Biosphere 2 :: Papers

Biosphere 2 Biosphere 2 is a supersealed â€Å"greenhouse† enclosing an area of 3.15 acres. Exit and entry is through a double airlock. It consists of several different ecosystems within the â€Å"greenhouse.† It houses a tropical rainforest, savannah, scrub forest, desert, fresh- and salt-water marshes and a miniocean that even contains a coral reef. This biosphere is inhabited by over 4000 species in all. The biosphere is able to preserve it environment because; water vapor from evaporation and transpiration of plants is condensed to produce high amounts of rainfall over the tropical rainforest. From there the water runs back towards the marshes and ocean as is filters through the soil, providing for an ample supply of fresh water for the humans as well as the ecosystems. The carbon dioxide released from respiration is absorbed for photosynthesis and necessary oxygen is replenished. Thus, meeting the necessary requirements for a sustainable biosphere. Biosphere 2 is not completely self-sufficient, it does depend on solar energy, and the energy demands that are created to power the necessary machinery, would require another 30 acres of solar collectors. The conclusion of the â€Å"cycle† is that not everything went exactly as planned. The oxygen level at one point dropped and additional oxygen had to be added to compensate for the underestimated amount of oxygen used by the decomposers in the soil. Larger amounts of carbon dioxide were used because of chemical reactions with exposed concrete. A large number of the species introduced especially insects necessary for pollination, died off, requiring pollination of many plants by hand. Despite these drawbacks the water, soil, and nutrients they started with were the same as when finished, having gone through the cycle a countless number of times. We have learned from this experiment that it is possible to build a biosphere, that integrates humans, and have it function within the tolerable limits of sustainability. Future versions of this experiment may be used in constructing permanent space stations or for long distance space exploration. If we continue mistreating our present biosphere we may end up living in structures similar to Biosphere 2. In my opinion this experiment proved to be very valuable if we wish to set up colonies on the Moon or other planets. This experiment is the beginning of the necessary information that will be needed to construct a completely self-sufficient biosphere.

Disaster Paper Essay

When you deliberate on a disaster, it becomes clear that any such event has three phases to it. Initially, there are antecedents that lead to the disaster. When enough antecedents have accumulated, the disaster occurs at that specific tipping time. Finally after the disaster has happened the final phase of resolutions occurs. The resolutions are steps that the society attempt to implement to revert the effects that the event has produced. Consider the Deepwater Horizon disaster that happened on July 17th 2010. Upon critical review the group have identified series of antecedents that led to the disaster. At the tipping point the disaster occurred, lives were lost and numerous crew members injured. After the initial shock of the disaster and evacuation of the crew engineers and BP staff attempted to close the well with numerous trials. Eventually policy makers were involved in development of the new safety policies. Numerous investigations and trials were performed to better understand the disaster and avoid similar events. At the end numerous antecedents have been identified, the disaster was resolved and the consequences identified. The Deepwater Horizon accident was found to have multiple antecedents that caused this tragedy. Specifically, a sequence of eight safety barriers that were breached led to the explosion which killed eleven people and caused widespread pollution throughout the Gulf of Mexico. At first the annulus cement barrier was installed improperly and did not isolate the hydrocarbons coming from the well. The shoe track barrier did not isolate the hydrocarbons. As a consequence these two events allowed hydrocarbons to rise up the well and aboard the Deepwater Horizon rig. The negative pressure test was incorrectly interpreted. The influx of hydrocarbons was not recognized until it was too late. Well control response actions failed to regain the control of the well. This led the well flow to be diverted to the mud gas separator causing gas to be vented onto the vessel rather than being diverted over board. Safety fire and gas systems did not prevent hydrocarbon ignition from the engine room. Finally, the blowout preventer (BOP) emergency modes did not seal the well due to the accumulation of previous seven events mentioned above. With these eight events leading one to another, it was much more difficult to seize the explosions and fire that damaged the MUX cables and hydraulic lines. This resulted in failure of the emergency disconnect system. To conclude, it is clear that specific and identifiable antecedents can be discovered and that their accumulations to a tipping point lead to the disaster. The second phase of the Deepwater Horizon disaster deals with engineers and BP technical staff trying to close the well so that the oil spill is stopped. To reduce the oil spill the leaking oil is set on fire with the hope that the spill will be reduced. On May 2nd, 2010 PB starts to drill a relief well that should overtake that leaking site. On May 5th one of the leaking sites is capped, however oil continues to leak from the well. On May 7th BP engineers use the containment chambers to close the remaining leaks. The idea fails and is abandoned. On May 9th a â€Å"junk shot† approach is implemented, the following day â€Å"top hat† approach is planned out. The attempt to reduce the leak continues, numerous other approaches and plans are implemented to either reduce the oil spill or completely halt it. On august 4th BP reports that using the latest attempt the â€Å"static kill† appears to be successful and attempts to permanently seal the leak are in the process. On September 19th the Deepwater Horizon leak have been permanently sealed. The nightmare that happened on May 2nd has been halted but not fully resolved. The environmental affect that the disaster caused will hunt the future of Gulf of Mexico waters for decades. For example, seahorse populations in the region decline and the Hippocampus zosterae, dwarf specie of seahorses, is on the verge of extinction. The role of engineers in the Deepwater Horizon disaster is immense. During the accumulation of antecedents there are evidences that engineers knew about chaos that was occurring on the Deepwater Horizon rig. However, due to poor management and lack of communication between companies involved in the project, engineers had little impact in correcting the antecedents. Eventually, when the disaster occurred, the BP engineers tried various attempts and ideas to close the opened well. Lastly environmental engineers are and will be involved in cleaning efforts of the Gulf of Mexico waters. Therefore it is important to consider the engineers as not only the antecedents in a disaster but also as proactive members of society that attempt fixing the environment to pre-disaster state. Therefore, engineering is involved with all disaster phases. As a group, we plan to incorporate each disaster phase into the final report and discuss how engineering process have been aiding the future avoidance of similar disasters. It is important to understand that media reports cover just a few aspects of disasters and news in general. In many cases the scope of media reports is within political and economic spectrums. Therefore further research into documents released by various commissions and investigators that are publicly available will be looked at and analysed by the group and its members. The group process is moving according to the milestones developed and outlined in the proposal paper. Despite this, new opportunities in scheduling allows for the group to have a few extra meetings and perhaps finish the final report ahead of the scheduled time. The comparison chart of milestones is outlined below. Over all there are a few challenges that the group have to work through. As mentioned above the group plans to analyze some reports developed by the investigators of the disaster. The challenging part is to read through pages of technical analysis and to identify related parts for the assignment. Since there are new group meetings, it should be possible to accomplish this task in professional manner. In addition the group will do a presentation on the project therefore these two meeting dates will be allocated towards that time. The final paper will contain a more detailed and chronological outline of the disaster phases. The paper will discuss the causes, antecedents and policy developments that occurred as of the result of the disaster. The general breakdown of the parts has not changed since they were assigned during the composition of the proposal paper.

