geology :: essays research papers

The energy released from earthquakes and forces that move crustal plates are derived from the internal heat engine. Liquid water can exist on earth because the orbit is at the proper distance from the sun. The ozone layer is important to life on earth because it shields living things from uv rays. Constant change and state of flux on earth is caused by slow moving convection currents in the mantle. The internal heat of earth is a result of heat from radioactive decay of certain elements. The main cause of over-use of minerals is expanding populations. Earth is able to hold life because it has sufficient mass to generate gravity to hold gases. The winds, ocean currents and hydrologic cycle from solar energy and the external heat engine. Greatest loss of life comes from landslides and mud flows. Theory of plate tectonics is a revolution because it shows the planet undergoing constant change. Crust, upper mantle, asthenosphere, mantle, outer core, inner core. Geology and human understanding -concept of the vastness of geologic time. Two heat engines of earth- one internal and one external. Scientific method of solving problems starts with data gathering and arrives with a theory. The most abundant gas in the original nebula was most likely the lightest known element. The first internal structure of the inner planets consisted of homogeneous mix of rocks, minerals, elements.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Concept of a large exploding star or nova near the solar nebula is based on evidence that our sun is not large enough to generate the heavy metals in the inner planets. The evidence of life on this planet occurs in some of the oldest rocks found on earth. The source of water on earth is from comet debris. Compaction by the weight overlying layers is least likely to have led to differentiation. Evidence from the Iron Catastrophe is based on the discovery of the layered structure of Earths interior.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Difference between earth and other earth like planets is distance from the sun and related temp differences.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Importance of Oparin-Miller experiments is that they produced organic compounds from inorganic materials. â€Å"Banded iron formations† because they evidence that oceans, marine algae, and oxygen production were present 3 billion years ago. Movement of hot material toward the cool surface is not responsible for modification of earths weather. Most of the mass of earth is mantle. The carbonaceous meteorite that fell in Australia in 1969 was momentous because contained amino acids and other organic compounds. The age of earth-4.6 billion, is determined by analyzing meteorites and moon rocks. The best evidence about the layered structure of earths interior is from reflected and refracted seismic waves.

The Use of Alcohol Should be Banned for all State University Undergradu

The Use of Alcohol Should be Banned for all State University Undergraduate Students "According to the Core Institute, an organization that surveys college drinking practices, 300,000 of today's college students will eventually die of alcohol-related causes such as drunk driving accidents, cirrhosis of the liver, various cancers and heart disease" (Phoenix House). All around the State campus, at frat parties, in black-light-lit dorm rooms, and even at casual social gatherings, alcohol can be found in abundance. Despite the many downsides to alcohol use, college students as a whole maintain a very casual attitude toward drinking. I believe that drinking causes many more problems than it is worth to anyone, which is why I propose that the use of alcohol should be banned for all State University undergraduate students. Granted, alcohol has a very strong and important historical and cultural background. "Babylonians were brewing beer, which they considered a gift from the gods, in 5000 B.C" (Hoechsmann). Indeed, it is said that Noah stocked the Ark with beer. Furthermore, wine is mentioned in the Bible about 165 times, and it plays an important role in Christian religious traditions. During church communion, Christians eat bread and drink wine to memorialize the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for their sins. At weddings, the English custom of toasting the bride gave us the modern word bridal (Hoechsmann). Throughout history, alcohol in its various forms has been used for a multitude of rituals; to many people, banning alcohol would be denying them their cultural heritage. Many people — both drinkers and non-drinkers — will argue that alcohol has advantages. Some of the effects of alcohol that are generally seen as positive are gi... ...k." Alcohol Culture. 2000. http://www.drinksmart.org/more.html (7 Nov. 2000). Iowa State University. "Sexual Assault Resources and Information." 2000. http://www.public.iastate.edu/~mswc/sexual_assault.html (8 Nov. 2000). Iowa State University. "Tuition and Fees." 21 Aug. 2000. http://www.iastate.edu/~registrar/fees/ (7 Nov. 2000). Phoenix House Foundation. "Facts on Tap." 2000. http://www.factsontap.org/ (5 Nov. 2000). SAMHSA. "Children of Alcoholics: Important Facts." 2000. http://www.health.org/nongovpubs/coafacts/ (8 Nov. 2000). Shyness Clinic. "The Problem." 1998. http://www.shyclinic.com/ (6 Nov. 2000). Soolsc. "Facts and Statistics." Drinking: A Student’s Guide. http://www.glness.com/ndhs/stats.html (6 Nov. 2000). ThinkQuest. "The Problem." Driving Under the Influence. 1998. http://library.thinkquest.org/23713/frameset.html (8 Nov. 2000).

