Reaching Effects Of The Gulf Oil Spill Environmental Sciences Essay

On April 20, 2010 an detonation occurred at the British Petroleum drill rig located in the Gulf of Mexico. The detonation at the drill rig Deepwater Horizon led to the Macondo good to leak out oil. This was to go the 2nd most detrimental environmental catastrophe in the universe and the worst environmental calamity in U.S. history. The United States Minerals Management Service ( USMMS ) recorded that eighteen out of 39 runawaies in the Gulf of Mexico are caused by cement jobs ( Kerr et al. , 674 ) . The destructive oil spill was either created by improper support with cement or a malfunction in the runaway preventer used to supervise the oil Wellss. Before the boring started, British Petroleum ( BP ) predicted that if the undertaking were to travel incorrect it would let go of about 162,000 barrels per twenty-four hours. When the undertaking did neglect the oil started to flux out at about 1,000 barrels per twenty-four hours so farther rose to 5,000 barrels per twenty-four hours ( Ke rr et al. , 674 ) . To halt the flow of the oil from the Macondo Well, Deepwater Horizon would hold to bore back into the sea floor to do a new hole and so make full the hole with clay to kill the flow of the oil. The procedure took about three months to decide and in this clip the undermentioned shorelines were affected: Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. The spill has affected biomes, ecosystems, nutrient ironss and carnal populations in all of these countries. A biome is a biotic factor characterized by clime and geographically belongings and the black spill hideously affected the marine biome, which intern annihilated two ecosystems: the coastal and Marine ecosystems. This death leads to the arrested development of effectivity of all nutrient ironss. Several anticipations can be made on how the environmental catastrophe will be affected from, five, 10 or twenty old ages from now. Many resources and environmental programs by the authorities and charity organisati on are in consequence to assist with control and to assist salvage the environmental by: acquiring rid of the oil spill, salvaging the animate beings and reconstructing their ecosystems in the different biomes. The Gulf of Mexico spill perilously affected the marine biome. As the oil start to lift and dispersants are added to the oil, they start to do the close shore soft deposits and the deep-sea deposits to decease out. Near shore soft deposits are beaches, salt fens, sea grass beds and mangrove swamps. They are extremely productive for ecosystems and consist of plentiful organic affair. The deep-sea deposits are boggy, flaxen countries chiefly located on the Continental inclines, Continental rises and abyssal fields ( Textbook ) . Estuaries and coral reefs are perceptive countries if impacted by oil rosin. They provide protection, eating, and populating for a many beings. About â€Å" 90 per centum of marine species in the gulf depend on coastal estuaries † largely located in Louisiana ( Crowley, 2010 ) . Louisiana was hit hard by the oil spill greatly impacting salt fens and barrier islands. The dispersants added to the oil causes it turn to tar balls which possible starts to loo k on beaches and stick to the workss. The big sums of oil on the coastal deposit will do the salt fen grasses and animate beings to decease out ( Kerr et al. , 962 ) . The oil sedimentations can harm the workss and causes the deposit to gnaw. If the deposit starts gnawing the workss will non travel through photosynthesis or gas exchange ( Kerr et al. , 675 ) . This may do the whole ecosystem to fall apart, because many beings may go unable to acquire nutrient and alimentary supply from the contaminated surrounding environment ( How Does the BP Oil Spill, 2010 ) . Harmonizing to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, research workers say that â€Å" direct contact with an oil spill may take to coral decease, but depending on coral species, growing signifier, life phase, and continuance of oil exposure ( How does an Oil Spill Affect Coral Reefs, 2010 ) . † Scientists say corals that are exposed at different concentration degrees of oil may kill coral but may non be instant. It would instead be a long-run consequence after the exposure has ended. Scientists are stating, the deep-sea corals are non affected by the oil spill and hardly touched by it ( How does an Oil Spill Affect Coral Reefs, 2010 ) . Steve Ross, a research worker from the Center for Marine Science at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, says, â€Å" Originally, when we saw the flight for the oil spill and where it was traveling, we were really concerned that these home grounds would be impacted ( Skoloff, 2010 ) . † Ross and other research w orkers from his squad are carry oning a research to see if the corals have been damaged or will it be a long-run impact based on the reproduction rates. Ross said â€Å" We thought surely that†¦ we would see marks of harm and we ‘re really pleased to state so far, in these locations, we have n't seen a big graduated table harm to the coral home grounds. We ‘re still looking, but so far, it ‘s good ( Skoloff, 2010 ) . † As the marine biome are affected by the oil spill, this to boot affects two types of ecosystems in the country. The two ecosystems, marine ecosystem and coastal ecosystem, are extremely disrupted by the oil spill doing nutrient ironss to be non as efficient. The impact of the environment by dispersants of oil is greatly effectual, and the scientists are worried the harm would jeopardize the nutrient web ( Layers of Life, 2010 ) . In the Marine ecosystem, the oil started to flux out of the Macondo Well each twenty-four hours, it started to impact different Marine beds. The marine biome consists of four Marine zones, but merely three zones were affected by the oil spill: the epipelagic zone, mesopelagic zone, and bathypelagic zone ( Textbook ) . Microscopic droplets from the Macondo Well endanger the aquatic life. The heavier oil compounds would either absorb to the deposit or turn into pitch balls and rinse up to the shore or autumn to the seafloor. When dispersants are added to the oil, it breaks down the oil and forestalling it to come on land. The sunshine can assist extinguish the volatile oil compounds. As the huge figure of phytoplankton, fish eggs, and larvae are affected, they are an indispensable to giants, fish, and other beings. They are the bases of the nutrient concatenation life at the epipelagic zone. The microscopic oil and methane gas from the spill do the plankton to go hypoxic-depleted of O ( Bourne Jr. , 51 ) . As the phytoplankton is the bases for the marine ecosystem nutrient web, by being effected by the oil spill, the nutrient web would non be every bit efficient as it would be because other animate beings and beings are dependent on them. Marine scientist, Rob Condon, says, â€Å" You change the base of the nutrient web, it ‘s traveling to ruffle through the full nutrient web and finally it ‘s traveling to impact fishing and present a batch of contaminations into the nutrient web ( Brown and Masti, 2010 ) . † Like runt, pediculosis pubis, tuna, or ruddy snapper provender on phytoplankton, these animate beings would decease out b ecause the deficiency of foods in the system doing other animate beings to endure which will interrupt down the nutrient web. Pyrosomes are another indispensable base of foods for animate beings. If they are effected it would do a rippling in the nutrient web which would consequence on polo-necks and larger fishes ( Brown and Masti, 2010 ) . The ecosystem would get down to deteriorate because of the deficiency of foods and addendum eating for beings. Correspondingly the oil injuries sea birds, which the H2O soaks through their plumes, doing them cold, taking to hyperthermia, and harder to derive nutrient. The mahimahis are to endure from organ harm from take a breathing the toxic bluess or consuming the oil. As for the sea turtles they are at high hazard because they feed at the oil surface. The applied scientists try to utilize dispersants by the well so the sea birds and mammals are protected from the oil but on the other manus it can impact a Bluefin tuna or other fishes from the toxic consequence ( Kerr et al. , 675 ) . The counter current gas exchange would impact the fish because of less O in the H2O doing the blood to have O, which leads to the decease of fishes ( Textbook ) . Scientists from National Institute for Undersea Science and Technology ( NIUST ) with several other establishments will follow oil over the following couple months as it moves through the nutrient concatenation from individual celled algae to tuna fi sh ( Kerr et al. , 963 ) . As the concentration of the methane gas additions, there is a fright that there will be oxygen depletion making â€Å" dead zones † in the ecosystem where no marine life to can remain. The cause of dead zones is by algae start to organize where they feed on the foods of methane on high concentration. Bacteria so eat the algae, which causes the depletion in O. Marine life, such as fish, is non able to last in this environment which scientists called it â€Å" dead zones † ( McNulty, 2010 ) . The marine ecosystem is extremely at hazard due to the oil, gas or dispersants. With all the effects on the system it affects the nutrient concatenation and how the marine life is seeking to last utilizing other resources or migrating out of the oil spill environment. This affects how they would accommodate to new countries in the ocean. The Rhizophora mangle wood, fresh H2O, salt H2O environment to the coral reefs make a nourishment country and supply a home ground for wildlife and protection from the pollution. The coastal ecosystem is affected as the oil moves in closer to the shore. The animate beings such as birds, boodles, oysters and corals are extremely at hazard because of the toxic consequence in their system. As boodles and oysters can be a beginning of nutrient to other beings, like otters or worlds, which live around the coastal country will impact the nutrient concatenation. Similarly, animate beings that unrecorded by seawater fens, coastal prairies, mangrove forest and hayfields and are dependent on workss as a primary beginning of foods will be affected due to the deficiency of gas exchange and photosynthesis of the workss because of the oil toxic degrees in the workss. The coastal grass fens created for coastal Marine and mammals for life. The oil amendss water bird, polo-necks and marine mammals an d perchance embryos and larvae of invertebrates and fish ( Weise and Rice, 2010 ) . Additionally, the emmets, crickets, and spiders are of import factors of the coastal nutrient web. They aid in dirt irrigation, seed dispersion, pollenation and nutrient beginning. If the insect population survives so fish and birds will last. If the fish and birds survive the community will last besides, but if insects do non last the system will fall apart ( Bui, 2010 ) . Felicia Coleman, from Florida State University Coastal and Marine Laboratory in St. Teresa, says, â€Å" Panama City, Florida to Tampa, Florida is one of the largest bases of sea grass in the U.S. Those grasses contain likely the largest hatcheries and baby's room land for piscaries in the Gulf of Mexico ( Weise and Rice, 2010 ) . † This cause would impact the growing of new species of fishes and impact the nutrient web for consumers. There populating would be destroyed and would be difficult to accommodate to new countries due to the predation and environment. She besides says, â€Å" One of the last pristine, most biologically diverse coastal home grounds in the state is about to acquire wiped out. And there ‘s non much we can make about it ( Weise and Rice, 2010 ) . † There are legion beings that are affected by the spill. One animate being that is extremely diminishing in size of population are the pelicans, chiefly the brown pelicans. As of mid-July 2010, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ( FWS ) , the brown pelican was hit the hardest by the oil spill about 50 eight per centum of the pelicans that were either dead or injured ( Tangley, 2010 ) . The effects of oil on the brown pelicans are really detrimental to the organic structure. As the oil sticks to the plumes, it starts to lose the sealing oils that maintain them from acquiring cold. As the oil start to rub off and deteriorate, the brown pelicans could decease from hypothermia. If a thick coat of oil sticks to the organic structure, the bird will non be able fly either doing it to rinse up shore and dice. When the brown pelican provenders on marine life in the sea, such as fish, it can consume little sums of oil if the fish is contaminated. If everything in ecosystem is contaminated with, the birds will non able to feed and feed at that place immature and do low reproduction rates because they would decease ( Rosenberg, 2010 ) . If the tendency continues, the whole population of brown pelicans would decease out and would be considered as being on the endangered list once more as they have 50 old ages ago due to DDT pesticides in the late fiftiess. The DDT pesticide resided in contaminated fishes, this causes the reproduction of eggshells. The eggshells are thinned and during incubation the eggs would accidently check by the parents, doing them low reproduction in the country ( Tangley, 2010 ) . Surveies say, when affected by oil, they have a low to good endurance rates depending on the country they live in ( Rosenberg, 2010 ) . Cleaning the environment of the ecosystem and the brown pelicans would increase the survival rate. The authorities and community have been addressed to the environmental crisis. The authorities should be involved in the oil catastrophe. The Environmental Defense Fund ( EDF ) has provided offer to the Obama disposal and Congress to retrieve the harm environment. Five stairss need to be taken: 1 ) to halt the flow of the oil and prevent making the shore, 2 ) design a long term clean up plan, 3 ) supply economic aid the fishermen, 4 ) proctor the short term effects of the spill by scientific research, and 5 ) supply a $ 4 billion budget to reconstruct the hundred square stat mis ecosystems. Obama has taken in consideration to go through a $ 4 billion exigency measure ( Crowley, 2010 ) . I truly suggest that the authorities should take this into consideration because it includes all parts of how the budget money would assist reconstruct the environment back to normal. Numerous AIDSs and financess were proposed authorities ; they should take a expression at the proposition and make the ir ain measure to assist with the oil spill calamity. I contemplate the British Petroleum should assist with the bulk of the financess of scientific research and assistance in Restoration of the environment. This would assist derive their regard back but plus assist the community and nature. The community should take in deliberation to be voluntaries and subscribe up with organisation to assist with attempts of the oil spill. They would assist clean animate beings, like birds, and the dust on the coastal shores, which will assist in the short-run effects of the ecosystem. The major organisations, such as: National Wildlife Federation, NOAA, Global Green and other organisations have been taken to consequence and assisting the damaged ecosystem. The community and organisations should work together to reconstruct the biome with the assistance of persons as voluntaries and the financess provided. Many scientists and research workers are assisting with the service of reconstructing of th e biome. They are carry oning research and experiments and how they can supply aid to repair the jobs. Expression at the long-run impact of the spill from five, 10, or twenty old ages from now will alter how the biome is working. Five old ages from now, the Restoration of the coastal land of workss and some animate beings will be conveying back the home ground to normal due to the fact the sunshine, H2O and heat will assist interrupt down some factors of the oil in the deposits, to boot aid of oil eating bacteriums ( Barcott, 71 ) . The marine ecosystem will still be damaged because of the monolithic sums of oil in the ocean, in different Marine zones. In ten old ages, some of the marine ecosystem, the epipelagic zone, will get down to better back to its normal map such as corals and animate beings reside in those parts of the system, because corals have a short-run consequence of the oil. As the twelvemonth ‘s advancement, in twenty old ages, half of the marine biome, the mesopelagic zone and some of bathypelagic zone, will be start map usually and the nutrient web will be effi cient, making an betterment of reproduction and survival rate of animate beings and beings.

