Two
reasons why I instantly fell in love with this book; the short, quick and crisp
chapters and the fact that I was hooked till the very end, eager to find
out what happened next in this suspenseful story.
The Deception Point was first published
in Great Britain by Corgi Books in 2002 and later in 2009. It consists of
one hundred and thirty-three chapters, making it quite a lengthy read. Despite
that, it was certainly not a boring read. In fact, it is rightly
described as ‘A case study in suspense.’ by the Washington Post. Even
though it is a thriller by a popular novelist, it has not reached the screen
yet. I was relieved to find out that I am not the only one who finds this
queer. Many dream casts for this movie have been proposed on social media.
The book begins with Rachel Sexton, an Intelligence analyst working at the National Reconnaissance Office in Washington.
NRO is an agency of the US Department of Defense
She has a strained relationship with her father, the Senator, who likes to portray himself as a chauvinist, but is an anti-feminist, clever and ruthless politician who is redundantly evoking the public support by casting NASA and the President in a bad light. Upon his requisition, Rachel finds herself in President Herney’s office, who has mind-blowing news for her. NASA, with the aid of their Polar-Orbiting Density Scanner, has discovered an exceptionally huge meteorite embedded deep in the Milne Ice Shelf, Ellesmere Island, Antarctica- with fossils of a giant louse!
Amazing
as the discovery sounds, Rachel soon learns that she is facing a high-level
fraud. Other than her, there are several other people on the team summoned at
the President’s request. Celebrity oceanographer and documentary host Michael
Tolland is a favorite among the public mainly due to his charming looks and the
President hopes a documentary from his side related to the discovery will
convince the masses of the authenticity of NASA’s find. Astrophysicist
Corky Marlinson is requested to join to confirm that the giant rock is indeed a
meteorite. Glaciologist Norah Mangor is there to survey the extraction pit and
she confirms that the ice has not been moved since lots of centuries. Paleontologist
Wailee Ming corroborates the authenticity of the fossil. Accompanying them is
Lawrence Ekstrom, NASA Administrator, who is a little too protective of his
agency and does not like the interference of these other scientists one bit.
The Milne Ice Shelf
At the
same time, Rachel’s father, Senator Sedgewick Sexton is adamant to hurl
accusations at the President and NASA related to their excessive failures and
expenditures in Space and to win the forthcoming elections. His slogan of
shutting down NASA and educating America has impacted quite a many minds.
Within a short timespan, Rachel is about to be encumbered with a multitude of surprises and emotions. Some aspects of the book which spice up the plot include the murky Delta Force, who are guarding the extraction pit at the orders of an unknown authority, the discovery of the fluorescent plankton in the extraction pit and how Ming meets his death. The mysterious murder of the President’s senior advisor, Marjorie Tench comes through as a tremendous shock.
Also, the attack on the team of scientists, once they’ve gathered their evidence questioning the fossils in the meteorite, sends shivers of fear down the reader’s spine. Pickering sends for the three people left; Rachel, Corky, and Michael. They are on Michael’s Goya, gathering information regarding ocean rocks, but are again attacked by the Delta soldiers on their black Kiowa planes. There follows an intense battle of survival between the two parties, and in the end, the mastermind behind the whole game is quite the opposite of who the reader expects. I was unable to fathom the story until the very end, which makes it such a cliffhanger.
A grandiose plot which was quite masterfully written, this book should definitely be on everyone’s reading list. It introduces the reader to many aspects of Science, Politics and the Military, therefore it is rich in information and a treat for inquisitive minds. Every new concept is fully explained and crystal clear for the convenience of the reader.
My
favorite character is Corky, who manages to crack a joke even in the tensest of
times, bringing a smile to the reader’s face. And I would have to say, I loathe
the Senator for his double standards and vile politics, finally revealed at the
end by his secretary.
Although a praiseworthy piece, there were times when the
complicated, technical descriptions tested my patience and I had to take a
break to clear my thoughts. For example, when the aircraft and weapons of the
Delta force are described. this book is definitely not the right one if you
want to just sit back and relax after a long, hard day.
The topic of extraterrestrial life has been attempted by a dozen or so writers, each one coming up with an eccentric idea for ‘aliens’, which is usually too much for the reader to absorb. This makes the genre of this book a bit cliched. And I think so many characters and twists have been crammed up in one story that the reader gets pretty confused at times. I had to put the book down and recollect my thoughts every now and then while reading.
Dan Brown is most famous for his Robert Langdon series
The main theme tackled in this story is basically how authorities
can use power to any extent to hide truths and deceive millions. The book
propelled me to develop an esteemed opinion of the author’s power with
words. Although not as popular as ‘The Da Vinci Code’, it is an exceptional
treat for inquisitive minds.
While Sci-fi is one of the most beloved nerdy genres, movies with space stories are rare and often not up to the standards set by masterpieces like Alien, Interstellar, and 2001: A Space Odyssey. Life tries to mimic these, but its potential falls off somewhere between the start and the middle. It recycles the same old concept that alien life can never really befriend us and is always intelligent enough to kill and perish human life. If you are a film geek, you might catch some references to other hits like Gravity and Alien, but we are never sure if it is really an homage or if the movie was trying to be original in its portrayal of such a “terrifying” scenario.
