in making recommendations on whether a child could benefit from further services or what changes can be made in the classroom and even at home to provide structure for the child. the diagnosis comes from a psychologist or a pediatrician, but a proper diagnosis takes time. dr. rocco says several factors need to be met to truly diagnose a child with adhd. the american academy of pediatrics clearly states which factors must be present. for one, a child must exhibit adhd characteristics before the age of seven and two, the behavior must be present in multiple settings, not just the classroom. she says in many cases, parents and or teachers are quick to think a kid needs to be medicated. " i always feel like we need to give a child a full benefit, they deserve that and so i often tell parents, " don ' t be disappointed, but you ' re a not going to walk out of here with medication today. i can give you a letter that outlines what our plans are going to be, but we ' re not going to give a medication until we ' re certain that this is going to help your child, " says dr. rocco. she adds if a child is accurately diagnosed, medication in combination with counseling is necessary. ultimately a child needs to learn coping skills so they can grow into productive adults. unfortunately, dr. rocco says that mental health services are limited in the valley, which can be particularly concerning, especially since the number of hispanic children diagnosed with adhd is on the rise. but there is help ; it may just take a little longer to get it. dr. rocco says on average, getting into see this type of mental health professional may take four to six weeks, but she leaves parents with this message of motivation.... " there is no reason why a child with adhd will not come out a very successful adult. we ' ve seen it. it takes, like everything else in childhood, a village, the school, the parents, the community to understand them and help them along the way. " for more information on adhd and resources click on the link below :


- formation of h2 and ch4 by weathering of olivine at temperatures between 30 and 70°canna neubeck department of geological sciences, stockholm university, sweden geochem trans 12 : 6. 2011.. this may expand the range of environments plausible for abiotic ch4 formation both on earth and on other terrestrial bodies... - methane emissions from pantanal, south america, during the low water season : toward more comprehensive samplingdavid bastviken department of thematic studies water and environmental studies, linkoping university, linkoping, sweden environ sci technol 44 : 5450 - 5. 2010.. future measurements with static floating chambers should be based on many individual chambers distributed in the various subenvironments of a lake that may differ in emissions in order to account for the within lake variability... - freshwater methane emissions offset the continental carbon sinkdavid bastviken department of thematic studies water and environmental studies, linkoping university, se 58183 linkoping, sweden science 331 : 50. 2011.. thus, the continental ghg sink may be considerably overestimated, and freshwaters need to be recognized as important in the global carbon cycle... - measurement of methane oxidation in lakes : a comparison of methodsdavid bastviken department of water and environmental studies, linkoping university, sweden environ sci technol 36 : 3354 - 61. 2002.. we conclude that methods using the stable isotope or mass balance modeling approach represent promising alternatives, particularly for studies focusing on ecosystem - scale carbon metabolism... - organic matter chlorination rates in different boreal soils : the role of soil organic matter contentmalin gustavsson department of thematic studies, water and environmental studies, linkoping university, 58183 linkoping, sweden environ sci technol 46 : 1504 - 10. 2012....


according to the environmental working group : " we found that consumers using sunscreens without zinc and titanium would be exposed to an average of 20 % more uva radiation — with increased risks for uva - induced skin damage, premature aging, wrinkling, and uv - induced immune system damage — than consumers using zinc - and titanium - based products " the common complaint by users of sunscreen products containing zinc has been regarding the white coating it leaves on the skin. this is where nanoparticles come in - particles that are smaller than 100 nanometers ( or " nm " — a nanometer is roughly half the size of a strand of dna ). zinc is shrunk into tiny particles measuring under 100nm, providing better protection and eliminating the white cast. nanoparticles have come under close scrutiny by some watchdog groups concerned over the possible health effects of nanoparticles entering the deep tissues, blood or lungs. research on the subject to date has had varied outcomes. the level of nano - scale zinc found in the body has ranged from zero to little, or greater amounts, dependant on how it is introduced to the system and its size. in their most recent sunscreen guide, the environmental working group ( ewg ) writes : in 15 peer - reviewed studies, nanosize zinc and titanium were shown not to penetrate through unbroken skin at concentrations exceeding 1. 5 %. a recent review for the eu decision - making body found that, " there is currently little evidence from skin penetration studies that dermal applications of metal oxide nanoparticles used in sunscreens lead to systemic exposure " ( borm 2006 ). the majority of sunscreens available for purchase in the us include nanoscale zinc, typically 30 to 200 nm in size. and because labeling laws are unclear where nanoparticles are concerned, it can be difficult to know if you are purchasing a product that contains nanoparticle ingredients or not. the fda has not yet set standards for nanoparticle claims or defined the minimum size of a nanoparticle. this has caused some individuals and groups to recommend consumers avoid zinc and titanium - based sunscreens altogether. but this recommendation is not necessarily the safest option. a study by the ewg shows that those using chemical sunscreens are exposed to both greater uv radiation and more hazardous ingredients. micronized zinc is shown to provide safer protection than either chemical sunscreens or unprotected sun exposure.


as part of its holdings of legal art and visual materials, the harvard law school library owns a collection of over 4000 portrait images of lawyers, jurists, political figures, and legal thinkers dating from the middle ages to the late twentieth century. although most of these prints, drawings, and photographs depict legal figures prominent in the common law, a significant number portray jurists and legal educators associated with the canon and civil law traditions. the collection is particularly strong in images of eighteenth and nineteenth century british and american lawyers, ranging from such well known historical figures as william blackstone, jeremy bentham, john marshall, and joseph story to many lesser known jurists and legal educators. the collection also contains images of many graduates of harvard college and the harvard law school. librarian eldon r. james and dean roscoe pound began the collection in the first quarter of the twentieth century as an adjunct to the school ' s " basic collection " of paintings and sculpture. it has continued to grow significantly over the years, and today constitutes a major resource for images of lawyers and jurists that have shaped our western legal heritage. i can attest that the collection makes for intriguing browsing. the collection of portrait images is the most heavily used portion of the library ' s visual materials. researchers and publishers almost daily request reproductions from this collection to illustrate scholarly articles, monographs, textbooks, web sites, and television programs. although the most frequent request is for reproductions of the likenesses of individuals important in the history of the law, the collection has also been consulted for iconographic images ( e. g., scales of justice, blindfolded justice ) and for scenes depicting judicial activity ( e. g., courtrooms, assizes ). researchers in fields other than legal history may also benefit ; many of the images will interest students of social history, costume, art history, and heraldry. students of art may also find it useful as the collection covers many centuries and styles of portraiture. image credit : jeremiah sullivan black


the name sir jack brabham is very well known among formula 1 fans, but lately sir jack has been fading into the background and we thought we would refresh everyones memories with his mind - boggling accomplishments. one of the first drivers to be knighted for his service to motorsports, brabham won the formula 1 drivers championship three times. born in april 1926, sir jack was a flight mechanic for the royal australian air force and then ran a small engineering workshop. in 1948, he started midget car racing and moved, in 1955, to europe to join the cooper car companys racing team. he helped to develop the design for the mid - engine cooper, which he raced in f1 and at the indianapolis 500. brabham then went on to win the f1 world championship in 1959, where he pushed his car ( literally ) across the finish line at the last race of the season, the united states grand prix at sebring, after running out of fuel. in 1960, he won the title again, and decided to try the car at the indianapolis 500 where he, with the only mid - engine car on track, came in ninth. this led to the gradual change of engine design for all the indianapolis 500 contenders in the years to come. in 1962, sir jack started his own manufacturing company, motor racing developments, with ron tauranac, an australian designer. that year saw the production of the first of the brabham marques ; the b - 3, which debuted in the german grand prix. in 1966, brabham was the first and only man to win a formula 1 world championship in a car of his own construction, the bt19. the brabham team won the championship the following year as well, with driver denny hulme behind the wheel. motor racing developments also introduced honda to motorsport by using its engine to power the brabham manufactured car that competed in formula 2. sir jack retired from formula 1 at the age of 44 after the 1970 grand prix season and sold his share of the company to ron tauranac. he moved back to australia and persisted with endeavors that allowed him to help with engine developments for racing car manufacturers. he also continued to compete in smaller racing events. sir jack brabhams interest in racing was sparked by a friend, johnny schonberg, who introduced him to midget racing, and convinced him to build a car, that johnny could race with. the first car they raced was a homemade machine powered by a jap motorcycle engine modified and built in jacks workshop. in 1948,


what is cardiology? cardiology is the science and study of the cardiac ( heart ) system. it pertains to heart disorders, including diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart defects, coronary artery disease, electrophysiology, heart failure and valvular heart disease. it is a subspecialty of internal medicine. who are cardiologists and what do they do? cardiologists diagnose and treat patients of all ages who may have heart defects, heart failure, coronary artery disease or other heart conditions. some cardiologists distinguish themselves as interventional cardiologists and perform invasive procedures such as cardiac catheterization and coronary artery stent placement. however, they usually do not perform major surgeries such as open heart surgery and coronary artery bypass grafting ; those are performed by cardio - thoracic surgeons. cardiologists may work in private practice or at a hospital. cardiologists are doctors trained in internal medicine, with four years of medical school and three years of internal medicine residency followed by 2 - 3 years of additional training in a cardiology fellowship. what are the different types of cardiologists? there are two types of cardiologists : noninvasive or invasive. noninvasive cardiologists diagnose patients ’ heart disorders and focus on preventing and managing potential heart conditions. they may recommend and perform tests to detect and help diagnose heart disorders, such as echos, electrocardiograms ( ekgs ) and stress tests. a new development in treatment is nuclear cardiology, in which a nuclear camera is used to take photographs of the heart. invasive cardiologists are similar to noninvasive cardiologists and can perform all the same functions, tests and diagnostic procedures, but also have training in cardiac catherization, a process that helps locate blockages in the arteries. the invasive cardiologist would then perform an angioplasty or other necessary procedure. what are the most common symptoms and conditions that concern a cardiologist? are you at risk for heart disease? preventing heart disease in women doctor - recommended tips for a healthy heart your top heart - health questions – answered 10 minutes to a healthy heart - abnormal heart rhythm – an irregular heartbeat or “ arrhythmia ” ; either a slow, rapid or irregular heartbeat. - atrial fibrillation – abnormal heartbeats due to fibrillating ( quivering ) atria heart muscles, diagnosed


