What is Matter

We are surrounded by matter. In fact, we ARE matter. Everything we detect in the universe is also matter. Its so fundamental that we simply accept that everything is made of matter. Its the fundamental building block of everything: life on Earth, the planet we live on, the stars, and galaxies. Its typically defined as anything that has mass and occupies a volume of space. The building blocks of matter are called atoms and molecules. They, too, are matter. The matter we can detect normally is called baryonic matter. However, there is another type of matter out there, which cant be directly detected. But its influence can. Its called dark matter.   Normal Matter Its easy to study normal matter or baryonic matter. It can be broken down into sub-atomic particles called leptons (electrons for example) and quarks (the building blocks of protons and neutrons). These are what make up the atoms and molecules which are the components of everything from humans to stars. Computer illustration of an atomic model containing atoms, protons, neutrons, and electrons. These are the building blocks of normal matter. Science Photo Library/Getty Images Normal matter is luminous, that is, it interacts electromagnetically and gravitationally with other matter and with  radiation. It doesnt necessarily shine like we think of a star shining. It may give off other radiation (such as infrared). Another aspect that comes up when matter is discussed is something called antimatter. Think of it as the reverse of normal matter (or perhaps a mirror-image) of it. We often hear about it when scientists talk about matter/anti-matter reactions as power sources. The basic idea behind antimatter is that all particles have an anti-particle that has the same mass but opposite spin and charge. When matter and antimatter collide, they annihilate each other and create pure energy in the form of gamma rays. That creation of energy, if it could be harnessed, would provide huge amounts of power for any civilization that could figure out how to do it safely. Dark Matter In contrast with normal matter, dark matter is material that is non-luminous. That is, it does not interact electromagnetically and therefore it appears dark (i.e. it will not reflect or give off light). The exact nature of dark matter is not well known, although its effect on other masses (such as galaxies) has been noted by astronomers such as Dr. Vera Rubin and others. However, its presence can be detected by the gravitational effect it has on normal matter. For example, its presence can constrain the motions of stars in a galaxy, for example. Dark matter in the universe. Could it be made of WIMPs? This Hyper Suprime-Cam image shows a small (14 arc minute by 9.5 arc minute) section of galaxy clusters with the outlines of one dark matter concentration and part of another traced out with contour lines. Subaru Telescope/National Astronomical Observatory of Japan Currently there are three basic possibilities for things that make up dark matter: Cold dark matter (CDM):  There is one candidate called the weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP)  that could be the basis for cold dark matter. However, scientists dont know much about it or how it could have been formed early in the history of the universe. Other possibilities for CDM particles include axions, however, they have never been detected. Finally, there are  MACHOs (MAssive Compact Halo Objects), They could explain the measured mass of dark matter. These objects include black holes, ancient neutron stars and planetary objects which are all non-luminous (or nearly so) but still contain a significant amount of mass. Those would conveniently explain dark matter, but theres a problem. There would have to be a lot of them (more than would be expected given the age of certain galaxies) and their distribution would have to be incredibly well spread out throughout the universe to explain the dark matter that astronomers have found out there. So, cold dark matter remain s a work in progress.Warm dark matter (WDM): This is thought to be composed of sterile neutrinos. These are particles that are similar to normal neutrinos save for the fact that they are much more massive and do not interact via the weak force. Another candidate for WDM is the gravitino. This is a theoretical particle that would exist should the theory of supergravity - a blending of general relativity and supersymmetry - gain traction. WDM is also an attractive candidate to explain dark matter, but the existence of either sterile neutrinos or gravitinos is speculative at best.Hot dark matter (HDM): The particles considered to be hot dark matter already exist. Theyre called neutrinos. They travel at nearly the speed of light and dont clump together in ways that we project dark matter would. Also given that the neutrino is nearly massless, an incredible amount of them would be needed to make up the amount of dark matter that is known to exist. One explanation is that there is a yet-u ndetected type or flavor of neutrino that would be similar to those already known to exist. However, it would have a significantly larger mass (and hence perhaps slower speed). But this would probably be more similar to warm dark matter. The Connection between Matter and Radiation Matter doesnt exactly exist without influence in the universe and theres a curious connection between radiation and matter. That connection wasnt well understood until the beginning of the 20th century. Thats when Albert Einstein began thinking about the connection between matter and energy and radiation. Heres what he came up with: according to his theory of relativity, mass and energy are equivalent. If enough radiation (light) collides with other photons (another word for light particles) of sufficiently high energy, mass can be created. This process is what scientists study in giant laboratories with particle colliders. Their work delves deeply into the heart of matter, seeking the smallest particles that are known to exist. So, while radiation is not explicitly considered matter (it does not have mass or occupy volume, at least not in a well-defined way), it is connected to matter. This is because radiation creates matter and matter creates radiation (like when matter and anti-matter collide). Dark Energy Taking the matter-radiation connection a step further, theorists also propose that a mysterious radiation exists in our universe. Its called  dark energy. Its nature is not understood at all. Perhaps when dark matter is understood, we will come to understand the nature of dark energy as well. Edited and updated by Carolyn Collins Petersen.

