...Chapter #1: A Universe of Life? 1.1 The Possibility of Life Beyond Earth What are we searching for? * What are we looking for exactly? * Is it: intelligent life portrayed in sci-fi, more akin to the plants and animals we see in parks or zoos, or is it tiny bacteria-like microbes? * The simple answer to this question is “all of the above” * Extraterrestrial life: Life beyond Earth, we are looking for any sign of life, be it simple, complex, or even intelligent * We have a general definition of what life is, but for now it should be clear that this is a complicated question that affects how we search for life in the universe * Because of the definitional difficulty, the scientific search for extraterrestrial life in the universe generally presumes a search for life that is at least somewhat Earth-like and that we could therefore recognize based on what we know from studying life on Earth Is it reasonable to imagine life beyond Earth? * Prior to the 20th century, for example, some scientists guessed that Venus might harbor a tropical paradise -> this guess was based on little more than the fact that Venus is covered by clouds and closer than Earth to the Sun * Mars was the subject of even more intense debate, largely because a handful of scientists thought they saw long, straight canals on the surface * These canals, which don’t actually exist, were cited as evidence of a Martian civilization * Why has...
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...1. Why are scientists interested in the possibility of life beyond Earth? The discovery of life of any kind beyond Earth would forever change our perspective on how we fit into the universe as a whole, and would teach us much more about life here on Earth. 2. People have long been interested in life beyond Earth. What is different today that makes this possibility seem scientifically reasonable? Today, technology has flourished and is more advanced than it was in the past. We are able to have telescopic and spacecraft photos of planets and large moons, as well as launching missions to further investigate our curiosity. Because of these advances in technology, we know more about the universe than we previously did. 3. What do we mean by a geocentric universe? In general terms, contrast a geocentric view of the universe with our modern view of the universe. Thousands of years ago, many people believed that the Earth was at the centre of the universe; this was the geocentric view. The geocentric view of the universe contrast our modern view of the universe since it is a Sun-centered view. 4. What are extrasolar planets? In what way does their discovery make it seem more reasonable to imagine finding life elsewhere? Extrasolar planets are planets orbiting stars other than our Sun. It is now more reasonable to imagine life elsewhere since many or most stars have planets. Therefore, there may possibly be life living on these planets or moons. 5. What do we mean...
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...Water is the foundation of life. It is only in areas that contain liquid water in which life exists. Ancient societies used to cherish water. Some would even worship water and build their lives around it. Recognizing the vitality of water management was of key importance thus water was common and universal. Although everyone is dependant upon it, in today’s society the appreciation of water has greatly diminished as water resources are taken advantage of and exhausted. Ninety-seven percent of the Earth’s water is salt (Barlow & Clarke, 2002). Just a mere three percent of the Earth’s water is fresh water and much of it has been polluted. Despite the fact that water is crucial for survival, this basic need is one that is not afforded to all. On the basis of profit, water has become a life and death situation. Wealthy people and countries with the ability to pay will have access to water. Those who cannot afford to pay for the basic need of water, that has now become a commodity, will go without and suffer in poverty. Drinking water scarcity is a huge pandemic. Due to human’s selfish and non-sustainable impact of the water supply there is a global water crisis- the world is running out of water. Amongst developed countries and multinational corporations, there is a damaging mentality that water can be used without limit as long as there are no immediate or significant impacts. The environmental impact of this way of thinking is detrimental. In reality, all of the negative effects...
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...“Eighty percent of adolescents in psychiatric hospitals come from broken homes” (Photius). This statistic shows how the conditions an individual has to endure can affect the outcome of that individual’s life. In Jesse Walters book, "We Live in Water" he gives readers examples of how an individual’s opportunity to progress or develop in life can be hindered by the surroundings they have to endure. The Title "We Live in Water" relates to a fish living in a fish tank, because no matter how many times that fish may swim to the glass of the tank it cannot change the outcome it has to suffer. In the collection, “We Live in Water”, two specific short stories, "Thief" and "We live in Water" shows readers how the environment and circumstances people...