Olga Dihovichnaya and Hiroyuki Sanada are part of the diverse cast of the movie
The movie starts with a scene that was meant to be intense but fails to establish the pace it intends to. Astronaut Rory Adams, played by the hilarious Ryan Reynolds whose comedic persona doesn’t get to properly shine in this piece, is on the quest to catch some Martian samples coming through a satellite and is prepared and encouraged for this endeavor by his fellows on the International Space Station, made very clear in a seven-minute shot in which the camera is roaming around the Station crew failing to build an anticipatory atmosphere.
The team includes Medical Officer Dr. David Jordan, brought to life by Jake Gyllenhaal; the extremely responsible Quarantine Officer Miranda North played by Rebecca Ferguson; Systems Engineer Sho Murakami portrayed by Japanese actor Hiroyuki Sanada, and Exobiologist Dr. Hugh Derry played by Ariyon Bakare. The Station members are led by Ekaterina Golovkina, a cosmonaut from Russia, played by Olga Dihovichnaya. The diversity of the crew (and the cast) is commendable and they seem to get along very well.
After getting the Martian samples, they realize that they have found the sign of Extraterrestrial life and Hugh, being the specialist, is given the task to study it. After some attempts, he manages to successfully revive it and the alien is given the name “Calvin” from the people on Earth. The film does not portray it as one of the biggest feats in the history of mankind and rushes to show Calvin’s quick development.
Unsurprisingly, it is a very intelligent and benign organism with features growing rapidly as it learns about its new habitat, like the lab at the ISS and figures out its movement and recognition abilities. Hugh, who is disabled but free to move in zero gravity, becomes obsessed with it and the audience is provided a hint that the reason is not solely his love for exobiology. The score by Jon Ekstrand stumbles through high and low notes and just aids enough to these scenes so that they don’t feel empty.
Hugh observes “Calvin” under a microscope in the lab at ISS
Hugh
continues to observe Calvin through his microscope excitedly, but all the
enthusiasm dies down when one day, not so out of the blue, Calvin attacks Hugh
and traps him in the lab. Miranda knowing the safety protocol tries to stop
impending threats, but it turns out that the ISS astronauts don’t really care
about the precautions while dealing with a potentially lethal extraterrestrial
being. Rory gets in to save him, but all goes in vain and we are presented with
shots that bring out the memories of “that Alien scene”.
Calvin manages to escape the lab and starts roaming around the Station hiding from the crew. Its aim becomes clear which is to eliminate all the crew members one by one. As mentioned before, several scenes seemingly take inspiration from Gravity as the Mission Commander tries spacewalking to catch the now not-so-benign Calvin. At times, it becomes absurd how the crew at the biggest human station in Space ignores the safety rules, but this lack of concern becomes an easy setup for the progression of the story.
Hugh is gradually overcome by his selfish instincts and displays unusual empathy towards such a hostile creature. Miranda is the only sane character left but is unable to convince her fellows to show some responsibility. Tension builds up considerably when the audience is constantly given surprises about the powers of Calvin. It can eat up humans and even lab rats, fire and fumes are not a danger, can survive in space and without oxygen (obviously proving its superiority to humans), and can squeeze itself through holes of seemingly small diameters. And of course, it is not a fan of the human race. It looks like a mixture of some water creature having tentacles and the head of that ET brute from the Ridley Scott’s feature.
Safety Protocol calls by Miranda (played by Rebecca Ferguson) are almost ignored by the crew
Humor
is just limited to Ryan Reynolds appearances and is thus fairly limited, so if
you are watching it expecting some Deadpool-type jokes, this won’t be it.
Scientists are yet again portrayed as sober, serious beings who don’t really
know how to control a threat properly as their feelings and instincts take the
best of them. Aren’t the smartest people who are able to keep their cool in
tough environments, supposed to be on the ISS? Well, the movie argues against
that. Senior members Murakami and Golovkina might have taken some more rational
and sensible decisions, but they had limited screen time and were unable to do
so.
At the end of this movie, everything is hurriedly wrapped up and rash decisions are made which end up in a shock that wasn’t really unpredictable. However, if the movie manages to consume you during the fast-paced scenes you might give up contemplating your ending and may get thrown off by the twist. We can only hope that the cliffhanger doesn’t turn out to be against the favor of mankind.
It had been a terrible afternoon. Enough was enough. Rafia could no longer tolerate her brother picking on her every ten minutes, her sister whining about no one to play with (Rafia had refused to play with Barbies, she was too old for that) and her other brother playing obnoxious pranks on her. She was simply fed up of finding snails on her bed, toothpaste on her toast instead of cream, and pebbles in her sneakers. Being the eldest was a nightmare, Rafia thought. She was thirteen and had three younger siblings who made sure her life was full of drama.
Her twin brothers were eleven and grand mischief-makers. Her sister, on the other hand, was only six years old, but she could create a tantrum anyone else was incapable of. Her parents were both busy. Rafia’s mum was a school teacher and always had stacks of papers to mark or lessons to plan, along with the housework and kids. Her father was a lawyer and always worked way into the night.
Today’s grand joke included the addition of purple food color to Rafia’s shampoo. One look at herself in the mirror had been enough to stir the anger inside her and Rafia had chased her sniggering brothers all around the house, lamenting and throwing things at them. Her mother then had to bleach her hair and, for the first time in her life, Rafia went to the parlor to have her hair dyed to her usual burnt umber.
