual intercourse. Once this happens I can begin a whole other adventure to meet Penny in the fallopian tube of her female host. My male host has ejected me and my brothers from his body to Penny’s female host. I must move faster than I have ever moved before. Millions of my brother s are trying to get to my Penny also and will race through the cervical canal, onto the uterus, we will continue to battle to be the first one to successfully reach an ovum (Penny) waiting just outside the opening to the fallopian tube. I did it! I was the first one to reach the ovum and penetrate Penny’s hard outer lining. Even thou many of my brothers’ might find her, once I am inside the lining Penny will go through a chemical change that will insure we become an embryo. We will travel together down the rest of the fallopian tube so we can implant ourselves into the uterus until birth as a human .

Macbeth: Summary Essay -- essays research papers

Macbeth: Summary Macbeth and Banquo, Scottish generals, are returning after crushing a rebellion against Duncan ( King of Scotland ), when they are met by three witches. The witches prophesy that Macbeth will become thane of Cawdor , then later on he will become King. Banquo is told that he will never become King, but will be the father of Kings. Macbeth is horrified, for shortly afterwards a messenger arrives to tell him that Duncan has created him Thane of Cawdor as a reward for his services. Macbeth writes the news to his wife. Lady Macbeth reads the letter from Macbeth, telling her of the prophecies. With reading this she chooses to invite evil spirits into her to take away her womanhood, she wants to lose her tenderness that is normally associated with womanhood so that she can hel...

