Exit Plan A for EarthAstronomers have reported the discovery of an earthlike planet forming around a distant star 424 light years away. Using a NASA telescope, they have spotted a belt of warm dust circling a star called HD 113766, which is slightly larger than the size of our sun. The dust is forming within a range of climate where moderate temperatures exist, moderate enough to sustain liquid water.
The dust is approximated at being 10 Million years old, considered fortunate because it is just the right age to begin forming rocky planets. According to study team member Carey Lisse from John Hopkins University, were it younger, scientists would be viewing more gaseous planets; were it older, the telescope would have shown already formed rocky planets. Lisse also explained that the dust contains similar materials to that of earth. The materials are more processed than that of comets and infant solar systems but less processed than that of older planets. The dust’s composition was compared to that of lava flow on earth.
Light years are a distance measurement based on time and specifically the Gregorian calendar. Light travels at approximately 186,000 miles a second. The calculation of that based on how many seconds are in a year (186,000 X 60 seconds a minute X 60 minutes an hour X 24 hours a day X 365 days a year = 5 trillion 865 billion 696 million miles) constitutes the distance that light will travel in a year, making up the term “light year.” What astronomers are viewing at this moment has taken 424 light years to reach earth. If the technology is developed to travel by light years before the Earth dies out, budding planets like this one may become a new home for human beings in the future.
Another thought to consider is the conditions under which this disk of dust is forming under; its composition, age, and relative distance to its closest star. Under such limited conditions of yielding a humanly habitable planet, it reminds me, as I hope it should remind you, of just how much of an anomaly our planet is within the galaxy; how lucky we are to be alive, and how foolish we are for destroying life, and destroying this anomalous planet. What is always present is most often taken for granted and because of this, I feel it is time to appreciate our uniqueness within the galaxy. I implore you, the reader, to step back and take a look at your life and assess your contributions to the world. Consider whether your lifestyle helps or hinders the sustained health of the earth. I ask you to research the products you buy, the services you use, and determine where it has all come from and where it all leads to. You may be supporting injustice and the appallingly detestable termination of life without even knowing it. I beseech you, if you drive a car to work, by yourself and also if you do not need to carry anything more than a briefcase, ride a bike instead. If you sweat, arrive early to allow time to cool down. Research the food you eat, where it comes from, who produces it, and who they employ. Find out about the clothing you wear and the companies who produce it, the appliances you use and what they emit. The only way to prevent the perpetuation of tarnishing this unique gift of a planet which sustains life, and the very life which that planet sustains, is to educate yourself and to pass that knowledge on, and in doing so come together as a unified species in opposition to any and all destruction of this rare bestowal of life and its progenitor.
Michael Bronner
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National GeographicTaking Away to Feel CompleteAs insecure adolescents, we remember feeling the pressure that this society creates pertaining to the ideal body type. No matter how hard we tried to disregard the teen magazines that presented ridiculous concepts of beauty, there were still moments when we felt that we were not pretty enough. Sadly, we are surrounded by a culture that has become obsessed with beauty, weight, and youth. The forerunners of the terrible things people do to their bodies tend to be anorexia and bulimia. But what about the individuals who suffer from a virtually unknown disorder called Body Integrity Identity Disorder?
BIID is a disorder in which sufferers feel ugly or incomplete, and believe that amputating a healthy limb would make them more attractive or whole. In some extreme cases, individuals have tried to damage a limb so severely that the doctors have no choice, but to amputate. Researchers are uncertain of what causes the disorder, but some speculate that it develops when an individual feels unloved or neglected, and so believe that becoming an amputee will evoke pity. Others theorize that it is the result of an individual witnessing an amputee in infancy, and eventually the child develops the desire to have that same body image. Researchers do not know how many are affected, and recognize the fact that it will be difficult to determine because many are too embarrassed to admit that they suffer from this disorder.
Although there is not enough information available, it brings to mind some issues that plague our society. What causes these individuals to want to mutilate themselves? Is our culture to blame because it forces individuals to be ashamed of how they look (even if losing limbs fails to fit into our usual concept of beauty)? What help is even out there if an individual suffers from this disorder? What kind of effect will this have on individuals who have lost their limbs in an accident, or were born that way? Should these people be allowed to disfigure their bodies? The only certainty there is at this point is we live in a society that harms many individuals, and many disregard the serious mental health issues that need to be addressed. If we are ever going to move forward, there needs to be more understanding, compassion, and facilities available to help those who have serious issues when it comes to their appearance.
