New Telescope Better Than Hubble

For centuries, telescopes have given us the power to look beyond what we know and see with our eyes, into the deep wonder known as space. In recent times, the invention of the Hubble Telescope gave scientists the tool they've always wanted to discover farther than ever before. It has given us more of an understanding of the universe and the vast wilderness called space. As is the way with every other type of technology on this planet, there were things that could be improved on the Hubble, so that problem has now been addressed.

A new telescope has been built which is going to be a satellite orbiting the earth. Getting the telescope away from being land based was a primary concern, because the atmosphere makes it tough to look deep into dimly lit space. Space being dimly lit was also a concern, so using a type of laser that excites sodium in the air, resulting in the creation of light, was the perfect fix. For more information on the telescope, click the link below:

http://www.atomicmpc.com.au/News/151868,large-binocular-telescope-better-than-hubble.aspx

My point to this post is that there is so much we don't know or understand about space. With all the problems we have going on here on Earth, there may be keys or answers somewhere out there. If nothing else, space is a real life way to captivate grown adults imaginations the way that not many other things can these days. I just find it extremely interesting that I was taught to have a very simple understanding about our planet, and that there wasn't much else beyond what we see with our own eyes, then as I got older, space started expanding. Now there are hundreds of galixies, and probably more within a year. I just can't wait to see what's around the corner with this new technology.

Obama's Health Care Backed by Supreme Court

Today the vote was passed by the Supreme Court 5-4 to pass Obama's new healthcare plan. The healthcare plan widely known as "Obamacare" is going to make it a legal obligation to carry health insurance, and if one is not subcscribed to a health insurance company, there can be legal action taken against them. This law has been looked at as extremely controversial by many, and is sure to be used as a ploy in the Republican's campaign run coming up. To learn more about the bill, check out the link below.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304898704577480371370927862.html

As for politics, I'm definitely not the person to be talking to when you need well thought out information. What I do know though, is that this bill is going to help a lot of people. There has to be a way that it's also going to help America's economy, due to the fact that everything seems to revolve around that on Capitol Hill. I have been looking into the bill, but there are so many different opinions on it, that it's tough to get straight answers. My view is that it's going help us, but I'm very interested to hear other views from peers who aren't politically educated.

Social Media's Grasp on us

Social media has been a topic of conversation ever since sites like Facebook and Twitter have popped up. Those sites have millions upon millions of users, and grow stronger every day. Facebook has even grown to such a large size, that stocks and shares are sold to the general public. Although the sales of those shares haven’t boomed as planned, there is no doubt that Facebook is a worldwide success, and will be around for quite some time. The question I have to ask, is do all these social media sites have a grasp on us that is too tight? There is little doubt that many of us are dependent on the technology we possess, but are we dependent on the sites we gain access to by having it?

To begin, I want to start with the simple part of daily routines. I can be honest with myself, and say that Facebook has become part of my daily routine. I would like to think that I resisted this quite a bit, but Facebook finds a way of becoming part of my day, almost every day. If I haven’t been on my computer for days, you can bet I’ve checked the app on my phone multiple times over that time. I am glad to say that it doesn’t control me though; instead it is more or less a way to pass down time while I’m bored. Do you do the same, or are you much like a few friends I know, who feel the NEED to get on the site? People make jokes about a social media addiction, but there are many cases out there.

Go to the link to view a case of a woman who had to seek treatment for her addiction after even losing her job due to it:

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0924933810708464

The link talks about the disorder being an urge driven disorder. As I write this, the Miami Heat has just won the NBA title. That means LeBron James has finally got the monkey off his back. I can only imagine the amount of updates and tweets that are swirling around on social media, due to people who feel the need to post something about the game. Is that part of the “urge driven disorder?”

Getting past our daily lives that we live, other ways we completely depend on social media would include job hunting/employer searches, even minimal background checks, (employers will check a person’s Facebook page before doing a background check to see what the person is about) product advertisements, promoting business by giving deals for “Liking” the business, not to mention the games. Games themselves take hours upon hours of people’s time.

The bottom line is everyone has found a way to exploit some angle of social media. Do we as users simply take advantage of that, or do we feel the need, the urge to take advantage of it?

Zombies?

Okay, so we've all heard about the impending doom that earth is facing, and how the world will end on December 21 later this year. Riiiight. Many speculate that it's going to be by a zombie apocalypse that's supposedly coming. Where has this all come from? Adding fuel to that fire, a 31 year old Rudy Eugene attacked, beat, and eventually ate the face off of a 61 year old homeless man by the name of Ronald Poppo in Miami on May 26, 2012. In case you haven’t heard the main part of that story, Eugene was seen by a passerby bus driver, who called 911 as he was witnessing Eugene beating the other man. As police arrived on the scene, they witnessed a naked Eugene on top of Poppo, eating the face of his victim. Police gave orders to stop, only to be acknowledged with a growl, and continuation of the mutilation. The only option the officer felt he had at that point was to use deadly force, and opened fire. Eugene was killed by the gunshot wounds he sustained.

Here, you can read more about the attack:

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/real-life-hannibal-lecter-ate-face-naked-homeless-man-identified-31-year-old-rudy-eugene-article-1.1085810

With the zombie craze in full force before the attack, this was sure to catapult believers’ opinions and change opinions of some doubters. My opinion hasn’t changed though. When we look at the facts, this is just a drug induced attack that has nothing to do with zombies. The true culprit here is “bath salts,” a synthetic LSD that has many adverse effects that according to webmd.com include “Agitation, paranoia, hallucinations, chest pain, suicidality, high blood pressure and increased pulse.”  For these reasons, Eugene was overheated (reasoning for being naked) agitated (reason for attack) delirious and hallucinating (reason for cannibalism.)

Read more about bath salts:

http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/features/bath-salts-drug-dangers

                What I am basically getting at here, is that we all have wild imaginations, and every generation would like to believe they are the last, greatest, or most historically impactful. The problem I am finding is that the only real evidence we have of the world ending, is that the Mayans stopped writing their calendar on December 21, 2012. How do we know the guy in charge of it didn’t just get lazy and decide that no one cares about what day it will be in however many centuries? From there, wild, absurd stories of how the end of the world will happen have popped up, and taken off. What I think should be happening is we should be focusing on problems that are real, fixing them, and getting ready to move forward as a prosperous country.