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner Chapters 3

I frowned. â€Å"How is that a good thing?† â€Å"Keeps him alive, doesn't it? Guess it keeps you alive, too.† I nodded. â€Å"Guess so. Did he say anything about anyone else?† I tried to think of anything strange I'd seen or felt, but Fred was one of a kind. The clowns in the al ey tonight pretending to be superheroes hadn't been doing anything the rest of us couldn't do. â€Å"He talked about Raoul,† Diego said, the corner of his mouth twisting down. â€Å"What skil does Raoul have? Super-stupidity?† Diego snorted. â€Å"Definitely that. But Riley thinks he's got some kind of magnetism – people are drawn to him, they fol ow him.† â€Å"Only the mental y chal enged.† â€Å"Yeah, Riley mentioned that. Didn't seem to be effective on the† – he broke out a decent impression of Riley's voice – â€Å" tamer kids.'† â€Å"Tame?† â€Å"I inferred that he meant people like us, who are able to think occasional y.† I didn't like being cal ed tame. It didn't sound like a good thing when you put it that way. Diego's way sounded better. â€Å"It was like there was a reason Riley needed Raoul to lead – something's coming, I think.† A weird tingle spasmed along my spine when he said that, and I sat up straighter. â€Å"Like what?† â€Å"Do you ever think about why Riley is always after us to keep a low profile?† I hesitated for half a second before answering. This wasn't the line of inquiry I would have expected from Riley's right-hand man. Almost like he was questioning what Riley had told us. Unless Diego was asking this for Riley, like a spy. Finding out what the â€Å"kids† thought of him. But it didn't feel like that. Diego's dark red eyes were open and confiding. And why would Riley care? Maybe the way the others talked about Diego wasn't based on anything real. Just gossip. I answered him truthful y. â€Å"Yeah, actual y I was just thinking about that.† â€Å"We aren't the only vampires in the world,† Diego said solemnly. â€Å"I know. Riley says stuff sometimes. But there can't be too many. I mean, wouldn't we have noticed, before?† Diego nodded. â€Å"That's what I think, too. Which is why it's pretty weird that she keeps making more of us, don't you think? â€Å" I frowned. â€Å"Huh. Because it's not like Riley actual y likes us or anything†¦.† I paused again, waiting to see if he would contradict me. He didn't. He just waited, nodding slightly in agreement, so I continued. â€Å"And she hasn't even introduced herself. You're right. I hadn't looked at it that way. Wel, I hadn't real y thought about it at al . But then, what do they want us for?† Diego raised one eyebrow. â€Å"Wanna hear what I think?† I nodded warily. But my anxiety had nothing to do with him now. â€Å"Like I said, something is coming. I think she wants protection, and she put Riley in charge of creating the front line.† I thought this through, my spine prickling again. â€Å"Why wouldn't they tel us? Shouldn't we be, like, on the lookout or something?† â€Å"That would make sense,† he agreed. We looked at each other in silence for a few long-seeming seconds. I had nothing more, and it didn't look like he did, either. Final y I grimaced and said, â€Å"I don't know if I buy it – the part about Raoul being good for anything, that is.† Diego laughed. â€Å"Hard to argue that one.† Then he glanced out the windows at the dark early morning. â€Å"Out of time. Better head back before we turn into crispies.† â€Å"Ashes, ashes, we al fal down,† I sang under my breath as I got to my feet and col ected my pile. Diego chuckled. We made one more quick stop on our way – hit the empty Target next door for big ziplocks and two backpacks. I doublebagged al my books. Water-damaged pages annoyed me. Then we mostly roof-topped it back to the water. The sky was just faintly starting to gray up in the east. We slipped into the sound right under the noses of two oblivious night watchmen by the big ferry – good thing for them I was ful or they would have been too close for my self-control – and then raced through the murky water back toward Riley's place. At first I didn't know it was a race. I was just swimming fast because the sky was getting lighter. I didn't usual y push the time like this. If I were being honest with myself, I'd pretty much turned into a huge vampire nerd. I fol owed the rules, I didn't cause trouble, I hung out with the most unpopular kid in the group, and I always got home early. But then Diego real y kicked it into gear. He got a few lengths ahead of me, turned back with a smile that said, what, can't you keep up? and then started booking it again. Wel, I wasn't taking that. I couldn't real y remember if I'd been the competitive type before – it al seemed so far away and unimportant – but maybe I was, because I responded right away to the chal enge. Diego was a good swimmer, but I was way stronger, especial y after just feeding. See ya, I mouthed as I passed him, but I wasn't sure he saw. I lost him back in the dark water, and I didn't waste time looking to see by how much I was winning. I just jetted through the sound til I hit the edge of the island where the most recent of our homes was located. The last one had been a big cabin in the middle of Snowvil e-Nowhere on the side of some mountain in the Cascades. Like the last one, this house was remote, had a big basement, and had recently deceased owners. I raced up onto the shal ow stony beach and then dug my fingers into the sandstone bluff and flew up. I heard Diego