Impact of Globalisation on Education Essay

The effects of globalisation on education bring rapid developments in technology and communications are foreseeing changes within learning systems across the world as ideas, values and knowledge, changing the roles of students and teachers, and producing a shift in society from industrialisation towards an information-based society. In the research paper an effort is made to highlight the positive and negative implications of Globalisation on education and also remedies to the challenges faced by it. On moving towards its positive aspects it is evident that due to globalization there is explosion of knowledge. Access to knowledge has been made easier through Information Technology, satellites, supersonic travel etc, No country can afford to erect walls around it. A country like India for example, has no reason to discard globalisation because it has a large potential for natural resources, large national market, strong industrial base, a powerful R & D infrastructure and above all a highly knowledgeable and skilled manpower that can stand on its own in global competition and rise to any challenge. Employment based education was the most precious gift of gobalisation. Education can be globalised in three ways: (i) By setting up educational campuses abroad, (ii) By offering educational programmes in foreign countries through tie-ups or collaborations with their educational institution, and (iii) By admitting foreign and NRI students in our educational institutions. On moving towards its darker side, there are many challenges faced by our education system. Due to commercialization of education it creates a divide between ‘haves’ and ‘havenots’. As education came in the reach of privates institutions it is going out of reach of poor. Moreover, the quality of education imparted in private and govt. nstitution have the difference of sky and earth. Quality of education in govt. institution is degrading and private institutions are beyond the reach. What a pity! Many foreign institutions and other private institutions are merely degree delivering machines. The objective of education from knowledge sharing is shifting merely to p rofit maximizing. This is a degradation in the values of Indian education system which has the glory of ‘Vishw Guru’ and where the concept of gurukul and teacher-student relationship exists but today that respect of student towards teacher and even the dedication and care of teacher towards student is missing. Along with all these, the increase craze of medical, engineering and business administration and downfall in plain courses of science, commerce and arts has only resulted in many doctors ,engineers and MBA students not recognized and no longer produces efficient and honest administrators which is a die-heart need in country like India which is in the grip of cancerous corruption. Looking to all its positivity and negativities the attempt in the research paper is to explore the remedies to the challenges faced by education . To make globalization meaningful and productive, we need to design a system of education that is universal, affordable, based on the principles of justice and related to the life of the community. This new universal system of education must incorporate social and moral values in its curriculum and produce world citizens who are free from prejudices and who are the builders of an ever advancing civilisation.