She needed to escape, and so she retreated to her usual comrade, the treehouse in the backyard. Her father had built it for her when she was only seven, and she loved spending the afternoon surrounded by the undulating leaves of the apple tree. She kept her paints and canvases there. Painting in that soothing environment had always proved relaxing for Rafia.
A treehouse was located in the backyard of Rafia’s house
She spent hours painting her heart out. She slipped out of her little heaven for quick meals and would then return. In the night when everyone went to bed, Rafia could not fight off the urge to give the final touches to her last painting. She couldn’t wait till the sun will re-rise in the next morning. So she headed for the treehouse with an old lantern and started working, but soon her eyelids became heavy and she settled into a deep slumber, sprawled right there at the floor of the old treehouse.
**************************
“XXX13, I think I see a young human in danger.”
“Where, XXX22?”
“There, over there. She’s in this little house of wood hanging from that tree. And that fire source near her, it seems it won’t take long for the whole thing to burn into ashes.”
“No, I believe it is a safe fire source. The round transparent thing at the center has the fire within it, so I think she’s safe.”
XXX22 considered for a while.
“I would still like to go and check this place high up in
the tree. And oh my, the human seems to be dead I am afraid. Look at it, lying
there like that next to the fire. Do make a stop and let us just check.”
XXX13 pressed a series of buttons on the control bar of the Spiral 4000, a brilliant multipurpose flying vehicle. It had the speed of light and engines much tremendous than any of those that these human species had made. Shaped like a yo-yo, it was crimson and gold from the outside, and ocean blue from the inside, layered with soft cushion material. Back in Kroutonville, their scientist engineering fellows had taken years to develop this beauty.
The Spiral 4000 could look through human buildings, water bodies and underground. It could stand treacherous storms and other disasters. It could also become invisible to the life on this planet as well as mute its own noise, a hollow hooting sound. All this was a matter of only a few buttons’ control. As the machine landed soundlessly on the dewy grass, both the creatures exited it. No human or animal was in view. They both climbed the tree and entered the treehouse.
The single room inside was littered with paintings and art
supplies. Of course, the creatures did not understand anything they saw. XXX13 extended her hand and touched the gooey
colored thick liquid oozing out of a small tube beside the girl.
“The human seems to use this to create patterns on that
white sheet they call paper. And she uses that stick with hair on its end to
apply the goo onto the paper.” XXX22 concluded.
“Interesting.” XXX13 picked up the paper to have a look at it. “She is making what she sees around her. The sky, trees, and sun.”
On all of their visits to Earth, they had never seen a house on a tree and a human putting thick liquid onto paper. Last month they had landed somewhere else and had seen an old man walking his dog in the dead of night. They had chatted for a while with the dog, hoping to get an insight into his life. It seemed he lived inside the human house, protecting his human master and fed on biscuits and meat steaks. In previous years, they had chosen different spots in the world and observed humans and animals for quite a time.
They had been sent to report what they saw, heard and concluded. The creatures started looking around, finding more paper; some empty and some with dried goo on it. They commented and laughed at some of the drawings, obviously intrigued.
***************************
Rafia heard two beautiful voices talking melodiously near her. They were very close, as though in the treehouse with her. Maybe she was dreaming, all she could hear was a continuous sweet tune, and then another slightly different one. She stirred and the voices halted. Upon opening her eyes, Rafia beheld the most beautiful creatures she had ever seen. They were tall and handsome creatures with pearl-white bodies and a blithe way of movement. Their hair was long, sleek and silver-white, flowing down their backs.
They had eyes like humans, but larger and a bit rounder, their noses were short and round with a glint of shimmer on the surface. Their lips were thick and attractive and of a cool, lilac color. Most intriguing were there pupils, those changed colors several times a minute; from celestial blue to turquoise to emerald green, then melted into a fiery yellow, later into orange, ruby red, hot pink and bright purple, and finally back to the blue.
Rafia thought it all a dream; these creatures were
definitely from heaven, alluring beyond words. One of them caught her looking
and nudged its partner. They came closer and watched her with wonder.
“Hello.” One of them said in English.
Rafia felt peaceful and tranquil with these celestial
beings and their soothing voices.
“Hello!” she smiled. “are you angels from Heaven? Or some
kind of underwater mermaids?”
The creatures looked at each other confusingly for some
moments, then looked back at her.
“Little human, we’re going to ask you a few questions.
Answer honestly and sensibly”, one of them said.
“Okay.” Rafia was smitten by their beauty and could not
take her eyes off them. Both the creatures sat on either side of her,
cross-legged.
“What are you doing in this house in the tree?”
Twin creatures landed on Earth at the backyard of Rafia’s home
Rafia launched into an explanation about her annoying family, the treehouse and how her father had built it and how she was painting so she could later sell the pictures at her school to juniors and use the money to buy some makeup for herself, which she explained would make her look pretty and cover the pimples on her face.
The creatures listened attentively.
“What are pimples and makeup?” one of them asked.
Rafia explained and both of them looked surprised.
We could use this makeup to make the male Krout-o-nites prettier, thought XXX22.
“Now tell me about yourselves. How is Heaven like?” the
girl asked eagerly.
XXX22 exchanged looks with her partner and gave her a
slight nod.
