Moon Landing Exploratory Essay Essay Example for Free

Moon Landing Exploratory Essay Essay The space race, during the Cold War, all started with the launch of the first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1. Although this shiny piece of metal ball sent meaningless â€Å"beep-beep† signals back to earth, it had a profound effect on the thinking of citizens and government around the globe, especially on the United States. As tensions and pressures were building, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was created in 1958, to bring competing military space programs into one effort. Soon, they developed the rockets, built the space capsules and satellites, and hired astronauts to become space men. In addition, the United States government realized there was a new frontier to be explored: the moon. As a result, putting a man on the moon became an official governmental priority and the Apollo moon-landing program was established. In 1969, astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were the first humans to walk on the moon. Controversies about the moon landing began shortly after when Bill Kaysing, a moon hoax investigator, published We never went to the Moon: America’s Thirty Billion Swindle in 1974. In addition, an organization called the Flat Earth Society, was the first to accuse NASA of faking the moon landing. Soon after, more and more people, like scientists, professors or amateurs became concerned and wanted the find out the answer: if the moon landing of 1969 was a hoax or a real event. There are five general claims regarding the falsity of the lunar success, each having their own significant proponents and evidences. However, the source of all conspiracies derives from Bill Kaysing. In John Moffet’s FOX documentary: Conspiracy Theory: Did we Land on the Moon? , Bill Kaysing shows strong beliefs that the moon landing was not real due to the following reasons: â€Å"despite the clarity of deep space, the starts were missing from dark lunar skies,† â€Å"the American flag was waving even though there was no ir on the moon,† and â€Å"there was no blast crater beneath the lunar lander† (Moffet). In addition, in Phillip C. Plait’s book, Bad Astronomy: Misconceptions and Misuses Revealed, from Astrology to the Moon Landing â€Å"Hoax,† many other conspiracy theorists argue that the incredibly high temperature of the Moon should have killed the astronauts and the play of light and shadows in the surface indicates that the photos a re faked (Plait 157). These theories all state that the entire world was deceived by the NASA administration and probable the United States government for them to gain the pride and prestige between the lunar landing events. Regardless of the conspiracy theories and the evidences, 94% of the United States population believes the moon landing was a real event, according to Frank Newport’s article, â€Å"Landing a Man on the Moon: The Public’s View. † In Tony Phillip’s article, â€Å"The Great Moon Hoax,† theories are debunked with explanations. He first explains why the pictures taken from the moon did not have stars. He states: â€Å"its difficult to capture something very bright and something else very dim on the same piece of film-typical emulsions† as they â€Å"don’t have enough ‘dynamic setting’† (Phillips). Then he explains why the flags waved despite vacuumed area: â€Å"Not every waving flag needs a breeze-at least not in space. When astronauts were planting the flagpole they rotated it back and forth to better penetrate the lunar soil† (Philips). The article also provides new evidence against the conspiracy theory: the moon rock, Big Muley. In moon rocks, there are isotopes that cannot be found on Earth. â€Å"Even if scientists wanted to make something like a Moon rock by, say, bombarding an Earth rock with high energy atomic nuclei, they couldnt† (Phillips). In addition, Phillip C. Plait agrees with Tony Phillips and comes to the same conclusions. For example he states there are no stars in the picture because, â€Å"The stars are too faint to be seen in the images† (Plait 159). However, unlike Tony Phillips, Plait explains the scientific reasons in depth. He claims astronauts have survived the incredibly high temperature of the Moon due to simple date counting. He explains, â€Å"Moon spins on its axis once every 27 days †¦ [which] means †¦ two weeks of sunlight and two weeks of darkness†¦ the surface doesn’t heat up the instant the sunlight touches it†¦It takes days for the lunar surface to get to its high temperature†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Plait 166). The author of the paper believes the moon landing of 1969 really happened. The main reasons coming to this conclusion s that the lies could not be told by such huge amount of people and the theories can be all explained and understood with a little studying on physics and astronomy. If this were a hoax, more than a handful of people would have spoken up the secret. The author of this paper also believes that the photos and the films from NASA are real evidences, but have been misinterpret ed due to the lack of knowledge on astronomy and physics. This topic still remains to be debated over because the moon landing was one of the magnificent scientific developments in world history.

