Meteors Case Study Essay

Meteorites are rocks from space, which land on Earth, attracted by her gravity. The shooting stars that you see at night, are actually burning meteors that fall on Earth from outer space! This is the first of many interesting facts that are going to follow. Why do meteorites fall? For the same reason why anything falls on Earth – ‘Gravity’. Very few can escape it! Meteorites have their origin in outer space. They are relatively small pieces of dust and debris, usually left behind in the wake of a comet. Meteorites, that are huge in size, have their origin in space, as asteroids. They are left over pieces of matter from formation of the solar system, which could not clump together to form a planet like our Earth. There is a dense belt of such asteroids outside the orbit of the planet Mars, called the ‘Asteroid Belt’. Asteroids are huge in size and their lengths can number to kilometers! Once in a while, small pieces of rock or dust, come into range of Earth’s gravitational pull and fall on Earth as shooting stars. An asteroid dislodged from its trajectory and falling on Earth is also called a meteorite. However, an asteroid being huge in size, causes a cataclysmic explosion on Earth on impact. Origin ‘Meteor’ and ‘Meteorite’ facts are interchangeable terms and we shall see why they are so. When these rocks and pieces of dust are floating in space, they are called ‘Meteoroids’. When they make a blazing entry into Earth’s atmosphere, they are called ‘Meteors’. Finally, if they survive the burning entry into Earth’s atmosphere and fall on Earth, they are called ‘Meteorites’. So a meteorite could originate from comet debris called meteoroids or larger objects called asteroids! Here are some basic facts about meteorites, meteors and meteoroids. Comets leave tons of dust and debris in their trail as they travel along long orbits round the Sun. When Earth, while revolving around the Sun, passes through some patches of this comet debris, it enters the Earth’s atmosphere causing meteor showers. Meteor showers are periodic events. One can see thousands of meteors or shooting stars, as they are called, during such a shower. The most popular meteor showers are ‘Perseids’ (which peak around August 12) and Leonids (which peak around 17 November). During these showers, you can observe a shooting star at the rate of 1 meteor per minute on an average. A falling meteor can travel at speed of as much as 44 miles per second ! One of the facts is that they have some of the oldest rocks in the solar system among them. They could be older than the Earth and date from the period when Sun was forming! Every day, about 4 billion meteoroids fall on Earth! Majority of them are very tiny and therefore do not cause much harm. If a meteorite is observed while falling and recovered from the place of fall, it’s called a ‘fall’ meteorite. If a meteorite is not observed while falling, but found from any location, it’s called a ‘find.’ Till 2006, there have been roughly 1,050 witnessed falls while there are about 30,000 documented ‘Finds’. Falling meteors which are large in size, can create an intense electromagnetic pulse, which temporarily disrupt radio communication in the region of fall! With a properly designed radio antenna, you can actually ‘hear’ meteorites falling as radio noise. Types and Composition Here are some facts about their types and composition, that you should know about. Recovered meteorites are classified into three main categories which are ‘Chondrites’ (Make about 86% of all recovered meteorites), ‘Achondrites’ (8%) and ‘Iron’ meteorites (6 %). The name ‘Chondrites’ comes from features called ‘Chrondules’, which are melted silicate materials from their past. Chondrites are about 4.55 billion years old and are the types of rocks from which our own planet formed! Certain chondrite meteorites fallen from outer space contain traces of amino acids and organic matter, bolstering the theory that life may have been planted on Earth! This is one of the most astounding facts. Achronidtes are relatively younger meteorites of the igneous rock type and are pieces of asteroids, the Moon and Mars! Iron meteorites are composed of iron-nickel alloys and silicate materials. They are also thought to be pieces of asteroid s! Every one of these meteor facts are intriguing. Earth has been pounded by the impact of many meteorites, ranging from the very tiny to gigantic meteorites. The meteorites impact craters that are found on earth are testimony to this. It is time for the last of our facts. One gigantic meteorite impact occurred millions of years ago on Earth which brought on the extinction of dinosaurs! One question that may come to your mind is, ‘Where do meteorites fall?’. They could fall anywhere on Earth. Meteors have been found all over the world. The recent findings have been mostly in Africa and accessible parts of Antarctica. If you could find one, you are bound to be rich as private collectors and museums pay millions of dollars for them! The reason is that they are very rare and are made up of minerals, which are never found on Earth! So keep looking! You may never know, when one might pop out of the sky, making you rich. So it’s actually profitable to know some meteor fact s. Originating in the outer space, an object reaches Earth and gets a place in the list of meteorites. There have been many instances of extraterrestrial bodies impacting the Earth’s surface while some have only passed through the Earth’s atmosphere before they were destroyed. Meteorites have been arousing interest of the masses as there is an element of mystery that surrounds them. Where do they originate? What makes some of them enter the Earth’s atmosphere? How dangerous can they get? Space research and astronomy have revealed some interesting information about some of these questions and researched thoroughly on the different types of meteorites. Most of the meteorites disintegrate before reaching Earth while some reach the planet’s surface. Huge meteorites form craters on Earth while the smaller ones involve less danger. Meteorites containing small round particles are known as chondrites and form about 86% of those falling on Earth. Those similar in appearance to small igneous rocks are called achondrites and believed as being the crustal material of a steroids. Meteorites originating from the core of asteroids are known as iron meteorites and form about 5% of the meteorites, which fall. History has recorded a number of instances of meteorites impacting the Earth. ALH 84001: It was found in the Allan Hills, Antarctica in December 1984. Meteorite hunters of the United States working on ASMNET project discovered this meteorite. When discovered, its mass was 1.93 kilograms and its rock was reportedly one of the oldest forms. This meteorite was supposed to have come from Mars. Later it was believed to consist of some traces of the life on Mars and this made ALH 84001 more famous than ever. Hoba: This meteorite lies on the farm Hoba West in Namibia and has never been moved elsewhere because of its exceptionally greater mass. With a mass of about 60 tons, it is the largest meteorite known to mankind. It is tabloid in shape and composed of metal. It is believed to have landed on Earth about 80,000 years ago. In 1955, it was declared as a national monument and has since then been attracting visitors from different parts of the world. Tunguska Event: The Tunguska explosion took place in June 1908 near Tunguska River, now a part of Russia. Most probably, the air burst of a large meteorite caused this explosion. The energy emitted from this explosion was about 1000 times greater than that of the bomb blast of Hiroshima. According to the eyewitnesses of this explosion, the event started with a flash of bright blue light and a sound originating from east and moving northward. Later the sound was accompanied by shock waves that broke windows miles away. This was one of the famous disintegrating meteorites that remain in the list of world’s most famous meteorites. Willamette Meteorite: This is an iron-nickel meteorite that was discovered in the United States near Oregon. It is the largest of the meteorites found in the United Sates as also the sixth largest in the world. Probably the meteorite had landed in the region, which is now known as Canada. This meteorite weighing about 15.5 tons is one of the very large meteorites of the world. Orgueil: This meteorite fell in France in 1864 and is a relatively older meteorite. The fall of this meteorite consisted of small stones that covered a massive area. This is one of those eight meteorites that belong to the CL chondrite group. A striking feature of this type of meteorite it that its composition is similar to that of the Sun. This meteorite is one of the most researched ones. For purposes of deeper study of the composition of this meteorite, it was split into pieces. Currently, it exists in the form of pieces kept in different museums in Europe and the United States. These were some of the famous meteorites of the world. They have always been a subject of interest for researchers around the world. Meteor showers A meteor shower is a celestial event wherein it is observed that a group of meteors radiate from anyone point in the sky. This phenomenon is also known as ‘Meteor Storm’ or ‘Meteor Outburst’. The meteors that are present in the showers are actually cosmic debris that enter the Earth atmosphere at very high speed and vaporize very quickly due to friction leaving behind a streak of light which is known as the meteor shower. An identified meteor shower is usually an annual affair as the Earth will encounter the same meteors at approximately the same time and same speed every year. Causes Meteor showers are a result of interaction that takes place between the planet Earth and a comet. Comets consist of ice and rocks (often termed dirty ice balls) that orbit around the sun like planets. Every time the comet gets close to the sun, some of the ice present in the comet melts which produces a large amount of debris. This debris moves away from the comet and becomes a part of its tail which is visible part of the comet. The solid parts of the tail are the meteoroids and they spread along the entire orbit of the comet which is termed as a meteoroid stream. As the Earth orbits around the sun, its path may cross the meteoroid stream and a meteor shower follows. When the meteoroid stream is particularly dense, then we get to witness the meteor storm and having witnessed one myself, I can guarantee that the sight is truly spectacular. People Behind the Concept It is believed that Irish astronomer George Johnstone Clooney collaborating with the British astronomer Arthur Matthew Weld Downing and Adolf Berberich belonging to the Royal Astronomical Computation Institute in Berlin, Germany offered the very first idea of the meteoroid stream in the 1890. They were able to calculate as to how the meteoroids once freed from the comet would travel at low speeds when compared to the comet itself would start drifting after completing one orbit. This effect was attributed to simple orbital wherein the materials drift laterally away from the comet as some particles make a wider orbit when compared to other particles. The gravitational pull of the Earth’s atmosphere would decide where the dust trails would pass the Earth’s atmosphere. It is a fair possibility that some years, the dust particles can completely miss the Earth’s orbit. Major Meteor Showers If you want to watch meteor showers then the best time of the year is the night of January 3. The shower has been