Martin Luther: the Reformer

Commonly referred to as, â€Å"The Father of Protestantism† (Funk and Wagnalls 337), â€Å"Martin Luther was born into a world dominated by the Catholic Church† (www. pbs. org). â€Å"Luther had no intention of opposing the authority of Rome† (Funk and Wagnalls 336) but God had other plans. Martin Luther, who â€Å"was named after St Martin† (www. pbs. org) was born on November 10th, 1483 (Thulin 11). Mansfeld was his hometown, although he was born in Eisleben (Thulin 11). His parents moved to Mansfeld, to improve his father's job prospect, in 1484 right after Luther's birth (Thulin 12). After moving to Mansfeld, Luther's father, Hans, became a miner (Thulin 11). â€Å"By 1491 the Luthers were one of the most respected families in Mansfeld† (www. pbs. org). Luther himself stayed in Mansfeld until 1496 (Thulin 12). Luther came from a family of peasants, (Thulin 11) his â€Å"parents were simple folk† (Erikson 54) and are described as â€Å"a pair of hardworking and pious Germans† (www. pbs. org). Martin's father was the son of a farmer and â€Å"ruled his son with an iron fist† (www. pbs. org). In fact, Luther said â€Å"My father once whipped me so hard I ran away – I hated him until he finally managed to win me back† (www. bs. org). His mother, Margaret Luther, (Thulin 11) â€Å"came from a small but very well-off family† (www. pbs. org). Margaret is also described as â€Å"a harsh disciplinarian† (www. pbs. org). Luther said on the subject of parents, â€Å"When God wants to speak with us, he does not avail h imself of an angel but of parents† (www. pbs. org). Luther's parents had high hopes for their first son (www. pbs. org). They wanted him to become a lawyer because his father thought that â€Å"a man of Martin's gifts trained in the law would rise even higher in the social scale† (Green 34). Luther â€Å"resented his father's attempt to dominate his life and to push him into a career which he had selected for him† (Green 35), but he complied with his parents' wishes (www. pbs. org). When Luther, out of terror, made a vow to become a monk his father was completely devastated (Bainton 21, www. pbs. org). In fact, â€Å"He did not tell his father of his final decision until he was behind the friary walls† (Green 35). Luther was educated in the schools of Eisenach and Magdeburg and in 1501, at the age of 17, he entered the University of Erfurt (Funk and Wagnalls 335, Erikson 24). Luther received his master's degree at 21, in 1505 (Erikson 24). Years later in 1512, at 28, he â€Å"became a doctor of theology† (Erikson 24). That same year he was made professor of Biblical Literature and the year after he became a priest he became â€Å"a lecturer at the University of Wittenberg† (Funk and Wagnalls 335). On July 2nd of 1505 Luther experienced an event that would change his life forever (Thulin 16). â€Å"†¦ caught in a thunderstorm, terrified by the possibility of imminent death†¦ † (www. pbs. org) he cried out to St. Anne for help and vowed to become a monk (Bainton 21). Later that same year, at the age of 23, he entered the monastery (Erikson 24). Luther, in the summer of 1506, â€Å"became a fully-professed friar† (Green 37) and he celebrated his first mass in the Augustinian monastery in 1507 (Thulin 17). Although his Father did not approve of him becoming a monk, Hans went to great expense to make this occasion a festive day (Thulin 17). Luther was a devout monk for 20 years (Thulin 17, Simon 3). â€Å"As young monk Luther was obsessed with atoning for his sins† (www. pbs. org. com). He lived a holy life in the monastery, embracing â€Å"the rules of his order with unstinted zeal† (Green 37). From 1512 to 1513 Luther, spiritually uneasy, moved theologically away from orthodox teaching† (Green 45). He became â€Å"increasingly doubtful that the Church can actually offer him salvation at all† this is when he discovers that only â€Å"his own individual faith will guarantee his salvation† (www. pbs. org). Lut her â€Å"turns on the Church, attacking its practice of selling indulgences† (www. pbs. org). â€Å"It was his deliberate intention to prove that the doctrine of indulgences contravened the teaching of the Gospel† (Green 59). Although he â€Å"had no intention of†¦ ausing a schism in the church† (Funk and Wagnalls 336), â€Å"Luther had†¦ very little idea of where his criticisms were likely to lead him† (Green 59). He attacked the selling of indulgences in the 95 theses, which he nailed â€Å"to the door of the castle church in Wittenberg† in 1517 at the age of 32 (www. pbs. org, Funk and Wagnalls 336, Erikson 24). This action is regarded as the beginning of the Protestant Reformation (Funk and Wagnalls 336). In April of 1523, nine nuns arrived in Wittenberg (Thulin 85). They had escaped from a nunnery in empty fish barrels to take refuge in Wittenberg (www. bs. org). â€Å"Luther felt responsible to find for them all homes, husbands, o r positions of some sort† (Bainton 287). The last nun he placed was one named Katherine von Bora (Bainton 287). Hans had a great desire for Luther to â€Å"pass on the name† and it was suggested that Luther should marry Katherine when he had trouble placing her, but he did not take this suggestion seriously (Bainton 288). But just two years after her arrival, in May of 1525, Luther said that he wanted to marry Katherine before his death (Bainton 288). So, â€Å"†¦ choing a trend across Europe as former nuns and monks married†¦ † (www. pbs. org), Martin Luther and Katherine von Bora were married on June 13th, 1525 (Thulin 95). At 42, Luther â€Å"was beyond the customary age for marriage† and â€Å"Katherine was 16 years younger than† her husband at a youthful 26 (www. pbs. org, Bainton 288). Luther said, â€Å"There is no more lovely, friendly, and charming relationship, communion, or company than a good marriage† (www. pbs. org). H e also thought that â€Å"the man is the head of the wife because he was created first† (Bainton 299). Katherine von Bora was born in 1499 and her mother died soon after her birth (www. pbs. org, Bainton 291). Her father entered her into â€Å"the convent school of the Benedictine order† in 1504 and in 1508 she entered into the convent of Nimbschen (www. pbs. org). Just a few years later, in 1515 she took her vows (www. pbs. org). It was quite a task for Katherine to take care of Luther, considering he was often sick (Bainton 292, 293). After a while, Katherine became quite the doctor, in fact, the Luther household became the hospital of Wittenberg during times of epidemic (Simon 335). Luther said, â€Å"There is a lot to get used to in the first year of marriage† (Bainton 290); this is probably because Katherine took over the Luther household (www. pbs. org). â€Å"It is said that Dr. Luther did not have a clue how to run a household†, this is when Katherine stepped in and took over the household expenses (www. pbs. org). Since neither Katherine nor Luther had any money when they married (Bainton 291), and Luther wasn't given a wage (www. pbs. org), to provide for the family, â€Å"In 1526 he installed a lathe, and learned woodworking† (Bainton 291). He â€Å"also housed students in his home to help the† family finances (www. pbs. org). On October 21, 1525 when Luther told a friend that Katherine was pregnant he said she was fulfilling the verse Genesis 1:28 (Bainton 293). Katherine bore six children in eight years, 3 boys and 3 girls (Bainton 291, 293 Simon 334). Martin and Katherine's first child was a son, called Hans, born on June 7, 1526 (Bainton 293). A daughter, Elizabeth Luther was born on December 10, 1527, but on August 3rd of the next year, Elizabeth Luther died (Bainton 293, Thulin 103). On December 17, 1529 Magdalena Luther was born and nearly two years later Katherine gave birth to a son, who was named Martin Luther on November 9, 1531 (Bainton 293). Next was another son, Paul Luther on January 28, 1533, who later became a doctor, and finally Margaretha Luther was born to Martin and Katherine on December 17, 1534 (Bainton 292, 293). Sadly, on September 20th Martin Luther held Magdalena, his 14 year-old daughter, in his arms as she died (Bainton 304, Thulin 122). Life in the Luther house might have been somewhat hectic considering the â€Å"Luthers brought up four orphaned children from among relatives† (Bainton 294). Luther thought that â€Å"Children are subject to parents and especially to the father† (Bainton 299). Luther and Katherine are described as diligent parents, their children were well-disciplined, but in a loving way (www. pbs. org). â€Å"Luther doted on his large family† and although the house was always full â€Å"Their home was noted for its liveliness and its happiness† (www. pbs. org). Luther battled his whole life against depression (Bainton 362). â€Å"This man who so undergirded others with faith had for himself a perpetual battle for faith† (Bainton 359). â€Å"Luther felt that his depressions were necessary† (Bainton 362). These depressions were always about the same thing, the â€Å"loss of faith that God† was good to him, but Luther's greatest problem came from how he should overcome his depressions (Bainton 361). He once said that â€Å"during the first year in the monastery the Devil is very quiet† this was not true later in Luther's life (Bainton 37). Luther said, â€Å"When I go to bed, the Devil is always waiting for me† and he would even have direct encounters with the Devil himself (Bainton 362). Luther had a great enthusiasm for music (Bainton 340). â€Å"His interest in the arts was unusual among the reformers† (Funk and Wagnalls 337). He was â€Å"An accomplished Lute player† and he brought out a hymnbook in 1524 (www. pbs. org, Bainton 345). Luther's most well known hymn is â€Å"A Mighty Fortress† which he wrote in the year of his deepest depression (Bainton 370). On February 14th, a few days before his death, Luther wrote his last letter to his wife (Thulin 127). He died later that month in the year 1546 at Eisleben and â€Å"was buried in the Castle Church of Wittenberg† (Thulin 128, Funk and Wagnalls 337). Luther never intended to become the Reformer for which he is remembered, in fact â€Å"Few people had heard of Martin Luther before he posted the 95 theses to the door of the Castle Church† (Green 9). He opposed the Catholic Church, â€Å"the most powerful institution of the day† (www. pbs. org), and is known as one of, if not, the most influential people in the history of the Christian Church. Works Cited Bainton, Roland H. Here I Stand: A Life Of Martin Luther. Abingdon-Cokesbury Press: New York. 1950 Erikson, Erik H.. Young Man Luther: A Study in Psychoanalysis and History. W. W. Norton & Company Inc. : New York. 1962 Green, V. H. H.. Luther and the Reformation. B. T. Batsford LTD. : London. 1964 http://www. pbs. org 2003 Devillier Donegan Enterprises. February 1, 2009 [http://www. pbs. org/empires/martinluther/about_driv. html] http://www. pbs. org 2003 Devillier Donegan Enterprises. February 1, 2009 [http://www. pbs. org/empires/martinluther/char_parents. html] http://www. pbs. rg 2003 Devillier Donegan Enterprises. February 1, 2009 [http://www. pbs. org/empires/martinluther/char_wife. html] http://www. pbs. org 2003 Devillier Donegan Enterprises. February 1, 2009 [http://www. pbs. org/empires/martinluther/cheats. html] â€Å"LUTHER, Martin† Funk & Wagnalls New Encyclopedia. Funk and Wagnalls, Inc. : New York 1979 Simon, Edith. Luther Alive: Martin Luther and the Making of the Reformation. Do ubleday & Company, INC. : New York. 1968 Thulin, Oskar. A Life Of Luther: Told in Pictures and Narrative by the Reformer and His Contemporaries. Fortress Press: Philadelphia. 1966