“We are not from Heaven, wherever that is. We are from Kroutonville Institute of Planet Studies, Kroutonville on the planet Krouto. It is not in your Milky Way, but part of another galaxy.”
Rafia gaped. Aliens!
“We have been given a project to observe another planet and its ongoings and make a detailed report. We chose the planet Earth and have been making daily visits to different parts of it. Tonight, we came here and found you.”
“I’m a student too! I study in the eighth grade.” And she
started a detailed description of her subjects, class fellows, teachers and the
education system in general. She also told them of her daily routine and how
she had to cope with mounds of homework every day. Something about these
attentive listeners kept Rafia chattering, maybe it was their enthralling stare
or their generous smiles.
“I like your silk robes, they look very classy.” Rafia
confided.
Both the aliens looked down at their clothes. It was what everyone wore on their planet, they told the girl.
“I’m sorry, I haven’t offered you anything.” The girl got
up and pulled out a basket of red apples from a corner.
“No, child. We do not eat the food of your planet. Come,
leave it.”
“What do you eat then?” Rafia asked, befuddled.
“Crops and fruits of our own planet.”
“Like?”
“Like Choples, Mininas, Bangoes, Hetties. Those are fruits. Bubunkar, Stopato, Orions, Shidettos, are all vegetables. We don’t eat dead food. And we drink balter. It is like you have water.”
Rafia couldn’t help laughing.
The aliens seemed mystified. This was a new reaction XXX13
and XXX22 were experiencing. Humans opening their mouths and producing some
strange noises.
“Well, it was good meeting you, little girl. We need to go back to our planet and prepare our report today.”
Rafia offered her hand, but the aliens looked confused.
“You shake it, like this.” She took one of the hands of
the alien closer to her and shook her hand, which felt cool and slippery.
“I hope you come to see me again in your future trips.”
She smiled courteously.
The aliens smiled back and got down the tree. Rafia
followed. “How did you come? And how will you go?”
At that moment, the aliens exchanged nods. XXX13 pointed a
finger at the girl’s brain and repeated the command in her head. A bright blue
laser shot out and hit the girl, who froze and closed her eyes. After a few
seconds, she fell to the ground. Another command and the girl went floating
back inside the house on the tree.
Both the aliens got onto their machine, ready to go home with their new findings. Every encounter with a human or animal ended this way. They would erase themselves from the memories with the help of Dr. YYZ14’s potential Laser 8700, one of the finest professors of Laserology on Krouto. They didn’t want these crazy humans on their planet too.
The human had discovered many aspects of space and other planets, but the Kroutonites knew better than to reveal themselves to humans. They were, in fact, a species much more intelligent than humans, and in the years to come, would study the humans further and further. They had no intention of letting humans come and poke around and then exploit them.
****************************
Rafia woke up, feeling a bit dizzy. It was dawn and she couldn’t remember why she was sleeping in the treehouse. She looked around, the floor strewn with her paints and supplies. She must have dozed off while painting. Rafia got down and headed towards her house. At the door, she met her mother.
“How many times have I told you not to sleep in the treehouse! Trees give out carbon dioxide at night, you could die up there!” her mother scolded.
No wonder she felt so dizzy. Oddly, she couldn’t even remember how she had dozed off right there in the treehouse.
The urge to explore, wander into unchartered territories, reach out and establish communication with other beings has been the master key to human civilization. Skies and stars were not a limitation to the imagination, even before humans mastered fire. Centuries later, the proliferation of curiosity, knowledge, science and brilliant advancement in computation around the world lead humans to space exploration and search for extraterrestrial life. There are many who believe with great passion that there is more out there than what can be imagined. Well before the space age, radio pioneers such as Heinrich Hertz, Nikola Tesla, and Marconi were foreseeing ‘interplanetary communication’. Elmer Sperry proposed using a giant array of searchlights to send a beacon to Mars in 1919.
Many people at some point in time or another have looked at a clear, night sky and wondered, “Are we alone?” SETI hopes to, one day, be able to answer that question. The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) is now known as a collective effort by independent organizations, government agencies, educational institutions, and individuals. Although Sci-fi content producers have invariably made people think of flying saucers and little green or grey aliens, it is important to make a distinction between SETI and “paranormal” research.
SETI is now known as a collective effort by independent organizations, government agencies, educational institutions, and individuals
Arthur C. Clarke summed it up as “Two possibilities exist: Either we are alone in the Universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying.”
To accomplish the mission of SETI, two approaches are being
used mostly. Debatably categorized as either passive SETI, which relies on receiving
communication and listening for radio signals from intelligent alien life or
active SETI (also known as METI), by producing communications that may one day
be heard by other civilizations.
Passive SETI can easily be understood through concepts of radio communication, such as those broadcasted by television and radio stations, that take the form of a wave that radiates out from a broadcast point in all directions. These waves don’t stop at your radio. In fact, once radio waves reach the vacuum of space, they just go on and on forever. Picture this! Though in need of significant amplification, Television broadcast could be picked up on Mars! Large radio observatories, such as “Big Ear” or the Arecibo Observatory, are configured so that if radio waves produced by a civilization somewhere else ever collide with earth, then we’ll hear them!