named Quadrantids and this particular shower can produce over a close to 140 meteors per hour. The source of this shower is not a comet but a minor planet, 2003 EH1 which suffered a catastrophic breakup in 1490. However, the showers are very faint and the peak hours last only for a few hours. Hence, you will have to be in a good spot and at an ideal point to watch the shower in all its glory and the best place to watch this particular shower is from the Northern Hemisphere. But people in Southern Hemisphere need not be disappointed. As a matter of fact, they get to witness a meteor shower termed Eta Aquarids which consists of debris from the famous Halley’s Comet. This shower peaks on the night of May 5 and the rate of meteors is about 30 per hour. The meteor shower ‘Geminids’ is considered to be the best annual shower. It peaks around the night of December 13 and the rate of meteor is around 70 per hour. The source of this shower is also a minor planet, 3200 Phaethon. It is best visible from the Northern Hemisphere and it is believed that due to the extreme cold conditions, the air tends to be more transparent and this is the reason as to why this particular shower is spectacular. Sporadic Meteor Showers When the meteoroids collide with each other and can become a part of the sporadic meteors background. They form isolated meteors and are not a part of any shower. Asteroids Asteroids are considered to be remnants of an early broken planet of the solar system. Asteroids have no fixed shape and are too small to be spherical in shape. They are ellipsoids (two dimensional figure), dumbbell or irregularly shaped. As they have different shapes, they also vary in their size. The first asteroid Ceres, discovered in January 1801 by Italian astronomer Giuseppe Piazzi, is the largest known asteroid and is 940 km in diameter. Some of the smallest asteroids are just 6 meters in diameter. The mass of all the asteroids added together, is believed to lesser than the mass of the Moon. Only 200,000 asteroids have been discovered so far, but billion more undiscovered asteroids still exit in our solar system. Asteroid Belt Most asteroids lie in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, however there are more belts in the solar system, namely the ones beyond Neptune’s orbit. The belt itself has interesting origination theories. Most astronomers believe that the belt is a broken planet, while some say that the belt is primordial material that never coalesced into a planet because of Jupiter’s gravitational pull. The asteroid belt lies between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter and contains more than 200 asteroids larger than 100 km in diameter, and more than 750,000 asteroids with diameters larger than 1 km. Most asteroids are found in this belt because of the gravitational interaction between the solar system and the celestial bodies in it. As opposed to the fiction made popular by various depictions of the asteroid belt, it is not at all dense. The region is so vast that asteroids are hundreds of thousands of kilometers away from their closest neighbor. The asteroids are so small and far away from each other that they appear as faint stars, and except for Ceres, are not bright enough to be seen without some telescopic aid. Only the asteroid Vesta, on rare occasions of an extremely clear dark sky can become visible to the naked eye. What are Asteroids Composed Of? Asteroids are made of different minerals and substances. This depends on the planet they broke away from in a collision, as well as the chemical reactions they might have experienced while orbiting in the solar system. The asteroids closest to the Sun are mostly carbonaceous and the ones further away are composed of silicate rock. The metallic asteroids are made of 70-80% iron and the remaining is nickel with many other metals such as iridium mixed in. Some are also made of half silicate and half metallic. The asteroid Ceres is composed of a rocky core covered by an icy mantle, whereas Vesta has a nickel-iron core, basaltic crust and a covering of magnesium iron silicate (olivine mantle). Asteroids composition has been classified as the following: C class asteroids: They are found in the Earth’s outer belt and are darker and more carbonaceous than the ones found in the S class. D class asteroids: They are also known as Trojan asteroids of Jupiter and are dark and carbonaceous in composition. S class asteroids: They are found in the Earth’s inner belt, closer to Mars and are composed of mostly stone and iron. V class asteroids: They are a far-out group of asteroids that follow a path between the orbits of Jupiter and Uranus, and are made of igneous, eruptive materials. A near-Earth asteroid collided with the Earth about 65 million years ago, which triggered environmental changes, leading to the extinction of the dinosaurs. This asteroid created a huge circular depression called the Chicxulub Basin and is centered in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, a major tourist attraction. Though the chances of asteroid collision with the Earth is very rare, they do come very close to our planet due to collisions and gravitational tugs on the highly elliptical Sun’s orbit. Most asteroids burn up in the atmosphere and never reach the Earth. NASA projects, such as the Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) and the Near Earth Asteroid Tracking (NEAT) main objectives are to detect and intercept asteroids or other celestial bodies coming close to the Earth before they cause untold damage to our planet. Asteroids are small celestial bodies composed of rock and metal, that revolve around the Sun. Their size can vary: some asteroids are large and roughly spherical in shape, due to which they appear like miniature planets; while the others are small and irregularly shaped. The matter of these celestial bodies also differs. The asteroid ‘Vesta’, is believed to have a nickel-iron core, olivine mantle and basaltic crust, while the asteroid ’10 Hygiea’ is composed of carbonaceous chondrite. Most of the small asteroids are piles of rubble held together by gravity. Some asteroids supposedly have traces of amino-acids and other organic compounds, and it is assumed that the impact of asteroids on the Earth could have initiated life on the planet by seeding it with the necessary chemical substances. Although, it is believed that the asteroids may have planted life on the Earth, they are capable of having catastrophic effect on the planet as well. Asteroids with a diameter of 5 to 10 meters, and energy equal to 15 kilotons of TNT, enter into the Earth’s atmosphere approximately once every year; while, those with a diameter of over 50 meters enter the Earth’s atmosphere approximately once in a thousand years. Their impact can be devastating if they hit the Earth, but they disintegrate in the upper atmosphere and most of the particles are vaporized, thus rendering them harmless. In the distant past, our planet has experienced a massive climate change and large-scale extinction of animal and plant species, ascribed to the impact of some large asteroids on the planet. The exogenesis theory suggests that origin of life on the Earth must have been triggered by the impact of some asteroid, carrying organic chemicals needed to initiate life form. The Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction event, which led to the end of dinosaurs and the Permian-Triassic extinction event that led to the end of the Permian period finishing off 90% of the species on the planet, are believed to be the result of an asteroid impact on the Earth. The craters on the solid bodies in the solar system, which were attributed to volcanic activities till 1960s, were actually formed due to the impact of celestial bodies. Researchers have determined that in the last 600 million years, 60 objects with a diameter of five km or more, have struck the Earth. Even the smallest of these object possessed energy of ten million megatons of TNT, and would have formed a crater, approximately 95 km in diameter, on the surface of our planet. The Rio Cuarto craters in Argentina are believed to have formed due to the impact of asteroids that struck this area around 10,000 years ago. In 1490, ten thousand people reportedly lost their lives due to a hail of stones from the sky. This hail of stones is assumed to be result of the disintegration of a large asteroid, after it entered the Earth’s atmosphere. In 1908, a mid-air explosion of an asteroid destroyed 80 million trees, within an area of 830 miles, near the Podkamennaya Tunguska River, in Si beria. In many cases, the sighting of a foreign body, such as an asteroid or a meteoroids is reported as a fireball in the sky. Millions of asteroids will pass by the Earth in the years to come. Though, they are unknown now, they are detectable as they come closer to the planet. The Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) and the Near Earth Asteroid Tracking (NEAT) are projects initiated by NASA to detect asteroids or other such foreign bodies coming close to the Earth. The need of the hour is to develop an intercept system in space, to destroy or deflect foreign objects heading towards our planet, before they prove catastrophic. Asteroids are celestial bodies consisting of rocks and metals. They are mainly concentrated in the region known as the asteroid belt which lies between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Asteroids can be as big as Ceres, which is close to 1000 kilometers in diameter, or can be just a few feet in diameter. Whatever the size, asteroids are neither big enough to be called planets nor are they as small as comets. They are classified as minor planets that include the Kuiper Belt Objects. Discovery On January 1, 1801, Giuseppe Piazzi discovered the first asteroid which he initially thought to be a comet. He named this asteroid Ceres, after the Sicilian Goddess of grain. Ceres is also the largest asteroid to have been discovered so far. Soon, other large asteroids like Pallas, Juno and Vista were discovered. By the end of the 19th century, several hundred asteroids were discovered. Formation of Asteroids It was once believed that asteroids were formed by the explosion of a planet orbiting between Mars and Jupiter. However, according to present day astronomers, asteroids are debris left behind by the Big Bang that could not come together to form a tenth planet because of the effect of Jupiter’s gravitational pull. Asteroid Hits Asteroids have been hitting the Earth since millions of years. However, due to the friction with Earth’s atmosphere most of the asteroids get burnt. The asteroids that enter the Earth’ s atmosphere are called meteors while the ones that get burnt and appear as shooting stars are called meteorites. According to the Giant Impact Theory, the Moon was created when Theia, an asteroid of the size of Mars, collided with the Earth in the early days of the solar system. However, some consider Theia to be more of a planetoid than an asteroid. The largest crater caused by an asteroid hit is the Chicxulub Crater in Mexico that is 180 km in diameter. The asteroid that formed the crater had a diameter of 10 km. This collision is supposed to be responsible for the extinction of a large number of flora and fauna including the dinosaur. However, the evidence of the largest asteroid hit is in the Vredefort crater in South Africa that is 300 km in diameter. Impacts of Asteroid Hits The damage that an asteroid’s impact can cause depends mainly upon its mass and velocity, as these are the two factors that determine the energy