APES or AP Environmental Science is my hardest class. I think it’s exciting, but I don’t do good on the quizzes or the tests. Right now we a learning about the atmosphere, and I’m also very confused about what is going on in that class. We do a lot of labs, and usually I get a good grade, but my grade overall in the class is not very good. I’m trying to improve my grade by retaking quizzes, but I’m unsure if I’ll actually be able to raise my grade by doing so. Even if I retake my quiz, I don’t know if I’m going to be able to fix it. I also think the way that I do my homework is also a problem because I read what we are assigned and I answer the questions, but I’m still confused, and I think I need to take more notes.
So, as many of you already know, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) launched a couple weeks ago. Now that might not seem like such a crazy thing, but it most definitely is. This telescope is the most complex telescope humankind has produced to date, it has the ability (hopefully) to see the first light emitted from the Big Bang 13 billion years ago. Now that fact is confusing to some, how can we see back in time? Well, basically, light has a speed of 299 792 458 m / s to be exact (approximately 670616629 mph). We measure this in terms of distance, as lightyears. Say a super bright lightbulb is turned on somewhere ten light-years from earth, it would take ten years for the light to reach us so that we could see it. Now if we take that principle and scale it up, the further we look, the longer it’s taking for us to see that light, so if we look at something 13 billion lightyears away, then we are seeing 13 billion years in the past, and since the universe is constantly expanding finding something 13 billion lightyears away is not very difficult. Anyway back to JWST, it will be in an orbit we have called “L2” which is just behind the Earth so it will constantly be in Earth’s shadow, it will be 1.5 million km (1 million miles) from the earth, which is far past the moon. From that orbit, it will take pictures. A lot of pictures. Of course, our time with the JWST is limited so NASA has allocated certain hours for researchers for an approved project. This telescope will bring in a new era of research, we may learn the origins of the universe, and if not we will still learn so many things from this telescope. Things like planets with potential life, we will learn about the formation of galaxies, and many many more things. I am excited to see the pictures this incredible telescope will take.
Some of you might know about the case of the northern white rhino. Today there are just two individuals left on this planet, and they are both females named Najin and Fatu, mother and daughter. For decades scientists have tried to figure out how they can save this species from extinction. I have followed this case for many many years and last week I received great news. Scientists were finally able to create five embryos of a northern white rhino in a lab. What they did is they collected eggs from the two females and then took semen from a deceased male northern rhino to create an embryo. They have now implanted one of the embryos into one of the females and they are being monitored every day to see if the embryo is making progress in growth and is healthy.
This is a huge success and with it, we might be able to save this beautiful species from extinction. The two rhinos are located in northern Kenya and have 24/7 protection from 6 armed guards. Poaching has pushed this species to the brink of extinction. Humans and wildlife are getting into more and more conflicts due to our constant human population growth. Wildlife has less and less space to live and many species are poached, decreasing their numbers even more.
When I got the news that they have successfully created northern white rhino embryos I was filled with joy because it means that our future generations might be able to witness the beauty of these creatures.
I have always considered myself a person of faith. I was lucky enough to be born a Sephardic Jew in one of the most welcoming periods in world history. Because of this, I never had to hide my beliefs, I had the opportunity to inform countless masses of friends what the laws of Kosher are, sharing stories about my main man Moses, and having a global network of strangers and friends alike that I could rely on, that I could confide in. But that’s not what I wanted to highlight today. Recently, I went to Yom Kippur services for the “Jewish New Year” where I fasted the whole day and prayed in repentance of the misdeeds committed by me and fellow Jews this last year. At the end of the second night, after nearly 30 hours without food, water, or bathing, as night falls, your fate for the next year is sealed, your past year is wiped clean and are given a chance to start anew. As I left services with my father, I felt invigorated, I felt fresh, I felt strong despite my thirst and hunger, and it was all due to this faith of mine. I realized I possessed a luxury that many of my friends grew up without and still live lacking.
My faith has always been something I could rely on. From a young age, when I questioned something, I found my faith would always give me a confident answer, giving me a sense of closure, a peace-of-mind not afforded to my peers. When my friends grew to understand the finality of their mortality, when they struggled to find meaning in their lives, when they tossed and turned trying to comprehend our loneliness in our vast expanse of the universe, I had Judaism to fill the gaps in my young mind, sheltering me from the despair. Now I’m not saying it by any means encourages ignorance, some of the best Jewish scholars throughout history have integrated the scientific understand of our universe and Judaism because “[Both] were understood to be two different manifestations of the same divine truth.” (MJL, 2007) I was always encouraged by numerous Rabbi and teachers from my Jewish primary school to find my own truths, but if I couldn’t find a why for any of these, an explanation for my truths, Judaism would always be there to support my conclusions, to give me confidence about my role in our universe, no matter how small. I can go to sleep every night knowing if I were to not wake up in the morning, it would be because I have served my purpose and my job is completed, for this I am incredibly grateful.
A couple days ago, on a camping trip in the Alabama Hills, we all sat in silence in the pitch-black and looked at the stars. Seeing the hundreds of shining dots of light scattered in the sky was breathtaking; yet, some part of me felt a morsel of sadness. In order to see these stars, it was a four-hour drive from the small town I live in and a seven-hour drive from the nearest large city. In Las Vegas, LA, or even just in my backyard, I can look up and see no stars and no moon, just black.
There are 40 billion stars in the Triangular Galaxy, 100 billion stars in the Whirlpool Galaxy, 250 billion stars in the Milky Way, and 1 trillion starts in the Andromeda galaxy. In the universe, there is an estimated 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 stars; yet, due to human-caused factors, such as light pollution, only 5,000 stars are visible to the human eye across the world.
