Natural Resources

Natural Resources

Natural resources is a type of resources in the earth which are economically referred to as land or raw materials occur naturally within environment that exist relatively undisturbed by mankind, in a natural form. A natural resource is often characterized by amounts of biodiversity existent in various ecosystems.

The examples of natural resources are agronomy, air, wind, atmosphere, plants, animals, soils, water, oceans, lakes and rivers.

Natural resource management
Natural resource management is a discipline in the management of natural resources such as land, water, soil, plants and animals, with a particular focus on how management affects the quality of life for both present and future generations. Natural resource management is interrelated with the concept of sustainable development, a principle which forms a basis for land management and environmental governance throughout the world.

In contrast to the policy emphases of Urban planning and the broader concept of Environment management,
Natural resource management specifically focuses on a scientific and technical understanding of resources and ecology and the life-supporting capacity of those resources.

Natural resource depletion
In recent years, the depletion of natural resources and attempts to move to sustainable development have been a major focus of development agencies. This is of particular concern in rainforest regions, which hold most of the Earth's natural biodiversity-irreplaceable genetic natural capital. Conservation of natural resources is the major focus of natural capitalism, environmentalism, the ecology movement, and green politics. Some view this depletion as a major source of social unrest and conflicts in developing nations.

Mining, petroleum extraction, fishing, hunting, and forestry are generally considered natural-resource industries. Agriculture is considered a man-made resource. Theodore Roosevelt, a well-known conservationist and former United States president, was opposed to unregulated natural extraction. The term is defined by the United States Geological Survey as "The Nation's natural resources include its minerals, energy, land, water, and biota."

Natural resource protection
Conservation biology is the scientific study of the nature and status of Earth's biodiversity with the aim of protecting species, their habitats, and ecosystems from excessive rates of extinction. It is an interdisciplinary subject drawing on sciences, economics, and the practise of natural resource management. The term conservation biology was introduced as the title of a conference held University of California at San Diego in La Jolla, California in 1978 organised by biologist Bruce Wilcox and Michael Soule.

Habitat conservation is a land management practice that seeks to conserve, protect and restore, shelter areas for wild flora and fauna, especially conservation reliant species, and prevent their extinction, fragmentation or reduction in range. It is a priority of many groups that cannot be easily characterised in terms of any one ideology.

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The Astronomy

Astronomy
Astronomy is the scientific study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the Earth's atmosphere . It is concerned with the evolution, physics, chemistry, meteorology, and motion of celestial objects, as well as the formation and development of the universe. Astronomy is one of the oldest sciences. Astronomers of early civilizations performed methodical observations of the night sky, and astronomical artifacts have been found from much earlier periods. However, the invention of the telescope was required before astronomy was able to develop into a modern science. Historically, astronomy has included disciplines as diverse as astrometry, celestial navigation, observational astronomy, the making of calendars, and even astrology, but professional astronomy is nowadays often considered to be synonymous with astrophysics. Since the 20th century, the field of professional astronomy split into observational and theoretical branches. Observational astronomy is focused on acquiring and analyzing data, mainly using basic principles of physics. Theoretical astronomy is oriented towards the development of computer or analytical models to describe astronomical objects and phenomena. The two fields complement each other, with theoretical astronomy seeking to explain the observational results, and observations being used to confirm theoretical results.Amateur astronomers have contributed to many important astronomical discoveries, and astronomy is one of the few sciences where amateurs can still play an active role, especially in the discovery and observation of transient phenomena.

