A New Method of Fighting Cancer?

Posted on February 26, 2021 by joeangella13
Absorption spectra for various element examples (Source)

While absorption spectra can often be associated with the use of identifying particular patterns in which gases absorb the energy from a light source, we must also acknowledge that the chemical composition of certain elements can be determined depending on where the lines are present within a absorption spectra. Interesting developments are currently taking place in the world of science in which scientists are using the ability of absorption spectra to identify certain chemical compositions in the prediction of prognosis’ for various types of cancer! (Scientific Reports) These findings are incredibly interesting and potentially valuable to the world of science, since this field has been hardly explored according to many scientists in the community. In predicting the survival and recurrences of tumors, these studies have shown that utilizing absorption spectra in prediction of these partially chemical components gave back efficiencies that ranged from 75-100% specific to esophageal cancer. This means that, if given more time and resources to explore different variations of cancer, the benefits in utilizing absorption spectra can drastically increase in possibly predicting and preventing the spread of cancer in the body. Did you ever think this would be possible? Comment down below any reactions you have! 

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Celestial Navigation in Disney’s Moana

Posted on February 24, 2021 by thestarstudent
Comparison of Moana using celestial navigation and a diagram of Polynesian techniques
from the Conversation

Celestial Navigation was essential for Polynesian voyagers, and the Disney Film Moana does a very good job of depicting legitimate techniques. During the film’s production, Disney created a group of experts on the matter, including Polynesian elders and locals, called the Oceanic Story Trust. Their goal was to advise on cultural accuracy. Thousands of years ago, voyagers would memorize star charts, including rise and set times, in order to determine their locations. They would use their hands to find angles between stars and figure out their latitude specifically. This technique is best used with Polaris, called Hokupa’a in Hawaii. Moana uses her hands for navigation when learning to sail from Maui. In the film, she positions her hand around the constellation Orion, indicating that she’s moving eastward taking time and location into account. Celestial navigation was an incredibly important and necessary part of Polynesian life, and it is fantastic that Disney took steps to ensure accuracy. Has astronomy shown up in other movies you like? Comment below!

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Celestial Navigation

Posted on February 24, 2021 by gracelearnsspace
Ship Using the Stars to Navigate

People have been using the stars to navigate for most of humankind. Six hundred years BC a philosopher called Thales of Miletos taught people to use the Little Bear constellation to navigate. What’s crazy is that those are the same stars that we say today! Despite there being other stars to navigate, the most common one is the North Star. You can find the North Star by finding the Big Dipper and following the line made from the outer bowl to the Little Dipper’s last star in the tail. Once you find the North Star, you can find your latitude by counting how many of your stacked fists it takes to reach the North Star from the horizon. Each fist represents 10 degrees north of the equator! Longitude, however, is a lot more difficult to calculate, so I still wouldn’t delete my compass app after reading this post!

Source

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Retrograde Motion

Posted on February 24, 2021 by kjackson1456

Those in the realm of astrology are more than familiar with Mercury retrograde. During these unsettling periods, Mercury’s influence over matters of transportation and communication is altered which causes many unfortunate issues to arise. That is, of course, astrology’s interpretation of retrograde motion. In astronomy, retrograde motion simply describes the reversed direction planets seem to move with in the sky. Normally, planets appear to move west to east relative to the positions of background stars—this is called prograde motion. During retrograde motion however, the planet’s path is reversed and they appear to move east to west. Periods of retrograde motion are entirely predictable as they are governed by the orbital periods of planetary objects.

Retrograde Motion
Retrograde Motion-Photographed, Cseligman

These periods of apparently reversed motion are caused by the Earth passing another planet by during its orbit around the sun. Retrograde motion is apparent because the planets do not actually reverse the direction of their orbits. In order to truly comprehend retrograde motion, it is better to show rather than tell how it works. So, here is a cool video demonstrating it perfectly with some pretty helpful visuals!

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Why we Should Thank our Atmosphere

Posted on February 24, 2021 by dayanel123

On the spectrum of light, the two most energetic rays are x-rays and Gamma rays. They have the shortest wave lengths meaning they have the highest frequency and energy. Both Gamma and x-rays differ from everything else on the spectrum because they can penetrate clothing and skin. This is important because when Gamma rays pass through us, they can alter our DNA and make cell reproduction increase, which is of course essentially what cancer is.