Deciphering Low-Carb Diet Jargon :: Nutritio

Deciphering Low-Carb Diet Jargon The medical world is a complicated one with constant changes in what is recommended for good health. Trying to keep up with current information is challenging enough, but deciphering the technical jargon can be the most confusing part. The low-carb diet craze exploded into the media with Atkins, The Zone, and the South Beach Diet. Accompanying these names are words such as glucose and fructose with many people know are different forms of sugar. But what do some of these other common words and phrases mean? What are insulinemia, glycemia, and a glycemic index? They are frequently used, but what do they mean?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  First of all, the goal of the low carb bars and snacks is to reduce the postprandial (after a meal) insulin levels. Insulin levels are important for health reasons, particularly diabetes. It is well- known that there is increasing concern over the rising obesity and diabetes rates in this country. Glycemia is the presence of glucose in the blood. Hypoglycemia is an abnormal decrease of sugar in the blood. It is important to test people with diabetes regularly for their glycemic status because they have certain glycemic goals of where their blood sugar level needs to be and this can vary from person to person.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This is where the glycemic index comes into play. The glycemic index is a ratings system for food based on their glycemic response, which is the speed at which a food is able to increase a person’s blood glucose level. White bread is an example of a food with a high glycemic index. Foods with a high glycemic index break down into sugars more quickly than those with a low index. Studies show that foods with a low glycemic index may help to manage diabetes by helping to control glucose levels. With the growing diabetes trend this information could e crucial for maintaining health for those with diabetes.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Insulinemia is the presence of an abnormally high concentration of insulin in the blood. Insulin is important in order to get the sugars out of our blood and into organs or storage.

Pecha Kucha

Alison Angell Sullivan English 1105B 2 December 2009 Odd Occurrences in Nature How we got started When presented with the task of making a pecha kucha, my partner and I brainstormed topics that interested us and then looked to see if we found any that were related. Giovanni and I both agreed that nature was a fascinating topic and at first thought we would take pictures of different parts of nature around campus and describe them in a photo essay.After realizing the topic was too vague, we narrowed our focus to interesting facts about animals and plants found in nature. I was unsure of how interesting our topic would be until Giovanni sent his list of strange facts he found on the Internet. I was astounded at the many things I was unaware of, one of my favorites being a praying mantis can turn its head 360 degrees, the only animal to be able to do so. The research portion of the project was by far one of the most interesting I have done for a project. I found myself wanting to look f or more.Giovanni and I mutually decided that the most logical way to present our topic would be in the form of a photo essay. We did most of our communication through Facebook messages and an occasional email. Giovanni and I worked independently to find the facts for our pecha kucha but messaged back and fourth daily to give each other feedback. Content The content for the pecha kucha my partner and I designed included interesting facts about a variety of animals and a few plants that we thought would be new information for the audience.The animals and plants we researched ranged all the way from birds in caves to the plants in the ocean. The content includes attention-grabbing facts such as penguins are able to jump six feet in the air, praying mantis’ are the only animal that are able to turn their heads 360 degrees, flamingos are pink because their diet is composed of mainly shrimp, mosquitoes are attracted to the color blue more than any other color, a snail can sleep up to three years at a time, a sea squirt eats its own brain and snakes can see through their eyelids.The facts I found most interesting were the praying mantis’ can turn their heads 360 degrees, some species of birds can dive 15 feet underwater to capture a fish, a headless cockroach can survive for a couple of weeks, and sea cucumbers eviscerate themselves when in danger so the predator will eat their insides while the cucumber scurries. The information we provided on our pecha kucha was found online from various websites except for the information about the swiftlet birds that compose their nests of saliva, which we learned from Mrs. Sullivan. FormBased on the content my partner and I chose for the project, we decided that something like a photo essay would be most appropriate to present the information. An actual photo essay would not work because we did not tell a story but instead, made a presentation about different plants and animals that all relate through nature. Also, we ruled out using a memoir format or a public service announcement seeing as our topic did not correspond with those two forms. The pecha kucha covers fifteen different organisms, some having more than one slide because of the amount of substance there is on those topics.The pecha kucha was made using Powerpoint and Windows Movie Maker. Both Giovanni and I were familiar with Powerpoint so I was able to make my slides through that processor and Giovanni, who is knowledgeable