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The Universe

The Universe
The Universe is defined as everything that physically exists: the entirety of space and time, all forms of matter, energy and momentum, and the physical laws and constants that govern them. The age of the universe is the time elapsed between the Big Bang and the present day. Current theory and observations suggest that the universe is between 13.5 and 14 billion years old. The diameter of the universe is known as approximately about 93 billion light years 8.80 × 1026 metres. The size of the universe is either known as infinite or finite. The universe is expanded from an extremely hot and dense phase which is called Planck Epoch. Recent observations indicate that this expansion is accelerating because of the dark energy, and that most of the matter and energy in the Universe is fundamentally different from that observed on Earth and not directly observable. The universe contain a masssive amount of galaxy which is probably about 100 billion galaxy. Typical galaxies range from dwarfs with as few as ten million (107) stars up to giants with one trillion (1012) stars, all orbiting the galaxy's center of mass. The present overall density of the Universe is very low, roughly 9.9 × 10−30 grams per cubic centimetre. This mass-energy appears to consist of 73% dark energy, 23% cold dark matter and 4% ordinary matter. Some speculative theories have proposed that this universe is but one of a set of disconnected universes, collectively denoted as the multiverse, altering the concept that the universe encompasses everything.

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Technology

The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standardized Internet Protocol Suite. It is a network of networks that consists of millions of private and public, academic, business, and government networks of local to global scope that are linked by copper wires, fiber-optic cables, wireless connections, and other technologies.

Bluetooth technology

The word Bluetooth is an anglicized version of Old Norse Blátönn or Danish Blåtand, the name of the tenth-century king Harald I of Denmark, who united dissonant Danish tribes into a single kingdom. The implication is that Bluetooth does the same with communications protocols, uniting them into one universal standard.

Bluetooth is a standard and communications protocol primarily designed for low power consumption, with a short range (power-class-dependent: 1 meter, 10 meters, 100 meters) based on low-cost transceiver microchips in each device.Bluetooth makes it possible for these devices to communicate with each other when they are in range. Because the devices use a radio (broadcast) communications system, they do not have to be in line of sight of each other.
Class
Maximum Permitted Power
Range(approximate)
Class 1
100 mW (20 dBm)
~100 meters
Class 2
2.5 mW (4 dBm)
~10 meters
Class 3
1 mW (0 dBm)
~1 meter
In most cases the effective range of class 2 devices is extended if they connect to a class 1 transceiver, compared to a pure class 2 network. This is accomplished by the higher sensitivity and transmission power of Class 1 devices.
Version
Data Rate
Version 1.2
1 Mbit/s
Version 2.0 + EDR
3 Mbit/s

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Communication

Diagram 1. A simple comunication of a sender transfering information to a sender.

There is much discussion in the academic world of communication as to what actually constitutes communication. Currently, many definitions of communication are used in order to conceptualize the processes by which people navigate and assign meaning. Communication is also understood as the exchanging of understanding. Additionally the biocommunication theory investigates communicative processes within and among non-humans such as bacteria, animals, fungi and plants.
We might say that communication consists of transmitting information from one person to another. In fact, many scholars of communication take this as a working definition, and use Lasswell's maxim, "who says what to whom in what channel with what effect," as a means of circumscribing the field of communication theory.

A simple communication model with a sender transferring a message containing information to a receiver.
Other commentators suggest that a ritual process of communication exists, one not artificially divorceable from a particular historical and social context.
Communication stands so deeply rooted in human behaviors and the structures of society that scholars have difficulty thinking of it while excluding social or behavioral events. Because communication theory remains a relatively young field of inquiry and integrates itself with other disciplines such as philosophy, psychology, and sociology, one probably cannot yet update expect a consensus conceptualization of communication across disciplines.
Currently, there is no paradigm from which communication scholars may work. One of the issues facing scholars is the possibility that establishing a communication metatheory will negate their research and stifle the broad body of knowledge in which communication functions.

The nature of communication has been argued about since the beginning of Western culture. Socrates and Plato reflect on language and communication in the Socratic dialogues, particularly in the Cratylus. Aristotle attempted to work out a theory of communication and language; in The Rhetoric he primarily focused on the art of persuasion, and in De Interpretatione he discusses the elements of language and the relation of language and logic.
Theological, humanistic and rhetorical viewpoints and theories dominated the discipline prior to the twentieth century, when more scientific methodologies and insights from information theory, psychology, sociology, linguistics and advertising began to influence communication thought and practice.

