Space and its wonders: Alien life forms

SETI program

One of the actions human population decided to undertake to find some alien civilizations is SETI program. SETI means Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence and is considered a group of actions supposed to give an answer to the question people have been asking themselves since they discovered first planets: Do alien civilizations exist and where they are? SETI programs search for electromagnetic transmissions from other planets. Unfortunately, so far no discovery concerning alien civilizations has been made.

Numbers

In 1961 Dr. Frank Drake devised the Drake equation. Using this formula, he estimated that there are approx. 10.000 planets containing intelligent life with possible capability of communicating Earth. Thanks to Hubble Space Telescope, it’s estimated that there are over 125 billion galaxies in the universe. Around 10% of all the sun-like stars have systems of planets, so that gives us 6.25 x 1.000.000.000.000.000.000 stars. If at least 1 billion of them have one planet in their system capable of supporting life then there are 6.25 billion life supporting solar systems in the universe (6.250.000.000 so that you can see clearly).

Hypotheses about aliens

There are probably billions of videos, pictures and other more or less real “proofs” for the aliens existence. So far none of these resulted in the confirmed contact with the extra-terrestrial civilization. There are very many hypotheses about aliens:

- Extraterrestial hypothesis – UFO is a spacecraft sent to Earth from some advanced civilization.

- Interdimensional hypothesis – UFO’s are objects that come from other dimensions

- Psychosocial hypothesis – UFO is a result of misperception mechanisms and is strongly amplified, influenced by pop culture

- Natural hypothesis – UFO is just a natural phenomena that is still unknown

- Military cover up hypothesis – UFO is just an another, new type of super secret aircraft

So called physical evidence

Some people claim that some UFO leaves proof of its existence, for example:

- some UFO cases describe situations where many people, that never met each other, experienced the same event, in the same time. For example radar contact and tracking from multiple sites.

- photographic evidence, videos.

- landing sites, having peculiar properties. Claims that ground has been burned/broken, weird magnetic and radiation anomalies, metallic remains.

- cattle mutilation cases, also considered by some as a proof.

- biological effects on plants such as growth disorder or blown-out stem nodes, usually associated with crop circle cases.

- electromagnetic interference, causing weapons and communication systems failures

UFO in Poland

We include the link below, just to show you that UFO appears even in our own country. Link leads to the report from the UFO encounter that took place in year 1995.

http://ufo.internauci.pl/pliki/38.pdf

UFO pictures

http://www.ufoevidence.org/Newsite/Pics/cropcircle2.jpg

http://www.nationalufocenter.com/artman/uploads/hawaiikanohebay21oct04.jpg

UFO videos

http://www.maxior.pl/film/76609/Ufo_video

http://video.google.pl/videoplay?docid=-3726335445296508595# (2 hours video, so don’t even try to tell us you’re patient enough to watch all of it)

Aliens in our culture

It’s not really necessary to even mention anything about it. It’s impossible to live on Earth and never hear about UFO, read a book about it or see a movie with some aliens In it. Alien civilizations and inter-stellar travels will always be a subject, at least till humans actually contact some other intelligent beings from other planet. For now, we need to satisfy our curiosity with fiction. Below, we present some of the most interesting and recent alien based creations.

Pixar video – Lifted (WARNING - funny stuff): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWS5kGP2pSQ

Avatar movie: http://www.avatarmovie.com/index.html

Star Trek movie - http://www.startrekmovie.com/

Discussion topics

1. Is UFO real or maybe it’s just a mass hallucination, a result of humans loneliness in the universe?

2. Why do you think aliens are often shown as a humanoid type of beings (2 legs, 2 arms, breathing air, just having a blue skin color or some weird ears etc.)? Is this a result of lack of imagination of the creators or maybe something else?

3. Would you like to live in the world where you can travel from one planet to another, meet other intelligent beings and coexist with them? Do you think it’s even possible, when some people are still racist?

4. Do you believe any of the UFO proof presented at any time in the world? If so, please explain why. What’s so convincing in it?

Space and its wonders: Interesting and colorful places in the universe

What is an universe ?

Word universe or cosmos describe everything we can perceive to physically exists, all physics laws governing that matter, space and time and all kinds of energy. Some scientists claim though that word universe describes only one of many worlds, multiverses, that combined, create the real universe. Theoretically it combines our universe with other universes that we can’t physically study (at least not yet) or influence. Some theories state though that there are infinitely many universes, created with every decision made. Below, we list some of the most popular/interesting theories.

