jayhawk

Recent innovations, such as the nook and kindle, have made it possible to read a book on an electronic device. Is this a miracle, or is it a curse that has not yet manifested. Let us go into a hypothetical future. You are reading a nook, kindle, or another electronic device, and suddenly the power shuts down. You would have no form of entertainment whatsoever. What point am I trying to get across? This topic is about whether or not books should be kept on paper. I am not sure if anyone has debated about this yet, but the coming future promises that books may be nothing but a thing of the past. Books may serve as a form of entertainment if the power shuts off, not to mention that books do not have a battery that will run out after hours of use. Prolonged exposure to different types of light may also cause seizures in certain people, making this a very unhealthy form of entertainment for some readers. Books have been used since the dawn of time to pass on information to the reader. Nooks and kindles are not able to survive for more than a few hundred years, but papers such as scrolls are able to last for thousands of years if treated properly. This begs the question, is it ethical to get rid of books? Honestly, I do not codone the destruction of books, mainly because of the preservation of certain old ways. What does everybody else think of books?

For as long as humans have looked up at the stars, we have pondered a very intricate and nostalgic question, "Are we alone?" The answer to this question has been debated for many centuries. Most skeptics conclude that if there is life out there, it is certainly not multicellular, eukaryotic life. However, we often forget the fact that there are several eukaryotic organisms that are on our planet that brave very harsh, and somewhat, inhospitable conditions. Does it seem so unlikely that there are creatures elsewhere in the universe that could use other metals and gases besides carbon and oxygen? Some beings elsewhere may use silicon and argon contrary to our own genetic makeup. They may have no DNA, but only RNA. This seems to be more of an abstract concept that originated in science fiction, but do not forget that many innovations such as the shuttle and the internet were once considered nothing more than simple science fiction. There may be creatures that float above gas giants, taking in gases that suspend them above the intense gravity. These beings would constantly be afloat, and require nothing more than gas to sustain themselves. This idea has been pondered by many great scientists in the past one hundred years, but the question is, is it possible? Based on how life works here on earth, it seems completely possible that life may be able to live in the clouds. For example, we have found strange creatures in our atmosphere that float above the clouds. They may be prokaryotic, yet they show that with evolution, it is possible that complex life could form above the clouds. Extraterrestrials may also be able to live on worlds that seem either too hot, or too cold to support life. Worlds that are covered in ice and have liquid nitrogen oceans may be able to support life that has adapted to these harsh conditions. There may be life that lives on rocky worlds that have oceans of lava, these organisms would live off of the minerals in the rock. Earthworms are able to eat soil, which contains valuable nutrients; imagining complex life on a lava planet would have the same concept: creatures that are made of segments that would be able to bury underground during radiation bursts, and eat rocks that contain minerals. An even more abstract thoughtis for creatures that live on lush and hospitable worlds, like our own planet earth. We may be very surprised to find that life evloved very differently than we could ever imagine. Creatures on lush worlds may be hardly what we expected, such as creatures that are a whole new division of life that we do not know about. These creatures may live off of plants that are poisonous to humans. There may also be extremely evolved predators that can simply fly, walk, and swim with complete ease. These creatures would easily be able to capture their prey, unless, of course, the prey had a form of defense, such as a tail or claws. I would like to know everybody's views of extraterrestrial life, please reply and share your own opinions on the subject.

I have done extensive research on viruses. The more I look at them and understand them, the harder it is to believe that they are not considered life. First of all, viruses use the DNA of other living organisms to survive. In order to replicate themselves, they need a living host, which means that they require some form of information to reproduce. They evolve and replicate, which are some of the major requirements for any form of life. Even though they are not made of cells, they are still able to replicate and evolve. Viruses are able to perform specific actions, such as destroying cells and taking over living hosts. These simple actions are an enormous indicator of their potential. These are living, dangerous beings. To verify what I write about, the basic laws of biology state that in order to be a living organism, an organism must be made of cells, they must reproduce, they must be able to evolve, and they must require some form of matter in order to sustain themselves; viruses meet many of the main requirements of life: they need living cells to sustain themselves, they reproduce, and they are able to evolve. The only requirement that a virus does not meet is their cellular structure; they do not have a cellular structure. I would like to know other fellow scientist's opinions on this subject, and sincerely hope that viruses will one day be considered "alive" by biological standards.