The Stardust Revolution

The Stardust Revolution PDF Author: Jacob Berkowitz
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1633888622
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 385

Get Book Here

Book Description
In 1957, as Americans obsessed over the launch of the Soviet Sputnik satellite, another less noticed space-based scientific revolution was taking off. That year, astrophysicists solved a centuries-old quest for the origins of the elements, from carbon to uranium. The answer they found wasn’t on Earth, but in the stars. Their research showed that we are literally stardust. The year also marked the first conference that considered the origin of life on Earth in an astrophysical context. It was the marriage of two of the seemingly strangest bedfellows—astronomy and biology—and a turning point that award-winning science author Jacob Berkowitz calls the Stardust Revolution. In this captivating story of an exciting, deeply personal, new scientific revolution, Berkowitz weaves together the latest research results to reveal a dramatically different view of the twinkling night sky—not as an alien frontier, but as our cosmic birthplace. Reporting from the frontlines of discovery, Berkowitz uniquely captures how stardust scientists are probing the universe’s physical structure, but rather its biological nature. Evolutionary theory is entering the space age. From the amazing discovery of cosmic clouds of life’s chemical building blocks to the dramatic quest for an alien Earth, Berkowitz expertly chronicles the most profound scientific search of our era: to know not just if we are alone, but how we are connected. Like opening a long-hidden box of old family letters and diaries, The Stardust Revolution offers us a new view of where we’ve come from and brings to light our journey from stardust to thinking beings.

The Stardust Revolution

The Stardust Revolution PDF Author: Jacob Berkowitz
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1633888622
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 385

Get Book Here

Book Description
In 1957, as Americans obsessed over the launch of the Soviet Sputnik satellite, another less noticed space-based scientific revolution was taking off. That year, astrophysicists solved a centuries-old quest for the origins of the elements, from carbon to uranium. The answer they found wasn’t on Earth, but in the stars. Their research showed that we are literally stardust. The year also marked the first conference that considered the origin of life on Earth in an astrophysical context. It was the marriage of two of the seemingly strangest bedfellows—astronomy and biology—and a turning point that award-winning science author Jacob Berkowitz calls the Stardust Revolution. In this captivating story of an exciting, deeply personal, new scientific revolution, Berkowitz weaves together the latest research results to reveal a dramatically different view of the twinkling night sky—not as an alien frontier, but as our cosmic birthplace. Reporting from the frontlines of discovery, Berkowitz uniquely captures how stardust scientists are probing the universe’s physical structure, but rather its biological nature. Evolutionary theory is entering the space age. From the amazing discovery of cosmic clouds of life’s chemical building blocks to the dramatic quest for an alien Earth, Berkowitz expertly chronicles the most profound scientific search of our era: to know not just if we are alone, but how we are connected. Like opening a long-hidden box of old family letters and diaries, The Stardust Revolution offers us a new view of where we’ve come from and brings to light our journey from stardust to thinking beings.

Apocalyptic Good News

Apocalyptic Good News PDF Author: R. Dean Drayton
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1532690266
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 306

Get Book Here

Book Description
Remarkable studies in the New Testament have recovered the fact that the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ, was apocalyptic good news—God’s redemptive action within history. Today, for more and more people, the sheer scope of an evolutionary universe renders life on Earth as utterly insignificant, religion as nothing more than superstition. And now, in the Anthropocene, we on the pale blue dot live in an apocalyptic age in which cataclysmic issue after cataclysmic issue threaten the future of the planet. The faith of the early church was in an apocalyptic cosmic Christ unleashing within history God’s good news of a new creation. Set within the world as we now know it, this gives meaning to the cosmos and life wherever it is found around any star. Screened from view for over a millennium during mission to non-apocalyptic cultures, now is the time for a new paradigm for church, the “apocalyptic church” for an apocalyptic age to replace the denominational church. What a difference this makes to faith, worship, and the role of the church in an apocalyptic future.