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Force and Motion

Force and Motion

The Greek Philosopher Aristotle stated that motion was maintained by forces. A force makes something move. In force and motion, there are a few scientific terms that a Science student must know and understand. The terms have different definitions as well as different units that are applied in calculations.

Force

Force is what causes something to move, stop or change direction. Its unit of measurement is Newton (N). Force is equal to mass multiplied by acceleration.In physics, a force is a push or pull that can cause an object with mass to change its velocity. Force has both magnitude and direction, making it a vectorquantity. Newton's second law states that an object with a constant mass will accelerate in proportion to the net force acting upon and in inverse proportion to its mass. Equivalently, the net force on an object equals the rate at which its momentum changes.

Force = mass x Acceleration

Newton's Law of Motion

The motion of an aircraft through the air can be explained and described by physical principals discovered over 300 years ago by Sir Isaac Newton. Newton worked in many areas of mathematics and physics. He developed the theories of gravitation in 1666, when he was only 23 years old. Some twenty years later, in 1686, he presented his three laws of motion in the "Principia Mathematica Philosophiae Naturalis." The laws are shown below, and the application of these laws to aerodynamics are given on separate slides.

Newton's First Law of Motion:

If there is no resultant force on a stationary object, it will remain at rest. If it is already moving, it will keep on moving at a constant velocity. The bigger the mass, the higher the inertia and therefore needs a bigger force to overcome its inertia.

For example: When the ball is already moving, the ball will keep moving at a constant velocity.

Newton's Second Law of Motion:

The rate of chage of momentum in an object is directly proportional to the resultant force acting upon it. When the mass is constant, this law is often stated as "Force equals to mass times acceleration (F=ma)" ; the net force on an object is equal to the mass of the object multiplied by its acceleration.

For example: When a ball is pulled to a certain height and is realeased, the ball will hit the other balls. The last ball will swing up to about the same height as the first ball.

Newton's Third Law of Motion:

If object exerts a force on object B, then object B exerts an equal but opposite force on object A. Therefore, there is an equal and opposite reaction for every action.

For example: When the cardboard on a glass try is pulled towards the right, the toy car is seen moving in the oppositedirection. This is because the action force F which causes the cardboard to move towards the right is equal to the reaction force F' (friction force) which causes the toy car to move towards the left.

Inertia

Inertia is the relectance of an object to move once it is at rest, or the reluctance to stop once it is in uniform velocity. In other words, inertia is the tendency of an object to remain at rest, or if moving with uniform velocity, to continue its motion in a stright line. Newton's first lawof motion, which is also called the law of inertia describes the characteristics of inertia. Newton's first law of motion states that every object will continue in its state of uniform velocity or at rest unless an external forces acts upon it.

For example,

a) When a car stops suddenly, the driver and the passengers surge forwards. This is due to their inertia to keep them moving.

b) When a car starts to move, the driver and the passengers move backwards because their inertia acting to maintain their position at rest.

Mass is a measurement for the amount of inertia. A body of greater mass will have a greater inertia. It has a greater tendency to maintain its state of motion.

Momentum

It is difficult to stop a bullet which travels at a very high speed or a lorry which has a large mass. The momentum of an object is defined as the product of its mass and velocity.

Momentum = Mass x Velocity

p = mv

Momentum is a measure of motion. It is a vector quantity. Its direction is the same as the velocity and its unit is kg m/s or N s.

Gravity

Do you know why a ripe duran fruit always falls down and not flies up? According to Sir Isaac Newton, an attractive force exists between any two objects. The durian fruit falls down because there is a gravitational force between the durian fruit and the Earth. Since the mass of the Earth is too massive, we only see the durian fruit falls towards the Earth. The Earth's Gravitational Force tends to pull everything towards the centre.

By Newton's second law of motion, the gravitational force

F = mg

where m is the mass of the object and g is the acceleration due to gravity. The value of g is a constant, which is equal to 9.81 m/s/s, or approximately 10 m/s/s.