abnormal heart rhythm – an irregular heartbeat or “ arrhythmia ” ; either a slow, rapid or irregular heartbeat. - atrial fibrillation – abnormal heartbeats due to fibrillating ( quivering ) atria heart muscles, diagnosed when an irregular pulse is taken. - chest pains – a symptom of various conditions ranging from nonserious to life - threatening, chest pains are generally considered a medical emergency that need immediate medical attention. - congestive heart failure – the heart can ’ t pump blood normally ( heart failure ), leaving the body without enough oxygen or blood flow, resulting in backed - up fluid in the lungs ( congestion ). - heart defects – abnormal conditions or disease affecting the heart, present at birth or that develop later in life. - heart disease – diseases affecting the heart – the leading cause of death in the united states. - heart failure – the heart can ’ t pump blood normally, depriving the body of the blood flow and oxygen it needs, sometimes leading to congestive heart failure. - myocarditis – inflammation, mainly secondary to infection, of the heart muscle that may weaken the pumping function of the heart. - pericarditis – inflammation of the membrane around the heart, usually secondary to infection, but may be caused by other chronic health problems. sharp chest pain may occur when the inflamed pericardium rubs against the heart muscle ( myocardium ) itself. - pulmonary hypertension – an increase in blood pressure in the pulmonary artery, vein or capillaries that results in shortness of breath and significant strain on the heart. - shortness of breath – a symptom of a wide variety of heart disorders, ranging from non - serious to life threatening, such as heart attack or congestive heart failure.


what is general surgery? despite its name, general surgery typically refers to surgery on abdominal organs rather than other areas of the body. this specialty focuses on the intestines, including esophagus, stomach, small bowel, colon, liver, pancreas, gallbladder and bile duct, thyroid glands, hernias and sometimes diseases of the skin and breast. what is a general surgeon and what do they do? with the trend for physicians and surgeons to develop a specialty through additional medical training, general surgery has lost much of its former scope. however, it continues to be a competitive field with many subspecialties that continue to increase, including trauma surgery, cardiothoracic surgery, vascular surgery, plastic surgery, laparoscopic ( minimally invasive ) surgery, breast surgery ( including lumpectomy ), endocrine ( thyroid ) surgery and dermatological ( skin ) surgery. where do general surgeons work? general surgeons perform surgery in hospital operating rooms. they may also work out of a clinic to consult with potential patients, current patients, or follow up with patients post - surgery. they may work in surgery centers performing outpatient surgeries. general surgeons are also on call for the emergency room ( er ) for patients with emergent surgical problems. general surgeons are on call to the er along with other specialists, including those in neurosurgery, cardiology, urology and more. for example, a general surgeon will be called by the er for consultation when a patient is diagnosed with problems, such as ( but not limited to ) appendicitis, bowel obstruction or cholecystitis. the general surgeon will then admit the patient to the hospital and arrange for the operating room. what are the most common conditions general surgeons treat? related articles : how safe is outpatient surgery? surgery support - appendicitis - a surgical emergency involving an infected and inflamed appendix. current literature supports surgical removal due to risk of rupture and its associated complications. - adhesions – internal scar tissue that creates strands, usually throughout the abdomen, which can entangle loops of bowel and lead to obstruction. they are often the result of a previous surgical procedure or intra - abdominal infection. - cancer – general surgeons perform surgery on many types of cancer, including breast, skin, colorectal and gastrointestinal cancers. - colon cancer – cancer of the colon or rectum occurs when intestinal cells mutate to create a tumor. these tumors can spread throughout


surgery on many types of cancer, including breast, skin, colorectal and gastrointestinal cancers. - colon cancer – cancer of the colon or rectum occurs when intestinal cells mutate to create a tumor. these tumors can spread throughout the body. - diaphragmatic hernia – a congenital condition in which there is an abnormal opening in the diaphragm, allowing abdominal organs to translocate into the chest cavity, causing breathing difficulty. - gallbladder problem – gallbladder problems sometimes stem from gallstones if they block the flow of bile out of the gallbladder. sometimes, even without gallstones, the gallbladder can become infected, resulting in abdominal pain, vomiting, indigestion and fever. depending on the nature of the gallbladder problem, either conservative treatment with pain medications or surgical removal of the gallbladder will be employed by your physician. - hernia – a protrusion of an organ through the muscular or fascial wall within which it is normally contained. - hiatal hernia – a protrusion of all or part of the stomach into the chest cavity via a defect in the muscles called the “ crus of the diaphragm, ” which usually keep it contained with the abdomen. - inflammatory bowel diseases – a group of inflammatory conditions of the gastrointestinal system, including crohn ’ s disease and ulcerative colitis. - inguinal hernia – a protrusion of organs in the lower abdominal cavity through the inguinal canal in the groin. - intestinal hernia – a protrusion of the intestines through the abdominal wall. - intestinal obstruction – a partial or complete blockage of the bowel. - pyloric stenosis – a condition that causes projectile vomiting in infants during the first months of life due to a narrowing of the opening from the stomach to the intestines. pyloric stenosis occurs in adults due to a narrowed pyloris.


ancient ichthyosaur mother did not explode, scientists say an ichthyosaur female with embryos scattered outside her body. it is unlikely that the body of a mother ichthyosaur exploded, say researchers who offer another explanation for the scattered remains of embryos found around her in rock that was once deep underwater. rather, the scattering of the embryos was probably caused by minor sea currents after the expectant mother died and her body decayed some 182 million years ago, the researchers propose. if this scenario sounds confusing, it is important to know that ichthyosaurs, extinct marine reptiles that lived at the same time as the dinosaurs, did not lay eggs but rather carried their young in their bodies until they gave birth. ichthyosaurs resembled fish but, unlike most fish, breathed air through lungs. the nearly intact skeleton of the female ichthyosaur in question was found in holzmaden, germany. but the remains of most of the approximately 10 embryos were scattered far outside her body it. other fossilized ichthyosaur remains have been found in similarly strange arrangements, with skeletons usually complete but jumbled to some degree. a swiss and german research team set out to examine the idea that after death, such large - lunged marine creatures floated on the surface, with putrefaction gases building up inside them, until the gases escaped, often by bursting. such explosions would jumble the bones. the researchers examined the decay and preservation of ichthyosaur skeletons and compared this information with that of modern animals, particularly marine mammals. to get an idea of the amount of pressure that builds up after death during different stages of bloating, they looked at measurements from the abdomens of 100 human corpses. " our data and a review of the literature demonstrate that carcasses sink and do not explode ( and spread skeletal elements ), " the researchers wrote online feb. 1 in the journal palaeobiodiversity and palaeoenvironments. generally, carcasses of ichthyosaurs would have sunk to the seafloor and broken down completely. only under specific circumstances — including in warmer water less than 164 feet ( 50 meters ) deep — would gas inside the body have brought the remains to the surface, said the researchers, led by achim reisdorf of the university of basel in switzerland. when this happened, the carcass would decompose slowly, scattering bones over a wide area. ichthyosaurs ' remains stayed neatly in place only under specific


new smell discovered a newly discovered smell is the olfactory equivalent of white noise, scientists report in the journal proceedings of the national academies of science credit : mrgarry, shutterstock scientists have discovered a new smell, but you may have to go to a laboratory to experience it yourself. the smell is dubbed " olfactory white, " because it is the nasal equivalent of white noise, researchers report today ( nov. 19 ) in the journal proceedings of the national academy of sciences. just as white noise is a mixture of many different sound frequencies and white light is a mixture of many different wavelengths, olfactory white is a mixture of many different smelly compounds. in fact, the key to olfactory white is not the compounds themselves, researchers found, but the fact that there are a lot of them. " [ t ] he more components there were in each of two mixtures, the more similar the smell of those two mixtures became, even though the mixtures had no components in common, " they wrote. almost any given smell in the real world comes from a mixture of compounds. humans are good at telling these mixtures apart ( it ' s hard to mix up the smell of coffee with the smell of roses, for example ), but we ' re bad at picking individual components out of those mixtures. ( quick, sniff your coffee mug and report back all the individual compounds that make that roasted smell. not so easy, huh? ) mixing multiple wavelegths that span the human visual range equally makes white light ; mixing multiple frequencies that span the range of human hearing equally makes the whooshing hum of white noise. neurobiologist noam sobel from the weizmann institute of science in israel and his colleagues wanted to find out whether a similar phenomenon happens with smelling. [ 7 new flavors your tongue may taste ] in a series of experiments, they exposed participants to hundreds of equally mixed smells, some containing as few as one compound and others containing up to 43 components. they first had 56 participants compare mixtures of the same number of compounds with one another. for example, a person might compare a 40 - compound mixture with a 40 - compound mixture, neither of which had any components in common. this experiment revealed that the more components in a mixture, the worse participants were at telling them apart. a four - component mixture smells less similar to other four - component mixtures than a 43 - component mixture smells to other 43 - component mixtures. the researchers seemed on track to finding the olfactory version of white noise


