How did the Dinosaurs become Extinct?

The Asteroid Theory One of the most well-known and intriguing theories suggested for dinosaur extinction is the asteroid theory. In the 1980, the father-son team of Luis and Walter Alvarez discovered a layer of iridium in the K-T boundary. Iridium is rare on earth, but abundant in meteorites. The Alvarezs' suggested that a huge asteroid or comet, perhaps miles in diameter, hit the Earth at that time. The result of such an impact would be an enormous explosion that would throw dust clouds into the sky, darkening the planet. Massive forest fires, triggered by the hit, would add smoke to the sky. This would cool the planet causing the climatic changes observed. A crater, now worn down and partly under the ocean, was found along the Mexican Yucatan Peninsula and its creation coincides nicely with the K-T boundary. NASA scientists estimate that the asteroid that made Chicxulub Crater, as it is now known, would have been about 6 to 12 miles in diameter. The crater is about 130 miles across. Scientists at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado, have even been able to trace the path of that asteroid back into space. According to their calculations, 160 million years ago a collision between a 100-mile-wide asteroid, named Baptistina, and a smaller unnamed asteroid out beyond the orbit of Mars, shattered the larger object and sent pieces of it into the inner solar

  • Word count: 1447
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Science
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What atmosphere does Lorca create in Blood Wedding and how does he create it?

Name: Lasse Bresson Krøner Candidate number: 006 What atmosphere does Lorca create in Blood Wedding and how does he create it? The classical and highly acknowledged play Blood Wedding by Federico Garcia Lorca delivers many symbols and similes which communicates the themes of the play and also create an atmosphere which Lorca directs as he wants it. With an excellent skill of writing Lorca draws the audience into the surreal play with this intense atmosphere. It also makes the spectators understand the deeper meaning of the tale. The atmosphere in the play is ever changing. It starts out as a heavy dark sinister foreboding, the semi-subconscious sense that death will take place in the play with the mentioning of the knife. When it is known that a marriage is to take place the atmosphere is slightly lifted in the joyous occasion. However Lorca quickly shows the conflicts that are taking place within Leonardo and the Bride, and also between them, and the now almost obvious menace that hangs over the setting. The realisation of Leonardo and the Bride's act, confirming the growing tension, now gives expectations of the murder that has been suspected from the start. With the introduction of the Beggar and the Moon there is a violent and an intimidating atmosphere that is abruptly replaced by the calm sorrow of the last scene. It is easy to see how contradicting and profoundly

  • Word count: 1061
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Science
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The Plight of the Tierzans

The Plight of the Tierzans "Sir, the full moon, just like in the vision." "Yes, Dimitri, this is the hour for which we have prepared." An army assembled in the streets. The soldiers were dressed in a dark green uniform as far as the eye could see. Anticipation dwelled in the air. Then it happened. Five massive creature resembling apes tore through the streets. Their fierce red eyes were focused on destruction. Grotesque smiles crossed their faces. Their hands gripped soldiers and tails whipped at them. The five creatures opened their mouths and showered enormous bright beams of energy over the city below. In vain the remaining soldiers struggled. The once flourishing city had been reduced to rubble. Planet Canasa was now Lord Anorial's. * * * A baby cried. Glass capsules lined the walls. Inside each slept a baby, except in one. He sat awake crying. Two people approached the child. "That child will be great, watch." "The son of a low-class soldier - I wouldn't stake my reputation on that claim!" His companion checked his computer. "He's Zorban's son." "You just wait", protested the first. "That's the cry of a great warrior." Moving to the engraved capsule he murmured, "Rugald: remember that name." * * * Five soldiers sat within a crater, battered and bruised from destroying a city. "Zorban actually remembers everything!" "Don't make me laugh", Taura mused.

  • Word count: 1211
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Science
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Space - Should the costing be spent?