Angels Demons Chapter 3235

â€Å"Sorry for the slow flight,† the pilot apologized, emerging from the cockpit. â€Å"Had to trim her back. Noise regulations over populated areas.† Langdon checked his watch. They had been airborne thirty-seven minutes. The pilot popped the outer door. â€Å"Anybody want to tell me what’s going on?† Neither Vittoria nor Langdon responded. â€Å"Fine,† he said, stretching. â€Å"I’ll be in the cockpit with the air-conditioning and my music. Just me and Garth.† The late-afternoon sun blazed outside the hangar. Langdon carried his tweed jacket over his shoulder. Vittoria turned her face skyward and inhaled deeply, as if the sun’s rays somehow transferred to her some mystical replenishing energy. Mediterraneans, Langdon mused, already sweating. â€Å"Little old for cartoons, aren’t you?† Vittoria asked, without opening her eyes. â€Å"I’m sorry?† â€Å"Your wristwatch. I saw it on the plane.† Langdon flushed slightly. He was accustomed to having to defend his timepiece. The collector’s edition Mickey Mouse watch had been a childhood gift from his parents. Despite the contorted foolishness of Mickey’s outstretched arms designating the hour, it was the only watch Langdon had ever worn. Waterproof and glow-in-the-dark, it was perfect for swimming laps or walking unlit college paths at night. When Langdon’s students questioned his fashion sense, he told them he wore Mickey as a daily reminder to stay young at heart. â€Å"It’s six o’clock,† he said. Vittoria nodded, eyes still closed. â€Å"I think our ride’s here.† Langdon heard the distant whine, looked up, and felt a sinking feeling. Approaching from the north was a helicopter, slicing low across the runway. Langdon had been on a helicopter once in the Andean Palpa Valley looking at the Nazca sand drawings and had not enjoyed it one bit. A flying shoebox. After a morning of space plane rides, Langdon had hoped the Vatican would send a car. Apparently not. The chopper slowed overhead, hovered a moment, and dropped toward the runway in front of them. The craft was white and carried a coat of arms emblazoned on the side – two skeleton keys crossing a shield and papal crown. He knew the symbol well. It was the traditional seal of the Vatican – the sacred symbol of the Holy See or â€Å"holy seat† of government, the seat being literally the ancient throne of St. Peter. The Holy Chopper, Langdon groaned, watching the craft land. He’d forgotten the Vatican owned one of these things, used for transporting the Pope to the airport, to meetings, or to his summer palace in Gandolfo. Langdon definitely would have preferred a car. The pilot jumped from the cockpit and strode toward them across the tarmac. Now it was Vittoria who looked uneasy. â€Å"That’s our pilot?† Langdon shared her concern. â€Å"To fly, or not to fly. That is the question.† The pilot looked like he was festooned for a Shakespearean melodrama. His puffy tunic was vertically striped in brilliant blue and gold. He wore matching pantaloons and spats. On his feet were black flats that looked like slippers. On top of it all, he wore a black felt beret. â€Å"Traditional Swiss Guard uniforms,† Langdon explained. â€Å"Designed by Michelangelo himself.† As the man drew closer, Langdon winced. â€Å"I admit, not one of Michelangelo’s better efforts.† Despite the man’s garish attire, Langdon could tell the pilot meant business. He moved toward them with all the rigidity and dignity of a U.S. Marine. Langdon had read many times about the rigorous requirements for becoming one of the elite Swiss Guard. Recruited from one of Switzerland’s four Catholic cantons, applicants had to be Swiss males between nineteen and thirty years old, at least 5 feet 6 inches, trained by the Swiss Army, and unmarried. This imperial corps was envied by world governments as the most allegiant and deadly security force in the world. â€Å"You are from CERN?† the guard asked, arriving before them. His voice was steely. â€Å"Yes, sir,† Langdon replied. â€Å"You made remarkable time,† he said, giving the X-33 a mystified stare. He turned to Vittoria. â€Å"Ma’am, do you have any other clothing?† â€Å"I beg your pardon?† He motioned to her legs. â€Å"Short pants are not permitted inside Vatican City.† Langdon glanced down at Vittoria’s legs and frowned. He had forgotten. Vatican City had a strict ban on visible legs above the knee – both male and female. The regulation was a way of showing respect for the sanctity of God’s city. â€Å"This is all I have,† she said. â€Å"We came in a hurry.† The guard nodded, clearly displeased. He turned next to Langdon. â€Å"Are you carrying any weapons?† Weapons? Langdon thought. I’m not even carrying a change of underwear! He shook his head. The officer crouched at Langdon’s feet and began patting him down, starting at his socks. Trusting guy, Langdon thought. The guard’s strong hands moved up Langdon’s legs, coming uncomfortably close to his groin. Finally they moved up to his chest and shoulders. Apparently content Langdon was clean, the guard turned to Vittoria. He ran his eyes up her legs and torso. Vittoria glared. â€Å"Don’t even think about it.† The guard fixed Vittoria with a gaze clearly intended to intimidate. Vittoria did not flinch. â€Å"What’s that?† the guard said, pointing to a faint square bulge in the front pocket of her shorts. Vittoria removed an ultrathin cell phone. The guard took it, clicked it on, waited for a dial tone, and then, apparently satisfied that it was indeed nothing more than a phone, returned it to her. Vittoria slid it back into her pocket. â€Å"Turn around, please,† the guard said. Vittoria obliged, holding her arms out and rotating a full 360 degrees. The guard carefully studied her. Langdon had already decided that Vittoria’s form-fitting shorts and blouse were not bulging anywhere they shouldn’t have been. Apparently the guard came to the same conclusion. â€Å"Thank you. This way please.† The Swiss Guard chopper churned in neutral as Langdon and Vittoria approached. Vittoria boarded first, like a seasoned pro, barely even stooping as she passed beneath the whirling rotors. Langdon held back a moment. â€Å"No chance of a car?† he yelled, half-joking to the Swiss Guard, who was climbing in the pilot’s seat. The man did not answer. Langdon knew that with Rome’s maniacal drivers, flying was probably safer anyway. He took a deep breath and boarded, stooping cautiously as he passed beneath the spinning rotors. As the guard fired up the engines, Vittoria called out, â€Å"Have you located the canister?† The guard glanced over his shoulder, looking confused. â€Å"The what?† â€Å"The canister. You called CERN about a canister?† The man shrugged. â€Å"No idea what you’re talking about. We’ve been very busy today. My commander told me to pick you up. That’s all I know.† Vittoria gave Langdon an unsettled look. â€Å"Buckle up, please,† the pilot said as the engine revved. Langdon reached for his seat belt and strapped himself in. The tiny fuselage seemed to shrink around him. Then with a roar, the craft shot up and banked sharply north toward Rome. Rome†¦ the caput mundi, where Caesar once ruled, where St. Peter was crucified. The cradle of modern civilization. And at its core†¦ a ticking bomb. 33 Rome from the air is a labyrinth – an indecipherable maze of ancient roadways winding around buildings, fountains, and crumbling ruins. The Vatican chopper stayed low in the sky as it sliced northwest through the permanent smog layer coughed up by the congestion below. Langdon gazed down at the mopeds, sight-seeing buses, and armies of miniature Fiat sedans buzzing around rotaries in all directions. Koyaanisqatsi, he thought, recalling the Hopi term for â€Å"life out of balance.† Vittoria sat in silent determination in the seat beside him. The chopper banked hard. His stomach dropping, Langdon gazed farther into the distance. His eyes found the crumbling ruins of the Roman Coliseum. The Coliseum, Langdon had always thought, was one of history’s greatest ironies. Now a dignified symbol for the rise of human culture and civilization, the stadium had been built to host centuries of barbaric events – hungry lions shredding prisoners, armies of slaves battling to the death, gang rapes of exotic women captured from far-off lands, as well as public beheadings and castrations. It was ironic, Langdon thought, or perhaps fitting, that the Coliseum had served as the architectural blueprint for Harvard’s Soldier Field – the football stadium where the ancient traditions of savagery were reenacted every fall†¦ crazed fans screaming for bloodshed as Harvard battled Yale. As the chopper headed north, Langdon spied the Roman Forum – the heart of pre-Christian Rome. The decaying columns looked like toppled gravestones in a cemetery that had somehow avoided being swallowed by the metropolis surrounding it. To the west the wide basin of the Tiber River wound enormous arcs across the city. Even from the air Langdon could tell the water was deep. The churning currents were brown, filled with silt and foam from heavy rains. â€Å"Straight ahead,† the pilot said, climbing higher. Langdon and Vittoria looked out and saw it. Like a mountain parting the morning fog, the colossal dome rose out of the haze before them: St. Peter’s Basilica. â€Å"Now that,† Langdon said to Vittoria, â€Å"is something Michelangelo got right.† Langdon had never seen St. Peter’s from the air. The marble faà §ade blazed like fire in the afternoon sun. Adorned with 140 statues of saints, martyrs, and angels, the Herculean edifice stretched two football fields wide and a staggering six long. The cavernous interior of the basilica had room for over 60,000 worshipers†¦ over one hundred times the population of Vatican City, the smallest country in the world. Incredibly, though, not even a citadel of this magnitude could dwarf the piazza before it. A sprawling expanse of granite, St. Peter’s Square was a staggering open space in the congestion of Rome, like a classical Central Park. In front of the basilica, bordering the vast oval common, 284 columns swept outward in four concentric arcs of diminishing size†¦ an architectural trompe de l’oiel used to heighten the piazza’s sense of grandeur. As he stared at the magnificent shrine before him, Langdon wondered what St. Peter would think if he were here now. The Saint had died a gruesome death, crucified upside down on this very spot. Now he rested in the most sacred of tombs, buried five stories down, directly beneath the central cupola of the basilica. â€Å"Vatican City,† the pilot said, sounding anything but welcoming. Langdon looked out at the towering stone bastions that loomed ahead – impenetrable fortifications surrounding the complex†¦ a strangely earthly defense for a spiritual world of secrets, power, and mystery. â€Å"Look!† Vittoria said suddenly, grabbing Langdon’s arm. She motioned frantically downward toward St. Peter’s Square directly beneath them. Langdon put his face to the window and looked. â€Å"Over there,† she said, pointing. Langdon looked. The rear of the piazza looked like a parking lot crowded with a dozen or so trailer trucks. Huge satellite dishes pointed skyward from the roof of every truck. The dishes were emblazoned with familiar names: Televisor Europea Video Italia BBC United Press International Langdon felt suddenly confused, wondering if the news of the antimatter had already leaked out. Vittoria seemed suddenly tense. â€Å"Why is the press here? What’s going on?† The pilot turned and gave her an odd look over his shoulder. â€Å"What’s going on? You don’t know?† â€Å"No,† she fired back, her accent husky and strong. â€Å"Il Conclavo,† he said. â€Å"It is to be sealed in about an hour. The whole world is watching.† Il Conclavo. The word rang a long moment in Langdon’s ears before dropping like a brick to the pit of his stomach. Il Conclavo. The Vatican Conclave. How could he have forgotten? It had been in the news recently. Fifteen days ago, the Pope, after a tremendously popular twelve-year reign, had passed away. Every paper in the world had carried the story about the Pope’s fatal stroke while sleeping – a sudden and unexpected death many whispered was suspicious. But now, in keeping with the sacred tradition, fifteen days after the death of a Pope, the Vatican was holding Il Conclavo – the sacred ceremony in which the 165 cardinals of the world – the most powerful men in Christendom – gathered in Vatican City to elect the new Pope. Every cardinal on the planet is here today, Langdon thought as the chopper passed over St. Peter’s Basilica. The expansive inner world of Vatican City spread out beneath him. The entire power structure of the Roman Catholic Church is sitting on a time bomb. 34 Cardinal Mortati gazed up at the lavish ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and tried to find a moment of quiet reflection. The frescoed walls echoed with the voices of cardinals from nations around the globe. The men jostled in the candlelit tabernacle, whispering excitedly and consulting with one another in numerous languages, the universal tongues being English, Italian, and Spanish. The light in the chapel was usually sublime – long rays of tinted sun slicing through the darkness like rays from heaven – but not today. As was the custom, all of the chapel’s windows had been covered in black velvet in the name of secrecy. This ensured that no one on the inside could send signals or communicate in any way with the outside world. The result was a profound darkness lit only by candles†¦ a shimmering radiance that seemed to purify everyone it touched, making them all ghostly†¦ like saints. What privilege, Mortati thought, that I am to oversee this sanctified event. Cardinals over eighty years of age were too old to be eligible for election and did not attend conclave, but at seventy-nine years old, Mortati was the most senior cardinal here and had been appointed to oversee the proceedings. Following tradition, the cardinals gathered here two hours before conclave to catch up with friends and engage in last-minute discussion. At 7 P.M., the late Pope’s chamberlain would arrive, give opening prayer, and then leave. Then the Swiss Guard would seal the doors and lock all the cardinals inside. It was then that the oldest and most secretive political ritual in the world would begin. The cardinals would not be released until they decided who among them would be the next Pope. Conclave. Even the name was secretive. â€Å"Con clave† literally meant â€Å"locked with a key.