Brent Staples’ Black Men in Public Places

Black Men in Public Spaces is a piece of autobiographical writing that deals with issues of racism and discrimination in the United States. In his short essay, Brent Staple relates a few of his nighttime experiences in the street, which revealed the way in which he was perceived by the others. As a member of the black community, Staples discovers that he is shunned by the strangers that he meets in the street and that women especially think of him as of a perilous individual.Not being a violent man, Staples is confused and offended by the awe he inspires to the strangers that pass him by and soon learns to shun them himself in order to avoid the unpleasantness of an encounter. Thus, Black Men in Public Places is best suited for biographical criticism. The essay recounts a few of the experiences of the author during his encounters with strangers in the street. These experiences are related in such a way as to highlight the social issues at hand: racism in the form of prejudice and pre conception.The author has several encounters with white people during his night wanderings that reveal a disconcerting attitude on their part. The young black man is shunned by the white collectivity as a dangerous man. The setting of these occurrences is very important: the night and the public places reveal the space that the black community is allowed for in the current society. Despite the fact that they are free, black men are regarded with prejudice and lack of confidence by absolute strangers, without any explicit motive.Thus, the author feels that his simple presence in the street, without any triggering gesture or attitude on his part, is likely to cause disturbance. He also realizes that the fact that he is considered dangerous by the others without other evidence than the fact that he is black can make his walks dangerous. To highlight his ideas, Brent Staples uses a few particular devices. Thus, first of all, the piece is more of an essay than an actual story. Neverthele ss, the author shapes it by giving it a particular ending.While he relates a few of his experiences as well as that of one of his black friends who is also a journalist as himself in the beginning, he ends by remarking that he himself soon adopted the same attitude as the white individuals had towards him. Thus, in order to avoid the unpleasantness of feeling the fear he inspires to the strangers he meets in the street, he begins to avoid anyone he sees himself and to keep his distance as much as possible.He also relates that he decides to quicken his pace and overtake other people in the street so that they should not feel as if they were followed by him. These techniques that the author uses for avoidance are revelatory for the racial problem described here. Thus, the black men do not seem to be entitled to the â€Å"public space†, where they are looked upon with fear or distrust. Their mere presence is therefore avoided by strangers because of racial prejudice. The author creates an interesting effect at the beginning of the story as he uses semiotics and tropes in order to make his point.Thus, swinging for a moment into the white perspective, he begins his story by declaring the first woman that ran away from him in the street â€Å"his first victim†: â€Å"My first victim was a woman-white, well dressed, probably in her early twenties. I came upon her late one evening on a deserted street in Hyde Park [†¦]†(Barnet, Burto and Cain, 301). The word â€Å"victim† is a sign, emphasizing the way in which the white person perceived himself or herself in the presence of the black man.Furthermore, Staples makes use of an interesting metaphor to describe the confusing and painful effect that this first experience had on his own perception. Using an auditory image, he highlights the fact that the reality of prejudice was discovered to him in the sound of the hurrying footsteps of the white woman who was trying to escape him without a ny apparent reason: â€Å"It was in the echo of that terrified woman's footfalls that I first began to know the unwieldy inheritance I'd come into–the ability to alter public space in ugly ways.†(Barnet, Burto and Cain, 301) It is through this echo of avoidance that he hears in the woman’s footsteps that Staples realizes that he is not regarded as a simple individual but as a part of the black community, and, as such, he finds himself the unwilling inheritor of detrimental behavior. In order to transmit his message on racial prejudice, Staples also uses a metaphor describing the actual distance that lies between black and white people: â€Å"That first encounter, and those that followed, signified that a vast, unnerving gulf lay between nighttime pedestrians–particularly women–and me.† (Barnet, Burto and Cain, 301) Using the word â€Å"gulf† to portray this distance and the relationship between the black and the white, Staples evokes the painful consequences of prejudice, which creates this insurmountable distance between people. These observations, determine the author to take precautions himself and avoid encounters in the street as much as possible: â€Å"I now take precautions to make myself less threatening. I move about with care, particularly late in the evening. I give a wide berth to nervous people on subway platforms during the wee hours, particularly when I have exchanged business clothes for jeans.