Time Travel – A Possibility or Just the Stuff of Science Fiction?

It’s been written about in hundreds of books, the subject of fantasy for everyone at one time or another, and the government has actually devoted research at one time or another on the subject. If you do a search on the Internet for time travel you will find millions of entries on it, and hundreds of websites fully devoted to talking about it. Wouldn’t it be cool if you could travel back in time? You could correct mistakes you’ve made in your life, study any period of time that interests you, not to mention build a financial empire on your foreknowledge of events. Beginning with H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine, the concept of time travel has been one of the main staples of science fiction. Some of my favorite reads are David Gerrold’s The Man Who Folded Himself and The Light of Other Days by Stephen Baxter and Arthur C. Clarke.

So is it really possible to travel in time?

First of all we are all already time travelers in the sense that time moves forward, and at the same apparent rate of speed, for all of us. There seem to be no obstacles in physics to accelerating the forward momentum of time in one way or another. Cryogenics is a concept much written about as one method of “forward” time travel; lowering the body temperature to a little above absolute zero to nearly stop the metabolism as a way to sleep away millennia. The practical hurdles to this put any possibility of this far into the future. Although simpler organisms have been successfully frozen and returned, the human body is too complex to yet survive the process because of water crystallization and other factors. Another method of accelerating time is time differentials due to the relativistic effects of high velocity.

According to Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, as an object approaches the speed of light one of the effects is time dilation. As a relativistic object’s speed increases the passage of time slows for it in relation to a non-moving object. Take for example a spacecraft traveling at 10% of the speed of light, or 18,628 miles per second. If this imaginary spacecraft maintained this speed consistently for 24 hours (according to our clocks back home), then at the end of that 24 hours only about 23 hours, 53 minutes would have passed onboard the spacecraft. Much higher speeds to within a fraction of a percent of the speed of light have to be achieved to get a really noticeable effect. Take that same spacecraft and accelerate it to .999999 light speed (or to 186,281.81 miles every second) and something really bizarre happens, achieving something more like time travel. If you take that spacecraft out on a joyride at that speed for 24 hours of your traveler’s time and return home, you will find that almost two years have past on Earth.

In actuality, this has been observed in experiments done when atomic clocks were sent on jetliners to observe the effects of time dilation. The difference was observed as predicted, helping to support Einstein’s theories. Naturally the difference was small, measured in nanoseconds. Unfortunately for any aspiring time travelers, the kind of speeds needed for relativistic effects are still well outside our technology. The fastest spacecraft yet launched were the Helios spacecraft sent to study the sun in the 70s. They achieved speeds of about 158,000mph, or about 44 miles per second; this is about .02% light-speed, still not close to relativistic speeds.

And what about the possibility of travel back in time?

This makes great material for science fiction, but the data here doesn’t seem promising. Physicists have been able to envision certain circumstances under which time travel MAY be allowable under the laws of physics, but the energy levels and exotic matter requirements seem to be well beyond anything we are likely to achieve anytime soon. Some have suggested that wormholes may be bridges to other universes, distant parts of this universe, or other times. Wormholes remain a theoretical concept, neither proven nor dis-proven to exist. It seems that for all practical purposes the universe has (at least temporarily) denied us the opportunity to revisit our past directly. So let us turn to a discussion of what the possibilities would be if time travel did exist.

First of all we must look at the fact put forward by modern physics that space and time are related aspects of the topology of our universe. In other words, our universe consists of the three observable dimensions of space and one of time. Putting together a theory that explains the existence of our universe required combining time and space into one continuum. Assuming this to be true, it follows that there should be a parallel measurement in space equivalent to measurements in time. It may seem nonsensical to talk of measuring space in seconds or time in miles, but the two are tied together through the speed of light. Therefore it follows that to convert one second of time into distance, we simply look at how far light travels in one second. That would be approximately 186,282 miles or three quarters the distance to the moon. This means that traveling one second back in time would be equivalent to traveling nearly the distance to the moon. Then there is the fact that a change in temporal position would mean having to adjust for the motion of the earth, sun and galaxy as they rotate and revolve. A lot harder than it looked, huh? Ok, let’s pretend we overcome this obstacle and achieve real, meaningful time travel. Could you go back in time and kill your grandfather early in his life, assuring that you will never be born? Time travel is full of paradoxes such as this. For the most part this can be overcome by incorporating quantum mechanics into the concept of time travel, and branching realities.

