Shayne+Formal+Essay+1

If you havent realized it by now, I am fascinated by the vast expansion of space. The idea that we are alone in the universe is baffeling to me because of just how big our universe is. This essay is comparing and contrasting the benefits of living in space and living on earth. As I begin to think about all that is going on in my life right now I can’t help but think that all of my problems just seem so miniscule compared to everything. On this earth alone there are millions of different life forms that interact with one another every second. I as a human being make up less than a hundredth of a percent of everything on this planet. That percent greatly decreases when you open up the scale and compare it to the universe. Our planet is beyond insignificant. The universe is so vast and endless that there are so many things to still be discovered, but what has been found blows my mind. From Pulsars and Quasars, which alone give off so much energy that if one were to shoot in our direction, the earth and every living thing on it would die instantaneously, to clouds in space millions times larger than our solar system that consist of the same ethyl alcohol that humans drink. Talk about a hangover. It is absolutely incredible as to how much the universe holds. It is also incredible to think that in that vast universe, we are alone. To our knowledge, earth is one of a kind. It is the only planet in the universe, which we know of, to support life. Earth is an anomaly among many other planets. While there are certain elements on each planet that we would need to survive, there is always one exception. It could be too hot, or too cold, or too much oxygen. Earth is a perfect planet in the fact that everything that would need to be present for life to thrive is here. We also land the perfect distance away from our sun. if the earth were 100 miles closer to the sun, we would be fried by intense heat. The same could be said if we were any farther from the sun but instead of being cooked, we would all become human icicles. Though we are very different from the rest of the universe because we have life, if we didn’t have some of the elements that the universe provided, life would cease to exist. As we all know earth is made up of 2/3 water. Water is H2O which is found on several other planets outside of our solar system. Earths atmosphere consist of 97% Nitrogen, which has been found in almost every planet in our solar system. The elements that make up our planet are found everywhere we look in the universe.