† (Barnet, Burto and Cain, 302) The ending of the story is also very effective, as the author declares himself the inventor of a new strategic point designed to relax the relationships between the two racial opposites. Thus, upon his encounter with white people, the author begins warbling cheerful songs meant to ease the atmosphere and increase the confidence of the others: â€Å"Even steely New Yorkers hunching toward nighttime destinations seem to relax, and occasionally they even join in the tune . Virtually everybody seems to sense that a mugger wouldn’t be warbling bright, sunny selections from Vivaldi's Four Seasons.† (Barnet, Burto and Cain, 302) Black Men in Public Places is therefore effective precisely because the writers chooses an autobiographical style to relate his experiences, thus providing with an introspective view of his experiences. The ending is particularly effective precisely because it depicts the unnecessary efforts the author takes in order to make his presence in the street less conspicuously menacing for the white people. Works Cited: Barnet, Sylvan, William Burto, and William E. Cain. Literature for Composition. New York: Pearson Longman Publishers, 2007

Exchange Rates and Forward Contracts Analyses Essay

The appreciation of the Australian dollar would affect the investor in a positive manner. When the U. S. firm invested in Australian dollar in the Australian money market, consequently the returns would be in Australian dollar, there would be a gain on the side of the U. S firm. This would mean that the return in U. S dollar would be greater after Australian dollar’s appreciation. When the U. S firm has to repay the borrowed money in Japanese yen, it needs more U. S dollars than how much it should have been if the Japanese yen did not appreciate. This means a loss on foreign exchange transaction for the U. S firm. â€Å"Price it now and deliver later† is the underlying concept for â€Å"forward contracts† (Kolb, 2002) protecting parties from possible exchange rate fluctuations. Since Wolfpack expects British pounds to be appreciating, and it is invoicing in this currency, it is better NOT to hedge its exports with a forward contract. Pricing at the current exchange rate means lesser US dollar returns as compared to the appreciated British pounds that can purchase more U. S dollars for Wolfpack in its home country.

Plot Summary: The Nine Guardians

The Nine Guardians ?Nine Guardians? takes places in the State of Chiapas, in Mexico, where from the remains of the Mexican revolution came the presidency of Lazaro Cardenas. His presidency takes places between 1934 and 1940, during the time this novel takes place. Cardenas expropriated foreign-held properties, distributed land to peasants, and instituted reforms to benefit indigenous people and Mexican workers. Cardenas found it unfair for the Indians to not be treated as equals, so he demanded rights for Indians. Land holdings were controlled by a ruling elite.The Indians were encouraged to rise against the landowners and demand their rights. They have the law on their side and they start to realize they don? t deserve to be treated as slaves. With the help of others, Cardenas breaks up large estates and forces families off of the lands. The novel is written from the point of view of the author, Rosario Castellanos. However, a seven year old girl is the narrator through most of ? Th e Nine Guardians?. She takes us through the book by introducing the people surrounding her life and her family? s life.The seven year old girl is the daughter of a wealthy landowner, Cesar Arguello. Since the Arguellos are wealthy, the girl is not raised by her parents, but mostly by an Indian servant, she calls Nana. Nana has nurtured and cared for the girl and her little brother, Mario, since birth. Nana is an Indian that lives with this elite, controlling, possessive, landowning family. Despite the fact that she is treated as a slave, Nana loves the Arguellos. Nana becomes a big influence on the little girl, along with her parents, and the retaliation of the landowners and the Indians against one another.The girl and her brother will become innocent victims mostly because of her father, who will try desperately to hold on to their land for Mario? s future. Some of the damage done cannot be fixed and will remain permanent. It is a tragedy of money, power, and male supremacy. The s ituations that occur will leave a strong impact on how she thinks and feels. From beginning to end, the seven year old girl? s perspective of the Indians will change dramatically. In the beginning, the girl is ignorant to the thought of being an Indian. She doesn? t want to know their history and how they stand in their society. Read also  Summary : Love Is Never SilentShe speaks of how young she is and wants no part of what is going on. She loves her Nana but doesn? t think she knows what she is talking about. The thought that she could have been an Indian threatens her. She wants to be idle, absent-minded, and not aware of her surroundings. Perhaps, she wishes this for Nana also. The Indians frighten her and she is ignorant of their part in society. In this novel, when bad things