were at telling them apart. a four - component mixture smells less similar to other four - component mixtures than a 43 - component mixture smells to other 43 - component mixtures. the researchers seemed on track to finding the olfactory version of white noise. they set up a new experiment to confirm the find. in this experiment, they first created four 40 - component mixtures. twelve participants were then given one of the mixtures to sniff and told that it was called " laurax, " a made - up word. three of the participants were told compound 1 was laurax, three were told it was compound 2, three were told it was compound 3, and the rest were told it was compound 4. after three days of sniffing their version of laurax in the lab, the participants were given four new scents and four scent labels, one of which was laurax. they were asked to label each scent with the most appropriate label. the researchers found that the label " laurax " was most popular for scents with more compounds. in fact, the more compounds in a mixture, the more likely participants were to call it laurax. the label went to mixtures with more than 40 compounds 57. 1 percent of the time. another experiment replicated the first, except that it allowed for participants to label one of the scents " other, " a way to ensure " laurax " wasn ' t just a catch - all. again, scents with more compounds were more likely to get the laurax label. the meaning of these results, the researchers wrote, is that olfactory white is a distinct smell, caused not by specific compounds but by certain mixes of compounds. the key is that the compounds are all of equal intensity and that they span the full range of human smells. that ' s why roses and coffee, both of which have many smell compounds, don ' t smell anything alike : their compounds are unequally mixed and don ' t span a large range of smells. in other words, our brains treat smells as a single unit, not as a mixture of compounds to break down, analyze and put back together again. if they didn ' t, they ' d never see mixtures of completely different compounds as smelling the same. perhaps the next burning question is : what does olfactory white smell like? unfortunately, the scent is so bland as to defy description. participants rated it right in the middle of the scale for both pleasantness and edibility. " the best way to appreciate the qualities of olfactory white is to smell


join grant skinner at work and at play, designing cutting - edge interactive experiences, games, applications, and frameworks with technologies like html5 and flash. challenge yourself with this series of real - world data visualization scenarios in processing, an open - source drawing and development environment. shows how to integrate the principles of object - oriented programming into the build of a php - driven web page or application. introduces the r statistical processing language, including how to install r, read data from spss and spreadsheets, analyze data, and create charts and plots. learn to build and deploy a dynamic website using asp. net. create datacentric apps for android devices, using sqlite, java, and the built - in android. database packages from the android sdk. demonstrates how to leverage php ' s built - in tools, as well as the xdebug and firebug extensions and firephp library to improve the quality of your code and reduce troubleshooting overhead. describes how to read and manage data from relational databases such as mysql and sql server using the java database connectivity ( jdbc ) api in applications programmed with java. take your coldfusion skills to the next level by understanding the application framework, error handling, and coldfusion components. extend your drupal 7 sites with custom modules, which allow you to create everything from admin interfaces to forms. expand your programming skills and get more out of java, with platform - and framework - neutral tutorials that are useful for building web, mobile, and desktop applications. discover how to create compelling data visualizations using processing, an open - source drawing and development environment. shows how to convert text or graphics into a mouse - sensitive tooltip with html and jquery. shows how to convert text or graphics into a mouse - sensitive tooltip with jquery and dreamweaver. covers every major feature of this popular language for application development for the mac and ios devices, with instructions for building basic applications using objective - c and xcode 4. a complete tutorial and reference for c and c + +, from variables to functions and loops, including the c standard library and the c + + standard template library. shows flash designers how to incorporate actionscript code into projects and create interactive presentations and applications. an introduction to developing java applications for various runtime environments. explains what php is and how it integrates with html ; how to set up and configure a php development environment on both windows and mac os x ; and the features of


. an introduction to developing java applications for various runtime environments. explains what php is and how it integrates with html ; how to set up and configure a php development environment on both windows and mac os x ; and the features of the php language. teaches you the fundamentals of programming in actionscript 3 using both flash professional and flash builder. explores java se, the language used to build mobile apps for android devices, enterprise server applications, and more. shows how to find and manipulate text using regular expressions. introduces object - oriented programming and provides a foundation in the access object model and the visual basic for applications ( vba ) programming language. offers a detailed tour of the foundational programming language for several microsoft platforms, including windows, asp. net, silverlight, sharepoint, and windows phone. gives designers a deeper understanding of html5 and shows how to create richer, more meaningful web pages with structural tags and descriptive attributes. shows how to create full - featured, object - oriented web applications with the latest version of the ruby on rails framework. demonstrates how to use python 3 to create well - designed scripts and maintain existing projects. introduces object - oriented programming and shows how to automate routine tasks and provide custom functionality to enhance the features in excel. explains the fundamentals of simple and complex programming in perl 5. gives a working knowledge of css to web developers and coders who already have a firm grasp of xhtml / html and want to take their web sites to the next level. explains how cgi scripts can be used for simple html forms and with any programming language to implement web applications. teaches the fundamentals of ruby, the popular object - oriented open - source programming language. covers document structure, block and inline - level tags, floating images, controlling white space, and phrase and font markup. presents features that experienced developers need to streamline workflows and introduce dynamic new functions to projects. discusses the implementation of xml formats, and how these formats work in real - world situations. shows how oop techniques can streamline database queries, help manage sessions, and simplify user logins. shares tools and techniques to help create a more streamlined workflow through reusable code components. teaches new designers the building blocks of web programming. delves into advanced flex development skills, like custom popup windows, parsing xml, and integration. teaches developers to harness the power of flex 3 to create cross - platform, data - centric applications. put the skills learned in the essential


other types of cancer cancer is a devastating reality for far too many americans. however, statistics indicate that there is good news : according to the national cancer institute, death rates for the four most commonly diagnosed cancers – prostate, breast, colon and lung – continue to decrease. this can be contributed to a decline in the numbers of people who smoke cigarettes, as well as a number of other factors. despite this good news, the incidences of liver cancer, pancreas cancer, kidney cancer, esophageal cancer, and thyroid cancer unfortunately are on the rise. in addition, the number of individuals diagnosed with non - hodgkin lymphoma, leukemia, myeloma, and other childhood cancers are also increasing. in men specifically, rates of testicular cancer are on the rise, and, in women, melanoma ( skin cancer ), lung cancer, and brain and bladder cancer rates are also rising. what causes cancer? as you may know, there are a number of reasons why people develop cancer. environmental factors, including exposure to certain toxins such as asbestos or radon, can lead to cancer. a family history of cancer ( especially in women, who are far more likely to develop breast cancer if their mother, sister or other female relative has suffered from the disease ) can also lead to a diagnosis of cancer. smoking cigarettes or chewing tobacco for an extended period of time may also cause cancer, specifically lung cancer, throat or tongue cancer, and esophageal cancer. frequent consumption of alcohol can lead to cancer of the liver or kidneys. many individuals are able to go into remission following cancer treatment and live healthy, cancer - free lives for many years. for example, women who detect their breast cancer early are very often able to enter remission and will not experience a reoccurrence of their cancer or be diagnosed with another type of cancer. unfortunately, some individuals with certain types of cancer are not as lucky. mesothelioma sufferers, for instance, must face the reality that there is no cure for their cancer, and that their mesothelioma treatment is simply a temporary means of controlling pain and lessening the effect of their symptoms. doctors and researchers continue to study all forms of cancer with the hope that, one day, they will find a cure. information about other types of cancer : - breast cancer - colon cancer - lung cancer - ovarian cancer - pancreatic cancer - prostate cancer for further information about kidney cancer please visit last modified


the voyage of the dawn treader study guide by progeny press mardel price $ 18. 99 sale price $ 15. 19 you save 20 % description of the voyage of the dawn treader study guide by progeny press with progeny press study guides, students will not only receive quality literary analyses, but also learn to review literature in relation to biblical standards. by utilizing this focus on scripture, students develop and refine strategies for recognizing and examining man ’ s philosophies while learning about the craft of writing. each study guide focuses on literary terms, plot construction, character studies, themes, and ideas. this paperback study guide for the voyage of the dawn treader provides easy - to - use, reproducible lessons on literary terms, comprehension and analysis, critical thinking, related scriptural principles, vocabulary, and activities, plus a complete key. | product : | | the voyage of the dawn treader study guide | | vendor : | | progeny press | | binding type : | | paperback | | media type : | | book | | minimum grade : | | 6th grade | | maximum grade : | | 8th grade | | number of pages : | | 68 | | weight : | | 0. 4375 pounds | | length : | | 11 inches | | width : | | 8 inches | | height : | | 0. 25 inches | | subject : | | literature, reading | | curriculum name : | | progeny press | | learning style : | | auditory, visual | | teaching method : | | traditional, unit study | there are currently no reviews for the voyage of the dawn treader study guide.