that is released when an asteroid hits the Earth. While some asteroids are capable of sending thermal waves that can incinerate most flora and fauna within a few hundred kilometers, some larger asteroids can create huge impacts causing magma to cover areas as big as continents. The worst effect of an asteroid hit is the blocking out of sunlight for months together due to formation of dust clouds and soot in the upper atmosphere. This would hamper the green plants’ ability to prepare food through the process of photosynthesis and the food chain would be disrupted. Near-Earth Asteroids Near-Earth asteroids are those that have moved closer to the Earth’s orbit as they have been knocked out of the asteroid belt due to collision with other asteroids or comets, or due to the gravitational forces of Jupiter. They are classified into the following three groups: The Amors: These are near-Earth asteroids that cross the orbit of Mars but do not go out of the Earth’s orbit. The Apollos: The orbits of these near-Earth asteroids cross the Earth’s orbit but have an orbital period of greater than one year. The Atens: These near-Earth asteroids have orbits that cross the Earth’s orbit but have an orbital period of less than one year. Asteroids are currently being monitored for their probability of colliding with the Earth. Such studies have predicted that asteroids may hit the Earth on February 1, 2019 and March 16, 2880. The probability of the 2880 collision is as high as 1 in 300. A number of projects in the field of astronomy, like Spacewatch, Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking and Catalina Sky Survey are being carried out to detect any threat of such catastrophes. Comets A comet is a small body in space. It was matter of great interest to astronomers like Sir Edmond Halley. Many decades later, comets still remain a challenging mystery for the field of astronomy. Space research institutes around the world have reported the existence of 3628 comets that are known and studied. Annually, an average of one comet is sighted by the naked eye from the surface of the Earth. According to the definitions given by the various space research organizations, a comet can be defined as a space body that travels in an elliptical orbit around the sun. Most of the comets travel in elliptical orbits. When the comet comes in the vicinity of the star it is orbiting around, its comma-like tail gets illuminated. A majority of comets are visible only through telescopes and other aids. There are however, some comets which are also visible to the naked eye. What is a Comet Made Up of? A comet is principally made up of ice, dust and different forms of gases. The nature of the components differs from comet to comet. The central part of a comet that looks like a ball is termed as the nucleus. The nucleus is principally made up of ice and frozen gases. The frozen components also include many other compounds like ammonia, methane and carbon dioxide. Rocks are another component of the nucleus. Due to such composition, the nucleus of the comet often resembles a huge ball of dirt and snow. It is also believed by some astronomers, that the nucleus of a comet is rather fragile because several comets have split into parts without any explainable reason except immense velocity. The huge elliptical orbit takes the comet in the range of heat of the star around which it is orbiting. When the comet enters the inner parts of the solar system, the frozen content of the nucleus starts melting. The gases and water within the nucleus vaporize as a result of radiation from the star and the solar wind. The immense velocity of the comet and the solar wind, push the vaporized matter away from the nucleus. This gives the comet it’s distinct tail and the comma-like appearance. The high amount of heat and the ions (charged particles that are formed due to the heat of the sun) cause the tail of the comet to glow. How are Comets Formed? According to their formation or birth, the comets can be classified into two types. The first type is short-term comets which originate in the Kuiper belt as space bodies beyond the orbit of Pluto. The gravitational pull of the planets in the solar system, causes the origin of short term comets. These comets enter the solar system and take the form of active and glowing comets. Long term comets originate as traveling bodies in the Oort cloud (located around 50,000 light years away from the sun). The gravitational attraction of the planets in the solar system and other gravitational forces cause these comets to form elliptical orbits. Death of a Comet The study of comets has revealed that they have a fragile structure. Sometimes, comets split into parts due to sheer velocity. The entry and exit of comets in the solar system in course of its orbit, reduces the amount of matter (ice and frozen gases) in it. Due to this reduction in matter, the comets break-up and disperse into clouds. A dead comet is nothing but an asteroid or a similar form of a space body. Sometimes the comets also crash in other planets when their orbits cross each other. The most famous example of such a comet is the Shoemaker Levy 9, that crashed into Jupiter. For astronomers who have spent their lives studying comets, it a very heart-breaking moment to gaze at a dying comet. The Halley’s Comet is said to be one of the most beautiful comets. Another very beautiful comet is the Hale-Bopp, that was discovered in the year 1995, on 23rd July. It was predicted by astronomers that the Halley’s Comet would be sighted in the November of 1835. Mark Twain, the famous writer, was born just two weeks after the sighting. He developed a very special liking towards the Halley’s Comet. In his biography he comments,†I came in with the Halley’s Comet, and expect to go with it. The Almighty has said no doubt, Now here are two unaccountable freaks; they came in together; they must go out together.† Halley’s Comet was next sighted on 20th April, 1910. Twain ended the journey of his life the very next day. The journey of any comet is indeed like that of Mark Twain. It is remarkably long, fast, adventurous as it streaks across the dark sky. Haley’s comet Historical Spottings British scientist, Edmond Halley who observed the comet in 1682, was the first person to establish its periodic reappearance after every 75-76 years. He studied the comet and quite accurately predicted that it had earlier appeared in 1531 and in 1607. It was named ‘Halley’ in his honor and was observed again in 1758 as stated by him. It was last seen in February 1986. However, this was not the first time the comet was in focus. The first sighting recorded, was way back in 240 BC, by the Chinese and was mentioned in a chronicle, ‘Records of the Great Historian’. The comet also finds a mention in a Babylonian clay inscription of 164 BC. It has always been a subject of great interest, since it was believed to have an influence on the contemporary events. Armenian king Tigranes II, had its image printed on the coins issued in his regime after it was sighted in 87 BC. Therefore, even though the recurrence of the comet was an unknown fact, people were fascinated b y its appearance. The bright star that appeared in the night sky in 12 BC, coinciding with the birth of Jesus, is widely believed to be the Halley’s comet. Giotto Di Bondone, the famous Italian painter, who lived before the renaissance era, painted it in his work ‘The Star of Bethlehem’ in the Nativity, in 1305. He had seen the comet appear in 1301 and was impressed by the spectacle. In the middle ages, the appearance of a comet was considered to be a warning sign of a forthcoming danger. The most famous incident of spotting a comet during this period, was in 1066, before the Battle of Hastings. King Harold who had lost the battle, was believed to have seen the comet due to which he was cursed. In fact, the Bayeux Tapestry in Normandy, France, signifies the Norman victory in this battle with an image of King Harold looking at the comet in the sky. In 1456, Pope Calixtus III had condemned its appearance considering it to be an evil omen. Three years prior to this, Europe was defeated by the Ottoman Empire. Human beings have always blamed celestial phenomena, whenever they have not been able to explain the causes of certain unfavorable events. Historically, the presence of a comet in the night sky was commonly cited as the reason behind difficult situations that were beyond the reasoning of common man. A French physician, Ambroise, had described the pitiful conditions of middle ages, when a comet was seen just before the spread of a big epidemic. According to him, some people were scared to death while others fell sick on seeing the comet. It was believed to be some ‘evil form’ leaving behind a trail of blood, believed to be a sign of misery. Recent Spottings In the 16th and the 17th century, scientists learned to calculate the speed and distance at which comets travel around the Sun. Once, Edmond Halley had established the year of its reappearance, Halley’s comet became a matter of great interest. Although, he didn’t live to see his prediction coming true, his observation had a significant impact on the way society perceived comets. The sighting of a comet, especially Halley’s comet became less of a concern and more of a curiosity among people. Once people realized that comets are orbiting bodies just like planets, they became less apprehensive on the arrival of a comet in the Earth’s visibility zone. The change in the attitude of the people was seen in the depiction of the comet in the contemporary pictures. Halley’s comet was a subject of scientific study and was depicted as a beautiful heavenly body in the sky. Famous American writer Mark Twain was born in 1835, the year when Halley’s comet ha d appeared. He predicted in 1909 that since he had ‘come’ with the comet he will ‘go out’ with it. Sure enough, he passed away a year after the comet reappeared in 1910. In the 1900s, it had appeared twice; once in 1910 and then in 1986. Further studies gave us a deep insight into the structure, composition and orbital journey of many different comets. Halley’s comet has one of the shortest orbital paths. It is classified as a short period comet, i.e. comets having an orbit period of 200 years or less. Once upon a time, it belonged to the long period class, but due to the gravitational force of planets, its orbit shortened over a period of time. Today, it is known that comets like ‘Hale Bopp’ which appeared in 1997, will reappear after 4200 years! Thus, Halley’s comet is the most frequently spotted one. Recently, it was seen in February 1986. During this visit, it was subjected to its biggest scrutiny ever. Five spacecrafts from The European Space Agency, Japan and the USSR were launched to study its surface. Structure and Composition of Halley’s Comet Halley’s comet is a big mass of ice and dust, having an elliptical orbit and shaped like a peanut. It has a highly elongated orbit, taking it very close to the Sun. It flings off far in the outer solar system, similar to a slingshot motion. The composition is mainly of water, sodium monoxide, methane, ammonia, hydrocarbons, iron and sodium. Its closest distance from the Sun was found to be just 0.6 AU (astronomical unit) and the farthest distance was calculated to be 35 AU, roughly the same distance as that of Pluto. It orbits the Sun in a retrograde or in the direction opposite to that of the planets’ revolution. The speed with respect to the Earth is quite high, since it is highly eccentric and inclined. The day time is relatively more on its surface and its