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...Mediterranean sea, reflecting the light into a blinding patch of shine. The sea was calm, pulsing rhythmically and breathing with cadence. Just off the shore he floated, motionless, his black mop of hair the only visible spec in the blue, bobbing up and down with every breath the sea took. Above his jade and olive complexion his face washed pale red from the unforgiving sun and the tips of his black hair begun to tinge grey. From the shoulders down his body was beneath the water, kept afloat by a life jacket. The water, although calm and peaceful was carefully wrecking his body apart; limb by limb, organ by organ. His fingernails had begun to tender and were now peeling back and his lips were rough and cracked. Beneath his clothes, his skin was raw. His entire body riddled with gaping sores leaving him liable to a whole catalogue of infections. The pressure of the water on his feeble body was reducing circulation and made breathing a gruelling ask. And finally and most significantly beneath the milky water were a family of ocean creatures who could definitely sense the blood off his oozing sores....
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...confirmation of life beyond earth, the odds of earth having the only sign of life in our Universe is slim. The Universe is too large and ever expanding to know what life can be found beyond Earth if any. For years we have studied our planet Earth, we have tried to understand its climate, atmosphere its lands and oceans. We try to understand how life as we know only exists on earth. This study is now known as Geology. Earth is the 3rd planet from the Sun at a distance of about 150 million kilometers It takes 365.2 days for the Earth to travel around the Sun and 23.9 hours for the Earth to rotate a complete revolution. It has a diameter of 12,756 kilometers, only a few hundred kilometers larger than that of Venus. Our atmosphere is composed of 78 percent nitrogen, 21 percent oxygen and 1 percent other constituents. It is believed that life began on earth about 4.6 billion years ago. Scientist believe that comets and meteorites could have contributed to life on earth by depositing carbon based molecules into the atmosphere. Nitrogen and oxygen in another form can create water. Water is the most essential part of life. It is no surprise that water covers over 71% of the Earth’s surface. According to How stuff works (n.d.), “Water is on a constant cycle, it evaporates from the ocean, travels through the air, rains down on the land and then flows back to the ocean” (para. 1). Earth maintains the correct balance of elements to sustain life....
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...well have been done to death by exhaustive but reductive reading and teaching. Where Lord of the Flies has been read reductively, Original Sin writ large over it, readers have tended to respond to the novel in terms of its doleful view of humanity or its perceived theology. Its initial success reflected post-war pessimism, the loss of what Golding (1988a:163) has called his generation's "liberal and naive belief in the perfectability of man". Although the novel does not groan under a dogmatic burden to the extent that some critics have alleged, it has seemed the prime example of Golding's earlier writing, a tightly structured allegory or fable. … It is not surprising that the Bible's first and last books, on humankind's "origins and end" beyond the horizons of knowledge, turn to symbolic narrative. In Lord of the Flies Golding draws heavily on imagery from Genesis and the Apocalypse, together with prophetic eschatological imagery, as this article will attempt to indicate. As the primitive myths were essentially magical and religious, Frazer (1957:169), in his great if a-historical study of mythologies, expressed the belief that the "movement of higher thought ... has on the whole been from magic through religion to science". This faith in the "progress upwards from...
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...Dear , Martin Scorsese I liked many of your movies like Taxi Driver, and Wolf of Wall street and I think that The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World should be turned into an motion picture film with my rewrite because it has good suspense and shows a lot of action that I know the audience would love to see in an movie. The first part I like about the Story is how Esteban is kind of mystery to everyone and nobody understood where he came from and how he got there so I think it’s a good idea to start there where the opening scene is the kids playing and running around baring him and digging him back up then all of sudden while he was dead or couldn’t move he was having an flashback about his life. When he was having the flashback he was thinking...
