The Deep Oceans

In our world we have four oceans, the Arctic, Atlantic, Pacific and Indian. All of these oceans are very important to us. They make our planet unique in the way that so far no other planet has been discovered to have liquid water. The oceans of our earth affect the weather and temperature by moderating our temperature on earth. These oceans cover about 70% of the earth. But let's take a look deep below the surface...


The deep sea, or deep layer is the lowest layer in the ocean. Very little and sometimes no light penetrates this area of the ocean, and most of its organisms rely on falling organic matter. The ocean depths have been thought to be among the most hostile environments for life, which makes them very hard to explore. There are a lot of sea monsters and such yet to be discovered.

The ocean is home to many unique communities of plants and animals. Things such as coral reefs and creatures inhabit down in the deep oceans. But many thrive on the sun's energy to live. However, the sun really only travels about three hundred meters below the surface so the ocean floor become a frigid environment with few life forms. Neverless, the ocean seems like another planet to us at times. Thousands of creatures live there in perpetual darkness and under mountainous pressures. Despite decades of exploration, less than a tenth of the deep ocean realm has been explored, despite it being the largest habitat for life on Earth.

The deep oceans seem so intense. So many creatures are down; fish, dolphins, whales, squids, plants, the list goes on! Personally it scares me a little, not knowing all that is down there. It is so vast and dark. It is also beautiful but has so many dangerous things as well. It really interests me but I really don't think I would ever go down so far myself.

THE ORIGIN OF THE UNIVERSE

Over the years science and religion have clashed when it comes to how our universe was formed. Science feels a strong need for the understanding of our world and religion feels the strong need for our world to have meaning. There are many theories out there, many people have their own beliefs but there are two major theories that we have. They are widely accepted but not by the same people. Science and religion have always seemed to contradict eachother, but can they possibly support one another?

THE BIG BANG THEORY
When it comes to the beginning of our universe scientists believe that the Big Bang was the way that our universe came to be. The Big Bang Theory is a theory that tries to explain how the universe was formed, which was thought of by Edward Hubble. Scientists believe that about fifteen billion years ago a huge explosion started the expansion of the universe. They believe that everything in the universe was compacted. The Big Bang actually was of an explosion of space within itself, not an outward explosion. The galaxies weren't all bunched together, but the Big Bang set out the foundations for the universe.

CREATION
Now, there is another theory other than the Big Bang of how the universe was formed. Christians believe that God created our universe. "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth."- Genesis 1:1. They believe that God created the universe, the earth and all of its life forms. They believe that the Bible is God's word and contains information on how the world was created. The scriptures in the Bible provide what they need to know in the beginnng of the universe.

I personally believe that science and religion in some way or another can support eachother. I do believe that God created the universe, but I don't disregard science at all. I know that both of these things have to correspond with eachother. Albert Einstein said himself that, "Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind." And I completely agree with this. I believe God is real and I know that most science is fact.

Solar Systems & Galaxies

What's the difference between a solar system and a galaxy? How are they similar? Many people get the general idea of them but let's look further into what they really are...


Solar Systems

A solar system is a system of planets and other objects in space that orbit a star. They can also contain other systems within it. Our solar system is mostly just empty space but contains some very important and interesting things. In our solar system, we have eight planets along with dwarf planets. The inner solar system contains the planets Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. The outer solar system contains Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. We also have over one hundred moons along with asteroids, comets and terrestrial planets. All of these objects in our solar system revolve around a star, which we call the sun. These objects are also all gravitationally bound to the sun.

Galaxies

Galaxies are large systems of stars and matter between and around stars. Galaxies contain millions and even trillions of stars which is an amount hard to imagine. There are different types of galaxies though. There are spiral, lenticular, elliptical, and irregular galaxies. We live in a giant spiral galaxy, which we call the Milky Way. Spiral galaxies pretty much define themselves. They appear as a flat, large disk which often contains a lot of interstellar matter and is in a spiral pattern. Lenticular galaxies are very similar and are defined as "spiral galaxies without spiral structure." Elliptical galaxies are in the shape of an ellipse but do not rotate as a whole. Irregular galaxies are galaxies without really any shape. This is due to the gravitation of other galaxies around them.