having diabetes means that your body doesn ' t do a good job of using the food you eat. most of it needs to be broken down into a simple sugar called glucose, the body ' s main fuel source. but for that glucose to get into your cells, it needs insulin, which is a hormone that the beta cells in your pancreas produce. the pancreases of people who have diabetes either produce little or no insulin, or the body does not respond to the insulin that is produced. so glucose builds up in the blood and is wasted. even worse, all that glucose running around in your blood stream is responsible for the typical complications of diabetes — diseases of the heart, eye, kidneys, nerves, and other organs. different causes, same results. the type of diabetes where your pancreas produces little or no insulin is called type 1. to stay alive, people with type 1 diabetes must take daily insulin shots, which dr. frederick banting discovered how to extract from animal pancreases in 1921. type 1 diabetes was formerly called juvenile - onset diabetes, because it mostly attacks young people, although it can develop at any age. it accounts for just 5 or 10 percent of the diagnosed diabetes. it symptoms include increased thirst and urination, constant hunger, weight loss, blurred vision, and extreme tiredness. by far the most common form of diabetes is called type 2. about 90 to 95 percent of people with diabetes have it. this form of diabetes usually develops in adults over the age of 40 and is most common among adults over age 55. about 80 percent of them are overweight. when people have type 2 diabetes, their pancreases usually produces insulin, but for some reason the body cannot use the insulin effectively. while it has a different cause than type 1 diabetes the end result is the same — that unhealthy buildup of glucose in the blood. the symptoms of type 2 diabetes develop gradually and are not as noticeable as for type 1. the symptoms include feeling tired or ill, frequent urination ( especially at night ), unusual thirst, weight loss, blurred vision, frequent infections, and slow healing of sores. many people without any of these symptoms, however, are surprised when their doctor diagnoses that they have diabetes. a third type of the disease is called gestational diabetes. it develops — or is discovered — during pregnancy. while it usually disappears when the pregnancy is over, women who have had gestational diabetes have a greater risk of developing type 2


frederick starr : anthropologist lost from the history books you probably haven ’ t heard of frederick starr. like his contemporary franz boas, starr was an anthropologist coming to fame while the discipline of anthropology was still being formed. throughout his career, starr studied people and cultures on three different continents, and still found time to make a name for himself as a lecturer at the university of chicago. but unlike boas — who is considered the father of american anthropology — you won ’ t find starr ’ s name in many textbooks. the tale of how frederick starr was nearly forgotten is one full of controversy and ideology. starr ’ s early life and career frederick starr was born in 1858 in auburn, new york, to the reverend frederick starr jr. and helen mills starr. as a child, starr was a strong student and an avid collector of fossils and minerals. he explored that interest further at the university of rochester, where he studied geology ; two years later, he transferred to lafayette college in pennsylvania and graduated in 1882. he received a doctorate in geology from lafayette college in 1885. in the late 1800s, anthropology was still a new and growing discipline, so starr didn ' t study it formally. it wasn ’ t until after his schooling, while teaching at coe college, that starr discovered his interest in the subject. he conducted both ethnographic and archaeological fieldwork among the local sauk and fox indian tribes and reputedly taught the first anthropology course in iowa while at coe. it ' s not clear who or what specifically spurred starr ’ s interest in anthropology, but he pursued it avidly, leaving his studies of geology behind. following his work at coe college, starr held several short - term positions, including working with the ethnological collection at the american museum of natural history, before finally accepting a long - term faculty position at the university of chicago in 1892. during his time at the university of chicago, starr became a very influential public speaker, frequently giving lectures on anthropological subjects that were open to the public through the university ’ s extension program. after attending an extension course about prehistoric and primitive art, w. r. french, the director of the art institute of chicago at the time, wrote that starr ’ s lectures were “ both authoritative and agreeable, ” and that “ professor starr has eminently the art of making scientific truth interesting to intelligent but unprofessional academics. ” an anthropologist is born according to donald mcvicker, author of frederick starr : popularizer of anthropology, public intellectual, and genuine eccentric, starr engaged in an incredibly


art of making scientific truth interesting to intelligent but unprofessional academics. ” an anthropologist is born according to donald mcvicker, author of frederick starr : popularizer of anthropology, public intellectual, and genuine eccentric, starr engaged in an incredibly varied anthropological career at the turn of the 20th century. he conducted notable research in mexico, among many native american tribes in the united states, with the ainu people of japan, and in several regions of africa. the world ’ s fairs that took place in the united states in the late 19th and early 20th centuries seemed to provide starr with the perfect opportunities to put his work on display. much to his dismay, however, starr was not allowed an influential position at the famous world ’ s columbian exposition in chicago in 1893. he was excluded by better known anthropologists like boas and frederic ward putnam, director of harvard ’ s peabody museum. starr was commissioned to collect data about and artifacts from the eastern cherokee people in north carolina for putnam and boas, but contributed little else to this fair. at the louisiana purchase exposition in st. louis in 1904, however, starr ’ s work made a much bigger splash. the anthropologist brought nine ainu people and a translator back with him from japan to be part of an exhibit at the fair. these ainu, members of a japanese indigenous group from hokkaido in the northern part of the country, were to be displayed as part of a literal representation of the evolutionary stages of humanity towards civilization ; along with several other indigenous groups assembled by other anthropologists, they were on display as “ barbarous and semi - barbarous peoples. ” while this is unquestionably offensive to today ' s sensibilities, the visitor response to the exhibit at the time was overwhelmingly positive, as most people had never before heard of the ainu and were intrigued by their appearance and practices. in a 1993 article about the ainu exhibit, anthropologist james w. vanstone reports the reactions from writers and visitors to the exhibit : one enthusiastic writer referred to the ainu as " mysterious little japanese primitives " and noted that visitors were impressed by their cleanliness and polite manners, but somewhat disappointed that they were no " man - eaters, dog - eaters or wild men. " in addition to contributing to these world ’ s fairs, starr produced several publications in conjunction with his fieldwork. these publications included many scholarly and other articles, as well as books like the truth about the congo, about his studies in that region ; indians of southern mexico : an et


world ’ s fairs, starr produced several publications in conjunction with his fieldwork. these publications included many scholarly and other articles, as well as books like the truth about the congo, about his studies in that region ; indians of southern mexico : an ethnographic album ; and in indian mexico : a narrative of travel and labor, about the performance and findings of his extensive work with indian tribes in mexico. starr ’ s methods and misconduct in mexico his appearance in st. louis with the ainu may have been starr ’ s most publicly recognized work, but if he is remembered at all today, it ' s for his fieldwork in mexico. starr recalls his purpose there in in indian mexico : the work i planned to do among these indian towns was threefold : 1. the measurement of one hundred men and twenty - five women in each population, fourteen measurements being taken upon each subject ; 2. the making of pictures, — portraits, dress, occupations, customs, buildings, and landscapes ; 3. the making of plaster busts of five individuals in each tribe. the primary goals in making such recordings were to observe the differences between various mexican tribes and to establish the placement of such people, and their race and culture, on the same scale that he had placed the ainu, from barbarous to civilized. it was assumed at the time that there were physical characteristics, such as cranial shape and size, that could mark such distinctions between races ( a theory that has long since been disproved ). in his book, starr refers to the mexican people he is studying as “ ignorant, timid, and suspicious. ” he also makes regular references to them being too drunk to allow their measurements to be taken. all of these characteristics assigned to these mexican indians by starr explained, in his point of view, the difficulty he often had in securing subjects for measurement, and justified the forceful methods he felt compelled to use. starr took advantage of the fact that prisoners could not refuse his requests to measure them, and regularly photographed and measured imprisoned subjects for his work. what ’ s more, if there were individuals he wished to measure who did not acquiesce, he would threaten them with arrest and jail time so that they could no longer refuse. the authorities did not object to these methods, instead providing support for starr by collecting subjects and keeping order. starr even recounts a specific incident where policemen stopped a bullfight in progress in order to obtain a young man taking part in the fight for starr ’ s research. starr fading from view over time


instead providing support for starr by collecting subjects and keeping order. starr even recounts a specific incident where policemen stopped a bullfight in progress in order to obtain a young man taking part in the fight for starr ’ s research. starr fading from view over time, starr ’ s brutish, unethical methods and offensive ideas became questionable in the eyes of the anthropological community. the theories of his contemporary boas, however, began to amass a great deal of support from other anthropologists and academics. boas, born and educated in germany, moved to the united states in 1887 and proceeded to make substantial contributions to the methodology of american anthropology. by incorporating the methods of natural science into the discipline of anthropology, boas emphasized the importance of conducting research before developing theories, as well as approaching studies in the most ethical and unbiased ways possible. what ’ s more, he developed the modern interpretation of culture, viewing it as learned behavior and a product of a people ' s history, rather than a hierarchical measurement of civilization that would place the western world on top. while most anthropologists, inspired by boas, began to recognize the people they studied as part of the larger, equal human race, starr continued to regard them as primitive and inferior, demonstrated by his attitude towards his subjects in mexico. soon, starr ’ s methods of fieldwork were widely considered unethical and his ideas about culture outdated. starr ’ s charisma and ability as a speaker managed to keep him relevant in public education spheres toward the end of his career. in this capacity, starr overshadowed boas, who preferred not to address the general themes of anthropology necessary in public lecturing and was nervous about his skill in speaking english, which was not his first language. the academic discipline of anthropology, though, became dominated by boas ’ methods and, over the years, frederick starr and his methods were phased out. today, his work is rarely read, or even mentioned, in discussions or classes on anthropological history. after 31 years at the university of chicago, starr retired from his post in 1923. true to form, he continued to travel the globe and engage in public speaking events until his death ; he died unexpectedly of pneumonia while in japan in 1933.