Terrestrial and Extraterrestrial Space Dangers: Outer Space Perils, Rocket Risks and the Health Consequences of the Space Environment

Terrestrial and Extraterrestrial Space Dangers: Outer Space Perils, Rocket Risks and the Health Consequences of the Space Environment PDF Author: Dirk C. Gibson
Publisher: Bentham Science Publishers
ISBN: 160805991X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 354

Get Book Here

Book Description
Natural elements and cosmic phenomena in space, such as asteroids, comets, meteors, black holes and super bubbles pose a threat to the planet Earth and spacefarers in the near-Earth environment. Terrestrial and Extraterrestrial Space Dangers describes these dangers in the near-Earth outer space environment. The uniquely risky nature of rocket transportation is documented and quantified. The human health consequences for vision, muscles, and the neurovestibular system, for instance, on exposure to an outer space environment, are also explained in this book. Readers will benefit from the extensive information offered within this text which is also accompanied with a bibliography of references. This book offers a comprehensive primer for anyone interested in space travel and associated risk assessment.

The Stardust Collective, Emergent Sovereignty, and a Copernican Revolution in Technology. Part 1

The Stardust Collective, Emergent Sovereignty, and a Copernican Revolution in Technology. Part 1 PDF Author: Brian H. O'Beirne
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book Here

Book Description
*Please note this updated version of the article contains a correction. The previous version claimed the Stardust Foundation wallet was staked in the soft node program. This was a mistake. Thanks to the community members who pointed this out. The Stardust Collective is the community-driven governance group of the Constellation ecosystem. It exists separately and largely independently of the company, Constellation Inc., but to date is not very well understood by the Constellation community. In these articles, I outline the history of the Stardust Collective. I then explain how important this group is, in the context of achieving a truly distributed and decentralised “internet of devices” (what we might call the “internet of individuals” or what Jonathan Zittrain calls the “self-sovereign internet”). To this end, I focus on the founding documents, which enshrine the value of “emergent sovereignty” as the “mission statement” of the entire network. I explain what this value is and how it is the “conatus” (the telos, purpose or raison d'etre) of the Constellation ecosystem, but also how this is the value that all of blockchain and Web3 are really referring to when they speak about “decentralisation” (a term that still is not adequately defined in the wider ecosystem). This conatus is fundamentally human in nature insofar as “decentralisation” necessarily implies the existence of independent autonomous human beings who own and manage the private property on which the internet of devices is hosted. I then show how the Hypergraph in its capacity as a “distributed existential operator” points to (and proves the existence of) these human beings as the implicit sovereign from which the network derives its efficacy and also its legitimacy as a self-governing entity. The Hypergraph thereby enables what I call the “Copernican Revolution in Technology” which puts humans qua extended human-technological symbiotic selves (per JCR Licklider's vision) back at the centre of the technological universe (per George Gilder's Cryptocosm), with emergent self-organising, self-governing structures as the vehicles (or “low entropy carriers” as Gilder puts it) through which they give effect to their sovereignty at the individual, collective and global levels. I demonstrate why we are justified in calling this - as the Constitution does - a sovereignty for planet earth. I explain why a separation of powers (similar to that in Constitutional democracies) amongst these structures is envisaged by the Constitution as a corollary of decentralization and how this comports with Balaji's vision of the Network State. We then come full circle back to the Stardust Collective as the initial prototype for these structures. I conclude with a number of concrete proposals.

