Fourth Blog

Lately i have been interested in the Large Hadron Collider. The LHC is the worlds largest particle accelerator. Its intention is to help answer questions about basic principles of physics. The machine lies nearly 574 feet underground and resides inside of a tunnel 17 miles in circumference. What the Large Hadron Collider does is it accelerates particles up to nearly the speed of light and then slams the particles into each other in order to simulate conditions that would have been present during the big bang.

Three smaller rings that are attached to the LHC are used to increase the speed of the particles before releasing them into the largest ring. While in these smaller rings the particles will become heavier and more closely bunched together. In under 90 microseconds a proton will have made full trip around the large ring which is about 11,000 rotations per second.
One of the most remarkable discoveries made with the help of the Large Hadron Collider is the Higgs boson particle. This particle was one of the final missing steps in the standard model of particle physics. This particle has been nicknamed the "god particle" because without it the universe would be lifeless. Clearly the Large Hadron Collider and all of the study surrounding it is extremely complicated.

Third Blog

 The Hubble Space Telescope is an instrument that was developed in 1990 and remains active to this day. It has recorded some of the most fascinating high resolution images of planets in our solar system.

The image above is one of the most famous images taken by The Hubble Telescope. What you are seeing is a cluster of stars inside of a great cloud of gasses. Astronomers have named it Messier 16 or better know Eagle Nebula. This mix of stars, gasses and dust is said to be 5.5 million years old,

 and to be 70 light years by 55 light years in dimension.

 This image is a zoomed in view of three 3 pillars that appear in the middle of the nebula.

They have been given the name "Pillars Of Creation" because newly forged stars have been seen rising out of the pillars. Images like these show you how deep and mysterious the universe can be. The Hubble Telescope is just out of reach of our planets atmosphere which would cause distortion in the Telescopes images. Because of this, we are able to see with deep clarity, the amazing details of stars and planets far away.
Soon the Hubble Telescope will become obsolete to its successor - the James Webb Telescope. But before the Hubble looses its place as an active stargazer, who knows what other magnificent objects it might discover. 

Second Blog

I believe that if we all wanted, by tomorrow could all live peacefully between one another. Achieving this would not cost any money, time or effort. All that would be needed, is for everyone on earth to share a dream of living in peace. People like Martin Luther King, jr. John lennon, and Ghandi seemed to have had this thought and all three of them suffered the same fate, which was murder. It is hard to know that we live in a world where people who stand for freedom and justice are murdered, and those who deal in corruption and violence get to do just about whatever they want without having to face consequences.
When i think of how beautiful our planet is, i just cant understand the destruction we as a species do to our own home. Earth has given us life and yet we do not respect or treat it with thankfulness, instead we poison our oceans and pollute our sky's. I do not think humans are mature enough yet to withhold weapons that can destroy all life on Earth. What gives us the right to damage or destroy the planet? Adrian Belew sang in one of his songs "Why do we always assume the planet is ours to ruin?
What a legacy we're leaving behind" These words so perfectly describe the how i feel.

 

English 101 Blog

Life and the Universe

 I believe all life is connected in some way; I feel as if there is some higher being or consciousness that we are all a part of. When I think of God or what God could be, I do not think of a man or creator living up in heaven. I think whatever God is, it is something that is inside all of us. The question, "what is the meaning of life?", has no direct answer; it is a profound question that has endless interpretations. I enjoy hearing other people's thoughts on the matter and sharing my own in return. Some of the people I have been influenced by are Neil Degrasse Tyson, Stephen Hawking, Carl Sagan, and Bill Hicks.

Any time I see the night sky lit up with millions of stars over head, I feel inspired and begin to question how big our planet and everything on it is; how important are we?  I know that the atoms and molecules that are inside each of us are the same atoms and molecules that stars are composed of. We are literally made up of "starstuff", as Carl Sagan once said. Astronomers estimate the universe to be 13.8 billion years old, meaning that all of humanity's existence--everything we are and everyone we have ever known--fits inside the amount of time equivalent to the blink of an eye. Knowing that the universe is practically endless and that we can see deep into it fascinates me and makes me feel like I am part of something I can't imagine the size of.