† The cardinals were permitted no contact whatsoever with the outside world. No phone calls. No messages. No whispers through doorways. Conclave was a vacuum, not to be influenced by anything in the outside world. This would ensure that the cardinals kept Solum Dum prae oculis†¦ only God before their eyes. Outside the walls of the chapel, of course, the media watched and waited, speculating as to which of the cardinals would become the ruler of one billion Catholics worldwide. Conclaves created an intense, politically charged atmosphere, and over the centuries they had turned deadly: poisonings, fist fights, and even murder had erupted within the sacred walls. Ancient history, Mortati thought. Tonight’s conclave will be unified, blissful, and above all†¦ brief. Or at least that had been his speculation. Now, however, an unexpected development had emerged. Mystifyingly, four cardinals were absent from the chapel. Mortati knew that all the exits to Vatican City were guarded, and the missing cardinals could not have gone far, but still, with less than an hour before opening prayer, he was feeling disconcerted. After all, the four missing men were no ordinary cardinals. They were the cardinals. The chosen four. As overseer of the conclave, Mortati had already sent word through the proper channels to the Swiss Guard alerting them to the cardinals’ absence. He had yet to hear back. Other cardinals had now noticed the puzzling absence. The anxious whispers had begun. Of all cardinals, these four should be on time! Cardinal Mortati was starting to fear it might be a long evening after all. He had no idea. 35 The Vatican’s helipad, for reasons of safety and noise control, is located in the northwest tip of Vatican City, as far from St. Peter’s Basilica as possible. â€Å"Terra firma,† the pilot announced as they touched down. He exited and opened the sliding door for Langdon and Vittoria. Langdon descended from the craft and turned to help Vittoria, but she had already dropped effortlessly to the ground. Every muscle in her body seemed tuned to one objective – finding the antimatter before it left a horrific legacy. After stretching a reflective sun tarp across the cockpit window, the pilot ushered them to an oversized electric golf cart waiting near the helipad. The cart whisked them silently alongside the country’s western border – a fifty-foot-tall cement bulwark thick enough to ward off attacks even by tanks. Lining the interior of the wall, posted at fifty-meter intervals, Swiss Guards stood at attention, surveying the interior of the grounds. The cart turned sharply right onto Via della Osservatorio. Signs pointed in all directions: Palazzio Governatorio Collegio Ethiopiana Basilica San Pietro Capella Sistina They accelerated up the manicured road past a squat building marked Radio Vaticana. This, Langdon realized to his amazement, was the hub of the world’s most listened-to radio programming – Radio Vaticana – spreading the word of God to millions of listeners around the globe. â€Å"Attenzione,† the pilot said, turning sharply into a rotary. As the cart wound round, Langdon could barely believe the sight now coming into view. Giardini Vaticani, he thought. The heart of Vatican City. Directly ahead rose the rear of St. Peter’s Basilica, a view, Langdon realized, most people never saw. To the right loomed the Palace of the Tribunal, the lush papal residence rivaled only by Versailles in its baroque embellishment. The severe-looking Governatorato building was now behind them, housing Vatican City’s administration. And up ahead on the left, the massive rectangular edifice of the Vatican Museum. Langdon knew there would be no time for a museum visit this trip. â€Å"Where is everyone?† Vittoria asked, surveying the deserted lawns and walkways. The guard checked his black, military-style chronograph – an odd anachronism beneath his puffy sleeve. â€Å"The cardinals are convened in the Sistine Chapel. Conclave begins in a little under an hour.† Langdon nodded, vaguely recalling that before conclave the cardinals spent two hours inside the Sistine Chapel in quiet reflection and visitations with their fellow cardinals from around the globe. The time was meant to renew old friendships among the cardinals and facilitate a less heated election process. â€Å"And the rest of the residents and staff?† â€Å"Banned from the city for secrecy and security until the conclave concludes.† â€Å"And when does it conclude?† The guard shrugged. â€Å"God only knows.† The words sounded oddly literal. After parking the cart on the wide lawn directly behind St. Peter’s Basilica, the guard escorted Langdon and Vittoria up a stone escarpment to a marble plaza off the back of the basilica. Crossing the plaza, they approached the rear wall of the basilica and followed it through a triangular courtyard, across Via Belvedere, and into a series of buildings closely huddled together. Langdon’s art history had taught him enough Italian to pick out signs for the Vatican Printing Office, the Tapestry Restoration Lab, Post Office Management, and the Church of St. Ann. They crossed another small square and arrived at their destination. The Office of the Swiss Guard is housed adjacent to Il Corpo di Vigilanza, directly northeast of St. Peter’s Basilica. The office is a squat, stone building. On either side of the entrance, like two stone statues, stood a pair of guards. Langdon had to admit, these guards did not look quite so comical. Although they also wore the blue and gold uniform, each wielded the traditional â€Å"Vatican long sword† – an eight-foot spear with a razor-sharp scythe – rumored to have decapitated countless Muslims while defending the Christian crusaders in the fifteenth century. As Langdon and Vittoria approached, the two guards stepped forward, crossing their long swords, blocking the entrance. One looked up at the pilot in confusion. â€Å"I pantaloni,† he said, motioning to Vittoria’s shorts. The pilot waved them off. â€Å"Il comandante vuole vederli subito.† The guards frowned. Reluctantly they stepped aside. Inside, the air was cool. It looked nothing like the administrative security offices Langdon would have imagined. Ornate and impeccably furnished, the hallways contained paintings Langdon was certain any museum worldwide would gladly have featured in its main gallery. The pilot pointed down a steep set of stairs. â€Å"Down, please.† Langdon and Vittoria followed the white marble treads as they descended between a gauntlet of nude male sculptures. Each statue wore a fig leaf that was lighter in color than the rest of the body. The Great Castration, Langdon thought. It was one of the most horrific tragedies in Renaissance art. In 1857, Pope Pius IX decided that the accurate representation of the male form might incite lust inside the Vatican. So he got a chisel and mallet and hacked off the genitalia of every single male statue inside Vatican City. He defaced works by Michelangelo, Bramante, and Bernini. Plaster fig leaves were used to patch the damage. Hundreds of sculptures had been emasculated. Langdon had often wondered if there was a huge crate of stone penises someplace. â€Å"Here,† the guard announced. They reached the bottom of the stairs and dead-ended at a heavy, steel door. The guard typed an entry code, and the door slid open. Langdon and Vittoria entered. Beyond the threshold was absolute mayhem. Angels Demons Chapter 3235 â€Å"Sorry for the slow flight,† the pilot apologized, emerging from the cockpit. â€Å"Had to trim her back. Noise regulations over populated areas.† Langdon checked his watch. They had been airborne thirty-seven minutes. The pilot popped the outer door. â€Å"Anybody want to tell me what’s going on?† Neither Vittoria nor Langdon responded. â€Å"Fine,† he said, stretching. â€Å"I’ll be in the cockpit with the air-conditioning and my music. Just me and Garth.† The late-afternoon sun blazed outside the hangar. Langdon carried his tweed jacket over his shoulder. Vittoria turned her face skyward and inhaled deeply, as if the sun’s rays somehow transferred to her some mystical replenishing energy. Mediterraneans, Langdon mused, already sweating. â€Å"Little old for cartoons, aren’t you?† Vittoria asked, without opening her eyes. â€Å"I’m sorry?† â€Å"Your wristwatch. I saw it on the plane.† Langdon flushed slightly. He was accustomed to having to defend his timepiece. The collector’s edition Mickey Mouse watch had been a childhood gift from his parents. Despite the contorted foolishness of Mickey’s outstretched arms designating the hour, it was the only watch Langdon had ever worn. Waterproof and glow-in-the-dark, it was perfect for swimming laps or walking unlit college paths at night. When Langdon’s students questioned his fashion sense, he told them he wore Mickey as a daily reminder to stay young at heart. â€Å"It’s six o’clock,† he said. Vittoria nodded, eyes still closed. â€Å"I think our ride’s here.† Langdon heard the distant whine, looked up, and felt a sinking feeling. Approaching from the north was a helicopter, slicing low across the runway. Langdon had been on a helicopter once in the Andean Palpa Valley looking at the Nazca sand drawings and had not enjoyed it one bit. A flying shoebox. After a morning of space plane rides, Langdon had hoped the Vatican would send a car. Apparently not. The chopper slowed overhead, hovered a moment, and dropped toward the runway in front of them. The craft was white and carried a coat of arms emblazoned on the side – two skeleton keys crossing a shield and papal crown. He knew the symbol well. It was the traditional seal of the Vatican – the sacred symbol of the Holy See or â€Å"holy seat† of government, the seat being literally the ancient throne of St. Peter. The Holy Chopper, Langdon groaned, watching the craft land. He’d forgotten the Vatican owned one of these things, used for transporting the Pope to the airport, to meetings, or to his summer palace in Gandolfo. Langdon definitely would have preferred a car. The pilot jumped from the cockpit and strode toward them across the tarmac. Now it was Vittoria who looked uneasy. â€Å"That’s our pilot?† Langdon shared her concern. â€Å"To fly, or not to fly. That is the question.† The pilot looked like he was festooned for a Shakespearean melodrama. His puffy tunic was vertically striped in brilliant blue and gold. He wore matching pantaloons and spats. On his feet were black flats that looked like slippers. On top of it all, he wore a black felt beret. â€Å"Traditional Swiss Guard uniforms,† Langdon explained. â€Å"Designed by Michelangelo himself.† As the man drew closer, Langdon winced. â€Å"I admit, not one of Michelangelo’s better efforts.† Despite the man’s garish attire, Langdon could tell the pilot meant business. He moved toward them with all the rigidity and dignity of a U.S. Marine. Langdon had read many times about the rigorous requirements for becoming one of the elite Swiss Guard. Recruited from one of Switzerland’s four Catholic cantons, applicants had to be Swiss males between nineteen and thirty years old, at least 5 feet 6 inches, trained by the Swiss Army, and unmarried. This imperial corps was envied by world governments as the most allegiant and deadly security force in the world. â€Å"You are from CERN?† the guard asked, arriving before them. His voice was steely. â€Å"Yes, sir,† Langdon replied. â€Å"You made remarkable time,† he said, giving the X-33 a mystified stare. He turned to Vittoria. â€Å"Ma’am, do you have any other clothing?† â€Å"I beg your pardon?† He motioned to her legs. â€Å"Short pants are not permitted inside Vatican City.† Langdon glanced down at Vittoria’s legs and frowned. He had forgotten. Vatican City had a strict ban on visible legs above the knee – both male and female. The regulation was a way of showing respect for the sanctity of God’s city. â€Å"This is all I have,† she said. â€Å"We came in a hurry.† The guard nodded, clearly displeased. He turned next to Langdon. â€Å"Are you carrying any weapons?† Weapons? Langdon thought. I’m not even carrying a change of underwear! He shook his head. The officer crouched at Langdon’s feet and began patting him down, starting at his socks. Trusting guy, Langdon thought. The guard’s strong hands moved up Langdon’s legs, coming uncomfortably close to his groin. Finally they moved up to his chest and shoulders. Apparently content Langdon was clean, the guard turned to Vittoria. He ran his eyes up her legs and torso. Vittoria glared. â€Å"Don’t even think about it.† The guard fixed Vittoria with a gaze clearly intended to intimidate. Vittoria did not flinch. â€Å"What’s that?† the guard said, pointing to a faint square bulge in the front pocket of her shorts. Vittoria removed an ultrathin cell phone. The guard took it, clicked it on, waited for a dial tone, and then, apparently satisfied that it was indeed nothing more than a phone, returned it to her. Vittoria slid it back into her pocket. â€Å"Turn around, please,† the guard said. Vittoria obliged, holding her arms out and rotating a full 360 degrees. The guard carefully studied her. Langdon had already decided that Vittoria’s form-fitting shorts and blouse were not bulging anywhere they shouldn’t have been. Apparently the guard came to the same conclusion. â€Å"Thank you. This way please.† The Swiss Guard chopper churned in neutral as Langdon and Vittoria approached. Vittoria boarded first, like a seasoned pro, barely even stooping as she passed beneath the whirling rotors. Langdon held back a moment. â€Å"No chance of a car?† he yelled, half-joking to the Swiss Guard, who was climbing in the pilot’s seat. The man did not answer. Langdon knew that with Rome’s maniacal drivers, flying was probably safer anyway. He took a deep breath and boarded, stooping cautiously as he passed beneath the spinning rotors. As the guard fired up the engines, Vittoria called out, â€Å"Have you located the canister?† The guard glanced over his shoulder, looking confused. â€Å"The what?† â€Å"The canister. You called CERN about a canister?† The man shrugged. â€Å"No idea what you’re talking about. We’ve been very busy today. My commander told me to pick you up. That’s all I know.† Vittoria gave Langdon an unsettled look. â€Å"Buckle up, please,† the pilot said as the engine revved. Langdon reached for his seat belt and strapped himself in. The tiny fuselage seemed to shrink around him. Then with a roar, the craft shot up and banked sharply north toward Rome. Rome†¦ the caput mundi, where Caesar once ruled, where St. Peter was crucified. The cradle of modern civilization. And at its core†¦ a ticking bomb. 33 Rome from the air is a labyrinth – an indecipherable maze of ancient roadways winding around buildings, fountains, and crumbling ruins. The Vatican chopper stayed low in the sky as it sliced northwest through the permanent smog layer coughed up by the congestion below. Langdon gazed down at the mopeds, sight-seeing buses, and armies of miniature Fiat sedans buzzing around rotaries in all directions. Koyaanisqatsi, he thought, recalling the Hopi term for â€Å"life out of balance.