Why Do People Reject Science?

News

Climate change. Vaccines. Evolution. People debate about these topics—and many others—even when they’re not an expert. In fact, many claim to know more than the experts. Why? No one would tell a rocket scientist how to calculate trajectory. No one would tell an open heart surgeon where to begin. And yet, people tell climate scientists the data is wrong. They tell doctors they know more about vaccines then they do. They tell biologists evolution is baloney.

It seems, however, that Americans love science. 79 percent of Americans say that science has made life better for them, and 70 percent support the government investing in science. That being said, these numbers have fallen since 2009. The American people’s trust in scientists has stayed the same for many years.

So why are so many people rejecting science?

What We Want

An article from Science Alert claims that this is all simply psychology. People hand pick their facts to support their conclusion and ignore anything that opposes them. This is known as cognitive bias, and it’s very normal. We’ve known for years that people do this.

It’s all about maintaining the status quo. Even when people see the real facts next to their distorted beliefs, they remain firm. Often, if people accept science, they would have to make a change. It’s easier to reject the things they don’t want to hear than to fix the problem.

Many who don’t believe in evolution cite the Bible as evidence against it. According to the Pew Research Center, nearly 50 percent of adults who attend church weekly don’t believe in evolution at all, while another 24 percent believe that evolution was guided by a “supreme being.” These people probably like having evidence for God. They’ve believed for years that their story of creation is the truth. That isn’t something many would drop because of what scientists say.

What We Hear

Studies suggest that U.S. adults don’t know how widespread some scientific conclusions are. 37 percent of U.S. adults think that scientists do not agree on climate change. The fact is that nearly all climate scientists agree global warming is real and a problem we need to fix. People simply don’t know what scientists know.

It’s easy to see why. Science is becoming a political issue. According to the Center for American Progress Fund, over one-fourth of our current Congress does not believe in climate change. All of these members are Republican, and they account for 60 percent of Republican representatives in Congress. Outside of Congress, 82 percent of Democrats believe that global warming is happening, compared to only 50 percent of Republicans.

Senator Ted Cruz, a former presidential candidate and a Republican representing Texas, does not believe in climate change. In a 2015 interview with the National Public Radio, Senator Cruz said, “the scientific evidence doesn’t support global warming.” He went on to claim that global warming was made up so liberal politicians could get more power. Senator Cruz is viewed favorably with 45 percent of Texans. He influences a lot of people; Texas has the second largest population of any state. If this is what our representatives are saying, what else could we?

What We Know

Another reason why people may reject or mistrust science is because it’s not something they know a lot about. In a study from the Pew Research Center, only 19 percent of U.S. adults with high science knowledge said the risk of side effects from the MMR vaccine were medium or high. In comparison, 47 percent of adults with low science knowledge said the same thing.

To people without a science background, differing opinions may seem to hold the same amount of credibility. Their pediatrician may be drowned out by anti-vax moms on Facebook. Everyone wants what’s best for their kids and their family.

Of course, scientists make mistakes. Many medical symptoms are based off of those for a young white male. Women’s symptoms often go overlooked because they’re not well taught. It’s okay to question science, but the danger comes in rejecting it. In the end, it’s important to make sure that people listen to science. However, we shouldn’t do so in a judgmental or condescending way. We need to be understanding, kind, and respectful. As long as people who reject science are in the minority, we’ll be okay.

Who is Killing the Earth?

environment, News

It is an indisputable fact that the Earth is getting warmer. Study after study after study has proven time and time again that temperatures are rising at an alarming rate. Glaciers are melting, sea levels are rising, and creatures everywhere are losing their homes to human growth. 97 percent of climate scientists agree that there is a problem. We cannot ignore this any longer.

Every day we see articles giving advice on how you, the average citizen, can stop global warming. If we all do our part, they claim, it will make a huge difference.

It’s time to stop pretending that the average citizen is to blame for this record level pollution. Only 100 companies produce 71 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to the 2017 Carbon Majors Report. Most of these companies are fossil fuels producers.