Big Bang – it’s really hard not to know this theory. Well in case you didn’t know it here is a reminder. Big Bang Theory states that everything started with a big KABOOM originating from nothing or from some ancient type of matter/energy. Then universe started to expand, more complex structures started to form, matter started to form stars, planets, galaxies.

Bubble Universe – it states that out universe is one of many multiverses that formed through vacuum.

Bouncing Theory – it is a some sort of extension to the Big Bang Theory, stating that universe is just a set of infinite number of beginnings and endings, where it continuously expands and collapses. It’s also called Oscillatory universe model.

Protouniverse – As mentioned in the previous presentation, universe is filled with black holes. Protouniverse theory allows the existence of a so called white hole. White Hole is an opposite of a black hole. It’s supposed to “spit matter out” from vacuum at the speed of light.

What is a galaxy ?

Galaxy is a creation, massive system of gravitationally bound stars, planets, moons, stellar remnants, gas, dust, dark matter and others. Galaxies range from pretty small ones (10.000.000 stars) to giant ones (1.000.000.000.000 stars)

Galaxies are divided into 3 main types:

Elliptical – it’s a galaxy having an ellipsoidal shape. They range from nearly spherical to very flattened. Elliptical galaxies contain mostly of older stars, have low rates of start formation.

Spiral – consist of rotating disks of stars along with the central bulge of older stars. The galaxy arms extend from the center and are relatively bright. Arms of the spiral galaxy form an approximate logarithmic spiral.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5e/M104_ngc4594_sombrero_galaxy_hi-res.jpg/250px-M104_ngc4594_sombrero_galaxy_hi-res.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/52/Hubble2005-01-barred-spiral-galaxy-NGC1300.jpg/300px-Hubble2005-01-barred-spiral-galaxy-NGC1300.jpg

Irregular/Peculiar – set of galaxies that form as a result of unusual circumstances or tidal interactions with other galaxies (galaxy collisions, merges). The very good example of such creation is a ring galaxy or a lenticular galaxy. First one is thought to occur when smaller galaxy passes through the center of a spiral galaxy (example of the Andromeda galaxy shown in the first link or some other galaxy in the second link). Lenticular galaxy is a galaxy that has properties of both spiral and elliptical galaxy (shown in the third link).

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7a/Infraredandromeda.jpg/800px-Infraredandromeda.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/da/Hoag%27s_object.jpg/180px-Hoag%27s_object.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5c/File-Ngc5866_hst_big.png/200px-File-Ngc5866_hst_big.png

Dwarf – relatively small galaxies that can be, but not always are classified as elliptical, spiral or irregular galaxies since they don’t always share all of the large galaxy properties. For example dwarf elliptical galaxies are called “dwarf spheroidal galaxies” instead.

Results of interactions between galaxies

Galaxies can collide with each other. It happens when they don’t have enough momentum to pass through each other. These galaxies will interact with each other, eventually forming a larger galaxy. Result of such collision may vary, depending on the circumstances, creating many different shapes of the new galaxy, causing star formations bursts.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f6/Antennae_galaxies_xl.jpg/280px-Antennae_galaxies_xl.jpg

Some formations are described as starburst galaxies. These creations are characterized by dusty concentrations of gas and an exceptionally very high rate of star creation. These galaxies were more common during the early history of the universe. Right now starburst galaxies are believed to provide around 15% of the total star production rate in the universe. Starburst galaxies are also characterized by supernova explosions.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/ce/M82_HST_ACS_2006-14-a-large_web.jpg/280px-M82_HST_ACS_2006-14-a-large_web.jpg

Beauty of the universe

It can’t be measured or just shown on just few pictures. Ones below show only some of the amazing images you can see in space (in this case Supernovas).

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d4/Keplers_supernova.jpg/750px-Keplers_supernova.jpg

http://imgsrc.hubblesite.org/hu/db/images/hs-1999-19-i-web.jpg

http://jcconwell.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/supernova.jpg

Discussion topics

1. How do you think universe has been created? Which theory appeals to you the most? Maybe some theory that wasn’t mentioned in the article got you interested? Maybe God created universe?

2. Do you think alternate realities or parallel universes exist? Please justify your opinion.

3. If universe is so big, do you think inter-stellar travel is even possible in real time? Do you think a human being could travel several times across the galaxy in a lifetime? (Notice “across the galaxy” – not even trying to consider travelling between galaxies yet)

Before you answer, know that the closest star is Proxima Centauri and it’s approximately 4.2 light-years distant (4x 10.000.000.000.000 km). The closest star known to have a planet is Epsilon Eridani and it’s approximately 10.5 light years distant.