† Vittoria sat in silent determination in the seat beside him. The chopper banked hard. His stomach dropping, Langdon gazed farther into the distance. His eyes found the crumbling ruins of the Roman Coliseum. The Coliseum, Langdon had always thought, was one of history’s greatest ironies. Now a dignified symbol for the rise of human culture and civilization, the stadium had been built to host centuries of barbaric events – hungry lions shredding prisoners, armies of slaves battling to the death, gang rapes of exotic women captured from far-off lands, as well as public beheadings and castrations. It was ironic, Langdon thought, or perhaps fitting, that the Coliseum had served as the architectural blueprint for Harvard’s Soldier Field – the football stadium where the ancient traditions of savagery were reenacted every fall†¦ crazed fans screaming for bloodshed as Harvard battled Yale. As the chopper headed north, Langdon spied the Roman Forum – the heart of pre-Christian Rome. The decaying columns looked like toppled gravestones in a cemetery that had somehow avoided being swallowed by the metropolis surrounding it. To the west the wide basin of the Tiber River wound enormous arcs across the city. Even from the air Langdon could tell the water was deep. The churning currents were brown, filled with silt and foam from heavy rains. â€Å"Straight ahead,† the pilot said, climbing higher. Langdon and Vittoria looked out and saw it. Like a mountain parting the morning fog, the colossal dome rose out of the haze before them: St. Peter’s Basilica. â€Å"Now that,† Langdon said to Vittoria, â€Å"is something Michelangelo got right.† Langdon had never seen St. Peter’s from the air. The marble faà §ade blazed like fire in the afternoon sun. Adorned with 140 statues of saints, martyrs, and angels, the Herculean edifice stretched two football fields wide and a staggering six long. The cavernous interior of the basilica had room for over 60,000 worshipers†¦ over one hundred times the population of Vatican City, the smallest country in the world. Incredibly, though, not even a citadel of this magnitude could dwarf the piazza before it. A sprawling expanse of granite, St. Peter’s Square was a staggering open space in the congestion of Rome, like a classical Central Park. In front of the basilica, bordering the vast oval common, 284 columns swept outward in four concentric arcs of diminishing size†¦ an architectural trompe de l’oiel used to heighten the piazza’s sense of grandeur. As he stared at the magnificent shrine before him, Langdon wondered what St. Peter would think if he were here now. The Saint had died a gruesome death, crucified upside down on this very spot. Now he rested in the most sacred of tombs, buried five stories down, directly beneath the central cupola of the basilica. â€Å"Vatican City,† the pilot said, sounding anything but welcoming. Langdon looked out at the towering stone bastions that loomed ahead – impenetrable fortifications surrounding the complex†¦ a strangely earthly defense for a spiritual world of secrets, power, and mystery. â€Å"Look!† Vittoria said suddenly, grabbing Langdon’s arm. She motioned frantically downward toward St. Peter’s Square directly beneath them. Langdon put his face to the window and looked. â€Å"Over there,† she said, pointing. Langdon looked. The rear of the piazza looked like a parking lot crowded with a dozen or so trailer trucks. Huge satellite dishes pointed skyward from the roof of every truck. The dishes were emblazoned with familiar names: Televisor Europea Video Italia BBC United Press International Langdon felt suddenly confused, wondering if the news of the antimatter had already leaked out. Vittoria seemed suddenly tense. â€Å"Why is the press here? What’s going on?† The pilot turned and gave her an odd look over his shoulder. â€Å"What’s going on? You don’t know?† â€Å"No,† she fired back, her accent husky and strong. â€Å"Il Conclavo,† he said. â€Å"It is to be sealed in about an hour. The whole world is watching.† Il Conclavo. The word rang a long moment in Langdon’s ears before dropping like a brick to the pit of his stomach. Il Conclavo. The Vatican Conclave. How could he have forgotten? It had been in the news recently. Fifteen days ago, the Pope, after a tremendously popular twelve-year reign, had passed away. Every paper in the world had carried the story about the Pope’s fatal stroke while sleeping – a sudden and unexpected death many whispered was suspicious. But now, in keeping with the sacred tradition, fifteen days after the death of a Pope, the Vatican was holding Il Conclavo – the sacred ceremony in which the 165 cardinals of the world – the most powerful men in Christendom – gathered in Vatican City to elect the new Pope. Every cardinal on the planet is here today, Langdon thought as the chopper passed over St. Peter’s Basilica. The expansive inner world of Vatican City spread out beneath him. The entire power structure of the Roman Catholic Church is sitting on a time bomb. 34 Cardinal Mortati gazed up at the lavish ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and tried to find a moment of quiet reflection. The frescoed walls echoed with the voices of cardinals from nations around the globe. The men jostled in the candlelit tabernacle, whispering excitedly and consulting with one another in numerous languages, the universal tongues being English, Italian, and Spanish. The light in the chapel was usually sublime – long rays of tinted sun slicing through the darkness like rays from heaven – but not today. As was the custom, all of the chapel’s windows had been covered in black velvet in the name of secrecy. This ensured that no one on the inside could send signals or communicate in any way with the outside world. The result was a profound darkness lit only by candles†¦ a shimmering radiance that seemed to purify everyone it touched, making them all ghostly†¦ like saints. What privilege, Mortati thought, that I am to oversee this sanctified event. Cardinals over eighty years of age were too old to be eligible for election and did not attend conclave, but at seventy-nine years old, Mortati was the most senior cardinal here and had been appointed to oversee the proceedings. Following tradition, the cardinals gathered here two hours before conclave to catch up with friends and engage in last-minute discussion. At 7 P.M., the late Pope’s chamberlain would arrive, give opening prayer, and then leave. Then the Swiss Guard would seal the doors and lock all the cardinals inside. It was then that the oldest and most secretive political ritual in the world would begin. The cardinals would not be released until they decided who among them would be the next Pope. Conclave. Even the name was secretive. â€Å"Con clave† literally meant â€Å"locked with a key.† The cardinals were permitted no contact whatsoever with the outside world. No phone calls. No messages. No whispers through doorways. Conclave was a vacuum, not to be influenced by anything in the outside world. This would ensure that the cardinals kept Solum Dum prae oculis†¦ only God before their eyes. Outside the walls of the chapel, of course, the media watched and waited, speculating as to which of the cardinals would become the ruler of one billion Catholics worldwide. Conclaves created an intense, politically charged atmosphere, and over the centuries they had turned deadly: poisonings, fist fights, and even murder had erupted within the sacred walls. Ancient history, Mortati thought. Tonight’s conclave will be unified, blissful, and above all†¦ brief. Or at least that had been his speculation. Now, however, an unexpected development had emerged. Mystifyingly, four cardinals were absent from the chapel. Mortati knew that all the exits to Vatican City were guarded, and the missing cardinals could not have gone far, but still, with less than an hour before opening prayer, he was feeling disconcerted. After all, the four missing men were no ordinary cardinals. They were the cardinals. The chosen four. As overseer of the conclave, Mortati had already sent word through the proper channels to the Swiss Guard alerting them to the cardinals’ absence. He had yet to hear back. Other cardinals had now noticed the puzzling absence. The anxious whispers had begun. Of all cardinals, these four should be on time! Cardinal Mortati was starting to fear it might be a long evening after all. He had no idea. 35 The Vatican’s helipad, for reasons of safety and noise control, is located in the northwest tip of Vatican City, as far from St. Peter’s Basilica as possible. â€Å"Terra firma,† the pilot announced as they touched down. He exited and opened the sliding door for Langdon and Vittoria. Langdon descended from the craft and turned to help Vittoria, but she had already dropped effortlessly to the ground. Every muscle in her body seemed tuned to one objective – finding the antimatter before it left a horrific legacy. After stretching a reflective sun tarp across the cockpit window, the pilot ushered them to an oversized electric golf cart waiting near the helipad. The cart whisked them silently alongside the country’s western border – a fifty-foot-tall cement bulwark thick enough to ward off attacks even by tanks. Lining the interior of the wall, posted at fifty-meter intervals, Swiss Guards stood at attention, surveying the interior of the grounds. The cart turned sharply right onto Via della Osservatorio. Signs pointed in all directions: Palazzio Governatorio Collegio Ethiopiana Basilica San Pietro Capella Sistina They accelerated up the manicured road past a squat building marked Radio Vaticana. This, Langdon realized to his amazement, was the hub of the world’s most listened-to radio programming – Radio Vaticana – spreading the word of God to millions of listeners around the globe. â€Å"Attenzione,† the pilot said, turning sharply into a rotary. As the cart wound round, Langdon could barely believe the sight now coming into view. Giardini Vaticani, he thought. The heart of Vatican City. Directly ahead rose the rear of St. Peter’s Basilica, a view, Langdon realized, most people never saw. To the right loomed the Palace of the Tribunal, the lush papal residence rivaled only by Versailles in its baroque embellishment. The severe-looking Governatorato building was now behind them, housing Vatican City’s administration. And up ahead on the left, the massive rectangular edifice of the Vatican Museum. Langdon knew there would be no time for a museum visit this trip. â€Å"Where is everyone?† Vittoria asked, surveying the deserted lawns and walkways. The guard checked his black, military-style chronograph – an odd anachronism beneath his puffy sleeve. â€Å"The cardinals are convened in the Sistine Chapel. Conclave begins in a little under an hour.† Langdon nodded, vaguely recalling that before conclave the cardinals spent two hours inside the Sistine Chapel in quiet reflection and visitations with their fellow cardinals from around the globe. The time was meant to renew old friendships among the cardinals and facilitate a less heated election process. â€Å"And the rest of the residents and staff?† â€Å"Banned from the city for secrecy and security until the conclave concludes.† â€Å"And when does it conclude?† The guard shrugged. â€Å"God only knows.† The words sounded oddly literal. After parking the cart on the wide lawn directly behind St. Peter’s Basilica, the guard escorted Langdon and Vittoria up a stone escarpment to a marble plaza off the back of the basilica. Crossing the plaza, they approached the rear wall of the basilica and followed it through a triangular courtyard, across Via Belvedere, and into a series of buildings closely huddled together. Langdon’s art history had taught him enough Italian to pick out signs for the Vatican Printing Office, the Tapestry Restoration Lab, Post Office Management, and the Church of St. Ann. They crossed another small square and arrived at their destination. The Office of the Swiss Guard is housed adjacent to Il Corpo di Vigilanza, directly northeast of St. Peter’s Basilica. The office is a squat, stone building. On either side of the entrance, like two stone statues, stood a pair of guards. Langdon had to admit, these guards did not look quite so comical. Although they also wore the blue and gold uniform, each wielded the traditional â€Å"Vatican long sword† – an eight-foot spear with a razor-sharp scythe – rumored to have decapitated countless Muslims while defending the Christian crusaders in the fifteenth century. As Langdon and Vittoria approached, the two guards stepped forward, crossing their long swords, blocking the entrance. One looked up at the pilot in confusion. â€Å"I pantaloni,† he said, motioning to Vittoria’s shorts. The pilot waved them off. â€Å"Il comandante vuole vederli subito.† The guards frowned. Reluctantly they stepped aside. Inside, the air was cool. It looked nothing like the administrative security offices Langdon would have imagined. Ornate and impeccably furnished, the hallways contained paintings Langdon was certain any museum worldwide would gladly have featured in its main gallery. The pilot pointed down a steep set of stairs. â€Å"Down, please.† Langdon and Vittoria followed the white marble treads as they descended between a gauntlet of nude male sculptures. Each statue wore a fig leaf that was lighter in color than the rest of the body. The Great Castration, Langdon thought. It was one of the most horrific tragedies in Renaissance art. In 1857, Pope Pius IX decided that the accurate representation of the male form might incite lust inside the Vatican. So he got a chisel and mallet and hacked off the genitalia of every single male statue inside Vatican City. He defaced works by Michelangelo, Bramante, and Bernini. Plaster fig leaves were used to patch the damage. Hundreds of sculptures had been emasculated. Langdon had often wondered if there was a huge crate of stone penises someplace. â€Å"Here,† the guard announced. They reached the bottom of the stairs and dead-ended at a heavy, steel door. The guard typed an entry code, and the door slid open. Langdon and Vittoria entered. Beyond the threshold was absolute mayhem.