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...and equally devastating reaction is set to happen on the other end. In turn, this depletion would end up affecting us as people and global citizens. People are affected by nuclear power plants, mainly because of the radiation and radioactive materials that come from the power plants. People are at risk of getting cancer, inhaling and ingesting radioactive materials and cell mutations. These power plants not only affect animals and humans, but also have an impact on bodies of water, like rivers, lakes and oceans that are near the nuclear power plants. The water consumption and water temperature are affected because of the water needed for the cooling and steaming systems in the power plants. However, the aquatic life that lives in the water that is being used for the nuclear plants are mainly affected and harmed. Despite the fact that nuclear power plants can be good to the environment, the negative aspects definitely overshadow the positive because of the way they affect animals, humans and bodies of water, which means nuclear power plants do affect the surrounding environment. Nuclear power plants do affect the surrounding environment because they have an impact on the animals in the area. The high...
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...Jamestar Decision Making 10 February 2013 Rudolf W. Burgi Most important decisions you face in life are tough and complex, with no easy or obvious solutions (Hammond, Kenney & Raiffa, 2002). Decisions are part of an everyday cycle that everyone has to go through. Furthermore, decision making is a critical skill that is sought-after to lead people towards the right direction. In business, there is a thin line in the thought process between slowing down and being hasty. In this case study, we analyze and get to know the why’s of a work incident. Initially, the obvious symptom was a major water leak from the ceiling onto the unsuspecting business workers. The room darkens, which could mean the power has shorted, and everyone is stuck in the hall way in an uncomfortable situation. What are some reasons that cause a pipe to burst? Well some leading conditions are wear and tear, age, and temperature of the pipes ("Burst water pipes," 2012). Environmental issues are part of an uncertain risk factor that creates a halt in any process. While the water outflow was the main calamity, this event also generated a domino effect to more setbacks. There was also the incident where the water caused the important work papers and electronics on the table to be swamped and maybe even become unsalvageable. Work would be hindered for at least a couple months for reorganization. Budgeting new materials and building cost also comes into effect. At this point, people would feel shock and...
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...the household. The women and children walk miles and miles a day for the basic necessity of water. Not only do they have to travel long distances, but they have to carry the water from place to place, causing a heavy burden on the women’s body. My question is why aren’t the men doing it? If men want to play the strong dominant role, they should be the ones fetching water. The reality of it is that the men can haul much more water than the women will ever be able to. In the book, Beyond Borders, it discusses women’s struggle to shape their lives “under the umbrella of patriarchy and paternalistic dominance” (Lerner 254).By the general concept of the superiority of men, and inferiority of women as it has evolved overtime. It reveals how we among different societies have continued this patriarchal and paternalistic movement throughout the course of history ultimately with the power to the male’s advantage. So with reference to articles from the Water and Culture Reader I’d like to discuss the unjust treatment of women in Africa that is still at large. “Women perform all the labor associated with water collection at the expense of education, cultural, and political involvement, and rest and recreation” (Bouwer 321). Women literally give up everything to provide for their families. I’m not saying that this is a completely bad thing, because it’s not, it’s understandable to go above and beyond to sustain your family. My issue lies here, according to the CIA World Fact book from the...
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...Lawrence uses words such as “desolate” to describe the breakfast table, and “dreary” to describe the furniture to reinforce the hopelessness of the atmosphere. 2. Joe was having the hardest time dealing with the fact that they would have to leave their house and their lives behind. He was said to have thought of himself as one of the horses. Joe’s fate was to marry and survive from the employment provided by his father in law, who was a steward of a nearby estate. I believe that Joe was thankful that he had somewhere to go, but was regretful that he would have to sacrifice his independence and freedom, and have to become a “subject animal now.” He would be assuming the role of one of his work horses. 3. The events of Mabel’s life have molded her into a determined and strong willed woman. Her strengths are not apparent, because the story also reveals her weaknesses. Through much of the story, Mabel is suicidal and depressed. However, Mabel has been the glue that has held her family together since the death of her father, and she took great pride in that fact. Stability was the only thing that she lived for since the passing of her mother. The depression starts to overwhelm the character due to the sense of self sufficiency dwindling. The family has no more money, and Mabel feels that there is nothing to live for. Mabel’s brother’s treat her as a servant. She is not fond of them for this reason, but continues to perform motherly acts, such as clearing the breakfast...