4. Please name an interesting movie taking part somewhere in the space. What was so interesting in it?

Space and its wonders: BLACK HOLES

What is a black hole ?

We’re sure everyone knows, but just in case you don’t we’re going to give you some basic information. Black hole is an area in space where nothing can escape, not even light(according to the theory of relativity). Black hole is created when a star of sufficient mass undergoes a gravitational collapse having all or most of its mass squeezed into a zero-volume area(singularity). In very simple words, Black Hole is just some object, so compact, that it’s gravitational field doesn’t allow anything move away from it.

Just in case you wondered, black hole doesn’t look or work like that:

http://www.youtube.com/v/P5_Msrdg3Hk

Does black hole mean singularity ?

Not exactly. Singularity is a central part of the black hole where matter is crushed into infinite density. It’s a point of infinite gravity and infinite spacetime distortions/curvature.

What’s event horizon ?

First of all you should know that around a black hole there is an area or border, that once you cross, you have no way of return. That’s the event horizon. If you were travelling towards the event horizon you wouldn’t notice anything disturbing and eventually you would cross the event horizon in the finite amount of proper time (time measured by a single clock between events that occur at the same place as the clock), but from the observers point of view, traveler would start slowing down and actually never cross the event horizon itself. Event horizon can range from few miles to the size of our solar system (that’s what scientists found so far) or even greater.

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTf6ilU7TP46xnN5ovut951_xxP7WEyaqYNhcYQ7RTRv6zL0pKoOYfFEL15P5KAYc2r1JDjbD6pdUrdErzZ7fC3ZM41aWHyn3_eQewiS2-7KjpzDvTGtAJXn4_fk0z0mfcHy_3DuPolxE/s320/Black_hole_consuming_star.jpg

How to see a black hole ?

You can’t see a black hole since it doesn’t reflect anything, absorbs all the light coming towards it, but you can observe how it affects a matter around it. To see on your own, how a black hole can be tracked, follow the instruction at the end of this article.

Where can I find a black hole ?

The answer is simple, everywhere in the space. It’s literally filled with black holes. You can find them in some distant part of space where no planets or matter travels (at least not anymore) or very close, closer than you think. Scientists found a supermassive black hole (4 million solar masses) in the center of the Milky Way, yes the very same Milky Way in which our solar system is.

Video about the supermassive black holes (few words on what’s that exactly):

http://www.youtube.com/v/leZdJmUF4lM

Are black holes matter eating monsters only ? See for yourself:

http://www.youtube.com/v/0yMca0bFAdQ

Mysteries of deep space: Black Hole

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rw5trKz_kdc

If you want to know everything about black holes I’d advise you to visit this website:

http://hubblesite.org/explore_astronomy/black_holes/home.html

It provides many useful information as well as simple movies illustrating how a black hole works, how can it be created (you can even create your own black hole – THAT’S CRAZY !!!) , you can visit few black holes as well (for example the one that is closest to Earth).

For example, to see the black hole closest to the Earth, go to the website, then click “Journey to a Black Hole”, then click “The Voyage” at the top of the page, pick Cygnus X-I and get past the set of semi-annoying instructions in order to “see” the black hole (We think it’s worth it)

Discussion topics

1. We’re sure almost all of you heard about the Large Hadron Collider(LHC) located in the CERN institute. Some people believe that a miniature black hole may be created during the experiments using the LHC. Do you think it’s possible? What could be the results of such an event?

2. What do you think is behind the event horizon of a black hole? Parallel universe or maybe a time-travel tunnel? Be creative !

3. If there is a black hole (matter consuming thing) maybe there is something completely opposite to it? This theoretical creation is called a “white hole” and it’s a hole that is supposed to create matter spontaneously. Do you think it exists? Is it even possible?

The problem of bullying - Part 2/2

Who are the victims of bullying?

The bullied ones are usually people whose physical or psychological strength is less than that of the bully. The victimised person tends to display his or her vulnerability by means of fear or inferiority. People identified as highly vulnerable are frequently singled out as bullying victims.

Bullying aggressors typically exploit the weaknesses or defects of their victims. A stammer, squint, poor physical performance or disability may become a reason for scorn. Physical bullies will also torment people excel at school or work and so do better than them.

What effects may bullying have upon the victims?