historical commentary on the gospel of mark | | home | | topical index | | next chapter | 1 : and when they drew near to to beth ' phage and bethany, at the mount of olives, he sent two of his 2 : and said to them, " go into the village opposite you, and immediately as you enter it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever untie it and bring it. 3 : if any one says to you, ` why are you doing say, ` the lord has need of it and will send it back here immediately. ' " 4 : and they went away, and found a colt tied at the door out in the street ; and they untied it. 5 : and those who stood there said to them, " what are you doing, untying the colt? " 6 : and they told them what | | jesus had said ; and they let them go. 7 : and they brought the colt to jesus, and threw their garments on it ; and he sat upon it. 8 : and many spread their garments on the road, and others spread leafy branches which they had cut from the fields. 9 : and those who went before and those who followed cried out, " hosanna! blessed is he who comes in the name of the lord! 10 : blessed is the kingdom of our father david that is coming! hosanna in the highest! " 11 : and he entered jerusalem, and went into the temple ; and when he had looked round at everything, as it was already late, he went out to bethany with the twelve. | | 1 : and when they drew near to jerusalem, to beth ' phage and bethany, at the mount of olives, he sent two of his disciples | vernon k. robbins ( 1976 ) has shown that mark 11 : 1 - 6 is a doublet of mark 14 : 13 - 16. here are the parallels : bethpage means something like " house of green figs " which may be a to jesus ' coming miracle. neither town is found in the old or in josephus or in any other non - christian source prior to mark. ancient location is unknown. against this, there are other possibilities for the name. on the other hand, figs are commonly grown around jerusalem, and place names with " fig " as a component are known. this reference, which reverses the order of the two cities of and bethany as they currently are situated and has jesus entering the city from the northeast


figs are commonly grown around jerusalem, and place names with " fig " as a component are known. this reference, which reverses the order of the two cities of and bethany as they currently are situated and has jesus entering the city from the northeast even though bethany and bethpage are in the southeast, is often considered a error by exegetes that demonstrates the writer ' s unfamiliarity with the area. given the problems pre - industrial peoples often have relating locations to each other, i am dubious of the " error " interpretation. note how the rsv has translated the verse as vaguely as possible, to minimize the problems. ot construction is evident here in the writer ' s decision to jesus ' entry into jerusalem from the mount of olives, reflecting the belief in ancient judaism that the messiah would begin his work on the mount of olives ( josephus records individuals actually attempting to this out ). this is based on the passage in zech 14 : 4 : | v1 : in this section of mark, bethany functions as a base from which jesus mounts forays into the heart of enemy territory, the temple and jerusalem. just three narrative sites occupy the gospel from here on in, bethany, the mount of olives, and jerusalem ( myers 1988, p349 - 350 ). | as the mount of olives and the temple mount face off throughout the rest of the gospel of mark, so in the ot mountains frequently face each other in paired opposition, for example, horeb and carmel in 1 kings 18 and 1 kings 19, and ebal and gerizim in the pentateuch. | 2 : and said to them, " go into the village opposite you, and immediately as you enter it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat ; untie it and bring it. | this passage is created out of the old testament. zech 9 : 9 | v2 : as helms ( 1988, p103 ) observes, it is also miraculous to imagine that jesus could simply hop on a colt that has never been ridden before ( v2 ). | stephen smith ( 1996 ) also sees affinities between this passage and 1 kings 1 : 33 - 48, where david shows that solomon will be his successor by making him ride a mule down to gihon where the priest and the prophet are waiting to annoint him. many exegetes have noted, an unridden colt signifies a colt for the king, since no one but the king was allowed to ride the colt


a mule down to gihon where the priest and the prophet are waiting to annoint him. many exegetes have noted, an unridden colt signifies a colt for the king, since no one but the king was allowed to ride the colt without his express authorization. | 3 : if any one says to you, ` why are you doing this? ' say, ` the lord has need of it and will send it back here immediately. ' " | rsv has translated away a markan play on words. the greek actually says " its master has need of it " where master could refer to either jesus or the owner of the creature. j. duncan and m. derrett ( 2001 ) write : | 8 : and many spread their garments on the road, and others spread leafy branches which they had cut from the fields. | gundry ( 1993 ) notes : the scene as presented is historically implausible. the scene also recalls the entry of simon maccabaeus into jerusalem in 1 mac 13 : 51, as well as the entry of messianic pretender menahem into jerusalem and to the temple as told in josephus. that the references to the colt cease after v7. thus some exegetes have argued that the passage conflates two different stories, one about a colt, the other with jesus on foot. | 9 : and those who went before and those who followed cried out, " hosanna! blessed is he who comes in the name of the lord! | these praises are taken from the septaugint versions of psalm and 148 : 1 ( helms 1988, p 104 ) ; the greek of the two texts is the same both ( eulogemenos ho erchomenos en onomati kuriou ). psalm 118 was written during maccabaean times to celebrate the entry of simon maccabaeus into jerusalem but was traditionally attributed | 11 : and he entered jerusalem, and went into the temple ; and when he had looked round at everything, as it was already late, he went out to bethany with the twelve. | note that while there may be a crowd of some kind, only jesus is said to have entered jerusalem. although some have objected that the romans would probably not permitted a man the crowd acknowledged king to enter the city to crowds, price ( 2003, p 292 ) argues that what is really going on is a of markan irony. the crowd is simply giving out the hosanna! as part of the usual pass


man the crowd acknowledged king to enter the city to crowds, price ( 2003, p 292 ) argues that what is really going on is a of markan irony. the crowd is simply giving out the hosanna! as part of the usual passover wish that the davidic messiah would come and restore the davidic monarchy. and sure enough, in front of them, is the davidic messiah - - but the crowd doesn ' t know. to them, jesus is just one of of thousands of entrants to the city for the passover festival, who like thousands of others, to be arriving on a donkey. scene, the " crowd " does not acknowledge that jesus is the messiah, in luke, they clearly do. however, the vast distance being traversed during jesus entrance, as well as the presence of both straw and may be signals that mark did not frame it the way price is note also that in mark there is no crowd. v9 says " and those who went before and those who out... " implying that the speaking is done not by a crowd but most probably by disciples who have come into jerusalem. with jesus. no crowd is ever directly mentioned, just the " many " who spread their garments on the road or lined it with branches. regardless of how one reads the entry, the salient fact is that the romans had a low tolerance for even the slightest whiff of sedition, and would have dealt with it ruthlessly. as brent kinman ( 1994 ) concedes while attempting to defend the historicity of the incident, even among scholars who accept the historicity of the story, the reality of roman touchiness on the subject of sedition creates apprehension. kinman goes on to argue that since pilate ' s coming up to jerusalem must have been an extravagant affair, jesus ' entry must have paled beside it. while this approach is the distilled essence of speculation, kinman does bring up one common point, that the gospel portrayals need not be read as having the crowd in its entirety acknowledge jesus the savior. against this is gundry ' s observation of the sheer length of jesus dramatic entrance, as well as the details of the crowd laying things at his feet the whole way. in any case, as we have seen, this passage is created off of the old testament. at the level of the overall framework, beginning with the arrival in jerusalem the parallels to the cycle become ever denser. here the writer of mark begans to rely more more on that cycle for his


this passage is created off of the old testament. at the level of the overall framework, beginning with the arrival in jerusalem the parallels to the cycle become ever denser. here the writer of mark begans to rely more more on that cycle for his plot structure and the details of his story ( brodie 2000, p92 ) : the e - e cycle also explains some of the stranger details of the writer of mark has also modeled this on the sequence in zechariah 14. duff ( 1992 ), who connects the entrance into the city to zech 14, summarizes that text below. note how the sequence in this text resembles this section of the gospel of mark, with the entrance into jerusalem from the mount of olives, down a processional highway, accompanied by his holy ones. at the detail level, the passage is a creation off of the 1 samuel 9 and 1 sam 10 : and 1 sam 10 : 2 - 7 : the scene may also represent a common convention of greek drama, the hyporcheme, as proposed by bilezekian ( 1977 ) : duff ( 1992 ) also points out that the procession surrounding the entrance of the warrior - king into the city was originally modeled on greek epiphany processions, in which the deity enters the city. frequently the entering king is either greeted as a god, or performs sacrifices that " function as an act of appropriation " ( p60 ). this pericope consists of two chiastic structures looking more or less like this : the presence of the supernatural juxtaposed with ot creation the level of detail and of the plot structure, along with the presence of mark literary creation ( the doublet of v1 - 6 ), and the conventionality of the entry in greco - roman culture indicate that there no support for historicity in this pericope. | 12 : on the following day, when from bethany, he was hungry. 13 : and seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. when he to it, he found nothing | | but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. 14 : and he said to it, " may no one ever eat fruit from you again. " and his disciples heard it. | | 13 : and seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for fig


heard it. | | 13 : and seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. | perhaps the scene is based on psalm 37 : 35 - 6. more likely is micah where " the imagery of a search for figs is a figure for god ' s search righteous israelites, and the image of a barren or withered fig tree is occasionally used to represent national failure as a manifestation of judgment " ( brown 2002 ). also standing behind this may be hosea 9 : 15 - 6, where the wicked are driven from the house of the lord and the image of barrenness is found in conjunction with the temple : | v13 : jesus ' search for fruit on the fig tree is usually interpreted as an allegory based on the use of the fig tree to represent israel in the ot, including jeremiah 8 : 13, 29 : 14, joel 1 : 7, hosea 9 : 10, and 9 : 16. for example, jeremiah 8 : 13 notes : | v13 : as oakman ( 1993 ) points out, the cursing is scientifically absurd. normally, when leaves are present on a fig tree, there is fruit. thus, an allegorical meaning is deduced. | v13 : thomas l. thompson ( 2005, p78 ) points out that the writer is saying that it is not the tree but jesus who is out of season. the righteous ( israel ) should be ready for the messiah whenever he comes. he also observes that jer 24 : 1 - 10 offers a scene of two baskets of figs outside the temple, one representing the remnant of good people who will be taken into exile when jerusalem is destroyed, the other representing the very bad. | v13 : jan sammer notes : this pericope ' s chiastic structure is impossible to clearly the wrter ' s a brackets are typically geographical movements, and there is nowhere else in the gospel where jesus makes so many movements in so short a volume of text. or all the movements may constitute a single a bracket. that would work very nicely. but the writer did not leave us enough examples to unravel his thinking on this matter. this pericope is the " a " section of one of the gospels ' most famous chiasms, an a - b - a ' structure that sandwiches the cleansing of the temple between the cursing of the fig tree