come out of the water just as I gripped the trunk of an overhanging pine and flipped myself over the cliff edge. Two things caught my attention as I landed gently on the bal s of my feet. One: it was real y light out. Two: the house was gone. Wel, not entirely gone. Some of it was stil visible, but the space the house had once occupied was empty. The roof had col apsed into ragged, angular wooden lace, charred black, sagging lower than the front door had been. The sun was rising fast. The black pine trees were showing hints of evergreen. Soon the paler tips would stand out against the dark, and at about that point I would be dead. Or really dead, or whatever. This second thirsty, superhero life would go up in a sudden burst of flames. And I could only imagine that the burst would be very, very painful. This wasn't the first time I'd seen our house destroyed – with al the fights and fires in the basements, most of them lasted only a few weeks – but it was the first time I'd come across the scene of destruction with the first faint rays of sunlight threatening. I sucked in a gasp of shock as Diego landed beside me. â€Å"Maybe burrow under the roof?† I whispered. â€Å"Would that be safe enough or – ?† â€Å"Don't freak out, Bree,† Diego said, sounding too calm. â€Å"I know a place. C'mon.† He did a very graceful backflip off the bluff edge. I didn't think the water would be enough of a filter to block the sun. But maybe we couldn't burn if we were submerged? It seemed like a real y poor plan to me. However, instead of tunneling under the burned-out hul of the wrecked house, I dove off the cliff behind him. I wasn't sure of my reasoning, which was a strange feeling. Usual y I did what I always did – fol owed the routine, did what made sense. I caught up to Diego in the water. He was racing again, but with no nonsense this time. Racing the sun. He whipped around a point on the little island and then dove deep. I was surprised he didn't hit the rocky floor of the sound, and more surprised when I could feel the blast of warmer current flowing from what I had thought was no more than an outcropping of rock. Smart of Diego to have a place like this. Sure, it wasn't going to be fun to sit in an underwater cavern al day – not breathing started to irritate after a few hours – but it was better than exploding into ashes. I should have been thinking like Diego was. Thinking about something other than blood, that is. I should have been prepared for the unexpected. Diego kept going through a narrow crevice in the rocks. It was black as ink in here. Safe. I couldn't swim anymore – the space was too tight – so I scrambled through like Diego, climbing through the twisting space. I kept waiting for him to stop, but he didn't. Suddenly I realized that we real y were going up. And then I heard Diego hit the surface. I was out a half second after he was. The cave was no more than a smal hole, a burrow about the size of a Volkswagen Beetle, though not as tal as that. A second crawl space led out the back, and I could taste the fresh air coming from that direction. I could see the shape of Diego's fingers repeated again and again in the texture of the limestone wal s. â€Å"Nice place,† I said. Diego smiled. â€Å"Better than Freaky Fred's backside.† â€Å"I can't argue with that. Um. Thanks.† â€Å"You're welcome.† We looked at each other in the dark for a minute. His face was smooth and calm. With anyone else, Kevin or Kristie or any of the others, this would have been terrifying – the constricted space, the forced closeness. The way I could smel his scent on every side of me. That could have meant a quick and painful death at any second. But Diego was so composed. Not like anyone else. â€Å"How old are you?† he asked abruptly. â€Å"Three months. I told you that.† â€Å"That's not what I meant. Um, how old were you? I guess that's the right way to ask.† I leaned away, uncomfortable, when I realized he was talking about human stuff. Nobody talked about that. Nobody wanted to think about it. But I didn't want to end the conversation, either. Just having a conversation at al was something new and different. I hesitated, and he waited with a curious expression. â€Å"I was, um, I guess fifteen. Almost sixteen. I can't remember the day†¦ was I past my birthday?† I tried to think about it, but those last hungry weeks were a big blur, and it hurt my head in a weird way to try to clear them up. I shook my head, let it go. â€Å"How about you?† â€Å"I was just past my eighteenth,† Diego said. â€Å"So close.† â€Å"Close to what?† â€Å"Getting out,† he said, but he didn't continue. There was an awkward silence for a minute, and then he changed the subject. â€Å"You've done real y wel since you got here,† he said, his eyes sweeping across my crossed arms, my folded legs. â€Å"You've survived – avoided the wrong kind of attention, kept intact.† I shrugged and then yanked my left t-shirt sleeve up to my shoulder so he could see the thin, ragged line that circled my arm. â€Å"Got this ripped off once,† I admitted. â€Å"Got it back before Jen could toast it. Riley showed me how to put it back on.† Diego smiled wryly and touched his right knee with one finger. His dark jeans covered the scar that must have been there. â€Å"It happens to everybody.† â€Å"Ouch,† I said. He nodded. â€Å"Seriously. But like I was saying before, you're a pretty decent vampire.† â€Å"Am I supposed to say thanks?† â€Å"I'm just thinking out loud, trying to make sense of things.† â€Å"What things?†