Active SETI, also known as METI (messaging extraterrestrial intelligence), has the goal of producing communications to alert other civilizations of our presence. In 1974, the Arecibo Observatory broadcast a high-powered transmission in the direction of a star cluster located approximately 25,000 light-years away.
Assuming there is intelligent life in other parts of the
universe, then it is almost certainly rare.
Drake equation was proposed by Dr. Frank Drake in 1961
In 1961, Dr. Frank Drake proposed a formula to calculate the
number of intelligent civilizations in our galaxy.
The Drake equation model is the number of civilizations in our galaxy with which communication might be possible equal to the multiplication of rate of star creation in our galaxy, the fraction of those having planets orbiting them, the number of exoplanets or planets that have the capability of supporting life, the fraction of those that go into development of an intelligent lifeform, the number of civilizations that could have the capability to communicate and how long can that communication be detected) highly speculative.
Unfortunately, an exact result of the Drake equation has not
been reached because of many of the factors in the equation, such as the
average rate of star formation which is not fully known.
Another mindboggling argument is the Fermi Paradox, which summarizes as the universe is old and large enough to have even more habitable planets. Yet, where are they? Perhaps we have not been looking long enough.
Only a century ago, scientists and enthusiasts gathered
around the concept of scanning the sky and “listening” for puzzling non-random
patterns of electromagnetic emissions in order to detect another possible
civilization somewhere else in the universe. The SETI (Search for
ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence) era began with people such as Frank Drake,
Giuseppe Cocconi, Philip Morrison and others suggested and began their first
SETI search around 1959-60.
The Arecibo Radio Telescope in Puerto Rico was the site of NASA’s High-Resolution Microwave Survey
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, NASA took up SETI efforts. at a low-level as Project Orion, the Microwave Observing Project and Toward Other Planetary Systems. On 14 October 1992, NASA initiated a formal 10-year $100m High-Resolution Microwave Survey project, a more intensive, SETI program. However, Congress canceled the program based on political expediency, barely a year later.
Part of the canceled program was picked up by the private, non-profit SETI Institute which was incorporated in 1984. Facing funding challenges every now and then, the SETI Institute currently employs more than 130 scientists, educators, and administrative staff. SETI Institute continues as a non-profit organization and is among the top 100 subcontractors to NASA with ample funding to do research in Astronomy, Astrophysics, Astrobiology, Exoplanets and much more. SETI runs the data pipeline for the Kepler program. Planetary exploration is also another field of research at SETI and the X-Ray diffraction system on Curiosity for Mars developed by the institute. Along with all that, the SETI Institute pursues research for extraterrestrial intelligence using radio and optical technologies built for the same purpose. New directions were for the SETI Institute, under CEO Bill Diamond who took charge in June 2015 including a restructuring of the operations of the Institute, folding the SETI research program into the larger science umbrella of the Carl Sagan Center. Education and Public Outreach has always been an integral part of the Institute, including space science and astrobiology curricula for formal and informal education, the popular radio show/podcast Big Picture Science, the SETI Talks lecture series, public lectures by scientists, and popular science writing. Outreach to the general public via social media and other efforts has received new emphasis as the Institute looks forward to continuing its mission to explore the possibilities of life in the universe and share discoveries with the public.
SETI@Home – Distributed Computing
SETI is usually considered one of the most high risk, and high gain endeavor in all of science and often people say it’s more related to science fiction than to astrophysics but if we were to someday detect alien civilization, this would be one of the greatest discoveries of mankind ever. A famous distributed computing project called SETI@Home uses the BOINC software platform created by the Berkeley SETI Research Center and hosted by the Space Sciences Laboratory, to analyze specific radio frequencies emanating from space. With dexterously designed algorithms, AI could be scientists best shot at helping intercept signs of extraterrestrial intelligence.
With serious ongoing discussions over both approaches to date, another very important matter is post-detection protocol and the preparation for this eventuality even in the absence of confirmed evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence. Such a discussion could lead to the development of a procedure/protocol on this matter. If an alien intelligent lifeform is detected, the message to be prepared for communication should be sent on behalf of all Humankind, rather than from individual countries or groups.
Imagine being born in a closed hall, growing up and meeting people of your kind who have been confined to the same hall, many having everything good in life to live with and then eventually pass away. Would you not want to look outside and explore beyond the walls of the hall? Would you have the urge to seek even a tiny hint to the plethora of unanswered questions such as “Among the septillion stars in the known universe, are we alone?”
Weren’t crimes like theft and robbery enough on a single planet of the universe?
No, siree. Humans have a very nasty quality of greed when it comes to material possessions. No matter how much we have, we always seem to crave for more.
It is reported in the BBC News, on 24th August 2019, that an astronaut by the name of Anne McClain tried to access her alienated partner’s bank account from the International Space Station. We may be dealing with the first crime committed from space here.
Her spouse, Summer Warden, immediately contacted the authorities and thus, Anne has returned to Earth. Interestingly, she denied any blames of theft and simply stuck to her story of ‘checking’ on the finances to make sure they were adequate for the expenses of their son.
Ms. McClain had graduated from West Point military academy to secure the post of an Air Force intelligence officer and had devoted 800 hours of her life in combat as an army pilot over Iraq. She was also given the honor of flying for NASA in 2013. Now she had spent 6 months aboard the ISS and was going to participate inthe first all-female spacewalk, but destiny did not seem to comply. She was canceled last minute due to minor issues.
