The Immortals
Study Guide for Episode 11
Episode 11: The Immortals
People
• Enheduanna: One of the first known authors of written literature and poetry. I wrote a book that went through three editions and has been in print for 25 years. I thought that was pretty good. Then I heard about this lady. Her work has been in print for around 4400 years! Wow. If only they had had royalties back then.
•
Ideas
• Nakhla meteorite: This meteorite fell in Egypt in 1911. In 2013, NASA concluded, based on analysis of argon isotopes in the Martian atmosphere by Curiosity Rover, that the meteorite came from Mars, as suspected from other evidence for some years. For more about evidence of Martian origin, see Martian meteorites at Wikipedia.
• Mass spectrometry -- again. The same tool that Pat Patterson used to measure lead levels is involved in pinning down the planets of origin of several types of meteorites. See a simulation and brief explanation of mass spectrometry HERE. Click on the picture to begin.
• Tyson: "Written by nature, edited by evolution." He is speaking of DNA, and the continuity of its information that makes life possible. Learn more about how DNA preserves life's critical recipes, and how scientists read this information to learn evolutionary relationships, by reading "Biochemistry for Citizens", Units 3 and 4.
Updates
• In the recent Scientific American article, "Deep Space Deal Breaker" (February 2017, p. 54), a neuroscientist and radiation biologist questions whether we will ever be able to protect space travelers adequately from cosmic radiation and its damaging effects on the brain. If he is right, now-unforeseeable discovers must be made in order for manned missions to Mars or beyond to be feasible. If you do not have access to Scientific American and would like to read this article, let me know.
• The "Cosmos" series appeared in 2014. Now, three years later, are you more confident, or less confident, that we can solve some of the serious environmental and energy problems described in this episode. What are your reasons?
Readings
• Poem: Billy Collins, "Introduction to Poetry". Read it HERE.
• What is an interpretation of a poem? After you think about it, HERE is one take on this question.
• Can you find likenesses between interpreting a poem and doing science? (Think data, law, theory.)
• Does appreciation of a poem end with a cogent interpretation?
• Does appreciation of nature end with scientific explanations?
• Enheduanna: One of the first known authors of written literature and poetry. I wrote a book that went through three editions and has been in print for 25 years. I thought that was pretty good. Then I heard about this lady. Her work has been in print for around 4400 years! Wow. If only they had had royalties back then.
•
Ideas
• Nakhla meteorite: This meteorite fell in Egypt in 1911. In 2013, NASA concluded, based on analysis of argon isotopes in the Martian atmosphere by Curiosity Rover, that the meteorite came from Mars, as suspected from other evidence for some years. For more about evidence of Martian origin, see Martian meteorites at Wikipedia.
• Mass spectrometry -- again. The same tool that Pat Patterson used to measure lead levels is involved in pinning down the planets of origin of several types of meteorites. See a simulation and brief explanation of mass spectrometry HERE. Click on the picture to begin.
• Tyson: "Written by nature, edited by evolution." He is speaking of DNA, and the continuity of its information that makes life possible. Learn more about how DNA preserves life's critical recipes, and how scientists read this information to learn evolutionary relationships, by reading "Biochemistry for Citizens", Units 3 and 4.
Updates
• In the recent Scientific American article, "Deep Space Deal Breaker" (February 2017, p. 54), a neuroscientist and radiation biologist questions whether we will ever be able to protect space travelers adequately from cosmic radiation and its damaging effects on the brain. If he is right, now-unforeseeable discovers must be made in order for manned missions to Mars or beyond to be feasible. If you do not have access to Scientific American and would like to read this article, let me know.
• The "Cosmos" series appeared in 2014. Now, three years later, are you more confident, or less confident, that we can solve some of the serious environmental and energy problems described in this episode. What are your reasons?
Readings
• Poem: Billy Collins, "Introduction to Poetry". Read it HERE.
• What is an interpretation of a poem? After you think about it, HERE is one take on this question.
• Can you find likenesses between interpreting a poem and doing science? (Think data, law, theory.)
• Does appreciation of a poem end with a cogent interpretation?
• Does appreciation of nature end with scientific explanations?
