PLN 31

What matters in the world today is a piece of the famous Newton apple tree that is being taken on a ride into outer space on the space shuttle Atlantis. What started as an ironic joke is now turning into larger project. Originally one of the astronauts just thought it would be funny to have a piece of the 350 year old tree that helped discover gravity, in a zero gravity environment. But it has lead scientist to begin testing what happens to plants in outer space. The thinking is that if plants can still grow in zero gravity, then it might make space colonization possible. Obviously the plant would have to be provided with necessary water and light, but otherwise hope is good for the survival of the zero gravity photosynthesizes. This matters to the world because in the case of Armageddon, it we would have a possibility of survival. People could be transported to large space stations, or even bases on another planet. This effects education because of all the opportunities it will present. With space farms, longer periods of time could be spent in orbit with out having restock flights. This matters to me because it is showing that Obama was true to his word when he gave money to NASA to continue the manned space flights that I have discussed before.

PLN 30

What matters in the world today is that the Obama administration has disclosed the size of the U.S. nuclear arsenal. The article on Yahoo! News says that the Pentagon has admitted to having 5,113 nuclear missiles along with several thousand decommissioned nukes waiting for dismantling. This is easily enough to wipe out a large portion of world. The escalation of nuclear production during the cold war, put the initial number in the tens of thousands, but SALT 1, reduced that number to its current point. The new treaty with the Russian government has set a limit of 1,550 active nukes. Even though this is still enough to wipe most of the population, the idea is that it will reduce efforts by countries like Iran from trying to achieve nuclear power. The number of atomic weapons held by the United States was previously top secret information, but now that the treaty has been signed, there is no longer a point in hiding it from the world. The impact this is going to have cannot be predicted. It could just fuel Iran into making more bombs with the goal of becoming more powerful then the U.S. Or it could be perceived as peace, and tensions will relax, and no one else will try to create more nukes. This could also lead to a more open research of nuclear weapons. Kids could learn more about what nukes are capable of and how they can be dismantled. Personally though, it raises several questions. One, why did we not know this before? Who really cares if the world knows how many nukes we have? To me it seems like this number is shocking to some people, and in my eyes, it is good to know that other threatening countries are scared of our power. Two, what is the plan of action if Iran or North Korea decides that they have had enough and launch nukes at us? If we are busy destroying our nukes, we will not be ready to protect our selves from attack, or retaliate with our own strike. This issue will have to be watched very closely in the future, because nuclear weapons are extremely dangerous in the wrong hands.

PLN 29

The article, 2txt? Or Nt 2txt by Garrison Keillor talks about how young men have been hurt by texting. He talks about how teenaged men have lost their social skills because of texting and e-mail. Keilor also states that girls have somehow maintained their personal relationship abilities through these tough technological times. I have written before about how IM and txt are removing the personal aspect of relationships, but I disagree with Mr. Keillor. I personally still have the ability to talk to new people and be outgoing; which as Keillor stated, is important when trying to get a job or when working the job. In my own experiences I have found that I am still very capable of holding an intellectual conversation with adults or with new people. Even though I still hold all of the traits that he attributed to this decline in people skills. Such as sending an average of 75 msg. everyday, and having the instinct to "beat other men senseless with clubs and seize the big butt of the wild swine carcass and thereby win the loyalty of the large-breasted, blue-eyed babe." I can talk to my teachers, waiters, girls, other guys, and anybody else you can think of without having much of a problem. The case might not be the same for other guys my age, but I know that I have no problem, and neither do most of my friends. Thus I am forced to disagree with Mr. Keillor, and say that I am just as capable as any girl, of maintaining good people skills while texting constantly.