his thinking on this matter. this pericope is the " a " section of one of the gospels ' most famous chiasms, an a - b - a ' structure that sandwiches the cleansing of the temple between the cursing of the fig tree. the presence of the supernatural and creation from the ot indicate that there is no support for historicity in this pericope. | 15 : and they came to jerusalem. and he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money - changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons ; 16 : and he would not allow any one to carry anything through the temple. 17 : and he taught, and said to them, | | " is it not written, ` my house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations '? but you have made it a den of robbers. " 18 : and the chief priests and the scribes heard it and sought a way to destroy him ; for they feared him, because all the multitude was astonished at his teaching. 19 : and when evening came they went out of the city. | | 15 : and they came to jerusalem. and he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money - changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons ; | from nehemiah 13 : 8 - 9 : | v15 : the lord has come to his house, as promised in mal 3 : 1 at the beginning of the gospel. | | v15 : the verb " drive out " also links the text back to hosea 9 : 15 : activity of " plundering " the temple may well relate back to the plundering of the strong man ' s house in mk 3 : 27. as exegetes have noted, the temple, fundamentally an economic institution, was the center of the economic life of jerusalem, driving employment for many petty producers like bakers, incense makers, goldsmiths, and so forth ( myers 1988, p300 ). moneychanging was a normal and sanctioned activity, necessary because the foreign coinage carried by pilgrims from overseas for donations to the temple had to be changed to a coin acceptable to the temple. as crossan ( 1992 ) writes : some conservative exegetes have argued that non - temple related money - changing probably went on as well, and that jesus was targeting such unsanctioned and purely commercial transactions.


coin acceptable to the temple. as crossan ( 1992 ) writes : some conservative exegetes have argued that non - temple related money - changing probably went on as well, and that jesus was targeting such unsanctioned and purely commercial transactions. | 16 : and he would not allow any one to carry anything through the temple. | the greek says " vessels " by which the sacrificial equipment of the temple is meant, not " merchandise " as a number of translations will have it. from nehemiah 13 : 8 - 9 | v16 : this story also has an interesting parallel in 2 maccabees. there the story is told of the high priest onias iii, revered by the jews for his righteousness. in 2 macc 4 : 32 - 4 onias attempts to prevent menelaus from stealing vessels from the temple. later onias is killed after being tricked into leaving his sanctuary near antioch. after his death, in 2 macc 15 : 11 - 16, he visits the jewish leader judas maccabeaus in a dream. like jesus, he saved the temple vessels from being plundered, was betrayed and killed, and then appeared to his followers after his death. strangely, josephus informs us that his brother ' s name was jesus ( later jason ). daniel 9 : 26, the famous passage where the messiah is " cut off, " is generally held to refer to onias iii. | josephus ( against apion, | 17 : and he taught, and said to them, " is it not written, ` my house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations '? but you have made it a den of robbers. " | | v17 : the writer of mark has jesus shouting out parts of the old testament while overturning benches and preventing people from carrying the sacrificial vessels around an area that is thousands of square yards in size. | the writer has yoked together two diametrically opposed visions of the temple. in the passage from isa 56 the temple is presented as an inclusive institution where yhwh ' s promise even encompasses foreigners and outcasts, but the passage from jeremiah 7 cited in the second half of v17 is a diatribe on the corruption of the temple that foresees its destruction just as the previous shrine at shiloh was destroyed ( myers in addition to the reference to destroyed temples, the passages surrounding jer 7 : 11 contain important themes from the gospel of mark, including abominations


temple that foresees its destruction just as the previous shrine at shiloh was destroyed ( myers in addition to the reference to destroyed temples, the passages surrounding jer 7 : 11 contain important themes from the gospel of mark, including abominations on the heights ( in the holy temple of god ) : and the bridgegroom : duff ( 1992 ), observing the citation of isaiah on prayer, points out that jesus gives instructions on what is right outside the temple in hans dieter betz ( 1997 ), one of many scholars who accepts this incident as historical, notes : buchanon ( 1991 ) also points out that there is no message in mk 11 : 17 that jesus wanted those present to understand that the temple must be destroyed. taking his point further, one could argue that the first half of his remarks indicate the opposite. term " robber " here refers more correctly to those who steal by violence. the term is used extensively in josephus and most probably refers to the jewish insurgents of the roman - jewish war of 66 - 70, who occupied the temple at the height of the siege of jerusalem ( marcus, complaint of jesus here is in another chreia - like utterance in which jesus provides both the setting and the response : q : shouldn ' t this be a place of prayer? a : but you ' ve made it a den of thieves! the structure of this periocope is a simple chiasm : this is perhaps the most important single event in mark outside the crucifixion, for in many interpretations it triggers the authorities ' actions against jesus. even when rejected as historical, scholars believe that there is an underlying kernel of history. therefore it will be analyzed in some detail. there are several reasons to think that the author of mark invented this story. first, there is the historical improbability of the temple the temple area itself is tremendous in size, more than 12 football across and capable of holding tens of thousands of people. looking at fredriksen ( 2000 ) has recently explained why she has altered her on its historical probability : price ( 2003, p295 ) points out that the temple covered 35 acres, the size of 34 football fields. as josephus notes, there were roman auxiliaries on call in the antonia right nearby. the moneychangers undoubtedly had their own and servants, and so did the local priests. it is therefore unlikely jesus could have generated an incident there that was prolonged enough for anyone to notice. there were too many warm bodies to squelch it it got


moneychangers undoubtedly had their own and servants, and so did the local priests. it is therefore unlikely jesus could have generated an incident there that was prolonged enough for anyone to notice. there were too many warm bodies to squelch it it got rolling. a further problem, as buchanon ( 1991 ) points out, is that the temple was not merely the main religious institution of the jewish religion, it was also the national treasury and its best fortress. the temple ' s importance should not be underestimated : all three sides in the internal struggle during the jewish war fought to gain control of the temple. not only is it highly unlikely that jesus could have simply strolled in and gained control of the temple, it is also highly unlikely that anyone would have permitted him to leave unmolested after such a performance. an additional problem is provided by the awkwardness of v17, which has jesus teaching as he is tossing out the moneychangers. it is almost comic to imagine jesus shouting out parts of the old testament while overturning benches and preventing people from carrying the sacrificial vessels around an area that is thousands of square yards in size. note that jesus turns over the tables as if there were only a handful of them, rather than some tables. david seeley ( 2000 ) notes many of the practical arguments in addition to the commonsense issue of implausibility, as crossan has noted in the birth of christianity, a story may be labeled invented when, on every level, it shows obvious literary derivation. speaking of the passion story, he writes : " the individual units, general sequences, and overall frames of the passion - resurrection stories are so linked to prophetic fulfillment that the removal of such fulfillment leaves nothing but the barest facts... " ( 1998, p. 521 ). the temple cleansing is one such story ; indeed, the combination of ot creation and markan redaction leaves nothing at all, not even the barest facts. at its lowest level, the individual details of the story itself, the temple cleansing is composed of two basic strands, one of markan redaction, the other of ot literary invention. the temple cleansing in part is taken from the story of nehemiah and the temple, and borrows from it two key details : first, jesus overturns the benches of the moneychangers, just was displeased and threw tobias ' furniture out of the rooms that had been given to him ( nehemiah 13 : 9 ). troughton


two key details : first, jesus overturns the benches of the moneychangers, just was displeased and threw tobias ' furniture out of the rooms that had been given to him ( nehemiah 13 : 9 ). troughton ( 2003, p14 ) writes : in the next verse ( 13 : 9 ) nehemiah returns the sacred vessels back to the rightful place, just as jesus prevents the vessels from being moved out of the precincts ( mk 11 : 16 ). " nehemiah 13. 4 - 9 details the threat to the temple cult through accommodation of " foreign influences, " notes troughton ( 2003, p6 ), clearly paralleled in jesus ' attack on the merchants as a den of robbers. further borrowing of details from the ot is apparent in the that jesus ' utters : ' my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations ' but you have made it ' a den of robbers. ' - - which isaiah and jeremiah. the word " robbers " used here is better translated as " insurrectionists. " some have seen a reference to the occupation of the temple by jewish zealots during the siege of jerusalem in 70 ce. jeremiah passage containing 7 : 11 mark quoted in v17 is also quoted by ben ananias in book vi of josephus wars. some exegetes have argued that jesus may be modeled after jesus ben ananias. earl doherty ( 1999, p248 - 58 ) has identified other ot cites that may the basis for this passage, including malachi 3 : 1, hosea 9 : 15, and of these, the most likely is zech 14 : 21, a classic example of markan hypertextuality, which is temple - focused. there the nations of the world are pictured worshipping at the jerusalem temple. further, zech 14 : 4 will be cited later in the gospel. numerous exegetes have linked zech 14 : 21 to this passage ( duff 1992, p65 ). krause ( 1994 ) has also detected the shaping hand of hosea 9 behind the fig tree and temple sequence. note how the sequence contains both the fig tree and a driving out of individuals from the temple. the other details of the story are redaction of the author of mark and contain no items of historical value. at the next level, the level of intermediate structure, the writer of mark using the ot. the story of jesus closely parallels the elijah - elisha in kings. thomas brodie ( 1998, p


