Consciousness, it's what makes us who we are, at least to an extent.
But what is consciousness? Mechanically speaking in very simplistic terms, we have neurons transmitting electrical signals to one another (via synapses) inside of our brain via the nervous system. How we perceive reality and our surroundings is a direct result of our nervous system and attached senses.
However, is that really all we are? To think of the thousands if not hundreds of thousands of choices you make every week, and think that it's all pre-programmed and you're just interpreting the information is ridiculous in my opinion. We're such complex beings that at some point during our evolution we must have felt the need to be more aware of our surroundings and self.
When we look for the other "conscious" beings on our planet, all we can really find is animals of all shapes and sizes. But the difference between us and the animals, is that we can interpret and make decisions based on personal preference. We have likes, dislikes, and habits which guide us into making our decisions (however marginal they are in the end).
But what actually makes consciousness? Is it something we evolved to better suit us to this world? Is it just a set of dice being constantly rolled and the end result is what we ultimately do?
There's so many questions that answers seem out of reach, but at least we have the opportunity to think of such magnificent things. The one thing I've always loved about consciousness is the ability to dream and daydream. To think outside of the realm of possibility and make it real. That's the true beauty of consciousness. There's so many people who waste their intellect, who waste their opportunity on this planet.
Because while we might all be conscious now, just how conscious are we? Are we really aware of all of today's problems, ranging from the slums of India to the mountains of Tibet? There's so many things we could think about, so many situations that could occur, maybe that's why we have a consciousness. It can't just be a self-preservation instinct, because then everything would have it. We obviously have no idea how far our conscious world and mind extends!
So please, don't forget the fact that you are part of the privileged 7 billion who actually are conscious and intelligent! Use your mind and always question reality, because if we didn't then who would!
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Oddball Planets and Formations
I wanted to look at some galactic eye opening processes this week, mostly because I've been interested in the formation and deformation of planets and solar systems.
The first thing we're going to talk about is the occurrence of planets that do not orbit their parent stars in the same direction. It`s a common idea for scientists to think that planets in a solar system would match the clockwise/counter-clockwise rotation of their parent stars. However, while searching for extrasolar terrestrial planets (thanks SETI!) we've discovered a new type of rule breaking planet lovingly referred to as "Hot Jupiter".
Hot Jupiters are enormous Jupiter sized (and larger) gas giants with extremely close orbits to their parent stars. To put it into perspective, many of these Hot Jupiter's orbit their parent start 3x closer than Mercury does to our Sun. The odd part about roughly 1/4 of these Hot Jupiters however, is the fact that they sometimes have highly elliptical and counter-rotational orbits to their parent stars.
There's tons of anomalies in space however and here's a few that might interest you!
CoRoT-7b
This was one of the first extrasolar planets to be found, and was originally the smallest planet we had ever seen. However, what I found most interesting about this planet is the fact that on the side we have seen of it (closest to it's star) the temperature can range from 1800-2600 celcius. This means lakes of lava, pressurized steam everywhere, oh and did I mention the possibility that it might rain rocks there?
TrES-4
TrES-4 is the largest planet we have ever seen in the universe. It's roughly 1.6-1.7 times the size of our Jupiter and extremely puffy for it's size. It shouldn't even be able to come to fruition but it has and does today, orbiting it's parent star TrES in just under 4 days.
TrES-2b
In the same system as TrES-4, TrES-2b is the darkest planet we have ever discovered. Once again this type of planet is called a Hot Jupiter and is massive in size. However, this planet reflects less visible light than coal or black paint!
Planet Diamond
Last but certainly not the least, we have a very very special planet. It gives a whole new meaning to precious metals actually. This little planet with no name orbits the pulsar PSR J1719-1438, but what is spectacular about the planet itself is that it is now pure diamond! What most likely happened here, is that carbon expelled from when the host star went supernova gathered in a small accretion disk and eventually due to HUGE pressures (and after millions of years of gathering) was turned to diamond!
Well that's it for this week and I hope you're exploring a little more into the universe!
The first thing we're going to talk about is the occurrence of planets that do not orbit their parent stars in the same direction. It`s a common idea for scientists to think that planets in a solar system would match the clockwise/counter-clockwise rotation of their parent stars. However, while searching for extrasolar terrestrial planets (thanks SETI!) we've discovered a new type of rule breaking planet lovingly referred to as "Hot Jupiter".
Hot Jupiters are enormous Jupiter sized (and larger) gas giants with extremely close orbits to their parent stars. To put it into perspective, many of these Hot Jupiter's orbit their parent start 3x closer than Mercury does to our Sun. The odd part about roughly 1/4 of these Hot Jupiters however, is the fact that they sometimes have highly elliptical and counter-rotational orbits to their parent stars.
There's tons of anomalies in space however and here's a few that might interest you!