happen, some of the characters are superstitious and believe they pay for their mistakes through curses given by the sorcerers, especially the Indians.She starts to understand her Nana when she sees her wounded knees done by a curse that has followed her from her home, Chactajal. ?It? s withches? doings that? s afoot, child. They gobble everything up-the crops, peace in the family, people? s health.? Since Nana grew up in the Arguellos house and loved the family she lived with, she was being punished. The Indians could not under stand how she could love those that give orders and have possessions, it was against their beliefs.The girl is angry at first at the Indians and begins to understand the sacrifices and hardships her Nana must have and is going through to be apart of the Arguellos family. From this experience, she starts to see who her father is and becomes disgusted with him because he is one that gives orders and own things. She starts to put a lot of faith in her Nana and believes the things she tells her. She becomes more aware that this time in her life is not going to be a time for fun. She also begins to learn to look with lowered eyes when humility looks at bigness, like the Indians do out of respect for the Nine Guardians.From what I understand, the Indians believe that there are nine protectors of the earth that watch over all and control everything. The girl learns things from her Nana and learns to think differently about her parents. She witnesses an Indian killed because her father trus ted him. It makes her sad and fearful of the power that her father possesses. She is seeing her parents differently. As a child, your parents are the world and they can do no harm. As a child, you think your parents are all-knowing. There comes a point where a child starts to grow up and sometimes perhaps their parents are not who the child thought they were.The girl begins to grow up a little and realizes she is now seeing her parents otherwise, almost with a new set of eyes. Her father is completely self-absorbed, except for the fact that he wants to save his land for his son? s inheritance. He thinks of himself as all mighty. He doesn? t think the Indians are worth schooling when the law demands it be done. Her father thinks the Indians could never learn Spanish and are not worth the pay of a master to educate them. Cesar has a sense of self-importance and cares only that his ? commands have power and his scolding inspire fear.?He despises the government and believes Cardenas is inciting Indians against their masters and handing them over the rights that they can? t use and don? t deserve. ?He (Cardenas) doesn? t know them; he? s never been near them and found out how they stink of filth and drink. He? s never done them a favour and been rewarded with their laziness. And they? re so hypocritical, so underhand, so deceitful!? He sees the Indians as little children. ?Cesar was incapable of speaking to people he didn? t consider his equals.? The story moves from Comitran to Chactajal where her father? s ranch is located.Her father needs to supervise the grinding and branding of his crops done by the Indians. At the Arguello ranch, there are many families of Indians taking care of his land, the Indians that he pays little money too, along with no respect. The family goes to Chactajal without Nana because she is afraid of the witches? curses. On their way, the girl starts to learn about death, how easy it is to die when her cousin shots a deer to kill it. Her an d her brother Mario are surprised at how easy life can be taken away. The feud that explodes against the Arguellos leaves everlasting effects on the children.The girl has seen her Nana? s status in society, she has seen the effect of Nana? s love towards her family, she can no longer go to school because it was ordered to be shut down. she has seen a man killed from trusting her father, Their land is set to fire and the threat that they will die in the fire, her illegitimate cousin is killed in rebellion towards her father, she sees her aunt go crazy, and she believes in the power of sorcery. She misses her Nana and her wisdom on life. She is ultimately going to learn the about male supremacy and the effects it has on society.Her brother, Mario, is the pride of the Arguellos family. The Indians curse the boy to death because of the endless fight her father has for power and wealth. The two things that matter to Cesar the most. ?For the Indian is helpless to do better if the white ma n? s will is not behind him. The Indians are starting to realize they are equal to white men. They lose all respect for the landowners and fight back just as bad as the Arguellos fought to keep them as slaves. They are aware now that they own the ranch and are not obliged to work for anyone because now Cardenas has more power than all the landowners.Perhaps, it would have all been better if Cesar Arguellos realized that male supremacy should not control all of society. Cesar Arguello humiliated his wife, did not treat her as an equal, although she put up with him. He also put his children in jeopardy for having them around in the time of trouble. He didn? t realize what he thought and did was not the way the world was supposed to work. He was one man who believed he had a want