maximum temperature rises up to 77 degrees celsius. Due to its large size and a well-defined and regular orbit, it was easy for the probe missions photograph it closely and study its surface. The mass of the comet is 1.7Ãâ€"1015 kilograms and the size of the nucleus has been estimated to be 15 km Ãâ€" 7 km Ãâ€" 7 km. Winds blowing near its surface are so strong that 1 gram particle of dust which hit the Giotto space probe, briefly destabilized it. Halley’s comet will next appear in 2062. Comets have always been a fascination for human beings and will continue to mesmerize generations to come, as we discover more interesting facts about these spectacular fireballs, the comets. Comet lullin Comet Lulin was discovered on July 11, 2007, by the duo of Ye Quanzhi and Lin Chi-Sheng. A non-periodic comet, Lulin appears to be greenish in color. This green color is attributed to the presence of gases such as cyanogen and diatomic carbon, which produce a green glow when illuminated by sunlight in the vacuum of the space. Officially designated as C/2007 N3 (Lulin), it is also known as the ‘Comet of Cooperation’ in China and Taiwan, as the two individuals involved in its discovery, were from these two countries. This comet was first photographed by Taiwanese astronomer Lin Chi-Sheng on July 11, 2007, while he was working on the Lulin Sky Survey Project (LUSS) at the Lulin observatory in Nantou, Taiwan. The Lulin Sky Survey Project aims to identify the numerous small objects in the solar system, particularly those that pose possible hazards to our planet. Lin used a 16-inch telescope to photograph this comet, which was initially assumed to be an asteroid. A few days later, Ye Quanzhi, a 19-year old student of meteorology from Sun Yat-Sen University, China, recognized this comet while going through Lin’s photographs. Its status of being a comet was confirmed after the presence of coma, the nebulous envelope around the nucleus of the comet, was noticed. Both, Lin and Quanzhi were accredited with the discovery of this new comet. As it was first noticed from the Lulin Observatory, it was named as Comet Lulin. Comet Lulin was seen in the Libra constellation from January to March 2009. In January, it was getting brighter and could be seen just before dawn; while in February, the brightness reached its peak. Eventually, in March, it started to fade as it went farther away from the Earth. While it was approaching the Earth, it had a typical tail pointing away from the Sun, as well as an ‘anti-tail’ which was directly pointing towards the sun. Although, it was assumed that this anti-tail was observed only in photographs, so me observers reported that it was visible even from a telescope in February 2009. According to Brian Marsden, an astronomer at Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Massachusetts, this comet’s closest approach to the sun was on January 10, 2009 when it reached a distance of 113 million miles from the sun. He noticed that the comet was moving in a retrograde orbit that is near-parabolic. On February 24, Comet Lulin came the closest to the Earth, at a distance of 0.41 AU or 38 million miles to be precise. On February 4, 2009, a team of Italian astronomers, under the leadership of Ernesto Guido, witnessed a strange phenomenon taking place in comet Lulin. While photographing the comet with a remotely controlled telescope in New Mexico, they saw that its tail suddenly disconnected. Ernesto attributed this odd phenomenon to magnetic disturbance of the solar wind hitting the comet. Earlier, this had been observed with Comet Encke too, when coronal mass ejection occurred, due to such magnetic storms. Photographs taken by NASA’s Swift Gamma-ray Explorer satellite in ultra-violet and X-rays show that Lulin is shedding 800 gallons of water every second. Observations by NASA also revealed that the surface material of the comet was burning away due to sun’s heat. This sighting of Comet Lulin was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the whole world, as there is no possibility of this comet returning to the inner solar system, at least not for the next thousand years. Human kind has always looked to the heavens in awe and wonder, and sometimes in fear. Perhaps no other astronomical phenomenon except a total solar eclipse has historically evoked as much fear as comets. When the specter of fear is removed, however, they emerge as strikingly beautiful objects in the sky. It was once believed that if earth passed through a tail of a comet, its inhabitants would die; this theory has been discredited. Comets are messengers from a time long past. Most are chunks of dirty ice, locked away in the Oort cloud for billions of years. (Oort cloud: – It is the source for long period comets, with orbital periods of greater than two hundred years.) Comets are familiar to nearly everyone as striking star like objects with long tails stretching across a wide band of the sky. The most famous comet, Halley’s comet makes its return to the skies every seventy-five years. The word â€Å"comet† is derived from a Greek word meaning â€Å"long haired† Comets were greatly feared before the twentieth century as bad omens. Since then, they have been identified and cataloged as objects that come from deep space. Most of them occupy orbits that carry them far outside the solar system. Many of them make only a single approach to the sun and never return again, while others exist in stable, but highly elliptical orbits that allow them to return after an extended period of time, such as the Halley’s comet. In 1986, the European space probe Giotto passed about 600 kilometers from the Comet Halley as it made its close approach to the sun. The probe verified existing theories that comets are made up of ices covered by black dust or soil. The spacecraft confirmed a theory that had been advanced prior to the reconnaissance that described comets as â€Å"dirty snowballs.† Using data taken by the spacecraft, scientists determined that the dust is composed of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen. Other metals have also been discovered in comets, such as iron, calcium, nickel, potassium, copper and silicon. Halley’s comet was one of the darkest objects ever seen in the solar system; it was basically flat black. Comets are composed of a mixture of ices and dust. As a comet approaches the sun, it absorbs the suns energy and warms up. The main body of the comet is called the nucleus. As the nucleus warms, the ice beneath the comets soil evaporates. Because the comet has no atmosphere, the evaporated substance (also called a volatile) escapes into the vacuum of space as a gaseous envelope that surrounds the comet called â€Å"coma.† As the coma grows, it forms a plume of vapor that carries away some of the comets surface as well. This mixture of evaporated volatile particles and dust is carried away from the comet by solar wind, is ionized by high-energy particles, and creates the spectacular tail of the comet. The comet’s tail, glowing in the solar wind, can stream behind the comet for millions of kilometers. The nucleus of the comet consists of mostly volatile ices and dust. The ice is nearly all water ice, but there is also evidence of ices composed of carbon dioxide and methane. More elementary compounds of nitrogen, oxygen, and carbon monoxide may exist as volatile ices. Comets are typically small bodies (comparatively!!). Halley’s comet is a potato shaped object, 14 by 17 kilometers. The largest known comet is Chiron, which is estimated to be approximately 200 kilometers in diameter. Comets are thought to have formed as the solar system evolved. The material of which comets are composed was constructed by accretion at the outer edge of the disk of material that ultimately became the sun and planets. Because the comet material was fashioned at the outer edge of the solar system, the sun did not evaporate the volatiles in the cometary material. At the same time, the giant planets of the solar system formed at what would become the outer orbits of the solar system. These massive planets encountered the newly formed comets, and the ones that were not engulfed by the giant planets were, over the first billion years, catapulted into interstellar space by the planets massive gravitational fields. Not all comets met that fate, however. Some were gently nudged into stable orbits closer to the sun. Others were flung into the inner solar system and impacted the inner planets. Relevance: – The study of comets involves detailed knowledge of its composition of the outer regions of the solar system and the space between the last planet and 100,000 astronomical units onwards. Cometary study also seeks to understand complex gravitational interactions between bodies separated by wide distances and even gravitational interactions between tiny comets, their behavior when approaching the sun, and something of the makeup and evolution of the early solar system. New comets approaching the sun for the first time have been held in deep freeze in the Oort cloud and are thought to be composed of primordial material of the newly forming solar system. They have been tied up in the Oort cloud for billions of years at temperatures slightly above absolute zero. As they approach the sun, their internal gases begin to steam away. A detailed study of an approaching comet may tell cosmologists about the composition of the early solar systems. Comets and their approach have also hinted at the existence of the elusive brown dwarf, thought to be one of the most common bodies of interstellar space. Because they are so dim, they are all but invisible from Earth. On the other hand, because brown dwarfs are thought to be so plentiful, the study of comets and their orbits may give the first real clues to the former’s reality and abundance. In the early 1980s the existence of the galactic tidal action was merely speculation. Since then, careful study of cometary orbits and approaches has favorable supported the theory of galactic tides. In the close approach of Halley’s comet by an unmanned spacecraft in 1986, a wealth of information was recovered on the shape, behavior, and composition of comets. The existence of the Oort cloud and the concept gravitational interactions by passing objects in space have led to the theory of periodic comet showers. Such comet showers, separated by periods of tens of millions of years, may be responsible for the mass extinction on Earth. There is a wide speculation that Earth was struck by one or more comets 70 million years ago, which wiped out the dinosaurs. Some scientists have speculated that this extinction was the result of a shower of comets from the Oort cloud, sent on their close approach to the sun by a passing star or brown dwarf through the Oort cloud. Comets have been used to judge vast distances, evaluate the composition of the solar system as it was being born, and even test the idea that the gravity of the entire galaxy can make a difference to the smallest objects in space. Comets have been used as yardsticks to evaluate what may be the most type of star in the galaxy-the brown dwarf-which ironically is one that may never be seen. They have also been called dirty snowballs. Halley’s comet was so black that it was the darkest object ever seen in space. Yet, from these dirty specks of ice, cosmologists have witnessed some of the most spectacular light shows. Ultimately comets may also generate clues to some of the most fundamental secrets about the solar system and planets. From these tiny messengers, cosmologists may unlock and examine pristine elements from creation itself.