CoRoT-7b
This was one of the first extrasolar planets to be found, and was originally the smallest planet we had ever seen. However, what I found most interesting about this planet is the fact that on the side we have seen of it (closest to it's star) the temperature can range from 1800-2600 celcius. This means lakes of lava, pressurized steam everywhere, oh and did I mention the possibility that it might rain rocks there?
TrES-4
TrES-4 is the largest planet we have ever seen in the universe. It's roughly 1.6-1.7 times the size of our Jupiter and extremely puffy for it's size. It shouldn't even be able to come to fruition but it has and does today, orbiting it's parent star TrES in just under 4 days.
TrES-2b
In the same system as TrES-4, TrES-2b is the darkest planet we have ever discovered. Once again this type of planet is called a Hot Jupiter and is massive in size. However, this planet reflects less visible light than coal or black paint!
Planet Diamond
Last but certainly not the least, we have a very very special planet. It gives a whole new meaning to precious metals actually. This little planet with no name orbits the pulsar PSR J1719-1438, but what is spectacular about the planet itself is that it is now pure diamond! What most likely happened here, is that carbon expelled from when the host star went supernova gathered in a small accretion disk and eventually due to HUGE pressures (and after millions of years of gathering) was turned to diamond!
Well that's it for this week and I hope you're exploring a little more into the universe!
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Size!
Have you ever looked down, or maybe up, and wondered what your place is in this construct they call the universe?
We're lucky to have survived for thousands of years as the species we are now (millions if you take into account evolution from "previous" species). But we're not the pinnacle of evolution, and we're not the biggest baddest evolutionary path out there. When we look outwards towards the stars, we are humbled by the fact that in many cases we aren't even a speck on many of these heavenly bodies. We're barely an atom compared to many of the stars, galaxies, quasars, pulsars, and nebulae that populate the vast regions of our universe.
Think about it. I mean really really think about it for a second.
Break it down using not science, but your understanding of your place in the world. We all know (well many of us lucky to be educated) that matter is comprised of many many many billions upon billions of atoms, and that each of these atoms is infinitesimal in size. We can't even comprehend what these things look like without extremely powerful microscopes and machines!/
Then think about yourself, made up of different types of matter, working on different subatomic levels to make up the working construct which is yourself.
Now stay with me, this is going to get complicated, but think of the BILLIONS of people on this planet, think of the plants, the animals, and think about how much matter just goes into those organisms. Think about the mountains, the oceans, the very core of the earth and how much matter is there. There's so much matter on earth, we don't even know what to do with it...yet...we're not even the largest thing in our own backyard.
For a quick factoid, it would take 1.3 million Earths to FILL the sun. 1.3 MILLION...it's astounding.
Yet our Star isn't even that big compared to some of the other stars out there. And those stars aren't really anything compared to the galaxies they fill...and those galaxies are but a speck in the vast nebulae that make up the universe.
So I leave you with this thought, that maybe your problems, that life's problems aren't that big. That you can sit back and relax because in all honesty, there are some amazing and gigantic things happening in our universe. We can't really do much to affect them, and even if we could, would we want to?
The universe is awesome. Just think about it. :D
We're lucky to have survived for thousands of years as the species we are now (millions if you take into account evolution from "previous" species). But we're not the pinnacle of evolution, and we're not the biggest baddest evolutionary path out there. When we look outwards towards the stars, we are humbled by the fact that in many cases we aren't even a speck on many of these heavenly bodies. We're barely an atom compared to many of the stars, galaxies, quasars, pulsars, and nebulae that populate the vast regions of our universe.
Think about it. I mean really really think about it for a second.
Break it down using not science, but your understanding of your place in the world. We all know (well many of us lucky to be educated) that matter is comprised of many many many billions upon billions of atoms, and that each of these atoms is infinitesimal in size. We can't even comprehend what these things look like without extremely powerful microscopes and machines!/
Then think about yourself, made up of different types of matter, working on different subatomic levels to make up the working construct which is yourself.
Now stay with me, this is going to get complicated, but think of the BILLIONS of people on this planet, think of the plants, the animals, and think about how much matter just goes into those organisms. Think about the mountains, the oceans, the very core of the earth and how much matter is there. There's so much matter on earth, we don't even know what to do with it...yet...we're not even the largest thing in our own backyard.
For a quick factoid, it would take 1.3 million Earths to FILL the sun. 1.3 MILLION...it's astounding.
Yet our Star isn't even that big compared to some of the other stars out there. And those stars aren't really anything compared to the galaxies they fill...and those galaxies are but a speck in the vast nebulae that make up the universe.
So I leave you with this thought, that maybe your problems, that life's problems aren't that big. That you can sit back and relax because in all honesty, there are some amazing and gigantic things happening in our universe. We can't really do much to affect them, and even if we could, would we want to?
The universe is awesome. Just think about it. :D
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