I find this all so hard to imagine. It's so hard for me to picture in my mind millions and trillions of stars and how space goes on forever, how is that possible?! It's so unbelievable and amazing. I found that pictures of galaxies were so pretty to look at. I really enjoy learning about space and how far out all this is. Personally, it's just crazy where we live. Though, I'm still wondering how all of this is physics related.

Stars

What is a star? We see them every night, but do we really know what they are? Stars are massive clusters of plasma in space. The closest star to the earth is the Sun. The Sun is the center of our solar system in which all planets revolve around. Our Sun supports almost all life here on earth. Ultraviolet light from the Sun has antiseptic properties and can be used to sanitize tools and water. The Sun is a magnetically active star. It supports a strong, changing magnetic field that changes year to year and changes direction about every eleven years.
Another type of star is a Red Giant. It is of low or intermediate mass that is in a late phase of its evolution. The core matter doesn't have many electrons and is extremely compressed, so the outer atmosphere is inflate which makes the radius very large and the surface temperature low. Red Giant Branch stars or RGB stars are the most common type of Red Giant. Their shells fuse hydrogen while the core is inactive helium. The Sun is actually supposed to become a Red Giant sometime in the next 7.5 billion years...so that might take a while.
There are also White Dwarfs. A White Dwarf is a small star made up of mostly of electron degenerate matter. White Dwarfs are very dense. Their masses are much like our Sun's and their volume is a lot like our Earth's. They have a faint glow which is due to heat that they store. After a while a White Dwarf actually expands to become a Red Giant.
Now, there are also black holes in space. A black hole is an are in space in which the gravitational field is so powerful that nothing can escape once it has been sucked into it. However, Black Holes are able to be detected if they interact with matter outside, for example by sucking in gas from an orbiting star. The gas spirals inward towards the hole, heating up to very hot temperatures and giving out large amounts of radiation. Though many people believe that once something enters a black hole is gone forever, that may not be true. Research has shown that rather than holding captured matter forever, black holes may slowly leak a form of thermal energy called Hawking radiation.
All of these obviously have their differences and similarities. They are all in space and all have to do with each other. Like said before the Sun is the largest star and relates to a Red Giant by possibly turning into one one day. White Dwarfs also have the possiblity of turning into a Red Giant too. But they are similar to the Sun in the way that it has mass like the Sun. And researchers detect Black Holes by using stars. I find this very interesting, but I'm not sure what it has to do with physics?

Science vs. Pseudoscience

Nearly everyone knows the basic definition of science but not many have even heard of a pseudoscience, though many are involved in some form of a pseudoscience or another. Despite the lack of knowledge of the specific definition of a pseudoscience, many still get the two confused or simply ignore their difference. So what is the difference between the two? Science deals with facts and general laws. Science is the study of how natural things throughout history have worked and how they work now. For example, a biologist studies nature, animals, organisms and such then records his or her observations. They then try to come up with facts of what they are studying. Scientists form their own hypothesis but never state that their predictions are proven fact. Science is very logical, it takes precise steps and repeated experiments to find an interrelationship between somethings.

However, a pseudoscience may resemble a science in some ways but it is very different. Many people go and have their palms read, their future told or every month read horoscopes in their favorite magazines; these are all examples of a pseudoscience. A pseudoscience can be a simple theory or practice. It has no scientific basis. Though science and pseudosciences resemble each other, there are not any careful observations or controlled experiments to prove something as what will happen in your future as fact.

I personally find the difference between the two to be very interesting. It is true that so many people rely on pseudosciences to some how make life easier. A pseudoscience just seems like a quick fix, a simple answer in most cases. I think a lot of people take a pseudoscience like a horoscope and turn it into a huge deal, something that defines their life. Of course it is fun to see what your palm may have to say about you or what your future possibly holds, but I think people tend to take them too seriously. True science is reliable. Of course there will be flaws here and there because humans are the ones who are making the observations and conducting the experiments, but the majority of science is very reliable. A pseudoscience has nothing to support, exept maybe a few coincidences.