| BS16110606 | BONIFACE BIN JOSS |
| BS16110732 | EMILY CHEE PEI YUNG |
| BS16110706 | NGO YI HONG |
| BS16110172 | NURUL HIDAYAH BINTI JAMAL |
COMMENTATORS:
| BS16110042 | ERIC GABRIEL FUNK |
| BS16110767 | FATIN NAJIHAH BINTI BIDIN |
| BS16110641 | LEONG WEI KUAN |
| BS16160808 | AVYRACHEAL |
Wednesday, 10 May 2017
VIDEO SUMMARY: THE SEARCH FOR A SECOND EARTH
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FATIN NAJIHAH BINTI BIDIN
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Tens of thousands of years ago, humans began to fan out across the planet. Following unknown path wings crossing unmeasured distances we traced coastlines and sailed uncertain seeds. We crossed ocean straits drained by an ice age into every corner of Earth then we also ventured looking for places to put down our roots to raise our families or just to see what was there. Today it’s the final frontier that fires our imaginations with so many stars in our galaxy. The Quran, the Thamud and many Hindu texts all imagined a universe full of living beings. It wasn’t until the 16th century that the idea became grounded in concrete notions of the physical universe. By the many eras, the many worlds view held sway in scientific circles. In 1961, the astronomer Frank Drake sought to lay out the odds of finding advanced alien civilizations. They believe that humanity and earth are unique. With the spread of Christianity, this Ptolemaic system became embodied in the rare earth hypothesis. In religious doctrine, it was taken to mean that mankind and earth were especially created by God in His image. In science, it implied that the circumferences that allowed life to unfold on earth are so particular grand fortuitous that the odds are slim will find another place like it. As we’ve seen on this planet, life is persistent adaptable relentless. Millions of species grace the landscapes and oceans of our planet from simple one-celled plants too complex megafauna. They may be able to figure out if the planet has a solid surface or that it’s a water world. The search for other Earth’s has taken astronomers light-years from our neighborhood in space. While astronomers look at star systems, many light-years away in hopes of finding another Blue Marble of a planet. Other Earth’s may be a lot closer than that. Our destiny would be to find our roots at are chemically and biologically among the stars.
LEONG WEI KUAN
ReplyDeleteBS16110641
This video is talking about the search for second Earth by human. For 4 years, the historic planet hunting machine Kupler stayed out of the group of 150,000 stars which is located in the region extending 3000 light years away from Earth. With such huge amount of stars in our galaxy, the cosmo must be filled with many world like ours. Ancient civilizations like China, Indian, and Egypt, all imagine the universe full of living beings. As come to our modern era, with the new telescope technology, we are gave a view of mass star population in the galaxy. We believe our humanity and Earth are unique. In the religious view, god make Earth for human. However, we still curious to find a second Earth. The species built up the landscape of Earth. For instances, the bacteria in volcanoes, fishes in seas and plants grow into forests. Astronomers find out that asteroids which delivery steady rains of meteoroid contain organic compound, water and building blocks for life, which help in supplying these compounds to Earth. Through the analising on carbon rich meteoroids, scientists found amino acids, components for building DNA, and sugar related compounds. In my opinion, these proof that the universe may have living things in form like the life on Earth, and thus there will be planets like Earth too. Besides, the distance of Earth and sun make the planet's temperature to hold between boiling point and freezing point of water, that is known as habitable zone for life like us. Earth is also galatic habitable as Earth locates close enough to the galaxy, infused with heavy elements generated by explosions. In addition, the super Earth must has a carbon cycle, which also necessary need the regulating climate. Astronomers do have found planets about the size of Earth with temperature condusive to life. More important, organisms need energy source, as well as medium for chemical reaction (water). In my point of view, all these things are related to soils, soils contain water, organic compounds and is the substrate for the producer of our food chain (plants) to grow. Thus, it is important that the second Earth must contain soils (either on land or under sea). However, if there is such planet rich with all these components like Earth, it will not be 'empty', there must have living things on the planet too! Thus, eventhough we found that planet one day, it does not belong to us, I hope human would not steal nor destroy the planet. Well, we can be friend with these aliens.
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ReplyDeleteAVYRACHAEL CREANLY JAIKON
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Nowadays, planet discoveries are a dime a dozen: more than three thousands planets are known around other stars, and their existence implies that there are hundreds of billions of planets in our galaxy alone. This revolution in planet hunting is certainly incredible. We humans have come to dominate the planet as no other species do.
Right now, astronomers are somewhat limited in what they can learn about planets around other stars. When we are looking for the best place to find life, the main focus should be what the planet’s atmosphere be like. Many researchers refer to the region where planets are neither too cold nor too hot to support liquid water on their surfaces as the habitable zone. Given that water is such an essential ingredient for life on our planet, it is necessary for the astronomers to find it on other world outside the Solar System. Soil is a mixture of minerals, organics matter, gases, liquids and countless organism that together support life on Earth.
The presence of soil and water on an exoplanet could mean that life has thrived there as well. To figure this out, astronomers should try to detect the components of each planet’s atmosphere. Our knowledge on physical, biological and chemical properties of our planet has given us access to its resources in ways not available to other species. Humankind has become the ultimate invasive species.