to control and posses all the power and the wealth he could manage to get a hold of. His arrogant pride led his family to separation.Her mother, Zoraida, was responsible for her life and her childrens? lives, although she allowed herself to do as Cesar demanded. Her mother demands that Nana leaves because Nana informed Zoraida about the curse put onto Mario? s life. The only reason the Arguello family managed to stay together was because of their beloved Mario. If Mario was to die, not only does she lose her son, but possibly her husband that she cannot communicate with. She fires Nana and leaves her daughter scared and enlightened even more about the people she loves and respects.The girl has lost her Nana, her brother dies because of the curse put on his life, she has lost all respect for her mother and father. She only wants to be with Nana since she is the only one that loves and cares about her. Her brother is dead and she feels guilty because she thinks she could have stopped it from happening. Perhaps, she punished her mother for not caring about her. Her mother only cared and loved Mario. Without Mario, her mother felt she was no longer worthwhile. The girl finally realizes who h er parents are and realizes that her Nana, despite being an Indian, is the one who cares about her.She looks for forgiveness from her dead brother because she realizes that it was not his fault she was a female without love and respect from her parents. She realized that if her father just accepted that the time for male supremacy was to end, then the events that took place may never have had happened. Rosario Castellanos From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search Rosario Castellanos| Tombstone of Rosario Castellanos| Born| May 25, 1925Mexico City, Mexico| Died| August 7, 1974 (aged  49) Tel Aviv, Israel| Occupation| Poet and author|Rosario Castellanos (25 May 1925 – 7 August 1974) was a Mexican poet and author. Along with the other members of the Generation of 1950 (the poets who wrote following the Second World War, influenced by Cesar Vallejo and others), she was one of Mexico's most important literary voices in the last century. Throughout her lif e, she wrote eloquently about issues of cultural and gender oppression, and her work has influenced feminist theory and cultural studies. Though she died young, she opened the door of Mexican literature to women, and left a legacy that still resonates today.Contents * 1 Life * 2 Work * 3 Selected bibliography * 4 English translations * 5 Additional reading * 6 Notes| Life Born in Mexico City, she was raised in Comitan near her family's ranch in the southern state of Chiapas. She was an introverted young girl, who took notice of the plight of the indigenous Maya who worked for her family. According to her own account, she felt estranged from her family after a soothsayer predicted that one of her mother's two children would die shortly, and her mother screamed out, â€Å"Not the boy! The family's fortunes changed suddenly when President Lazaro Cardenas enacted a land reform and peasant emancipation policy that stripped the family of much of its land holdings. At fifteen, Castellanos and her parents moved to Mexico City. One year later, her parents were dead and she was left to fend for herself. Although she remained introverted, she joined a group of Mexican and Central American intellectuals, read extensively, and began to write. She studied philosophy and literature at UNAM (the National Autonomous University of Mexico), where she would later teach, and joined the NationalIndigenous Institute, writing scripts for puppet shows that were staged in impoverished regions to promote literacy. Ironically, the Institute had been founded by President Cardenas, who had taken away her family's land. She also wrote a weekly column for the newspaper Excelsior. In addition to her literary work, Castellanos held several government posts. In recognition for her contribution to Mexican literature, Castellanos was appointed ambassador to Israel in 1971. On 7 August 1974 Castellanos died in Tel Aviv from an unfortunate electrical accident.Some have speculated that the accident was in fact suicide. Mexican writer Martha Cerda, for example, wrote to journalist Lucina Kathmann, â€Å"I believe she committed suicide, though she already felt she was dead for some time. â€Å". [1] There is no evidence to support such a claim, however. Work Throughout her career, Castellanos wrote poetry, essays, one major play, and three novels: the semi-autobiographical Balun Canan and Oficio de tinieblas (translated into English as The Book of Lamentations) depicting a Tzotzil indigenous uprising in Chiapas based on one that had occurred in the 19th century.Despite being a ladino – of mestizo, not indigenous descent – Castellanos shows considerable concern and understanding for the plight of indigenous peoples. â€Å"Cartas a Ricardo,† a collection of her letters to her husband Ricardo Guerra was published after her death as was her third novel,†Rito de iniciacion. † Rosario Castellanos said of the collection of her letters in â€Å"Carta s a Ricardo†that she considered them to be her autobiography. â€Å"Rito de iniciacion† is about a young woman who comes to Mexico City and discovers her vocation of a writer.