Law in Space
The ISS involves 5 space agencies; from the US, Canada, Japan, Russia, and a few other European countries. A legal framework states that all national laws imply to people and possessions in space as well. The criminal in question would be subjected to the law of his own area respectively like a Russian national to the Russian law etc. Laws are also set in place for those who show misconduct in space.
It is obvious that as space exploration and tourism gains popularity, so will the idea of space crime. But for the time being, NASA officials claim to have foreseen no such crimes committed at the ISS.
Source; BBC News, World,’ NASA said to be investigating the first allegation of crime in space. 24 August 2019’
Super-Earths are potentially habitable candidates for life
More often than not mankind acquired his knowledge of the universe in much the same way that a child learns about the society which he is a part of. Just like as a growing child progressively becomes of the larger units of human organization— Family, neighborhood, city and so on. Astronomers have slowly endorsed the hierarchical arrangement of the heavens. So, the astronomers come up with the idea of extraterrestrial life. That is to find the possibility of the existence of life beyond Earth.
An interesting question that has been asking throughout the history of astronomy is,” can life exist beyond the earth, if so what form it might likely to take?”
Further findings for extraterrestrial life [ET—Life] led to an entirely new branch of science—Exobiology, though as yet we cannot come across an exact answer.
There is still a sizeable discussion about the origin of extraterrestrial life. In the early 20th century, it was Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius who proposed the “panspermia theory”, according to which life on earth did not stem here but was brought by some of the meteorites collided with earth. Though this idea never met much support due to the complexities it further resulted in. Later, Sir Fred Hoyle revived the idea, on their hypothesis, life on earth was actually originated somewhere in space and brought here by mean of a Comet. This idea too met scant support because whole recourses of space were mandatory rather than a restricted area like planet earth.
In carrying out practical research for the extraterrestrial life on other planets as in our solar system, the scientists had to be dependent on the space research method, so the world like the moon, might rules out at once. The Venus is also ill-suited in every quarter since the giant and closest planet to the earth has no solid surface. Saturn’s satellite Titan and Enceladus seem good candidates for ET-life since all ingredients of life are evident there. But the very low temperature appeared to preclude them.
We left with only one candidate—The Mars, which has always been regarded as the possible abode of life. After a decade’s long research and analysis carried out by Curiosity and Mars rovers, scientists are still unsure that could we ever be able to colonize earth?
Astronomers, therefore, shifted search to beyond our solar system and have discovered dozens of potentially habitable planets in other solar systems—called “Super-Earths” concerning to extraterrestrial life. In February 2017, they caught another solar system—Trappist-One, quite similar to our solar system and have three earth-like planets in its habitable zone. Since then, the researchers came across plenty of places that could park as men’s first interstellar colonies.
Super-Earths are perhaps the most common planets in this unbound universe that may come up to the expectations of having an extraterrestrial life. By 2018, astronomers have discovered 2,342 confirmed exoplanets and revealed the existence of around 2,245 others. Among these, at least 30% are conceded as Super-Earths. While a few percents of these rare planets are orbiting in the habitable zone of their host star that sometimes spoke out as the “Goldie-lock” zone. In this locality, the planet’s surface has perfect temperature ranges which are necessary for liquid water. The other two pre-requisites are the size and mass of the planet. It should be double than earth radius and ten times more massive. Since the massive planets have a stronger gravitational pull, the research always weighs up extra mass is what makes Super-Earth, a perfect home for living.
Another surprising ingredient is the unusual phenomenon of planetary plate tectonics– a process that shapes a planet’s surface by stretching, compression, or other forces acting on the planet’s rigid outer layer, called the lithosphere. Just after their formation, rocky planets like Earth are covered by a crust – a hard and rigid layer that is about 10 miles thick on average and forms part of the lithosphere. The most molten and very viscous interior of the planet – called mantle, swirl about constantly by convective currents. The flow of heat and melt in the upper mantle is the source driving plate tectonics. As Ward and Brownlee put it in their book, in “Rare Earths”, plate tectonics promotes environmental complexity and the exchange occurs through global cycles.
Our Milky Way galaxy carries 100 billion stars, many among them are identical to our Sun. There is considerable evidence that what happened to our Sun may presumably happen to other solar-type stars as well. Astronomers should bear in mind that even if they happen to locate a planet similar to Earth, moving around a star like Sun, even then they would have no guarantee that life can sustain and survive there. So, the idea of extraterrestrial life doesn’t seem to come true.
Everyone is in love with the moments when winds start blowing fast and the temperature drops just before the rain. These moments in a hot summer remind us that more often changes happen in our life when we least expect them.
When in a few moments or so the sky starts roaring with shrieks of lightning, and a thunderstorm began to stir. These epic storms and tornadoes are very common during the hot summer, especially in North and Middle America often referred to as tornado season. These epic storms usually strike in the evening or midnight and cause destruction but they can be beautiful when caught by the camera in the right moments. Take a look of stunning photos of some of the rare epic storms captured in recent summer around the globe.
Photo credit: National geographic
Photo credit: National geographic
Photo credit: National geographic
Photo Credit: Douglas Taylor
Photo Credit: Pinterest
An electrifying image caught by the camera during the rare phenomenon of the Cloud burst.