Physical harm, pain and suffering top the list of the effects of bullying. However, emotional distress is equally disturbing. The greatest danger lies in the fact that the effects of bullying may last for a lifetime. The stresses and fears that bullying leads to can turn the victim’s life into a nightmare for many years. Some victims may lose their sense of self-confidence and self-esteem. Others may fall into depression. In extreme cases, bullying may provoke suicides. The victim’s performance at school may also be hampered by bullying through inability to concentrate in class or even intentional absenteeism.



How should we respond to bullying?

Many cases of bullying go unnoticed, unreported or simply ignored. Embarrassment and humiliation effected by bullying may be so profound that children are often afraid to report victimisation.

Bullying is not the problem of a single victim but of the whole environment where it occurs. Be it school or workplace, there is a need to implement a policy of combating bullies and bullying. Recognising the problem is the first step, then raising the victims’ self-esteem and increasing the awareness of how serious the situation is among all the people concerned. The universal truth should be voiced that everyone has the right to a safe environment and a responsibility to prevent bullying.

Cyber Bullying

Cyber bullying is defined as threats or other offensive behavior sent online to a victim or sent or posted online about the victim for others to see.

• It can take the form of a message on email or IM or a social networking site from someone who is threatening to hurt you or beat you up.
• It might be rumors posted on your profile or spread online for others to see.
• It might be the deletion of you on a friend’s “buddy list” to make you feel left out.
• It could be a profile made by someone pretending to be you.
• Or, someone hacking into your profile and writing comments pretending they’re from you.

In general, cyber bullying is bullying or harassing that happens online. Much of it is similar to what teenagers experience offline in schools, homes, or the community, but has the additional aspect of the Internet.

Cyber bullying occurs in many different places online including instant messaging, social networking sites, email, and chat rooms. The most common place cyber bullying occurs is over instant messenger, but it also can occur via other new technologies such as text messaging and personal digital assistants (PDAs).

What to do?

Here is a list of things that can be done in order to stop being cyberbullied:

• Ignore the person. Sometimes the easiest thing to do is to ignore the person and go on about your business.
• Log-off if the harassment is bothering you.
• Block or delete the person. If it is happening on Instant Messaging or some other place online that requires a ‘buddy list’, you can block certain users based upon their username, or delete them if they are in your buddy list. You can also block emails that are being received from specific email addresses.
• Change your information. If someone has hacked into your profile, change your password. If someone repeatedly sends you messages (like, ‘add me to your buddy list’ over and over), consider changing your username or email address.
• If there is a profile that was created about you without you knowing, contact the company who runs the site to have the profile or language taken off.
• If you are upset about what is being said, talk to someone you trust. Don’t feel like you’re alone.

Talk to adults

Many times, teens are able to take care of the cyberbullying on their own. Sometimes, it gets out of hand though, and it’s helpful to talk to an adult about what is going on. If the victim feels scared or overwhelmed, maybe even trapped, it’s definitely time to talk to an adult.

If someone doesn’t feel comfortable speaking with a parent, he/she should seek out other adults or authorities like a teacher, coach, school counselor, a youth group leader, or other adult family member such as an aunt or uncle.

Discussion proposals:

1. How can victims of bullying and cyberbullying be helped?
2. How can bullies be approached to make them stop harrassing other people?
3. What is bullying in the army? What forms does it take?

Migrations Part Four: Migration - Yes or No?

Migration - Yes or No? I think it is easy question.. would you agree with
me?

My answer is Yes for legal migration and No for illegal migration. Why? For example France was among the countries which first opened their borders to immigrants. In 1950s the government made a tough decision to invite foreign workers from France`s crumbling colonial empire.
At first, they were to remain in the country for a short period of time " until the native French were able to replace them. But years passed, and the number of immigrants was not decreasing as expected. Instead, the country was flooded with new waves of immigrants... not always legal....

Some surprising facts about migration.

In India, 100,000 skilled technology workers are expected to leave in the
next three years. Since it costs India about $20,000 per student to educate
these individuals,India essentially will subsidize the rest of the world for $2 billion worth of technology education.



Did you know that Somalia receives an estimated $500 million a year in
money sent home from abroad? It is four times more than the income from the
main export...

IN the world 30 million people are forced to move within their own
countries..



Consequences of migration.

