The Creative Writing Project of a Youth: April 2014

Friday, April 25, 2014

All About Saturn

Shannon Flynn
March 31, 2014
All Rights Reserved

All About Saturn

Saturn is a planet that everyone thinks they seem to know. But the fact is, there are things about him that may astonish you. Saturn is a very surprising planet, and it has been surprising to scientist for years. So, why don't we take a closer look at him, and see what he's really like?

Saturn's structure is pretty amazing. It consists of mainly helium and hydrogen. This makes it a gas planet. Gas planets are most of the time enormous, like Saturn's brother Jupiter. You would be able to fit approximately 1,072 Earth's inside Saturn. That's a lot! Saturn's inner heat is up to 22,000°F. That's 13,300°F more than our inner heat. Going on that note, Saturn radiates 82% more of this heat than the sun. How cool is that? Saturn's magnetic field, 550 times stronger than Earth. Ironically, although we are weaker than Saturn in that aspect, Saturn is weaker than Jupiter. And what fascinates scientist the most, is that Saturn's magnetic field is perfectly aligned with its axis. How? Well a magnetic field is not a circle ball, but in a way that you can understand, it is invisible lines and waves around a planet that keeps the solar flares from the sun from reaching into the atmosphere, and scorching everything in sight. Usually, a magnetic field and a planet will not be perfectly aligned, which Saturn is an exception to that rule. The surface of Saturn is fascinating as well. Because it is a gas planet, it has very violent winds and storms that range from day to day. What is cool about these storms, is that astronomers have noticed that certain storms happen in a certain part of Saturn's seasons. Also the average temperature on Saturn on the surface is -288°F, which is obviously a lot colder than Earth.

Saturn's outer planetary structure is what most people think they know about the most. But the thing that are about to be said will not only fascinate you, but surprise you. Obviously, Saturn has rings. A ring on a planet is basically nothing but debris, dust and space rock that has been attracted into an orbital fashion around a planet by its gravity. But Saturn's rings are surprising in their structure, and do not follow the usual structure of a ringed planet. Saturn's rings are surprisingly flat, only tens of meters thick. Also, the rings are very bright, not charcoal black like most planets. The main rings, are rings A, B, and C. Ring A is very translucent, and you can see the Saturn on the other side if you put it up next to him. And while Ring B is the densest of all the rings, and Ring C's density varies on what angle you are looking at it. There are other rings, but for the sake of time, they cannot be talked about now. Likewise, another whole paper could be done about Saturn's moons, but the talk of them will be kept in short. Saturn has three types of moons: irregular moons, regular moons, and ringed moons. Some of Saturn's many irregular moons are: Mimas, Tellys, Dione, Rhea, and Hyperion. An irregular moon is basically a smaller and more icy version of our own. There are in total 26 of these irregular moons, which there are hundreds of these regular ones being found by the year. The biggest (and the most well known) of these regular moons is Titan. Titan is larger than two planets. Being like its big daddy, its average temperature is the same that of Saturn's, which makes its water frozen solid.
When Galileo noticed Saturn in the sky with his telescope in 1610, he must have noticed that he had an interesting and sad legend behind him. Being that Galileo had grown up in the 1600's, he must have heard and knew the story extremely well. He knew that Saturn was the Roman god for agriculture. Here was where the corn god, Cronus, dwelled. Cronus' father Uranus, was threatening to kill his Cronus' children, when Cronus told his father that that wouldn't happen. Quickly, he tried to hide his children, but in the end had to kill his father with a sickle, which is why he became the corn god. Later on, he raised his children, which one of them became the god of Earth: Zeus. But, what does this have to with the planet Saturn? Galileo must have thought the same question as he looked at the magnificent and terrifying giant in the sky. The Romans had a pretty good imagination to think of such a story, but it does fit in with the question. What does the mythical story have to do with the planet? Every bit of it does. When the Romans looked up in the night sky and saw this beauty, they noticed how terrifying and beautiful it was, just as the god Cronus was. He was gentle and sweet, but very protective of his children. Even to the point of defying his own father and killing him. That has meaning to it, but there was one thing I think the Ancient Romans missed. The fact that the planet exists in the sky, in that such of a way, means that there must have been a more beautiful and terrifying creator behind it. Sadly, what the Romans had missed, was that the Creator, was giving them a glimpse of what His glory was like. And in my heart I think Galileo knew that; just by taking a closer look at this magnificent beauty we all call Saturn.

