text:
Wikiversity:Colloquium/archives/February 2009

Schools
Hello, I once heard that there are different schools and colleges in wikiversity, such as medical school and such things. So is there such a thing, and if it does, how can I reach it?. Thanks! --;Hiba;1 15:56, 6 February 2009 (UTC)

 * There is School:Medicine and others may be found at Category:School subjects. --mikeu talk 16:31, 6 February 2009 (UTC)

Random Image
Can anyone suggest an elegant way of creating a random (or rotating) image gallery - the closest example I can think is the Main Page feature Educational Picture of the Day. I envision an image frame that random selects an image from a category each time the page is refreshed. Ideally we could make a template, the use of which one simple involve specifying a category from which to an images. -- Jtneill - Talk - c 10:47, 7 February 2009 (UTC)

Cool proposal - idea thingie: Wikipedia parity pages
I just had what seems like a really good idea. Someone over on WP was complaining that the mathematics and physics articles weren't written for laymen to understand. I told him that wouldn't really be appropriate for an encyclopedia, to try to take a lay reader through everything you would need to know to understand what a Lie superalgebra is, for example, and get them to the point that they could make it through the article. But that would be appropriate for a page on Wikiversity. And it seems like it totally could be a killer app that might drive huge amounts of traffic through to Wikiversity, both people just reading articles and experienced WP editors too, providing a swarm of potential new Wikiversity editors.

I'm imagining a prominent link - maybe even one in the "Tools" sidebar - that says "Can't understand this? Click here." And when you click it you end up at a Wikiversity page that corresponds to the article that's a sort of mini-portal for learning about the article subject, attempting to lead, for example, a primary school grad through every topic needed to be able to understand the WP article with links to Wikiversity resources. I would think that you could create templates with content that could modularly treat each discipline and sub-discipline and broad topic, so that they could be used and recombined across large numbers of these mini-portal pages.

I definitely don't think that the Wikiversity content itself should be in any way structured around WP articles but having this kind of linkage seems like something that not only could enhance Wikiversity via new traffic and the concomitant new blood and new content but which might create a really innovative online education system.

(I guess it's kind of late to say, "stop me if someone has already thought of this.") --Struthious Bandersnatch 18:43, 3 February 2009 (UTC)

 * I love the idea, but I don't think it could go on the sidebar, since we don't actually have parity in terms of having a resource for everything someone might be confused about :-). For subjects that we do have resources about, some modification of w:Template:Wikiversity could be added to the article to give a heads-up to those who want to learn more. --SB_Johnny talk 19:46, 3 February 2009 (UTC)

 * Also see the other templates in w:Category:Wikiversity templates. --mikeu talk 13:32, 9 February 2009 (UTC)

 * I really like the idea of developing entry level learning projects around difficult to understand topics. For example, I recently came across Kepler's laws of planetary motion which is tagged with: "This article may contain overly technical formulas for most readers to understand, and needs the formulas translated into English and/or visual diagrams. Please expand it to make it accessible to non-experts, without removing the technical details."  It is a simple matter to modify a template as SB_Johnny suggested, but I think that the more important point is that we would need to have something in place at wikiversity to get people started.  If the wp article is too difficult for the average person to understand it will do them little good to click on a link to wv and find a stub that has even less info.  To get this going I would suggest we recruit some people who understand the topics well enough that they can at least outline a self-learning path to get a confused learner started.  We could try to develop this idea at the Think tank.  --mikeu talk 00:25, 4 February 2009 (UTC)

 * This was one of the original ideas for Wikiversity, even before the project launched (see Wikiversity and Wikipedia services). If anyone with physics knowledge is taking requests, I was looking at Spacetime the other day and wishing for a Wikiversity article called Spacetime metrics explained for biologists. --JWSchmidt 01:24, 4 February 2009 (UTC)

 * A good place to start is world line and Minkowski diagram. These can be used to visualize some of the concepts of spacetime without getting too bogged down in the mathematics.  There is also a Cosmology Tutorial and an introduction to relativity that explains some concepts of spacetime.  --mikeu talk 12:34, 5 February 2009 (UTC)

 * Personally, I think that the person complaining at WP has a point -- an Encyclopedia (like WP) should be aimed at the Lay person, and I would think something highly Specialized should be a link to WV. But either way, we should definitely encourage cross linking between WV and WP in areas where we have a common pages (as well as the other WM projects). Historybuff 20:06, 6 February 2009 (UTC)

 * See also: I Want to Know Hillgentleman | //\\ |Talk 15:53, 9 February 2009 (UTC)

Autism and Asperger's modules
I'm back after a long period of inactivity, and would appreciate any help in getting my autism and Asperger's modules up-to-date and cleaned up. AC --Sunstar NW XP 22:33, 11 February 2009 (UTC)

Blocking policy
I have made a new suggestion regarding blocking lengths, please take a look at the talk page. Posting here for centralized discussion. --AC User:Sunstar NW XP 11:19, 20 February 2009 (UTC)

Articles on open education, Wikiversity
Hi all (popping in briefly - trying to devote myself to writing my thesis these days). I've just seen two things of potential interest to the community - they're not brand new, but I haven't seen them posted here, so here they are. The first is an article cowritten by Teemu Leinonen in First Monday about the Wikiversity course he facilitated about Open Educational Resources, which is titled "Learning in and with an open wiki project: Wikiversity’s potential in global capacity building". The second is an interview with Stian Haklav, who's involved in the soon-to-be-launched peer to peer university. Both make explicit reference to Wikiversity, some of the challenges it faces, and some potential solutions... Cormaggio talk 11:24, 20 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Thanks for these links, Cormaggio, much appreciated. A big pity about the "Copyright © 2009, First Monday. Copyright © 2009, Teemu Leinonen, Tere Vadén, and Juha Suoranta." at the bottom of Teemu's article.... something aint right here somehow... -- Jtneill - Talk - c 11:37, 20 February 2009 (UTC)

Moodle implementation
Sorry, I've been a bit quiet around here lately, folks. After summer break, first semester starts at the University of Canberra next week, so will become more active again, but mainly for class content, not so much for class involvement this semester. Related to this, we've switched learning management systems from WebCT (yuck) to Moodle (a lot better, but still an LMS). So, I've been testing our Moodle implementation out to see what its limitations and possibilities are... and liasing with the support staff to suggest some improvements. At least I can make units open, so you can see. I will still be putting generic content here on WV and on the corporate wiki. Links: Survey research and design in psychology - * Moodle - Confluence site. -- Jtneill - Talk - c 11:46, 20 February 2009 (UTC)

Learning project for Business Process Management program governance
I'm looking for some feedback on whether Wikiversity is the right place to host a learning project for content related to the governance of Business Process Management (BPM) programs. To a large extent, it is a relatively greenfield area in business. Specific individuals and organizations have solved particular parts of the governance model for their own organizations, but there is a lack of comprehensive material in this area. I'd like this learning project to be a place where

 * Experienced teams can share their expertise,
 * Newcomers can benefit from those lessons learned, and
 * The community can collectively increase the body of knowledge.

None of the other WikiMedia Foundation projects seemed appropriate. If Wikiversity is not the right place then alternative suggestions are welcome too. Thanks. --Chungw 15:15, 18 February 2009 (UTC)

 * A project on Business Process Management sounds like it would fit in with the scope of wikiversity. I'd encourage you to start a page and feel free to ask for feedback as you get it going.  --mikeu talk 15:34, 22 February 2009 (UTC)

Wikimania 2009
Wikimania 2009, this year's global event devoted to Wikimedia projects around the globe, is accepting submissions for presentations, workshops, panels, posters, open space discussions, and artistic works related to the Wikimedia projects or free content topics in general. The conference will be held from August 26-28 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. For more information, check the official Call for Participation.  Cbrown1023   talk   18:26, 22 February 2009 (UTC)

--HandsOnColletion 19:03, 26 February 2009 (UTC) Economy Solutions 101- Economy solutions 101 provides logical solutions to U.S. & World issues currently addressed. Economy Solutions is developed to balance work load of Government officials who's everday workload is heavy. Wikipedians are highly encouraged to contribute well planned ideas and/or solutions to world equations to solve problematic world issues contributed from everyday ordinary people who ideas are often undiscovered. All ideas and/or soulutions are welcome as no constribution to solving world issues is considered legally unacceptable. Many ideas, equations, & soulutions are contributed, not all are accepted. Wikipedians are encouraged to recruit future Economysolutionist to help constribute to solvable world issues preventing future world crises to common sense approchable answers. Bright, talented mindsets are considered to better structure plans correctly & present to a online panel of professional Economysolutionsit to develop & execute final plans into real world solutions to better enhance maintaince ultimately results in less confusion as Economysolutions solve world issues. Careful plannig, loigcal thinking, patience, & persitance is required when solving major economical issues. Please consider, Rome was not built over night! Economysolutionist are reconginized as honorable positions for status, whose solutions will help shape history. All ideas & solutions are contributed to a Board Of Economy Critics which are viewed in carefull consideration, later presented to a Board Of Economysolutionist for a final decision. A Board Of Organization is organized to maintain flow of well planned solutions. Final solutions are developed into a online presentation by a group of Board Of Presentation Performers. This is a highly professional master mind group of individuals who form & present soultions to critical world issues our world is currently addressing in simplicit form which is easily comprehended by all.

Image restoration
Hi, requesting guidance and assistance from Wikiversity regulars. I've been asked to put together a course on image restoration. Had gotten a start on something along these lines at Wikibooks last year, then upon becoming more familiar with both restoration and with Wikibooks, realized it crossed the line into original research and thus was outside that site's project scope. Would be more appropriate here.