Starbucks has started to phase out straws, but the new straw-less lids use more plastic than the straws and old lids did. These lids are recyclable, which is an improvement, but only if they get recycled. Statistically speaking, they won’t be. Only 9.5 percent of plastic is recycled. Over 75 percent ends up in landfills. According to the New York Times, Memphis’ airport (which has three Starbucks) has recycling bins, but everything placed in them goes to the landfill with the trash. Furthermore, an ocean clean up project found that 65 percent of plastic products cleaned up were from Coca Cola, Pepsi, or Nestle.

We blame residents for not recycling when many areas don’t pick up recycling. According to a 2016 report from The Recycling Partnership, only 53 percent of the United States has automatic access to curbside recycling. Curbside recycling is when it gets picked up from your house, the way garbage does. Without curbside recycling, residents have to take their recycling to a facility, sometimes across town. Many people don’t want to put this kind of effort in.

Alternatively, residents may pay for a private collector to pick up their recyclables. However, this could cost anywhere from $5 to $25 a month. In addition, fees could be added if you have more than one bin. Some may not be able to afford this, while others simply don’t care enough to pay for such a service.  

The government must lead the way to save our planet. Many are trying. Nearly 200 counties signed the Paris Climate Agreement, an agreement to make plans to cut emissions. In 2017, President Donald Trump pulled the United States out, despite overwhelming nation-wide support for the agreement.

Source: Marlon, J.R., Fine, E., and Leiserowitz, A. (2017). A majority of Americans in every state say the U.S. should participate in the Paris Climate Agreement. Yale University. New Haven, CT: Yale Program on Climate Change Communication.

That being said, even in the countries that are still a part of the agreement, goals are not being met. Furthermore, an article posted in Nature claims that the goals set by member nations are not enough to save the planet. But the Paris agreement is not binding. Nothing is stopping any country from not doing its part.

We, as humans, have to make a change. I want to see a world that future generations can thrive in, and not one plagued by extreme weather, decreased biodiversity, and rising sea levels that consumes the land we live on. Rejecting science and ignoring evidence will kill the Earth if we’re not careful.

So please, be careful.

For more information, review the sources below.

Another Galaxy Coming to Space Near You!

Astronomy and Physics, Beyond, News

Space continues to dazzle the eye! NASA recently posted this photo of Messier 90. Messier 90, also called NGC 4569, is a spiral galaxy located in the constellation Virgo about 90 million light years away from the Earth.

This image is a composite of light from the infrared, visible, and ultraviolet parts of the spectrum. The black portion of the photo is just a consequence of the camera used.

Source: ESA/Hubble & NASA, W. Sargent et al.

The most fascinating thing about Messier 90 is that the galaxy is moving towards us.

Most galaxies are moving away from us, with a few notable exceptions, including the Andromeda Galaxy. The galaxies move away because the universe is expanding. On a larger scale, everything moves away from us. However, on a more local scale, this expansion isn’t as intense, so galaxies are able to move towards one another.

Astronomers know Messier 90 is moving towards us because it is blue-shifted. The stars that make up galaxies produce photons, the particles of light, in every wavelength of the electromagnetic spectrum. When photons interact with atoms, such as the hydrogen and helium in stars, certain wavelengths are “blacked out” from the spectrum in what are called absorption lines. Absorption lines always occur at the same wavelength for each specific element. Therefore, scientists know exactly where the lines should be. Furthermore, they know exactly which elements a star contains based on these lines alone.

As a source moves towards the observer, the light waves are compressed, making them appear shorter. This causes the absorption lines to move to the shorter wavelength part of the spectrum, or towards the blue part of the visible spectrum. This is why we call them blue-shifted.

The same thing happens when galaxies move away, but instead, the wavelengths get longer. We call this red-shifted. In fact, the large number of red-shifted galaxies is how Edwin Hubble discovered the universe is expanding!

Messier 90 is a member of the Virgo Cluster, a neighbor of our own Local Group. The Virgo Cluster is another small cluster in our supercluster. The Virgo Cluster is thought to be whipping member galaxies around, causing some to be heading towards us. Astronomers think this because Messier 90 is not the only blue-shifted galaxy in the Virgo Cluster. Messier 86 is also blue-shifted!

Messier 90’s center has lots of active star formation, but this does not extend to the edges of the galaxy. Astronomers believe that this is another consequence of the galaxy’s membership in the Virgo Cluster. They theorize that other galaxies in the cluster have stripped Messier 90 of its interstellar material, quenching star formation. In addition, scientists believe that supernovae in the center of the galaxy blew star-forming material out of the galaxy.

