Friday, May 2, 2014

Scientists Find an 'Earth Twin,' or Maybe a Cousin

Chang, Kenneth. "Scientists Find an ‘Earth Twin,’ or Maybe a Cousin." The New York Times.
            The New York Times, 17 Apr. 2014. Web. 17 Apr. 2014.    

I read The New York Times article “Scientists Find an ‘Earth Twin,’ or Maybe a Cousin” by Kenneth Chang.  On Thursday, astronomers declared that a planet similar to earth has been discovered, named Kepler 186f, about 500 light-years away from our home.  It was discovered in the Kepler planet-finding mission carried out by NASA.  Many factors observed by astronomers highlight the fact that Kepler 186f may possibly be life-sustaining.  Kepler 186f orbits a red dwarf star at a distance that would enable water and oxygen to be present as they are on Earth, making it possible for photosynthesis to occur.  However, the temperature on Kepler 186f could be significantly lower than that of earth, as the red-dwarf star it orbits emits less heat than the sun and Kepler 186f is located slightly farther away from its star than earth is from the sun.  However, scientists believe that the bigger size of Kepler 186f may result in a thicker atmosphere, making it easier for the planet to trap heat.  Because red dwarf stars are among the oldest in the universe, possible organisms on Kepler 186f may have been developing for billions of years.
This event is most important to scientists.  Scientists have been searching for another life-sustaining planet for a very long time, and they may have been successful in finally finding one.  This opens up a huge area of study for scientists, and could inspire scientists to search for more planets like earth.  Who knows, maybe humans might travel to these planets in the future.  This could have an impact on our society in that it would lead to many new discoveries and advances in science.  Because advances in science lead to advances in technology, new discoveries about other planets like Earth could lead to technological improvements.

I thought this article was very well written, and I found it very interesting.  I did not see anything wrong with this article, and I do not have any tips that could help the author improve its writing.  However, I would love to find out more about this topic.  The author mainly focused on the facts about the planet itself, but I would like to learn more about life on these planets.  Overall, I thought the author did a great job writing this article, and I would definitely recommend others to read it.

8 comments:

  1. Michael did a great job on his review! I enjoyed reading about the topic he chose, especially that NASA had discovered a planet that may be life sustaining. He did a good job of making a point and then immediately backing it up with details from the article. Michael also explained the possible issues Kepler 186f may have. Lastly, I liked how he had remembered the connection between science and technology when he said, "Because advances in science lead to advances in technology, new discoveries about other planets like Earth could lead to technological improvements."
    However, Michael could have switched "Because" for another, stronger word, such as "Since" and words like that. He could have made his review even better if he had included a quote from the original article. Otherwise, Michael's review on the article was well written and well presented for the readers.
    This review on the article, "Scientists Find an 'Earth Twin', or Maybe a Cousin" opened my eyes to the infinite possibilities that this new discovery has created. Great job, Michael!

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  2. Michael did a great job with his review because it was very detailed and explained a lot about this new, possibly life-sustaining planet. I really liked how he explained the science behind how the planet clearly and it was very easy to understand. I was also really impressed by how well his paragraphs flowed. This review was very interesting and did a good job of covering the entire article within the first paragraph.
    However, he could've explained how this kind of discovery effects others in more ways then just technological advancements. There were also a few grammatical and spelling issues, but they didn't really matter that much. The biggest issue to me was just the connection paragraph.
    I was really surprised when I heard about another life-sustaining planet out there, I always just assumed the Earth was the only one. It also surprised me that we could even discover a planet that is 500 lightyears away! Anyways I think Michael did a good job and I found this review to be really interesting and informative. Good Job!

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  3. I read Michael Landy’s review of the article “Scientists Find an ‘Earth Twin,’ or Maybe Cousin,” by Kenneth Chang. I really love the way Michael summarized the information presented in the article. There was a lot of scientific facts presented within the article and he put them nicely so students can understand them. Another thing I liked was the way he attempted to tie this information into our lives today. Lastly, I liked how Michael stated that although he has no issues with the article he would like to study this topic further.

    One thing I think Michael could have done differently is included the website in which we can find the article so students can really further understand the review by reading the original article. Another thing he could possibly change is maybe change his transitional words to give the review a better flow for readers.

    Something that stuck with me after reading this review is the fact that life is possible on other planets. I have always believed this planet is all we have and therefore must protect it, and although we still must preserve the Earth it is cool to know life is possible other places. Great Work!!

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  4. Michael did a great job reviewing the article, “Scientists Find an ‘Earth Twin,” or Maybe Cousin,” by Kenneth Chang. The topic of the article he chose is interesting and relevant to our lives. He did a great job giving details of the newfound planet and making it easy to understand. Michael also did a great job connecting this article to our lives.

    One thing he could do to improve his review is to include a quote from the article to explain it further. Also he did not include the link to the article. Other than that his review was great.

    I found this review to be interesting and I was surprised to hear that another planet could possibly sustain life. I am curious to see if they will discover more planets like this one in the future.