This project may receive input and assistance from other editors who are new to Wikiversity. This effort at Wikiversity will be part of a project to provide quality restored media for Wikimedia Commons, the various language editions of Wikipedia, and sister sites. A helping hand would really be appreciated as we get this off the ground. Best regards, Durova 05:00, 28 February 2009 (UTC)

 * Good idea. Hillgentleman | //\\ |Talk 08:23, 2 March 2009 (UTC)

 * Hiya Durova. We have Special:Import enabled from en.wikibooks, if you want me or another custodian to make a local copy, let us know the project name on WB. --SB_Johnny talk 19:31, 2 March 2009 (UTC)

 * For reference, anyone can request an import at Import. --mikeu talk 17:30, 3 March 2009 (UTC)

Guides for page creation?
I know there are some guides and tutorials here and there for content creation at Wikiversity, but I'm wondering if anyone with page design experience has looked over some of the learning pages? I'm working through some tech content, and some pages are long-ish while others are quite brief. The overall topic/learning units have enough there that they could be reorganized a bit, but the question is how much content is too much/not enough for a certain page? Anyone have pointers or comments? Historybuff 08:04, 14 February 2009 (UTC)
 * That really depends on the topic and what the goal of the learning project is. We do have MediaWiki:Longpagewarning which displays a warning when editing a page that is longer than about 32KB.  IMHO, it is a good idea to keep a page below a certain size, although perhaps a bit larger than 32KB.  One reason is that I have much experience working in inner city schools where students only have access to outdated computers (if they have access to any computers at all...) that might have trouble editing or even loading larger pages properly.  At the very least it will be extremely slow.  Also, it is becoming more common for people to browse or even edit wiki pages on mobile devices which often have limits to the page size that they can handle.  For example, Family law Ontario (at about 120KB) crashes the Opera Mini web browser on my cell phone with an "out of memory" error.  (Although, see http://en.mobile.wikipedia.org/ for an alternative method for read-only browsing of wiki content)  There is not really that much of an advantage to cramming everything into one large page, and it runs the risk of excluding audiences that we would like to reach out to.  From the perspective of human-computer interaction there are usability and accessibility considerations.  Most importantly, we need to keep the audience in mind.  Are they really going to be able to take in that much information in one sitting or reading?  Would it make the lesson more easy to digest if it were broken into smaller sections on seperate pages?  I don't think we should have hard rules on this sort of thing, but I merely bring it up as something to think about when organizing content.  It is really up to the editors who participate in creating content to decide, but it is sometimes a good idea to ask for others to review the pages to get a second opinion.  Could you provide links to the pages that you would like advice about?  --mikeu talk 16:11, 14 February 2009 (UTC)

 * You bring up some excellent points. I was looking at the IT portal, and a few of the projects are broken into logical sub-projects, but some of the sub projects are small, and seem to be formed from a specific template. I'm really looking to start a discussion on how learning projects should be put together really, as when I started here at WV I really hadn't a clue (but now I have some solid ideas). You have touched on what I wanted to focus on, though -- audience, HCI, usability and accessibility. And rather then just having wikilinks to WP, I'd like to use this as a learning project (if enough participants are willing) to figure out some best practices. I think it would help to bring focus to some learning projects here at Wikiversity, and it would help highlight us to other sites as well. Historybuff 07:33, 17 February 2009 (UTC)

 * There are a number of older pages that were created using template:Learning project boilerplate or similar Category:Page creation templates. Though I don't think these have been used as much recently.  I would be interested in exploring these ideas.  Let me know if you'd like to create a learning project on these topics.  --mikeu talk 15:32, 18 February 2009 (UTC)

 * You mean better looking courses using HTML editing HistoryBuff?--Juan de Vojníkov 10:30, 5 March 2009 (UTC)

 * Not simply better looking courses HTML wise, although that might form a small part of it.

 * I'm thinking more along the lines of better planned courses, and better delivered learning projects. Not every learning project needs to be fully planned, but the more complex the topic and treatment, the harder it will be to have a cohesive course without some kind of planning.

 * I'd love to create a learning project on these topics. Historybuff 06:37, 8 March 2009 (UTC)


text:
User talk:SwirlBoy39

 Hello SwirlBoy39, and welcome to Wikiversity! If you need help, feel free to visit my talk page, or contact us and ask questions. After you leave a comment on a talk page, remember to sign and date; it helps everyone follow the threads of the discussion. The signature icon in the edit window makes it simple. To get started, you may

 * Take a guided tour and learn to edit.
 * Visit a (kind of) random project.
 * Browse Wikiversity, or visit a portal corresponding to your educational level: pre-school, primary, secondary, tertiary, non-formal education.
 * Find out about research activities on Wikiversity.

 * Read an introduction for teachers and find out how to write an educational resource for Wikiversity.
 * Give feedback about your initial observations
 * Discuss Wikiversity issues or ask questions at the colloquium.
 * Chat with other Wikiversitans on #wikiversity-en.

And don't forget to explore Wikiversity with the links to your left. Be bold to contribute and to experiment with the sandbox or your userpage, and see you around Wikiversity! --The Jade Knight (d'viser) 04:19, 28 February 2009 (UTC)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: User talk:SwirlBoy39


text:
User:Kalpa1lanka

Kalpa's Page

title: User:Kalpa1lanka


text: Category:User gl

title: Category:User gl


text:
Middle School Science/Earth and Space Science

Physical Geology Processes of mineral and rock formation Igneous - Magma at 600 – 1200 deg C. from 30 Km under earth (Plutonic), magma cools and crystallizes slowly within crust. Through volcanic action the magma reaches surface as lava or fragmental ejecta.

Weathering - Rocks and minerals crystallize on surface, and are transformed through chemical reactions between other minerals and conditions

Sedimentary - Compaction and cementation after deposition of either rocks by weathering and erosion (detrital), organic matter, or chemical precipitates (evaporites). Occurs at or near surface as in carbonate-rich sediments.

Metamorphic - Rock types subjected to temperature and pressure conditions different than those in which the it was formed, including previously-formed metamorphic rock. The pressure and temperature must be sufficiently high so as to change the original minerals into other mineral types or other forms such as by recrystallisation.

Methods used to identify and classify different types of minerals, rocks, and soils Classify Rocks: Hardness - 1 Talc, 2 Gypsum, 3 Calcite, 4 Fluorite, 5 Apatite, 6 Potassium feldspar, 7 Quartz, 8 Topaz, 9 Corundum, 10 Diamond

Density -- heavy gold and platinum (20), Silicates between 2.5 and 3.5, ores between 4 and 8

Cleavage -- how it breaks depends on crystal structure; some break in a predictable manner others don't. Cleavage is defined as a smooth break with a shiny surface. Cleavage can be perfect, good, or incipient. Highest cleavage can leave thin sheets; the thinnest are flakes of mica.

Fracture - When rocks are broken open, fracture surfaces are formed; fracture surfaces can be conchoidal (rounded), smooth, splintery, hackly, fibrous, even or uneven.

Twinning - appearance of fine parallel lines, called striations, on the cleavage planes. Striations change with respect to the direction it was, or is, growing.

Transparency - Can be water-clear, transparent, translucent, or opaque.

Lustre - A reflective property, not color. Can be metallic, glassy (vitreous), pearly, silky, resinous, greasy, waxy and earthy. The degree of luster is described as spleandent, shining, glistening, glimmering, matt, or dull.

Color - Natural colour such yellow for sulfur, red for cinnabar, green for malachite, or blue for azurite. Contamination in small quantities can cause changes.

Special light effects - Regularly intercalated foreign substances, by fine fractures or twinning such as Labradorescence, or Opalescence.

Streak - colour of powdered mineral on a white underlay.

Classification of common rocks - Native elements (gold), Oxides, Hydroxides, Carbonates (limestone), Sulfides (pyrite), Sulfates (gypsum), Phosphates, Halides (rock salt), Silicates (mica, clay)

The structure of the Earth and the nature of the various layers Four layers: crust, mantle, inner core, and outer core, plus the lithosphere Crust

 * thinnest layer, 35 - 70 km thick on the continents, and  5 - 10 km thick under the oceans
 * thinner than any of the other layers,
 * calcium, sodium, and aluminum-silicate minerals.
 * cold, and brittle, fractures to cause earthquakes

Mantle

 * 1800 miles thick
 * Most of the Earth's mass
 * Iron, magnesium, aluminum, silicon, and oxygen silicate compounds.
 * 1000 degrees C, solid but plastic; deforms slowly with convective heat from the outer core

Outer core

 * 2900 miles thick and the
 * liquid Fe (Iron), 3700 deg C

Inner core

 * 5200 km to the Center of the earth
 * 4300 deg C, remains solid from pressure

Lithosphere

 * crust and the upper part of the mantle, 5 to 30 miles deep
 * Earthquakes start at the lithosphere

Formation

 * Earth formed with the Sun, and the other planets 4.54 billion years ago from rotating disk of dust and gas.
 * Heat released from gravitational energy and radioactive decay melted planet, still cooling
 * Iron (Fe) sank into the core of the Earth, lighter materials such as silicates, oxygen compounds, and water rose to the surface

Soils Three basic types: sand, silt, and clay made from finely ground rock particles, and grouped according to size Sand, the largest particle, determines aeration and drainage characteristics, Clay particles, microscopic and chemically active, bind with water and plant nutrients Ratio of particle sizes determines type.

