Month: September 2019

Being a political science major, it is not often that I am required to delve into STEM related fields. In my case, the decision to study astronomy is of my own accord. I frequently watch videos about galaxies, read articles about technologies NASA is developing for deep space research and read lists of planets where such bizarre things take place, they sound straight out of a movie. One night, I was down the Youtube rabbit hole and came across a video that asked the question, “Are there more grains of sand on Earth than stars in the universe?”.  After watching the video and finding out the answer, I decided to read another article on it to confirm the verdict in the video. After spending time listening to and reading complicated math, it was concluded that there are more stars in the universe than grains of sand on Earth. Dr. Marshall, the man who did the numbers in this article, was able to reach this conclusion by stating that 20 grans of sand packed together would equal a centimeter and by using this metric, he concluded that 8000 grains of sand would equal one cubic centimeter. Next, he used this as a scale and estimated the of grains of sand on earth to be numbered around 5 sextillion. Furthermore, he then stated that there is likely 5 to 10 times more stars in the universe than grains of sand on Earth. This absolutely fascinated me because the draw of the universe is the almost mystical nature of its enormous scale. The universe is so big, that the human mind often cannot comprehend it however, this question and its answer puts into context just how massive the universe actually is. I’m sure anyone who was posed this question would assume that the answer would be stars, I did anyway, but it is still mind boggling to think that something as small and abundant of sand can be topped in sheer number by another group of objects. For example, Praia do Cassino is the largest beach in the world, stretching about 150 miles long, the amount of sand present in that beach alone is an astoundingly high number. The ocean is 70% of Earth’s surface with an ocean floor covered in sand, making Praia do Cassino look like a sandbox for comparison, and yet it is dwarfed by the number of stars in the universe. I am no good at science, I rarely understand math, but I appreciate the thought that is required to comprehend the universe and the deductive reasoning that goes into theorizing about the universe, for me the universe is merely a hobby.

https://www.npr.org/sections/krulwich/2012/09/17/161096233/which-is-greater-the-number-of-sand-grains-on-earth-or-stars-in-the-sky

This is a fascinating article about a hypothetical question that asks, are there more stars in the sky or grains of sand on Earth? The article then seeks to answer the question using their best estimates. This really puts the scale of our whole universe together, as people eventually become numb to hearing large numbers, comparing stars to something that we can see and picture makes it easier to comprehend the sheer mass of space. Astronomy is something I really enjoy reading about because there are so many unexplained phenomenons that we can’t explain and the gigantic scale of the universe really provokes thought pertaining to life and purpose.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-32810887

This is an article that pertains to Brexit and provides the reasons and potential ramifications should Britain fully leave the EU. I think is it very interesting as there are themes of party infighting, people questioning the legitimacy of Brexit and demanding a recount, and a sentiment of de-globalization. It is also a very important issue here as the move will have an effect on the global market and force countries to deal with the EU and UK in separate ways. I love drama and politics and this important global issue has plenty of both.

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