How to Send Your Name to the Red Planet

Astronomy and Physics, News, solar system

Almost every child has dreamed of being an astronaut. We look up at the stars and wonder what’s up there. While not everyone will be an astronaut, there are other ways to get your name to space.

NASA has announced a public engagement campaign in which anyone can submit their name to be sent to Mars. The names will be etched onto a chip and sent with NASA’s Mars 2020 rover. The names will be written “smaller than one-thousandth the width of a human hair”, according to NASA.

So far, over 4 million names have been submitted. A single chip can hold over a million names, but I think it’s safe to assume that NASA will be sending more than one chip with the rover.

Everyone who submits their name will receive a “boarding pass” for a flight to Mars. This boarding pass is, of course, for fun, and not a ticket to the Red Planet. It also “awards” frequent flyer points.

Anyone who wants to submit their name has until the end of September to do so. To submit your name, click here.

The rover will launch in July/August 2020 because Mars and the Earth will be close to each other. When they’re closer together, it takes less fuel, time, and money to launch. Therefore, these “close approaches” are simply the best time to launch.

Artist concept of the Mars 2020 rover. Source: NASA/JPL-CalTech

This rover’s main research will be regarding potential life on Mars. The rover will drill into the Martian surface to collect rock and dirt samples. These samples will be set aside, potentially to be brought to Earth in the future. In addition, the rover will look for organic compounds in the rocks. Other functions include testing an oxygen-production method and looking for subsurface water.

NASA’s Mars 2020 rover is going to allow us to understand the Red Planet’s history as well as we understand the Earth’s. In addition, scientists are hoping to answer questions about the possibilities of humans residing on Mars. That goal, however, is a long way away. NASA has recently announced plans to land humans on the Moon by 2024. This is a huge step towards Mars, but the Moon is considerably closer than Mars. Right now, the plan is to land humans on Mars in the 2030s.

Slowly but surely, humanity is going to Mars. It’ll be an exciting thing to watch. Click here for more information on Mars 2020.

Illu-moon-ating Research

Astronomy and Physics, Earth, News

In 2020, NASA will be launching the Space Launch System’s first Exploration Mission. On board will be yeast (to study radiation in space), a solar sail (that will study a near-Earth asteroid), and something called Lunar Flashlight.

Many craters on the Moon are constantly shrouded in shadows. This is a huge problem because light is the only thing we receive from space that we can study (besides meteorites and, of course, going there). Since we don’t receive light from these craters, we have absolutely no idea what’s down there.

That’s exactly what Lunar Flashlight hopes to illuminate.

In the past, the only way to study shadowed craters was to slam something into them and study the debris that flies up. This method allowed scientists to study only one location at a time. Now, the whole Moon can be observed from orbit. Lunar Flashlight will use a solar sail to reflect light into these dark craters. Then, scientists will study the light reflected back and make a map of where the water ice is located.

Artist concept of Lunar Flashlight. Source: NASA/JPL-CalTech

We’ve known about water on the Moon since 2009 when NASA’s LCROSS probe slammed into the Moon’s south pole. Then, in 2017, researhers from Brown University made a map of water on the Moon. However, they acknowledge “that only a small fraction of the Moon has been directly sampled.” Lunar Flashlight hopes to fill in those gaps.

When we go back to the Moon, we want to do so in a strategic location. According to NASA, “resources at destinations in space, such as atmospheres, water ice and regolith, can be broken down into their component molecules and used as building materials, propellant, oxygen for humans to breathe and drinking water.”

Locations with more of these resources are therefore more valuable than those without. NASA hopes to find more of these locations in places that we have been unable to study. In the future, they may be used as a landing spot or the home of a Lunar base.

Nearly 50 years ago, NASA only dreamed of going to the Moon. Now, we are planning a Lunar base to take us beyond our tiny portion of the solar system. Lunar Flashlight is just the beginning.

Saturn’s Spectacular Rings

Astronomy and Physics, solar system

Saturn’s rings are easily one of the most amazing sights in the solar system. However, most people don’t know much, if anything, about them. First, it’s important to note that Saturn is not the only planet with rings; all four gas giants have them! However, Saturn’s rings are bigger than any other planet’s. They’re big enough that they can be seen with a relatively small telescope from your own backyard!