By Engg Forum

The other sources of radiation are not ionizing like Gamma, X-rays, and UV. As you can see from this image, it takes something super strong — like concrete or lead — to stop some of the stronger rays. Ever wonder why they cover parts of your body with lead when you are getting an x-ray? (Have any of you ever experienced this? Drop a comment! When I broke my leg I remember them specifically covering my neck, chest, stomach, and male parts in a lead suit when taking the x-rays) This is to ensure the x-rays don’t do any permanent damage to your body which could cause cancer. Thankfully out atmosphere does this for us all the time! Our atmosphere blocks out Gamma and most x-rays from interacting with us on Earth by absorbing them. On behalf of every living thing, thank you Mr. Atmosphere!

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The Gravity of Neutron Stars

Posted on February 23, 2021 by brianknapp

Apart from black holes, neutron stars are the densest objects in the universe – excluding some other weird stuff. These unique and very dense things can form after a star goes supernova and collapses. If the star is massive enough, the collapse will force protons and electrons to smash into each other to form neutrons. The resulting body can contain two times the mass of our Sun in a package only 12.5 miles in diameter – which is smaller than Nashville. Neutron stars are no black holes, but they still exhibit an impressive gravitational pull that is 200 billion times what we experience on Earth.

Image from SciTechDaily

Things this dense have a lot of really strange effects on gravity. If you were to drop an object 1 meter off the ground of a neutron star, it would hit the surface just like it would here on Earth (aside from it traveling at around 14 km/s). However, it wouldn’t be shaped the same way as if it had fallen on Earth. The parts of the object further away from the neutron star will experience a different gravitational pull than the parts of the object closer to it, and because the neutron star is so dense, this difference is quite drastic. In fact, this difference is so great that the object would be stretched apart into a stream of stuff, a process called spaghettification. So, while neutron stars are pretty interesting, and have a cool name, being anywhere remotely near one is a bad idea, as you would no longer be alive 💀.

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Reconciling Science and Religion

Posted on February 20, 2021 by rightascensionanddeclinolan

In 1615, Galileo wrote a letter to the Grand Duchess Christina (read: the Church) “to accommodate Copernicanism with the doctrines of the Catholic Church … [by] arguing that the Copernican theory was not just a mathematical calculating tool, but a physical reality” (source).  In his letter, Galileo claimed – among other things – the following:

  • The Book of Nature [science] and Book of Scripture [religion] are complementary, not contradictory.
  • There is only one truth [about the universe, and it is suggested by both Books if we read them correctly].
  • Science is a legitimate way to truth, independent of Revelation.
  • Holy Scripture cannot be used against scientific statements once these are proven beyond doubt by scientific methods.

(David Weintraub, “Galileo Part 2: Religious Response through the Inquisition Hearings of 1616: Galileo’s Letter to Madame Christina, Part 2” (Nashville, TN, 2020).)

In other words, the Church argued that Copernicanism was wrong: Scripture should come before science, and because Scripture seemed to argue for geocentrism and geostatism, heliocentrism must be wrong.  Galileo pushed back: science should come before Scripture and guide our interpretation of Scripture (i.e., we should use the Book of Nature to interpret the Book of Scripture), so because science argued for heliocentrism, the Church needed to change its understanding of Scripture.  In short, the question facing the Church and Galileo was one of order, one asking if Scripture should elucidate science (the Church’s argument) or vice versa (Galileo’s argument).

Ultimately, heliocentrism proved to be correct, yet that doesn’t diminish the conundrum we faced at this moment of astronomical history – when faced with conflicting “evidence” (Scripture versus “Galileo’s discoveries about the Moon, Jupiter’s moons, Venus, and sunspots” (source)), we had to choose between science and religion; we had to choose to let science guide our interpretation of religion.

Though we have settled the heliocentrism-versus-geocentrism-and-geostatism debate, the need to balance science and religion remains relevant today.  Do you believe in Genesis 1’s creation story, or do you believe in the Big Bang?  Do you believe in there being a god (an explicit claim from religion), or do you believe there is no god because science cannot find evidence of one (note that this is an indirect extension of science; science does not explicitly claim there is no god)?

Or, do you think these are bad questions to ask?  Like Galileo, do you believe that Nature and Scripture are not mutually exclusive?  Can we understand Genesis 1 in the context of the Big Bang?  Can we understand the existence of a god in the context of science being unable to find evidence for it?

In situations like these, we’re faced with two questions: should we use science to understand religion (like Galileo), and how do we do it?  Though the battle to reconcile science and religion might not end anytime soon, that doesn’t mean it isn’t a battle worth fighting.