Image taken from: http://nineplanets.org/saturn.html

The Duke of Neimes Final Words

Shannon Flynn
4/9/2014
All Rights Reserved

The Duke of Neimes Final Words

The Duke of Neimes was a very honorable person in the Song of Roland. According to the poem, he had done many great deeds in his life, and was also a good friend and colleague of his king, Charlemagne. They were such good friends, that when the Duke died, the King wept in the middle of the battlefield for him. The Duke was valiant, courageous, and a very good comrade. But, his final few words to the King, showed us more, of how much this Duke was really worth.

The finally words the Duke of Neimes spoke to the King, were complex in saying, but simple in meaning. The words are complex to us of course, but in those times they were the speech of the day, but once told in a way all in this day could understand, they were simple in meaning. He was telling the King, that if a person wronged him and asked for forgiveness, he should grant it to him. For if he did not, that would be sinning against the person and God. He knew that the King would listen to his words, because Charlemagne was a God fearing man.

Now, the reasons for this warning, was because of the situations around the King. They were attacking the Saracens in revenge for their brutal attack on the Kings rear flank of his army when they were heading to Spain to finish the treaty. This attack caused the death of the Kings nephew Roland, and his comrade Olivier. The King was furious at their deaths, and decided to avenge his two best generals. But, during the battle, the Saracens tried to retreat and surrender. The King would not let this happen. But, as the Duke of Neimes was dying from a spear wound, he told the King those words so that he would no longer she any further blood on either side.

As the Duke hoped and intended, those words he spoke saved lives. If it was not for them, Charlemagne would have not stopped the attack, and moved his army forward to the fortress of the Saracens. He would have not accepted the surrender, and entered the city. If he had not accepted the plea of forgiveness, the Queen of the Saracens, Bramimund, would have not accepted Christianity and had been baptized. If he had not listened to the Duke, more men would have been lost, and the battle would have probably turned out in a draw.

If you still don't believe that the Duke's words were credible, let me put it to you this way. Let's say that you had been wronged by a person. Let's say that he (or she) hurt you with some very nasty words. Then, the next day they walked up to you, and said they were sorry for the things they said yesterday, and wanted your forgiveness. What would you say? If what they said to you hurt you so much and made you so angry, what would you do? Well, if you told them you would not forgive them, this would happen in a round-about-way: the person would desert you. They would hardly ever talk to you again, and they possibly would never like you either. But, if you accepted their plea of forgiveness, friendship would be restored between you two. The Duke knew that it was practically the same with the Saracens and the French in the Song of Roland. He knew that if Charlemagne didn't accept the Saracens plea, not only would half or all of the battlefield be stained with both side's blood, but more contempt would grow between the nations, and more blood would be shed.

                  If it still confuses you why these words were true, let's look back in history. The Americans were very rough to the Indians, and still are today. We kept pushing and pushing the back away from their homeland. Because of that, they gave back equal force against us. They did things to us that I cannot explain this way, or any way without any discretion. So, how could have this been prevented? If we had just kept our promises and let the Indians be, this would have not happened. The Indians even gave us plenty of chances to cooperate, and they pleaded for mercy many times, but we did not listen. Though it was the opposite between Charlemagne and the Saracens, it still can be compared. The Americans and the Indians is the story to tell us what the Duke was saying would happen if we didn't accept forgiveness, and the Saracens and Charlemagne were the side of the story that showed the good outcome of it all.

                So, as the Duke said, "Now that he comes on your mercy to call, foul sin it were to vex him anymore." We should not be unforgiving in any way. The Bible says that we should. "Love your enemies as yourself," Jesus said on the Mount of Olives. We should never rash in our decision to not forgive. because if we hurt a person that hurt us so horribly and so wrongly, aren't we just as bad as them?