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  5. Sweet mother of God. When I saw the title of this article I knew I had to read it. The idea of finding a planet similar to ours is extremely exciting! Right away I knew that the original article must have been good because Michael says in his review that the planet is significantly different to earth. To support his claim, Michael also gives detailed evidence that the original article says. Some of the claims he lists includes surrounding starts, temperature, and even distance to everything around this newly found planet! Michaels review was extremely informative and interesting to read.

    But of course, what is a good review without a couple of mistakes. First mistake that I notice is something that I have said on all of my comments and I can not stress it more. Please make the title sentence something that attracts readers. It’s rather boring if you just place “I read the (blank) article on (blank) by (blank)” as the leading sentence to the first paragraph. I do not mean to be rude but it is a huge concern and I’ve seen everyone do it at some point. Second mistake that I notice is that he doesn’t describe how the article is “well written.” Grant it that I haven’t done it either in any of my reviews but it is something to consider for the next one.

    Overall, this review is extremely important because it provides an open ended question. If we were to travel to this planet, should we? In my own opinion this is a huge scientific discovery but let’s not attempt to go to this planet. In our human past, we have literally destroyed the earth and shattered the balance of all natural life. Humans have become the most common species on this planet earth which makes us the ones responsible for taking care of it. If space travel is a possibility and we could potentially go to this new planet, WE SHOULD NOT. We would most likely destroy this planet the same way as we have done to this one with global warming, other animal species going extinct, and the depletion of oil and other nonrenewable resources.

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  6. This article review by Michael was both well written and informative because it was expansive and informative. It explained quite a bit about this new planet that was discovered, as well as not only telling me about it, but explaining in further depth WHY this planet is important.
    In truth to his claim, he follows a strict path of providing a proper and well fit level of information when speaking about the information to length ratio
    Alas, there are a few mistakes in this review. I agree with many people on the fact that, good god, why won’t anyone listen to William! He’s right! We need more interesting opening sentences then just “I read ____ by ____”, it would lead to a much better article
    He also could have added a quote from the article as well as refined his writing style beforehand, due to repetition of words and phrases.
    Otherwise, this article was a good read, I looked it up myself, and I find it incredibly interesting how there could be possibility for life on other planets, small as it may be.

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  7. I enjoyed reading Michael Landy’s review of the article “Scientists FInd an Earth Town,’ or Maybe Cousin,”.I thought Michael summarized the information presented in the article very well. I also thought he incorporated the scientific facts in the actual article very well, so students can understand them. Finally, I thought the way Michael tied in this somewhat obscure article to our day lives.

    Something I think Michael could have improved on was the overall flow of the article because it felt a bit choppy. Also, I think he could have put in the actual link to the article for easy access.


    I found the part about how life on other planets are possible. I am glad the likeliness of aliens or other life has risen because I have always believed in them. It was interesting to think there might be another ‘Earth’ we can possibly live on too.

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  8. When I read Michael’s review regarding the article “Scientists Find an ‘Earth Twin’, or Maybe a Cousin” by Kenneth Chang I was amazed. I cannot begin to express the excitement I had when I learned that there is a possibility that there is life outside of Earth, on another planet, even if it is 500 light-years away. The way that Michael shaped his summary so that he was able to explain how it was possible that life may exist on this newly discovered planet, Kepler 186f, and it also allowed the reader to formulate a sort of diagram in their head about the situation that the planet is in. For example, he explicitly explains how far the planet is from our solar system. He also explains how, even though it is farther away from its heat radiating star, than we are to our sun, it can still support life, because of its thick atmosphere, as a result of its larger size. Another great aspect about his review was the way he explained in great detail of how this new discovery can positively affect the human society, such as how it could inspire some scientists to develop new technology to allow us to travel to this distant planet. A third, positive part of the review had to do with Michael’s summary. While many people tend to write lengthy and over-detailed summaries, Michael succinctly covered the whole article in a smooth summary, with excellent transitions.
    In contrast, however, there were some negative aspects about how Michael wrote his review. What he could have done to improve his writing would have been to create a more appealing first sentence. The way Michael started his article was very bland, and uninteresting, and could potentially turn away a reader. One other down side to Michael’s articles was how he failed to incorporate a quotation in his writing, whereas if he had included a quotation he would have been able to back up his evidence with more strength. In addition to lacking writing tools, he could have possibly included a few definitions for words that may have been foreign to someone unfamiliar with space, or astronomy.
    This review was very intriguing and informative, and it brings up a great point about how the Earth could possibly not be the only planet that is known to have life forms living on it, anymore. The human species has always been self-sustaining, and on its own. But now, if there are life-sustaining conditions on another planet, there could be life, and this life could be intelligent. For all we know, the other beings could be more intelligent than us! If this is the case, we could have another species to interact with. Also, currently it is quite unimaginable, but in the future we could somehow develop much higher tech space travel and we could travel to Kepler 186f. Back to the review, Michael’s writing was great, and it was very interesting to read about this amazing new planet!

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