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Nature And Environment

The natural environment, commonly referred to simply as the environment, is a term that encompasses all organisms and non-organisms occurring naturally on Earth or some region thereof.
The concept of the natural environment can be distinguished by components:
Complete ecological units that function as natural systems without massive human intervention, including all crops, animals, microbes, soils, rocks, atmosphere and natural phenomena that occur within their boundaries.
Universal natural resources and natural phenomena that lack clear-cut boundaries, such as air, water, and climate, as well as energy, radiation, electric charge, and magnetism, not originating from human activity.
The natural environment is contrasted with the built environment, which comprises the areas and components that are strongly affected by humans. A geographical area is regarded as a natural environment (with an indefinite article), if the human impact on it is kept under a certain limited level (similar to section 1 above).
Contents
1 Composition
2 Geological activities
3 Oceanic activities
4 Rivers and lakes
5 Atmosphere, climate and weather
6 Effects of global warming

Composition

Earth science generally recognizes 4 spheres, the lithosphere, the hydrospher, the atmosphere, and the biosphere as correspondent to rocks, water, air, and life. Some scientiests include, as part of the spheres of the Earth, the cryosphere (corresponding to ice) as a distinct portion of the hydrosphere, as well as the pedosphere (corresponding to soil) as an active and intermixed sphere. Earth science (also known as geoscience, the geosciences or the Earth Sciences), is an all-embracing term for the sciences related to the planet Earth. There are four major disciplines in earth sciences, namely geography, geology, geophysics and geodesy. These major disciplines use physics, chemistry, biology, chronology and mathematics to build a qualitative and quantitative understanding of the principal areas or spheres of the Earth system.

Geological activity

The Earth's crust, or Continental crust, is the outermost solid land surface of the planet, is chemically and mechanically different from underlying mantles, and has been generated largely by igneous processes in which magma (molten rock) cools and solidifies to form solid land. Plate tectonics, mountain ranges, volcanoes, and earthquakes are geological phenomena that can be explained in terms of energy transformations in the Earth's crust, and might be thought of as the process by which the earth resurfaces itself. Beneath the Earth's crust lies the mantle which is heated by the radioactive decay of heavy elements. The mantle is not quite solid and consists of magma which is in a state of semi-perpetual convection. This convection process causes the lithospheric plates to move, albeit slowly. The resulting process is known as plate tectonics. Volcanoes result primarily from the melting of subducted crust material. Crust material that is forced into the Asthenosphere melts, and some portion of the melted material becomes light enough to rise to the surface, giving birth to volcanoes!

Oceanic activity

Polar bears on the sea ice of the Arctic Ocean, near the North Pole.
The shore of the Pacific Ocean in San Francisco, California.
Earth's oceans(World Ocean)
Arctic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
Indian Ocean
Pacific Ocean
Southern Ocean
An ocean is a major body of saline water, and a principal component of the hydrosphere. Approximately 71% of the Earth's surface (an area of some 361 million square kilometers) is covered by ocean, a continuous body of water that is customarily divided into several principal oceans and smaller seas. More than half of this area is over 3,000 meters (9,800 ft) deep. Average oceanic salinity is around 35 parts per thousand (ppt) (3.5%), and nearly all seawater has a salinity in the range of 30 to 38 ppt. Though generally recognized as several 'separate' oceans, these waters comprise one global, interconnected body of salt water often referred to as the World Ocean or global ocean. This concept of a global ocean as a continuous body of water with relatively free interchange among its parts is of fundamental importance to oceanography
The major oceanic divisions are defined in part by the continents, various archipelagos, and other criteria: these divisions are (in descending order of size) the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean, the Southern Ocean (which is sometimes subsumed as the southern portions of the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans), and the Arctic Ocean (which is sometimes considered a sea of the Atlantic). The Pacific and Atlantic may be further subdivided by the equator into northerly and southerly portions. Smaller regions of the oceans are called seas, gulfs, bays and other names. There are also salt lakes, which are smaller bodies of landlocked saltwater that are not interconnected with the World Ocean. Two notable examples of salt lakes are the Aral Sea and the Great Salt Lake.