Essay What Causes Love at First Sight

Essay What Causes Love at First Sight Essay: What Causes Love at First Sight? The concept of love at first sight is one that continues to be a debatable topic, because of the many controversial issues about love in the present day. A good source of primary information on factors that cause someone to fall in love at first sight is those who profess to have fallen in love with their significant other upon meeting them for the first time. One of the issues these individuals may state is when they first came into their significant others presence, they felt a tingling effect all over their bodies that made them excited to be at the same place as the person they were attracted to and had fallen in love with. The difference with the excitement of falling in love at first sight is that the sensation is stronger than they had experienced before, when they were infatuated with another individual. The whole feeling of falling in love is highly emotional, because couples that have reported falling in love report having a strong emotional connection with their significant other. These couples also report getting to know more about the person they fell in love with in a shorter amount of time than when they got to know their other friends. Falling in love makes people want to know more about a significant other than those who they have spent a very long time knowing. One other interesting thing about falling in love at first sight is the feeling that one gets makes him or her want to profess their love to that individual the very first time they meet. The unwritten rule of love emphasizes that one should profess one’s loves to the other individual after a couple of dates, as well as after both parties feel they have known the other individual enough to be very comfortable around one another. Love at first sight; however, makes one feel like saying he or she loves the other individual even before really getting to know the other individual. When one falls in love at first sight, one gets preoccupied with the other individual just hours after meeting the individual and always wants to spend a significant amount of time with that individual. One may also feel like telling the other individual everything about themselves. When one falls in love with another individual, the relationship with the other individual seems very easy to pursue and one finds it very easy to put up with the individual’s weaknesses. Those who fall in love quickly usually state they get worried or are deeply concerned about their significant other shortly after they have met that individual for the first time. At you can have a great opportunity to fill in the order form and to get a custom essay written from scratch!

spectrophotometery essays

spectrophotometery essays The purpose of this lab experiment is to understand the uses of spectrophotometry. This experiment concentrates on the uses of the spectrophotometer, and using this instrument to specifically determine the absorption spectrum of a cobalt chloride solution, a galactose solution, and to determine an unknown concentration of a galactose solution. Modern biologists frequently use the measurement of light absorption to determine concentration of chemicals. The technique is called spectrophotometry. However, why is light absorbed? Light may be simply scattered by particles, but this is extremely important to the measurement of truly absorbed light. Light is the part of electromagnetic radiation to which the human eye is sensitive. Light is energy, and when absorbed by a chemical it results in a change in energy levels of the chemical. The energy of light depends on its wavelengths. Longer wavelengths, such as infrared, have less energy than shorter wavelengths, such as ultraviolet. A molecule will absorb light energy when a wavelength exactly matches the energy difference between two energy states of the molecule. A spectrophotometer makes use of the transmission of light through a specific solution to determine the concentration of a solute within a solution. It is based on a simple design of passing light of a known wavelength through a sample and measuring the amount of light energy that is transmitted. The design of a single beam spectrophotometer involves a light source, a prism, a sample holder, and a photocell. Connected to each are the appropriate electrical or mechanical to control the illuminating intensity, the wavelengths, and for conversion of energy received to readable data that can be recorded, which is known as a voltage fluctuation. This voltage fluctuation is displayed digitally and recorded for further analysis. The whole idea of spectrophotometery determining the concentration of a compound is ba...