A time when I felt isolated or lonely

â€Å"Wow! A three days survival camp without a leader or teacher. Cool! Mum, can I join this camp?† I asked my mum eagerly. My mum, who was observing the book section, turned around and looked at the poster, â€Å"This?† â€Å"Yes,† I explained, â€Å"It's a three days hiking camp. I will hike with another two people from an over-sea scout team.† She examined the advertisement for a moment and said, â€Å"But there aren't any teachers following you.† â€Å"That's why I'm so keen to join this camp,† I exclaimed ardently. â€Å"This is the time when I can really use the skills I learnt in the past two months, surviving in the wild. And if I really have problems, I'm sure my amiable team mates can help me.† My mum studied the poster for a few more moments and finally said, â€Å"Well, if you're so willing to join this survival camp, I will let you.† I kept on telling my parents how happy I was like a parrot at dinner time, but my dad's facial expression stopped me from repeating. He had a small encouraging smile on his face, which looked pretty normal, however when I looked deep into his eyes, I could see that he's worried. â€Å"What's the matter, dad?† â€Å"Umm†¦nothing much. It's just that I had a dog's life the last time I had a survival camp, but I'm sure the one you joined is much better. Hope you have fun,† my dad hesitated strangely. I stared at him for a few seconds, figuring what's that statement about. Slowly and uneasily, I replied, â€Å"Course I will.† The field day was a warm sunny day that you could get plenty of wind, perfect for hiking. When I arrived to the starting point, the team leader approached to me and informed me about my team mates who are both French but speak fluent English. Around five minutes later, two teenagers were heading to this direction. They both wore the scout suits but I was more interested on their badges. From what I could see, they had at least three rock climbing prizes, which show that they are brilliant at climbing. The team leader went to them and said, â€Å"I assume you are Dominic (pointing at the taller one) and this is John (point at the fatter one),† they both nodded, â€Å"and this is your team mate Kelvin.† I put out a hand for shaking, but they just stared at me like a foreigner. The leader ignored their reaction, and continued on his speech, â€Å"Before you guys set off, I want to ask you a question, have you got your map with you? (We all nodded), good, do you know where you're going? (We all nodded), good, then I will leave and you may start now. Good luck.† During the next hour, I tried lots of ways to make friends with them but they just didn't respond and what annoyed me the most is their language. I remembered very clearly that they both spoke fluent English, but what I heard is French, pure French. They chatted to each other and laughed very often while I walked on my own. I tried to calm my anger by enjoying the view, but everytime I felt better, they laughed loudly and exclaimed a phrase in French. I just couldn't stand it anymore. I stomped to their side and asked, â€Å"Don't you guys speak English? I'm also your team mate and I don't understand one damn word you're saying. Can you please switch your channel to English and show me some team spirit?† Dominic and John gazed at me for a few seconds like I was a stranger who just interrupted their great conversation, then they went back to their talk. After another fifteen minutes, they started scowling at me, spoke a few sentences to each other, and started smirking. The smirk made me saw the handwriting on the wall but the only thing I could do was to be more careful. I kept observing them to find out what they're playing at but there's nothing wrong for an hour, so I stopped the observation and went back to luxuriate the view. All of a sudden, I heard a loud shivery scream from Dom then I descried a furry gigantic animal being thrown at me out of the blue. An animal I fear the most, spider. I quickly dodged away and screamed as loud as I could. Then, under my shriek, I could hear two people laughing; Dom and John were guffawing their head off. John said breathlessly, â€Å"Do you see how scared he is? That's the loudest scream I ever heard.† Dom nodded, went to the spider and picked it up. Was it my illusion or what? Did I just heard a language that I understand? And how came the spider didn't struggle when Dom picked it up? I thought of a second then everything just came together at once. It's true that they spoke English and I had just been tricked. The spider is fake! I looked at them disgustedly, rushing past them as quickly as I can. Their unbearable action just made me detest them more and didn't even want to look at them. For the rest of the day, I walked in front of them without saying a word or trying to revenge. I decided not to disturb them and desired they would not irritate me, but this never happened. They kept on insulting me on everything I do. I tried to sing quietly to relax, and they cried stop and emphasised what a bad voice I had. I wished to rest for a moment, and â€Å"suck† was the reply. I walked wearily until evening when they wanted to stop and started setting up the tent. The tent was quite big and needed at least three people to set it up, so even though Dom and John wanted me to do all the work, they helped. They got in first and blocked the entrance with their back-pack. â€Å"No filthy Chinks allow in this clean tent,† John yelled. I stood there, looking blankly at the tent, and then a wave of anger filled me like a tsunami. I kicked the tent fiercely and tried to turn it over, but this action didn't last long, John whirled out and grabbed me by my collar. â€Å"You're not welcome in this tent, you Chink,† John shouted and threw me to the ground. I stared up at him, terrified as he thumped back into the tent. I got up slowly, examined the environment, trying to find a place without too many rocks. After lots of effort, I found a place with little amount of rocks near to the tent, I put my mat on it and lied down. Though there's a mat, I could still feel the hardness of the floor, and the tiny sharp stones stinging my back. Small ants crawled on my right leg and bite, but I was too exhausted to scratch them. I looked at the dark blue sky, thinking about the horrible day I had just experienced, then my dad's word faded into my mind, â€Å"†¦I have a dog's life the last time I join a survival camp†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Although today was not as bad as a dog's life, it's not better. â€Å"I should listen to dad, he's always right. I wonder what he is doing now; maybe he's watching TV with mum†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I thought of the cosy bed in my room that doesn't has any insects in it. I thought of my friends who respect me and never leave me alone. When I thought of my buddies, I could feel tears cascaded down my face. My friends and team mates were like angels and devils; two kind of extreme creatures. I kept on thinking of the good I had with my companions; how we laughed at each others' jokes and helped each other out, and slowly I dozed off with a smile on my face. Next morning, I walked in front of them as usual, staying quiet. Not for long, we arrived to a slope narrow rock wall. The wall is similar to every wall you can see in the wild but this one have a rope hanging from the top. â€Å"This must be the string to tie up my safety lock,† I thought as I open my back-pack and found the lock. Dom looked down his nose at me and teased, â€Å"You suck at everything. Why do we need a safety lock for a short wall?† I ignored him, and continued to find the lock. Dom and John jumped on the wall and started climbing. Five seconds later, I heard a shriek of help above me. I quickly looked up and the sight stunned me. About five metres up the mountain, John was trying to make a big leap. Unluckily, he missed for only a few inches, so he tried to clutch on something, but fail. Everything seemed to happen so quickly, he fell on the ground, hand first, then blood started dripping from his hand and knee. Dom slowly got to the floor and looked at his injury but did nothing about it. â€Å"Don't you know how to do first aid?† I questioned. They looked at each other shamefully and shook their head. I really wanted to laugh at them but I knew I should not. They didn't show me respect but that didn't mean I needed to do the same thing to them. I took out my bandage from my first aid box and wrapped it around John's injury arm. I also took out a bottle of ethanol and washed the wound with it. After first aiding, my team mates both looked at me thankfully, â€Å"Thank you†¦um†¦a†¦sorry about what happened yesterday. W†¦we don't mean it.† I put out a hand and say, â€Å"so can we be friends now?† They nodded and shook my hand. From then on, I didn't hear a single insulting word or French from them, and the rest of the journey continued to be remarkable, in a good way.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Primary Data Essay

Advantages and Disadvantages of Primary Data - Essay Example Contact methods can be mail, telephone or personal. Sampling plan decisions include sampling unit, sample size, and sampling procedure. Lastly, the research instruments to be used can be questionnaires and mechanical instruments (Philip Kotler). â€Å"Observational research includes the gathering of primary data by observing relevant people, actions and situation† (Philip Kotler). It is the appropriate approach for exploratory research. â€Å"Surveys are a form of questioning that is more rigid than interviews and that involve larger groups of people. Surveys will provide a limited amount of information from a large group of people and are useful when you want to learn what a larger population thinks† (Driscoll). The survey approach is the best suited for gathering descriptive information such as finding out â€Å"peoples’ knowledge, attitudes, preferences or buying behavior† (Philip Kotler). Experimental research is done by â€Å"selecting matched groups of subjects, giving them different treatments, controlling unrelated factors, and checking for differences in group responses†(Philip Kotler). This method is used in establishing causal relationships between variables, thus it â€Å"is commonly used in sciences such as sociology and psychology, physics, chemistry, biology, and medicine† (http://www.experiment-resources.com). Primary data collection has the following advantages: Addresses Specific Research Issues – Carrying out their own research allows the marketing organization to address issues specific to their own situation. Greater Control – Not only does primary research enable the marketer to focus on specific issues, but it also enables the marketer to have a higher level of control over how the information is collected. Efficient Spending for Information - primary data collections’ focus on issues specific to the researcher improves the chances that research funds will be spent efficiently. Proprietary Information – Information collected by the marketer using primary research is their own and is generally not shared with others.

(Philosophy) Comparison Book Review between Hollis & Rosenberg (SEE Essay

(Philosophy) Comparison Book Review between Hollis & Rosenberg (SEE BELOW description) - Essay Example In the actual perspective, social change are varies in nature where manifesting as an act of advocacy, a sort of event or action, a social behavior, and others which all promote a change in the present or the normative state of the social condition. In the history of the development of the society, several social changes have already transformed the development of the social structure and their development course. In the past, some examples of social changes in the past are the use of contraception particularly birth control pills as related to the population and marital realm in the society, the electoral system development incorporating women as the result of the female suffragist’s action for equality, and the acceptance of the concept of homosexuality in the social structure. These social changes have caused the development of the present social community to their contemporary state in the modern period. In the present, several social change issues are still influence the social behavior of the population namely the information technology structure which it now integrating their influence in the respective lives of the people. This in turn, has caused their presence to become a significant factor in the present state of modernity of the present social culture transforming the present society to become dependent upon the technology for their daily needs and activities. Poverty in the present is an economic and cultural concept that is mainly defined as the level of income of a certain individual or a group of people within a society that relates to the ability and purchasing power in acquiring the valuable things that are considered necessities for a normal living. This concept mainly becomes a sociological and cultural concept because it is significantly affected by the inequality in the economic distribution of income in the society. In defining and measuring the poverty concept within the society, one must both incorporate the aspect

