Month: June 2020

Just a few weeks ago around May 6, the European Southern Observatory (ESO) discovered a new black hole. The newly discovered black hole is extremely distinct when compared to other black holes, and its special features open up a whole new world to black hole astronomy.

The black hole was discovered in a stellar system called HR 6819, a stellar system of stars orbiting one another. The black hole is only 1000 light years away, which is the closest to the Earth as of now. When HR 6819 was first discovered in the original study, it was thought to be a two-starred system because only two stars could be observed, but in reality, the system contained three “massive” objects.

The third object was the black hole, and it was previously undetected because it was not engaging with its environment much. Most black holes strongly interact with their surrounding environment and cause obvious visible changes. The unique behavior of this is one reason why it was so special.

Now you might be asking, if this black hole was not disturbing its surroundings much, how was it found? This is because when astronomers were observing the orbiting patterns of the stars in HR 6819, they discovered that one of the stars would occasionally separate from the other star and start rotating an invisible object. Through further studies and research surrounding this invisible object, they finally found out that it was a black hole. With the power of math, they concluded that the object had the mass of at least a whopping four suns. With this information, they concluded that the object had to be a black hole. The discovery of an invisible black hole truly makes it special.

Since this invisible black hole is one of the first ever discovered, it marks a step for mankind, and as Dietrich Baade says it, “the tip of an exciting iceberg.” There is already another stellar system called LB-1 that Marianne Heida, a  postdoctoral fellow at ESO, thinks contains an invisible black hole. Additionally the two systems LB-1 and HR 6819 are relatively close to Earth, which means there could be millions of undiscovered black holes lurking in the vast universe.

POEM:

A new black hole is found,

Its location just found.

Its hidden from sight,

So Cookie Monster can’t take a bite.

It sits silently,

yet gravitational attracts stars violently.

When we find a system of three,

Everyone laughs with glee.

There are more black holes to be found,

When will they all come to bound.

This poem is kind of bad,

Don’t make me sad.

THE END

HAIKU 1:

Black Holes are so cool,

They are extremely massive,

And they’re hard to see.

HAIKU 2:

They’re invisble,

They’re always lurking out there,

There’s millions of them.

On a beautiful day, the residents of a small, remote village gather at the town square for the town lottery. In other towns, the lottery takes up most of the day, but there are only 300 people in this village, so the lottery only takes two hours. The children, who have just finished school, run around to collect stones. They put the stones in their pockets and make a collective heap on the floor of the square. The men gather next, followed by the women. Parents call their children over and stand together as the lottery starts.

Mr. Summers runs the lottery because he puts in a lot of effort into helping the village out. He arrives in the square with the black box, followed by Mr. Graves, the postmaster. Mr. Summers is always bringing up the need to make a new box because the current one is worn, but no one wants to disobey tradition. Mr. Summers did, however, influence the villagers to replace the original wood chips with paper slips.

Mr. Summers shuffles the paper slips in the box. He and Mr. Graves made the papers the night before and hid and locked the box at his coal company warehouse. Before the lottery began, they make a list of all the families and households in the village.

Tessie Hutchinson franticly rushes into the square, because she forgot that today was lottery day. She joins her husband and children in the midst of the crowd, while people mock her procrastination. Mr. Summer takes atendance, and prepares to begin the drawing process.

Mr. Summers reminds everyone about the rules: he will read the surnames, and the men of the family come up and draw a slip. No one is to look at their slips until everyone has drawn. Once Mr. Summers finishes calling names, and everyone opens his or her papers. Word quickly spreads around the crowd that Bill Hutchinson ‘got it’. Tessie objects that it wasn’t fair. Mr. Summers asks Bill whether there are any other households in the Hutchinson family, which he says no to.

Mr. Graves dumps the remaining slips out of the box onto the ground and puts five back in for the Hutchinsons. As Mr. Summers calls their names, each member of the family comes up and draws a slip. When they open their slips, they find that Tessie has drawn the paper with the black dot on it.