Discovering the Rings

Galileo was the first to observe Saturn’s rings in 1610. However, he didn’t immediately realize that what he was looking at was rings. He described what he saw as “ears,” and drew a circle with a smaller circle on either side. Two years later, these “ears” disappeared completely from view. Even more confusing was when they reappeared in 1613.

Galileo’s drawing of Saturn. Top from 1610, bottom from 1616. Source: NASA

In 1655, Christiaan Huygens observed Saturn with a newer, more advanced telescope. He was the first to suggest that Galileo’s “ears” may, in fact, be a system of rings around the planet. Around the same time, Robert Hooke observed the rings and noticed shadows upon them. Then, in 1675, Giovanni Domenico Cassini (also known as Jean-Domenico Cassini) discovered a gap in the rings. Over 100 years later, in 1787, Pierre-Simon Laplace proved that a single disk would not be stable as rings, and proposed that the rings were many tiny rings. Then, over 70 years after that, in 1859, James Clerk Maxwell proved that rings had to be made of many tiny particles to be stable. Nearly 40 years later, in 1895, James Keeler of Allegheny Observatory and Aristarkh Belopolsky of Pulkovo Observatory confirmed that Maxwell was correct; the rings are made up of many tiny particles.

A Look at the Rings

There are 7 major rings around Saturn. Closest to the planet is the D ring, followed by the C ring, B ring, A ring, F ring, G ring, and finally, the E ring. The rings were named in the order they were discovered, so, unfortunately, there is nothing intuitive about this naming system. The rings are made of particles of water ice, ranging in size from .4 inches to 39 inches (1 centimeter to 10 meters). All of these bits added together are about half the size of the Earth’s Antarctic ice shelf.

The rings are roughly 180,000 miles (400,000 kilometers) wide but only 30 to 3280 feet (10 to 1000 meters) thick. The rings are so much wider than they are thick that the rings form a disk-like shape. In fact, if you were to make a scale model of Saturn’s rings in which their thickness is that of a sheet of paper, the rings would be 1.7 miles (2.7 kilometers) across.

Source: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

Evidence suggests that the rings are only 100 million years old. 100 million years ago, dinosaurs were still wandering the Earth! Now, I know this seems old, but on the time scale of the solar system, that’s basically a baby! For reference, the Earth formed 4.5 billion years ago. That means that the rings formed 4.4 billion years after the Earth.

Scientists are not really sure how the rings formed, so there are a couple of different theories. Many of the theories propose that a moon may have been destroyed (whether by Saturn’s gravity or a collision with another object) and the debris formed the rings. Another theory is that the rings are just leftovers from Saturn’s formation that failed to form a moon. Saturn’s E ring, however, is formed in a totally different way. As Saturn’s moon Enceladus orbits the planet, it spews its icy innards into orbit.

Saturn’s rings are largely influenced by its moons. The Keeler Gap, a break in the A ring, is caused by Saturn’s moon Daphnis clearing its path around the planet. Prometheus and Pandora created the F ring, making them shepherd moons. A shepherd moon is a moon whose gravity forces material into a ring, like a shepherd with their sheep. There are other minor rings who have been corralled there by nearby moons.

Disappearing Rings

Every 15 years, Saturn’s rings grow thinner and thinner until finally, they disappear from view! This phenomenon is known as a ring plane crossing. Galileo was the first to observe a ring plane crossing in 1612 when the “ears” of Saturn disappeared. Like the Earth, Saturn and its rings are tilted with the Sun—27 degrees, to be exact. When the Earth and the rings line up just right, the rings are edge on to us. Since the rings are so thin, we can’t see them. The next ring plane crossing is on March 23, 2025, but Saturn will be close to the Sun and therefore difficult to view.  

Left: Source: NASA and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)Acknowledgment: R.G. French (Wellesley College), J. Cuzzi (NASA/Ames), L. Dones (SwRI), and J. Lissauer (NASA/Ames). Right: Saturn with two of it’s moons, only visible during a ring plane crossing. Source: Amanda S. Bosh (Lowell Observatory), Andrew S. Rivkin (Univ. of Arizona/LPL), the HST High Speed Photometer Instrument Team (R.C. Bless, PI), and NASA/ESA.