Quantum mechanics is a field of theory which developed in the first quarter of the twentieth century through the work of Niels Bohr, Pauli, Planck, Heisenberg, and Schrodinger. It’s basic tenets are that at a fundamental level matter exists as a cloud of uncertainty and probability. Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle states that one cannot measure both the position and momentum of an elementary particle because the act of observation changes the outcome. In this branch of physics cause and effect is said to break down and one can only state the probability of something being true. The most famous example of what quantum mechanics means in the real world was given as a thought experiment by Erwin Schrodinger and is known as Schrodinger’s Cat. Here it follows:

A cat is placed in a sealed box. Attached to the box is an apparatus containing a radioactive nucleus and a canister of poison gas. This apparatus is separated from the cat in such a way that the cat can in no way interfere with it. The experiment is set up so that there is exactly a 50% chance of the nucleus decaying in one hour. If the nucleus decays, it will emit a particle that triggers the apparatus, which opens the canister and kills the cat. If the nucleus does not decay, then the cat remains alive. According to quantum mechanics the unobserved nucleus is described as a superposition (meaning it exists partly as each simultaneously) of “decayed nucleus” and “undecayed nucleus”. However, when the box is opened the experimenter sees only a “decayed nucleus/dead cat” or an “undecayed nucleus/living cat”.

The paradox of this experiment is that the cat is said to be both dead and alive until someone opens the box. (*No cats or animals of any kind were harmed in the writing of this article). This paradox can be resolved if we say that instead of both being true in one reality, that reality actually branches into two. In one universe the cat is alive and in the parallel universe it is dead. In this way our universe is constantly splitting into alternate universes in which every possibility is encompassed. This also solves the paradoxes of time travel. When our time traveler returns and makes changes in the past he would be creating an alternate universe without destroying the other. In this way, as he or she continued to make changes, our time traveler would never be able to return to their original timeline, although he could create one similar to it with the right changes. All of the possibilities and repercussions of a scenario such as this are spectacularly presented in the science fiction novel The Man Who Folded Himself, by David Gerrold.

In summary, time travel is a highly entertaining concept for science fiction, and actually holds some plausibility in certain concepts of modern physics. But as a practical application, it is not likely to become a part of our lives anytime soon. Of course, not being a time traveler myself, I cannot speak with certainty.

Time will tell.

Michael D Watson is a free-lance writer and editor/webmaster of future-seek.com future-seek.com, a futurist/science site featuring science forums, a science fiction bookstore, science articles, and science links.

Architecture Online Schools

If you can see yourself as a professional architect in the future, you should know that online architecture schools can help you reach your goals. Architectural design is a vast subject, taking in planning, design, construction, materials, environment, landscape, and even furniture placement.

Architecture schools instruct in the art and science of designing and erecting buildings. Busy adults can earn a degree in Architecture via distance learning, and not have to give up current employment.

Most online architecture schools are nationally accredited institutions. In many regions, an approved degree program is a requirement for licensure as an architect. Students interested in drafting and architecture, digital design, landscape architecture, home design, or computer aided design (CAD) should seek a college degree from an accredited architecture school, technical school, or an appropriate art school. Architecture continues to require specialized training and internships outside the classroom. An internship can last three years.

Online schools provide degree programs and architecture training in a variety of long-term or short-term career-focused subjects and career paths. There are five-year Bachelor or Master of Architecture degree programs offered online, however, the four-year bachelor’s degree program is a better choice for those exploring subjects of interest prior to pursuing graduate school for a Master’s degree in Architecture.

Becoming an architect consists of a proper education, as well as an internship and examinations. To be a successful architect requires dedication, creativity, attention to detail, and resolve for completing projects on time.

If you are interested in learning more about schoolsgalore.com/categories/4/architecture_online_schools.html Online Architecture Schools and other programs of study, please search our site for in-depth information and resources.

DISCLAIMER: Above is a GENERAL OVERVIEW and may or may not reflect specific practices, courses and/or services associated with ANY ONE particular school(s) that is or is not advertised on SchoolsGalore.com.

Copyright 2006 – All rights reserved by Media Positive Communications, Inc.

Notice: Publishers are free to use this article on an ezine or website, provided the article is reprinted in its entirety, including copyright and disclaimer, and ALL links remain intact and active.