Mr. Summers instructs everyone to hurry up, as they do. The villagers grab stones from the children’s collection and start to pelt Tessie, who stands in a clearing in the middle of the crowd. Tessie says it’s not fair as she is knocked out by a stone to the head.

Should old traditions be stopped to fit in with modern society? The Lottery, by Shirley Jackson, is a short story about a tradition that a town practices. One object that is used in this lottery is a black box that is very worn out from age. ” … the black box now resting on the stool had been put into use even before Old Man Warner, the oldest man in town, was born … The black box grew shabbier each year: by now it was no longer completely black but splintered badly along one side to show the original wood color, and in some places faded or stained.” (Jackson 1) The box represents the long time that this town has kept this tradition. In this lottery, families draw paper slips from it, a family gets chosen, and then the individual person gets picked. When you think of a lottery, it may give you ideas of money or happiness if you get chosen. In this case, the person who gets chosen gets stoned to death. In our community, we see this as an outrageous tradition.
However, we also have traditions that people may find questioning. For example, in many cultures, marriages are chosen by the parents and are arranged instead of the people deciding themselves. In America, this may seem wrong even though it’s normal for others. Another tradition in America is how we use fireworks and gather together when its the New Year. Other countries may think that this is weird. Some traditions can be kept, but how about the ones that go against what we believe in now?

What we know about the human brain is always changing, and their is still so much researchers don’t know. Is it possible to fully recover from a stroke? If not, what can be done to best help stroke patients? There are many common misconceptions which are far from the truth. Neuro plasticity can help with these.
Neuro plasticity is the ability of the brain to undergo structural or physiological changes. Research has shown us that changes in the brain depend on our behavior. Changes in the brain aren’t limited by age, so it can happen anytime. Physical changes in our brain can happen by learning. For example, studies show that London taxi drivers, who have to memorize the map of London, have larger brain regions devoted to mapping memories. The more you use a brain region, it becomes easier to do over and over again. This is neuro plasticity.
So, some might wonder, that if neuro plasticity is so amazing, then why is it hard to memorize certain things, or why do children fail school. There are some limits to neuro plasticity. For example, stroke patients. The people who actually survive from strokes tend to have a very difficult time fully recovering. So far, rehabilitations have failed to find a reliable solution to help stroke patients recover, leaving them disabled. So, what can be done about this?

There is no such neuro plasticity drug that’s more effective than practice. In fact, practice leads to more learning and better structural change in the brain. There is no true recipe for learning. Some people take more practice than others. Our brains are unique, and every persons brain changes in different ways. In fact, after reading this passage, your brain is not the same.
The brain is a magnificent thing, and is constantly being shaped by the things around you. Everything you do, everything you encounter, everything you experience, will change your brain, either for the better, or for the worse. The brain will never stop changing.

Black holes are substances that can suck up different things. Things that are huge like stars. If a black hole that is violent is ever found near us, we will be in grave danger. Luckily, the black hole in this essay is subtle and calm.
Astronomers from the Academy of Sciences in Czech discovered a massive blackhole 1000 lightyears away from earth. Since blackholes suck up things, this can be a major problem, but we are lucky that this is a docile one. This blackhole is the closest blackhole visible to the naked eye, from a telescope, ever to be recorded in history. According to the team, they are very surprised to find the closest black hole to be found. The team originally looked after double-star systems and were stunned when they found a third.
This blackhole is also the first one to appear very subtle which makes it appear fully black. But the team could not study the weight of it by studying about the star in the inner pair. Astronomers have discovered other black holes that have been violent and make their presence obvious through the scientists’ X-rays. By studying more about them, we could learn more about how they are formed and how they weight more than 8 times the mass of the sun.
Discoveries about the triple star systems could help astronomers find clues about how black holes can detect Earth by releasing powerful waves. Some astronomers believe that the they can happen in systems with a similar layout to other discoveries.
Discovering about the black hole can lead us to more complex discoveries that can help us know more about the galaxy. If we ever get to make an invention that can see what is inside a black hole, we can also discover about the stars that have been sucked up and learn about them.