Soil ingredients

 * regolith minerals and weathered rock fragments
 * humus organic matter
 * gases
 * water
 * living organisms

Effecting formation

 * climate
 * parent rock
 * organisms
 * relief (slope, topography)
 * time

Horizons: soil layers

 * O horizon - layer of humus on the ground surface
 * A horizon (zone of leaching) - Top soil with rich organic matter, usually has dark color
 * B horizon (zone of accumulation) - Subsoil, may contain soluble minerals such as calcite in arid climates (caliche)
 * C horizon - Weathered bedrock or saprolite (chemically weathered rotten rock)
 * Bedrock - lies below the soil profile

Soil types:

 * Pedalfer - humid climates, rich in Al and Fe
 * Pedocal (caliche) - arid climates such as in the Southwestern U.S; called caliche (or hardpan) it is a calcium carbonate deposit
 * Laterite - tropical climates with very high rainfall iron and aluminum oxides, all other elements virtually depleted It is derived from the weathering of basalt in high rainfall conditions, which has caused leaching of elements and nutrients.  When used for agriculture, the small amount of nutrients is quickly depleted, and the soil dries to become as hard
 * Bauxite - Rich in Al oxides, intense tropical weathering depletes of nearly all other elements. Derived from weathered of granite; the more soluble Ca, Na, K, and Si have been leached leaving Al. It is the principle ore of aluminum.
 * Loam - farm soil; sand, silt, manure, and clay with humus
 * Humus - organic soil material that has broken down to a point of stability that will not change if conditions don't. In agriculture it means compost.

Internal processes and resulting features of the Earth, including folding, faulting, earthquakes, and volcanoes

 * Folding - the bending of rocks from compressional tectonic forces such as continental collisions.
 * Faulting - fracturing of rock structures causing breakage and slip that is parallel to the fracture. The rocks have been subjected to compressional, extensional, and shearing forces; and they are found close to surface of the Earth.
 * Earthquakes - release of elastic strain energy that radiates seismic waves. It causes the movement of faults, and creates planar zones of deformation within upper crust.  Highest stress most often found at the boundaries of the tectonic plates / volcanic regions and anthropogenic sources
 * Volcanoes - magma erupts through the surface often occurs near the boundaries of the continental plates

Plate tectonic theory and the evidence that supports this theory

Major plates African, Antarctic, Australian, Eurasian, North American, South American, Pacific, Cocos, Nazca, and the Indian plates

Two observations:

 * continental drift
 * sea-floor spreading

Motion - Lithosphere is rigid, and asthenosphere is plastic. Convection currents in the mantle are transmitted through the asthenosphere; and the motion is driven by friction between the asthenosphere and the lithosphere. Since continental and oceanic lithospheres differ appreciably in thickness, the effects are proportionately different.

Boundary zones - earthquakes and volcanoes; mountains and oceanic trenches.

Types of Boundaries

 * Transform boundaries plates grind past each other along transform faults
 * Divergent boundaries (oceanic rifts) plates slide apart from each other.
 * Convergent boundaries (active margins) where two plates slide towards each. Either one is pushed down, a subduction zone, or there is collision and compression forming an anorogenic belt

Other forces in plate motion:

Trench suction - Local convection currents pull down on plates in subduction zones at ocean trenches.

Gravity - Ridge-push, plate motion driven by higher elevation of plates at mid-ocean ridges, slides downhill / higher elevation caused by low density of hot material upwelling in the mantle

Slab-pull -Plate motion is driven by weight of cold, dense plates sinking into the mantle at trenches strongest force directly operating on plates / trench suction plays important role / driving force and its energy source are still debatable subjects

Water: the hydrologic cycle and the processes by which water moves through the cycle The Earth's Water Budget - the distribution of water among the oceans, land and atmosphere.

Evaporation (evapotranspiration) - water forms into a gas and rises into the atmosphere from solar radiation, some comes from plants (transpiration), most comes from oceans.

Condensation - Vapor forms into liquid and possibly solid within the atmosphere to produce clouds and fog

Transport (advection): The movement of water through the atmosphere, water storage in the atmosphere

 * convection in unstable air
 * atmospheric motions in the vertical direction
 * convergence
 * associated with cyclones
 * lifting of air by fronts
 * lifting over elevated topography such as mountains

Precipitation - The transfer of water from the atmosphere to land. Rain, snow, hail, sleet, and freezing rain are discussed

Foliage (canopy) interception - Precipitation intercepted by plants re-evaporates into the atmosphere

Infiltration - Water is stored in the ground

Runoff - Rivers, lake, and streams transport water from land to the oceans. Too much rainfall can cause excess runoff, or flooding

Groundwater - located below ground and how it returns to the surface

Sub-surface flow - Water may return to the surface, or flow to the oceans

Weathering, erosion, and deposition

Weathering - the decomposition of rock.

Erosion - the displacement of solids (soil, mud, rock, and so forth) by the agents of wind, water, ice, movement in response to gravity, or living organisms

Deposition (sedimentation) - the process by which material is added to a landform, by which wind, water, or ice create a sediment deposit through the laying down of granular material that has been eroded and transported from another geographical location.

Historic Geology

Uniformitarianism -- geologic processes same all through time, past geologic events can be explained by phenomena and forces of today.

Basic principles of stratigraphy - study of rock layers, sedimentary and layered volcanic rocks

 * Sequence, spacing, composition, and spatial distribution of sedimentary deposits and rocks
 * Geology reconstructs the history of the Earth
 * Geologic processes that change the Earth's surface and subsurface
 * used with structural geology and paleontology to tell the sequence of events
 * evolution of plants and animals
 * radiometric dating derives absolute versus relative ages of geologic history

Lithologic stratigraphy - study of sedimentary and layered volcanic rocks, where the lowest layers are the oldest

Superposition -,the oldest strata occur at the base of the sequence in an undeformed stratigraphic sequence,

Chemostratigraphy - relative proportions of trace elements and isotopes within and between lithologic units

Cyclostratigraphy - relative proportions of minerals, carbonates and fossil diversity related to changes in palaeoclimates (cyclic)

Biostratigraphy (paleontologic) - fossil evidence in the rock layers / Strata from widespread locations containing the same fossil fauna and flora are correlatable in time

Relative and absolute time

Relative time (chronostratic) - relative age relationships (most commonly, vertical/stratigraphic position). These subdivisions are given names, most of which can be recognized globally, usually on the basis of fossils.

Absolute time (chronometric) - numerical ages in "millions of years" or some other measurement. These are most commonly obtained via radiometric dating methods performed on appropriate rock types.

Formation of fossils

Permineralization - pores of the plant or animal remains are impregnated by minerals / original shape not changed.

Casts and molds - fossils where the organisms shape has been impressed onto rocks

Impressions - two dimensional imprints of an organism which contain no organic matter.

Whole organism preservation - petrified forest; eggs of dinosaurs, by desiccation or freezing

Types of information fossils provide Both animals and plants

 * past environments
 * physiology
 * diet
 * adaptations
 * behavior
 * evolution, and extinction
 * determining ages of rocks in which fossils are found

Geologic time scale and how it was developed Phanerozoic (544 million years ago to present), includes Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic eras

 * era of abundant animal life
 * 545 million years ago to present
 * starts with diverse hard-shelled animals

Paleozoic (542 mya to 251 mya)

 * begins with hard shelled fossils
 * sophisticated reptiles and modern plants develop
 * dinosaurs became extinct at end

Mesozoic Era (248 to 65 million years ago)

 * created modern life
 * continents drifted apart
 * warm climate and rifting influenced evolution

Cenozoic Era (65 million years ago to present)

 * continents moved to their present positions
 * co-dependent flowering plants and species
 * mammals become dominant species

Precambrian (4500 to 544 million years ago) includes Proterozoic, Archaen, and Precambrian

Proterozoic Era (2500 to 544 million years ago)

 * 90% of all geologic time
 * continents first appeared /
 * bacteria and archaeans as oldest abundant fossils ,
 * eukaryotic cells appear 1.8 billion years ago

Archaean Era (3800 to 2500 million years ago)

 * earliest life, bacteria microfossils,
 * reducing atmosphere of methane, ammonia, and other gases

Hadean Time (4500 to 3800 million years ago)

 * pre-geological
 * Solar System was forming

Geologic time was developed when after fossils are found buried in a definite order Outline the sequence of important events in the Earth’s history

 * First human beings 1 mya
 * Ice Age 2 mya
 * Mass extinction (destroyed dinosaurs and many species of marine life) 65 mya
 * First flowers 136 mya
 * First mammals and birds 200 mya
 * First dinosaurs 210 mya
 * Mass extinction (destroyed 75% of all marine species on planet) 225 mya
 * First reptiles, trees and insects 330 mya
 * First land plants, first amphibians 395 mya
 * First fish 400 mya
 * Oldest life forms on Earth 3400 mya
 * Formation of Earth 4600 mya

Historical Periods

Precambrian 650Ma - The Late Precambrian was an "Ice House" World, much like the present-day.

Cambrian 514ma - Animals with hard-shells appeared

Ordovician 458ma - coldest times in Earth history

Silurian 425ma - Coral reefs expand and land plants begin to colonize the barren continents

Devonian 390ma - Freshwater fish migrate from southern hemisphere continent to North America and Europe. Forests grew for the first time in the equatorial regions of Artic Canada.

Early Carboniferous 356ma - Paleozoic oceans between Euramerica and Gondwana began to close

Late Carboniferous 306ma - Euramerica and Gondwana began to close, forming the Appalachian and Variscan mountains / ice cap grew at the South Pole / four-legged vertebrates evolved

Permian 255ma - deserts covered western Pangea / reptiles spread across the face of the supercontinent. 99% of all life perished at end of the Paleozoic Era.