author of mark and contain no items of historical value. at the next level, the level of intermediate structure, the writer of mark using the ot. the story of jesus closely parallels the elijah - elisha in kings. thomas brodie ( 1998, p92 ) explains. at the climax of the two legend cycles, the temple is cleansed ( jesus drives out the jehu kills the priests of ba ' al ). both are annointed ( 2 kings 9 ), with cloaks on the ground ( 2 kings 9 ), wait before taking over ( 2 9 : 12 - 13, mark 11 : 11 ), challenge the authorities ( 2 kings 9 : 22 - 10 : 27 ), 11 : 11 - 12 : 12 ), and money given to the temple ( 2 kings 12 : 5 - 17, mark 12 : 41 - 44 ). as brodie puts it ( p93 ) : at the highest level, the overall story structure, the writer of mark is again relying on the elijah - elisha cycle. jesus north - to - south movement generally parallels the movements in the elijah. where jesus departs this movement, so does elijah. as the eec narrative approaches so does jesus, and the parallels intensify. a second narrative source for this might well be 1 & 2 maccabees, where in 11 : 1 - 9 the writer parallels simon ' s entry into jerusalem in 1 macc 13, and then in 11 : 15 - 19 he parallels the story of onias iii and the temple vessels in to sum up : markan redactional elements are obvious in " on reaching jerusalem " ( v15 ) and v18 ( the conspiracy and crowd amazement ) and v19. the whole passage is typical of the writer of mark. " overturning the tables " and " not permitting vessels to be carried out of the courts " are taken from nehemiah. these two details would not be transmitted by oral tradition ; they exhibit clear literary dependence. hence, the writer of mark had to have added them via ot construction. jesus ' words cite two different ot authors and cannot be oral transmission ; they exhibit literary dependence. the use of the elijah - elisha narrative for both the plot of the current set of pericopes and the overall framework of mark is another example of literary construction that could not have been transmitted. the entire " event " smacks of either markan redaction or literary dependence on every level. here is the text broken out in detail : a final knock against this is


mark is another example of literary construction that could not have been transmitted. the entire " event " smacks of either markan redaction or literary dependence on every level. here is the text broken out in detail : a final knock against this is event is that josephus does not it, nor does paul ( neither jesus ' temple cleansing nor his predictions of the temple ' s destruction ), nor, apparently, did justus of tiberias, of galilee ( who does not mention jesus at all ). no source other than gospels mentions this event. paula fredrikensen ( 2002 ) notes : in summary, although judgments of outright fiction are generally implied rather than stated in this commentary, here it is clear that what we are looking at is a fiction from the hand of the writer of mark. the silence in the external sources, the presence of ot creation in what is generally considered the " historical information " in this pericope, the markers of the writer ' s redactive habits, the presence of literary structures that culminate the elijah - elisha cycle in the gospel of mark, and the strong historical implausibility of this event indicate that there is no history whatsoever in this pericope. | 20 : as they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. 21 : and peter remembered and said to him, " master, look! the fig tree which you cursed has withered. " 22 : and jesus answered them, " have faith in god. 23 : truly, i say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ` be taken up and cast into the sea, ' and does not doubt in his heart, | | but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. 24 : therefore i tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 25 : and whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against any one ; so that your father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. " | | 23 : truly, i say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ` be taken up and cast into the sea, ' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. | recalls paul ' s words in 1 cor 13 : 2. seeley ( 2000 ) observes : this observation is also echoed by duff ( 1992 ), who sees the mountain


he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. | recalls paul ' s words in 1 cor 13 : 2. seeley ( 2000 ) observes : this observation is also echoed by duff ( 1992 ), who sees the mountain saying as further condemnation of the temple. | 25 : and whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against any one ; so that your father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. " | | v25 : this is the only time " your father in the heavens " occurs in mark. though it is attested in all manuscripts, it is mostly likely a marginal gloss that found its way into the text, since the language is matthean rather than markan ( ludemann 2001, p79 ). | thomas l. thompson ( 2005 ) writes : the commentary on prayer is set up by the supernatural events fig tree. the idea of forgiveness of tresspasses was a common one in antiquity. this pericope completes an a - b - a ' chiasm set up by the previous interaction with the fig tree. because of the presence of the supernatural and the banality of the injunction to forgive, as well as the relationship to paul, there is no support for historicity in this pericope. | 27 : and they came again to jerusalem. and as he was walking in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to him, 28 : and they said to him, " by what authority are you doing these things, or who gave you this authority to do them? " 29 : jesus said to them, " i will ask you a question ; answer me, and i will tell you by what authority i do these things. 30 : was the baptism of john from heaven | | or from men? answer me. " 31 : and they argued with one another, " if we say, ` from heaven, ' he will say, ` why then did you not believe him? ' 32 : but shall we say, ` from men '? " - - they were afraid of the people, for all held that john was a real prophet. 33 : so they answered jesus, " we do not know. " and jesus said to them, " neither will i tell you by what authority i do these things. " | | 27 : and they came again to jerusalem. and as he was walking in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to him, |


" neither will i tell you by what authority i do these things. " | | 27 : and they came again to jerusalem. and as he was walking in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to him, | | v27 : it is implausible that jesus is walking in the temple, which two paragraphs ago he has just trashed. | | 30 : was the baptism of john from heaven or from men? answer me. " | note that jesus refers to the baptism of john. could the writer be implying a double meaning? recall that in mark, baptism can mean " sacrificial death. " the writer seems, from the subsequent verses, to be discussing the baptism john offered, not the one he was given by herod. but nevertheless, the double meaning is present. this entire pericope consists of markan redaction, with the of chief priests, scribes, and elders out to get jesus. it is highly that determined enemies of jesus would have accepted the answer given 11 : 33 ; it is unlikely therefore that an account of remembered history simply have broken off without a far longer exchange. the exchange shows a variant on the chreia form, in this case the teacher is shown besting his adversaries with a clever question rather than a clever this pericope begins a block of 5 stories that doubles the block of 5 controversy stories in mark 2 and 3. it is also john the baptist ' s last appearance in mark. the implausibility of the situation should become apparent if one thinks about the political sensitivity of the question jesus has just asked : jesus has just queried the jerusalem temple leadership what they think of someone the writer informed us 5 chapters ago was executed by herod, the potentate of the territory next door, who held his tetrarchy by roman largesse. the writer of mark seems unaware of the political implications of having jesus asking the jewish authorities whether they think a recently executed political prisoner was a real prophet. the focus instead is on the source of jesus ' authority. mark mcvann ( 1994 ) reads this as an honor - shame conflict. the temple ' s honor, slandered by jesus ' cleansing of it, must be avenged, and so the authorities challenge jesus hoping to impugn his status as a true prophet, but instead jesus shames them. mcvann observes that jesus does this by referring to john ' s baptism, which was as insulting to the temple as jesus ' own acts, since


jesus hoping to impugn his status as a true prophet, but instead jesus shames them. mcvann observes that jesus does this by referring to john ' s baptism, which was as insulting to the temple as jesus ' own acts, since it represented a way for the people to be brought into the community of god without the temple structure as an the jesus seminar ( funk et al 1997 ) observed : this pericope is part of a structure that extends into the next chapter ; implausibility of the situation both from a political standpoint, and the fact that jesus has just trashed the temple, as well as the presence of several habitual features of the writer ' s style, all indicate that there is no support for historicity in this john paul heil ( 1997 ) writes : i agree completely. the writer of mark has a powerful focus on the temple which he reveals in two ways. first, the writer mentions the temple in the text of the gospel itself. the first of twelve uses of word " temple " in mark comes in mark 11 : 11, when jesus arrives in jerusalem. this is followed by several mentions in jesus ' cleansing of the temple in mark 11 : 15 - 19. in mark 11 : 27 - 33 jesus is pictured walking in the temple. again in mark 12 : 35 - 44 the action takes place in the temple. in mark 13 : 1 - 31 jesus makes his famous prophecy of the temple ' s destruction. more references follow in jesus ' arrest, before the jewish authorities, and crucifixion. from jesus ' entrance into jerusalem forward, the temple is one of the most important threads in markan discourse. if the reader returns to malachi to see the context, the temple is present : the writer has cleverly located three important themes from the gospel here : the coming of the messenger of the lord, the convenant, and the temple. however, in order to place them all together, the reader is required to return to the old testament to view the passage in context. if you read on to malachi 3 : 2, there the coming of the messenger of the lord is compared to a refiner ' s fire that will purge and purify. in literary terms the gospel of mark is a hypertext, a text that is based on, yet transvalues, another text, termed the hypotext. a modern example is kurt vonnegut ' s slaughterhouse - 5, which parallels the gospels, but transvalues them. instead of the