Photo Credit: Pinterest
Nature photographer Jeremy Holmes captured this beautiful image during a tornado usually hit American states in the evening.
Photo credit: Jeremy Holmes
A stunning photo captured during some of the rare epic storms in a volcanic region.
A Volcanic thunderstorm Photo Credit: Pinterest
Photo credit: Pinterest
A stunning photo captured in a midnight epic storm in Middle America.
Pakistan is not
deficient of bright minds and hardworking individuals. There have been many
inspiring souls over the years who gave their best to this country and worked
endlessly for the promotion of science and for making it a safer and
respect-worthy state in the comity of nations. This Independence Day, we look
at some of the renowned personalities in the field of science.
Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan
President Leghari presenting a civil award to Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan
Born on 27 April 1936,
a nuclear physicist and metallurgical engineer Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan has been
named as “Mohsin-e-Pakistan”. His hard work and passion made one dream for
Pakistan possible that looked rather difficult. After coming to Pakistan in
1974, he worked to convince the then Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and
Chairman of Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, Dr. Munir Ahmed Khan to go for
uranium accretion instead of plutonium. He was later given a part in the 1975
project and he started research on gas centrifuges with Dr. Khalil Qureshi,
which was a new idea at that time.
After the establishment of Engineering Research Laboratory or ERL, the scientists of Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission and ERL researched separately form each other and in 1981, Dr. Qadeer Khan was made the director of ERL and its name was changed to A. Q. Khan Research Laboratories, where he successfully made the first atomic device in 1984, after working endlessly day and night along with his team. Dr. Qadeer Khan saw many controversies to his name. Claims were made that he allegedly stole atomic information from Holland, and he was respectfully acquitted. In 2004, during the era of former President General (R) Pervaiz Musharraf, he was charged with providing sensitive information to other countries and as a result, he faced custody at home. Even though he was freed after judicial and public response, he still lives a secluded life and is devoid of the respect and honor he duly deserves.
Dr. Abdus Salam
Dr. Abdus Salam is the only Nobel Laureate in Science from Pakistan
Dr. Abdus Salam was
born on 29 January 1926 in Jhang, Punjab. He is the first and only Pakistani
scientist who was jointly awarded the coveted Nobel Prize in 1979 for his work
on electroweak unification theory along with two Western scientists. Dr. Salam
had a long relationship with the nuclear program of Pakistan and he served as
the Science Advisor to the Government of Pakistan from the year 1960 to 1974,
where he played an effective role in promoting scientific research and in
establishing a basic infrastructure for science and technology in the country.
Because of his
efforts, SUPARCO (an acronym for Space and Upper Atmosphere Research
Commission) came into being which is still the only space research institute in
Pakistan. He also provided his services to Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission
where he worked to bring scientists to one platform and because of that
“Theoretical Physicist” and “Mathematical Physicist” groups were formed and
that’s why he is often called as the “Scientific Father” of Pakistan’s atomic
program. In 1965, taking permission from President Ayyub Khan, he made a
contract with Canada to establish a nuclear power plant in Karachi and in the
same year, because of his efforts not only did America agree to provide a
research reactor but he also joined hands with Edward Stone who provided help
for establishing the Pakistan Institute of Nuclear Sciences. Unfortunately, in
1974 due to religious and personal differences, he waved goodbye to his
homeland forever.
Dr. Munir Ahmed Khan
Dr. Munir (R) briefing President Zia-ul-Haq (M)
Dr. Munir Ahmed Khan
is credited with being the creator of Pakistan’s atomic program. He served as a
Senior Technical Staff to International Atomic Energy Commission for a long
time and earned the name “Reactor Khan”.
Seeing his experience
in reactor technology and powerplants, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto made him the
Chairman of Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission and under his leadership,
plutonium accretion project started for which he signed contracts with France
and other countries but after the arrival of Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan the plan
changed. He is widely appreciated for staying away from political and other
conflicts and throughout his long career, just focused on promoting science and
technology and nuclear research.
His biggest work was
the establishment of the Kahuta Enrichment Plant, where many famous scientists
worked hard day and night and provided their valuable services for science. Dr.
Munir served as Chairman of PAEC till 1991 and he was awarded Sitara-e-Imtiaz
and Hilal-e-Imtiaz by Government of Pakistan for his immense contributions.
Dr. Muhammad Raziuddin
Siddiqui
Dr. Raziuddin served as the Vice-Chancellor for many Pakistani Universities
Dr. Muhammad Raziuddin
Siddiqui was born in Hyderabad (British India) in 1908, and he did his Masters
in Mathematics from Cambridge University and Ph.D. in Mathematics and Quantum
Physics from Leipzig University, Germany. In the 1960s, he worked with the
British Atomic Program and during his research at Cavendish Laboratory wrote
several acclaimed research papers that were published in renowned journals.
After the independence
of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, he settled in Karachi on the request of
Governor-General and in 1950, established All Pakistan Mathematics Association.
He worked endlessly for better educational standards in the country and was
appointed as the Vice-Chancellor of Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad along
with other universities of Sindh and Peshawar.
He provided his services to Pakistan Atomic Energy and made different groups with Dr. Abdus Salam, Dr. I. H. Usmani, and Dr. Riazuddin, which made valuable research possible at PAEC and helped promote Advanced Mathematics in the country. He was awarded three highest civil honors by the Government of Pakistan that included Sitara-e-Imtiaz, Hilal-e-Imtiaz, and Nishan-e-Imtiaz.