Triassic 237ma - supercontinent of Pangea allowed land animals to migrate from the South Pole to the North Pole. Life began to rediversify / warm-water faunas spread across

Jurassic 195ma - south-central Asia had assembled, Pangea begins break up

Late Jurassic 152ma - Pangea break apart Middle Jurassic / Late Jurassic Central Atlantic Ocean narrow ocean separating Africa from eastern North America. (Africa) Eastern Gondwana separate form (South America) Western Gondwana

Cretaceous 94ma - India separated from Madagascar

K/T extinction 66ma - comet global climate changes killed the dinosaurs / oceans had widened

Eocene 50ma - India collide Asia Tibetan plateau / Australia move rapidly northward.

Miocene 14ma - Antarctica was coverd by ice and the northern continents were cooling rapidly.

Last Ice Age 18K - "Ice House" climate mode, there is ice at the poles; polar ice sheet expands contracts variations in the Earth's orbit

Modern World - Global climate is warming / new Pangea supercontinent forming

Oceanography Formation and movement of ocean waves Wind blows across the smooth water surface, the friction or drag between the air and the water tends to stretch the surface, resulting in wrinkles surface tension acts on these wrinkles to restore the smooth surface Tides: causes and factors Gravitational pull from the Moon and Sun; the force increases and decreases with changing distance of the Earth from them.

Major surface and deep-water currents in the oceans and the causes of these currents Surface currents 10% of ocean water, 400 meters deep Deep currents gravity driven because of differences in salinity and temperature, colder northern air causes temperature decreases and hence sinking

Forces: Primary - starts water moving Secondary - influence direction of currents

 * Solar Heating - warming water rises at equator and sinks in northern waters
 * Winds - Long term winds will driver water 2% of wind speed
 * Gravity - Sea slope, surface 8 cm higher at equator from expansion causing a slope, and density
 * Coriolis - Controls direction of large streams

Topography and landforms of the ocean floor and shorelines

Continental Shelf - a few hundred feet deep with an average width of 70 kilometers (43 miles), gentle slope

Continental Slope and Rise - starts with shelf break beyond which slope increases to 4° slope. Average width of 16 kilometers (10 miles), and descends to 2.4 kilometers (1.5 miles)

Abyssal plain (no light) - where the continental rise ends has an average depth 4 kilometers (2.5 miles)

Abyssal hills - small extinct volcanoes all over abyssal plains; flat-topped hills are submerged islands.

Mid-Ocean Ridge - undersea mountain chain along the middle of the ocean where plates are being pulled apart

Rift Valley - deep depressions along the center of the mid-ocean ridge whose sides are faults; hot material is constantly being extruded from Earth's mantle Seawater

The physical and chemical properties of seawater Freezing 1.910 °C / Boiling 100.56 °C

Components of Seawater Litre H2O

 * Oxygen 857.8g
 * Hydrogen 107.2
 * Chloride (Cl-) 19.0
 * Sodium (Na+) 10.5
 * Sulfate(SO4-) 2.7
 * Magnesium (Mg2+) 1.3
 * Calcium(Ca2+) 0.4
 * Potassium(K+) 0.38
 * Bicarbonate(HCO3-) 0.14
 * Trace elements (0.52 g)
 * Nutrients (trace elements) Phosphate (PO4)
 * Nitrate (NO3)

Source of salts (ions) - Weathering, hydrothermal fluxes, dissolution from crust, and volcanic eruptions,

Nutrient cycles of the ocean Nutrients

 * phosphates (PO4)
 * nitrates (NO3)
 * Ammonia (NH4)
 * Silica (SiO2)

Photosynthesis or Chemosynthesis (produces oxygen) - 6CO2+6H2O+energy=C6H12O6+O2 Respiration - C6H12O6+O2=6CO2+6H2O+energy

Nitrogen Cycle - Compounds: N2, NO3, NH3

 * Nitrates enter the oceans from the atmosphere and rivers
 * Bacteria and plants absorb these and form carbohydrates and ammonia
 * Other bacteria and animals breakdown carbohydrates and recycle nutrients
 * Nutrients are rapidly used and recycled in the marine environment

http://www.ocean.uni-bremen.de/EInfo http://www.ocean.uni-bremen.de/EInfo/materialien/elemOc/top12-17/topic15.html

Meteorology

Structure of the atmosphere and thermal and chemical properties of atmospheric layers

Troposphere - to 10km, layer closest to the planet, has largest percentage of the mass, much vertical mixing from the radiation of solar heat absorbed by the Earth's surface. Temperature deceases with height.

Stratosphere - between 10 and 50 km / temperature increases with height

Ozone layer - or ozonosphere, within stratosphere

Mesosphere - 50 km to 80 km, temperature decreases with height

Thermosphere - 100-200 km nitrogen and oxygen / temperature increases to 1500 K

Ionosphere - lower thermopshere; has particles that are ionized by the sun; responsible for auroras, the region containing ions: approximately the mesosphere and thermosphere up to 550 km.

Exosphere - 1000 km where the atmosphere thins out into space; has free moving particles that may migrate into the solar wind or down into the lower layers.


text:
Introduction to Non-Genetic Darwinism/Immune System Darwinism

Aims

 * 1) To Introduce information on the Nature of the Immune System
 * 2) To Explain How the Immune System works
 * 3) To Underscore the Problems the Immune system has to overcome
 * 4) To Introduce Dr. Edelman's Contribution

Over view of the Immune System
The Immune system is the way a multi-cellular animal

 * 1) becomes aware that it has been invaded by pathogens
 * 2) Marshals resources to fight the invading pathogens
 * 3) Remembers most pathogens so that their invasion again is dealt with faster the second time.

The problem of Identifying Pathogens
The body is full of chemicals in many different states in the process of forming reactions. Some of these chemicals are benign and some are toxic to the body. Some of these chemicals are parts of invading organisms or viruses, which will attempt to colonize the body, in their own search for survival. The immune system must somehow detect which chemicals are benign, and which are toxic, which belong to its own body, and which come from some other organism, and get it right enough that most of the time, the organism will be able to fight off toxins and invaders.

This problem can be broken down into two parts, recognition of alien chemicals, that are not part of the body, and recognition of benign chemicals that are, or at least could be part of the body, or used by the body, in some way.

Creating Antibodies
One way that body recognizes pathogens, is to attach specialized proteins called anti-bodies to the invading pathogens, and not attach them to the benign chemicals. But first, the body needs to know which are which.

Propagation of antibodies
Once a pathogen has been discovered the next step, is to propagate the antibodies for that pathogen, so that all the instances of the pathogen get tagged. Special helper cells called lymphocytes, detect active anti-bodies and reproduce them. Populating the blood system with more copies of the antibodies.

Activating Cell Defenses
Once the body knows which pathogens are alien, and therefore might be harmful to the body, it can marshal it's defenses at the cellular level, and deal with the pathogens. Methods of dealing with pathogens include absorbing them within disposable cells, ejecting them out of affected cells, so that they can be absorbed within a disposable cell, and if they can't be ejected, killing off the cell, which they have invaded, so that it can't spread them.

Killer Cells
One type of cell for instance, called a T cell, can inject a cellular poison into a cell, in essence killing it, so that it can be removed from the body, it's pathogens included. One reason that AIDS is so deadly, is because it infects these killer cells, so that they spread the infection instead of killing the infected cells.

The problem of Identifying the Self
If the body is full of benign chemicals and pathogens sometimes contain or produce benign chemicals as well as toxins, then identifying the pathogen, means that we also have to identify the body, and the benign chemicals so that we can keep from creating antibodies to parts of our body, and thus killing our own body instead of the pathogen. Pathogens being evolved themselves, have sometimes learned to camoflauge themselves as parts of the body, thus limiting the effect of the immune system. One reason why AIDS is so hard to build a vaccine for, is that it has developed a strategy of sloppy copying of the DNA that encodes for its surface chemicals so that instead of having to detect one strain of AIDS, the body has to detect hundreds some of which mimic benign chemicals at the same location that others have their identifiable pathogenic chemicals.

The Major Histocompatibility Complex
With invaders that are cellular in nature, the body has developed a security badge called the Major Histocompatibility Complex that is different for every body. Any cell that has a different MHC might be an invader, and thus should be isolated and killed. It is for this reason that organ transplants often involve the injection of immune depressant chemicals. The chemicals keep the bodies immune system from attacking the new organ until it is recognized as being part of the body.

The Spleen
An organ that is very important to the immune system is the spleen, where antibodies are tested against the templates for benign chemicals, and removed from the blood when they are found to attach to the wrong template. An interesting aspect of the immune system is that the body has to learn to recognize its own benign nature, and as a result the immune system is not fully in place until about 2 to 3 years after the birth of a human baby for instance. Partly this is to keep the baby from reacting to it's mothers cells which pass to it through the placenta, and mothers milk, and partly this is because the spleen takes a while to grow. Some people are against the injection of vaccines early in the life of the baby, because it is thought that if the injection comes before the baby's immune system is ready for it, pathogens might be incorporated in the self-image the immunne system has of the body, or alternately, the premature activation of the immune system might affect growth factors needed for the baby to fully develop. The spleen in known for its higher concentration of B type helper cells.

Auto-Immune Diseases
There are two types of immune diseases, diseases where the immune system mistakes a benign chemical for a pathogen and creates antibodies to it, thus attacking the body, or some chemical needed for its health, and diseases where the immune system fails to recognize a pathogen, and therefore does not create antibodies that marshal the defenses of the body against it. Most illness involving an infection involves either this, or a disease that propagates faster then the defenses can be activated and thus colonizes the body, despite the immune system.