text that is based on, yet transvalues, another text, termed the hypotext. a modern example is kurt vonnegut ' s slaughterhouse - 5, which parallels the gospels, but transvalues them. instead of the dynamic jesus rushing around palestine healing the sick and raising the dead and bringing a message of the kingdom of god, we have the helpless billy pilgrim, who takes no action on his own, has no control over his own miraculous abilities, and brings a message that there is nothing that we can do about life. in the gospels jesus dies and saves the world, but in slaughterhouse - 5 billy pilgrim lives and the world ( dresden ) dies. similarly, the gospel of mark is built off the old testament, but reconstructs and recontextualizes its citations to focus them on jesus and on the events of the writer ' s time. one strong aspect of markan hypertextuality is its relentless focus on the temple in jerusalem. it also contains citations that refer to plundered, destroyed, and occupied temples and altars. given this, the writer of mark is most probably writing at a time after the temple was destroyed. thomas l. thompson ( 2005 ) highlights the importance of the " plundered temple " theme for understanding messianism : this temple - focus of markan citations is found in many places in the gospel of mark. in mark 4 : 1 - 20 the writer gives us one of the most famous and enigmatic passages in the gospel, 4 : 11 - 12. this passage parallels isaiah 6 : 10 in the septuagint : if we go back to the context, however, we once again see the temple. the words that jesus speaks are uttered by a voice in the temple. once again, when we return to the old testament, we find the temple. sometimes the writer ' s temple focus is not as obvious as in the citations above. let ' s take a look at mk 3 : 1 - 6. this passage parallels 1 kings 13 : 4 - 6 : if you start with the text from mark, and return to the text from 1 kings 13, you notice that while the action in mark takes place in a synagogue, in 1 kings it occurs in an altar. if you go back to the proceeding action in 1 kings 13, you will see two interesting passages : the man of god prophesies that the priests of the high places will die, as would come true in the writer of mark ' s time when the temple was


back to the proceeding action in 1 kings 13, you will see two interesting passages : the man of god prophesies that the priests of the high places will die, as would come true in the writer of mark ' s time when the temple was destroyed. note further that jeroboam ' s sin, like the romans ', was to appoint " anyone who wanted " to be a priest. this led to the downfall of the kingdom, just as the temple fell. this passage offers a temple, but one that will be plundered and destroyed. in mark 12 : 1 the writer offers a different nod to the temple. here he opens the parable of the tenants with a quotation from isaiah 5 : compare this to isaiah 5 : however, the reader will search in vain for a reference to the temple in this passage. that is because the reference resides not in the text of isaiah but in jewish tradition : the tower represents the temple, and the vat the altar. as heil ( 1997 ) reads the parable jesus presents : there is no way to know for sure, but perhaps the writer was probably not only familiar with the jewish torah, but also the traditional readings of it as well. in the episode of the temple cleansing ( mk 11 : 15 - 19 ) the writer echoes nehemiah 13 : 8 - 9 in describing jesus ' actions of overturning the furniture and stopping the vessels from leaving the temple : the action here is taking place in the temple, making the temple focus obvious, but there is an additional aspect : tobiah is a foreigner. the temple is occupied by a foreigner, perhaps once again a reference to political conditions in the time of the writer of mark. similarly, two verses later, in mark 11 : 17, the writer gives us a double helping of his temple - focused hypertextuality : in 11 : 17 the writer yokes together two diametrically opposed visions of the temple. the first half of the passage is from isaiah 56. it presents the temple as an inclusive institution where god ' s promise even encompasses foreigners and outcasts. by contrast, the second half of the passage cites jeremiah 7, a diatribe on the corruption of the temple that foresees its destruction just as the previous shrine at shiloh was destroyed. both hypertextual themes, the temple itself, and violence in and against it, are present in this passage. these same themes of violence and plundered temples crop out in other places in mark. in the sanhedrin


##loh was destroyed. both hypertextual themes, the temple itself, and violence in and against it, are present in this passage. these same themes of violence and plundered temples crop out in other places in mark. in the sanhedrin trial ( mark 14 : 53 - 65 ) the high priest responds to jesus ' affirmation of his identity with : this appears to recall the scene in 2 kings 11 : 14 when athaliah, the queen, is standing at the temple when the true king josiah, who had been hidden there, is brought out. the full text runs : once again, we see the juxtaposition of familiar themes from mark : the true king, the temple, and violence. these same things may pop up again in mark 16 : 5, whose young man has been identified with the heavenly young men in 2 macc 3 who save the temple from being plundered and destroyed. although in the gospel of mark the temple rises to narrative prominence in the second half of the gospel, through the use of a hypertextuality that is strongly temple - focused, the writer of mark makes its presence known throughout his gospel. | | home | | topical index | | next chapter commentary on the gospel of mark | chapter 1 | | chapter 9 | | home | | chapter 3 | | chapter 11 | | topical index | | chapter 4 | | chapter 12 | | chapter 5 | | chapter 13 | | references | chapter 6 | | chapter 14 | | chapter 7 | | chapter 15 | | contact author | chapter 8 | | chapter 16 |


we astronomers like to toy with the ideas of life and of death. we name distant objects after gods of the dead and underworld, like orcus or pluto, we eagerly discuss cannibalistic galaxies and gamma ray bursts that would wipe out civilizations for light years in radius. we talk about catastrophic impacts and the possible slow death of the entire universe. but, usually, it is just a vicarious show. nothing that we study out there in the universe will is likely to actually affect anything down here on earth. nothing that we do is really a matter of life and death. except for this week. this week, for the sake of astronomy, seven people will strap themselves on to the top of a controlled explosion and launch themselves almost 200, 000 stories into the air. if all goes well, they ’ ll spend nearly two weeks confined to a tiny container holding the only patch of livable space for 400 miles in any direction, before they drop back to earth in a flaming descent that transforms into a supersonic glissade to the ground. the seven are the astronauts on the final space shuttle servicing mission to the hubble space telescope. if they are able to carry out everything on their extensive list, they will leave behind an enormously capable telescope capable of years more of distinguished and fascinating scientific inquiry. astronomers the world over will rejoice, but i will rejoice a bit more than average. a year ago, i proposed to the committee in charge of the hubble space telescope that they allow me to spend a significant amount of time on the telescope to use one of the brand - new instruments being put in by the astronomers to study the origin of the kuiper belt. it was a bit of a long shot, i thought. these committees tend to favor things such as figuring out the origins of distant things, like galaxies, or the universe itself. our local neighborhood is often overlooked. but the committee liked the idea and now all that stands between me and getting to use this fantastic new instrument in space is the fact that the instrument itself is currently sitting in florida. at least as of this moment. but come blast - off it and the seven astronauts will be on their way to space. this moment almost never happened. if i were in charge, it never would. after the 2003 space shuttle columbia break up over texas, nasa declared that the only safe way to fly the space shuttle was to go to the space station where it could be inspected and, if problems were found, astronauts could temporarily stay while repairs or rescues were


the 2003 space shuttle columbia break up over texas, nasa declared that the only safe way to fly the space shuttle was to go to the space station where it could be inspected and, if problems were found, astronauts could temporarily stay while repairs or rescues were mounted. but because of their very different orbits, you can ’ t get to the space station if you go to the space telescope. thus, there would be no more flights to the space telescope and it would soon plummet to the earth and burn up in the atmosphere. there was a great outcry. hubble is invaluable! hubble is a national treasure! it seemed as if every astronomer out there had stories to tell about why hubble was spectacular. i agreed. i had my own stories, even. many of the fabulous finds about dwarf planets over the past decade have been made by or aided by the hubble space telescope. and there are many many more things that i still want to do with it. and then i said that it was ok to let it die. hubble had had a spectacular decade and a half, and if it was not safe to refurbish it anymore we astronomers needed to celebrate its legacy, mourn its loss, but accept that it was for the best. this was no longer an abstract matter of galactic life and cosmic death : this was a matter of real life and, quite possibly, death. this actually mattered. i grew up in huntsville, alabama, a thoroughly dedicated space town, and reminders that things do not always go as planned are strewn throughout the city. the high school to which i went was named after gus grissom, who died during a pre - launch test of the apollo 1 mission. ed white and roger chaffee – who died along side grissom – have their own schools just across town. you can see the challenger school from the back deck of my parent ’ s house. i love space exploration. i love human space exploration. i grew up on it. i wanted to be part of it. i became an astronomer because of it. i understand – i think – the risks, and am even willing to accept them. sometimes. but not blindly. i feel that many of the astronomers pushing and pushing and pushing to get the shuttle to fly to the space telescope never once thought about the risks, never drove around a town with schools memorializing astronauts who never came home. this actually mattered. what are the risks of catastrophic failure, as the worst - case scenario is known?


shuttle to fly to the space telescope never once thought about the risks, never drove around a town with schools memorializing astronauts who never came home. this actually mattered. what are the risks of catastrophic failure, as the worst - case scenario is known? i have heard absurdly precise estimates of 1 chance in 187, though i neither know how these numbers are arrived at nor put much faith in them. i do know that this next mission is designated sts - 125 – the 125th shuttle flight. two have ended in disaster. that ’ s 1 in 64. while that ’ s not quite russian roulette with a six - shooter and a single bullet, neither is it a short drive to the office in light traffic. it was worth thinking hard about this. this actually mattered. in the end, the tea leaves were clear from the beginning. the outcry was too loud for the hubble to be allowed to fall from the sky. the space shuttle would go after all. it ’ s probably good that i wasn ’ t in charge. i don ’ t think i ever want to be in the position of making decisions that could directly lead to someone never coming home to their family again. but someone has to make those decisions. i would have chosen differently, but i understand the choice. the astronauts themselves know what they are getting in to and are itching to go. who am i to say no? and, since the decision is made and they are indeed going, i ’ ll be the one watching from down here on earth cheering loudly, remembering the excitement i ’ ve felt with every blast off i remember from apollo on. and this time i ’ ll be cheering even more loudly, thinking about the years of discovery ahead and the origins of the kuiper belt and things about which i have not even begun to dream. you will likely not be surprised to learn that i am a non - religious person. i draw my spiritual inspirations from etruscans and inuits and small children and the full moon itself. and yet, when searching for the right incantation, the right words of encouragement and amulet against harm, the best one that comes to mind describes something that those seven astronauts will both have in an almost literal sense and certainly need in the intended sense : godspeed, sts - 125, godspeed.