Marketing Principles Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Marketing Principles - Assignment Example It is only when these principles are adhered to, will a business organization be well placed to experience the maximum benefits of marketing. There are four core principles of marketing that will be expounded in this paper. The marketing presumption is that in the absence of these marketing principles effective and complete marketing would essentially be impossible. The success of any business venture is significantly hinged on the comprehension and effective execution of these marketing principles. Main Body In context to marketing endeavours, business organizations would rather revert to conventional forms of advertising deals and marketing ideas. This is hinged on the assumption that since these ideas been proven to work since time immemorial. As such, these are safe strategies whose risk is as low as it can get. However, business organisations must exercise caution and restraint when implementing strategies that are not in line with common conventional strategies. If caution is n ot observed, the huge amounts of funds that are dedicated towards product marketing will be lost. The art of learning how to market effectively is one of the biggest hurdles for an upcoming business venture or launching a new product. The risk of encountering failure is more than real. As such, the following basic principles must be used to avert failure. ... This is hinged on the rationale that it is important for buyers to understand what is being offered if significant sales are to be experienced (Barcharts, 2010). In respect, this is one of the most vital aspects of marketing. If the product that is being offered is not clearly understood, in terms of functions or benefits of the product or service, by the impending clients then they will simply pick up and move on from the product. As such, in an endeavour to avert such catastrophic eventualities, a few measures can be instituted. The measures are hinged on ensuring the public are in full comprehension of the respective products that are being offered. These measures can best be exemplified by including warranties, efficient customer service, adequate instructions, company name, and visual illustrations of how your product or service functions. Prior to the launch of the product into the market, there are a number of product decisions that have to be made. The first is deciding on br and name. This is an especially important process in an endeavour to maintain the uniqueness of the business organization. The chief risk is that the business venture will be successful, and then an imitator will come into the market with a similar name. In the event whereby the name assigned to the product or service was descriptive of some feature of the product or service, it might be futile to prevent that particular name from getting into the market. The impact of this is far reaching; this is sourced from the fact that this imitation of the product or service name might grab a share of the market position which the business organization has already established. This is the rationale behind the adoption of invented names for unique products and services. A

Trends in Cloud Computing Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Trends in Cloud Computing - Assignment Example The users of the technology need not to have knowledge of, expertise in, or control over the technology infrastructures "in the cloud" that supports them. Buyya et al. (2009) stated that the concept incorporates infrastructure as a service (IaaS), platform as a service (PaaS) and software as a service (SaaS) as well as Web 2.0 and other recent technological trends that have the common theme of dependency on the Internet for meeting computing needs of the users. Examples of such providers are Dropbox.com, Salesforce.com, and Google Apps, which all provide common business applications online that are accessed from a web browser, while the software and data are stored on the servers. Referring to the writings by Cohen (2012) the term cloud is used as a metaphor for the Internet, based on how the Internet is depicted in computer network diagrams, and is an abstraction for the complex infrastructure it conceals. The diagram below helps to demonstrate the architecture of cloud computing an d how it incorporates the use of other technologies in order to provide a variety of applications of services. Figure 1: Graphical representation of cloud computing Sources: http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/comparing-public-private-and-hybrid-cloud-computin.html In the writings by Saboowala et al. (2013), they stated that cloud computing mainly involves software as a service and utility computing. Under Software as a Service, cloud computing is known for providing an application via the internet, which ends up being used by millions of people located in different corners of the world. Under utility computing, it is noted that cloud computing provide storage and virtual servers that users can easily access on real time basis. The top trends in cloud computing In the writings by Cohen (2012), he noted that the latest trends in cloud computing are because of continued application of cloud computing in various forms, and therefore, the technology has been realigning itself to the c hanging needs of providers and businesses, which has created new utility options for the technology of which key among them is big data analytics. Big data analytics According to Schlesinger (2013), big data analytics is one of the latest trends in cloud computing and it refers to the capability of cloud computing to manage big amounts of data from various sources. Therefore, the latest trends is the analysis of big data that is available â€Å"in the cloud† in a single approach without any sub-division of data into manageable chunks. The big data analytics enables organizations to carry an analysis of data that that is generated from a long period of time from multiple sources using a common approach. For example, Buyya et al. (2009) stated that within the public cloud, access can be obtained to individual files containing variety of data from different businesses within the same industry and the analysis of such data will provide a global outlook of the entire industry. Big data analytics services by cloud computing provide key benefits of reduced cost in analyzing wide data and shortened duration of analyzing data. Increased application of hybrid clouds Cohen (2012) wrote that as businesses are increasingly identifying the benefits of cloud computing they are equally increasing their adoption of the use of cloud computing for various business purposes. This has resulted in a trend

Water pollution in China Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Water pollution in China - Essay Example In recent yearsï ¼Å'the world has been shocked at China’s rate of economic development. It was almost as if it happened overnight because all of a sudden China was a super-power in terms of its financial power. This has mostly been due to its several industries in the country which beside providing income for the people and revenue for the government, this has also come at a hefty price- pollution. The factories and production plants emit harmful gases and wastes which in turn pollute the environment. China’s environmental pollution problems have become a major concern around the world mostly because of its dense population, estimated at around 1 billion. Water pollution in particular is a very serious problem in China. To put this into perspective, China had an estimated 50, 000 rivers unfortunatley more than half of those rivers have since disappeared. A report from the Ministry of Environmental Protection indicates that, â€Å"Up to 40 percent of China’s riv ers were seriously polluted† and â€Å"20 percent were so polluted their water quality was rated too toxic even to come into contact with.† (Yongqiang, 2013). Water pollution not only threatens human health and development, but also jeopardizes China’s economic development plans (Economy, 2013). It is reported that water shortages cause an estimated loss of U.S. $11.2 billion (120 billion yen), while the its impact on human health has been approximated at U.S. $3.9 billion (41.73 billion yen per year). There has been a debate as to whether pollution should be dealt with austerely mainly because it will involve taking draconian measures against companies found liable. This will have a negative economic impact in the country. So the real debate is whether China wants to forego its economic development and in turn focus on eradicating pollution. This paper will look into the water pollution issue at length while seeking to answer whether economic development should be at the peril of the environment and humanity. The author is of the view that economic development should not be pursued at all costs. There are limits as to how far one can/should go in order to make profits. Currently in China there is no line to be crossed and companies are taking advantage of this. Pollution This refers to the contamination of air, water, or soil by substances which are harmful to living organisms. These substances may differ and they contaminate at varying degrees depending on their concentration. Ex amples of substances that may contaminate include; chemicals, waste (human and industrial) etc. These substances may also be referred to as pollutants. Water is very essential to not only human life, but also animal and plant life. In order for all these lives to be sustained, water is required but not just any water but clean and fit for consumption water. The quality of water which is declining at a very fast pace is mostly affected by human activities (Taylor, 2013). Some of the factors attributed to this include; population growth, the rise of urbanization, industrial production, among other factors. Industries are the largest source of water pollution and it is reported that several sources of water have a certain contamination level from industrial waste and chemicals (Spector, 2013). The management of waste water is a global challenge affecting various regions of the world. The existing sanitation- both industrial and municipal water treatment infrastructure is overloaded, th ey then seep directly into the environment thus contaminating the groundwater sources. Reports indicate that every day, approximately two million tons of sewage is discharged into the planet’s various water bodies- oceans, lakes and rivers. Currently, there are systems in place which have been set up to deal with such however they have thus far been unable to support the growing population and urbanization. Pursuing Economic Development at all costs Most companies have argued that focusing on pollution as

Comparison of credibility (accuracy) of S&P and Moody's ratings before Literature review

Comparison of credibility (accuracy) of S&P and Moody's ratings before and after the US financial crisis - Literature review Example These rating systems have also influenced the U.S capital markets by enabling the U.S financial markets to examine the credit risks. S&P and Moody’s ratings play significant roles in the capital markets; thus, the rating agencies employ them in measuring the expected financial losses (Langohr and Langohr, 2008). This is crucial because they enable the financial market to respond to financial insecurity or risks. This is through establishing regulatory approaches that protect the financial markets from incurring losses. S&P and Moody frequently provide financial analysis to the analysts and issues standard public financial statement of the U.S banks on credit conditions. They also carry out credit ratings in order to offer investors with adequate information; hence enabling them to overcome credit crisis. Moreover, they have influenced the US financial market by enabling them to make financial analysis in order to determine the strength of banking institutions. They have enable d them to split bonds and rate the financial institutions against each other in order to determine their performance level. ... Thus, through S&P and Moody rating services, the U.S financial institutions have enabled to improve their business performance level. Literature Review on the Methodology Changes of S&P and Moody's After All the Criticism It Has Faced On Their In Credibility and Accuracy of Their Published Ratings Varied literature have attempted to reveal the methodology changes of S&P and Moody’s after they faced varied criticism on their credibility and accuracy issues. They have made great efforts of becoming more cautious in order to recover their reputations after the criticism during the recent financial crisis. The S&P and Moody's, as well as, other credit rating agencies have been a subject of controversy; thus, they have been criticized for not being accurate and credible. These agencies faced severe criticism especially during the recent rise of gasoline in the U.S that contributed to a global financial crisis (Eccleston, 2013. However, the credit rating agencies have made significa nt attempts of making changes in rating system; thus, they have focused on creditworthiness, which has become the key aspects in the financial markets. S &P have attempted to implement varied methodologies and this has changed drastically after the 2007 to 2008 global financial crisis. Before the crisis Moody's employed RiskCalc model for estimating private industries default risks. However, the current regulatory approach, which is characterized by capital ratios, stress tests among other methodologies makes it necessary in rating activities. Anand and Subramanian (2013) reveal that S&P and Moody's have made significant efforts of responding to criticism by increasing the regulatory use of ratings in order to reduce financial risks. This regulatory