African American Culture Essay example - 963 Words

African American Culture Culture is not a fixed phenomenon, nor is it the same in all places or to all people. It is relative to time, place, and particular people. Learning about other people can help us to understand ourselves and to be better world citizens. One of the most common ways of studying culture is to focus on the differences within and among cultures. Although their specifics may vary form one culture to another, sociologists refer to those elements or characteristics that can be found in every know society as cultural universals. For example, in all societies, funeral rites include expression of grief, disposing of the dead, and rituals that define the relations of the dead with the living. And on the most†¦show more content†¦Many of our life lessons were often given by our elders in the form of stories, jokes, and the spirituals which serve often song in the fields, as well as, on Sunday mornings. Yet, as a people, we thought it necessary to hold on these priceless teachings because it has served as the only link to our African ancestry. African American culture is both part of and distinct from American culture. African Americans have contributed literature, agricultural skills, foods, clothing, dance, and language to American culture. There are distinctive patterns of language use among African Americans that arose as creative responses to the hardships imposed on the African American community. Slave-owners forced African Americans to create a language that allowed them to communicate effectively with one another. Slaves were not allowed the opportunity to read and write because most slave owners thought they would find a way to buy their freedom if they knew how to read and write. Significant numbers of people still speak some of the Creole languages they used to communicate so many years ago. Agriculture and food is also a unique aspect of African American culture. The cultivation and use of many agricultural products, such as yams, peanuts, ri ce, okra, grits, and cotton, can be traced to African and African American influences. African American foods reflect creativeShow MoreRelatedAfrican Of African American Culture1572 Words   |  7 PagesThere is no doubt that African Americans have a rich cultural background and history like the many different ethnic groups who settled in the New World, whose origins lie in another country. For this reason, America was known as the melting pot. However, the backgrounds of each of these cultures were not always understood or, in the case of African Americans, accepted among the New World society and culture. Americans were ignorant to the possibility of differences among groups of people until informationRead MoreAfrican Americans And African American Culture953 Words   |  4 Pagesand perception of the African American culture. One common characteristic is that African Americans are much more likely to live in poverty and poverty stricken areas than White Americans (McNamara Bu rns, 2009). What I have learned it is not as simple as African Americans are poorer than White Americans. While the statement is true, it is simplistic. There are many reasons and. causes for the disparity in wealth and income between African Americans and White American. One explanation givenRead MoreAfrican Americans And African American Culture Essay1804 Words   |  8 Pagesblack America? African American culture in the United States has evolved continuously throughout United States history carrying on various cultural traditions of African ethnic groups brought here during slavery. The U.S. Census Bureau defines African Americans as a person having origins in any of the Black race groups of Africa.[1]. African American culture is derived chiefly from people originated from sub-Saharan and Sahelian cultures in Africa. Over hundreds of years, black culture has partiallyRead MoreAfrican Americans And The American Culture Essay1630 Words   |  7 PagesThe American culture is define to everyone in their own way. Everyone grows up differently in a particular community that shares the same languages, values, rules, and customs. The American Culture on that is consider to be a â€Å"melting pot†, because of all the different cultures that reside inside of it making it so diverse. Race in this country has never been a great topic throughout history. African Americans play a huge role into defining what our culture is as a whole, as well as being a partRead MoreThe Evolution Of African American Culture1508 Words   |  7 PagesMy NHD research paper is about the evolution of African American culture. I choose this topic because I have always curious about my culture and I wanted to learn more about my history and where I came from. I’ve seen a couple of movies and read a few things, but this time it is actual research the facts and I get to understand and interpret all of the information. Some of the movies that I’ve seen are 12 Years a Slave, Roots and a few other ones. Those movies helped me think about the topicsRead MoreAppropriation Of African American