Detecting Signs of E.T.

From time to time, the news media falls in love with stories about how aliens have been found. From the detection of a possible signal from a distant civilization to tales of an alien megastructure around a star observed by the Kepler Space Telescope to the story of the WOW! signal detected in 1977 by an astronomer at Ohio State University, any time theres a hint of a puzzling discovery in astronomy, we see breathless headlines that aliens have been found.   In point of fact, there hasnt been an alien civilization found...yet. But, astronomers keep looking! Finding Something Weird In late summer 2016, astronomers picked up what seemed like a signal from a distant sun-like star called HD 164595. Preliminary searches using the Allen Telescope Array in California showed that the signal picked up by a Russian telescope was not likely from an alien civilization. However, more telescopes will check out the signal to understand what it is and what could be making it. For   now, however, its problem not little green aliens sending us a howdy.   Another star, called KIC 8462852, was observed by Kepler for more than four years. It appears to have a variability in its brightness. That is, the light we perceive coming from this F-type star dims periodically. Its not a regular period of time, so its probably not caused by an orbiting planet. Such planet-caused dimmings are called transits. Kepler has cataloged many stars using the transit method and found thousands of planets this way. But, the dimming of KIC 8462852 was just too irregular. While astronomers and observers worked on cataloging its dimmings, they also talked to an astronomer who had been thinking hard about what we might see if a distant star had planets with life on them. And, in particular, if that life was technologically able to build superstructures around their star to harvest its light (for example).    What Could it Be? If a big structure orbited a star, it could cause the variability in the stars brightness to be irregular or even random-seeming. Of course, there are some caveats with this idea. First, distance is a problem. Even a fairly large structure would be difficult to detect from Earth, even with very strong detectors. Second, the star itself could have some strange variable pattern, and astronomers would need to observe it for longer periods of time to figure out what it is. Third, stars with dust clouds around them can also have fairly large planetary structures forming. Those planetesimals could also cause irregular brightness dips in the starlight we detect from Earth, especially if they were orbiting at staggered distances. Finally, catastrophic collisions between clumps of material around a star could deliver huge groups of objects such as cometary nuclei in orbit around the star. Those could also affected the perceived brightness of the star.   The Simple Truth In science, theres a rule that we follow called Occams Razor — it means, essentially, for any given event or object you observe, generally the most plausible explanation is the simplest one.   In this case, stars with clumps of dust, planetesimals, or roving exo-comets are more likely than aliens. Thats because stars FORM in cloud of gas and dust, and younger stars still have material around them left over from the formation of their planets. KIC 8462852 could be in in a planet-forming stage, consistent with its age and mass (its about 1.4 times the mass of the Sun and a bit younger than our star). So, the simplest explanation here is NOT an alien megacomplex, but swarms of comets.   The Search Protocol The search for extrasolar planets has always been a prelude to a search for life elsewhere in the universe. Each star and planet system discovered to have worlds has to be examined carefully so that astronomers understand its inventory of planets, moons, rings, asteroids, and comets. Once thats done, the next step is to figure out if the worlds are friendly to life -— that is, are they habitable? They do this by trying to understand if the world has an atmosphere, where it is in its orbit around the star, and what its evolutionary state might be.   So far, none have been found hospitable. But, theyll be found. Odds are, there is intelligent life elsewere in the universe. Eventually, we will detect it — or it will find us. In the meantime, astronomers on Earth continue to search for habitable planets around likely stars. The more they study, they more theyll be ready to recognize lifes effects elsewhere.

High School And College Is The Sports Knowledge - 1802 Words

Another difference between high school and college is the sports knowledge. High school coaches use simple offense and defense concepts because the level of play is not as good. College teams use a more complex offense and defense system because the level of play is higher. The professional teams have the most elaborate offensive and defensive schemes. College helps players mentally get ready for professional play by teaching the players things high school coaches don’t have time to teach the. When an athlete makes it to the professional level they are expected to understand the concepts. Athletes are better prepared to play professionally if they go to college. College athletic programs offer athletes specialized training, which is very difficult to get anywhere else. Every team has a trainer for the athletes. The trainers give the athletes specialized workouts and diets to make the athletes the best they can be. Most of the trainers have degrees in physical training or a similar area. The training makes athletes tremendously better than when they arrived at the university. The training also makes athletes ready for the professional level. It is extremely rare for an athlete to be physically ready to play professionally when they are in high school. the college training helps athletes be physically ready to play professionally and shows them the work ethic needed to be a professional athlete. The athletes are the ones performing for the university s and theShow MoreRelatedThe Possibility of College Sports Being Banned775 Words   |  3 PagesThe first time that I had any type of knowledge about the possibility of college sports being banned was just a few weeks ago inside of my English 101 class. I cannot express how surprise I was when I found this out. Not in a million years I ever would of thought a activity that most athletes live by every day can just go away in a snap of a finger. 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Phychology paper on cognitive developmental stages free essay sample

