Nicole Giangola 12/05/12
Earth Science Current Events
End of the World Speech from Dr. Scott Calvin
From attending Dr. Scott Calvin’s speech I got a new insight on the rumor of the world ending in 2012. He opened up the speech by talking about different time increments that people use today and how we don’t have one straight unit like the Mayans had. We use months, week days, and all different ways to indicate one specific date. I never thought of our dating system as confusing, I only thought of it as one common universal way, that was easy to understand. Another thing that Dr. Scott Calvin talked about was the explosion of different stars and objects in the solar system. He said that they are so far away that they would not have a large impact on Earth that would lead to extinction. I always thought that stars were close enough to lead to massive issues. He also mentioned a scale that was used to identify the damage a meteor would cause when hitting the Earth. He explained that meteors that hit the Earth are relatively low on the scale and with all the tracking information that we have today, if a big meteor was to come around we would know far enough in advance to evacuate areas and take certain precautions. He basically summed up that we should not worry about the world ending in 2012.
All of this information relates to people living on the Earth today, because it was a rumor that had a lot of people worrying that humans would be destroyed. With all the technology that scientists have today we don’t have anything to be afraid of. They can tell when something large is going to crash into the Earth, and if something inevitable is going to happen they can take precautions to stop any long term damage and destruction. Dr. Scott Calvin really explained everything in detail of how we should not be afraid and how scientists know everything they need too.
Overall, from listening to his speech I really liked it. I thought he explained everything very effectively. He used technology very effectively and only used it when it was needed to explain something or to serve as an example. I also liked how he seemed really interested in what he was talking about which let the audience connect to him more.
Nicole,
ReplyDeleteI too went to this presentation and liked it. I like how your article talks about the differences with time because I also thought of time as being so simple, when really it's something we talk for granted. Besides meteors he talked about asteroids and different scientific evidence that supports that the world isn't going to end. I also agree with how it effects everyone today because the Earth could be destroyed. I recently heard another rumor about how on December 21st all of the planets are going to be lined up with the sun causing something to set off. If this happens, scientists will have 8 minutes until the Earth gets struck by the "lightning bolt," that supposedly formed from the planets being aligned with the sun.
Although I also thought his presentation was insightful on the details involving the world to end in December 2012, I would have liked a more visual presentation. He did show us images but personally, I think a PowerPoint presentation would have been a help.
Nicole,
ReplyDeleteI thought this was a very well done report, and because I also went to the presentation I found it interesting to hear what someone else thought. I was also surprised to realize just how strange our dating system actually is. I had never thought of it as two separate calendars until that speech. One of the parts about the meteor speech I found interesting was the fact that he discussed ways in which we could actually divert any very large meteors headed towards earth. I thought you did a good job of making sure to mention how this topic comes up in our lives, and it is very interesting with the apparent “apocalypse” looming over us. One thing that I think could have been improved upon during the presentation was that he tended to ramble a bit, and this meant that he only got to two subtopics of how the world could end.
Sean Flanagan 12/13/12
ReplyDeleteEarth Science Honors I Blog Comment
I chose to read Nicole’s review of Scott Calvin’s presentation on the end of the world. The first thing that I liked about Nicole’s review was that it was not stuffed with technical information. I did not require any prior knowledge or training to read an comprehend her review. Secondly, she conveyed a real sense of understanding in her presentation of Scott Calvin’s lecture. From the vocabulary and language she was using in her review, I could tell that she wasn’t confused by any of the things she was presenting. Finally, it is admirable that Nicole admitted she came to the presentation with misconceptions about the end of the world. Some people would refuse to admit when they are wrong. In any case, it made her review better from the reader’s point of view.
I learned a few things from reading Nicole’s review of Scott Calvin’s lecture on the end of the world. Firstly, I had no idea that there was any way to measure the magnitude of meteors. I had assumed that they were measured by mass and judged by that. I had assumed that as soon as a meteor was judged as Really Big, it would be dealt with by the world. I also learned that the stars that have people worried about are not close enough to do any damage if they exploded. This is just another common misconception that has grasped the nation with its drama.
In summation, Nicole wrote a well-reasoned review of a very difficult topic. She presented the information with obvious knowledge and self-assurance. I was able to comprehend every word of it, and I actually learned something. I would, however, offer a suggestion. There were times when Nicole became vague in her description. Although I was able to understand what Nicole was understanding, her descriptions were lacking. I feel that she needed to go into more detail for the review to be better. Otherwise, the review was one of the better ones I have read.
I thought that this was a very well done report. I attend the seminar as well and found it equally as interesting. I to never really saw the way the we kept time as difficult or confusing until we further looked and thought about it. One of my biggest concerns about 2012 was that if there was a massive explosion in space would that end the world as we know it. When Mr. Calvin mentioned that an explosion of a star would be not only too small but no where powerful enough to reach Earth it was almost as if there was a sigh of relief across the room. One thing that I also found very interesting was when he mentioned the possibility of a solar storm. The thing that i found interesting was when he said we would need to shut every power source off for a couple of days in order for the storm to not have a huge impact on the planet. I found this to be interesting because i fell that people are really panicking for the end of the world but from this presentation it became clear to me that there is not a whole lot that we need to worry about. Overall I thought that you summarized the information from the presentation in a very productive and direct way.
ReplyDeleteNice Job!
I my self didn't go to this lecture but I thought that your review was very informative that I didn't have to in order to understand what he was talking about. So obviously I thought this was very well done. I appreciated the fact that you made it easy to understand with out knowing about the topic before hand. Another thing well don't in this review was how you talked about how this topic had different reactions with time. Also it was nice hearing this from someone's view who was more on my level.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was interesting how we would have to completely cut off power during the storm to protect the planet from even more harm during the storm. IT is hard to think what our generation would do without power, especially sense we are so reliant on it now. The second thing I learned was that we are able to measure meteors which before I had no idea was possible.
Over all I don't have any complaints and I think this was very well written and I happy that I read it.
Noor Banihashem Ahmad
ReplyDelete1/8/13
I read Nicole’s review on Dr. Scott Calvin’s End of the World Speech. I was pleased the read that the world would not be ending in 2012, but it’s already 2013, so I didn’t think that was a big issue. I also learned the evidence to back up that explanation. I learned that if a star or another object exploded in our solar system, it would not be possible for it to reach our planet, and do enough damage to end the world. I always thought the same thing as Nicole, that we were very close to our stars, so I found that very interesting to read about. She also explained how he talked about a meteor scale. Meteors that hit the Earth are on a relatively low scale, and a meteor of weak strength like this would be able to cause that much damage to the Earth.
People all over the world were panicking because of the end of the word, and so I found it interesting to be assured there we’re not coming to a mass extinction any time soon. I also found the fact that there is a meteor scale very interesting. I would be nice to know more about that, and what the scale is based off of. I always assumed that it went by the mass of the meteor. The bigger it was, the more damage it would do, sounds like a reasonable statement, but it thought it was very cool to learn otherwise.
I thought Nicole did a very good job at presenting her information. The review that she wrote was short, but it got to the point very well. We could really tell that Nicole actually understood what Dr. Calvin was trying to say. I thought some of her descriptions were lacking in detail, but I was able to understand all of the information in the review, and it made it actually interesting to read.