Contents page i) Introduction ii) Sources of Information iii) What is space? iv) Benefits of space exploration:-Population increase, Lack of Resources v) Counter - benefits of space exploration:-NHS Healthcare, Human space flight vi) Conclusion vii) Bibliography Introduction I have chosen to write a report entitled, "Space - Can the expense be justified?". I chose this as I had a keen interest in the matter; once we had discussed this as a class. Another reason in which why I have selected this topic is because as the world of media is advancing, this subject has been under debate for many years now, but with no final conclusion. Humans are said to have landed on the moon in 1969, however again through media many accusations have been made against this. This proves media manipulates decisions made; therefore the public should be more aware of the situation. Sources of information For this assignment, my main source of information will be the BBC news archive, due to the fact this is a government based company. Therefore the information will be very much factual and reliable, rather than opinion based data from other sources of media. Further on, I will use the British National Space Centre (BNSC) as this is Britain's main space exploration organisation. Following on, I will be using "Encarta Encyclopedia" which is a screen-based archive of various facts and

  • Word count: 1537
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Science
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Naina The Big Bang

THE BIG BANG: What Does It All Mean? By Naina B Contents Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 The Development and Progression of the Big Bang Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Evidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Flaws . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Controversy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Before the Big Bang . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Apocalypse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Bibliography & Evaluation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Terminology Here I have explained some of the terms that I will be using throughout the case study. * A dimension is a measurable distance. There are four dimensions know to us. * Space is the name for three dimensions (length, width and breadth) combined. Space defines where an event happens. * Time Is the fourth dimension that defines when an event happens. * Spacetime is

  • Word count: 2399
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Science
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Finite Oceans.

Finite Oceans Over a long period of time, us human have damaged and caused many severe problems to our mother earth. You might not have realized it, but the conditions of the earth are a lot worse than it was centuries ago. We are constantly creating all kind of synthetic chemicals or molecules that last forever. We don't need lasting things because humans don't last forever. Another problem that humans have caused is the creation organal halogens such as Morex (pesticide), DDT (insect repellant), and Agent Orange (herbicide). Disinfectants and bleachers are halogens that also cause problems. Examples include: Florine, Chlorine, Bromine, and Adenine. All of these are very useful, but they have very dangerous side effects that affect many animals and humans. For example, a very powerful insect repellent called DDT was designed and created to kill annoying bugs. As these chemicals combine with the air molecules, they eventually go into oceans and seas around the world. When we eat the fish from the oceans, we are also consuming the chemicals that are in the water. Some chemicals may even cause genetic damage to our cells. These can be passed from generation to generation. Chemicals like DDT will remain on the earth forever. These "organal halogens" also mimic hormones. They can take over or replace existing hormones. If this happens, our hormones will tell our bodies to do

  • Word count: 483
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Science
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The aim of this report is to give a clear summary of the main points surrounding the often confusing topic of black holes.

<!--THIS FILE CREATED BY APPLEWORKS HTML FILTER 6.0-->PHYSICS COURSEWORK - RESEARCH AND REPORT BLACK HOLES The aim of this report is to give a clear summary of the main points surrounding the often confusing topic of black holes. Many people are fascinated by these phenomena, but how many could say for sure what a black hole is? So to start, I feel that a proper definition of a black hole is needed. A black hole is an object from which nothing can escape, or to put more accurately, a black hole is an object small enough that its escape speed exceeds the speed of light. "Escape speed?" You may ask, but more on this later. The first part of the report will concentrate on the history of the black hole theory and how it has developed over time. History Lesson The name "black hole" was created in 1967, but the idea is not so modern as the beginnings of the theory can be traced back to the eighteenth century. The theory of the black hole can be linked to the theory of light, which culminated in Einstein's General Theory of relativity in the early twentieth century. This theory married space and time, and could only be achieved thanks to the relative weakness of gravity as a force. As you approach a black hole, gravity becomes much stronger, so it dominates over any other force distorting the common rules of space and time, causing weird and wonderful phenomena which one