Ring plane crossings are very exciting for astronomers because it gives them an opportunity to view the planet without the giant, bright rings in the way. In addition, many of Saturn’s moons can only be viewed during a ring plane crossing. 13 of Saturn’s moons were discovered during ring plane crossings, while others’ orbits were able to be studied further. Furthermore, scientists can discover more rings during the crossing—that’s how they found the E ring.

One thing that scientists know for sure is that Saturn’s rings used to be bigger than they are now. They know this because the rings fall into Saturn and become what is appropriately called “ring rain.” At the rate at which the rings are decaying, they could disappear as soon as 100 million years from now.

Luckily, 100 million years is plenty of time for us humans, and we have a lot more research to do. The Cassini spacecraft was able to answer some questions for us, but not all. Saturn’s beautiful rings may not last forever—but they’ll last a lifetime. And that, my friends, is enough for me.

Best Moons in our Solar System

Astronomy and Physics, solar system

In our solar system, there are nearly 200 moons orbiting eight different planets. Of course, these moons aren’t split evenly. Mercury and Venus don’t have any moons, while Jupiter has over 70—and counting. With this many moons, it’s easy to pick favorites. So I did! Here are six of my favorite moons in the solar system.

Our moon

Left: From Bill Ingalls. Top Right: Apollo 8’s iconic Earthrise, taken by Bill Anders. Bottom Right: The moon, as viewed from Earth, with Venus to the left. From Bill Dunford. Source: NASA

Naturally, I have to start with our moon, sometimes called Luna. Our Moon has a radius of 1080 miles (1737.5 kilometers) and is 238,855 miles (384,400 kilometers) from the Earth. With roughly the same apparent size as the Sun, the moon is the brightest object in our night sky. The Moon is tidally locked with the Earth, meaning we always see the same side of the Moon. The side we don’t see is often called “the dark side of the Moon,” but this is simply not true. This side of the Moon is lit by the Sun just as often as the other side.

The Moon is the only place outside of the Earth that humans have been. Thanks to this, we know tons about the Moon. For example, we know that the Moon has no atmosphere, and therefore, no wind. In addition, we have a pretty good map of the Moon and its craters. These craters are the most prominent features on the Moon’s surface.

Mimas

Left: Taken by the Cassini spacecraft. Top Right: Saturn with Mimas, a tiny dot to the bottom left of the image. Taken by the Cassini spacecraft. Bottom Right: Taken by Voyager 1. Source: NASA/JPL

Mimas just might be my favorite moon in the solar system. Discovered orbiting Saturn by William Herschel in 1789, it’s most prominent feature is the giant crater (complete with a central peak) on the right side of the image. This crater is named Herschel, after, of course, the man who discovered the moon. In the 1980s, NASA got its first up-close images of the moon as the Voyager crafts passed by. Immediately, many Star Wars fans noticed that Mimas looks an awful lot like the Death Star! Years later, the Cassini spacecraft took more fantastic images of the moon.

Mimas is one of Saturn’s closer moons, orbiting only 115,000 miles (186,000 kilometers) from the planet. Like our moon, Mimas is tidally locked with Saturn. Mimas is slightly ovoid (meaning a little more oval than a sphere, like an egg) and has a mean radius of 123 miles (198 kilometers). In addition, Mimas seems to be made entirely of water ice.

Io

Top Left: An eruption can be seen as a blue haze on top of the planet. Taken by the Galileo spacecraft. Bottom Left: A tiny Io is dwarfed by Jupiter. Right: Io, in true color. Source: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

In 1610, Galileo pointed his telescope towards Jupiter and noticed four little dots moving back and forth across the planet. These four dots are now known as the Galilean Moons, my favorite of which is Io. Only a little larger than our moon, Io shoots around Jupiter in less than two Earth days at a distance of 262,000 miles (422,000 kilometers). As Io speeds around Jupiter and through its electric field, the moon generates a current that sparks lightning in the planet’s upper atmosphere.