The average star is 109.1 times larger than Earth and the largest star is 32,730 times larger than the planet we live on. It’s also ten million times brighter than our sun.
These stars are so much larger than our earth; yet, in America alone, over 80% of the population is unable to see them.
You may wonder, so what? Why does this matter?
Here’s why it matters to me:
Every star I see reminds me of how small I am, how small you are, and how small the human population is. Nowadays, so many people view themselves as giant. Humans kill other animals, destroy the wilderness, and essentially destroy our elves with how we treat our planet (climate change, over population, the list goes on).
I should stop saying how we treat our planet; it’s how we treat the planet.Humans don’t own it; it is not something that we can claim as ours or threaten until it gives in. No, Earth is a powerful force of nature being affected by the billions of small, ant-like creatures called humans who live on it. It is not ours; it is not ours to destroy. So, humanity, please stop fucking acting like it is.
Humans are not the biggest force to be reckoned with; we aren’t gods. Our current superiority does not give us the right to kill everything in our path. One day, a meteor will hit; a black hole will swallow the earth; countries will fire nuclear bombs and wipe out all life; the global warming we caused will result in an atmosphere unsustainable for all life; or, just like the dinosaurs, an astroid will hit. Even if all life on Earth just magically disappeared, the planets would keep spinning, the suns would keep burning, and the stars would keep shining.
Whenever you can, look at the sky and stars. Remember we are small, but, even though we are small, we have the power to protect this planet we call Earth.
“Highway to Hell”…”Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap”…Nikola Tesla…Thomas Edison.
The age-old debate of Tesla vs. Edison.
While many don’t care and are just thankful for rock music, we should light the debate on which inventor is better.
Edison is the forefather of direct current (DC) and believed that Tesla was insane for even suggesting alternating current (AC), but in the modern world we live in, AC/DC currents are symbiotic.
The fuel added to feud fire is the rumor that Edison claimed he would pay Tesla $50,000 dollars if Tesla could improve Edison’s Dynamo, when Tesla worked for him in 1884.
Photo Credit: Think Geek
When Tesla succeeded, the rumor goes that Edison refused to pay him, claiming, “When you become a full-fledged American, you will appreciate an American joke.”
In the case of Tesla and Edison, sometimes people just rub you the wrong way. Both men were habitually egotistical but hated the quality in the other. They had vastly different work styles that constantly ran up against each other, and they ended up going head-to-head in fundamental electrical engineering beliefs.
I often wonder how the two men would react if they were able to see how their two ideas have been combined in the modern world.
Would seeing the symbiosis lead them to create another smear campaign, or would they nod in appreciation of the other and not say a word?
An ASIT. Animal Specialist in Training. We, 11-25 of us, wake up at 6:45 a.m. to feed, water, and clean the enclosures of over 300 different camp animals. There are four areas; the Barn, the Animal Learning Center (ALC for short), the Jungle, and the Kennels.
Barn people take care of the Inner Barn, the Back Pastures, the Nursery, the Bird Nursery, and the Creepy Crawly Room.
ALC people take care of the Habitats, the Small Animal Room, the Reptile Room, and the Cat Room.
The Jungle and the Kennels are their own areas.
I worked (I PAID TO WORK) as an ASIT for 6 weeks, meaning I worked in every area at least once. My pride and joy, where I wished I could sleep at night, was the Reptile Room. I memorized the meals of 7 reptile species in under three days. My greatest moment was walking into the ALC Kitchen and the lead Animal Specialist planted herself in front of me and said “just the person I was looking for! I need you to feed the reptiles!”
Chuckwallas, Mali Uromastyx, Green Iguana, Leopard Tortoise, Plated Lizards, Blue-Tongued Skink, Bearded Dragon, Leopard Gecko. For the sake of my own pride, I listed the reptiles (minus the snakes) that we took care of. For the sake of time and space I won’t write down their meals.
The Habitats was the next area I memorized. Again, under three days.
Given the time, I assure you I would have memorized all the meals for the animals. I didn’t really try anyways until the last week.
After a full semester of work all I have to show for it is a bunch of pieces of crumpled papers in the bottom of my backpack and the ink my teacher puts on my test telling me how I did in their class this semester.
This time is stressful for all, and I try to not get caught up in the stress, but there is just no way around it.
And when I saw that headline on the LATimes here, I was very befuddled. Since I don’t feel like writing a several page long essay trying to tap into the small brains of creationists, I’ll try to do so in a few short paragraphs.
Let’s begin with a couple of little things called facts. Facts are what you teach children in school. Children do not need their heads filled with hearsay or so called “faith-based facts” that rely on gut instincts. Children need to know what is actually true, because information is power, and the more knowledge you have, the better your short time on Earth here is going to be.
And secondly, let’s remember how you are supposed to make logical conclusions. You are supposed to form a hypothesis (well done religion, you make it this far), and then gather as much proof and evidence (this is where ol’ God loses it) to back up your hypothesis. This is how the great scientists and thinkers of time have always done it, and how it should be taught. Scientists, atheists, anti-theists and evolutionists understand that to understand the world you must have proofs for your beliefs. It is the creationists who need to supply proof for what they believe. Science has been doing this for years and years. It baffles me how something so blatantly false and fabricated as religion and creationism can be even thought about for curriculum in schools. Once some proof other than some burnt toast comes forth for religious beliefs, I’ll stick with the side that supplies the logic.
OVS Journalism Blog 
You must be logged in to post a comment.