“The lottery’s almost starting!”

“Everybody! Let’s go!”

“Come on!”

As I peered out from behind some of Mrs. Hutchinson’s big bushes and trees, almost everyone else was already gathering in the center of the village. She was humming a cheerful song while scrubbing the dishes, but with a solemn look on her face, as if she was trying to cheer herself up. I watched for a few minutes, then decided to go and see what the other people were doing in the village center. My guess was the “lottery” they were talking about, but I would see for myself in a couple of minutes.

I quietly crept away, my back towards Mrs. Hutchinson. I was almost to the street when suddenly, Mrs. Hutchinson whirled around and spotted me.

“What are you doing? I know you don’t belong here.” She firmly put her hands on her hips. Trying to change the subject, I said,

“Aren’t you supposed to be in the lottery like everyone else?” I nodded towards the gathering of people not far off in the distance.

“Oh!” She frantically checked her watch, then the calendar on the wall of the kitchen. “My! It’s the twenty-seventh already! Oh, I simply cannot be late for the lottery. I hope Bill and the kids are all already there, and just waiting for me now!” She then swatted me away and scurried towards the silent gathering of people. I, curious, decided to follow along.

She glanced at me like I was crazy. “Where’s your father? Do you have a brother? Actually, do you even have a relative here? You can’t go without a person to draw for you!”

I shook my head no. She hesitated, then said, “Then if you want to come along, you’ll have to hide in the foliage again around the center and whatever you do, do not try to come out. They may try to stone you as well.”

We were almost halfway to the other villagers by now. Along the rest of the way, Mrs. Hutchinson explained the lottery to me.

“We worship a god named Little-Bunny-Foo-Foo. He is the one that makes sure our crops thrive and that we have enough food to last us the winter. Unfortunately, he likes human sacrifices, so we must hold a lottery each month to choose whoever is going to die an honored death for Little-Bunny-Foo-Foo.”

“But that’s terrible! Why can’t you just learn how to grow good crops my yourselves?” I asked, shocked.

Mrs. Hutchinson sighed. “You have no idea how hard it is without the help of Foo-Foo. Nearly half of our village died of starvation every year… and we figured losing twelve a year was better than losing one hundred and fifty.”

And at that point we arrived.

I quickly tiptoed around the center into a clump of tall plants and bushes. From there, I peeked through the branches of a magnolia tree and saw the lottery begin. I saw a man call out names, one after another, until about sixty people, scattered in the crowd of apprehensive villagers, were holding a scrap of paper, folded in half, in their hands.

Then, at the man’s direction, the sixty villagers slowly opened up their papers, and gradually, they all sighed a sigh of relief and smiled at the rest of their family. All except one… Bill. And I watched as a smaller lottery was held inside just Bill’s family and held my breath with them as they opened up their papers.

“It’s Mrs. Hutchinson.”

“It’s her… “

“It’s really Mrs. Hutchinson.”

And I watched as all of the rest of the villagers stooped down to grab the stones lying on the ground. And I couldn’t just let this happen. I couldn’t!

So I stepped out of hiding shouted at the villagers and I told them to put down the stones. I kicked the nearest one hard to make a point.

Silence.

“Stop! You don’t need to kill someone for a Little-Bunny-Foo-Foo! You–” I was cut off short by Mrs. Hutchinson.

“I told you not to come out! Why did you–“

“You know this intruder?” A man turned to look at her, raising his stone once more. Several others followed suit.

I started again. “Stop! I can show you how to plant successful crops! I know how to do it! Just follow me and let me teach you! Please! Don’t try to throw stones at one of your own when you are perfectly capable of getting food yourselves, without the help of this Foo-Foo Bunny!”

This time they peered at me with interest. They had gotten tired of killing off other families of the village just for some food. If there was an alternative, they were curious to see if it would work.

So they reluctantly let Mrs. Hutchinson go, as she was the one who let me follow her into the center.

And they all expectantly turned their attention to me.