The Nobel Prize and the Natural Selection of Antibodies
The reason Dr. Edelman received the Nobel prize, was for his work in understanding antibody structure, which indicated that certain theories of antibody generation were more likely. What he revealed was a pattern of behavior that defined a Darwinistic system that generated antibodies by propagating anitbodies that were most likely to be related to pathogens and suppressed the generation of antibodies that were most likely to be related to benign chemicals.

This system depended on the competition among lymphocytes for the chance to attach to the pathogen, and thus trigger lymphocyte reproduction. Since each lymphocyte had a different combination of antibodies, the lymphocyte that won, would clone the active antibodies increasing the population of that type of antibody.

It is important to realize that while we are talking about a system of natural selection, it works by reproduction of antibodies not by reproduction of cells even though the cloning is done at the cellular level and involves the growth of new cells.

Assignment

 * Does Anti-body Selection involve GENES? Write a short essay on what you think

 * If Anti-body Selection does not involve GENES, what is the "Selection" mechanism by which one generation of antibodies is different from the next? Does this actually result in a form of Natural Selection that could be called Darwinism?

 * Why do you think that the immune system attacks pancreatic cells in Diabetes patients? Would drinking formula based on Cows milk be a possible problem? Or weaning from expensive formula to inexpensive Cows milk too early? Would Soyabean products cause the same effect?

 * Some diseases like Tuberculosis encyst themselves in inert materials. Why would this make immune reaction to them difficult?

 * Why do you think that some auto-immune diseases are thought to be the result of pathogens that mimic benign chemicals? Does this suggest that the spleen might be ineffective sometimes? or does it suggest when in the life of the organism it became infected with the disease?

 * Which do you think would be more effective at killing and managing disease, chemicals like penicillin that kill off germs, or an immune system that can react to a wider range of pathogens?

 * Which do you think would be more effective at stopping a major infection involving a germ? An immune system or the right antibiotic? Why?

Are these valid immune reactions? Does taking antihistamines increase or decrease the chance that you will get sick? Or does it depend on why you are reacting?
 * Allergies are thought to be an immune disease that reacts to toxins in the blood. What possible reason would the body have for flooding the surface of the nose with mucus? Dripping mucus down the back of the throat? Causing the inside surface of the lungs to swell? Causing a rash? making pimples? causing the surface of the skin to swell? Making the skin itch? Causing you to sneeze?

<<  Back  >> <<  Next  >>


text:
Conservation Entrepreneurship/Assignments/Projeto Iauaretê/Value Proposition/Mission Statement

Mission Statement  "Our goal is to link jaguar conservation and social development in the Amazon Forest."


text:
Conservation Entrepreneurship/Assignments/Projeto Iauaretê/Value Proposition/Who are our customers?

Who are our customers?

Two ways we can go about this. We have to discuss. I prefer option 1 because the staff of Projeto Iauaretê would not have to spend more than 7 days working with consumers, which is time, physically and mentally consuming. And will also be an overload of work because we are going to be doing research at the same time that we will be receiving and training consumers. Option 1 – higher prices, fewer customers Focus on high income individuals. I made an estimate of the price of the 9 day package and that would add to around $ 7000 usd per tourist (I will post a table with the data I used to achieve this estimate). At this rate we only need 10 tourists per year to make the enterprise viable. Our services are going to be bought by individuals in a high income class that are interested in knowing the Amazon, are interested in research, conservation, big cats, social development and poverty alleviation. I am guessing that customers will be in the 35-55 age class. Option 2 – lower prices, more customers Focus on individuals that are not so high income. This will probably mean that customers will be younger, I guess that the majority in the 20-45 age class. As you can see on the table for price estimation, the cuts will have to be made in the revenue portion of research and/or community income. If we decrease income by half we would have to double the number of tourists.


text:
Conservation Entrepreneurship/Assignments/Projeto Iauaretê/Value Proposition/What is our product?

What is our product? Projeto Iauaretê is offering the experience of a lifetime: participation in the conservation of the majestic and endangered jaguar in the setting of the scenic Amazon rainforest. Through the course of our nine day eco-scientific tourism package customers will have an opportunity unlike any other to interact with indigenous communities and with real-life jaguar researchers as they explore the world of this mysterious cat and learn about the perils facing it as well as what they can do to provide hope for its future.


text:
Conservation Entrepreneurship/Assignments/Projeto Iauaretê/Value Proposition/What needs will our product satisfy? How will it create value for the customer?

What needs will our product satisfy? How will it create value for the customer?

 In each package the consumer will benefit from the following items: 1) Ecotourism activity – Customers will experience the unique beauty and diversity of life in the Amazon Floodplain forests. They will see animals like the howler monkey (Alouatta seniculus), Uakari monkey (Cacajao calvus calvus), sloth (Bradypus variegatus), pirarucu fish (Arapaima gigas), river dolphin (Inia geoffrensis), caiman (Melanosuchus niger and Caiman crocodilus), crax fish (Crax globulosa) at Uakari Lodge, a community run Ecotourism enterprise that is supported by Mamirauá Sustainable Development Institute . 2) Interaction with local people – Customers will be taken on a half day visit to a local traditional community to observe the culture and livelihood of Amazon people. Activities in the community will involve visiting a household (where they will be received by the owner), a walk through the village, demonstration of subsistence agriculture activities, and shopping for artisan goods. 3) Jaguar scientific research and field techniques – Customers will participate in the jaguar research program and will learn many of the field techniques used by scientists. Field methods include identification of tracks and other indirect signs, identification and collection of scats, scat analysis, line transect surveys, camera-traps, deployment and checking of foot snares for jaguar capture and radio-tracking with VHF receiver. 4) Other scientific research – Customers will be introduced to one of the other scientific research programs that are established at Mamirauá Reserve. 5) Jaguar capture – The visit to Mamirauá Reserve will occur during the jaguar capture season of Projeto Iauaretê. This means that customers may be able to see and photograph a captured jaguar during their stay. IT MUST BE CLEAR, HOWEVER, THAT PROJETO IAUARETÊ DOES NOT GUARANTEE THAT CUSTOMERS WILL SEE A JAGUAR. 6) Support of jaguar research – A portion of the revenue will be used to support the jaguar research program of Projeto Iauaretê, helping researchers make new discoveries about jaguar ecology and behavior. These findings will be the stepping stones for conservation strategies in the Amazon. Customers can take satisfaction in knowing that their money is going to help these important efforts. 7) Support of local social development – Another portion of the revenue will support the social development of local people by complementing income of families. Families will have full discretion on how they spend their portion of the revenue, although Projeto Iauaretê staff will assist communities in the revenue distribution process. Projeto Iauaretê will encourage people to spend at least a portion of the revenue collectively in investments that be benefit the communities, such as building or maintaining schools, health clinics, houses, and electrical power generators. 8) Reduction of human-wildlife conflict – By making jaguars profitable to local people we erase the main cause of jaguar hunting in the Amazon, economic loss due to livestock depredation. Throughout the Amazon the almost unanimous reason why people kill jaguars is retaliation for livestock depredation. The revenue provided by Projeto Iauaretê will cover these expenses and increase household income, hence stopping jaguar hunting.


text:
Talk:Conservation Entrepreneurship/Assignments/Projeto Iauaretê/Value Proposition

Thanks Emiliano for moving everything here and arranging it all. Personally I'd say all the value proposition components should probably be on one page, however, rather than having a series of links leading to different pages. That way anyone visiting the page can see the whole value proposition at one spot. If we use appropriate headings I do not think this would be too confusing. What do the rest of you think? --Kifaro50 23:37, 28 February 2009 (UTC)

I'm okay with the links. Bp 02:27, 2 March 2009 (UTC)

I thought about it more and talked with Emiliano and I'm all right with them too. His point was valid that eventually each of these may well be fairly substantial topics and it would be a lot to have everything on one page. Also, this way discussions relate to a particular section rather than having one massive discussion for everything. I rescind my above comment. --Kifaro50 03:44, 2 March 2009 (UTC)


text:
Talk:Conservation Entrepreneurship/Assignments/Projeto Iauaretê/Value Proposition/What needs will our product satisfy? How will it create value for the customer?

We need to fix the links to the two websites, they were lost when we moved the page. I dont have that information so Emiliano you will have to do it. --Kifaro50 00:07, 1 March 2009 (UTC)

This is something that we will likely focus on at a later date, but I had a revenue based question. I was reviewing the list of things that we have for this section, and had a question regarding the last one (#8). Do we have a rough estimate of how many livestock animals are taken in this area per year by jaguars? I think if the goal is to provide income to the families to counter their financial losses we need to know roughly how many animals are killed in this area per unit of time. This way we will have a better idea of how much money the tourism venture will need to bring to the community to counter these families losses. I guess the same could go for question #7 - knowing what percent of revenue will support community projects etc. Lynch 13:43, 2 March 2009 (UTC)


text:
Talk:Conservation Entrepreneurship/Assignments/Projeto Iauaretê/Value Proposition/What is our product?