with Windows Movie Maker, was able to transfer my slides. Lastly, there was writing on each slide that Giovanni added using Paint on his computer to help give an overview of each slide. Why we chose the slide material My partner and I wanted to pick a topic that interested both of us. After deciding on elements of nature, we met with Mrs.Sullivan who sparked an idea to focus on interesting, unknown things about different organisms in nature. We were both intrigued by the subject, which made us want to choose it for our topic. After knowing that we were content with our topic, we knew that we had to present a pecha kucha that was going to be interesting to the audience. Giovanni and I agreed that since we were so amazed by the research we found, the class would most likely be as well. Both Giovanni and I split up to do research and messaged our findings to one another.After we had more than enough information, we chose what we thought were the most interesting facts that would surprise the audience the most. How we chose the design elements present in the slides The pecha kucha was made using Powerpoint because both Giovanni and I were familiar with how to use it and also Windows Movie Maker. We added writing to each of our slides to highlight what the slide was on to help the audience summarize what we were covering. There are two movies included in our presentation and a few topics that required more than one slide.For the design, we made sure to space the topics that required two slides and the movies evenly throughout the pecha kucha so that we would not have two similar groups of two slides next to each other or a movie next to another movie, to provide variety for the audience. Audio Component For the sound component of our pecha kucha, we chose to use pre-recorded audio. My partner has a fear of public speaking, which led us to using pre-recorder audio. Luckily, Giovanni has a headset and microphone, which we used to get the narration on the computer.After we recorded our audio, Giovanni used sound-editing computer software to format the audio and create an eloquent narrative. Giovanni and I did not use audio during the two slides that had videos, in order for the audience to be able to focus on the video. Due to the fact that our audio is pre-recorded and may not get as much attention as a live narration would, we used wording on each slide to give people a summary of what our audio was about. Compromises due to working with a partner I have never been a huge fan of partner projects because of my obsessive-compulsive personality.I am very controlling and feel that if things are not done by me, they will not be correct. I realize I am stubborn about these things and that working with a partner has upsides too. However, I usually like to take control and when working with a partner I am not always able to do that. Also, there had to be a compromise in scheduling. Giovanni and I had to compensate for each other’s schedules and find times to work together. Though I may have not had better ideas than my partner, I had to rid of some ideas because he did not agree and my partner had to rid of some of his ideas because I did not agree with them.Also, I compromised in the way our pecha kucha was presented. I found it much easier to present our project orally in front of the class, however, since my partner was shy about public speaking, we went with pre-recorded audio. Lastly, though not a compromise, I am not a fan of partner projects b ecause I am not a fan of confrontation. When I work on partner projects, I will rarely disagree with another person’s ideas because I try to avoid conflict, a flaw I need to work on. Benefits of having a partnerThough I am not interested in partner work, it does have benefits that can sometimes outweigh the compromises. Based off the saying â€Å"two heads are better than one,† working with a partner on this project helped lead to working on a very interesting topic that I would most likely not have thought of on my own. Also, since there were two people working on research, we were able to have an overflow of ideas and pick from those the most interesting, to create an intriguing pecha kucha. Whenever working solo on a project, it is hard to tell if your ideas make sense or have substance.By working with a partner, I was able to consult him on whether or not my ideas were going to benefit the project. Working with a partner benefitted me greatly when it came to the te chnical work of doing pre-recorded audio and inserting movies. My partner was able to put together the audio to fit with each slide and integrate movies into two of the slides, two things I would not have been able to do on my own. Why I enjoyed the project The pecha kucha assignment was one of the more enjoyable group projects I have had to do throughout school.What I liked most about the project was that we, the students, had the opportunity to basically create our own project. We were able to work with information we found interesting and had the opportunity to put it into several different forms. I sometimes find it challenging to start an assignment with as little reservations as this one, but with the help of a partner, the project came together smoothly. Overall, the ability to work with information that we found interesting made the pecha kucha assignment enjoyable. Pecha Kucha Alison Angell Sullivan English 1105B 2 December 2009 Odd Occurrences in Nature How we got started When presented with the task of making a pecha kucha, my partner and I brainstormed topics that interested us and then looked to see if we found any that were related. Giovanni and I both agreed that nature was a fascinating topic and at first thought we