Short Story Award Winners

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Heres What Happens If You Drop Francium in Water

Heres What Happens If You Drop Francium in Water Francium is element No. 87 on the periodic table. The element can be prepared by bombarding thorium with protons. An extremely small amount occurs naturally in uranium minerals, but it is so rare and radioactive that there has never been enough of it to actually see what would happen if a piece was dropped into water. However, scientists know for sure that the reaction would be energetic, possibly even explosive. ​ The piece of francium would blow apart, while  the  reaction with water would produce hydrogen gas, francium hydroxide, and a lot of heat. The entire area would be contaminated with radioactive material. Why Francium Reacts so Strongly The reason for the strong exothermic reaction  is because francium is an alkali metal. As you move down the first column of the periodic table, the reaction between the alkali metals and water becomes increasingly violent, as follows: A small amount of lithium will float on water and burn.Sodium burns more readily.Potassium breaks apart, burning with a violet flame.Rubidium ignites with a red flame.Cesium releases enough energy that even a small piece blows up in water.Francium is below cesium on the table and would react more readily and violently. This occurs because each of the alkali metals is characterized by having a single valence electron. This electron easily reacts with other atoms, such as those in water. As you move down the periodic table, the atoms become larger and the lone valence electron is easier to remove, making the element more reactive. In addition, francium is so radioactive that it is expected to release heat. Many chemical reactions are accelerated or enhanced by temperature. Francium would input the energy of its radioactive decay, which is expected to magnify the reaction with water.

Border security issues (week 3) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Border security issues (week 3) - Essay Example Of course this shows that the Mexican public had little confidence with the police handling border security issues. In the midst of all these hardships, there is hope for radical transformation on the horizon, with the onset of a new government. Under the new leadership of the new President Enrique Peà ±a Nieto, perhaps there might be changes. During the Mexican Election campaigns Peà ±a Nieto ran for president on promises that he would end the drug wars and promote police reforms. Currently, it may be too early to determine whether the new administration is doing something to promote reforms in the Mexican police departments. This is because the Mexican public has lost faith in police the police in Mexico. It is no secret that the police force has committed so many atrocities and violated human rights. The expression that Rome was not created in one day plays a significant role in Mexico’s problems. For the new administration to change this trend there is more to do than just introducing police reforms. The operational policies and procedures in police departments need to change. The training and development of officers also needs to change into a system that encourages officers who are not corrupt (Adams, 2006). Increasing reward systems in the force may also aid in promoting the officers to deliver the right services. It will promote the general police force image from a brutal force to one that is professional and fair, thereby resulting to more respect from the Mexican

The phenomena of Colony Collapse Disorder in honeybee Essay

The Phenomena Of Colony Collapse Disorder In Honeybee Populations - Essay Example The symptoms include, among others, the presence of younger honeybees, around the healthy queen bee as the older and adult honeybees leave the hive, without coming back to it. In addition, studies have shown that the apparently visible symptom could be the absence of wax moths, or small hive beetles or other hive pests that could invade the beehives. The causes of CCD could include different virus causing diseases like American and European foulbrood, Nosema and other disease-causing pathogens, as their presence is alarming to the honeybee population. In addition, the invasive pest species also causes CCD. However, a combination of various pathogens would be responsible for CCD, rather than an isolated virus. The other major factors responsible for the large disappearance of Honeybee populations are chemicals that would be present in the beehive and the environment, while honeybee growing into a monocropping  agricultural system can also be a cause for CCD as proper nutrition is not allowed for the honey bee, to grow naturally. While these factors and other causes of CCD are described below, it is important to mention here that scientists are still trying to isolate any pertinent causes, including the use of chemicals and behavior of honeybees, responsible for CCD that has resulted in national worry as agriculture produce is getting severely affected due to this phenomenon.....(University of Arkansas, 2009) Earlier known as Fall Dwindle Disease, CCD is the dying process of healthy honeybees colonies, which makes them disappear, within a very short span of time, just around three weeks. The apparent indications are that the workforce of such colonies comprises mainly young bees and they are reluctant to consume the provided feed. After this collapse, no adult bees are left, while no invasion takes place to rob the colony of its food that still remains there.