                So to recap, the Duke of Neimes words were spoken on a field of battle, and in a mind of wisdom. We should learn and gain from this, to never hurt our friends or enemies even if they hurt us. And when they do, we should forgive them, especially if they ask us for it, and even if they don't.

Simple Facts About Mars

4/9/2014
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Simple Facts About Mars

Mars is what Astronomers and Scientist call the Red Planet. This is because in the sky, the planet looks red. The atmosphere on Mars is very thin and has no oxygen at all. The surface is terrestrial, and because the ground is reflecting the sky it’s a reddish brown. The biggest volcano on Mars is the Olympus Mons. It is actually the biggest volcano in the solar system. The two moons of Mars are called Phobos and Deimos. They are not like our moon being potato shaped, but they still have the qualities of a regular moon. They also have a weird orbital pattern. It takes Mars 25 hrs. to rotate, and 687 Earth days to fully orbit the Sun. The weather on Mars is always cold, because of how far away the Sun is. Astronomers think that Mars would be the planet to go to if we ever reached farther out into the stars, because it is the only planet that is close enough to our planet's atmospheric, terrestrial, and temperate conditions.

Image taken from: http://mars.nasa.gov/programmissions/science/

Here is an interesting link from NASA: http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/explore/

What We Are Getting Wrong With Chimpanzees

2/27/2014
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What We Are Getting Wrong With Chimpanzees

A Chimpanzee is an amazing creature and is fascinating to watch and learn from. Though they are not our ancestors, they are still a beautiful work of God's art and are one of the most interesting animals on the planet. But, their family structure and alpha ship is what I think we can learn from the most. If we look at those in a certain way, we can definitely brighten the Earth a little bit more than just the grey and black we see today. Let me show you.

When you look at the family structure of a Chimpanzees life, it could be considered almost identical to our family structures today. A Chimp community is called a tribe. It can be further subdivided into three groups: first comes the actual family, then the clan, and then one leader rules them all. A family consists usually of a mother, her children, and her grandchildren, which stays together as long as possible. So organized! Frankly, we usually do not know the father. But, there have been suspicions on certain infant Chimps and their fathers because the male Chimp rescued the infant from danger or something of the sort; but we do not know if he saved the baby Chimp if because he was the father, or if that was his male duty. Every family tries to be loyal (though it doesn't always work), and that is their number one goal: to keep the family together and alive. Just looking at this, we can learn from them in many ways. Looking at our culture today, we are so divided. Families are getting divorced day by day, and little children are looking to their parent asking them why mommy or daddy left in the middle of the night with a suitcase. When looking at these mother Chimps, they're not saying, "This is how life is so get over it," there saying "What are you doing? Can't you see that when I raise my children alone it's hard? You don’t have to be like me, be better." Since there are so many of us that want to make a difference in the world, can't we make that one of our priorities?

Also, while we look at structure of the alpha ship, we can see something that we are looking at the wrong way. The male headship in a Chimps life has very little and meager rewards. And though you might think otherwise, brawns and show are not always enough. Obviously, affection and loyalty to the clan, family, or tribe is what the Chimps see as enough. Although they do have to tear each other down for that role, in the end if the group does not agree with who is leading them, they will tear down him as well. Being that there is always something the Chimps are teaching us, they seem to be telling us that we do not have to live under tyrannical rule. But you might say, "We're not living under tyrannical here in America!" Well, we're not… for now. Watching the public school systems failing because our kids are being brainwashed by being taught what to think not how to, watching the government take advantage of that and tell these students the opposite of what's true, and then watching this society fail; all because we have grown lazy. We really don't care what happens in the world anymore, as long as we get our electronics and get to know the latest gossip on who's dating who in the celebrity world. We have let what little freedom we have slip into the dust, out of our reach. Since we have done that, other things have been slipping out of our reach as well, but they are all connected to freedom. These Chimps seem to be telling us that we shouldn't let that happen. They are saying that we need to look at what we are doing, and start making a change in how we do things.

Although we can't change the world overnight (though that would be awesome!), we can start too slowly. All we need to do, is to start teaching our kids right, start keeping families together, start helping our neighbors around us, and to start looking for God in this society. I guarantee you, if we start doing that, the world will gradually change. It won't happen quickly as we want it to, spoiled as we are, but it will take effect eventually. And we can see this, all from looking at the Chimpanzees family structure, and the way deal with alpha ship.