would take pictures of different parts of nature around campus and describe them in a photo essay.After realizing the topic was too vague, we narrowed our focus to interesting facts about animals and plants found in nature. I was unsure of how interesting our topic would be until Giovanni sent his list of strange facts he found on the Internet. I was astounded at the many things I was unaware of, one of my favorites being a praying mantis can turn its head 360 degrees, the only animal to be able to do so. The research portion of the project was by far one of the most interesting I have done for a project. I found myself wanting to look f or more.Giovanni and I mutually decided that the most logical way to present our topic would be in the form of a photo essay. We did most of our communication through Facebook messages and an occasional email. Giovanni and I worked independently to find the facts for our pecha kucha but messaged back and fourth daily to give each other feedback. Content The content for the pecha kucha my partner and I designed included interesting facts about a variety of animals and a few plants that we thought would be new information for the audience.The animals and plants we researched ranged all the way from birds in caves to the plants in the ocean. The content includes attention-grabbing facts such as penguins are able to jump six feet in the air, praying mantis’ are the only animal that are able to turn their heads 360 degrees, flamingos are pink because their diet is composed of mainly shrimp, mosquitoes are attracted to the color blue more than any other color, a snail can sleep up to three years at a time, a sea squirt eats its own brain and snakes can see through their eyelids.The facts I found most interesting were the praying mantis’ can turn their heads 360 degrees, some species of birds can dive 15 feet underwater to capture a fish, a headless cockroach can survive for a couple of weeks, and sea cucumbers eviscerate themselves when in danger so the predator will eat their insides while the cucumber scurries. The information we provided on our pecha kucha was found online from various websites except for the information about the swiftlet birds that compose their nests of saliva, which we learned from Mrs. Sullivan. FormBased on the content my partner and I chose for the project, we decided that something like a photo essay would be most appropriate to present the information. An actual photo essay would not work because we did not tell a story but instead, made a presentation about different plants and animals that all relate through nature. Also, we ruled out using a memoir format or a public service announcement seeing as our topic did not correspond with those two forms. The pecha kucha covers fifteen different organisms, some having more than one slide because of the amount of substance there is on those topics.The pecha kucha was made using Powerpoint and Windows Movie Maker. Both Giovanni and I were familiar with Powerpoint so I was able to make my slides through that processor and Giovanni, who is knowledgeable with Windows Movie Maker, was able to transfer my slides. Lastly, there was writing on each slide that Giovanni added using Paint on his computer to help give an overview of each slide. Why we chose the slide material My partner and I wanted to pick a topic that interested both of us. After deciding on elements of nature, we met with Mrs.Sullivan who sparked an idea to focus on interesting, unknown things about different organisms in nature. We were both intrigued by the subject, which made us want to choose it for our topic. After knowing that we were content with our topic, we knew that we had to present a pecha kucha that was going to be interesting to the audience. Giovanni and I agreed that since we were so amazed by the research we found, the class would most likely be as well. Both Giovanni and I split up to do research and messaged our findings to one another.After we had more than enough information, we chose what we thought were the most interesting facts that would surprise the audience the most. How we chose the design elements present in the slides The pecha kucha was made using Powerpoint because both Giovanni and I were familiar with how to use it and also Windows Movie Maker. We added writing to each of our slides to highlight what the slide was on to help the audience summarize what we were covering. There are two movies included in our presentation and a few topics that required more than one slide.For the design, we made sure to space the topics that required two slides and the movies evenly throughout the pecha kucha so that we would not have two similar groups of two slides next to each other or a movie next to another movie, to provide variety for the audience. Audio Component For the sound component of our pecha kucha, we chose to use pre-recorded audio. My partner has a fear of public speaking, which led us to using pre-recorder audio. Luckily, Giovanni has a headset and microphone, which we used to get the narration on the computer.After we recorded our audio, Giovanni used sound-editing computer software to format the audio and create an eloquent narrative. Giovanni and I did not use audio during the two slides that had videos, in order for the audience to be able to focus on the video. Due to the fact that our audio is pre-recorded and may not get as much attention as a live narration would, we used wording on each slide to give people a summary of what our audio was about. Compromises due to working with a partner I have never been a huge fan of partner projects because of my obsessive-compulsive personality.I am very controlling and feel that if things are