I posted a more dramatic presentation of our product. I think if we are actually going to sell this, we need to make it interesting and attractive. What we are really selling isn't just eco-tourism. People can get that anywhere. What we really want to sell is an experience, an opportunity to go to the jaguar's natural habitat and to take an active role in helping with its conservation as the customer simultaneously learns and interacts with the indigenous communities that make their living in and around jaguar habitat. If we can sell this, I think we will have much greater success with our business. --Kifaro50 00:13, 1 March 2009 (UTC)

Our product should go a step further to address the erudite characteristics of such a venture. Too often, I think, ecotourism products are geared toward westerners who can afford steep prices. Though this is economically revolutionary for many communities in which these ecotourism ventures take place, it seems unfair to exclusively offer this product to rich eco-minded people from abroad. To better address the conservation ethic within Brazil, and to advance opportunities for poorer, more local supporters of ecotourism and conservation in general, I suggest we think of a way to sponsor 2 high school graduates from Brazil each year to participate in this 9-day package. Maybe we can use proceeds from the sale of photographs taken at Projeto Iauaretê, as well as grant monies, to supplement fundraising efforts from the graduates in order to finance their trip. Ideally, these students will be selected based on their contributions to conservation in their communities. Bp 02:20, 2 March 2009 (UTC)

I think the point being brought up here may be valid but really it depends on the focus we are going for with the project. I think Emiliano has one idea for it and the idea you are suggesting here is a different idea, and the focuses are different. One is focused first on jaguar conservation and second on people as a means to achieve that end. The second seems to be focused mainly on people, and with the jaguar conservation as an important, but possibly secondary goal. These seem to reflect the backgrounds of the various people making the suggestions. We can go either direction for the project but we will need to decide as a group (probably weighted heavily by what Emiliano thinks is actually feasible since we're trying to make this a project that actually happens). I think we all need to take a bit of time sitting together to come up with a united vision for this project and then we'll really be able to move forward with these parts. --Kifaro50 02:03, 2 March 2009 (UTC)

Hi guys. I liked the edits and the ideas. Mira I think you have mentioned something really interesting about financing undergrads. We will talk about this. But we have to see the it this will make the main objectives inviable first. Lets talk about this more. but I think the idea is really good.Emiliano 02:20, 2 March 2009 (UTC)

Guys remember that the goals are: Jaguar conservation but also social development and empowerment. My view is that this will only work if we can do both.Emiliano 02:20, 2 March 2009 (UTC)

To the point that these are separate ideas: I don't think so. The product is the sci-eco-tourism for conservation of jaguars. The other ideas I, Brian, presented, are simply focusing on who we attract and tweaking the product accordingly. Additionally, adding the component of offering people of lesser means, but who are deserving of such experiences is another layer, but not different. These all can work in accord, creating a dynamic relationship that is unique and appeals to a segment that can sustain the business. Bp 02:25, 2 March 2009 (UTC)


text:
Conservation Entrepreneurship/Assignments/Projeto Iauaretê/Value Proposition/How we will sell our product?

How we will sell our product?


text:
Conservation Entrepreneurship/Assignments/Projeto Iauaretê/Value Proposition/How will we sell our product?

How will we sell our product? We will sell our eco-scientific tours using a variety of methods:  1) We will reach a global audience by targeting the international tourist through the web. A detailed website with all of the information concerning our venture will be available worldwide, and will be linked to eco-tourism databases/ travel companies. 2) We will target customers already in-country with packages offered out of one of the larger cities. This location will book packages to our jungle site for local people as well as interested travelers/ backpackers that are already in Brazil.


text:
Talk:Nonkilling studies

School of Non-killing studies (Nk-s) is excellent, though non-traditional academically... I would like it moreso: what if I make an ecumenical Philosophy school (or dept, topic, ...) focused on ahimsa ? I would first make it interdisciplinary between NK-S, Philosophy/science/mathematics & comparative religion, maybe relosophy if they give reference or more explanation.) I know not what to call the page; many appropriate terms exist to combine in it: suggestions?

BTW, 'ahimsa' has been an English term outside of comparative Philosophy since at least the middle 20th century--ahimsa (or a derivation)is a succint term your could use to name your school, or we could redirect 'Ahimsa studies.' If it is acceptable, then a page I make as discussed would link A-S to NK-S: I would expect readers to be either (somewhat) comparative Philosophers or interested in their multicultural views & terminology keeping grammar developing/improving.--Dchmelik 05:13, 1 March 2009 (UTC)

 * It's certainly open to any possibilities... Nonkilling does not exclude concepts as peace, nonviolence or ahimsa but rather provides a new approach. This nonkilling approach is characterized by the measurability of its goals and the open-ended nature of its realization. While the usage of terms as "nonviolence", "peace" or even "ahimsa" in many occasions follows the classical form of argument through abstract ideas leading to passivity, killing (and its opposite, nonkilling) can be quantified and related to specific causes, following a clinical perspective (prevention, intervention and post-traumatic transformation toward the progressive eradication of killing). That's the basic proposal of the new approach. --Cgnk 15:42, 6 March 2009 (UTC)

 * Good. Was it important to this school that 'non-killing' is translated from Sanskrit?  I have only ever heard 'ahimsa' translated that way, though usually with explanation it is more.  I used spokensanskrit.de and google and did not find Sanskrit for 'non-killing.'  Perhaps it exists; if so I would like to know.  I know nothing about the clinical perspective you mention, but surely all sorts of negativity have opposites and most are best avoided. (I do not think that necessarily leads to passivity: take a look at the Bhagavad-Gita or Shaolin arts for example.)  That is why to me, harmlessness may be broader than non-killing, but hopefully the quantification and clinical approach can be explained.  Ahimsa and non-killing are almost synonyms enough for me, though one may need to redefine 'killing' and say what harm really is.  I will leave the redirect up to you/anyone, or if I make the page I described maybe I will make the redirect.--Dchmelik 20:49, 3 April 2009 (UTC)

School v. book
The material posted is really a single wikibook, taken from a single book-like source; shouldn't it be moved there and referenced from course-like or project-like material here? –SJ + > 22:50, 6 April 2010 (UTC)
 * Yeah, makes sense, like much of what Sj writes. We would need User:Someone to do the work. He's on extended wikibreak. Indeed, so far, he hasn't registered an account. --Abd (discuss • contribs) 00:04, 21 January 2014 (UTC)
 * User:Somebody else has registered, but doesn't seem to be doing much. At least not under that name....
 * Many of the pages are copied from material published elsewhere. I'll be looking at that. I may be blanking much of this, replacing it with links to the other publications. The user who created this set of resources was User:Cgnk, apparently named after the Center for Global Nonkilling. Still active on en.wiki. Interesting.
 * Actually, what I've been doing today is moving the resources into a single structure, which could easily be exported to Wikibooks. These pages were scattered, following the flat alphabetical structure most wikis adopted, which is only useful for lookup when you know the name. Most of them started with "Nonkilling," but not all. --Abd (discuss • contribs) 16:24, 4 October 2014 (UTC)

Unrealistic goal
A "killing-free world," like a "drug-free world," is simply not attainable, although we can significantly reduce the incidence of killing. Tisane 14:46, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

Dignity Course
I am developing a Dignity course which may fit well here. If you like it, perhaps you can add it to the curriculum. (I hesitated to do this myself because I did not want to disturb the existing structure.)

cleanup needed
The wikitext for this page is borked. The link to Wikisource comes up empty. I'll handle this stuff later, if someone else doesn't get to it before me. Beware: "Later" might mean never. But hopefully, soon. --Abd (discuss • contribs) 00:01, 21 January 2014 (UTC)

title: Talk:Nonkilling studies


text:
Topic talk:Transpersonal psychology

The link to this topic now goes to its preliminary page which is now created. Please add formatting like TOC or whatever PSY editors prefer.

title: Topic talk:Transpersonal psychology


text:
User:JennyRosen/Common schools, uncommon identities, national unity and cultural difference

Reference
Feinburg, Walter (1998)

Common schools, uncommon identities. national unity and cultural difference.

Reflexion
In his book, Walter Feinberg raises the question of what role schools, and especially the common schools, could and should have in a multicultural society. Feinberg mainly deals with the philosophical aspect of education and do not enter the doors of the classrooms he talks about. As education has become more multicultural, concerns have been raised regarding the question of whether that policy has weakened national identity, unity and loyalty (2). According to Feinberg, there are several challenges to the aim of developing a common identity in public schools in multicultural liberal state. One essential question concerns the possibility to use schools to connect children’s sentiments to national understandings, memories and norms, without imposing and violating their different collective experiences from their primary group. A second question is concerned with whether memories, interpretations and norms advanced through a common national identity can reflect the experiences of different groups rather than the dominant economic, racial, gender and social class groups. And the last question posed asks if it is justifiable to take systematic steps for the schools to develop a favoured representation of the national experience? (66).

In order to understand Feinberg’s discussion regarding multicultural education, it is valuable to look at his division between pluralism and multiculturalism. These concepts, which are sometimes used as synonyms, are basically different. Pluralism refers to the idea that members of different cultures (in the US) should be allowed to pursue their own meanings and traditions in their communities, while the public (common) schools should strive to unify all children under a single national identity, regardless of their cultural affiliations (6). Multiculturalism, on the other hand, strives for an active role by the schools in recognizing children’s cultural identity as well as their national identity (7). Both pluralism and multiculturalism rejects assimilation of children with different cultural background in schools, but their reasons for doing so are different. Pluralists argue that assimilation violates the freedom of association, as they are not given the possibility to maintain their cultural identities (18). From the multiculturalists’ point of view, assimilation needs to be rejected since it denies the important benefits from community and affiliation (19). Separatism can be seen as the opposite of assimilation, as it argues in favour of separate educational institutions for different groups in order for them to maintain their specific identity.

