#43 min

[coleopetrans]

Checkered Beetle

Thanasimus Undatulus

[blog59-world]

[greslave-blog]

Day 1

“As we acquire more knowledge, things do not become more comprehensible, but more complex and mysterious.”

Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the statement and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should consider ways in which the statement might or might not hold true and explain how these considerations shape your position.

Since the dawn of mankind, humans have made innumerable attempts to decipher the mechanisms of the world. From ancient times, we have inherited tales of gods and monsters, which were used to explain the course of nature. However, much progress has been made since the days of mythology - equipped with the fruits of scientific inquiry, we are now able to provide surface explanations for natural phenomena. Yet, these explanations remain incomplete; our labor has only unveiled more questions to be answered.

A notable example of the tendency of knowledge to reveal complexity is the concept of the atom. The word was first proposed by the celebrated ancient Greek philosopher, Aristotle, who defined an atom as the smallest unit of matter. Nearly two thousand years later, the "raisin bun model" was introduced, in which scientists hypothesized that atoms were composed of a positively charged "bun" with negatively charged "raisins" embedded. However, advances in experimentation proved that negatively charged particles are not fixed to the atom and are responsible for chemical reactions and bonding. This lead to the Bohr model of the atom, in which negative electrons orbit a positively charged nucleus. This, in turn, raised the question of how positively charged particles would cling together, which contradicts the concept of "like particles repel, opposite particles attract". Rigorous experimentation ensued and finally reached the conclusion that neutral particles, named neutrons, must also exist within the nucleus. This did not conclude the effort to explain the composition of matter: the scientific community continued to improve its understanding of the atom, from electron orbits to electron clouds, subatomic particles to quarks - the pursuit of the perfect atomic model is neverending. For the ancient Greeks, the atom was such a simple concept - something that a child who plays with building blocks might be able to comprehend. In contrast, the modern concept of matter presents an entire field in physical chemistry. Thus, the knowledge we have acquired did not provide the clarity we had hoped to attain, but instead revealed just how complex nature really is.

Does this mean that scientists have toiled in vain? On the contrary, this improved understanding of the atom has given us myriad possibilities. The production of many man-made materials, such as metal super alloys and carbon-based materials, would be entirely impossible if it were not for the modern atomic model, which presents levels of detail in the behaviour and interactions of subatomic particles unimaginable for the ancient Greek. Although insight may not simplify matters as initially expected, this is not necessarily undesirable; for curiosity is the best motivation for discovery a human could ever have.

[haidypooh-blog]

The Rebel Flesh (21)

The Rebel Flesh (21)

Run time: TV Episode

Rating: 7.2

Genres: 43 min

Director: Julian Simpson

Writers: Matthew Graham

Stars: Matt Smith, Karen Gillan, Arthur Darvill

Trivia: The Doctor, Amy and Rory arrive in a future Earth where a small group of humans operate a plant extracting highly dangerous chemicals. To minimize the danger to themselves, they create ... See full summary »

Storyline The Doctor, Amy and Rory arrive in a future Earth where a small group of humans operate a plant extracting highly dangerous chemicals. To minimize the danger to themselves, they create clones made of a plastic-like substance, 'gangers' (short for doppelganger) who do the actual work. While forming their clones however, the Earth is struck by massive solar flare activity that transfer the humans' emotions and memories in addition to their technical abilities. As they all try to deal with what has happened, the gangers are clearly no longer prepared to accept the limited status they previously had and insist on being treated as sentient beings in their own right. As it turns out, others have been affected as well. Written by garykmcdPlot Keywords: acid bath, monastery, human cloning, duplication, human duplicationDetails: Country: UK Release Date: Adventure | Drama | Family