Nuclear Power

In theory, nuclear power is a reasonable alternative to things such as gasoline and electricity by the fact that it is more efficient and typically environment friendly. However, the process of creating nuclear energy create a harmful by-product known as "spent fuel." Spent fuel is a higly radioactive and dangerous waste that every nuclear powerplant produces. A combination of uranium, plutonium, and curium, the process of disposing the spent fuel has been a hotly debatable topic amongst scientists. While it is true that the toxic product could somehow seep through and cause genetic mutations that the earth has never seen before, the total radioactive waste produced by one nuclear plant is significantly less than that produced by a fossil fuel plant.

At the moment, France has used nuclear energy as a supplier, leading to it having the cleanest air and cheapest electricity in Europe. It also reprocesses its nuclear waste at the moment, which leads to less radiocative waste that needs to be disposed. While it is neccessary for the human population to determine a way to safely dispose of the waste, the evidence shown by the use of nuclear energy has many more pros than cons. Ergo, we should continue to focus our efforts on the safe production of nuclear energy, the energy of the future.

Quantum Mechanics

Quantum Mechanics is a scientific subject that is so difficult to grasp, even those who have been taught at M.I.T. or teach at M.I.T. lack sufficient knowledge on the subject. The most diffciult concept to the ideas relating to quantum mechanics were the different results that came from the double slit experiment. When unobserved, the particles formed a wave pattern when passing through the slits, in a much similar fashion as to waves of water passing through two slits. However, when scientists tried to observe how this was possible, the results went back to the expected pattern in which the particles hit the target in a double line pattern. This topic has confused scientists for years, and is most likely related to the fact that the detector somehow interferes in the pattern that the particles travel in when being placed close enough to observe. Also, compared to the macroscopic world, particles are much more difficult to understand due to their size and speed at which they travel at.

Another "interesting" aspect of quantum mechanics is the way the study relys upon probability, when as a student I've been taught to be as accurate and specific as possible. From another point of view, it is basically a study that is used to explain the unexplainable. In my opinion, this theories created in quantum mechanics suffice for now, but are inefficient and will be replaced when scientists have more results and information to work off of.

Did you know? Youtube

The presentation had many figures that seem astounding when first glimpsed, but the more in depth a person thinks, the less astounding it becomes. For instance, the fact that only 25% of the "genious" person variety in India surpasses that of the entire United States seems like a crazy discrepancy when first viewed. However, when taking into account that the population of the United States this year is an estimated 306 million and the population of India is an estimated 1.148 billion, the gap becomes that much shorter. The probability that India would have a larger group of geniuses far exceeds that of the USA, and while there still would be a gap between the two, it wouldn't be as noticeable such as when not taking into account the ratio of the populations. Also, some of the facts relating to technology weren't that astounding considering society is now expanding and making advancements, something that humans have done since the beginning of their creation. Obviously new jobs will be invented for the new discoveries and inventions humans create as they increase efficiency and proficiency in society. With new jobs comes new titles, and with new titles come new words, which is why the language is growing as well. As we have outgrown outdated terms such as "Thou, ist, and hie," that were found everywhere in Shakespearean times, new generations also seek out to establish themselves away from those of the former, as witnessed in the idea of growing up. While some of the other facts were interesting, they were merely footnotes that weren't really worth delving into.