Humanities, Science, Scimat: From Two Cultures To Bettering Humanity

Humanities, Science, Scimat: From Two Cultures To Bettering Humanity PDF Author: Lui Lam
Publisher: World Scientific
ISBN: 9811284415
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 536

Get Book Here

Book Description
The humanities (and social science) are the disciplines that study human, which are essential in helping us to understand ourselves and others and the world around us. Since science is the study of everything in the universe and human is a material system consisting of the same atoms that make up other nonhuman systems, humanities are part of science. Thus, understanding correctly what science is about will be helpful in making progress in the humanities. To patch up the gap between the 'two cultures' derived from these two branches of knowledge, the best way is to recognize their common root in science and work through humanities-science synthesis, as advocated by Scimat, the new multidiscipline proposed by the author in 2007. Furthermore, raising the scientific level of the humanities, which include decision making, will help to make the world better.Humanities, Science, Scimat details these issues, consisting of three parts. Part I is about Scimat and the new humanities (history, philosophy, art). Part II is on the origin and nature of science, new insights on the life and works of selected scientists, some thoughts on science communication/popularization, and case examples of science innovation — all from the Scimat perspective. While Parts I and II are short essays with no references (with rare exceptions), Part III are longer articles with full references that supplement Parts I and II. Each essay/article starts with a color picture. They are all easy to read — nothing technical.In short, this book contains the basic knowledge about the humanities and science that everyone should know. The aimed readership is anyone, from high school students and laypeople to the professors, who are interested in what the humanities and science are about, and how we can work together to achieve a better humanity.

The Formation of Our Universe

The Formation of Our Universe PDF Author: James L. Shannon PhD
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
ISBN: 1664191445
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 135

Get Book Here

Book Description
Was matter necessary for a “Big Bang” to occur? What scientific evidence is there that our universe was really formed by a “Big Bang”? Are “The Laws of Physcs” responsible for the formation of our Universe? Can Mathematics verify the formation of our universe” What is the scientific method? Why is it important? Why must it be used? What is a scientific theory? How must a scientific theory be obtained? Is life on EArth here because of “Panspermia”? Was our universe created by God? Are science and religion compatible? Is life on Earth made up of “Stardust”?

Encyclopedia of Astrobiology

Encyclopedia of Astrobiology PDF Author: Muriel Gargaud
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3662650932
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 3376

Get Book Here

Book Description
Now in its third edition the Encyclopedia of Astrobiology serves as the key to a common understanding in the extremely interdisciplinary community of astrobiologists. Each new or experienced researcher and graduate student in adjacent fields of astrobiology will appreciate this reference work in the quest to understand the big picture. The carefully selected group of active researchers contributing to this work are aiming to give a comprehensive international perspective on and to accelerate the interdisciplinary advance of astrobiology. The interdisciplinary field of astrobiology constitutes a joint arena where provocative discoveries are coalescing concerning, e.g. the prevalence of exoplanets, the diversity and hardiness of life, and its chances for emergence. Biologists, astrophysicists, (bio)-chemists, geoscientists and space scientists share this exciting mission of revealing the origin and commonality of life in the Universe. With its overview articles and its definitions the Encyclopedia of Astrobiology not only provides a common language and understanding for the members of the different disciplines but also serves for educating a new generation of young astrobiologists who are no longer separated by the jargon of individual scientific disciplines. This new edition offers ~170 new entries. More than half of the existing entries were updated, expanded or supplemented with figures supporting the understanding of the text. Especially in the fields of astrochemistry and terrestrial extremophiles but also in exoplanets and space sciences in general there is a huge body of new results that have been taken into account in this new edition. Because the entries in the Encyclopedia are in alphabetical order without regard for scientific field, this edition includes a section “Astrobiology by Discipline” which lists the entries by scientific field and subfield. This should be particularly helpful to those enquiring about astrobiology, as it illustrates the broad and detailed nature of the field.

Prebiotic Photochemistry

Prebiotic Photochemistry PDF Author: Franz Saija
Publisher: Royal Society of Chemistry
ISBN: 1839164360
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 264

Get Book Here

Book Description
Photochemistry is an important facet in the study of the origin of life and prebiotic chemistry. Solar photons are the unique source of the large amounts of energy likely required to initiate the organisation of matter to produce biological life. The Miller–Urey experiment simulated the conditions thought to be present on the early earth and supported the hypothesis that under such conditions complex organic compounds could be synthesised from simpler inorganic precursors. The experiment inspired many others, including the production of various alcohols, aldehydes and organic acids through UV-photolysis of water vapour with carbon monoxide. This book covers the photochemical aspects of the study of prebiotic and origin of life chemistry an ideal companion for postgraduates and researchers in prebiotic chemistry, photochemistry, photobiology, chemical biology and astrochemistry.