Vasilauskas Callie Unit

At first England is referred to as, ‘This other Eden, deem-paradise/ This fortress built by nature for herself' (2. 1, p. 677-720, 41-44). Gaunt compared the garden of England to the Garden of Eden, Gods Garden! Soon that image is destroyed with descriptions of England defeating itself, much like pests and rodents destroying a garden from the inside out. Referencing both the Garden Of Eden and the internal destruction of the garden, it is obvious that this speech is more than just rambling about flowers and bugs.Describing England as much more than just place to live while also commenting how it is those that live in England that will destroy it is much more religious than some might think. While in the Duke of Works garden, it becomes evident who the â€Å"pests† of the garden really are. King Richard and his merry men are the parasites that are destroying the Garden of England. â€Å"When our sea walled garden, the whole land is full of weeds/ Her fairest flowers chok ed up, her fruit trees all unpinned/ Her hedges ruined, her knots disordered and her wholesome herbs swarming with caterpillars (3. , p. 1836-1919, 40-46). In the same scene on lines 51-65, it is made clear that it is the king that has not trimmed and dressed his land. While he does not directly come out and say the word, â€Å"garden†, Blinkered speaks of the, â€Å"Caterpillars of the commonwealth/ Which have sworn to weed out and pluck away† (2. 3, p. 1277-1 357, 166-167). We know, of course, that Blinkered is speaking of the Kings advisors, Bushy, Bogota, and Green. Talking about the pests of the garden that are destroying it is a very important part of the play.Knowing who is letting weeds flourish in the Arden makes it easier to get the plants in a row. In regards to the gardens in the play, feel that Shakespeare was writing on more of a religious front than anything. Using the Garden of Eden as a way to describe England was my first tip off. The beauty, bliss, a nd purity that we all know of the Garden of Eden made it easy to picture England as a beautiful garden. Once the ugliness and betrayal made an appearance, Adam and Eve and their betrayal to God came to mind. While they could not resist temptation, King Richard could not resist either.He became greedy and money hungry with the desire of land and power. This led to the internal failure of the garden since the main â€Å"gardener† was failing at his duties. Religion was a major undertone in The Tragedy of King Richard II, and when I realized this I finally noticed how wonderful the writing of Shakespeare truly is. Once you get past the different style of writing, it is easy to admire the beauty within the play. It is clear why John of Jaunts speech about the garden is one of the most famous speeches of the play.

insider essays

insider essays A dramatization of 1995 events in which the tobacco industry allegedly covered up proof that nicotine is addictive and harmful. When Brown and Williamson executive Jeffrey Wigand (Crowe) tries to expose the industry's cover-up, he is threatened into silence. He eventually gets his story to 60 Minutes producer Lowell Bergman (AL Pacino), but CBS decides against airing it due to political and economic pressures, and the threat of lawsuit from Brown and Williamson. Before we start, I think it's important that you know a little thing about me, and where I'm coming from. I do smoke. But I believe that most of the lawsuits filed against the tobacco industry are unfounded, desperate attempts for people to put the blame on anyone but themselves. I think social security is a safety net for the financially irresponsible. I thought The Insider was a great movie from a strictly entertainment perspective (don't get ahead of me on this one!), and I enjoyed it very much. Russell Crowe is Jeffrey Wigand, a Brown and Williamson VP of Research and Development whose conscience compels him to blow the whistle on the industry. He claims that Big Tobacco has been covering up scientific research that proves nicotine is addictive and harmful. The writing puts a lot of energy into making sure that Wigand is a sufficiently complicated character, and one that we sympathize with. To be sure, he's not entirely one-dimensional. Initially, he does what most of us would do in his position: he takes the money and benefits that the company offers him in return for silence. After all, the guy has a family to look out for. But then Wigand is tortured over his passiveness, wondering if he should take a more aggressive stance with his potentially damaging knowledge. 60 Minutes producer Lowell Bergman, sensing a big story in the works, tries to coax Wigand into talking. An energetic Al Pacino, who fights to get the story on the air, only to have i ...