Rivers and lakes

A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing toward an ocean, a lake, a sea or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including stream, creek, brook, rivulet, and rill; there is no general rule that defines what can be called a river. Many names for small rivers are specific to geographic location; one example is Burn in Scotland and North-east England. Sometimes a river is said to be larger than a creek, but this is not always the case, due to vagueness in the language. A river is part of the hydrological cycle. Water within a river is generally collected from precipitation through surface runoff, groundwater recharge, springs, and the release of stored water in natural ice and snowpacks (i.e., from glaciers).
A lake (from Latin lacus) is a terrain feature (or physical feature), a body of liquid on the surface of a world that is localized to the bottom of basin (another type of landform or terrain feature; that is, it is not global) and moves slowly if it moves at all. On Earth, a body of water is considered a lake when it is inland, not part of the ocean, is larger and deeper than a pond, and is fed by a river. The only world other than Earth known to harbor lakes is Titan, Saturn's largest moon, which has lakes of ethane(a type of alkane), most likely mixed with methane(another type of alkane). It is not known if Titan's lakes are fed by rivers, though Titan's surface is carved by numerous river beds. Natural lakes on Earth are generally found in mountainous areas, rift zones, and areas with ongoing or recent glaciation. Other lakes are found in endorheic basins or along the courses of mature rivers. In some parts of the world, there are many lakes because of chaotic drainage patterns left over from the last Ice Age. All lakes are temporary over geologic time scales, as they will slowly fill in with sediments or spill out of the basin containing them.

Atmosphere, climate and weather

Atmospheric gases scatter blue light more than other wavelengths, creating a blue halo when seen from space.
The atmosphere of the Earth serves as a key factor in sustaining the planetary ecosystem. The thin layer of gases envelops the Earth is held in place by the planet's gravity. Dry air consists of 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, 1% argon and other inert gases, carbon dioxide, etc.; but air also contains a variable amount of water vapor. The atmospheric pressure declines steadily with altitude, and has a scale height of about 8 kilometres at the Earth's surface: the height at which the atmospheric pressure has declined by a factor of e (a mathematical constant equal to 2.71...). The ozone layer of the Earth's atmosphere plays an important role in depleting the amount of ultraviolet (UV) radiation that reaches the surface. As DNA(deoxyribonucleic acid) is readily damaged by UV light, this serves to protect life at the surface. The atmosphere also retains heat during the night, thereby reducing the daily temperature extremes.

Effects of global warming

The retreat of Aletsch Glacier in the Swiss Alps (situation in 1979, 1991 and 2002), due to global warming.
The potential dangers of global warming are being increasingly studied by a wide global consortium of scientists, who are increasingly concerned about the potential long-term effects of global warming on our natural environment and on the planet. Of particular concern is how climate change and global warming caused by anthropogenic, or human-made releases of greenhouse gases, most notably carbon dioxide, can act interactively, and have adverse effects upon the planet, its natural environment and humans' existence. Efforts have been increasingly focused on the mitigation of greenhouse gases that are causing climatic changes, on developing adaptative strategies to global warming, to assist humans, animal and plant species, ecosystems, regions and nations in adjusting to the effects of global warming. Some examples of recent collaboration to address climate change and global warming include: Another view of the Aletsch Glacier in the Swiss Alps, which due to global warming, has been decreasing.
The United Nations Framework Convention Treaty and convention on Climate Change, to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system.
The Kyoto Protocol, which is the protocol to the international Framework Convention on Climate Change treaty, again with the objective of reducing greenhouse gases in an effort to prevent anthropogenic climate change.
The Western Climate Initiative, to identify, evaluate, and implement collective and cooperative ways to reduce greenhouse gases in the region, focusing on a market-based cap-and-trade system.
A significantly profound challenge is to identify the natural environmental dynamics in contrast to environmental changes not within natural variances. A common solution is to adapt a static view neglecting natural variances to exist. Methodologically, this view could be defended when looking at processes which change slowly and short time series, while the problem arrives when fast processes turns essential in the object of the study.

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