I felt the lottery was a weird story. I didn’t really get the reason why they had to kill someone. I get that it was a tradition, but I don’t understand why it was a tradition. They were all greeting each other normally too, but they didn’t show any emotion when everyone was throwing rocks at Mrs. Hutchinson. Even her children joined in, which I didn’t get because I would think they would feel sad that their mom was gonna die, but everyone was just happy it wasn’t them that died. In modern times, there would be a lot of riots if someone was killed, but in the story, everyone would just move on to their normal life and not care. The ending was kind of random, and hard to understand. I felt the story was okay.

Contrary to past beliefs, Dr. Lara Boyd, A neuroscientist at the University of British Columbia claims several facts about the brain. One is that the brain never stops learning and adjusting depending on what it learns and what it doesn’t learn. This is called neuroplasticity. Before this information was discovered, many people believed that we learn everything as a child, and once a person is an adult, they are not able to learn anymore. If people are all able to find out that they can still become more knowledgable once they are adults, it can most likely encourage more people to go back to college if they dropped out. It can also make adults work harder since now they know that they can learn skills in this job and apply them to a better job later. This knowledge may only seem important to neuroscientists, but it should be known to everyone who cares about our future economy. 

Another fact Dr. Lara Boyd supports is that various people’s brains have different ways of learning new things, and it may be easier for someone to learn one skill but harder to learn another. Knowing this information can allow people to be more aware of others with learning disabilities. In addition, then, one may not be mad at him/herself if they are not able to pick up a skill that all their friends are able to do easily. I believe that anyone who cares about their future should research more about this topic in order to learn about their brain, and what can help them learn more information. 

A black hole is a region of spacetime where gravity is so strong that nothing can escape from it, similar to a vacuum. Instead of swallowing gobs of dust, black holes suck up stars, which is how some stars end their “lives”. The black hole in HR 6819, a triple star system, is one of the very first black holes found that do not interact violently with their surroundings and is actually black.  Currently, Astronomers have only discovered about twelve black holes in total, and finding one in a triple star system and is able to be seen with the naked eye is unusual and rare.

This black hole has a whole mass of 4 times that of the Sun. Astonishingly, one black hole at the core of supergiant elliptical galaxy Messier 87 has a mass of 7 billion times the mass of the Sun. Four times the mass of the Sun is already heavy enough, but seven billion times, that is way over the top!

If I was trapped in a black hole, what would I do? What would I bring? Well, it is common knowledge that black holes are the densest thing in the universe, and that if I was trapped in one, I probably would die in about a second, pulled apart by the immense gravity of the black hole. Moving past that though, if I was stuck in a black hole, and was immortal, I would have to find some way to live as there’s no way I could escape.

If I was trapped in a black hole, it would be pretty boring, as I’d be stuck in a place where no light escapes and where everything is crushed and compressed into nothingness. As there is no light, I probably wouldn’t be able to do any recreational activities, and even if there was, all my things would be destroyed anyway.

Assuming I could bring things that were indestructible, I would probably bring food, water, and shelter, because living malnourished, dehydrated, and exhausted is no way to live, especially when you live forever stuck in a black hole.

If I could do things, I might bring art supplies, a piano, and other things that might bring me comfort and happiness. I’d also bring an indestructible flashlight, because that’d be super useful, assuming the black hole doesn’t snuff out the light.

I may bring my family and friends, if they are also immortal, though I imagine that after a time they would become insufferable, and if I found them annoying, I’d be stuck with them for eternity.

I hope I could find some means of escape, but it would take a vehicle of immense power to escape a black hole, and I don’t believe one like that has been invented yet.

If I was stuck in a black hole, the hole would probably become my new forever home. I’m sure I would be able to have some other adaptations to my new lifestyle, as humans often adapt to new and unfamiliar situations. Perhaps my pupils would become larger, to take in more light, or maybe I would become able to go for long periods of time without food. I do not know.

I think it is safe to say that I do not ever want to be stuck in a black hole, and I sincerely hope that it will not happen.