Mun Unoosa – Topic: Space Junk – Country: Sweden

Jasmin Fashami 14 November 2012 United Nations Office on Outer Space Affairs Sweden Space Junk UNOOSA – Sweden A. Background of Topic 1. Space junk, also known  space debris and  space waste, is the collection of objects in  orbit  around  Earth  that were created by humans but no longer serve any useful purpose, which can consist of everything from old dead  satellites to explosion and collision fragments. These objects often overlap the trajectory of new space shuttles or satellites, which can cause a potential collision risk, damaging the equipment.Space junk presents a threat not only to space affairs, but also to matters here on earth; although most debris will burn up in the atmosphere, larger objects can reach the ground intact and present a risk. The ISS has had to repair numerous satellites and spaceships orbiting the earth due to the damage caused by space junk, causing them millions. Though the UNOOSA has published guidelines for nations to follow in h opes to reduce the amount of space junk, the UN still has many issues that need to be discussed and covered due to this growing problem. . Nations that are directly involved and affected by this issue include the USA, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, the Russian Federation, Ukraine, the UK, and others. 3. According to the U. S. military's Space Surveillance Network, there are roughly  22,000 pieces of orbital debris  larger than 4 inches currently in the outlying atmosphere, which include broken satellite parts and depleted rocket bodies. As these fragments travel through space, they pose collision risks to the ISS and the roughly 1,000 working satellites in orbit.Many incidents have already occurred, such as in February 2009, a U. S satellite was struck by a non-operational Russian satellite. The impact destroyed the two spacecraft and created large clouds of dust and debris. â€Å"If we continue, as we have, to use these very popular orbits in near-Earth space, th e density of debris and collision events will surely increase,† Marshall Kaplan, an orbital debris expert within the Space Department at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, told SPACE. com. Operational satellites will be destroyed at an alarming rate, and they cannot be replaced. We must prepare for this seemingly inevitable event,† Kaplan said. B. United Nations Involvement 1. Analysts first became aware of an emerging space debris problem in the early 1960s. However, February 2009 was when the UN first really got involved with this issue. The UNOOSA â€Å"called all Member States and international organizations to fully implement measures to curb space debris following the collision of an inactive Russian satellite with an operational one from the USA. This was the first major problem between countries regarding this issue. 2. Some organizations, committees, agencies, and NGOs that are involved with the growing issue include the United N ations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, the United Nations Office of Outer Space Affairs, the European Space Agency, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and the  Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee. 3.Every year, the  COPUOS  invites Member States to submit reports on national research regarding space junk and problems of collisions with space junk. Though there is no international treaty mandating countries to minimize space debris,  in 2007, the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space published voluntary guidelines for nations to follow. The UNOOSA needs to continue to pass more guidelines and rules regarding space junk, and agencies like NASA to be more aware of the debris and the issues they are emitting.Many methods have been proposed to solve this problem, but in the end, the international community needs to step up and put forth more action before the issu e gets worse. C. Country Policy 1. Sweden has set up a wide-ranging space company that has 40 years' experience in helping space organizations, companies and research organizations gain access to space, called the SSC, or the Swedish Space Corporation. This company has researched and developed numerous resolutions to many space problems, such as space debris. . Sweden believes that space junk in Earth’s atmosphere is a growing problem and is working to stop the damage it is causing. 3. On March 19th, 2012, Sweden, through the SSC, launched the REDEMPTION Experiment at the REXUS/BEXUS Esa Educational Programme, which is realized under a mutual agreement between the German Aeroscope Center and the Swedish National Space Board. REDEMPTION stands for â€Å"Removal of Debris using Material with Phase Transition IONospherical tests;† it is currently a work in progress.In order to combat space debris and a possible, upcoming tragic event known as Kessler Syndrome, many resear ch groups are developing technologies able to shift space junk into a safety orbit using a newly redesigned foam. Unfortunately, at the moment, a realistic system has not yet been found. 4. Sweden is still continuing to work towards the REDEMPTION experiment, whose main goal is to propose a new system based on a spray foam that solidifies.This can be used as a link between satellites and debris and will have to work in space conditions – this will avoid future collision between debris and space equipment. Works Cited http://esa. int/SPECIALS/Space_Debris/SEMQHL05VQF_0. html http://redemptionteam. blogspot. com/p/about-redemption. html http://space. com/16289-space-junk-international-response. html http://sscspace. com/rexus-12 http://un. org/apps/news/story. asp? NewsID=29908&Cr=outer+space&Cr1#. ULGS8Ie7OSp

Exploring Rita Dove’s “The Darker Face of the Earth”