For the pluralist, separatism violates the freedom of association just as much as assimilation, as it locks the child into a presupposed identity and, therefore, should be rejected. According to a multiculturalist perspective, separatism is regarded as a tool for maintaining cultural identities and development of cultural affiliation and pride, but it does not achieve the understanding and recognition of different cultures, which is a central goal in education for multiculturalists (19). The pluralist perspective is based on the idea that there are two different spheres of identity formation – a cultural as well as a public one. The goal of the public school is to prepare children for a life in the public sphere (economical and political) and to establish a common citizenry, holding certain values and attitudes central in modern industrial societies (20). Due to the division between public and culture spheres, the school should aim for a “cultural-neutral” environment, in which different cultural expressions are allowed, but encouraged only as means to a diverse but unified nation (20). The goal with education is civic harmony and a national identity (21). (One could ask if such cultural neutral environment is possible and whether it is not the case of just one dominating culture (liberal, capitalist) which is not perceived as a culture but as the “truth”). Respect for individuals from different cultural groups is essential but should be based on individual accomplishment and not cultural background (21). The multiculturalists disagree with the separation between cultural and public spheres and argues that the school culture tends to reflect that of the dominant group, while other cultures are marginalized into the private sphere – that, if the assymetry of power between different cultures are not taken into account and dealt with in school (21). If schools do not address the issue of power and the stigmatization and marginalisation of some cultural groups, they will reinforce the degradation of the latter (22). Therefore, schools can not only focus on the inclusion but should also take into account contemporary and historic practices of exclusion (24). Multiculturalists argue that the public is cultural and that cultural identity should not only be allowed but, in fact, encouraged in schools (24). Individual growth is made through cultural affiliations, as those provide meaning to individuals. Therefore, cultural communities are the preconditions of individual growth (25). In other words, while pluralism seeks national consensus, multiculturalism seeks cultural authenticity (26).

In his title, Feinberg uses the word common schools instead of government schools, since he wants to emphasize the rationale and purpose of the schools rather than how the school is supported and controlled (3). Then, he goes on talking about public schools and how the tasks performed by them are justified in regard to two central functions in a liberal society. The first is to socialize children in the general rules of society by establishing a commitment to the safety an well being of other members in the society (nation state). That is important for the public safety as well as a mean to provide them with skills in order to advance both their individual and social interest, which also serves in the development of society. And second, to reproduce the basic values of a liberal society in order to assure its continuation. These basic values can be sum up in three principled reasons: equal opportunity, freedom of association and individual growth (9). Equality of educational opportunity is important in order to compensate for inequalities that arise due to other liberal commitments such as individual choice (10). Freedom of association is essential for maintaining a democratic society. People should be allowed to form whatever alliances they may choose and children need to be educated regarding the implications of the different social choices they make. Children do not have to relive the life of their parents, but should be introduced to different ways of life and the diversity of human culture, so that an individual choice is possible (11). Individual growth refers to the right of children to choose their own conceptions of the good and to develop their talents and tastes as long as they do not deny others the same possibility. As in the case of freedom of association, this requires schools to present children with new ways and to open up for alternatives (11). Critics may ask what gives schools the right to teach values to other peoples’ children. Feinberg writes that schools do not teach children what to choose but how to choose (13), which could be seen as legitimate. But Feinberg also argues that a multicultural education does more than just provide children with tools of how to choose, since it leads them into an acceptance of a single conception of the good while rejecting other possibilities. (13). The schools need to be able to justify these changes in children’s ideas and values (14). Therefore, in regard to justification of public education, it is important to examine the responsibilities towards both the ideal of cultural communities as well as the ideals of a liberal democratic nation (17) (which also doesn’t have to contradictory)(( (which do not have to be mutually exclusive).)).

The difference between educational democracy and political democracy is important in order to understand the limits of what can be justified in regard to school and minority groups (27). If the state has the authority to require that children experience certain kinds of education, on the ground that it advances a legitimate state interest, then it is a political goal and one which can be questioned on educational grounds (29).

Looking at the common school from an historical point of view, it could be said that the general vision has been to deliberate with the public on behalf of the nation and values of liberty. This meant that children from different backgrounds would unite on a shared national identity and linked together in a common epistemological and moral order (33). However, the vision was hardly accomplished, as different groups (blacks, women, working-class, Asians) were not given the same opportunities as other, more privileged groups. The failure throughout history to include all children in common schools increased the scepticism of many in the US towards the common school and public education (33). This view is partly grounded on the belief that the nation-state, as the foundation of public education, is arbitrary and mainly a tool for dominant groups to remain in power (33). Feinberg brings us to a philosophical argumentation concerning fairness and arbitrariness, which I would leave out from this presentation. Furthermore, he also asks what it means to have a national identity. This is essential as in my reading of him, views the nation-state as “the” organisation of societies in the world and as the foundation of liberal democracy. However, nations and their boundaries are constructed and need nationalism and the reproduction of national identities in order to continue to exist (37). A nation exists partly because a group of people made an enffort shaping and reshaping a certain identity and nations are connected to states because of the need to protect and to develop this identity (91). Still, the construction of the nation is not arbitrary in Feinberg’s eyes but, in accordance with Benedict Anderson, constructed around a shared standardized and printed language. The standardization of language and decisions concerning the inclusion or exclusion of dialects and groups that should form the national language are, in fact, arbitrary (38). (But I would like to argue that this process is a matter of power between different groups and not as arbitrary as described by the author). Because of the formation of nation-states around boundaries of language, religion and geography, which I the authors view is reasonable (one could ask when something become reasonable!) the nation cannot be seen as an arbitrary construct (40). An important task of the common school is to bring everyone, both in the margins and the centre of the nation, into a shared national identity (41) This means both identifying with the national experience and to be actively engaged with issues involved in the material and moral climate of the nation (231). The knowledge needed to live in society, adequate vocational skills, appropriate meanings, good and virtuous habits as well as a collective identity, are no longer a result of living in a certain community but a function assigned to the common school (a state institution) (44). In common schools, children adopt an identity as a member of a nation: they develop an intuitive understanding that they have special obligations towards other co-nationals, taught the idea of nationalism and that their nation exists in a field of other nations (46). Taking on a national identity also involves the idea of inclusion and exclusion, both in the present as well as in the past (47). Embracing a national identity also means grasping the concept of nationalism (47). And without nationalism, there wouldn’t be any nation-states. Feinberg writes “Through the nation individuals are brought together as a people and as such, and they stand in distinction from others who are brought together as a different people” (47-48). More than the idea of nationalism, individuals share through their membership certain ideas, norms, self-understandings and practices that distinguish them from other individuals who are members of other nations (48). Part of being a member in a modern nation also involves learning how to be modern (49). But a nation cannot just be neutrally represented, since representations are always done by people from different standpoints and, therefore, the questions concerning which standpoint is to be accepted and who is to authorize it, remains (230).

Reading Feinberg’s perspective regarding the construction of nation-states, which is close to the ideas popularized by Benedict Anderson, I was surprised by his strong modernist and linear understanding of nation-states and his fast rejection of post-modern criticism. Moreover, he doesn’t acknowledge the relations between gender and nation and how different roles for women and men are constructed in relation to the nation (see Yuval-Davies 1997, Anthias & Yuval-Davies 1992, Cockburn 1998, Enloe 1990). Furthermore, his examination of the nation-states is, to a great extent, Eurocentric. It ignores both the importance of colonialism in the creation of European states as well as neglects the different conditions in countries outside of Europe and the US. I also find his division between traditional nation-states (in which membership is based on stories of a common ancestry and blood) and constitutional democracies (where membership is based on the acceptance of certain institutions and practices)(45), to be rather problematic, since most national identities are constructed on both.

Still, the main question of how a democratic society can justify imposing education on groups of citizens who want to maintain their own values and to reproduce them in their children remains (52). The common school is an instrument for individual and cultural change and it changes the way people think, their basic moral understandings and their commitments and loyalties (56). The development of school was a self-conscious decision in order to advance a certain kind of identity (57).

Although Feinberg recognises that a nation may organize itself for immoral purposes (54), there is a strong positive and modernist tone in his argumentation.

The identity role of the common school in a liberal nation has been challenged from two main perspectives: the strong culturalist and the communitarian. The strong culturalist argues that there is no neutral system of true knowledge, but that what one holds as true knowledge is cultural dependent. Moreover, they argue that there are collective experiences which can only be authentically understood from the inside, and to try to describe them from the outside may risk distorting the experience (60). The basic assumption is that meanings and norms are group-specific and cannot transcend differences between groups. All practices and institutions are culturally embedded, as also is the public school despites its’ claims of neutrality (62). In this view, the particular knowledge system that are forced upon children in school and the distortion of groups experiences can be seen as a form of symbolic violence (60). The second perspective, communitarianism, is sceptical towards the ability of modern society to develop moral norms and understandings (60). While the strong culturalism focus on the hegemonic exercise of authority and its legitimacy, communitarianism argues that the claimed neutrality of public schools is inadequate for the development of moral citizens (61).

The strong culturalism argues that learning always takes place inside and that is due to culture. It is through culture that individuals make meanings (63). Moreover, culture provides the conditions for learning through, for example, language, which make some understandings more accessible than others (64). Feinberg writes that “when we enter culture – that is, when we are born – we begin to pick up certain horizons of understandings about ourselves and others and about our relationship to our so called natural environment” (64). Feinberg’s perception of culture can be criticized both for its monolingual norm as well as for defining culture mainly in ethnical terms.