Michael Bustamante is a staff writer for Media Positive Communications, Inc. Find schoolsgalore.com/categories/2/architecture_schools.html Architecture Schools Colleges, Universities, Natural Healing Schools, Vocational Schools and schoolsgalore.com/categories/4/online_schools.html Online Schools at SchoolsGalore.com, your educational resource to locate schools.

Summer HEAT 2006 Offers Professional Development Opportunities for Teachers in Miami

An Overview of Summer Heat 2006

Miami Schools are offering a range of summer professional development courses for its public school teachers and administrators in order to help teachers meet federal requirements and learn new methods and approaches to teaching. Teachers are eligible to take one Summer Heat course. These courses will be offered during June and July. Most courses last about a week and meet from 8:15 AM to 3:15 PM daily.

The teacher must attend every day of the session in order to receive Master Plan Points. The Miami – Dade County School District’s Master Plan Points Program help teachers earn the graduate level credits that they need to meet the Highly Qualified Teacher Status outlined by the No Child Left Behind Act. Six Master Plan Points per day are awarded for all the courses with the exception of those that grant actual college credit.

Professional Development for Teachers

Miami – Dade County School District teachers benefit from a range of courses that help focus their teaching on special at – risk groups as well as providing instruction in key subject areas. Many courses focus on the needs of children with Limited English Proficiency. These courses help teachers improve literacy of Limited English Proficiency students as well as learn culturally sensitive techniques for including such children in the general classroom. Other special groups include children with autism and children with behavioral problems.

In addition to these special groups, Miami – Dade County School District teachers have the opportunity to enrich their teaching of various core subjects. Courses abound in all aspects of literacy and mathematics as well as science, the arts, and social studies. Both elementary and secondary education is covered, including preparation for teaching the Advanced Placement (AP) Examinations at the secondary school level. On the other end of the spectrum, special attention is also given to the design and implementation of Pre – Kindergarten curriculum. Miami – Dade County School District teachers are also given the opportunity to explore general instructional methods to promote leadership in the classroom, including the Continuous Improvement Model (CIM), Object – Based Learning, and many others.

Professional Development for Administrators

Miami – Dade County School District administrators also benefit from the Summer Heat course offerings. Principals, Principal Trainees, and other support staff have opportunities to learn how to improve their own performance and to help motivate the teachers on their staffs. The Principal Preparation Program runs courses for Principal Trainee both in their first and second year of training. Several meetings of the Assistant Principal Academy are scheduled to help teachers make the transition to administrative roles. In addition, the role of the school psychologist and the teacher – counselor are also explored in various course offerings. The School Support Team also has a variety of courses to choose form in learning how to implement school reform.

University and Community Partnerships

Miami – Dade County School District teachers and administrators rely on the support of many university and community partners. Courses take place at many Miami – Dade County area schools in addition to universities and private businesses. Barry University, the University of Miami, the University of South Florida, and Florida International University all offer their campuses for professional development courses. The Miami Lakes Educational Center also plays a vital role in providing a location for Miami – Dade County School District teachers and administrators to meet and share ideas.

Stacy Andell is a staff writer for Schools K-12, providing free, in-depth reports on all U.S. public and private K-12 schools. Stacy has a nose for research and writes stimulating news and views on school issues. For more information visit schoolsk-12.com/Florida/Miami/index.html Miami Schools

The Effects Of Genetic And Environmental Factors On IQ

For the last 140 years, scholars have been preoccupied with identifying the exact factors that influence one’s IQ. The numerous studies on the subject have led most scientists nowadays to the belief that one’s IQ is determined by a variety of both genetic and environmental factors, although there is contention about the exact weight of each.

The majority of studies on intelligence have shown that environmental factors account for about 25% of the differences in people’s IQ scores. The factors that have been of greatest interest to scholars include prenatal development, nutrition, birth order, home and family environment, and the effects of schooling.

Prenatal development

Scientists have discovered many factors during a woman’s pregnancy that could affect a child’s cognitive development. Among them are:

… the mother’s health, including her nutrition and smoking and drinking habits during pregnancy, her age and the number of previous pregnancies, the interval since her last pregnancy, blood type and Rh incompatibility of mother and fetus, her history of X-ray exposure, and her red blood cell count, to list a few (Jensen; 169).