Image taken from: http://www.worldwildlife.org/species/chimpanzee

Simple Facts About Mercury

2/25/2014
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Simple Facts About Mercury

Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun. Its full day is about 59 Earth days, while its year is only 88 Earth days. Since it orbits the Sun in an elliptical fashion (as all the planets do), and circles in an oval fashion as well. It also extremely hot in the daytime (about 750 degrees) and is extremely freezing at night (about -300 degrees). This is because when the night falls, that part of Mercury cannot see the Sun, and when it is facing it gets the full blare (since so close of course!). It is a terrestrial planet and the surface is very rocky. But, if you were on the surface, the sky would look dark, but the sun would look dazzling white. Surprisingly, this is because Mercury has no atmosphere as Earth does. The best time to see mercury with a telescope is in the evening on the horizon as the Sun is setting. This is because Mercury is right next to the Sun, which should make it easy to spot out during the sunset. Mercury is just one of the many amazing and interesting planets in the Solar system. Isn't she?

Image taken from this article: http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/multimedia/display.cfm?Category=Planets&IM_ID=10292

The Sun

1/21/2014

The Sun: One of God's Many Ways of Showing Us He Cares

Have you ever thought of why the Sun is our source of light and not another source? Because if the universe was really created by chance and not by some thought and design, then why isn't the Sun different? How is it so perfectly hung in the sky and not burning down on us like the biggest torch; or why isn't it so far away that it seems like its deserting us in the cold? That question had one answer: God. In many ways it's obvious that the LORD created everything and everyone. The Sun is only one of those many, many spectacular things.

(1)When it comes to the size of the Sun, it's enormous. You can put approximately one million Earth's inside of it, which is incredible considering the Earth's size. The only reason why it looks so small in the sky, is because it's extremely far away, over ninety-three million miles! That's and incredible distance. It is over ten thousand degrees on the outside, and millions more on the inside. It is one million times brighter than a light bulb, which is why we can’t stare at it for too long. The other reason why we can't stare at it, is because the retina in the back of your eye magnifies the light that it sees. (5) So, imagine if magnified something that is one million time brighter than a light bulb! But, what most people don't want to recognize, is that this can be used to show the glory of God. If it's hard to look at the Sun, imagine how impossible for it to be to look at God! When Moses asked to see God, God told Him that though He couldn't show His face, He would show His back to Him. And even then, when Moses came down from the mountain after seeing God's back you know what happened? (6)His face glowed! It glowed so much that his beard and hair turned white. Doesn't that show you something? (2)If it's so hard to look at the sun in all its beauty, imagine what God would be like! (3)Obviously this testifies that if our Sun was created by chance, it would be a little more dingy than it is right now.

(1)The Sun also is what separates day and night. One spin around the Sun is a year. When the Moon spins around us once, it’s a month, and one spin of the Earth is a day. The order in that is so spectacularly designed! (3)Obviously, that is way too orderly for that to be a mistake. That's one reason why we need the Sun. (2)But although it's beautiful, it does act violently on its own. It has regular solar flares, which are big mountains of towering fire. (6)Scary, huh? These solar flares could be potentially dangerous to us, if it were not for our atmosphere. Our atmosphere (especially Ozone) keeps these solar flares from reaching us and burning us to a crisp. But if that was just it, then what would be worth the struggle to know that? That's another place where God comes racing in. You see, the good thing about these solar flares, is that especially in the regions of the Antarctic, they create these beautiful lights in the sky called Auroras. These brilliant lights flow in the sky with a range of colors, that’s so amazing, so spectacular, it balances out the bad things about these solar flares. (5)You see, God knew what He was doing. While you may not want to believe it, every bad thing in this world will come to an end in a good purpose to His will. The solar flares are just one out of many.