Io’s weird, dotted color (making it look a little like a moldy pizza) is due to the volcanoes that cover the moon. In fact, Io is the most volcanically active body in the solar system. Like Mimas and our moon, Io is tidally locked with Jupiter. This, along with its highly elliptical orbit, cause insane tidal forces on the moon. These forces heat up Io, causing all the volcanic activity. Io seems to be made of mostly sulfur or silicate rock. These materials would explain Io’s “moldy pizza” appearance.

Phobos and Deimos

Top Left: Phobos. Bottom Left: Deimos. Right: Mars with the two moons as seen by Curiosity. Source: NASA/JPL-Caltech/GSFC/Univ. of Arizona

Deimos and Phobos were discovered by Asaph Hall in 1877. These cratered, irregularly shaped moons are among the smallest in the solar system. Right now, it’s believed that these moons are captured asteroids, but it’s possible that this is untrue. Like many other moons, these are tidally locked with Mars.

Phobos, the larger of the two, speeds around Mars three times a day. This moon is gradually moving closer to the planet, meaning that in the future, it will either crash into Mars or break apart into rings. A prominent feature of Phobos is the giant impact crater, called Stickney. Stickney is 6 miles (9.7 kilometers) wide.

Deimos only orbits Mars once every 30 hours. Deimos appears to be so tiny that it’s gravitational pull can’t hold onto ejected material after a meteorite strikes.

Titan

Left: The first image of Titan’s surface, taken by the ESA’s Huygens probe. Top Right: Titan and Diane (another of Saturn’s moons) in front of the Planet. Taken by Cassini. Bottom Right: Titan in front of Tethys (another of Saturn’s moons). Taken by Cassini. Source: NASA/JPL/ESA/University of Arizona

Titan has a radius of 1,600 miles (2,575 kilometers) and orbits Saturn once every 16 Earth days. Titan is Saturn’s largest moon, and the only moon known to have a significant atmosphere. This atmosphere, made of nitrogen, gives Titan it’s hazy appearance. Titan rains methane and ethane onto a water ice crust. Seas, lakes, and rivers, also made of methane and ethane, flow across the surface. Beneath the crust is a sea of water.

Titan’s water interior could hold life. Even more exciting, however, is the possibility of the surface holding life. Life that formed on Titan’s surface would be chemically different from our own. That being said, there is currently no evidence of Titan containing life; more research is needed.

Europa

Top Left: Taken by the Galileo spacecraft. Bottom Left: Europa’s scratched surface, taken by the Galileo spacecraft. Right: Jupiter with Europa to the right, casting a shadow on the planet. Source NASA/JPL-Caltech/SETI Institute/ASU

Europa, another Galilean moon, is largely considered to be the best shot at life off of Earth. Europa has a diameter of 1,940 miles (3,100 kilometers) and orbits Jupiter twice every seven Earth days. Europa’s surface is made of water ice with a deep liquid water ocean underneath. This icy surface is covered with scratches and cracks due to tidal forces from Jupiter, Io, and Ganymede. These tidal forces also heat up Europa’s subsurface sea.

Like Io, Europa also has an induced magnetic field from Jupiter’s magnetic field. The fact that there is a magnetic field suggests a salt water ocean under the icy surface. We know that life could potentially form there because life has formed in similar conditions on Earth. Right now, missions are being planned by NASA and the ESA (European Space Agency) to find life on Europa.

All the data in the article came from NASA.

The Station in the Sky

Astronomy and Physics, Earth

In October 2000, the International Space Station (ISS) received its first-ever crew. Russians Sergei K. Krikalev and Yuri Pavlovich Gidzenko and American William M. Shepherd flew to the ISS on Halloween and stayed there until March 21, 2001.

Official Photo of the Expedition One crew. Left to Right: Sergei Krikalev, William Shepherd, and Yuri Gidzenko. Source: nasa.gov

This mission was a long time in the making. Sixteen years before, President Ronald Reagan had instructed NASA (the National Aeronautics and Space Administration) to build a space station that would orbit the Earth for years to come. In the 1990s, the United States and Russia decided to combine their separate efforts and build one space station. Thus, the ISS was born.

Construction of the ISS didn’t officially begin until 1998 when Russia and the United States each sent up a piece of the station. These pieces were then connected by American astronauts. In the following years, more and more pieces were added. Today, the ISS is about as large as an American football field!