How I got interested in Computer Science and why should I be admitted Personal Statement

How I got interested in Computer Science and why should I be admitted to B. Tech. Course in Computer Science, at University of Wisconsin - Personal Statement Example This prompted me to learn more, so I took my first computing course at the age of 6. Overtime my computer literacy evolved from basic Microsoft Office applications to advanced programming. Along with books like Hardy Boys, Robin Cook and Enid Blyton, I bought books that guided me through more complicated but effective use of computers. I studied C++ and HTML, and in no time I was able to perform basic operations using the two. At 16, I was able to create a website for my groups Project Work (Singapore A-Level subject) that taught Hainanese (a declining dialect in Singapore). By this time my older brother was already pursuing his B. Tech. in Computer Sciences and Engineering in I.I.T. Mumbai, and eventually worked for Microsoft Research for a couple of years before setting up his own company. This has further inspired me to pursue my own interest in Computer Science as a career, and consequently became one of the factors why I chose to apply for a B. Tech. course in Computer Science at the University of Wisconsin. At the University of Wisconsin, students are expected to be holistically competent and excellent, and I believe I am fully qualified as one. In the academic field, I have always been adept at analytical and logical reasoning. By the time I finished secondary school, I had completed numerous puzzles, riddles and IQ books. These books were instrumental in making me more logical, which contributed greatly to my winning the prestigious National Talent Search Examination scholarship, the highest scholarship award and best academic recognition given by the Government of India. Furthermore, my fondness for analysis and logic became the reason behind my passion for Math and Physics, and why I was able to perform consistently well in these subjects during my SIA scholarship period at St. Andrews Junior College, Singapore. In sports, I can also say that I

Interview analysis and reflection Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Interview analysis and reflection - Essay Example He said that he worked ten hours a day for seven days a week which I felt was quite demanding and required a lot of effort. He stated that he started street vending because there was a lot of work, hence, this was a result of a necessity. He admitted that he would like to change to another job which I felt was a sign of dissatisfaction. I also found out that he has a family around who included uncles and a brother. However, he indicated that the vending business was at times enough to feed his family and at times it was not which I felt was a risky job. The interviewee indicated that he also makes money through jobs in the construction, gardening and painting industries. As per the availability of these other jobs, I found out that the construction and gardening jobs were readily available in Mexico but were not readily available in Los Angeles. I also found out that the main challenge in the street vending business is lack of enough capital from the job. He stated that there was not enough money to help him advance his prospects in the job. I felt that he was stuck in the street vending job. He stated that there were no rewards from the job and that it was just like he was not working. After his vending he stated that he went back home and takes a rest. His routine was to close the job at six, going to bed at eleven and waking up at six. I felt that this was very demanding as he slept seven hours a week and works ten hours a day. I found out that what makes him happy as a street vendor was the money which I felt he was too money oriented. I also found out that he regularly conversed with his customer as it was necessary. He conversed with some while he didn’t with others. He also stated that he makes around five hundred dollars a week on hot days, but on cold days he made three hundred dollars a week. I found out th at he has a boss who bought him the car but he has to buy the fruits everyday which his boss pays but the

Media Torrent Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Media Torrent - Essay Example In his article â€Å"Supersaturation, or The Media Torrent and Disposable Feeling†, Todd Gitlin states his observation and provides sufficient evidence supporting the fact that media has great influence on our lives. Right from the time of emergence of television and internet, media has been influencing the lives of individuals whether it is through print, television, films or social networking websites. However one may take into account the fact that the notion of media saturation has gone through several significant amendments since the time Gitlin’s article was published. There are many evidences illustrated by Gitlin that support his ideas of â€Å"super-saturation† and â€Å"disposable feeling†. The literal meaning of â€Å"super-saturation† is to increase the concentration of solution beyond saturation. The word â€Å"super-saturation† is used by Gitlin for defining the notion that how the modern society has completely absorbed the internet and media. The society is completely immersed in the images and gossips that are being displayed by media. There is no clear line present, which distinguishes living space from working space. Outer world has invaded the inner world of people. Gitlin uses the phrase â€Å"disposable feeling† because individuals today are easily switching from one feeling to another, one scandal to another, without making effort to actually find out the hidden truth. I completely agree with Gitlin’s idea that media has its impact on our lives through several means and its component have gr adually immersed in our daily. We can easily observe the amount of movies and TV shows being watched and quantity of CD’s and cameras being used in today’s modern world. Gitlin states that the extensive use of internet has not diminished the use of media but has affected the flow of unlimited media. I do support the fact presented by Gitlin that Internet has revolutionized the use of media. Our hyper-mediated world is affected by internet to a great extent converting us from media users to media producers (Gitlin). Gitlin’s article to some extent downplays the massive influence that internet had on the society at the time it was penned. Despite of this fact many of the points suggested by Gitlin are still valid in today’s world. The emergence of the social networking website â€Å"Facebook† is the example of the actualization of Gitlin’s observation. This website is known for providing its users with hyper-mediated experience as it allows th em to upload photos, videos, texts and provide them variety of ways through which they are allowed to express themselves. Facebook media is different from the inherent media as on this social networking website a mass population is acting of watching other people’s activities. 600 million Facebook users actively participate in this process of acting and watching. They create their own replicas through their profiles. People become kings, queens, demons, angels and adopt the character of their choice, which is far away from reality. These websites have created a virtual world that is far from reality. Gitlin has also stated that individuals today have the authority to create their own content. This proposition of Gitlin can be easily implied to the communicative quality of Facebook where individuals develop their original content and portray it in a way different from reality. The experience of their life is no

Emotional intelligence and its role in leading Essay

Emotional intelligence and its role in leading - Essay Example The researcher states that the study conducted by Mayer and Salovey defined the term emotional intelligence under the category of social intelligence. They stated that Emotional Intelligence (EI) is defined as the process through which an individual is able to understand and manage emotions of others as well as themselves. It is believed that people having high emotional intelligence are aware of their feelings and how emotions can affect others. The authors have pointed out that the definition of emotional intelligence is centred on different aspects such as social intelligence and interpersonal skills. The author has classified different types of intelligence because it is a broad field. The ability of an individual to manage or understand others falls under the social aspects of intelligence. To a certain extent it also includes the ability to understand others. The authors have however excluded other types of intelligence such as mechanical and abstract intelligence to focus on t he main purpose of their research. Mayer and Salovey postulated in their theory that emotional intelligence can be defined as cognitive aptitude which is related to general intelligence but not the same. Their theory proposed a model that identifies four different abilities – emotional facilitation, understanding, perception and management. The first level or the basic level involves an individual’s ability to distinguish emotion. This stage involves skills that are based on successful interpretation of facial expressions.

Causes Of Cancer Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Causes Of Cancer - Essay Example Occupation-related cancer comprises 5 to 20% of the cases. The minimum of 200,000 people worldwide dies annually from cancer induced by harmful workplace conditions. The majority of deaths linked to occupational risk factors happen in the developed countries. In the U.S. only, 20,000 cancer deaths and 40,000 newly registered cases a year can be attributed to dangerous chemicals inhaled or contacted with while at work. Genetic factors can also play a crucial role in cancer development. Mutations of the genome alter the growth patterns and make targeted cells potentially cancerous. Sometimes, genetic mutations may be present from the moment of birth, and a syndrome is called family cancer syndrome. The mutation usually occurs in one or several tumor suppressor genes. Such individuals are predisposed to having cancer, but they do not necessarily develop clinical signs. Every gene is represented in the cell with two copies called alleles. Cancer syndromes are usually transferred in the autosomal dominant way. This means that even one altered allele is enough for the individual to be predisposed to cancer. Potential children of such a person and an individual with two intact alleles are at a 50% risk of being born sick (Brown & Anderson, 2007). The regularity, called a two-hit hypothesis, says that the first hit is the genome mutation and the second one happens later in life. Since only one allele is to be altered, the chance of developing a disease is higher in affected people than in the rest of population.