Emily Carman and Dominique Gauvard
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Utne Scandal in Nothern Nigerian Film The budding Northern Nigerian film industry is now dealing with their own sex scandal, after a video clip was being sold featuring a popular actress having sex with a married man. The Kano State is primarily composed of a strong Muslim community and practices strict censorship laws. Therefore all filming has been suspended for six months starting from August. Recent laws that have been enacted ban dancing and singing in movies as well as the requirement of a license in order to work as a director and/or actor. One law also calls for the monitoring of actors outside of their jobs. It also will dictate what kind of a film can be made and how.
One has to consider the modern Hollywood industry, where scandals and celebrity antics fuel the new industry of gossip magazines. What would we think about such censorship laws? Could we think of a time when the American film industry was subject to the same censorship laws?
Mohan Bell
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BBCNow You Hear 'Em, Now You Don't: Disappearing LanguagesAccording to a recent study launched by National Geographic, every 14 days a language is lost forever. By 2100 more than half of the 7000 languages currently spoken on Earth will disappear. Shocking statistics, but perfectly tenable when you consider the proliferation of American and English-spoken and written media in the last half century or so. Language is perhaps the most basic expression of how the human mind perceives the world around it, and when one dies, a huge amount of knowledge of cultures and histories, not to mention the functioning of the human brain, goes with it.
In an effort to combat this alarming trend, the National Geographic Enduring Voices project “strives to preserve endangered languages by identifying language hotspots—the places on our planet with the most unique, poorly understood, or threatened indigenous languages—and documenting the languages and cultures within them.” Because of this lingual “global extinction crisis” that now seems imminent, the small team of dedicated researchers, professors and linguists find themselves racing against time. More than any other factor, language defines a culture, through the people who speak it and what it conveys. A large number of critically endangered languages are rich oral cultures rooted in stories, songs, folklore and histories passed from generation to generation without the use of written word. Not surprisingly, this is especially true of small indigenous cultures, many of which have been scattered and/or depleted in the centuries since every corner of the globe was claimed and carved up by Western imperialists. When languages such as these become extinct, an entire culture is lost to future generations seeking to understand the world we live in.
The project has isolated and identified areas around the globe that have a high number of languages in danger of extinction. For example, a large chunk of Central Siberia in Russia has been marked as a “severe” threat, with several indigenous languages in danger of dying out, largely thanks to restrictive “Russian only” policies enacted by Soviet and Russian governments. Tofa, a language long spoken by a group of hunter-gatherers, is now spoken by less than 30 people, all elderly. Aboriginal Australia is home to some of the world’s most endangered tongues, thanks to centuries of conflict with white settlers. Many Aboriginal languages once spoken in the eastern and southern portions of the continent have already died out. In July of this year, the Enduring Voices research team found and recorded the last speakers of several forgotten languages, including a native of the Northern Territory’s Wadeye community, who had not spoken the last speaker of Amurdag, which was reported officially extinct 25 years ago. The speaker the group found had trouble recalling words, as he had not used the language in nearly half a century.
The project is truly global, and while there is plenty of recording to be done in remote corners of the world, the research team found itself on American soil as well. In Oklahoma and swaths of the Southwest, native tribes (as well as those from farther east who were forcibly relocated to reservations) are losing languages that pre-date the United States. Until the early 20th century, Yuchi, spoken by the Yuchi tribe, originally from an area we now call Tennessee, flourished among its people. Following forced relocation, government boarding school severely punished children heard speaking the native tongue, and the language is now all but lost. By 2005, only five elderly members of the tribe remained fluent.
In addition to documenting, the Enduring Voices team has also made it their mission to help revitalize languages that are threatened through efforts to implement bilingual or language-learning programs for school-age children in indigenous cultures. The success or failure of bringing back languages in decline depends on official or state support, and so far strides have been made in tongues such as Hawaiian, Maori, and Israeli Hebrew. The researchers hope to provide – and hope to encourage government support – of video, photography, sound recordings, and the internet to foster interest within small language communities of their native languages and cultures. This means of language revitalization reveals a fascinating irony: using very modern means of communication to help revitalize endangered languages, when these Western-created technologies have played a large role in their rapid decline in more recent years.
Nick Shimkin
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National Geographic
No Appendages—Sexy?Many people worry about their body image. The forerunners of the terrible things people do to their bodies to achieve their idea of perfection tend to be anorexia and bulimia. However, there are many people out there with BIID. Body Identity Integrity Disorder is considered a psychological problem where people wish to amputate an appendage to accomplish their concept of an ideal body. Though there has not been much research on the topic, there are many out there who desire cutting off their limbs. A suggestion for this odd behavior is that it may be developed in childhood; a person feels neglected and wants others’ pity. Should these people be allowed to disfigure their bodies? Many say no, but those with BIID disagree.
Dominique Gauvard
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Utne
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