In addition to the U.S. and Russia, 13 other countries have joined the effort. Spanning at least three continents, the ISS is one of the few truly world-wide efforts. Canada, Japan, and many European countries work together to keep the ISS running smoothly every day.

This graphic shows the true international nature of the ISS. Source: nasa.gov

Orbiting 250 miles (about 402 kilometers) above the Earth, the ISS travels at a speed of 17136 miles per hour (7.66 kilometers per second). This speed means that the ISS completes an orbit of the Earth every 92 minutes, or about 15.5 per day.

The ISS Today

Today’s ISS crew consists of Americans Anne McClain, Nick Hague, and Christina Koch, Russians Commander Oleg Kononenko and Alexey Ovchinin, and Canadian David Saint-Jacques.

Official Expedition 59 Crew Portrait: Oleg Konenenko, David Saint-Jacques, Anne McClain, Oleg Shkripochka and Christina Koch. Source: nasa.gov

Aboard the ISS, the crew conducts experiments in space’s zero-gravity environment. According to the ISS’ U.S. Laboratory website, the ISS has four main areas of research: Life Sciences, Physical Sciences, Remote Sensing, and Technology Development.

Life Sciences

The main thing scientists study is how different organisms react to the zero-gravity in space. One experiment that is often done is the growth three-dimensional cell cultures. On Earth, cell cultures are grown flat on the bottom of Petri dishes. In space, these cells can grow any way they want, which better reflects how the cells would grow in a body.

Another aspect that is studied is how a microgravity environment affects the human body. For example, astronauts often experience muscle decay while in space. Researching this and other changing body functions could offer insight into better ways to treat and prevent similar conditions on Earth.

Physical Sciences

One interesting deviation from Earth-like physics that is studied on the ISS is fluid dynamics. Fluid dynamics is the physics of how fluids move. On Earth, gravity often overpowers any other fluid movement. However, in space, the fluids are free to flow without the influence of gravity. Fluid dynamics is not fully understood, and its influence is everywhere from pharmaceuticals to energy conservation efforts.

In addition, the scientists aboard the ISS often test out new materials. The extreme conditions of space are the perfect place to perform these experiments because it is easier to control the environment in which the experiment takes place. Testing on the ISS is faster, cheaper, and gives better quality results than testing on Earth.

Remote Sensing

On the ISS, astronauts have a much better vantage point that we have on Earth. Their bird’s eye view is extremely helpful in many different areas as it is quite easy to watch over the Earth from space. For example, ISS images are often used during disaster response situations. In addition, the ISS tracks ships on the ocean, as well as land use. Furthermore, scientists can see how large coral reefs, glaciers, and other environmental landmarks are from space.

Another huge benefit of the ISS is that it can look into space without the atmosphere in the way. On Earth, the atmosphere distorts the light coming from distant stars. In space, this limitation is eliminated. In addition, many portions of the electromagnetic spectrum are absorbed by the atmosphere. If an object in space emits light in this portion of the spectrum, we don’t see it on Earth. In space, we can see the entire spectrum, so we can receive more data.

Technology Development

On the ISS, they often test different functions of new satellites. This is ideal because these tests are performed in the environment where the finished product will need to perform these functions. In addition, the ISS is crucial for helping develop communication technology. This is important not only for space travel but also for Earth communications.

Education on the ISS

NASA and the ISS have many education initiatives including opportunities for students to be involved with research. For example, students can design an experiment for the ISS through the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program. What’s more, the ISS often performs what they call “STEMonstrations”, that is, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) demonstrations. These provide an opportunity for students to see what happens on the space station.

The ISS is a symbol of international cooperation as countries band together for the pursuit of knowledge. The space station is rocketing humanity forward as scientists on board answer questions that simply can’t be answered on Earth.

For more information about the International Space Station and its missions, visit NASA or the ISS’ U.S. National Laboratory.

The Plight of Pluto

Astronomy and Physics, solar system

Ah, Pluto. Everyone’s favorite (dwarf) planet. For some reason unbeknownst to the general public, scientists stripped Pluto of its planetary status in 2006. Many Millennials seem to feel personally attacked for this demotion. They dramatically claim that losing Pluto is like losing a member of our interplanetary family.

Unfortunately, scientists are right. Pluto is not a planet.