Language Assessment Principles Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 4

Language Assessment Principles - Essay Example other words, this meant viewing as a student rather than as a teacher. Only after I understood what the student was seeing could I understand what would benefit the student, and therefore provide the necessary means of delivering that lesson. It basically allowed me to assess him based on what was challenging to him as a learner who was struggling to understand the language, rather than as the student of someone who was very fluent in the language. Another misconception I quickly became aware of was that I had always thought assessment was purely for the benefit of the student. While this is partially true, in an indirect way, assessment of a student can also greatly benefit the teacher. In fact, for a good teacher the assessment of a student is vital because through assessing the student, one is able to assess himself as a teacher, possibly better than he could through any other method. When a student struggles with certain aspects of language, but cannot point out exactly where ass essment helps to narrow it down and give information of which areas need more practice and which areas the student is weak in. This allowed me, as a teacher, to focus on those areas, and draw on the aspects of language which Anees was familiar with, or more comfortable with, to help make those unfamiliar areas more accessible for him. In other words, assessment helps a teacher asses his own process of teaching, and decide which areas need to be focused on and which areas can now be left on the student to practice in his own time.... Only after I understood what the student was seeing could I understand what would benefit the student, and therefore provide the necessary means of delivering that lesson. It basically allowed me to assess him based on what was challenging to him as a learner who was struggling to understand the language, rather than as the student of someone who was very fluent in the language. Another misconception I quickly became aware of was that I had always thought assessment was purely for the benefit of the student. While this is partially true, in an indirect way, assessment of a student can also greatly benefit the teacher. In fact, for a good teacher the assessment of a student is vital because through assessing the student, one is able to assess himself as a teacher, possibly better than he could through any other method. When a student struggles with certain aspects of language, but cannot point out exactly where, assessment helps to narrow it down and give information of which areas ne ed more practice and which areas the student is weak in. This allowed me, as a teacher, to focus on those areas, and draw on the aspects of language which Anees was familiar with, or more comfortable with, to help make those unfamiliar areas more accessible for him. In other words, assessment helps a teacher asses his own process of teaching, and decide which areas need to be focused on and which areas can now be left on the student to practice in his own time. Through the various assessment tasks I provided Anees, I found very clear insight into which aspects troubled him, which in turn made my job of teaching him much easier. Therefore, it can be said that assessment of a student is also a means of assessment for the teacher, and both student and teacher can find much to learn

1906 British General Election Essay Example for Free

1906 British General Election Essay The Liberals lapped on the conservatives weaknesses, and used that to their strengths. The leadership of Campbell-Bannerman proved as a success by throwing out accusations towards the Tories, like their methods of barbarism and ‘Chinese slavery.’ They also had young, dynamic MP’s and the gaining of Winston Churchill. The liberals opposed the tariff reform and supported free trade like many working class voters. The Tories had won 334 seats in the 1900 election but that went down to 157 seats in the 1906 election, which is a loss of 177 seats. But on the other hand in the 1900 election the Liberals had 187 seats but by 1906 election they had gone up to 401 seats, which is a gain of 214 seats! The Conservative party introduced two new acts just before this General Election which decreased their popularity. The Education Act of 1902 was an attempt by the ‘Tories’ to improve national efficiency: Britain must improve the health and well-being of the nation if it was to remain a leading world power. The act abolished school boards, which meant that taxpayers funded primary school education. Although this was a successful policy, (attendance increased from 94,000 in 1905 to 200,000 by 1914) it angered non-conformists who were outraged that their taxes were being used to fund church schools. In fact, the Act was branded Rome on Rates, as the Catholic Church was benefiting from taxes being paid by anti-Catholic citizens: Balfour soon had to control a revolt as 7000 people refused to pay their taxes. This rebellion shows just how unpopular this act was and reduced the amount of support for the Conservatives. The Conservative party also had a ‘Laissez Faire’ attitude, which means ‘you are on your own’ with your health and wealth. Booth and Roundtrees studies showed that 1/3 of the population were in Poverty and in the Boer War soldiers were declared to unhealthy to fight. The Non-Conformists were also outraged by the Licensing Act of 1904, which aimed to reduce the number of pubs in areas where they were not needed. However, the government paid compensation to the brewers whose pubs were closed down which angered voters as the brewers were receiving unnecessary government funds. This act, The Brewers Bill was another attempt by the Conservatives to introduce reform,  which ended in their popularity decreasing in the 1906 election. These acts were important, not only because they weakened Conservative support but also because they gave the Liberal party new policies to increase popularity: they promised to reverse the Education and Licensing Acts, which made them more attractive to Non-Conformists. The reforms gave the Liberal party strength: whereas in 1900, they had been split over the issue of home rule and had suffered from faddism. The first major event that had an impact on the general election of 1906 was the Boer War. There are a number of reasons why the Boer War occurred, the first being Joseph Chamberlains appointment as colonial secretary whose job it was to strengthen the empire. South Africa was important in these plans as it had the most valuable land on the continent not only because of its trading location but also because of the recently discovered Witwatersrand goldfields growing wealth. Agreements in 1881 and 1884 gave the Boer states independence but they faced interference from imperialist Britain which escalated hostilities. These and other factors eventually led to war with the Boer states. Views were split on the subject but as the war went on the Conservatives were being increasingly blamed for their military inexperience. The war also allowed the Liberals to start a revival as it took views off the internal cracks in the party and gave it a united front as most Liberals disagreed with the war. The Boer war also created other issues for the Conservatives. There were 50,00 Chinese workers in South Africa (or also as it is known as ‘Chinese Slavery’) and despite the Conservative government having little to do with it the Liberals could portray them as exploiters of workers due to the long hours, poor pay and lack of rights they had. This harmed the Conservatives reputation with middle class voters because of the humanitarian issues (methods of barbarism) but more importantly badly damaged their reputation with working class voters because not only did it close off potential job opportunities in South Africa but also made many worried that they may implement the practice in Britain. Another major event that had an impact on the election was the retirement of Lord Salisbury who had been influe ntial in the revival of the Conservatives and the alliance with the Unionists. Salisburys successor, Balfour can be seen as another reason for the revival of the Liberal Party. As soon as Balfour was appointed the Unionist alliance began to break. Balfour is partly to blame for Chamberlains attempt to implement  the tariff reform in 1903. Although Balfour had little to do with it he failed to stop Chamberlain putting the reform forward which led to many people questioning his authority. This controversial policy split the unionist alliance so much so that many voters turned to the Liberals. The split was in three ways. ‘Whole Hoggers’ who supported the tariff reform fully. There were ‘Free fooders’ whom were mostly Liberal Unionists where they supported free trade and absolutely hated the idea. Then finally there were the ‘Balfourites’ who tried to create peace throughout the party. The reform stated that all non-British (and British Empire as well just pay lower taxes) colonies should have to pay tariffs on imports into Britain. But free trade was indented into British society and nearly all voters were against the idea as no one wanted to pay more for the same products. Another damaging misestimate by Balfour was the decision not to take any action on the Taff Vale incident. The railway workers on the Taff Vale railway went on strike in 1900. The management replaced them with National free labour association workers and then took the union to court for damages. The judge ruled in favour of the company which angered thousands of trade union members who wanted change but by 1905 the Conservatives had not taken any action whereas the Liberals and Labour were supporting change. Balfours successive miscalculations with this series of events led many to change their allegiances and angered many, none more than the working class who were becoming increasingly important. However it was not just Conservative weaknesses that caused the Liberals to win a victory in the 1906 general election, but also Liberals renewed strength. Henry Campbell-Bannerman, Herbert Asquith and William Gladstone are all acknowledged as great leaders and also with more dynamic MP’s, ( David Lloyd George, Herbert Samuel, Winston Churchill) while the Conservatives kept making mistakes the Liberals were gaining support, creating policies the public supported and forming alliances such as the Lib-Lab Pact. (The Liberal Party agreed to withdraw parliamentary candidates in some constituencies where the Labour was also standing in order to make sure the anti-Tory vote was not split.) And with the mess of the conservatives the Liberals promised to introduce social reforms. Overall, I think the statement is valid, as the Tories had their chance to show the public what they had to offer, but they failed and they wanted to have something new and  fresh. The Liberals took the Conservatives weaknesses to their advantage and won! With their fresh new MP’s it looked like the government, the future looked bright for the people in poverty.