Cover of Galileo’s Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina (courtesy of Wikipedia).

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Historical Astronomers in Context

Posted on February 17, 2021 by zhengjs1
Image via Wikipedia

Johannes Kepler

Johannes Kepler, a German astronomer, was important to our history for discovering three laws of planetary motion that are now named after him as well as finding key evidence for the highly-debated Sun-centered idea. Kepler’s first law explained that each planet orbits the Sun following an elliptical path with the Sun as a focus. His second law states that a line connecting the planet to the Sun will sweep out equal areas in the same amount of time. Kepler’s third and last law emphasizes that planets further from the Sun orbits it at slower average speeds. Through discovering these relationships, Kepler’s data matches with those of Tycho’s, providing strong support for Aristarchus’s theory that the Sun is at the center instead of Earth.

Historical Events

1590 – Unification of Japan: Toyotomi Hideyoshi completed his military unification of Japan and most of its provinces. During his dictatorial rule, Hideyoshi brought about many major changes such as a new class system and taxation laws. Hideyoshi also continued his military campaign into foreign land, specifically the Korean peninsula.

1609 – Hudson’s Third Voyage: With the backing of the Dutch East India Company, Henry Hudson sailed on his Third Voyage toward the New World. During this voyage, Hudson explored the New York Harbor, clashing and trading with the indigenous people. He also ventured deep into a river connected to the harbor, which is now known as the Hudson River.

Historical Figure

King Phillip II of Spain – Known for ruling Spain during its Golden Age, King Phillip II claimed many dominions in Italy and the Americas. While he was a stubborn and far-from-perfect king, Phillip II made Spain into a dominant world power.

Brief Reflection

As I read about historical figures such as Kepler, Copernicus, and Newton; It was not only interesting to learn about their successes but also much about their failures. While they’re revered today as important figures in astronomy, their radical ideas at the time were not exactly loved, even being looked down upon and rejected by the scientific community, showing how some didn’t even see the fruits of labor during their lifetime.

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Galileo in Context

Posted on February 17, 2021 by weatherbysofferings

Galileo Galilei (15 February, 1564 – 8 January, 1642) was important to astronomy for quite a few reasons, so I’ll stick to the main points. To start with, he made major improvements to the design of the telescope through his study and application of optics, paving the way for his own and other’s astronomical observations. This enabled several other significant discoveries he made, such as his cataloguing of the four largest moons of Jupiter. He also created detailed accounts of the moon’s surface and the phases of Jupiter, while also advocating for Heliocentrism.

At the time of Galileo, several other significant world events occurred. For one, the first English colonies were founded within the future United States, notably Jamestown and Plymouth, as well as the failed Roanoke colony before. 

Early in his life,the stage was also being set for the emergence of English dominance in the European stage, after the defeat of the Spanish Armada by the English in 1588. 

Indeed, one of the most important English rulers to ever live, Elizabeth I, ruled during part of Galileo’s lifetime. It was under her that Britain was seen to have entered a golden age of culture and power. 

For me, what I found interesting about learning the context of the times of these astronomers, and Galileo specifically, was how much the world around them was changing as they gazed up at the stars. Europe had just emerged from the Reformation, and was still in the midst of religious turmoil, all while a New World was explored and settled, and politics constantly shifted on the home front. And yet, for these astronomers, they had little concern for worldly things, and instead used the opportunities presented to them and their own innovation to make groundbreaking discoveries that would shape the future of science and astronomy. 

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Historical Astronomers in Context

Posted on February 17, 2021 by wendyyb

Tycho Brahe is my chosen astronomer. He was born on 14, Dec. 1546 and died 24, Oct. 1601. (Wikipedia)

Some historical events that occurred during Brahe’s lifetime include:

Some historical figures that existed during Brahe’s liftime include:

  • William Shakespeare (1564-1616): A famous playwright who wrote works like Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet (The Famous People)
  • Pocahontas (1596-1617): Engaged in intercultural diplomacy between English settlers and her Powhatan tribe, famous for interactions with the colonizer, John Smith (The Famous People)

Putting things in historical context for me was really interesting because in my mind, these people and events were all very distinct from each other. I think that part of that has to do with the way that I learned about Pocahontas vs. Shakespeare vs. Brahe where each was taught in a separate class subject and thus compartmentalized separately from each other, existing in their own bubbles. It’s cool to think that so much was happening in approximately the same time period. It also makes me wonder if these events and people impacted each other in ways we don’t know about.

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