Wireless Technology used in Business Application Essay

Wireless Technology used in Business Application - Essay Example Nevertheless, even usual e-mail applications corresponds as a security threat for a potential enterprise if hackers gain the access to the network, or feed the network with viruses or other malicious software. IT managers must carefully appraise security risks involved with wireless applications and try to maintain proper security for the networks as is needed. This paper will address the issues regarding wireless technology and tries to discuss the positive and negative points of using this technology for business purposes. Cellular systems were begin to be used more than a quarter of centaury ago and since that time, IT managers realized that the Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS) standard was not secure enough for authentication purposes because of caller fraud which was going to be increased. (Kurose, 2004) By the appearance of Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD) which provided 128-bit encryption for security purposes and Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) provided encryption and the implementation of user authentication techniques as part of the wireless standard, security flaws also appeared and IT managers faced with unlawful use of communications by un-authorized users, so new standards were defined. Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) which specifies an unequalled code to each data packet and then disperses the packets thorough the air made it difficult for hackers to intercept the packages and brought more security for the devices which were designed to benefit from the wireless technology such as PDAs, Cell Phones and Laptops. (Kurose,2004) However the more technology improved, more and easier ways to intercept a wireless based structure appeared and this resulted companies to seek for more improved security if they wished to deploy their wireless networks. At the same time the wireless data networking is earning most of the marketplace notice, IT managers and the organizations which employ

Why are we so fat Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Why are we so fat - Essay Example adults (33.8%) are obese and approximately 17% (or 12.5 million) of children and adolescents aged 2—19 years are obese† (U.S. Obesity Trends). Obesity is caused by excessive fat deposits in body. Lack of physical workouts, overeating, changing food habits, excessive fat contents in foods etc are some of the reasons for the increasing trends in obesity statistics. This paper tries to answer the question; why are we so fat? According to what’s known as the Expensive Tissue Hypothesis, early humans compensated for the energy used in their heads by cutting back on the energy used in their guts; as man’s cranium grew, his digestive tract shrank. This forced him to obtain more energy-dense foods than his fellow-primates were subsisting on, which put a premium on adding further brain power. The result of this self-reinforcing process was a strong taste for foods that are high in calories and easy to digest; just as it is natural for gorillas to love leaves, it is natural for people to love funnel cakes (Kolbert). One of the major reasons cited for the overweight related problems among Americans is the changes happening in the brain systems. It is a fact that brain is getting far more developed as time goes on. In other words, current generation has brain size much higher than that of the generations in the past. Thus brains of the current generation require more energy and for that purpose they consume more energetic foods. American medical association committed a serious blunder by asking the public to take only low fat food. â€Å"They failed to take into account that when people do that, they increase their carbohydrates. Slashing carbohydrates and sticking to protein (Why are We So Fat?). It should be noted that blocking of fatty foods not only prevented the ketosis process but also it caused increased hunger. Thus people started to eat more and more foods enriched with carbohydrates which resulted in overweight. Current Americans are c onsuming foods like pasta, potatoes, flour, cereal products, and bread more and more than the Americans in the past. These food items have low glucose contents and therefore a spike in insulin production may occur. Low blood sugar can increases hunger and appetite for food and the final outcome could be overweight. It is an accepted fact that Americans are enjoying the most lavish life styles in the world. Majority of the people in America may have their own vehicles and they use it for their traveling needs. In other words, Americans may not walk even a single kilometer if they wanted to go somewhere. Moreover, busy life styles prevented them from engaging in any physical work outs or playing some games. Majority of the leisure times are spent in front of the computers by the Americans. The increasing popularity of social networks and the availability of easy to use communication tools such as palmtop, laptop, tablet PCs, iPads, mobile phones etc are forcing the Americans to spend more time in front of the computer and internet. In short, mental or verbal exercises are increasing among Americans whereas physical exercises are decreasing. Thus, extra energy consumed through excessive foods may become deposited in the body rather than burning it out through physical exercises. The line between being in and out of energy balance is slight. Suppose you consume a mere 5 percent over a 2,000-calorie-a-day average. "That's just one hundred calories; it's a glass of apple juice," says Rudolph Leibel, head of molecular genetics at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. "But those few extra calories can mean a huge weight gain." Since one pound of body weight is roughly equivalent to 3,500 calories, that glass of juice adds up to an

The Modified Market Economy Essay Example for Free

The Modified Market Economy Essay What is a modified market economy? What factors have been responsible for the emergence of this kind of economic system? How do governments influence economic decision making in such systems? Use Australian examples to illustrate your answer. A modified market economy is a market economy in which there are varying amounts of intervention and property ownership by the government. The Australian economy would be classed as a modified market, as we have a certain degree of government intervention, and this is something we should feel lucky for in our country, because due to this we are able to experience the free, fair lifestyle which we enjoy. The emergence of this kind of economy is mainly due to weaknesses in the market economy which, with out regulation, becomes an economy mainly concentrated on the wealthy people. The basic reason for the modified market economy is that the free market does not produce an efficient allocation of resources, and that the free market does not distribute output in a socially desirable way. For example in a modified market, the government regulate the flow a income a bit so that not only the rich make money. In a market economy the rich get richer and the poor get poorer as there is no regulation in terms of income distribution. The intervention by the government, in forms such as social security nets, which is present in a modified market, makes society more evenly spread rather than everyone being one of two things, that is, very rich, or very poor. In such economies as these, the government influence economic decision making much to our advantage in terms of them providing many of the resources needed to satisfy collective wants, making restrictions upon what can and can not be done, in the interests of our health, the environment, impacts upon society etc. Through this they regulate much of the possible ?bad economic decisions that could be made. The Australian government does place some limitations on freedom of  enterprise, but generally encourages private business activity as it is an advantage to our whole economic growth in terms of employment etc. The Australian government also encourages the idea of fair competition. To keep the consumer choice less restrictive the government might not allow certain take overs that may limit the number of choices available to the consumer. Competitive prices that come from businesses are also good for the economy in general, for example if an Australian owned company, such as Uncle Tobys, can provide the same food as an American owned company at a competitive price, then consumers will tend to buy from the Australian company which keeps more our money in our country. Basically, the government intervention in economies such as ours, is all done to benefit our economy as a whole, to help even the distribution of income, to provide resource to help satisfy our unending collective wants. It is all done in an effort to make our countrys economy as efficient and all round satisfying, as possible. To make our country a prosperous and enjoyable place to live.