Discovering Pluto

In the 1840s, scientists noticed that Uranus’ orbit was inconsistent with predictions from the physics they knew of at that time. Using math, they concluded that another planet must be out there. Scientists pointed their telescopes to the sky and found Neptune. Even after finding Neptune, many felt that another planet must be out there because Neptune didn’t seem to solve all the problems with Uranus’ orbit. Since it had worked once before, they once again pointed their telescopes to the stars. And they found something.

The arrow points to a dot that moves separately from the background stars. This dot is Pluto. From the Lowell Observatory.

Scientists noticed something that was not a far away star—something close. Something orbiting the Sun. They assumed they had found a new planet because astronomers didn’t yet understand the structure of our solar system. They thought that Pluto was much larger and much farther away. However, as time went by, they calculated an increasing small mass for Pluto.

Eventually, astronomers realized the calculations that led to Pluto’s discovery were wrong. There were no problems with Uranus’ orbit. And even if there was, Pluto’s tiny mass wouldn’t account for this difference.

As time went by, astronomers found more Pluto-like objects in the outer solar system, including Eris. A dwarf planet discovered in 2003, Eris is more massive than Pluto (although a little smaller). This forced astronomers to re-evaluate their definition of a planet.

Defining a Planet

In 2006, scientists gathered at The International Astronomy Union’s General Assembly and tackled the question plaguing astronomy at the time: what defines a planet? They decided that a planet must do three things:

1. Orbit a star.

Pluto does this. Check.

2. Be massive enough to hold itself together in a round shape.

Pluto does this too. Check.

3. Dominate its neighborhood.

Pluto does NOT do this. Pluto lies in a portion of the solar system known as the Kuiper Belt, a region that contains small icy bodies, like a second asteroid belt.

Pluto’s orbit, seen in yellow, goes right through the Kuiper Belt. The planets’ orbits, which are white, each trace out their own area. Source: nasa.gov

To be fair, Pluto is a fairly large object for it part of the Solar System; it’s the second most massive non-planet orbiting the Sun. That being said, some moons are larger than Pluto. Looking at the image above, Pluto definitively does not dominate its neighborhood. Scientists ultimately demoted Pluto (and Eris) to a “dwarf planet.”

More evidence

Tilt with the ecliptic

All eight of our planets lie within the same plane of the solar system called the ecliptic plane. However, Pluto is 17 degrees off of this plane. The only other planet to be off the ecliptic is Mercury, but this difference is easily explained by General Relativity. So the question remains: how did Pluto get off the ecliptic?

Pluto’s orbit is vary different from the others. Source: nasa.gov

One theory is that Pluto may have collided with another object, knocking it out of the plane. Another theory is that Pluto may be a captured satellite from a different solar system. Either way, this orbital tilt is very weird for a planet, but quite normal for a Kuiper Belt object.

Charon and Pluto

Another damning piece of evidence comes from Pluto’s moon, Charon. Charon’s mass is about one-eighth of Pluto’s mass, which is relatively large for a moon. For comparison, our moon is only 1.2 percent of the Earth’s mass. This giant moon doesn’t actually orbit Pluto; instead, Pluto and Charon orbit a spot in between them, outside of either body.

Charon, on the left, is quite large for a moon. Pluto, on the right, is the object that Charon Orbits. Taken by the New Horizons Spacecraft. Source: nasa.gov

Some feel that Charon and Pluto should be considered a binary system. However, Charon’s official classification is one of Pluto’s Satellites.

It is important to note that Pluto’s moons don’t make it a planet. 87 Pluto-like objects are also known to have moons. Also, not all planets have moons; Mercury and Venus don’t.

Sorry folks, Pluto is not a planet

When you look at all the evidence, it’s clear that Pluto isn’t a planet. Pluto was only considered a planet because we didn’t know what our solar system looked like. Once we learned more, we needed to reclassify certain objects. That’s what science is all about—learning and adapting.

Pluto didn’t change, it’s official classification did. This, of course, doesn’t mean that we should forget about Pluto. There is still much Pluto can tell us about our solar system; that’s why scientists continue to study the dwarf planet. However, to say that Pluto is as important in the solar system as the planets is completely false. Regardless of what we call it, Pluto is undoubtedly one of the most loved objects in the solar system.

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