Transitive and Intransitive Verbs in German

Transitive and Intransitive Verbs in German When you look at a verb entry in a German-English dictionary, you will always find either a v.t. or v.i. written after the verb. These letters stand for a transitive verb (v.t.) and an intransitive verb (v.i.) and its important that you do not ignore those letters. They  indicate how you can use the verb properly when speaking and writing in German. Transitive (v.t.) Verbs The majority of German verbs are transitive. These types of verbs will always take the accusative case when used in a sentence. This means that the verb needs to be complemented with an object in order to make sense. Du magst ihn.  (You like him.) The sentence would sound incomplete if you said only: Du magst. (You like.) Transitive verbs can be used in the passive voice. The exceptions are  haben (to have), besitzen (to possess), kennen (to know), and wissen (to know). Transitive verbs  are used in the perfect and past perfect tenses (as an active voice) with the helping verb haben. Ich habe ein Geschenk gekauft. (I bought a present.) The nature and meaning of some transitive verbs require that they are complemented with a double accusative in a sentence. These verbs are abfragen (to interrogate), abhà ¶ren (to listen to), kosten (to cost money/something), lehren (to teach), and  nennen (to name). Sie lehrte ihn die Grammatik. (She taught him grammar.) Intransitive (v.i.) Verbs Intransitive verbs are used with less frequency in German, but it is still important to understand them. These types of verbs do not take a direct object and will always take the dative or genitive case when used in a sentence. Sie hilft ihm. (She is helping him.) Intransitive verbs cannot be used in the passive voice. The exception to this rule is when youre using the pronoun  es  in select  circumstances. Es wurde gesungen. (There was singing.) Intransitive verbs that express an action or a change of state will be used in the perfect and past perfect tenses, as well as  futur II with the verb sein. Among these verbs are  gehen  (to go), fallen  (to fall), laufen  (to run, walk), schwimmen (to swim), sinken (to sink), and springen (to jump). Wir sind schnell gelaufen. (We walked fast.) All other intransitive verbs will use haben  as the helping verb. These verbs include  arbeiten (to work), gehorchen (to obey), schauen (to see, look), and warten (to wait).   Er hat mir gehorcht. (He listened to me.) Some Verbs Can Be Both Many verbs can also be both transitive and intransitive. Which you use will depend on the context as we can see in these examples of verb fahren  (to drive): Ich habe das Auto gefahren. (Transitiv) (I drove the car.)Heute morgen bin ich durch die Gegend gefahren. (Intransitiv) I drove through the neighborhood today. To determine whether you are using the transitive or the intransitive form, remember to associate the transitive with a direct object. Are you doing something to something? This will also help you identify those verbs that can be both.

Locally Produced Goods Versus Imported Goods Essay

Locally Produced Goods Versus Imported Goods - Essay Example It is evidently clear from the discussion that modern days have seen the transportation and use of goods irrespective of their geographical locations. This trend is most of the time attributed to the freedom of mobility as a result of globalization and technological advancements. Thus, sometimes, goods which are imported become cheaper and of better quality than the locally produced ones. Along with this trend, there arises the controversy whether it is right to give priority to imported goods over the locally produced ones on the basis of price and quality. Though the trend seems harmless at the first sight, history proves that this practice will have a number of negative effects. Studies show that locally produced goods are better than imported goods due to many reasons. Firstly, the imported goods do not offer cheap rates over long time. So, if there is more reliance on imported products, the local production will disappear. This will allow foreign companies and nations to have to tal monopoly over the product. They may utilize this situation to exploit the consumers through increased price or reduced quality. This will have a serious impact on the security of any nation. Secondly, when there is higher reliance on imported goods, the local producers will have to stop production. This will affect the local economy at both macro and micro level. Thus, profit on one side is loss on the other. Also, it becomes evident that the plants and animals of a particular place are best suited to the local environment. So, for the inhabitants of that place, consuming the locally available things is the best way for survival in that area. Moreover, it becomes evident that this practice has a devastating effect on culture. A culture is called a culture for various reasons ranging from food habits, specific rites and ritual, a specific dress code, art, and language. So, deviating from any of these for financial gains will lead to a dilution in the culture as has seen around th e world. In addition, there are humanitarian issues too. As noticed, most of the mass produced cheap products are the result of considerable levels of exploitation. In nations like China, which are known for cheap production, workers are deprived of even basic salaries and proper sleep. Furthermore, there are both health issues and environmental issues to be explored. Mass production like industrial farming requires heavy use of pesticides, insecticides, and fertilizers. In addition, the mass-produced products require preservation and transportation. The workers who work in such farms will have to face serious health problems. Also, preservation and transportation involve use of preservatives, and waste of energy. Also, when there is mass production, there is large-scale pollution, exploitation of natural resources, and contaminate of natural resources. When this happens, many locally available varieties are ignored. Thus, over time, there will be the loss of many important varietie s due to this craze for profit. This will, in turn affect the ecology as a whole. Modern days have seen an increasing exchange of goods irrespective of geographic proximity as a result of improvements in communication and transportation. Thus, people use local and import products in their everyday lives even without being aware about the same. This change came along with a controversy regarding the effects of this change. As multinational retailer giants launched their units in countries like China, people witnessed a rising conflict between regional sentiments and globalization. Thus, presently, there is the question whether one should go for locally produced goods or imported goods.