A Ton of Crap
Page 44
LESSON 38 QUIZ
Y2K was a problem because computers would interpret the year 2000 as:
The Year 0
The Year 1000
The Year 1900
The Year 100
What was the purpose of the Year 2000 Information and Readiness Disclosure Act?
To establish a system that monitored Internet activity
To promote the sharing of information related to the Y2K problem from the private sector
To assemble the other countries of the world and discuss Y2K
To put an end to the private sector
Pulitzer made the New York World focus on scandals, sensationalized stories, and:
Economics
Poverty
Sports
Human-interest pieces
Yellow Kid was the first:
Investigative journalist
Comic strip character published in newspapers
Newspaper Joseph Pulitzer purchased
Book awarded the Pulitzer Prize
What is important about Euclid’s theorem?
It provided a formula that would only find prime numbers.
It found the largest known prime.
It created trial division.
It proved that there is an infinite amount of prime numbers.
To use trial division, you have to:
Divide by all of the prime numbers
Multiply by all of the prime numbers
Divide by all of the numbers that are not prime
Multiply by all of the numbers that are not prime
Which of the following is a property of a stem cell?
The ability to divide and renew itself over a long period of time
Not having a specialization
The ability to create a specialized cell
All of the above
What is differentiation?
The process of creating a specialized cell from an unspecialized cell
The process of creating an unspecialized cell from a specialized cell
The process of turning an adult cell into an embryonic cell
The process of turning an embryonic cell into an adult cell
What is clairsentience?
Seeing the spirit
Hearing the spirit
Sensing the thoughts and presence of the spirit
Having your body overcome by the spirit
What is clairvoyance?
Seeing the spirit
Hearing the spirit
Sensing the thoughts and presence of the spirit
Having your body overcome by the spirit
ANSWER KEY: c, b, d, b, d, a, d, a, c, a
Lesson 39
HISTORY: War on Terror
9/11, The War on Terror, War in Afghanistan, War in Iraq, Fighting in Pakistan, Death of Osama bin Laden
LANGUAGE ARTS: Propaganda Techniques
Bandwagon, Glittering Generalities, Plain Folks, Transfer, Assertion, Card Stacking
MATH: Infinity
The Symbol, Aristotle, Galileo’s Paradox, Cantor’s Set Theory, Finitism, Real Analysis
SCIENCE: DNA
What Is DNA?, Structure, Protein Synthesis, Replication, Discovery of DNA, Uses of DNA
FOREIGN LANGUAGE: Extinct Languages
Dalmatian, Ubykh, Tsetsaut, Eyak, Polabian, Apalachee
LESSON 39A
WAR ON TERROR
9/11 On September 11, 2001, a series of attacks would change the course of United States history. Four commercial passenger jet airliners were hijacked by nineteen al-Qaeda terrorists. Two of the planes crashed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. Within two hours, both of the towers collapsed (killing 2,752 people, including 343 firefighters and 60 police officers). The third plane crashed into the Pentagon (killing 184 people). After hearing about the other two attacks, passengers and crew aboard the fourth flight attempted to retake the plane, and the plane crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania (killing all forty-four people on board). In 2004, Osama bin Laden took responsibility for the attacks.
PROPAGANDA TECHNIQUES
Bandwagon One of the most common forms of propaganda that appears during both times of war and peace is known as bandwagon. Bandwagon plays a very important role in modern-day advertising. Bandwagon is the idea that a person should do something or join in because everyone else is also doing it. Essentially, what bandwagon does is create a winning side and a losing side, and you know when something is winning because there are more people on that side. In modern advertising, a new form of bandwagon has appeared. This new bandwagon says something along the lines of everyone else is doing something, and if you don’t, you will miss out.
INFINITY
The Symbol The symbol for infinity, ∞, is known as a lemniscate. This comes from the Latin word lemniscus, which means “ribbon.” In John Wallis’s De Sectionibus Conicis of 1655, the symbol is used for the very first time. It is unknown why Wallis chose the symbol. Some believe that it was derived from the Roman numeral for the number 1,000. This number was actually derived from the Etruscan numeral and appeared as CI (this was also used at the time to mean “many”). Others believe that the symbol came from the last letter of the Greek alphabet, omega (ω).
DNA
What Is DNA? Deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA, is the genetic makeup of each cell in our body, and every characteristic of any living organism and most viruses. Almost every single cell in the body has the same DNA. The DNA is located inside of the nucleus of the cell (called nuclear DNA), though some DNA can also be found in the mitochondria (which is known as mDNA or mitochondrial DNA). Information is stored in the DNA as a code of four chemical bases. The bases are guanine (G), adenine (A), thymine (T), and cytosine (C). There are around 3 billion bases in human DNA. Of those bases, 99 percent are the same in every human.