not done by me, they will not be correct. I realize I am stubborn about these things and that working with a partner has upsides too. However, I usually like to take control and when working with a partner I am not always able to do that. Also, there had to be a compromise in scheduling. Giovanni and I had to compensate for each other’s schedules and find times to work together. Though I may have not had better ideas than my partner, I had to rid of some ideas because he did not agree and my partner had to rid of some of his ideas because I did not agree with them.Also, I compromised in the way our pecha kucha was presented. I found it much easier to present our project orally in front of the class, however, since my partner was shy about public speaking, we went with pre-recorded audio. Lastly, though not a compromise, I am not a fan of partner projects b ecause I am not a fan of confrontation. When I work on partner projects, I will rarely disagree with another person’s ideas because I try to avoid conflict, a flaw I need to work on. Benefits of having a partnerThough I am not interested in partner work, it does have benefits that can sometimes outweigh the compromises. Based off the saying â€Å"two heads are better than one,† working with a partner on this project helped lead to working on a very interesting topic that I would most likely not have thought of on my own. Also, since there were two people working on research, we were able to have an overflow of ideas and pick from those the most interesting, to create an intriguing pecha kucha. Whenever working solo on a project, it is hard to tell if your ideas make sense or have substance.By working with a partner, I was able to consult him on whether or not my ideas were going to benefit the project. Working with a partner benefitted me greatly when it came to the te chnical work of doing pre-recorded audio and inserting movies. My partner was able to put together the audio to fit with each slide and integrate movies into two of the slides, two things I would not have been able to do on my own. Why I enjoyed the project The pecha kucha assignment was one of the more enjoyable group projects I have had to do throughout school.What I liked most about the project was that we, the students, had the opportunity to basically create our own project. We were able to work with information we found interesting and had the opportunity to put it into several different forms. I sometimes find it challenging to start an assignment with as little reservations as this one, but with the help of a partner, the project came together smoothly. Overall, the ability to work with information that we found interesting made the pecha kucha assignment enjoyable.

How to Use a Rock Hammer The Right Way

The rock hammer is a powerful tool that takes practice to use well. Heres how to be safe as you do so. Dangers of Hammering Hammers arent hazardous by themselves. Whats around them is what creates danger. Rocks: Splinters from breaking rock can fly out in all directions. Broken rock pieces can fall on your feet or against your body. Rock exposures can sometimes be precarious and collapse. Piled-up rock at the base of an exposure can give way under your weight. Tools: Hammers and chisels are made of hard steel. This material can splinter, too, especially as the metal grows deformed with heavy use. The field: Roadcuts can put you very close to passing traffic. Overhangs can drop rocks on your head. And dont forget the local plants and animals. Before You Start Dress right. Protect your body from dings and scratches with long sleeves and pants. Wear shoes with closed toes, and bring a helmet if youre working in caves or cliffs. In wet conditions, wear gloves for a good grip. Be location-aware. At a roadside exposure, you may want a reflective vest. Look at whats overhead. Stand where a slip wont hurt you. Beware of hazardous plants like poison oak/ivy. Always know the local snakes and insects, too.​ Put on eye protection. Shutting your eyes as you swing is not the right tactic. Ordinary glasses are usually good enough, but everyone needs some kind of coverage, including bystanders. Plastic goggles are cheap and effective. Use the right hammer. The rock youre addressing will behave best under a hammer of the right weight, handle length and head design. Geologists choose one or two appropriate hammers before setting out, considering the type of rock they expect that day. Have your procedure planned. Are you following the most effective strategy for your goals? Can you get your hands free quickly if you slip? Are your chisel and magnifier handy? Hammer the Right Way Dont take chances. If you havent brought a helmet, dont go under overhangs. If you have to stretch out on one foot to reach a rock at arms length, stop—youre going about things the wrong way. Use tools the way theyre meant to be used. Never hammer another hammer—the two hard metals can strike nasty splinters off each other. The butt end of a chisel is made of softer steel than the hammer for that reason. Swing deliberately. Treat each blow like a play in a card game: know what you want to happen and have a plan for when it doesnt happen. Dont stand in a way that exposes your legs to accidental blows or falling rocks. If your arm is tired, take a break. Dont miss. A missed blow can send out splinters, strike sparks or hit your hand. A plastic hand guard fits on the chisel and helps prevent mishaps. Worn-out, rounded chisels and ​hammer heads can slip, too, so old tools should either be touched up or replaced. Hammer no more than necessary. Your time is better spent making observations, thinking about what you see, and enjoying your day in the field.