Migration like any other process shapes many fields of life, having both
advantages and disadvantages.
I think that consequences of migrations are changes in population
distribution.. Very important are demographic consequences. Since
migration
is selective of particular age groups, migrants are mostly young and in
productive age. It is not possible to forget about economic results of
migration, which are of the greatest importance for the development of the
countries. In my opinion migration has had a significant effect on world
geography.
For example it has influence on the evolution and development of
separate cultures, or it has influence on the complex mix of people and
cultures found in different regions of the world today. Can you present
other migration effect on world geography?

How has globalization made migration a more controversial issue?

Dr. Papademetriou, President of the Migration Policy Institute answer is:



What do you think about that?

Recapitulation.

Equal legally as well as illegally people always will migrate. I think
that migration is good from economic and social point of view..
Thanks for reading my presentation. - Michał

Migrations Part Three: Immigrates.

Despite it's rich historical past in multi-cultural tradition, Poland is
a territory inhabited nearly 100% by Poles.
Since 1989, Poland has been open to immigrates. The most immigrates came from Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia and Armenia. Fewer immigrates came from EU or East Europe.



This year the total number of migrants was something about 320.000 people. Do you think it is a huge number?

Immigrates in the past.

From 1945 until the late 1980s population movements to, and from
Poland were most controlled by the government. In 1980s people saw the revitalization of international migration.
Since 1989 regulation concerning international movements of people
have been modified, extended and made less arbitrary and the present laws are liberal and in accordance with major international conventions.
The opening up of borders and restoration of the free travel and the
free creation of the business and employment opportunities in Poland were of
main importance in the transformation of migration trends in the 1990s.

Why do migrants want to live in Poland?

In the last few years Poland became very popular among foreigners. I think it is a perfectly normal and beautiful country, with a rich tradition of culture, arts, music, and great cuisine.
Poland also has one of the fastest growing economies in Europe. Especially low labour costs and dynamic foreign trade exchange make Poland very competitive among other locations.



Poland's landscapes offer wild and pristine nature, from the alpine mountains and crystal-clear lakes to majestic high cliffs and sweeping sand beaches.



Also Polish universities offer lots of choices for students. Foreigners appreciate high-quality education, hundreds of years of tradition in research, the presence of outstanding scientists, a friendly and open society, and a comparatively low cost of living. Have you any other ideas why migrants want to live in our country?

What do immigrates do in Poland?

In my opinion to find a job in Poland is not easy... To obtain a working visa employer, ONE must send to potential employees "invitation to work", the official and certified in the form of local government employment. This is an invitation to a special law on seasonal work permits to legally work within 6 months.
Then, if the employer is satisfied it is possible he will design "work permit". Would you agree with me that TO find work in Poland is not easy?



Many immigrants don't search for a job ,they start their own business. For example Vietnamese in Poland work as bar owners, engaged in national marketing and textile trade, run dozens of stands and shops with various goods and restaurants with traditional food, hair salons and even a travel agency that organizes trips to their home country. I know that Vietnamese doctors, translators, lawyers and professionals exist as well.

The problem of bullying - Part 1

What is bullying?

Bullying is a common feature of everyday life. It can be observed at schools, in the workplace, in the home, in the sports field or in the playground. Mainly, in all the places where people interact with other people.

By definition, bullying is the wilful, conscious desire to hurt another person and put them under considerable stress by inflicting physical, psychological or emotional injury or discomfort. Such behaviour is most common among students.



Who are bullies? Why do they exist?

Bullies typically are aggressors whose physical or psychological power surpasses that of the bullied person. The bully may be tougher, bigger or capable of excluding the weaker person from a social group. Bullies are known to seek emotional and physical superiority through intimidation of their victims. Bullying behaviour stems from complexes or weaknesses that bullies themselves possess.

Aggression of this kind may also result from physical punishment used by parents who in so doing teach their children to react physically to every problem that they cannot handle. Bullies usually satisfy their needs to be in control. They enjoy upsetting other people or taking revenge on them, which they consider to be a compensation for their own faults and imperfections.



How do bullies treat other people?

Patterns of bullying do not differ much in many places. The most common forms of bullying are: physical and psychological (verbal).

Physical bullies build up their self-esteem by dominating other people physically. Hitting, kicking, punching, damaging or stealing the victim’s property constitute typical examples.

Psychological (verbal) bullies call their victims names, insult them, make racist comments, tease or threaten them. Psychological bullying may also take the form of spreading offensive rumours, convincing peers to reject somebody’s friendship, ridiculing or stalking them.

Discussion proposals:

1. Is there a bullying problem in your environment? What forms does it take?
2. Is anything being done to prevent bullying in your environment?
3. What steps would you advise to take to combat bullying? Suggest a plan of action.