â€Å"An expert poet, a creative story writer and adept at writing scripts of various genres†; all things, which make the world filled with writings. This is one of the gorgeous ways of delineating the character of an American poet and author, Rita Frances Dove. â€Å"I think the worst thing that can happen to a poet is to be self-conscious, to think, ‘I’m writing a poem’ the moment that you’re writing a poem.† With all this line, as quoted by Ingersoll (2003) during an interview held at the University Press of Mississippi, Rita Dove shows her philosophical adage and belief about the essence of every event happening around her.It merely signifies that whatever things come along the way should be given an explicit notion whether it could bring good and a noteworthy happening or an adverse occurrence. In other words, exploring the never-ending queries that come to her mind is what makes her personality an avid â€Å"truth seeker† to find the real significance of her surroundings. For a better comprehension about where her life revolves around and to what principle does it lie, her play entitled â€Å"The Darker Face of the Earth† explains how Dove exploits the story Oedipus Rex for her own purpose.As a writer who delves into the stone of knowledge, she brings more insightful prospects with regard to the contemporary issues arising from her community—trying to compare the huge difference or similarity between all characters of the two stories, The Darker Face of the Earth and Oedipus Rex.Significance of the Play ‘The Darker Face of the Earth’Her notion concerning the mixture of races leads her to creating a more compelling play, which she entitled ‘The Darker Face of the Earth’ (Pereira). Hence, her views concern marriage, cohabitation, or sexual intercourse between a white person and a member of another race. Such a perspective comes from the event, which has taken place in th e late 20th century America (â€Å"History of slavery in America starts in 15th century Europe: The Cincinnati Enquirer,† Bauer).As an analysis of the play’s title, Dove picks it from one of the lines in the play depicting sexual intercourse between two different races—White and Black: â€Å"When the pear blossoms / cast their pale faces on / the darker face of the earth† (1st ed. 76). Augustus, a mulatto (the first-generation offspring of a black person and a white person) delivers this line as he explicates about his notion on miscegenation. A variety of scholars that criticize the play focuses more on the usage of ‘cast’ in the line, which connotes that the presence of insult while using the â€Å"pale faces† on â€Å"darker face(s)† is inevitable.Therefore, the line is obviously a representation of rapes done by the white men to the number of black women prior to the American Civil War. Such coercive intercourse between a wh ite person and a member of another race is emotionally or psychologically untroubled in the play. For a better comprehension, such kind of relationship is shown in the play where Amalia, the white plantation mistress, finds the way to having a sexual intercourse with the slave Hector.As a result, the existence of Augustus, the mulatto, is just inevitable. Based on the play, his mother Amalia willingly finds measures only to obtain a sexual intercourse with Hector in response to her husband Louis, who have raped slave girls (1st ed. 14-16).The Darker Face of the Earth begins the flow of its story with the Augustus’s natal day to Amalia Jennings LaFarge, a white slave mistress, from a sexual intercourse with the black slave Hector. Augustus is obviously born with combined characteristics of more than one kind—White and Black races.With stormy or turbulent characteristics, Louis LaFarge makes way so that people may never acknowledge Augustus as Amalia’s child. The couple tells the people that her child died at birth in spite of the fact that a doctor takes him away with an aim at raising baby Augustus as a slave. Consequently, Hector becomes devastated by grief. Helplessly, he does not know what to do with his life; anguish overshadows his life for a number of years.Augustus’s fatherly white master gives him the twenty years of education and various kinds of journey from different places; hence, he experiences combined cultural aspects. No later than this period, the white master brings the twenty-year old Augustus to the Jennings even though he knows that this son of Amalia had an insurrection lately. Unknowing that Amalia is his mother for he has once told that he was a child of a slave woman, who had been raped by his white master; he begins an affair with his biological mother.Nevertheless, there is one slave woman named Phebe who desires an affair with him but it does not take too long as another slave Scylla tells him about the p ossible outcome of their affair that would lead him in a certain demise. He listens to what Scylla tells him; however, he unintentionally kills Hector when he becomes involved in a rebellion. He does not know that Hector is his biological father to Amalia; thus, he puts his father to certain demise in order to prevent him from divulging the machination, which has just taken place between him and Amalia.Ultimately, he has been ordered to kill Amalia that makes him troubled. However, he thinks Louis LaFarge is his father so he kills him. In spite of that fact, Amalia tells him the reality, and whilst in a good position of doing so, her son learns that she and Hector are his parents—a fact that he has just learned and realized to be all machinated.As an analysis of such circumstances, it becomes quite easy to learn that there is the presence of sexual intercourse between a white person and a member of another race; hence, a mulatto or the first-generation offspring of a black pe rson and a white person comes to existence—Augustus, the son of whom he links to.  