Nutrition

Despite researchers’ initial belief that nutrition played a significant role in a child’s cognitive development, so far, there has been no substantial evidence that differences in nutritional habits have a noticeable effect on IQ, unless a child has suffered severe and prolonged malnutrition in early childhood.

Birth order

Surprisingly, statistical data shows that birth order can somewhat affect IQ:

Each successive child born into a family has, on average, a slightly lower IQ, by about .7 IQ point, than the previous born child… A parallel effect is found on scholastic achievement as well (Jensen; 171).

Home and family environment

One of the factors that many people attribute an important role to in mental development and differences in IQ is home and family environment. The latter encompasses variables such as:

… neighborhood, the number of rooms in the home … the number of magazines and books, the parents’ educational and occupational level, family income, whether private music lessons and dance lessons are given to child, membership in established organizations, and travel experiences (Jensen; 173).

Schooling

In addition, scholars have also examined the effects of schooling on a child’s IQ. They have discovered that differences in school quality have no detectable influence on a child’s intelligence test scores. What proves to be of greater significance is regular school attendance, especially in elementary school.

Genetic factors

Besides environmental influences, most scientists today believe that genes also play a part in determining one’s IQ. However, there is currently an intense debate whether genetic or environmental factors are the deciding influence.

To sum up, science has come a long way in understanding the different factors that shape one’s intelligence. However, there are still contentious issues that need to be clarified.

References:

Jensen, Arthur R. Straight Talk About Mental Tests. New York: The Free Press, 1981. 168-190.

Alexander Roulinski is a member of MENSA and founder of iqscorenow.com IQScoreNow.com. His site offers online IQ tests and other interesting articles on human intelligence.

Biodiesel and You

The idea of using an all natural biodegradable fuel source may seem a bit too science fiction or Hollywood for the average person. Most alternative fuel sources have left much to be desired, but there is an alternative to the usual vegetable based alternative fuel and fossil fuels. Biodiesel is the future of alternative fuels.

It burns much cleaner, is made from renewable resources, and can actually be made in your very own kitchen. Biodiesel contains no petroleum and as a result it is environmentally friendly. It is made using vegetable oil, alcohol, and lye, all of which are renewable resources, so when you power your car with biodiesel, you are using a fuel that only uses renewable resources.

In the past, alternative fuels weren’t practical, so they never became mainstream. Vegetable oil based fuels of yesterday required specially modified engines in order to be of any use and the average person usually had no interest in modifying their vehicles. Biodiesel can be used in place of fossil fuels in the car you drive everyday. No modifications are needed. That means that biodiesel can be used in every machine that requires fossil fuels, from generators, to farm equipment to the family car. Considering that biodiesel costs about seventy cents a gallon it is a realistic alternative to fossil fuels that is starting to catch on.

Biodiesel is available for purchase. It can be bought directly from the manufacture or distributor and if you search around, you might even find a few gas stations that allow you to pump it into your car. Biodiesel pumping stations are starting to crop up at scattered locations throughout the country. If you aren’t with in the proximity of a station that sells biodiesel, you can even make it yourself.

The process for making biodiesel at home isn’t much harder than concocting a jr. high science experiment. The ingredients are easy to find at almost any hardware store and even the equipment it basic. By mixing lye together with antifreeze, sodium methoxide is formed. When you mix sodium methoxide with vegetable oil it transforms itself into two useful substances, glycerin and biodiesel. Glycerin is used in making soap and if you ever whip up a batch of biodiesel, you can use the resulting glycerin byproduct to make your own homemade soap. Imagine doing that with a fossil fuel!

Biodiesel is an amazing discovery that will revolutionize the way we view fuel. Environmentally friendly, it is just as efficient as the fossil fuels we now burn, but much less expensive. Because you can make it yourself using commonly found ingredients, using biodiesel means that you will never be dependant on oil companies again.

BioDiesel Fuel is the fuel for the future. Learn more about BioDiesel Fuel and also learn how you can BioDieselAtHome.net make the fuel at home!

Ten Tips to Teaching Middle School

I can not tell you how many teachers have began their career teaching Middle School and quickly started looking for a new occupation. Believe me when I tell you that if you are not prepared for the job they will eat you alive on the first week of school.

If teaching is your occupation, and you are teaching Middle School, I hope you are ready to teach teenagers and not beat yourself up about teaching Math, Science, English, Literature, or Social Studies. I get very up set when I ask a fellow teacher what they are going to teach and they tell me they are going to teach Math. This brings me to the first of the ten tips I plan to share with you as you begin a new year teaching Middle School Students.