  • Word count: 2801
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Science
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A review of the documentary "An Inconvenient Truth"

AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH What if we are about to die? Al Gore, the US senator and vice president of the USA under Bill Clinton, advocated that the world is coming to its unprecedented end; he believes it to be a swift stroke of destiny that would leave this planet shattered and broken. What he is talking about is perhaps a very large global disaster that we are all familiar with. Perhaps his advice has already been stamped in every textbook of environmental systems in this world but no one really cared about it and just left it lying there. He refers to the threat of "global warming". Director Davis Guggenheim initiated the cult movie "An inconvenient truth". Al Gore is a radical environmentalist and has attended seminars, conferences, given talks and presentations to hundreds of places all round the globe so that he could convey the immediacy and importance of global warming. In this movie, he uses his own funny and convincing style and lets the audience draw their own conclusions. What is the whole issue of global warming? To talk about global warming we need to talk a little about greenhouse effect. The incoming solar radiation from the sun does not reach the Earth in all its totality. The earth reflects 30% of the incoming radiation. The remaining 70% is absorbed to warm the Earth. Now to balance out the solar influx with the solar out flux, the Earth reflects some of

  • Word count: 509
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Science
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What are stars made of?

THE UNIVERSE PHYSICS COURSEWORK KATY MORRIS 714 41240 What are stars made of? How do we know? Contents Page What Are Stars Made Of? 3 The Life Of A Star. 3 The Life Cycle Of A Star. 4 Our Star The Sun. 6 What is a Star? 7 Hertzsrung Russell Diagram 8 Star Formation: 8 Proto star formation: 9 T-Tauri Stars: 10 Brown Dwarfs: 13 How Do We Know What Stars Are Made From? 16 Picture Of Stars That I found 16 Information Used From the following Websites: http://antwrp.gsfc.nassa.gov http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov http://spaceboy.nasda.go.jp http://astro.keele.ac.uk http://zebu.uoregon.edu http://nasa.gov Books Used: Stars and Supernovas - Iain Nicholson Stars and Planets -Ian RidPath What Are Stars Made Of? Stars are made of very hot gasses, mainly hydrogen and helium. The gas gets denser and hotter as you had toward the middle of the star. In the sun the temperature reaches 15 million degrees Celsius. The largest stars make other elements in their cores, as a by-product of the nuclear fusion that powers them. Most material in the earth and in our bodies has been created in this way in the stars and spread throughout the galaxy by supernova explosions. So basically, stars are big exploding balls of gas, mostly hydrogen and helium. The Life Of A Star. Our nearest star, the Sun, is so hot that the huge amount of hydrogen is undergoing a regular

  • Word count: 3165
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Science
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Galileo and the moon

'Galileo had discovered many wonderful things which are very useful, even in the present life. At 20 while in a cathedral Galileo investigated the time it takes a lamp to swing using his very own heartbeat as a timer, and he realised that the each swing took the exact same time. In addition he invented the thermometer and a military compass to aim cannonballs which still are useful and ingenious. He did not invent the telescope but produced his own and used it to investigate the Moon and realised that it was not as smooth as first though, but full of craters and rough surface. At first he was rejected, and a mathematician stated that the moon was covered in 'invisible, transparent, smooth crystal.' Also Galileo said that the Moon like the Earth consisted of valleys and Mountains and that the dark spots were created by the Sun producing shadows. Then using his 30x power telescope Galileo focused on Jupiter and found three stars all in a straight line to each other. However Galileo was very secretive he wrote his discoveries as anagrams, so that it did not escape to others. Finally he concluded that Jupiter had three satellites which orbited Jupiter. This made Galileo suspicious if the earth was the centre of our solar system as the three 'stars' orbited Jupiter. Although Galileo thought that the sun was the centre of our solar system, he failed to accept this himself as he was

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  • Word count: 464
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Science
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