Effect Of Design On Paper Plane

Effect Of Design On Paper Plane I have decided to write my extended essay on this topic because this activity of flying paper planes was taught to us in our childhood when we were not mature enough to learn the principles of science and investigate and apply them to these planes. But what caught my interest was that how do paper airplanes of such light weights can maintain their flight and speed even while facing winds and other external factors. Firstly, I had decided to write my essay based on the principles used in these planes, but my supervisor guided me that it was too broad and thus, I narrowed down my topic to- To investigate the difference in the flight of the paper planes and the distance covered by it due to the shape, mass and design of the paper planes. Introduction: Paper airplanes are a source of fun and entertainment for many people while they can also be used as a part of learning and gaining some amount of knowledge about the real aeroplanes. Some people have also named this activity as an art named aerogami which derives from the name origami (a Japanese art of paper folding). But, this so called entertaining and competitive activity has a lot of science especially physics related to it as we can associate with different laws of aerodynamics and motion. Paper airplanes have designs ranging from simple planes for kids to competitive and complex ones like moth, tumbler, spike and many more to mention. As kids, we never used to think about these principles and designs that are associated with every part of paper planes from its formation to its flight. But, as a science student, I have got an opportunity to explore the various aerodynamic principles and get a deeper knowledge about the physics of paper planes. History: The history of paper planes is not quite specific as there have been many people who have contributed their theories in this field. Da Vinci who was a famous Italian personality is often regarded as the inventor of paper airplanes while some have the belief that Chinese people are the real makers of this art as they were the ones who invented paper and kites. The modern paper planes saw their creation in the year 1909 while its acceptance was seen in after two decades in the year 1930 by John Northrop. Actually, Northrop tried these designs in order to test the real principles of flying aircrafts. From the early centuries till the current years, there have been many changes and corrections made in the structure of paper planes such as in their shape, style, fashion and lift. Thus, the paper airplanes have seen a lot of modifications in their shape and principles over these years and this credit goes to each and every person who has contributed to it though the history is not quite fa mous or known. Aerodynamics and Paper Airplanes: Aerodynamics is referred to as the branch of mechanics that deals with the motion of air and other gases and with the effects of such motion on bodies in the medium. Aero planes and helicopters follow the principles and theorems of this study of science and this is the case in the working of the paper plane models. The various principles that are used in this study and more specifically in the working of paper planes are drag, lift, flight, thrust, weight and velocity. But I will be concentrating more on the flight of these paper planes in regard with my topic. Lift, thrust, weight (gravity) and drag are the four important factors in the working and the distance covered by paper airplanes. Thrust- Thrust is the force on the horizontal left hand side of the paper airplane which decides the flight of the paper plane and this force comes from the strength of the pilot (in this case the person throwing or flying the paper plane). While taking flight, this altitude is converted into forward motion, which results in the proper flight of the airplane. Lift- Lift is another force on the vertical upper hand side of the paper airplane. Usually, the air below the wing of the airplane push the air on the upper side and the air above the wing push the air on the lower direction. At this point when the lower air pressure is much harder than the upper one, then the airplane is able to fly. And also the wings of the airplane are curved which allows the air to move over the top more quickly, thus resulting in lift or upward push. Drag- Drag is the force that is present in the horizontal right hand side of the paper airplane which allows or decides the maximum distance of any paper airplane. A plane is said to have a lot of drag when the plane pushes a lot of air, in which the paper airplane does not fly more distance. But when the drag is as low as possible the plane is able to cover more distance due to the low amount of air pressure in the horizontal direction. Drag can be compared to the friction present on the surface when any object is moving. Weight (gravity) Weight or gravity is the force that covers the vertical lower hand side of the paper airplane. The airplanes weight must also be less so that it can fight the attraction of gravitation and thus, the plane will be able to fly more distance in the air. The greater the weight, the more the attraction and the lesser the distance covered. Thus, these are the four crucial principles that have to be observed for any paper airplane to fly in the air. But, are only these principles responsible for the flight of the airplane? Are there any other factors that are also important in deciding the flight of a paper airplane? Do the physical quantities or the structure of the airplane play a major role in planning the flight or the distance covered? In order to research and find out whether there are any other principles related to the flying of airplanes that are made out of paper, I have performed an experiment that brings out the result whether the shape, weight and the structure play an important role in determining the flight of the paper airplane. Experiment: Aim: To determine the relation between the designs, type of paper used in the paper plane and the flight or the distance covered by the paper plane. Hypothesis: I had the initial idea that the paper planes that are lighter in weight cover more distance as they have the capacity to move in the air with the force or the pressure of the wind. And I also felt that the paper airplane of design Moth will cover the largest distance as I have experimented and used this design many times for its smooth kind of flying. I usually thought that the type of paper and design are both equally important for the flight of paper planes. Variables: Dependent variable- The distance that the paper planes covers is the dependent variable. Independent variable- The type of paper used and the designs of the paper planes are the independent variables. Controlled variable- The force with which the person throws the paper planes can be controlled and also the height and the direction in which the paper planes are thrown are controlled. Uncontrolled variable- the force of gravity and the drag in the air acting on the paper planes are uncontrolled. Also, external factors such as wind, dust particles cannot be controlled. Apparatus: 7 X Meter scale/ Ruler of 100 cm 1 X Chalk 5 X Paper planes of different designs made up of cardboard paper 5 X Paper planes of different designs made up of A-4 size normal paper 5 X Paper planes of different designs made up of hand-made paper 1 X Analytical balance Note: The paper planes used in the experiment must be of 5 different designs but these designs must be used throughout for every kind of paper used. Procedure: 1. Make the following paper airplanes with the following types of paper- Design of paper airplane Type of paper Type of paper Type of paper Pictures Arrow Cardboard Hand-made A-4 size normal paper Moth Cardboard Hand-made A-4 size normal paper Flying fish Cardboard Hand-made A-4 size normal paper Wide Cardboard Hand-made A-4 size normal paper Unknown Cardboard Hand-made A-4 size normal paper Note that the flaps or the wings of the paper planes must be folded in the upward direction. 2. Gather all the apparatus needed to perform the experiment and select a wide, open and a large area without any obstacles such as pillars or other objects in the area where the experiment is performed. 3. Firstly, mark the initial position with the help of a chalk. This position is the point or the line from where the paper plane needs to be thrown. Note that the person throwing the plane with the help of his hands must not exceed or go behind the line while throwing the plane. The initial position needs to be constant for all the paper planes. 4. Take all the paper planes of design Arrow of materials- cardboard, hand-made paper and A-4 size normal paper. Take each one of them and fly them from the height of the shoulder of the person who is throwing the paper plane. Measure the distance covered by the plane with the help of the chalk. Mark the point where the plane falls on the ground and then measure the distance from the initial position. 5. Similarly, repeat the experiment with the paper planes of other designs. Measure and record the distances of all the planes and tabulate the readings. 6. Also, measure the weight of all the paper planes on the analytical balance and record them. Risk Management: While making the paper planes, see to it that the shape is symmetrical and the folds that are made on the wings must be equal on both sides. Also, note that the person flies the paper plane with enough force. This is because the capacity of the paper plane to fight against the drag in the air increases if the initial velocity of the plane is high. Important note: Note that the readings of the distance covered by the paper planes must be taken at least 5 times to reduce the errors during the experiment. Also, whenever the paper planes are thrown, the tip of the paper plane must be made straight so that the plane flies smoothly on the basis of its shape and the type of paper used because the fold or the improper tip of the plane may be an obstruction for the plane to cover its normal distance. Raw and Processed Data: Sr. No. Type of paper Design of paper planes Distance covered by the planes (centimeter) Average distance covered by the paper planes (centimeters) Weight of the paper plane (grams) 1.a. Cardboard paper Arrow 379.30 +0.1 340.70 +0.1 367.10 +0.1 323.00 +0.1 298.20 +0.1 341.66 +0.1 11.319 1.b. A-4 size normal paper Arrow 483.90 +0.1 670.50 +0.1 435.90 +0.1 458.30 +0.1 698.30 +0.1 594.38 +0.1 3.648 1.c. Hand-made paper Arrow 406.20 +0.1 425.10 +0.1 373.60 +0.1 395.80 +0.1 397.00 +0.1 399.54 +0.1 10.062 2.a. Cardboard paper Flying fish 299.10 +0.1 353.20 +0.1 381.40 +0.1 297.50 +0.1 292.20 +0.1 324.68 +0.1 13.511 2.b. A-4 size normal paper Flying fish 311.70 +0.1 373.00 +0.1 282.50 +0.1 344.90 +0.1 381.70 +0.1 338.76 +0.1 4.397 2.c. Hand-made paper Flying fish 287.30 +0.1 293.70 +0.1 366.00 +0.1 330.60 +0.1 360.30 +0.1 327.58 +0.1 12.483 3.a. Cardboard paper Moth 358.20 +0.1 399.10 +0.1 322.30 +0.1 371.70 +0.1 448.20 +0.1 379.90 +0.1 10.786 3.b. A-4 size normal paper Moth 492.90 +0.1 421.00 +0.1 455.80 +0.1 583.10 +0.1 502.60 +0.1 491.08 +0.1 4.395 3.c. Hand-made paper Moth 389.30 +0.1 324.20 +0.1 462.40 +0.1 387.00 +0.1 353.20 +0.1 383.22 +0.1 9.244 4.a. Cardboard paper Delta-Wing 276.00 +0.1 201.90 +0.1 250.10 +0.1 196.30 +0.1 227.00 +0.1 230.26 +0.1 14.371 4.b. A-4 size normal paper Delta-Wing 252.60 +0.1 259.40 +0.1 299.90 +0.1 274.70 +0.1 251.30 +0.1 267.58 +0.1 4.400 4.c. Hand-made paper Delta-Wing 296.20 +0.1 257.80 +0.1 231.60 +0.1 237.60 +0.1 241.50 +0.1 252.94 +0.1 11.196 5.a. Cardboard paper Paper Jet 226.40 +0.1 214.40 +0.1 183.20 +0.1 165.10 +0.1 180.70 +0.1 193.96 +0.1 12.948 5.b. A-4 size normal paper Paper Jet 335.10 +0.1 307.80 +0.1 362.30 +0.1 330.00 +0.1 405.40 +0.1 348.12 +0.1 3.907 5.c. Hand-made paper Paper Jet 336.40 +0.1 291.60 +0.1 337.90 +0.1 367.80 +0.1 337.20 +0.1 334.18 +0.1 7.927 The uncertainties in the experiment is + 0.1 cm because least count on the meter scale is + 0.1 cm. Observations: From the observation table, we can almost indicate that the heaviest paper plane in every type of design covers the shortest distance while the lightest paper plane covers the highest distance. We see that the paper planes made out of cardboard paper are the heaviest in every design of paper used and the ones made out of A-4 size normal paper are the lightest. But in the table, there is an observation for the paper planes of design Paper Jet where the distance covered has drastically reduced for the cardboard paper when we compare planes with other types of papers used and also when we see the difference between other types of paper planes. Conclusion of the experiment: From the above observation, we can state that the design and weight of the paper plane and the type of paper used are important to determine the distance covered by the paper airplanes as we obtain different readings of distances covered by the paper airplanes of different designs. But, here the question arises as to why the weight affects the flight of the paper planes and another question is that what are the other relevant factors that affect the flight of the paper planes. Wings functioning theory: Wings are important features of any object or creature when it comes to flight and balance in air. Birds have wings with the help of which they are able to fly and for fast transportation and development of technology, these principles of the wings were used in the making of aero-planes. And these wings also play a crucial role in enabling the paper airplanes to fly through air. According to Bernoullis principle in relation to aerodynamics, whenever the speed of air is greater, the pressure that the air exerts on the surface is lower and vice versa. Thus, we can relate this principle to paper airplanes and state that when the paper airplane is in air, the air passes through both- the upper as well as the lower part of the wings. Also, the wings have an angle of attack as the wings are not straight while passing through the opposite air drag and they create an angle with the air. According to my experiment, when the wings pass through the air, the angle of attack is created with the air and thus, the wings move upwards. This activity makes the speed of air greater in the upward part of the wing and reduces the speed in the lower part. On applying the Bernoullis principle, the pressure on the upper part reduces, thus creating suction with the wing and pulling them upwards. While the pressure under the wings increases and this pushes the wings in the upward direction. This helps the paper airplane to remain aloft and stable in the air. There is another principle that helps the paper planes remain in air for a longer time which is Newtons third law of motion which states that every reaction has an equal and opposite reaction. During the flight of the plane, the wings face a considerable amount of air coming towards it and when this air applies force or creates pressure on the wings, the wings, in return, apply force and pressure on the air which helps them to remain stable in the air. Thus, Bernoullis principle and Newtons third law of motion are both appropriate reasons for the flight of paper airplanes in the air with the help of the wings. Also, this theory varies accordingly with the different types of designs used in the experiment because not all planes have the same structure of wings and thus, the amount of pressure and the amount of force applied on the wings is different. For example, the arrow, moth and delta wing have the same type of wings that are mentioned in the theory (that is they are tilted upwards). But designs such as paper jet and flying fish have quite different shapes of wings that are evident from the diagram of the airplanes shown in the experiment. Thus, for the paper jet, there are several folds and flaps in the wing itself and thus, the amount of pressure and the reaction force from the wings towards the air, are different at different parts of the wings. One part of the wing has several folds on one another while one part has a smooth surface. So, the wings air pressure at the smooth surface of the wing may be different than the pressure and force on the folded surface. Thus, there are possibilities of various kinds of movements such as ups and downs or loops or nosedives of the plane and thus, there is a difference in the distance covered by these planes. So, we can draw conclusions that the design of the wings or the planes is on e factor that is responsible for the distance covered by the paper planes. Weight theory: The observation table from the experiment proves that for these designs, the greater the weight of the planes is, the lesser distance is covered by them. Drag is the horizontal force that acts on the paper plane when it flies through the air. Thus, this force becomes an obstacle for the plane to cover more distance. In order to fight and resist this air pressure, we need to have a strong material of paper which has the capacity to resist the air drag. From the materials of paper used, cardboard paper is the heaviest and we can thus, say that it has the largest amount of power to resist air drag. But, at the same time, there is a force of gravity acting downwards towards the ground surface. And according to theory of gravity, the more the weight of the object is, the greater is the attraction. Hence, we can say that though the cardboard paper is the heaviest, it also has a greater force of attraction due to gravity. This mixture of gravitational force and the air drag makes the cardbo ard plane cover the least distance. Thus, the weight of the paper used is one reason which affects the distance covered by the paper planes. The above theories indicate that the wing functioning theory forms the basis for which the paper airplanes fly and the weight theory determines the distance covered by the paper airplanes in relation to its weight. Though the normal paper has the least weight, the wind and the force from the person throwing the plane enable the plane to move smoothly in the air. Thus, as there is least attraction of gravity for this plane, it is able to fly farther distances. Thus, the weight theory in regard with drag and gravity helps to determine the distance covered by the planes. Evaluation of the experiment: Improvement of errors: While throwing the paper airplane, the force applied on every paper airplane might not be the same which leads to the variations in the readings obtained. In order to improve this error, the person must decide a particular fixed amount of force or energy that he will apply to the plane. This action can help to reduce some amount of errors. The experiment is performed in an open area where there are now windows or sources of high air flow. Though high amount of air flow is avoided, there is a possibility of some kind of passage of wind which might affect the flight of the paper airplanes. For example, the amount of wind present may not be equal all time and thus, this may affect the flight of planes accordingly. Thus, the thrower must use enough force that can help the paper airplanes to overcome gravity and fight the air resistance. The distance covered by each paper plane was measured five times in order to reduce systematic errors. This step may also affect the flight of paper planes sometimes as the landing of the paper planes is very which may include crashes with the ground surface. Due to crashing, the sharp tip or the nose of the paper plane may get disturbed or blunt. And this change in the shape of the tip may lead to the variations in distances covered. To overcome this error, the thrower must be careful and always try to straighten up the tip of the paper airplanes. By doing so, the crashing of the planes can be avoided and the normal flight of the paper planes can be maintained. The folds and flaps of the paper airplanes have to be done with perfection so that there is no problem with the flight of the planes and the planes can cover their actual distances. For paper airplane readings of paper Jet, we notice that the distance covered by the normal and hand-made paper is quite different and higher than that covered by the cardboard paper plane. The reason for this is the design and the stiffness of the cardboard paper. The design of this paper plane is very complex and it includes several minor and major folds and flaps. Due to the tough material of cardboard paper, it is very difficult to follow all the steps of the design. Thus, the design of this plane is not perfect enough and the folds also do not remain stable. This is the reason why the paper plane covers very less distance as compared to other planes of the same design. In order to avoid these construction errors, the person may change the type of design used that fits according to the material of paper used or the folds must be done carefully and a much better plane of the same design can be constructed. The apparatus used in the experiment such as the analytical balance and the meter scale must work properly to avoid systematic errors and the weight and distances of the paper planes must be measured carefully. The calculations such as the average distance must be correct to avoid any random errors.