Ten tips:

1. Never forget that you are teaching teens. If someone asks you what you teach, you tell them that you teach an awesome group of over achievers known as teens.

2. Do not try to be their friend. Many moms’ and dads’ have tried this. It did not work for them and it will not work for you.

3. Do not make over three class-room rules.

4. Find out what each of your students enjoys doing. Get to know what they are interested in. When you see them in the hall speak to them about things that they enjoy.

5. Seldom raise your voice. If they are out of control and you are yelling, then we really have a problem. The louder you get the louder they will get. Yelling is irrational behavior.

6. Start teaching immediately. It is a good idea to have a sponge on the board so that they will begin work as soon as they come in to class. Many problems are a result of not knowing what they are suppose to be doing.

7. It is a proven fact that students learn the most in the first ten minutes and last ten minutes of teaching. Do not waste that time. Teach the most important concepts of your lesson during this time.

8. If you find that a student has trouble behaving… do not put him or her in the front row. This enables every student to be entertained by them.

9. If you must reprimand a student do it in private. No one likes to be reprimanded in front of the whole class. I promise you it will cause you problems if you reprimand in front of everyone.

10. Do not sweat the small stuff and quit looking for what the student is doing wrong. You are not a policeman. It seems like some teachers think their only job is telling students what they can not do.

I could give you thousands of other tips and I will add to this list at a later date. I would like to close with one last thought that should make you think. What do we do when little Johnny can not read? We teach him to read. What do we do when he can not do math? We teach him how to do math. When he can not do science or social studies…. we teach. So the big question is: WHAT DO WE DO WHEN HE DOES NOT KNOW HOW TO BEHAVE? If you have told the truth, you said that you discipline him. I say we need to do what we do when he does not know how to read or write. When he does not know how to behave we need to teach him!

Hopefully these ten tips will help you as you prepare for the best year of teaching teens that you have ever had. Keep in mind, you are a teacher. You are not a policeman and you are not a friend. You must truly care about increasing their knowledge and enabling them to be the person they are meant to be.

Bob Roach Father of one and middle school teacher of literally thousands over the past thirty years. To find out more parenting tipswrite me at: mailto:rproach@yahoo.com rproach@yahoo.com

Magazine as a Source of Information

The Magazine came to live in early 1700s during the outbreak of the World War. During those times, it is used as a support for politics, government, criticisms and information that aims to be affirmed or contradicted either through the release of researches or study results. After gaining the freedom, various companies got the idea on starting a magazine publishing business that would evolve in different aspects of life. People started buying these magazines with the goal of keeping themselves updated with their environment and to expand their knowledge. That was successful.

Today, Magazine is probably the number one source of information readily available for everyone. Its readers range from kids to students and to executives. There are actually two types of Magazines. One of these is the consumer magazines that are widely available in the country. The other one is the business magazine that can be availed on a subscription basis. Both magazines usually come in a weekly, monthly, or quarterly release with up to date contents.

For a kid, reading magazines with graphical representations like comics is a good way to start learning. According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the early years are a key period for the development of intelligence, personality and behavior of a child.

For students, magazines are good source of information when doing research for school. Since educational magazines have updated content, further reading of it could truly contribute well to their learning.

As for professionals or executives, being the captain of their own journey is really essential. To be constantly updated on workplace and business issues, reading business and other related magazines is important. It gives them not just ideas but awareness on the current issues that are important in their field.

Through the years, magazine has existed with the aim of giving the freshest and accurate information to its readers. Among the famous magazines in the United States include the BusinessWeek for business, American Girl for children, Drovers for agriculture, Sports Illustrated for sports, Cook’s for cooking and recipes, American Baby for parenting, Liberty for politics, Playboy for pornography, Adventist Review for religion, National Geographic for science, WikiMusicGuide for Music Lifestyle and many more.

Reading is indeed, a good way of expanding our knowledge and awareness. There are several reading materials that have great potentials of contributing to our craving mind and magazine is one of them. Choosing our point of interest is definitely endless with magazines.

Bienvenido David is an active contributor of the wikimusicguide.com/ Free Wiki Music Guide. He is also an online retailer of the popular webbyshop.com/ Magic Sing karaoke microphone and magazinesubscriptions.ws Magazine Subscription.