(1)Sun spots are another way of God showing the world that His order and care is existent. What sun spots are, are literally spots on the sun. (3)Interestingly, these spots they are actually cooler than the rest of the sun! And some can be as big as the Earth, even bigger maybe. (2)But, there purpose is actually quite the opposite of what you might think it is. Scientist and Astronomers have noticed, that the hotter the Sun gets, the more sun spots it has! The sun spots actually seem to heat up the sun instead of cooling it down. And since there are more sun spots showing up every year, this shows you that the sun is getting brighter every year. (5)Now, I think this goes directly against evolution. (6)You want to know why? Well, if the sun is getting brighter every year, which would show you that back in the past, the sun did not shine at all. This would make the earth uninhabitable for the Human life to evolve as the evolutionists sat they did. But, if you only go back at least ten thousand years, the sun would still be bright enough, especially if God made it. There is just too many cues and clues coming from God that are showing us that He exists. Too many of them tell us that the LORD sent his Son, his only and magnificent Son, to die for us and our sins. Too many tell us that he then rose again and defeated death, mans number one enemy. While we may not notice it, the Sun, is just one of the many ways that God shows to us to show that He cares for each and every one of us.

Image taken from this neat article about photographing the sun: http://www.nationaljournal.com/pictures-video/how-nasa-photographs-the-sun-20140508

Music Effects Rats? Who Knew?

Many speculations today have been brought forward that we may be effected by the music we listen to. Although we may not be effected, it is true for the species of rats according to Dr. Frances Rausheur. She went to school at the University of California Irvine, and had conducted many experiments before, but none so odd as this one. She one day gathered three groups of rats into her lab. She put them in the same sort of environment, fed the same food with the same amount at the same time every day, but they had very different auditory environments. The first group of rats listened to the classical strings of Mozart. The second, a minimalist called Philip Glass, whose music was very repetitive. And the third, listened to no music at all. She raised them from birth to maturity, and every day she put in the music for sixteen hours a day. May I tell you, that to a rat is a full day. After they were mature, they were tested for their intelligence by the way of mazes which I am sure you have heard of. And, not only were the Mozart rats TWICE as intelligent as the rats who listened to no music at all, the ones who listened to Philip Glass, could not even finish the maze! They just bounced around on the walls of the maze, acted completely retarded, and could not even finish the maze at all whatsoever. Now, how does this apply to us? You see, all mammalian brains act a little like each other, so what might affect a rat, it is very possible that it effects us as well. So, be careful what you listen to, because in the long run it will affect you.

Image taken from: http://endlessfuels.com/2013/06/02/some-rats-try-music-band/

Plants and Music? Who Knew?

It’s always been a wonder, if plants had a preference or even listened to it. Many rumors had sprung in the 1950's that they did, but it was never really proved or scientifically looked at, until one day a man named Mr. George Smith preformed the first actual scientific experiment. He planted some beans in one greenhouse, and some more in the other. The temperature and the humidity index was kept the same in both greenhouses, but the only difference was that he played "Rhapsody in Blue" twenty-four hours a day in one greenhouse, while the other was kept silent. As the days went by, Mr. Smith actually noticed that the plants that were exposed to the music actually grew taller and produced forty percent more produce than the ones that were not exposed to the music. People were fascinated by this discovery of course, but that wasn’t the end of it. About ten years later, a woman named Dorothy Retallack did similar experiments as well as with beans, but also with marigolds. She did things a little more differently though. This time, she used a variety of music. She exposed the first group to some soft, sweet classical music, the second group to twentieth century music (such as Led Zeppelin, Vanilla Fudge, etc.), and the third group was kept silent. But, as the days went on, she noticed something drastic: the plants listening to classical music leaned towards the speakers, while the ones listening to the twentieth century music leaned away! This was an astonishing discovery. Further tests proved that the plants did not like the steel drums in the twentieth century music, but they enjoyed the soft wood ones. This shows that plants of course have a clear preference. But, although when most plants listen to music they grew taller and produce more, there are types of plants that don't. Though they do grow taller, their roots get stringy, and they need a significant amount more of water. But though some of the setbacks, these experiments show that plants do listen to music.

Image taken from: http://www.ascap.com/playback/2012/05/wecreatemusic/mental-floss.aspx

HERE'S A FUN VIDEO FOR YOU! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KZrb9RSQn8