Preparing a rational argument on Privacy

               For my English class, I am required to write a rational argument on a topic of my choosing. I have chosen to title my paper Privacy, the present and future, and does it matter? For this project, I have been heavily researching how our privacy is being invaded, why it is happening, what the future will hold, and why many people just don’t care.

               Privacy, as defined by Merriam-Webster is the quality or state of being apart from company or observation and the freedom from unauthorized intrusion. While we might all understand the basic concept of what privacy is, many people do not realize or have ceased to care about how often our privacy is without our knowledge or consent, taken away from us. It is vital the privacy of the public is taken into consideration and that we take a closer look at how our data is being used.

               In the modern-day more than ever, our data has become increasingly valuable to many different groups for many reasons but probably most importantly for advertising. The more information that companies can collect and store about their users, the more relevant ads can be served, resulting in more clicks and money for the website displaying the ad. One of the most notable and obvious places where this is used is by Facebook (now Meta) where they collect huge amounts of data that we willingly give out by posting or by collecting it off of our phones or connected accounts without our knowledge.

               I will be continuing to research and write more about this interesting topic over the coming weeks. This will be done by reading academic articles and official documents in order to get the most accurate data to present in my rational argument.

Russia tests anti-satellite weapon

 

    On Monday, November 15, Russia, without informing others of their planned action, launched an anti-satellite weapon. This launch was designed to test their ability to take down satellites and it was tested on an old Soviet satellite, Cosmos 1408 (Pictured above). This test, however, did have serious consequences. After the destruction of the satellite, thousands of pieces of debris were scattered, some of which could cross paths with the International Space Station. Because of this, the astronauts aboard the station had to take precautionary measures in case they were struck by debris.

    Since the destruction on Monday, it has been determined that the debris likely poses no concern for the ISS as it likely won’t pass within 40 km of it. While much of the immediate concern for the space station has been dispelled, adding additional debris to low earth orbit is never a good thing, especially when it could remain there for decades. This sort of action by the Russians is the sort of thing that we would have expected half a century ago in the heat of the cold war but not now by a modern nation with its own men onboard the ISS. If we are to preserve our ability to safely travel into low earth orbit, we must take this sort of blatant neglectful action seriously as it can have serious negative effects on space travel for generations.

More information can be found at the link below.

https://leolabs-space.medium.com/analysis-of-the-cosmos-1408-breakup-71b32de5641f

Spinlaunch

                Three weeks ago, on October 22, a relatively small company named SpinLaunch tested a 1/3 scale prototype of the rocket launch system that they have been designing. This, however, is very different from all previous rocket launches in the fact that there is no first-stage to the rocket. Instead, the rocket is launched through the atmosphere by accelerating it to hypersonic speeds inside of a rotating drum and then releasing it at the precise time to send it straight up.

               This is a very interesting idea and definitely strays from the normal methods of launch, however, there are some issues and limitations with it. The first and probably most obvious is that because this rocket needs to be spun extremely quickly in order to escape earth’s gravity, the rotational forces are far too high for a human to be able to survive. In fact, most payloads will need to be completely redesigned to accommodate this launch method. Another problem is that when the rocket is released, the drum will no longer be balanced which could pose issues for the structural integrity of the machine.

               There are many advantages to this approach though. These advantages could include quicker launches, possibly multiple times per day, more energy-efficient than standard rockets, better for the environment, and cheaper cost per launch. While there are many things they need to overcome, it cannot be overstated that the 1/3 scale launch on October 22 was a success so SpinLaunch has clearly been able to overcome many of the engineering issues presented by this launch method.

https://www.spinlaunch.com/

Nature Conservancy Report – Project Review

    Over the last couple of weeks, I have been working on a project with two classmates, Peter Bizoukas and Zak Cerny. This project was to promote a non-profit organization and our group chose the Nature Conservancy in Indiana. 

    The Nature Conservancy aims to tackle climate change, protect land and water, provide food and water sustainably, and build healthy cities. Our goal was to help them in whatever way we could. We tried to contact their Indiana location via phone and email but were unfortunately unable to reach them despite trying multiple times. Despite this setback, we still wanted to promote this amazing organization so we created a flyer and a presentation about the organization, what they do, and how you can help.

    While working on this project, we learned a lot about the efforts made by the Nature Conservancy and how they are helping protect the environment of Indiana. Some of the things that they do are show policymakers how nature preservation can provide solutions to major problems like climate change, collaborate with businesses to make better decisions, and partner with local communities. It is a great organization and we would highly recommend checking out their website to learn more about it for yourselves.