Examining the Core Concepts of Forensic Nursing

Examining the Core Concepts of Forensic Nursing Nursing is a profession which works on the core concepts of empathy, communication, caring, trust, advocacy, and leadership. Every area of nursing uses these concepts and beyond to provide care to clients at times when they need it the most. Forensic Nursing too uses these concepts; however, it places more concentration on scientific objectivity rather than patient support. This is not to say, that they to provide patient support, but it is the practice that by being objective in evidence collection, they ensure successful results in trauma investigations. Forensic Nursing is defined as the application of forensics with the biopsychosocial interventions of the registered nurse in the scientific investigation and treatment of trauma and/or death related medical-legal issues (Wecht, C.H., Rago, J.T., 2006). It used to be that forensic medical interventions including lifesaving interventions were withheld until a Forensic medical examiner (FME) until they arrived to the emergency department and had collected evidence (Pyrek, K., 2006). Often times, clients were even transferred to other cities which offered forensic clinical services, and even then no interventions could be provided so as not to disturb the forensic evidence (Pyrek, k., 2006). However, If a Forensic Nurse Examiner (FNE) is available at the clinical site, they are able to secure the important forensic evidence requiring timely recovery and preservation without withholding medical interventions, i.e. in sexual assault cases (pyrek, K. 2006). It was in 1991 that the American Society of Forensic Nurses first to recognized and accepted Forensic Nursing as a specialty (Bader, D.M, Gabriel, L.S.,). Then in 1992, 72 primary sexual assault nurse examiners formed the International Association of Forensic Nurses (IAFN) (International Association of Forensic Nurses, 2006). The aim of the IAFN was to promote the education of forensic nurses. In 1997 the IAFN went on to develop the Forensic Nursing Code of Ethics and the Scope and Standards of Nursing Practice (Bader, D.M, Gabriel, L.S., 2009). Forensic Nursing is a specialty that is still new and needs to continue developing so forensic nurses can provide the appropriate responses in trauma cases, provide a more holistic care to their clients, and advocate in an unbiased and scientifically objective manner. Where it has been that it is the emergency nurses who have been the first to come in contact with clients involved in trauma cases, emergency nurses are trained in the legal complexities that are characteristic of trauma cases, and who may not consult with the hospital legal team when such cases are presented, before going ahead and providing the necessary interventions that the client needs resulting in loss of critical evidence (pyrek, k., 2006). Forensic nurses can provide appropriate health care response in the event that they are presented with either a victim or a perpetrator of a traumatic case. They are trained in identifying injuries, their patterns, documenting statements and injuries through written and photographic accounts, and collecting and preserving physical evidence. Linda McCracken in the forensic nurses states that health care and the law often become enmeshed during critical moments when patient care supersedes the concern for social justice. (Pyrek, K., 2006). Most nurses and institutions are not trained to recognize the importance of physical evidence, so in the process of providing care to the patient, key physical evidence may be lost i.e. through discardment of victims clothing, or cleansing of the wounds. When most trauma cases are presented to the Emergency department, the Emergency nurse is most often the first person to see and talk to the patient, the first to know the situation, first to deal with the family, first to deal with the patient property, and as result first to deal with the specimen and evidence (pyrek, K., 2006). In these situations, the evidence and the manner and the time in which they are collected, saved, and documented can have an impact on the turn out in the analysis and legal proceedings (Ledray, L., 2010). Forensic nurses provide a more holistic care to their clients by including the forensic aspect within their care plan (Pyrek, k., 2006). A forensic nurse has many of the same role as any other registered nurse such as patient advocacy, however, they also have to fulfill they also work closely with the legal system, so they are active members of the investigation, are liaisons for law enforcement and facility staff, they identify, collect, and preserve the evidence, provide accurate documentation, and act as expert witnesses in courts (Bader, D.M., Gabriel, L.S., 2009). The forensic nurse practice models include sociology, criminology, clinical and criminal investigation, and education (Hammer, R.M., Pagliaro, E.M., 2006). The forensic nurse besides being an advocate for the client, is an advocate for truth and justice, and The first priority of a forensic nurse is to ensure the safety of the living victim and the dead victims body, collecting and preserving evidence from the body, performing a forensic examination with the intention of identifying and collecting evidence that may have transferred from the victim, collect evidence from without bias and without causing physical and psychological stress to the living or dead victim, and documenting all evidence (Bader, D.M., Gabriel, L.S., 2009). They are also responsible for conducting interviews on the victim, suspected victimizer, convicted victimizer; family, friends, and witnesses (Bader, D.M., Gabriel, L.S., 2009).They have to pay attention to collect any physical evidence i.e. dirt, and paint c hips, biological evidence i.e. saliva, and insects, and physical material i.e. fabric (Bader, D.M., Gabriel, L.S., 2009). Lastly the documentation which is perhaps the most important piece of evidence in an investigation should be accurate, descriptive, and without personal judgements. Forensic nurses have to be unbiased and scientifically objective. Forensic nurses dont come only in contact with victims of violence, but also with the victimizers. While many nurses when faced with a suspect or accused of a crime may be more concentrated on finding out why the suspected or accused perpetrator may have committed the act. While the question may be important, forgetting to concentrate on the evidence can be perilous. As forensic nurses they need to concentrate on what they are seeing, and what needs to be collected for the purposes of analysis. According to Janet Baber, MSN, FN, in the beginning forensic nursing was based on helping people in needNow forensic nursing has evolved to where we must compartmentalize our desire to nurture, console any nurse would do that because caring for and protecting human being is instinctive (pyrek, K., 2006). The advocacy component is not unique to forensic nursingthe forensic nurse cannot be get overtly involved in advocacy. This n urse must stay within an objective, scientific framework, because if a nurse allows advocacy to supersede concern about the evidence, he or she will become diverted from the purpose of forensic nursing (Pyrek, K., P. 29, 2006). Concentrating on the evidence will help more in uncovering the truth of the crime and revering justice than being embroiled in emotions of the case and the client. This is what will help the forensic nurse when it comes time for them to provide the evidence in court, where they are going to have prove that they were objective in their evidence collection and that they were not deterred and entangled in the circumstance of the case. In the book forensic nurse, Sharon Crowley, RN, MN, and California forensic examiner says that, What I do as a forensic nurse is going to be dissected in a court, or in a crime lab. Forensic nursing practice is mandated by science, and I dont have a problem with that because I see my advocacy come through science (Pyrek, K., P. 30, 2006). The reason behind the origin of forensic nursing was that forensic pathologists believed that pertinent legal questions were not being addressed, and inspite of resistance the specialty has grown significantly (Hammer, R.M., Pagliaro, E.M., 2006). As forensic nursing continues to grow, there will have to be increased interprofessional collaboration, communication, and sharing of information and knowledge to achieve justice. Currently, there are not many hospitals, clinics, if any, that have a forensic nurse in place, because not many institutions believe that it is necessary to have them, not to mention there is already a poor patient to nurse already. Some challenges that the specialty will face will probably include job opportunities, funding, education and training, professional development mandates, and continuing acknowledgment of importance and respect from other health care colleagues (Pyrek, K., 2006). Forensic nurses have to be self-directed, and be confident in their abili ties. I have been interested in forensic science for a long time, and took a full year course at University of Toronto as an elective about 3 years ago. We were introduced to different areas of forensics, but forensic nursing was not one of them. It was very interesting to research this topic and learn about the roles of forensic nurses. Having had done a placement in long term care, I have heard of many of elder abuse, and realize that the issue is probably not getting the attention it deserves. I like that forensic nurses extend the roles of registered nurses to include the forensic aspect in their care. I realize that it would be very challenging to pursue a career as a forensic nurse, and hope that it will continue to grow. Since its establishment, forensic nursing has gained a lot of attention, and continues to grow. A Forensic Nurse is important because they can provide an appropriate response in trauma cases, the appropriate response being, collecting, preserving and documenting the evidence. A Forensic nurses extends the role of a registered nurse by including the forensic aspect in their care plan. While as nurses we are trained to provide caring for our client is one of our primarily responsibility, in forensic nursing, the evidence and documentation take the priority because without them, it is hard to prove legitimacy in court cases. Lastly, they fufill their roles in a manner that is unbiased and scientifically objective. The whole purpose of forensic nurses is to aid their law enforcement and forensic science colleagues in analyzing the evidence, and to do that, it must be important that they take out their emotions about the victim, victimizer, and case, to collect what they see without bias and utmost objectivity to ensure justice. Forensic nursing is a speciality that face many challenges in its growth mainly in terms of job opportunities, especially in todays clients where institutions hardly are able to keep a good nurse to client ratio, it will probably be hard to establish the need for forensic nurses, however, until there is a high profile case that increases concentration on forensic nursing, they will just have to be more self-directed in their career (pyrek, K., 2006).

Who is Smarter? Essays -- Gender Equality Intelligence Education Essay

Who is Smarter? Who's smarter? There have been several tests given to young boys and girls to test their intelligence, the turnout has been that girls' overall average intelligence is higher than that of boys. Are girls just naturally born smarter or do the teachers have something to do with it? In David Thoma's article, The Mind of Man, he writes about how he believes that women teachers are the reason why boys score lower on tests and don't do as well as girls in school. "At kindergarten and primary school level, in which little girls out-perform the boys, the vast majority of teachers are female."(121) He focuses on the fact that boys are more rebellious and outgoing than girls. Thomas believes that becasue most boys have behavior problems the teacher becomes concerned with their social and not their academic life. Since girls tend to be more diligent and less rebellious, the boys are usually the ones that speak up more forcefully and are spoken to more often by teachers. "Surveys showed that woman teachers consistently praised girls more than boys, and equally consistently criticized the boys' behavior, often regarding it as a serious problem requiring remedial treatment."(121) He adds how women teachers always seem to find boys to be loud and aggressive. In a classroom setting little girls will usually be playing or working in a quiet orderly manner while boys would be doing the same thing in a noisy and disorderly way requiring more supervision. Thomas believes that because a female teacher has to constantly keep calling the boys' attention the teacher ends up having favorite, usually being girls because they are going through a process they have already been through. Although Thomas believes that traditional male... ...ects in their head. Females prove better at reading the emotions of people in photographs."(121) Overall, I don't agree with Thomas' statement that boys do bad in school due to female teachers. If this is the case then can we say that girls do badly with male teachers? What does Thomas mean by saying that boys need to behave in ways that are not natural to them? Does he mean that they need to behave in a disciplined manner? I believe Thomas kind of contradicts himself because he does say that "boys whose lives are led without structure and discipline do not find themselves liberated. Instead they become bored, frustrated and maladaptive. They fight. They misbehave and they perform badly, both at school and thereafter."(124) Works Cited Lunsford, A. Andrea, Ruszkiewicz, J. John. The Prescence of Others. Bedford/St. Martins: Boston, New York. Copyright 2000.