During Piaget’s stages of cognitive development, he introduces four different stages that children go through all the way up to adolescents. Piaget states that none of these stages can be skipped. These stages show how a child’s mind is intellectually developing over time as they grow. Their cognitive abilities progress and they begin to have a better understanding of the world around them. Throughout this paper I will explain the four stages of cognitive development; sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational and formal operational. The first stage of cognitive development that Piaget states is the sensorimotor stage. This stage is initiated at birth and lasts normally through when the child is 18 months. Everything in this stage is learned from the child exploring different things the best way they know how, whether by putting things in their mouth, or learning how to make the toys move on their play mat. Also, early language development occurs during the early part of this stage such as â€Å"coo-ing†. We will write a custom essay sample on Phychology paper on cognitive developmental stages or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Then language progresses into words towards the later part of this stage where the child starts forming actual words such as â€Å"No†, and â€Å"Mine†. The second stage of cognitive development is the preoperational stage. This stage starts around 18 months, and lasts until about the age of 7. Children start being able to grasp symbols. For example, they can draw a series of squares with a triangle on top to represent a house. They also start to learn the alphabet, which is, of course, the set of symbols we use to read and write. On the other hand, they don’t understand abstract concepts like amounts, speed, or weight. In one of Piaget’s most famous experiments, he showed that children at this stage can’t comprehend that if you pour liquid from a short, wide glass into a tall, narrow glass, it’s still the same amount. The third stage of cognitive development is the concrete operational stage. This stage starts around 7, and lasts until 12 years old. In this stage children comprehend ideas like weight, amount, and speed, and can understand that the amount of liquid in the two glasses is the same. For example, a younger child in this stage would explain what would happen if you hit a glass with a feather based on what he knows about feathers, whereas the older child reasons from the previous statement and answers according to the logic proposed. They can also understand causal relationships; though not necessarily explain the reasoning behind them. The last stage of cognitive development is the formal operational stage. This  stage starts after about the age of 12. At this stage children begin to understand abstract concepts and reason logically. If you ask them what â€Å"justice† means, they can explain it. In this stage formal operational thinking is being illustrated.

Environmental Ethical Issues free essay sample

Environmental Ethical Issues Introduction to Ethics Social Responsibility April 1, 2010 Environmental Ethical Issues Environmental ethics is the discipline in philosophy that studies the moral relationship of human beings to, and also the value and moral status of, the environment and its nonhuman contents (Brennan Lo, 2008). Traditionally, environmental ethics put human being as the only living things with any intrinsic value, an end in itself. The earth and everything on the earth was strictly meant for the benefit of human beings. All other beings were regarded as having instrumental value; furthering some other ends. This theory or way of thinking is referred to as anthropocentric. In the last decades of the twentieth century this human centered theory was confronted with a new environmental ethical theory where humans were not the only living beings being considered to have intrinsic value. This new theory became one of importance because of the growing number of threats to the environmental condition of the world that we human beings live in. As human beings, the only ethical choice regarding the environment is to care for and preserve our environment so that we have an environment in which to prosper in the future. In a essay written by historian Lynn White jr. on the historical roots of the environmental crisis, he argues that â€Å"the main strands of Judeo-Christian thinking had encouraged the overexploitation of nature by maintaining the superiority of humans over all other forms of life on earth, and by depicting all of nature as created for the human use† (Brennan LO, 2008). These anthropocentric theories were originated from verses in the Bible where man is described as dominion over the earth and he should flourish and multiply. Judeo-Christian thoughts that lead humans to believe and live anthropocentrically are directly related to the environmental crisis that we face today. In 1968, Stanford ecologist Paul Ehrlich Published The Population Bomb, â€Å"warning (humans) that the growth of human population threatened the viability of planetary life systems† (Brennan and Lo, 2008). This caused people to look at the environment differently, in a non-anthropocentric manner. People began to realize that if they continued only respecting the rights of human beings and continued to disregard the importance of the earth and all other beings, it was going to negatively affect the environment, which they needed to survive. People became aware that if the world population continued to rise at such alarming rates, the environmental problems caused by overpopulation would increase in both number and seriousness. With the increased population and the anthropocentric manner of thinking, problems such as pollution and depletion of much needed natural resources would plague the humans of the world. Realizing what they stand to lose and at what financial costs has lead people to a thought process that resembles a non-anthropocentric view. It is not that all people have adopted a deep ecology belief, where they believe that all life forms have an intrinsic value and they as humans have a direct responsibility to maintain the environment for all life forms, but most humans now share the belief referred to as shallow ecology. This belief is that as humans, we have to protect the environment so that it can continue to support human life now and for future generations of human beings. Preserving what we have is exceptionally more cost effective that replacing it in the future. Currently â€Å"sixty countries have lost virtually all of their forest cover, more than three quarters of the world’s fish stocks (providing food for two billion people) are in steep decline, nearly one third of the globe’s cropland has been abandoned in the last forty years due to erosion, and the world has lost half of its wetlands and one third of it’s coral reefs (Adams, J. 2010, para. 4). According to these numbers, we are in the middle of an environmental crisis. Humans are realizing this crisis and they are suddenly showing more interest in environmental ethics. They are seeing the depletion with their own eyes and imagining how it is going to affect their wallets. Their beliefs of shallow ecology are sta rting to spread worldwide. People want to protect the environment that they have come to rely on so that it will continue to support them and not burden them financially in the future. People are not really doing this for ethical reasons, good or bad for the environment, but more for themselves as individuals. â€Å"When watersheds no longer provide fresh water, forests no longer help prevent droughts and floods, oceans no longer support healthy fish stocks, governments will be called on to provide†¦in other much more expensive ways†(Adams, J. , 2010, para. 5). It is very important to protect the environment, which supports our human life. We will not survive if we do not. Humans must make a choice to protect what they rely on for survival. The shallow ecology belief that is spreading throughout the world is still belief that humans are responsible for the protection environment, but only so that the environment stays in good enough shape that human life can be continually supported. The world is taking on an attitude of every man for himself, but this means that we must protect the environment for ourselves and our futures. People will become more and more aware of the importance of environmental ethics as it continues to affect them financially. An example being, when the price of oil went up dramatically, so did the price of gas. Only when the price of gas went up did companies really start the push of fuel-efficient cars and only when these companies started pushing them and the amount of money savings that was involved in owning one was there a real interest from people in owning them. The first concern in buying fuel-efficient cars is the money saved, second is the positive effect they have on the environment. In this world today, money is at the core of everything. If it will save money, people will generally do it.