Bronze Age Greece

Bronze Age Greece When Was the Greek Bronze Age?: Put Bronze Age Greece in Perspective: Major Intervals in Ancient History The Aegean Bronze Age, where Aegean refers to the Aegean Sea where Greece, the Cyclades, and Crete are situated, ran from about the beginning of the third millennium to the first, and was followed by the Dark Age. The Cyclades were prominent in the Early Bronze Age. On Crete, Minoan civilization named for the legendary king Minos of Crete, who ordered the building of the labyrinth is divided into Early, Middle, and Late Minoan (EM, MM, LM), which are further subdivided. Mycenaean civilization refers to late Bronze Age culture (c.1600 - c.1125 B.C.). Bronze Age - Glossary Entry The following paragraphs describe important terms to learn connected with the Greek Bronze Age. Cyclades: The Cyclades are islands in the south Aegean circling the island of Delos. During the Early Bronze Age (c. 3200-2100 B.C.) pottery, marble, and metal goods were produced that wound up in grave sites. Among these are the marble female figurines that inspired 20th century artists. Later in the Bronze Age the Cyclades showed influence from Minoan and Mycenaean cultures. Minoan Bronze Age: British archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans began excavating the island of Crete in 1899. He named the culture Minoan and divided it into periods. In the early period newcomers arrived and pottery styles changed. This was followed by the great palace-building civilization and Linear A. Catastrophes destroyed this civilization. When it recovered, there was a new style of writing known as Linear B. Further catastrophes marked the end of the Minoan Bronze Age. Early Minoan (EM) I-III, c.3000-2000 B.C.Middle Minoan (MM) I-III, c.2000-1600 B.C.Late Minoan (LM) I-III, c.1600-1050 B.C. Minoan Bronze AgeDark Age Greece Knossos: Knossos is a Bronze Age city and archaeological site in Crete. In 1900, Sir Arthur Evans bought the site where ruins had been found, and then worked on restoring its Minoan palace. Legend says King Minos lived at Knossos where he had Daedalus build the famous labyrinth to house the minotaur, the monstrous offspring of King Minos wife Pasiphae. KnossosThe Palace of Minos - Kris Hirst - Archaeology at About.comLabrysMinotaurDaedalus Mycenaeans: The Myceaneans, from mainland Greece, conquered the Minoans. They lived in fortified citadels. By 1400 B.C. their influence extended to Asia Minor, but they disappeared between about 1200 and 1100, at which time the Hittites also disappeared. Heinrich Schliemanns excavations of Troy, Mycenae, Tiryns, and Orchomenos revealed Mycenaean artifacts. Michael Ventris probably deciphered its writing, Mycenaean Greek. The connection between Myceaneans and the people described in the epics attributed to Homer, The Iliad and The Odyssey, is still debated. Who Were the Mycenaeans? Schliemann: Henirich Schliemann was a German maverick archaeologist who wanted to prove the historicity of the Trojan War, so he excavated an area of Turkey. Schliemann Linear A and B: Just as Schliemann is the name associated with Troy and Evans with the Minoans, so there is one name connected with the deciphering of Mycenaean script. This man is Michael Ventris who deciphered Linear B in 1952. The Mycenaean tablets he deciphered were found at Knossos, showing contact between Minoan and Mycenaean cultures. Linear A has not yet been deciphered. Linear A - Kris Hirst - Archaeology at About.comLinear B - Kris Hirst - Archaeology at About.com Graves: Archaeologists learn about the culture of ancient peoples by studying their remains. Graves are a particularly valuable source. At Mycenae, wealthy warrior chieftains and their families were buried in shaft graves. In the Late Bronze Age, warrior chieftains (and family) were buried in decorated Tholos tombs, round stone subterranean tombs with vaulted roofs. Shaft GravesTholos Tombs Bronze Age Resources: Crete The Concise Oxford Companion to Classical Literature. Ed. M.C. Howatson and Ian Chilvers. Oxford University Press, 1996. Neil Asher Silberman, Cyprian Broodbank, Alan A. D. Peatfield, James C. Wright, Elizabeth B. French Aegean Cultures The Oxford Companion to Archaeology. Brian M. Fagan, ed., Oxford University Press 1996. Lesson 7: Western Anatolia and the Eastern Aegean in the Early Bronze Age

International trade( to be specified) Research Paper

International trade( to be specified) - Research Paper Example The first task will be identifying the articles that can help in addressing the topic of the research. The data will be collected through primary as well as secondary sources. Primary data will be collected by the help of questionnaires and by conducting interviews from the selected population; whereas the secondary data will be collected from scholarly sources including books and journal articles. Regression analysis will be used to interpret the data collected through primary sources. Baier and Bergstrand state in their article that the free trade agreement is considered to be an effective way for introducing the foreign markets to the exporters of any country. Trade agreements are a source of reducing the barriers concerning exports, while protecting the interest of the countries and also enhancing the law in the countries that are FTA partners. The gravity equation also plays a significant role in analyzing the flow of international trade and in particular the effects of FTAs on international trade. However the facts suggest that the formation of a transparent and stable trading association and the reduction in the barriers associated with trade have the made investment much cheaper for the exporters of FTAs partner countries in case they want to export their products and services to the other trading markets. Statistics suggests that America in the year 2013 enjoyed trade surplus in their manufacturing industry with other FTA partners of approximately $60 bill ion, which was 30 percent more than the previous year (Baiera & Bergstrand, 2007). The topic of the research is considered to be significant from the economic point of view. Many nations do support the notion of free trade as they think that the agreement neglects the rights of the importers and focus on the rights and benefits of the exporters. For effectively