EXTINCT LANGUAGES
Dalmatian The Dalmatian language was a Romance language spoken in Croatia. The words stemmed from Latin, and the Latin alphabet was used, although it also featured diacritical marks. The Dalmatian language had two dialects. The dialect of the north was known as Vegliotian, and the dialect found in the south was known as Ragusan. As the Slavic people came to the land, the language started to fade away. In 1898, the last speaker of Dalmatian died. There still exist some Dalmatian words in modern-day Croatian, such as the words for onion and rainwater reservoir.
LESSON 39B
WAR ON TERROR
The War on Terror Following the attacks of September 11, the Bush administration declared a war on terrorism. The objectives of the war were to defeat terrorists and their organizations (including Osama bin Laden and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi), strengthen the international efforts in combating terrorism, deny any forms of support or sanctuary to terrorist organizations, reduce conditions that terrorists can exploit, and defend U.S. interests at home and abroad. In October of 2001, Operation Active Endeavor was launched by NATO with the purpose of preventing any movements of weapons of mass destruction or terrorists.
PROPAGANDA TECHNIQUES
Glittering Generalities Glittering generalities are common in the political world and in advertising. Glittering generalities are words that are associated with extremely valued concepts, but with individual subjects, these words have a different meaning. This type of propaganda throws in important concepts, and by doing so, demands approval. For example, often food will feature on their label extremely general and vague terms such as “new” or “homemade.” Often politicians will express their policies as being “in defense of democracy,” a very broad phrase that is more about conveying an idea or belief.
INFINITY
Aristotle Aristotle distinguished between two different types of infinity. There was potential infinity and actual infinity. Aristotle believed that natural numbers were potentially infinite due to the fact that they did not have a greatest number. Aristotle did not believe, however, that numbers were actually infinite, but rather that it was impossible to think of al
l of the natural numbers as complete. He believed the idea of actual infinity did not make sense, and so only potential infinity was allowable. Aristotle believed actual infinity to be a paradox because it is something that is complete yet consists of an infinite amount of something.
DNA
Structure DNA is a double-helix molecule that consists of two chains. A single chain is a strand that is made up of a large amount of nucleotides, or chemical compounds, that are linked together. The nucleotides are made up of three things: deoxyribose (a sugar molecule in the center of the nucleotide), a phosphate group (which links to the deoxyribose of the other chain), and one of the bases (A, G, T, or C). When the two chains come together, they form the double-helix shape. Bases are always paired accordingly: A with T and C with G.
EXTINCT LANGUAGES
Ubykh Ubykh was a northwest Caucasian language that was once spoken in Turkey and the eastern coast of the Black Sea, Sochi. When the Russians came in 1864, the Ubykhs left Sochi and founded a series of villages in Turkey (Hacı Osman, Masukiye, Hacı Yakup, and Kırkpınar). The language had a total of eighty-four consonants and only two vowels. Over time, Turkish and Circassian were adopted, and on October 7, 1992, the last speaker of Ubykh passed away. Before his death, linguists collected a great number of audio recordings and took notes on the language. There has been an interest in reviving the language.
LESSON 39C
WAR ON TERROR
War in Afghanistan On October 7, 2001, the War in Afghanistan began with the launch of Operation Enduring Freedom. The goal of Operation Enduring Freedom was to dismantle the al-Qaeda organization, end its use of Afghanistan as its base, remove the Taliban, and find Osama bin Laden. The first phase of Operation Enduring Freedom saw the Taliban get thrown out of power in Kabul. In 2002, Operation Anaconda was launched to destroy any al-Qaeda and Taliban that remained. The Taliban came together in Pakistan and unleashed offensives on the coalition forces. Fighting between the Taliban and coalition forces is still ongoing, though peace talks are underway.
PROPAGANDA TECHNIQUES
Plain Folks The plain folks method of propaganda is about convincing others that your views reflect the views of the common, everyday folk, and that you have the interests of the common person in mind. Often local accents, idioms, or jokes are used to create the sense of familiarity. Other methods include limiting one’s vocabulary, including stutters, and not pronouncing words perfectly. These errors can come across as sincere to the viewer. Often, glittering generalities are used with the plain folks strategies, making the broad ideas seem more valid.
INFINITY
Galileo’s Paradox Galileo came up with a surprising paradox relating to infinity. Galileo noticed that if you remove half of the set of equal numbers, there are as many numbers remaining in the set as before. For example, if you remove all of the odd numbers from a set, you will only have the even numbers remaining. If you then pair the natural numbers (n) with 2n which is even, the set that has the even numbers is equinumerous (meaning they have the same cardinality) to the set that had all natural numbers. In other words, if you had infinity, you still have infinity.
DNA
Protein Synthesis Inside the DNA are instructions for how to produce protein. Proteins are made up of amino acids, which also determine the function and structure of the protein. The sequence of nucleotide bases in the DNA determine the sequence of amino acids. A triplet (three nucleotide bases) specifies an amino acid. GAC, for example, is the codon (genetic code) for leucine. When the DNA molecule separates into two strands, protein synthesis occurs. Transcription begins, where a part of the strand turns into a template for a new strand, known as messenger RNA. This RNA then attaches to ribosomes, and through translation, amino acids are linked and a protein is formed.