The Urban Revolution

The Urban Revolution PDF Author: Henri Lefebvre
Publisher: U of Minnesota Press
ISBN: 9780816641604
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 230

Get Book Here

Book Description
Originally published in 1970, The Urban Revolution marked Henri Lefebvre’s first sustained critique of urban society, a work in which he pioneered the use of semiotic, structuralist, and poststructuralist methodologies in analyzing the development of the urban environment. Although it is widely considered a foundational book in contemporary thinking about the city, The Urban Revolution has never been translated into English—until now. This first English edition, deftly translated by Robert Bononno, makes available to a broad audience Lefebvre’s sophisticated insights into the urban dimensions of modern life.Lefebvre begins with the premise that the total urbanization of society is an inevitable process that demands of its critics new interpretive and perceptual approaches that recognize the urban as a complex field of inquiry. Dismissive of cold, modernist visions of the city, particularly those embodied by rationalist architects and urban planners like Le Corbusier, Lefebvre instead articulates the lived experiences of individual inhabitants of the city. In contrast to the ideology of urbanism and its reliance on commodification and bureaucratization—the capitalist logic of market and state—Lefebvre conceives of an urban utopia characterized by self-determination, individual creativity, and authentic social relationships.A brilliantly conceived and theoretically rigorous investigation into the realities and possibilities of urban space, The Urban Revolution remains an essential analysis of and guide to the nature of the city.Henri Lefebvre (d. 1991) was one of the most significant European thinkers of the twentieth century. His many books include The Production of Space (1991), Everyday Life in the Modern World (1994), Introduction to Modernity (1995), and Writings on Cities (1995).Robert Bononno is a full-time translator who lives in New York. His recent translations include The Singular Objects of Architecture by Jean Baudrillard and Jean Nouvel (Minnesota, 2002) and Cyberculture by Pierre Lévy (Minnesota, 2001).

Helgoland

Helgoland PDF Author: Carlo Rovelli
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0593328892
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 257

Get Book Here

Book Description
Named a Best Book of 2021 by the Financial Times and a Best Science Book of 2021 by The Guardian “Rovelli is a genius and an amazing communicator… This is the place where science comes to life.” ―Neil Gaiman “One of the warmest, most elegant and most lucid interpreters to the laity of the dazzling enigmas of his discipline...[a] momentous book” ―John Banville, The Wall Street Journal A startling new look at quantum theory, from the New York Times bestselling author of Seven Brief Lessons on Physics, The Order of Time, and Anaximander. One of the world's most renowned theoretical physicists, Carlo Rovelli has entranced millions of readers with his singular perspective on the cosmos. In Helgoland, he examines the enduring enigma of quantum theory. The quantum world Rovelli describes is as beautiful as it is unnerving. Helgoland is a treeless island in the North Sea where the twenty-three-year-old Werner Heisenberg made the crucial breakthrough for the creation of quantum mechanics, setting off a century of scientific revolution. Full of alarming ideas (ghost waves, distant objects that seem to be magically connected, cats that appear both dead and alive), quantum physics has led to countless discoveries and technological advancements. Today our understanding of the world is based on this theory, yet it is still profoundly mysterious. As scientists and philosophers continue to fiercely debate the meaning of the theory, Rovelli argues that its most unsettling contradictions can be explained by seeing the world as fundamentally made of relationships rather than substances. We and everything around us exist only in our interactions with one another. This bold idea suggests new directions for thinking about the structure of reality and even the nature of consciousness. Rovelli makes learning about quantum mechanics an almost psychedelic experience. Shifting our perspective once again, he takes us on a riveting journey through the universe so we can better comprehend our place in it.