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...Lecture 8 Theme: Technogenic hazards. Outline: 1 Technogenic emergencies and accidents 2 Transport accidents 3 Accidents on chemically hazardous objects (HHO) 4 Accidents at radiation hazardous objects (RHO) 5 Accidents on fire, explosion hazardous objects (FEHO) 6 Accidents on hydro-technical construction (HTC) 7 Electric shock TECHNOGENIC EMERGENCIES AND ACCIDENTS Technogenic (Anthropogenic) tmergensies - the situation in a certain area, established as a result of the accident, a major accident (crash) that resulted in the loss of life, damage to human health or the environment, considerable material losses and disruption of human living conditions. Anthropogenic catastrophe - an event with tragic consequences, a major accident with human death. Classification of accidents by severity and scale: Accident - minor accident with minor damage. Accident to the great detriment called - major accidents. Catastrophe - a large-scale accident that led to numerous casualties, significant property damage and other severe consequences. Accidents include the damages of: - Machines - Equipment - Vehicles - Power systems, buildings. They may be accompanied by explosions, fires, release of chemical, radioactive substances, without considerable material damage and serious human casualties (explosions can be caused by improper use of household and gas stoves or gas cylinders). In most cases, these accidents are evoked by violation of the production technology...
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...EARTH PERSPECTIVES The biological and geological future of the Earth can be extrapolated based upon the estimated effects of several long-term influences. These include the chemistry at the Earth's surface, the rate of cooling of the planet's interior, the gravitational interactions with other objects in the Solar System, and a steady increase in the Sun's luminosity. An uncertain factor in this extrapolation is the ongoing influence of technology introduced by humans, such as geoengineering, which could cause significant changes to the planet. The current biotic crisis is being caused by technology and the effects may last for up to five million years. In turn, technology may result in the extinction of humanity, leaving the planet to gradually return to a slower evolutionary pace resulting solely from long-term natural processes. Hawking: How Humankind Will Survive the Future Listen, people of Earth: Everything's going to be fine. All we have to do is survive another century or two without self-destructing as a species. Then we'll get off this rock, spread throughout space, and everything will be all right. If this is not your idea of "optimism," then you are not Stephen Hawking. The esteemed physicist garnered headlines, and some eye-rolls, after telling Big Think last week that humanity needs to leave the Earth in the future or face extinction. As The Atlantic noted: He's not knocking climate scientists' attempts to figure things out on Earth-he's just thinking long...
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...Air Pollution, Water Pollution and Noise Pollution! The dictionary definition of pollution is to make air, water, soil, etc. dangerously dirty and not suitable for people to use. The main forms of pollution are air, water, soil, noise thermal and radioactive waves. It is a man-made problem mainly caused by human waste material, release of poisonous gases and other chemical pollutants from the industry, agricultural pollutants like pesticides, and chemical fertilizers, pollutants by automobiles and dumping of chemical and nuclear wastes, etc. It has led to a worldwide environmental crisis. In many ways, it has changed both the individual and social ways of life. Air Pollution: The main sources of air pollution in India and elsewhere are mineral dust and gases, automobiles, thermal power plants and industries. Any contamination in the air may not only cause many diseases and loss of vision but can also disturb the whole atmospheric system. Air pollution can also cause acid rain which damages soil, vegetation and aquatic life of the region. The heavy use of automobiles causes pollution and smog from automobile emissions. This has become a serious problem in almost all the countries—developed and developing. The bad urban air bums the eyes, damages lung tissues and increases the levels of lead and other poisons in the human body and agricultural products. It is not known how many deaths occur nationally because of air pollution. Air pollution caused massive smog...
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