Culture1119 Words   |  5 Pagesdisrespectful and harmful to the culture being appropriated. In everyday society, African-American culture is being used to be â€Å"cool† and â€Å"different†. The fact that society values a white person for doing the same things black people having being doing for decades, â€Å"everyone wants to be black until it’s time to be black†, and allowing people to remain prejudice and/or ignore the racism the black community deals with, has led me to believe that the appropriation of African-American culture is significant and itsRead MoreThe Segregation Of African American Culture835 Words   |  4 PagesI feel for the most part the characteristics in this united or consistent with my experience in the African American culture. Slavery did set us back some years, but I have to say it has made us stronger. Most of us had to face great obstacles to get in a good place, but no matter what we keep making it through the adversity. After slavery, we as a culture had to make it through the jim crow laws. This sparked the civil right movement that gave blacks a voice to speak out against the injustice thatRead More Essay on African American Culture2045 Words   |  9 PagesEssay on African American Culture Works Cited Missing African American culture is defined as the learned, shared and transmitted values, beliefs, norms, and life ways carried by this group of people, which guides their decisions, thinking, and actions in patterned ways. The individual in society is bound by rules of their culture. Culture of people are different in that the same events that maybe fear- inducing in one culture, maybe anger-inducing in another culture (Leiningers, 1991). Read MoreOverview of African-American Culture1898 Words   |  8 PagesBeing a resident of South Carolina, African-American Culture was chosen as part of the applied learning project for the Intercultural Nursing class, because African-Americans make up more than a quarter of this state’s population. According to the 2010 United States Census Bureau, the total population for South Carolina (S.C.) is 4,625,364, with 27.9% being of African-American descent. The purpose of this paper is to develop an understanding and sensitivity to issues and cultural variances or phenomenaRead MoreBody Image : The African American Culture1667 Words   |  7 PagesImage in the African American Culture Today we live in a society that over the years has become so obsessed with body image and how an individual should look. Different cultures have different standards and norms that help to define their ideal body image. African Americans because of their differences in culture have gone against most cultural norms and have set their own definitions of beauty, body image, and body satisfaction. Because of these key differences, the African American community

Environmental Crisis Essay Example For Students

Environmental Crisis Essay We Have An Environmental Crisis Because We Have A People Crisis A Crisis ofPopulation Growth, of Wasteful Consumption of Resources, and A Crisis of Apathyand Inaction.An environmental crisis is an emergency concerned with the place in which everyhuman lives the environment. A people crisis is an emergency with thecommunity that inhabits the world environment. A crisis of population growth isa turning point where the environment can no longer sustain the amounts ofpeople which it contains. A crisis of apathy and inaction is one where thehuman race cannot be motivated to solve the problems with the environment thatthey themselves have created. The claim that we have an environmental crisis because we have a people crisisis valid because our environmental problems have largely resulted frompopulation growth, which has lead to apathy and inaction with regard to thewasteful consumption of resources. Examples are the desertification of the Sahelin Africa, the one child policy in China and the mis-management of our oceans. The Sahel is a strip of land that extends for more than 6000 kilometres acrossthe southern edge of the Sahara desert. It stretches from Senegal andMauritania in the west to Ethiopia and Somalia in the east. These nations areamong the worlds poorest. The area is one of social and biophysical crisis because of the way thepopulation are forced to live; they are destroying the productivity of the land. The alarming rate of population growth and ever increasing pressure on the landhave initiated an expansion of desert-like conditions into the Sahel a processcalled desertification. Traditionally, the people of the drier, northern Sahel followed a nomadiclifestyle, constantly moving their herds of cattle, sheep and goats over largeareas in the search for suitable grazing land. These movements preventedovergrazing and lessened the likelihood of land degradation. With increasinghuman numbers, the increased intensity of land use, and the harvesting of treesand scrub for fuel wood threaten to overwhelm the regions fragile environmentand result in permanent ecological damage and declining standard of living. During the 20th century 3.9 billion people have been added to