The Internet provides a way to the patients with unrecognized rare diseases, according to a recent study published in the journal “Genetics in Medicine”, which used the example of a rare inherited disease ADTKD to demonstrate the potency of the internet to help diagnose patients with mysterious diseases.
Internet may help diagnose people with rare disorders
“Rare diseases, especially inherited ones, are often not correctly diagnosed by primary care physicians and even specialists because they are so uncommon, and a provider who does have expertise may be located very far from the patient,” said the study’s lead author, Anthony J. Bleyer, M.D., professor of nephrology at the medical school.
While online searches can frequently fail to provide relevant or correct health information, the internet does offer those with rare disorders a way to find the rare specialists interested in a particular condition and obtain accurate information about it.
In the study, researchers investigated 665 referrals made from 1996 to 2017 to a wake forest school of Medicine research center specializing in autosomal dominant tubulointerstitial kidney disease (ADTKD), a group of diseases that affects the tubules of the kidney and gradually causes the kidney to stop functioning. Of all the referrals, 40% were from healthcare providers at academic medical centers, 33% were from nonacademic health care providers, and 27% were self-referrals from individuals or family members, who contacted the website directly without the guidance of any health care provider.
27% of the referrals from the academic center, 25% from the non-academic center and 24% self-referrals showed positive results for genetic testing; indicating the presence of ADTKD. The study encapsulates the idea that 25% of the self-referrals who represented 42 families and 116 individuals would have gone unrecognized if they had not contacted the website directly.
“The similar percentages of positive results from the three types of referrals indicate that actively pursuing self-diagnosis using the internet can be successful,” Dr. Anthony J. Bleyer, said in a statement.
“One-quarter of the families found to have ADTKD were diagnosed as a result of direct contact with the center through the internet, which represents 42 families and 116 individuals who otherwise would have gone undiagnosed if a family member had not contacted us.”
Researchers explained the importance of the internet in recognizing the rare diseases as it gives its users access to unlimited valuable data leading to more diagnosis. Researchers also emphasize that centers specializing in rare disorders should make online access to the public, their prior concern.
Today we see the islands of garbage on the ocean surface. The ocean converts into the molls of debris just because of human activities. Every year many industries dump millions of their trash and waste material into the ocean. Oil and gas mining activities and some accidents like oil spills also polluting the ocean and harm the aquatic life. Every year millions of fishes die by trapping in the net and wires that fisherman discards into the ocean.
Thousands of aquatic life die due to eating plastic material. The toxic material that we throw into the ocean also affects all species around, either directly or indirectly. Fish eat the poison and toxic material, the cycle continues and the toxic materials fish eat enter into our bodies. These toxic materials not only affect aquatic life also affect the overall food chain. The only way to get rid of this worst situation is “Ocean Privatization”.
Ocean privatization if fair or not?
How we solve this
problem?
This problem can resolve by privatizing the ocean. Ocean privatization is a process in which the Government gives property rights of some part of the ocean to the company and any individual, same as the selling some part of land property.
As an American economist and theorist Walter Block said that “there are vast areas of human existence where the private property right plays no role at all”. We can say that the ocean privatization is a very interesting story to develop the property right of ocean fisheries.
Most of the beaches around the globe has turned into rubbish dumpsters.
How pubic pollute an Ocean?
A serious problem with our masses is the misuse of public places. This process starts when the landlord keeps a large area of land and gives on rent to the farmer and labor. The farmer is not allowed to use the plot for farming and other cattle grazing purposes because these activities diminish its value. This problem of land ownership still present. To solve this problem Government act as landlord charging taxes.
Consequently, the landlord abandons the land and the area used for different public outing sites like national parks, beaches, etc. Due to these activities, the oceans have badly affected. Peoples throw bottles, cans and other plastic materials into the sea and making it over-polluted.
Fish companies closing their business in the ocean areas contaminated with toxic materials
Don’t pollute own land
Most of the companies working on ocean businesses never prefer an area filled with debris. The fish companies don’t show interest to catch or buy fishes those are contaminated with toxic material which will eventually result in a slight decrease in fisheries business.
Charge those, who
pollute your ocean part
When an ocean is got privatized, the owner would generate his own rules and rights, policies and can charge other companies as per desire. The owner invests on his own ocean plot to attract the companies and other tourists.
Therefore, when someone pollutes his piece of the ocean he will charge a fee and can punish if the shipping industry and oil and gas mining companies pollute the ocean more than his set limit he will be able to charge these companies as well. The same policies apply in the Montreal protocol in which, if industry release more (CO2) from the set limit, the industry has to pay for it. In this way, ocean privatization can play its part in the eradication of environmental pollution.
Benefits of the ocean privatization & How an ocean can get privatize?
At present, many countries invest in ocean cleaning projects and thousands of dollars have invested for the coastal guards. This year, the US government owed $10.6 Billion to the coast guard. According to an official working on ocean privatizing project:
If the Government sells the property right to a company then it could not invest in the coastal guards. We are working to ensure the business policies and novelty in the private ocean and will give rise in the revenue. We are hopeful that such efforts will result in the wellbeing of the aquatic life and ocean water quality.