Scientist’s state that anywhere on Earth you find water, you are likely to find life, which is why astronomers look for these on other planets. They are hoping to be able to explore more on other planets to try and find life. Doing this things will require new ways of thinking and living and our decisions have global consequences for all life.
ERIC GABRIEL FUNK
ReplyDeleteBS16110042
The video, The Search for a Second Earth, explores the requirements a planet needs to support life with conditions similar to that of Earth. The video is divided into three parts, where the first part talks mostly about the conditions and methods on how life survive and thrive in our planet, the second part talking about the finding Earth-like exoplanets, and the third part talking about possible candidates of Earth-like planets. Parts of the video can be tangentially related to the soil science syllabus, which will be explained in brief when mentioned.
In part one of the video, the narrator explores the question whether Earth and the life which it supports is unique or common in the Universe. The video then goes on to explain that life on Earth is persistent and hardy, particularly bacteria. Bacteria can be found in fossil records dating back 3.5 million years. Bacteria can live in many and sometimes extreme environments, ranging from the hypothermal vents deep in the oceans, to the guts of animals, to even the soil. Deviating from the topic of the video, bacteria is essential to soil productivity as they recycle nutrients and water in the soil. They also act as soil aggregates, binding soil particles together with their secretions. The video goes on to mention that bacteria very sturdy organism, as they survived even the most catastrophic events in Earth’s history could dislodge them such as widespread volcanic eruptions to ice ages. However, the video mentions that even simple lifeforms like these may be difficult to evolve in a planet if we follow the Rare Earth theory. These simple lifeforms must first be brought into the planet through space debris such as comets which could carry proteins and simple sugars required to create DNA. These simple bacteria then give rise to one celled eukaryotes, which needs to evolve specialised internal organs to regulate processes such as photosynthesis, which takes in carbon dioxide and releases oxygen, which in turns regulates the surface temperatures. Geological processes such as weathering (which comes in three processes; physical, chemical, and biological) and volcanism then re-releases the carbon dioxide back into the atmosphere, creating a carbon cycle which keeps surface temperatures within a narrow range. This results in a stable climate which allows water to be retained in its liquid form. In turn, the oceans of water results in the process of the moving of continental plates, which releases and buries carbon dioxide. A nearly circle orbit can also help life thrive as it results in stabilised seasons. The distance between a planet and its star is also important as it allows water to hover between its melting and freezing point. The position of the planet’s solar system in the galaxy may also influence whether it will form life. The rest of the first part talks on the difficulties finding exoplanets and whether those planets can support life.
DeletePart 2 of the video talks about the requirements of life to thrive in exoplanets and how to find them. The scientist at the start of this part lists down the requirements; a liquid medium of some sort for chemical reactions to take place, basic building blocks of life such as phosphorus (which in plants is involved in the process of photosynthesis, respiration, energy storage and transfer, cell division, and enlargement), and an energy source (the parent star). The scientist preceding the previous one in the video also mentioned that a planet needs to be in a star’s ‘Goldilocks zone’ where water can exists in liquid form. The first thing astronomers look in an exoplanet to see if it can support life is if the exoplanet can support liquid water. Water is important as many critical chemical reactions required for life to exist needs liquid water as its medium. The video goes to mention that the Goldilocks zone of a star varies between different star types, as larger or hotter starts having zones further out of the star and smaller or cooler stars have Goldilocks zone much closer in to that star. The rest of the part talks on the different methods astronomers use to detect exoplanets from far away stars, and the possibility of advanced civilisations forming on them.
DeleteThe third part of the video talks about possible candidates for Earth like planets. The part first start off with the prerequisites required for a planet to form. According to the video, the composition of the parent start determines whether planets will form around the star, much like how the composition of the parent rock material determines the type of soil formed. Stars rich in heavy elements such as iron, nickel, silicon and so for are more likely to form planets. Heavy elements are also required by a planet to support life. In soil science, heavy elements such as iron, manganese, and copper are essential micronutrients to plants. Iron is required by plants to synthesise chlorophyll which gives leaves its green pigment and allows plants to absorb sunlight through photosynthesis. Manganese is used in plants as a major contributor to various biological systems including photosynthesis, respiration, and nitrogen assimilation, and is also involved in pollen germination, pollen tube growth, root cell elongation and resistance to root pathogens. Copper is required to activate certain enzymes in plants which are involved in lignin synthesis and also helps in plant metabolisms of carbohydrates and proteins and in plant respiration. Going back to the video, it also mentions that a planet needs to be the right size so that it can hold on to its atmosphere and allow the geological process of plate tectonics to take place so that surface temperatures can be regulated to a habitable point. The largest a planet can get to support life is ten times of the Earth’s mass, and the smallest a planet can get to support life is one third of the Earth’s mass. The rest of the part talks about the different types of exoplanets discovered and that the vast majority of them are Jupiter sized gas giants. Smaller rockier planets are very difficult to detect and find as our current technologies are not capable of performing such feat. The video also talks on planets close to ours, Venus and Mars, and why they are not capable of supporting life unlike Earth. In short, Venus is in the wrong place as it is too hot, and Mars is the wrong size as it cannot hold a thick atmosphere like the Earth. Still, the video ends on a hopeful note, saying that as technologies improve and the knowledge and understanding of stars and extrasolar planets increase and improve, finding a second Earth out there in space may be possible in the future.
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