the worldspopulation. This is an increase of 244%. Rapid growth occurred because of the improvementof living conditions, reduced child mortality rates and increased lifeexpectancy. The population of undeveloped nations will continue to grow in the foreseeablefuture because at present 45% of the population is under 15 years of age. In the North the population growth is slowing down because children areconsidered an expense. In Italy, Germany and Austria, the growth rate isnegative. The slowdown in population growth is a result of the lower fertility rates thathave accompanied improvements in the quality of peoples lives and theincreasing use of contraceptives throughout the South. As peoples economicwell-being improves they tend to have less children. Future efforts to control population growth will depend on the Norths capacityto share the worlds resources and the ability of poor nations to improve thequality of life experienced by their people. At the beginning of this century there were some 426 million people living inChina. This has resulted in a country that has endured the demographic effectsof devastating famines, wars, and epidemics for millennia; the population growthand change that occurred in the 20th century is unprecedented. By the year 2000, the Chinese population is officially projected to top the 1.3billion mark. About two-thirds of this 900 million increase was added within thelast 50 years, as mortality was reduced amid high fertility rates. .ub9a04bc0a444777a8d84d20a93b7c241 , .ub9a04bc0a444777a8d84d20a93b7c241 .postImageUrl , .ub9a04bc0a444777a8d84d20a93b7c241 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .ub9a04bc0a444777a8d84d20a93b7c241 , .ub9a04bc0a444777a8d84d20a93b7c241:hover , .ub9a04bc0a444777a8d84d20a93b7c241:visited , .ub9a04bc0a444777a8d84d20a93b7c241:active { border:0!important; } .ub9a04bc0a444777a8d84d20a93b7c241 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .ub9a04bc0a444777a8d84d20a93b7c241 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .ub9a04bc0a444777a8d84d20a93b7c241:active , .ub9a04bc0a444777a8d84d20a93b7c241:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .ub9a04bc0a444777a8d84d20a93b7c241 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .ub9a04bc0a444777a8d84d20a93b7c241 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .ub9a04bc0a444777a8d84d20a93b7c241 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .ub9a04bc0a444777a8d84d20a93b7c241 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .ub9a04bc0a444777a8d84d20a93b7c241:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .ub9a04bc0a444777a8d84d20a93b7c241 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .ub9a04bc0a444777a8d84d20a93b7c241 .ub9a04bc0a444777a8d84d20a93b7c241-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .ub9a04bc0a444777a8d84d20a93b7c241:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Rose For Emily By Faulkner EssayThe Chinese government has been moved by this demographic affluence to curbfertility. Chinas strategic demographic initiatives (SDI) were contrived out ofthis need. The government installed numerous measures for curbing fertility,embracing delayed marriage, sterilisation, all known contraceptive methods, andabortion. Exhortations, campaigns, financial and material incentives, andnumerous other sanctions were used to implement the policies. All these effortswere, at first, to redirect young couples to have fewer offspring and, later, toheed the one-child-per-couple, or minimal reproduction, policy. The purpose of this call for minimal reproduction was to keep the populationfrom exceeding 1.2 billion by the year 2000. The scheme has proved problematicinside the country and controversial abroad for practical, political, ethical,and religious reasons. The massive gain in population in recent decades has intensified olddifficulties in the countrys effort to raise living standards, and has ignitednew economic, environmental, and social concerns within the nations borders. The major issues range from Chinas population carrying capacity, unemploymentand underemployment in the countryside, surging urbanisation, and spreading airand water pollution to mass illiteracy and education in relation to development. SDI itself has added such new concerns as the effect of son preference on femaleinfanticide and the sex ratio, the impact of a fast fertility reduction onpopulation aging, and the implications of exempting the countrys 55 minoritygroups from the nations fertility control measures. The global significance of Chinas demographics is likewise enormous. Whateverthe size of Chinas population is at the dawn of the 21st century it is certainto account for twenty percent of the worlds projected population. Chinasindustrialisation, modernisation, expanding use of natural resources, and risingconsumption will increasingly disrupt the earths ecosystem. It has been thought that the worlds seas would provide an inexhaustible supplyof fish, however, this has been found to be untrue. Since the 1950s there hasbeen a rapid increase in the amount of fish caught and most