Ã¢â‚¬ËœThe Darker Face of the Earth’ and ‘Oedipus Rex’The Darker Face of the Earth is a narration of Sophocles’s drama entitled ‘Oedipus Rex’ that is shaped from the image of a pre-Civil War plantation near Charleston, South Carolina. Like Oedipus Rex, the play harmoniously relates the loveliness and royalty of the old concept of legendary conspiracy as Dove portrays the surpassing authority, an underlying cause of change when it comes to erotic occurrences. Moreover, the play is not created from the Oedipus myth but also from the real events of slavery in the 15th century America (â€Å"History of slavery in America starts in 15th century Europe: The Cincinnati Enquirer,† Bauer).One of the most significant events happens in the play is that concerns with the critical scene in which Amalia interviews Augustus, her newly purchased slave (â€Å"Th e Darker Face of the Earth: Completely Revised Second Edition,† Dove). Amalia listens as the new slave sings â€Å"the sorrow songs,† and explaining, â€Å"They don't need a psalm book.† (2nd ed. 82). Notwithstanding his explication, he gives assurance on his own literacy; lists the books of his formative education: â€Å"Milton. The Bible. / And the Tales of the Greeks† (2nd ed. 83). Amalia holds the book and reads about â€Å"Tales of the Greeks†.While reading the contents, Amalia tries to narrate the latest event, which she learned through both newspaper and word of mouth accounts particularly when it comes to the story of slavery. However, she revises some of the events happened in the history in order to make it suitable to her present life. As the conversation of the two continues, Augustus narrates his personal history about slavery (2nd ed. 89-90). Meanwhile, they listen to Amalia’s husband, Louis LaFarge in his room while reading the night sky for portents (2nd ed. 87-88). Therefore, as a result, such a scene brings about the fact that Amalia and Augustus are embracing, according to Pereira (2003).Nevertheless, prior to such an embrace, Augustus turns poetical as he reads an imaginary past portraying Amalia’s views of his personal notion: â€Å"One soft spring night when the pear blossoms cast their pale faces on the darker face of the earth, Massa stood up from the porch swing and said to himself, â€Å"I think I'll make me another bright-eyed pick-aninny.† Then he stretched and headed for my mother's cabin.† (2nd ed. 92).Therefore, Augustus makes a certain fictionalized interpretation of his personal life by means of verbal imagery. This is to say that, such narration of his own life opposes much of the actual experiences and circumstances with regard to his nativity. Moreover, even though Augustus is indeed a child who is born by the union of combined bloods—a white and a black sl ave, still it is a union of love, and is not achieved by force or threat or any act of compelling. Furthermore, as to his story, his mother is white while his father is black. Hence, the presence of an irony on his narration is obviously overshadowing the story.The Darker Face of the Earth has a similar involvement of sexual intercourse between persons so closely related that law forbids them to marry or the statutory crime of such a relationship. The practice of slavery by contradicting the marriage to the slave and by restraining sexual interest in intermediate relation to a slave and a master, contradicts authority to give the title father, mother, sister, or brother with conviction and reality.On the other hand, in Oedipus Rex, the so called, ‘King’ never mentions the name of his parents because of his ‘sexual intercourse between persons so closely related that law forbids them to marry’ or ‘the statutory crime of such a relationship’ and t he act of murdering his or her father, mother, or a close relative (Sterren, M.D.). Therefore, The Darker Face of the Earth remains bold and strong without the presence of a king or Oedipus Rex.The Darker Face of the Earth comes after the prototype but not the story line of Oedipus Rex. Based on comparison of the two stories, Sophocles begins the flow of his story with the vision of a comprehensive constitutional king or queen. For a better comprehension, Oedipus appears as a stranger to his city, which is under his rules. Moreover, Thebes is permitted as a right or privilege by the former king in terms of marriage as a sort of recompense for solving an enigma in a murderous Sphinx.The story begins with the appearance of tranquility; however, the entire city is ravaged by the plague. In addition, Oedipus kills his father and marries his mother. However, Dove begins his play with the birth of an Oedipus—Augustus, the child of an African slave named Hector and Amalia Jennings.C onclusionWhen it comes to analyzing a variety of poems, dramas, and plays, a number of critics and scholars believe that The Darker Face of the Earth and Oedipus Rex make contemporary issues with regard to slavery and racial union a world of antiquity, which continues to revolve. Despite of the fact that two authors, Dove and Sophocles, create a harmonious flow of the story, yet the presence of some sorts of variation in terms of the story’s themes and lines become inevitable due to the environment or scene in which the characters move and play their roles. Dove’s 1994 play entitled ‘The Darker Face of the Earth’ mirrors numerous themes or artistic representations and certain machinations or contrivances, which take place in an ancient Greek play by Sophocles’s ‘Oedipus Rex’.In The Darker Face of the Earth, there is the presence of ignorance and anger as the issue that concerns with slavery is much concerned. Intelligence never complete s this play, as the characters seem to be marked by a lack of restraint although some events are not coercive. However, there is the presence of these themes in Sophocles’s Oedipus Rex; intelligence overshadows the characters, as they do every thing in accordance with the right way— no merciless qualities. In both plays, fortune obviously works as the protagonists act as victims while doing the part of voluntary agents. Hence, the fortune of every individual works out with his personal behavior without focusing on his culture. Although Oedipus and Augustus exist in different ways, yet they have the choice to control their fortune.