http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/17/science/space/new-planet-found-in-alpha-centauri.html?ref=science&_r=0
In the article, New Planet in Neighborhood, Astronomically Speaking, I read how American, and European scientist, students, and astronomers found a new earth like planet. This planet is 4.4 light years away and shares the same mass as our earth. Out of all the star systems, this system is the closest to ours, “this is close enough you can almost spit there,” said Geoffrey Marcy, an exoplanet astronomer at the University of California, Berkeley. Today, NASA has hit a bit of a slump. The least we can do with this new discovery is to send a probe there to examine. If this mission is run and funded by NASA, then the space program could rise up. The mission may take 100 years but it could bring new discoveries or alternatives to us today. However, once we land at the “New Earth”, there must be more planets to discover. Debra Fischer, a Yale astronomer who has been searching for planets in that same system for years, said: “The discovery that our nearest neighbor has rocky planets is the story of the decade. I’d bet $100 that there are other planets that are there as well.”
I found this article very interesting. I have always thought of what would happen if we found a second earth. Although this new discovery is most likely inhabitable, what would happen if we moved 1 million people there? Would we not pollute? Would we take the resources? Would we industrialize and mirror earth? I believe that we live a more efficient life style and protect the new planet.
The article was an all right article. I really wished that there was more on the discovery and facts of the new planet. There was way too much feedback, thoughts, and ideas from random people. Perhaps if there were just answers from the people that discovered the planet, the article would flow much better. I enjoyed reading this article and thought that it was very fascinating.
If you were put on this planet, what would you do and how would you live?
posted for J. McCann
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My classmate Jack McCann wrote an intriguing review on the article “New Planet in Neighborhood, Astronomically Speaking”; all and all Jack did a great job. Jack provided us with a lot of information from the article, which allowed the reader to really understand what was going on. Another aspect that I really enjoyed about this review was the fact that Jack included quotes from the actual article. The last thing I really enjoyed about the review was the how Jack included a question at the end of his review This was different, and made the reader think about the review, even after they were done reading. One thing I thought Jack could have improved upon was condensing the information, because he a lot of it, and I thought it was too much. The other I thought Jack could have worked on was giving more of his opinion on the article. I thought that he did not have enough of his own voice about the article. The most interesting I learned in this article was the fact that a new planet that is similar to ours was found. It is hard to think that there is a planet just like ours.
ReplyDeleteI read Jack McCann’s review of the article “New Planet in Neighborhood”. Jack did a great job on summarized and analyzed the article with his own thoughts. First, he rearranged the order of the original article. He put the information about Alpha Centauri B which is an earth-like planet at the first few lines of the review. It’s a very smart choice, because that’s what really interests us and what we care about from the original article. He also chose some interesting quotes from the article, which lighten the heavy mood of facing difficulties of how to discover the planet more. I also like the analysis and reflection at the end. Based on the fact that we are discovering more about Alpha Centauri B, he takes a step forward and thinks about if we are really able to reach there, what we are going to do with it. He did a great job of inviting readers to think about the topic further which makes the discovery more meaningful.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I really enjoy the review from all aspects, there are still some ways to improve it. He could give more detailed information about Alpha Centauri B. In the original article, it says Alpha Centauri B’s ” temperatures would be moderate enough for water and creatures like us, is about 65 million miles from the star, where a year would take 200 days or so, about the same as the orbit of Venus in our own system.” I think it’s important to show how it closes to earth, like the temperature and orbiting speed. Another thing Jack could improve on is putting more his thoughts about the plan of send a probe there to examine on the review. Although he makes a great analysis on what should we do after we reach that inhabitable planet, but after all, the original article is talking about discovering the planet and it “is not “Earth 2.0.” Yet”.
This topic interests me because I have learned about globular cluster star Omega Centauri before, and it’s surprising to know there’s an earth-like planet being discovered in this constellation.
I read the article summary by Jack McCann based on the new planet that was discovered. Jack did a great job giving facts that are interesting. These facts about the planet helped to get the reader pulled in to the reading. Another thing that he did was gave a good idea as to how we will come up upon this new planet. We were told it would take almost 100 years and that this discovery will also lead to others. A final thing that I thought was great was he got the reader thinking at the end. He brought up the question of what we would do with the planet if we could live on it. He asked if we think we would industrialize it or mirror it on the earth. It was a good summary which informed the reader of the topic. You also clearly stated how this topic relates to society and criticized the article.
ReplyDeleteThere a various ways that this article summary could have been made better. First of all as you said more detail could have been included about the planet. If the article does not include enough information for you to write an article, then you should probably pick another one. The article is about this new planet that has been discovered, so that is what the reader wants to know more about. Another thing is that your writing was not separated into paragraphs. This allowed your points to jump around. You should have separated your ideas into paragraphs so the reader can understand it more and retain the information.
I thought this topic was very interesting as I enjoy when scientists learn something new such as a new animal or in this case a planet. I am sure that this particular article is one to remember and the summary was great, bringing out the key points from the original article. Over all it was a good summary.