traditional foodfishes are now over-exploited and stocks are falling. Overfishing is partly the result of the belief that the worlds oceans arecommon property, and belong to everyone. They have been seen as a resource opento everyone with no one responsible for their protection. This has led toexploitation and the Tragedy of the Commons. This tragedy occurs when aresource is freely available to everyone; everyone uses the resource to themaximum so that the resource is eventually destroyed. Each year the cities of the world flush enough oil down their storm waterdrains and sewers into the sea to fill three Exxon Valdez supertankers. Largeareas of seas such as the Baltic and Mediterranean are now dead from pollution. Fishing is the most traditional activity in Australian waters . Today a fleet of10,000 boats lands a harvest of 200,000 tonnes of fish, prawns lobsters adshellfish worth $1.2 billion a year. Being long-established, the fishing industry was also first to encounter thebiological limits of local waters: of our top 10 fisheries, five are now classedas over-exploited and five fully exploited. Now, if a particular fishery dropsto unsustainable levels, catch limits may be imposed. In greatest difficultiesare southern bluefin tuna, southern shark and gemfish. New fishery prospects arefew and costly to develop, most being in deep water. Related problems in fishing include the extent to which trawling damages thesea-bottom and changes the populations of sea creatures, and the growingconfrontation between inshore fishers and recreational anglers, which many nowpredict will end in bans on professional fishing. The ever increasing need for food due to population growth, has led to widerareas of the oceans being fished. Increasingly, fishing is taking place far outto sea, beyond the continental shelf in the waters of the continental slopes andocean depths. Large fishing nations such as Japan, the USSR and the USA havefleets of trawlers that operate in these areas using the latest technology whichfurther deplete ocean stocks. .u68e68c0332c36ff696440caca30c8393 , .u68e68c0332c36ff696440caca30c8393 .postImageUrl , .u68e68c0332c36ff696440caca30c8393 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u68e68c0332c36ff696440caca30c8393 , .u68e68c0332c36ff696440caca30c8393:hover , .u68e68c0332c36ff696440caca30c8393:visited , .u68e68c0332c36ff696440caca30c8393:active { border:0!important; } .u68e68c0332c36ff696440caca30c8393 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u68e68c0332c36ff696440caca30c8393 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u68e68c0332c36ff696440caca30c8393:active , .u68e68c0332c36ff696440caca30c8393:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u68e68c0332c36ff696440caca30c8393 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u68e68c0332c36ff696440caca30c8393 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u68e68c0332c36ff696440caca30c8393 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u68e68c0332c36ff696440caca30c8393 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u68e68c0332c36ff696440caca30c8393:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u68e68c0332c36ff696440caca30c8393 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u68e68c0332c36ff696440caca30c8393 .u68e68c0332c36ff696440caca30c8393-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u68e68c0332c36ff696440caca30c8393:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Why Do We Need The Covenants? EssayThese modern methods exploit the ocean resources by catching too much fish andby not being selective in what fish they catch before it is too late to throwthem back. This will eventually deplete worlds fish supplies and if trawlercompanies do not start to limit catches. The major issue concerned with the downfall of our oceans is that marine life isvital to the food chain which includes our survival in the future. There are many other long term issues involved within environmental crisis. Some of these are air pollution, garbage, logging and erosion. Often governmentsoverlook these problems when creating new policies because they seem to be moreconcerned with immediate economic considerations. Globally, there is anindifference towards environmental issues and a lack of concern for the well-being of the world environment today. These examples have illustrated thatpeople put their own personal needs before the survival of the earth. Thedeveloped nations of the earth need to take a larger responsibility for theenvironment, as they have been educated to the ill effects of pollution andover-population and they have only themselves to blame for environmentaldestruction. As for the people in the nations of the South, population growthneeds to be slowed possibly by educating women about contraception, economicincentives, people interested in careers, less infant mortality and increasingthe cost of children. Apathy and inaction can be reversed by concerted and effective Governmentpolicies that encourage personal, social and economic benefits. Apathy must beresisted if our planet is to survive. Category: History