Enclosures For Packet #1 - Annenberg Learner - Teacher: Fill & Download for Free

Q: Why is science useful? Why is it important for us to know that the Earth revolves around the Sun, for example?A: I find it curious that you ask such a question on a web service like Quora, which allows you to type in a question on an electronic device, using electric circuits on a keyboard or capacitive touch screen to create electric impulses that represents words; then transform them into a little data packet and send it over the air as an encrypted stream of electromagnetic waves or as an encrypted stream of light down an optic fiber, to a server across the ocean where the data packet is stored as magnetic pits on a hard drive or electric fields on an SSD device; and then does all that in reverse to send the question to Sweden, where a bloke in turn sends a reply in the same way back to the server, where you can eventually fetch it to show it on your display for you to read it.Just think of the science involved there: electromechanics or electric fields, electromagnetism, quantum mechanics in the computer chips, number theory to encrypt it, chemistry to make batteries, material science for the enclosure and soldering of the circuit board, optics in the fiber network, topology to rout the data packets back and forth, and so on. It may even be necessary to send some data over a satellite network, and those satellites use the exact same science that tells us that the Earth revolves around the Sun.And if you typed the question on your smartphone, there’s probably a location in the data packet. That location is fetched using clocks on GPS satellites, and those clocks in turn must use the theory of relativity, the science of big bangs, galaxies and black holes, to compensate for the weird way time itself is affected by speed and gravity.So yes, just the fact that you could write this question on this web service and get a reply just showed you not only why but also how science is useful.

Whilst visiting Leeds castle in Kent I walked through the aviary in the grounds and heard a bird calling from a cage, but couldn’t see it. After watching for a while I noticed a macaw on the floor of the enclosure, popping up its head to call out to passers-by, then ducking out of sight.I have had a few encounters with wild birds that were endearing and sometimes amusing whilst working as a gardener on a business park, which I will add below as I remember them or get around to adding - in no particular order,I used to walk around the scheme first thing in the morning, picking up litter and seeing if anything needed attention, and almost always carried a packet of suet pellets in my pocket. The bolder birds: magpies, blackbirds and European robins (erithacus rubecula), quickly became used to my leaving food and would show up as I approached, waiting for me to throw food to them. One blackbird often stationed himself on the roof of one of the offices and would launch, fold his wings and come down like a missile to my feet when I rattled the packet of food. I may not be able to charm birds from trees but I could get one down from a 3 storey building.A year or so before that, the same blackbird provided one of the funniest incidents in my time at the site. If I was at the tool shed, the chance of food on demand (if I was by the shed, the takeaway was in business) would attract the nearby birds to hang around. If I was inside, they’d just appear at the door. On one occasion I was talking to my manager outside the shed and caught sight of the blackbird by the hedge across the car park, about 50ft away. My boss was standing with one foot crossed over the other, and his back to the hedge. The bird hurtled low across the car park, performed a sharp turn around my boss’s right ankle - and then disappeared around a corner of the shed.All my boss was aware of was a sudden movement by his feet and something brush his ankle. He jumped back, head whipping first right, then left; ‘What the hell was that?’.

We have a 4 year old Sheltie. She most definitely has a mind of her own with who she spends time with. AS my wife & I watch evening news and soap opera, she will walk in the lounge room, look at each of us, you can see her mind ticking over, “with whom shall i share my affection with tonight. That decision made she will jump up onto the lap of whoever she decided on and stretch out across them. You can see she is conflicted on who she should stay with, and its not uncommon for her to make a decision to get up and come to the other master. she will spend up to an hour lying across someones lap before she makes an obvious decision that she does not enjoy the noise of the TV and gets up and puts herself to bed after taking herself outside for her last toilet stop for the night. after this she goes to our bedroom, lies on her bed and goes to sleep.As for affection she very definitely favors males. Any one of our sons or Grandsons gets a warm welcome, with “bow downs” followed by excited bum wiggling and excitement around the guest. Someone else may have asked about exercise. Our girl goes for a 1 hour walk each afternoon - 4km. She goes to obedience class one night a week. This will soon be replaced with an agility class with all the usual things Jumps, tunnels, weaving poles & ramps. She likes to play a version of “doggy soccer” in the back yard till the human become exhausted. Hearing so sharp its a case of “don’t even attempt to open a packet of biscuits in the pantry” or she will be standing right behind you with expectant eyes. But treats have to be kept to a minimum, and exercise rate up,else they become overweight. I suffer from PTSD, she knows and will be extra attentive to me on my bad days, jumping up on the bed, and a nose in the face saying “get up”. We have taken her to sheep herding training. As she steps in the enclosure with the sheep, the way DNA takes over is amazing. Shelties, a herding dog, herd the sheep from the rear following the trainer (shepherd). Lesson over - she knows it. No further lessons necessary.