Seven Top Competencies of a Project Manager Essay

Seven Top Competencies of a Project Manager - Essay Example Role of the Project Manager The project manager has a significant role of ensuring execution of the project in different areas including planning, operation, monitoring, and control, as well as ending the project per se. Project managers coordinate activities of project team members to achieve the proposed objectives and the vision of the project. In their day-to-day functions, the projects managers have to focus on short and long-term activities. Conventionally, project managers focused on larger, more comprehensive projects. However, contemporary organizations give project managers the mandate to work with even smaller, less technical projects. The Project Management concept has received a lot of attention in the past few decades and has become a highly desired area in most of institutions and organizations. According to Muller and Turner (2010), one goal of a good project manager is to know how he/she is going to manage his/her project, know what to do if the implementation plan f ails, to accomplish the project objectives and ensure integration of the inputs of all of the project stakeholders. Further, the role of project managers is diverse. Turner and Muller (2005) highlight that they determine how the project should set off. By good Integrated Management they help in determining, developing and managing the direction of the project, as well as the scope of the project. A good and well defined project must include best scope management practices that include planning, defining and managing the scope of the project. Another issue is on-time and cost management. Managers should develop budget and a good time plan such as developing a schedule, allocating resources and managing funds for the project for effective results. A good process gives good output due to quality management. There must be a task force to take care of the quality of the process in question such that it meets or even exceeds various quality parameters set but the laid down standards (Camp us, 2002). Human Resource Management is vital and is the responsibility of the project manager. He/she needs to take care of his/her team, encourage and motivate members and make sure the team is on a pathway to success, which helps to ensure that the project implementation process moves in the right direction (Campus, 2002). Communication allows good information flow and hence communication management should be one of the critical aspects that project managers should strive to accomplish among senior and junior staff. The project manager needs to prepare a communication plan, communication technique and make sure that there is healthy communication, both internally and externally (Crawford, 2000). The manager is evaluated successfully against each of the factors affecting his/her communication skills. Risk and hazards are inevitable and, hence, there is need for project managers to establish strong risk management strategies. Various risks which exist in a project should be identif ied and a mitigation plan needs to be developed and implemented to ensure that the project is not affected at any point. A project manager determines success or failure of the project based on the work and procurement plans developed before ground breaking. The project manager has a role of ensuring that procurement plans are strategically positioned to enhance the accomplishment of the project objectives. Various materials needed during the project need to be procured and

Animal Habitat Destruction in Seattle Research Paper

Animal Habitat Destruction in Seattle - Research Paper Example The seaport city has approximately 85 square miles on undeveloped areas that have predominantly native vegetation that provides favorable habitat for wildlife. Even though the city is developed, the available network of habitat provides a significant support for the wildlife species especially the threatened species such as bald eagle and Chinook salmon (Jacob, 2012). The increased habitat destruction has resulted into establishment of Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation lands that is responsible for ensuring that the city’s habitat is maintained in the natural way (Pierce, 2003). According to American Lung Association, Seattle area is among the dirtiest areas in terms of fine particle pollution. These include microscopic dust, chemicals, diesel exhaust, aerosols, and metals. The aim of this paper is to discuss the Seattle animal habitat destruction by touching on the reasons that lead to habitat destruction, the impact of habitat destruction and most important the solu tions of it. As the human population around Seattle region increase, the demand for fish and other forms of food varieties has increased. For example, salmon, which is the cultural icon in the area, has been used as the source of food resulting to their decrease (Arbault and Sastrapradja, 1995). Thus, the demand for food has been one of the causes of decrease in the number of animals. Seattle is a developed city that has various business activities and production facilities. As a result, there is extensive ocean water pollution due to the chemicals produced from the factories. Water pollution in Seattle region originates from human activities within the streets of the city that produce wastes that are carried to the ocean. Other pollutants that directly affect fish species in Seattle include pesticides and petrochemicals including gas and oil. Additionally, the nitrogen, phosphorus and animal waste cause algae blooms. Once they develop, the blooms occupy patches of the

Labor rights for illegal immigrants and why we should support them Research Paper

Labor rights for illegal immigrants and why we should support them - Research Paper Example Who are Illegal Immigrants? It is difficult to define illegal immigrants. Where illegal migration begins and ends is a matter for each sovereign state to define (Tapinos). There are two types of illegal migrants- those who enter illegally and those who overstay after entering legally. Seasonal workers who fail to return after the expiry of the contract and rejected asylum seekers are also part of the second group. In countries like USA and Canada, which are open to migration, illegal immigration is one of the options to become would be immigrants. But in countries of Europe, it is the only option except for those applying for asylum or family reunification (Tapinos). It is estimated that there is about four to five million illegal immigrants in USA, which is about 1.5% of the population 300,000 in Greece (3%) and Italy (0.5%) ( Tapinos). Illegal migrants join illegal job market where he agrees to work for fewer wage than the local workers. Employers in developed countries benefit as they need to pay only low wages. The welfare contributions and non wage costs would be less. The illegal workers do not bargain and will not create any problem even if forced to work for long hours. The illegal immigrants are always eager to get regularised. ... Importance of Labour Rights for Working Immigrants According to International Labour Organization (ILO), 20% of world’s workers are in industrialised countries ie.600 million. There are 2.5 billion workers in the developing countries (Martin). There were 191 million international migrants in 2005. It was 76 million in 1960 and 175 million in 2000 (Dittrick). A migrant worker is "a person who is to be engaged, is engaged or has been engaged in a remunerated activity in a State of which he or she is not a national (Convention). In 1990, the UN General Assembly adopted International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. It may be noted here that labour rights are human rights. International human rights apply to all human beings. Everyone, whether citizen or immigrant, legal or illegal enjoys basic human rights such as right to life, liberty and security of person; freedom from slavery and torture; right to equal protecti on of law and freedom from discrimination; freedom from arbitrary arrest and detention; the presumption of innocence; and the right to freedom of association, religion and expression (The Rights of Migrants). The universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and Conventions adopted by the International Labour Organisation gives the right of association, the right to free choice of employment, the right to equal remuneration for work of equal value, and the right to just and favourable conditions of work to the immigrants. It also prohibits forced labour and