EXTINCT LANGUAGES
Tsetsaut Tsetsaut was an Athabaskan language spoken by a North American indigenous people in northwestern British Columbia. Just about all of the information we have about Tsetsaut is from 1894, when it was recorded by anthropologist Frank Boas. Boas recorded the language from two slaves of Nisga’a, one of Canada’s Native American communities. The work Boas did with these two slaves was enough proof that the language they spoke was a separate branch of Athabaskan. The Tsetsaut people called themselves Wetaŀ. The word Tsetsaut comes from an Anglicization that was given by the Nisga’a and Gitksan people.
LESSON 39D
WAR ON TERROR
War in Iraq In March 2003, the War in Iraq began. First, Iraq was attacked from the air, and then ground forces went in. Though the reasons for the war have been questioned, the Bush administration claimed that it was part of the war against terrorism and that Iraq housed terrorists and weapons of mass destruction. In April 2003, Baghdad fell and the government of Saddam Hussein dissolved soon after. President Bush announced the war was over; however, an insurgency occurred that actually led to more casualties than the initial invasion. No weapons of mass destruction were found. In December 2003, Saddam Hussein was captured, and in 2006, he was hanged. U.S. combat ended on September 1, 2010, with Operation New Dawn.
PROPAGANDA TECHNIQUES
Transfer Often used in the political world and during times of war, transfer is an attempt to link two separate things so that the audience thinks of them both in the same way. Transfer usually deals with negative things. By linking blame of one politician to blame of their entire political party, transfer is occurring. Transfer can also be positive, however. If a highly respected organization approves or backs another organization or event, then prestige is being transferred. Common examples of transfer are also found in symbols. The flag, for example, has come to represent the entire nation.
INFINITY
Cantor’s Set Theory Georg Cantor came to the realization that one cannot count to infinity, but one can compare sets to see if they are the same size by finding a one-to-one matching of the elements within the sets. The size of any set is known as cardinality. Sets are known as infinite if elements can be removed without reducing the cardinality. When there is the same cardinality as there are natural numbers, the set is called countable. Cantor’s theorem states if there is a set X, there is at least one set that is raised to the power of X, and that is cardinally bigger than X.
DNA
Replication Before a cell divides, the DNA is replicated. This occurs in the nucleus, and involves the polynucleotides separating. These then act as a model for a new complementary chain to be made. When chains separate, nucleotides attract complementary nucleotides, which are joined by hydrogen bonds. This forms the rungs of the new DNA. The phosphate group of a nucleotide is linked to the deoxyribose of the adjacent nucleotide by an enzyme known as DNA polymerase. The process continues, resulting in a new molecule that has a double helix.
EXTINCT LANGUAGES
Eyak Eyak was a Na-Dené language, which were related to Athabaskan languages. Eyak was spoken in Alaska, and the last speaker of Eyak, Marie Smith Jones, died on January 21, 2008, in Cordova, Alaska. Though she had nine children, none of them learned the language. Several factors led to the extinction of the Eyak language. Though the introduction of the English language and the suppression of aboriginal languages took part in the extinction, it was also brought on by the migration of the Tlingit people, which led to a merging of Tlingit and Eyak.
LESSON 39E
WAR ON TERROR
Fighting in Pakistan After the attacks of September 11, Pakistan sided with the United States following an ultimatum given by President Bush. The president of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf, said he was against Islamic extremism and pledged that Pakistan was committed to fighting terrorism. In 2002, Pakistan made some very important arrests within jihadi organizations, including al-Qaeda officials of high rank. In 2004, the Pakistan Army launched 80,000 troops to remove al-Qaeda and the Taliban. When the Taliban in Afghanistan fell, many fled to Pakistan, where they were subsequently killed and captured. Currently, there is still a Taliban Pakistani resistance fighting in Pakistan
.
PROPAGANDA TECHNIQUES
Assertion A common form of propaganda used in advertising and politics is known as assertion. Assertion is an enthusiastic or energetic statement presented as a fact even though it is not actually the case. Assertions imply that the idea is just accepted, that there is no explanation needed. When a product is advertised as “the best,” unless they have evidence to prove their claim, this is an assertion. The advertisers want the public to just agree without seeking out any other information. Assertions can be extremely dangerous, and can lead to lies.
INFINITY
Finitism There is also a field of math that rejects the notion of infinity. This is known as finitism. Finitism states that objects cannot exist unless they are constructed in a finite amount of steps from natural numbers. One of the leading researchers was David Hilbert. A concept even stronger than finitism is known as ultrafinitism. Ultrafinitists deny the existence of infinite sets of natural numbers because they can never actually be completed. Both finitism and ultrafinitism are forms of constructivism, which holds that in order to prove the existence of a mathematical object it must be constructed.