Culture also provides an important material for the development of the I / Self since the “we” provides the ideas of identity and attachment that constitute the “I” (64). It is alto through culture that individuals can make sense of their own experiences as well as others’ (65). From the strong culturalist view, culture does not just affect how we learn (patterns for socialisation of children) but also what we learn and what we see as objects of knowledge and, therefore, the question of culture is also an epistemological one (70,72). However, according to Feinberg, to say that learning is made through culture can mean at least four different things: a)	We can only apprehend the world through the conceptual and emotional frames that are both the products and elements of culture, such as language. b)	Culture determines the elements of development that are understood as leaning, resulting in some ways of developing been seen as more significant than others. c)	How we apprehend the world is dependent on the instruments and symbols that constitutes different cultures, such as language, norms, relational possibilities and shared meanings. d)	As the instruments are different in different cultures, different apprehended worlds are created (71-72).

Taking these four points into consideration, culture makes a difference on how we apprehend the world, but also in the world that is apprehended (76). So, even if people were not different at birth, differences are created by cultures (feelings, for example) (76). Moreover, since we apprehend the world through our culture, we can only view a different culture through our own frames of meaning, resulting in that we will construct the other culture through our own culture and judge it by our standards (82). If this is the case then, how is it possible for children of different cultural backgrounds to understand each other? Still, if educational systems fail to provide children with the tools they need to make a reasonable life in modern society (regardless of their cultural background) they are, according to Feinberg, guilty of cultural neglect (85).

In regard to identity, Feinberg differentiates between being an American and identifying oneself as an American, with the later refering to an active engagement in the formation of the nation and the national story (232).

To hold a common identity self-consciously means an awareness of sharing with each other certain conceptual and normative frameworks and that we use them in our everyday interactions (234). In school, children need to become accustomed to the different ways of people from different backgrounds and with different needs, appealing to the nation as a framework for meaning and renewal (235). However, identities are not only confined to national or cultural boundaries but, in some cases, are shared more globally (236).

The common school need to teach children how to advance their own concerns, which includes also cultural ones, and to express themselves in ways that ring true (245).


text: User:Kiwi kai

title: User:Kiwi kai


text:
User:Warrenstreet

The OCR textual analysis unit section on sound uses the following terms:

Ambient sound: This refers to sound that helps to describe a particular location, for instance in a restaurant scene the ambient sound will be the sound of cutlery, dining guest chatter and glasses chinking.

Synchronous/Asynchronous sound: Synchronous sound is the sound that is heard at the same time as an image or images appear on screen, for example in a battle scene involving a sword fight the viewer would see swords fights and hear the clash of swords. Asynchronous sound is sound that is heard separately to an image but is linked to that image, for example this can be seen/heard in the classic crime drama scene of the police siren sounding in the distance at the point where the viewer is shown the perpetrator about to strike.

Sound bridge: A sound bridge is a form of asynchronous sound and it is used to prepare the audience for a transition from one scene/image to a next so in our crime scene scenario we would hear the police siren before seeing the police en route to the crime scene and then there would be a cut/edit/transition to images of police cars with blue lights flashing dashing towards the crime scene.

Dialogue: This doesn't need explanation it is the speech delivered by the characters in a television program or a film. Dialogue is used to help the audience understand a character or the follow the story line.

Diegetic/non diegetic sound: Diegetic sound is sound that would naturally belong to a particular location or scene, for example if we see a character alone driving a car with the car radio on then the music we hear we can accept as coming from the car radio. If in the same scene we hear a narrator explaining the narrative/story line this would be non-diegetic sound, though we the viewer accept this style of presentation we can recognise that we wouldn't really hear a narrator telling us about the driver.

Sound effect: A sound effect is used to help create a sense of reality or used when the original sound doesn't record as well as the sound the normal human ear would hear. Fight scene involving punches are an obvious example of sound effects being used because a real punch doesn't record well and it wouldn't be right to have actors punching each other for real.

Sound motif: A sound motif is a way of describing a particular character or introducing a particular action sequence. A classic sound motif is the sound that is heard short before a villian/antagonist makes an appearance or dispatches another victim.

Voice over: The voice is the non-diegetic sound that is heard explain the narrative or providing insight to a particular character. Voice overs in film or drama is used to help audiences empathise with a particular character or provide the audience with information that is not known by characters in the narrative.

Mode of address: The mode of address is the way in which the audience is communicated to this can be through the language used in a media text or through direct address a would be done through a news broadcast or a narrated film or television program.

Sound mixing: As can be expected any scene from a film or television program would have a number of different sounds in that scene these sounds are mixed together to allow some sounds to be heard above or below others. Sound mixing can also be done when a particular sound effect is being created by bringing together a number of sounds in order to create one particular sound.

Sound perspective: The sound perspective indicates to the audience where one sound source is in relation to another, going back to the example of the crime drama police siren we know roughly how far away the police are from the crime scene by the how loud or how soft the siren sound is.

Soundtrack: Though it is now commonly understood that soundtrack refers to the music from a film that is being sold as an album sound track is in its original meaning refers to everything that is heard when listening to film or television program - this would include the music, dialogue and sound effects.

Score: The score is the musical arrangement that accompanies a film or television program and would normally include the theme tune as well as incidental music used throughout the text.

Incidental music: The incidental music is the music that accompanies key action sequences in a film or television drama, the music that accompanies fight sequences provide obvious examples of incidental music as do chase sequences, romantic interludes or robberies in a heist movie.

Sound themes: Sound themes are used to arrange the various elements within a film or television program so that to the audience they make sense as a whole, this is done by accompanying the various elements with a particular piece of music or sound. In example a film feature a different groups of young people can choose to identify some with rebellious music, some with classical music and some with happy go lucky musical sounds.

title: User:Warrenstreet


text:
User:Graeme E. Smith/Introduction to The Religion of Unit Field

Introduction to the Religion of Unit Field
The Axioms start with these basic rules:
 * My belief system is very simple, by declaration, and very complex by extension

 * Unit Fields are mutually exclusive, As a result Two Unit Fields that interact are under an impetus to move apart

 * When two fields interact, Force is created, and expressed as energy Thus energy can be created but once energy is created it is conserved and can only be converted into new forms, it cannot be destroyed.

 * Everything is made from combinations of Unit Fields, and the Energy they create.

 * Unit Fields do not need space to exist, but they create space by their interactions.

 * The Dimensionality of space is much higher than it seems because dimensions wrap around each other, forming complex fields.

 * The first dimension of space is Time

 * Pockets of space exist where fields interact

 * Relationships are a factor of space, they cannot be spontaneously generated, however spontaneously generated unit fields can have relationships once they interact in space.

 * Spontaneous Generation is easier for Simple things, A Unit Field is the simplest possible thing.

 * The Dimensionality of space is determined by the complexity of the relationships between the unit fields that make it up. The more Unit fields there are in the Universe the higher the number of dimensions there are in space.

 * The Universe is expanding because new unit fields are always coming into being through spontaneous generation.

 * Quantum Uncertainty exists because locations at the quantum level are constantly being perturbed by spontaneous generation of new unit fields in the vicinity of existing structures.

Why is Unit Field a Religion?
Quite simply Unit field is a belief system, that is not scientifically proven, and therefore exists only because of belief. While it might sound like science, it probably can't be proven to exist, because the nature of Unit fields is that they can only be measured by how they interact. I joke that I am a Unit Field Fanatic, because I have an irrational belief that the Unit Field exists.

It is interesting to note that a Unit Field might be somewhat like a Higgs boson, and that therefore Quantum gravity might be based on Unit Fields instead of Higgs Bosons. Both Quantum gravity and Unit Fields talk about units of space, Unit Fields talk about how the units of space are related to the Units of field, While Quantum Gravity is looking for a Quantum of space called a boson. Usually characterized as a cloudy "Field" of a set size. Unit fields don't have a size per se, if only because that would require space, and a unit field can exist without space.

In Unit Field the size of a space only makes sense to measure against a standard. If no standard against which to measure it can exist, then the size of space is undefined. Thus a system having only one unit field, has no defined size and therefore does not take up space.

We say that unit fields are spontaneously generated, but in fact what we are saying is that the reason why they come into existence is undefined, and therefore is assumed not to exist. Unit field is a Limited Spontaneous Generation theory, in that relationships cannot be spontaneously generated so the complexity of the elements that can be spontaneously generated is also limited. This neatly deals with the main argument against spontaneous generation, the reducto-ad-absurdum used to attack it in its earlier and less limited form. Since Limited Spontaneous Generation cannot be reduced to absurdum, it is no longer impossible for it to exist.

The Unit Field As Atom
Essentially, an Atom, is the smallest(simplest) element that cannot be subdivided without changing its nature. The problem with a spontaneously generated atom, is that if an atom can be generated once, it cannot be stopped from being generated an infinite number of times. There is no reason for there to be a time differential in spontaneous generation, However Unit Field suggests that spontaneous generation works in two steps, and the second step requires the presence of time. The first step is the creation of a separate unit field, and the second step is the linking of that Unit field to other unit fields in the same area of space. Time may therefore be considered the way that the Unit Field Universe keeps Unit Fields from arriving all at once. In this theory, Time is seen as the first dimension of space, and therefore time is needed in order for Unit fields to hook up to other unit fields in space.

Because Unit Field hook-ups take time, Unit Fields form an incremental universe, and because there is no way to stop unit fields from forming, That Universe is constantly expanding. However because unit fields can exist without taking up space, a unit field can be inserted into any other element in the universe without changing the size of that element. Once formed in an element, the unit field will interact with the unit fields in the element, causing a reaction. What that reaction is, depends on the nature of the element and the forces within it.

What is a Unit Field?
Essentially a Unit field, is the equivalent of an unopposed force. In all probability Unit fields have to go through a phase change wrought by interaction with another unit field, in order to translate their field into a force. Because they are mutually exclusive, they produce a negative force, and repulse each other rather than attracting each other. It is this repulsion that defines the filling of space, as each new Unit field adds to the local ambient force.