Other issues most currency traders find when using FX SIgnals, is that they are not conveniently able to accept and enter the trade. Because the Currency market is open Monday through Friday, twenty-four hours, it is difficult to be available for all the signals because trades can be sent during a time when you can’t receive and place the trade. It is because of that you want to find a FX signals service that connect to the Metatrader 4 trading platform, the most globally used trading platform for Currency trading.

The advantage of trading with Metatrader is that it accepts special programs (expert advisers) to automate your trading. Some Metatrader 4 expert advisors will turn your platform into a robot and enter and exit trades robotically depending on your parameters, other advisors are programmed to provide a bridge between other computers. That is how the automated forex signals providers utilize metatrader. They provide you a special expert advisor that you install on metatrader. That expert advisor allows a connection between your account and the FX Signals account so that whenever that signal provider enters, exits or changes an order, that information is quickly delivered to your metatrader account to do the same thing. There is no need for you to do anything, all is done in an automated manner.

This is what makes this perfect combination so beneficial because you won’t have to be sitting around wasting time thinking if or when a signal is going to come in, worry about ever missing a signal, be disrupted in your job because of a signal or any other issues to do with physically receiving and processing forex signals. With metatrader at your side and a Forex Trade Signals company that uses it, you are now ready to better profit from forex trading.

“Why is the U.S. government is trying in an era in which they seemingly desperate attempts to reduce health care costs to ban anything that could help people quit smoking?
Smoking is perhaps the most devastating health problem in the United States.

FDA warns of electric cigarette

The federal agency to monitor food and Drug Administration (FDA) held a press conference late last month to warn the Americans against the so-called “e-cigarette”. It was claimed that the electronic cigarette is full of harmful toxins “and” carcinogens. ” Between the lines, the Agency communicated: “Keep this new-fangled, unproven cigarette substitute far better and stay in real cigarettes that are clearly familiar to us all and which are responsible in the U.S. for a year more than 450,000 deaths alone.”

No scientific basis

In which they gave this wrong, incomplete and misleading statement, the FDA violated its long-held tradition, guidelines and recommendations made on the basis solely of scientific knowledge. And while the FDA does, it puts the lives and health of millions of Americans at risk.

The part of the FDA declaration that corresponds to the truth is the fact that e-cigarettes have not yet completed the formal response and security tests of the FDA and that they are only a few years on the market.

What the FDA in the press conference was not known – but would have to be known, is the following:

Smoke kills, not nicotine

Traditional cigarettes are not in the tobacco because of their relatively small quantities present specific “carcinogens” and “toxins” deadly, but because smokers inhale huge amounts of smoke, combustion products. It is the inhaled smoke kills, because cancer in various forms, as well as cardiovascular diseases, lung diseases and many other triggers.

The cigarette was widespread until the invention of mechanical production little. Only after the invention of cigarette-rolling machine, just before the First World War, sales have increased. Previously, tobacco was used relatively “safe”. When the consumption of chewing tobacco, pipes and cigars is inhaled is little or no smoke. Electronic Cigarettes changed all this.

E-cigarette smoker needs to be satisfied

The e-cigarette – a cigarette-like device that is composed of a battery, an atomizer and a cartridge – allows smokers to inhale to get their daily dose of nicotine and clouds to blow into the air (with little or no smell) to imitate the ritual and the sense to smoke regular cigarettes.

The FDA complained that the Electronic Cigarettes is a “nicotine-delivery system. Yes – Nicotine is highly addictive, and it is the nicotine that the smoker “keeps on the hook”. But the supply of nicotine without smoke is a huge health benefit for cigarette smoking (nicotine repositories of e-cigarettes are available in different strengths, and if the user wants it, it may reduce the Nicotine).

Other nicotine delivery systems approved

The FDA has approved other nicotine delivery systems in the form of chewing gum and patches. These systems were all failures unfathomable. The success rate with these tools to a Non smoking to be located, after a year under 15 percent. Millions of dependent smokers are thus condemned to a slow death. We urgently need other alternatives. But the FDA has now joined a long list of so-called health organizations – including the campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids “and” American Lung Association “-. Their motto seems to be common “stop or die.” Not only are these groups reject e-cigarettes, they also condemn other smokeless products such as sinus. Products that have a fraction of the cigarette smoking-related health hazards are bad for health.

Unilateral data collection

A product that provides almost all the “amenities” real smoking, one holds a cigarette in his hand, takes a train and a cloud can ’smoke’ shows. The FDA lacks evidence that e-cigarettes represent a health risk. It is already so desperate that it openly invites consumers to describe the adverse effects of e-cigarettes. The action aims at preparing a ban on electric cigarettes. Nevertheless, the FDA failed, users of e-cigarettes, who gave up smoking with the help of the call, to describe their positive experiences.

Cigarette smoking remains the leading cause of preventable illness and deaths in the United States. Any acceptable alternative for dependent smokers should be taken seriously. Instead of condemning the Electronic Cigarettes premature, the FDA should encourage studies dealing with the safety and effect of electric cigarettes. Until this is done, should e-cigarettes remain on the market?

Kynar is special material that is made from polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF). It is a pure and highly non-reactive thermoplastic fluoropolymer. It is used for many different purposes, primarily service applications in wire installation, jacketing, and chemical handling. It has amazing cut-through properties and abrasion resistance, which is combined with high dielectric strength. This dense, high-purity plastic is incredibly resistant to the vast majority of industrial chemicals, fuels, and solvents.

Some of the more notable features of Kynar are: resistance to high temperatures (up to 300° F), amazing resistance to abrasion, non-burning, good mechanical strength, excellent resistance to chemicals, transparency, impressive dielectric strength, semi-rigid, and has outstanding UV resistance. Due to its remarkable properties, this special plastic is utilized in the manufacturing of many products.

Furthermore, Kynar resin has also be used to create other fire-resistant fluoropolymer sheet materials, such as Symalit polyvinylidene fluoride. It is one of the materials that is often used in the building of semiconductor equipment, where protecting against production interruption and property damage is vital. It meets Factory Mutual (FM) 4910 Fire Safe Protocol, and offers noteworthy reduction in the risk of fire, and practically eliminates expensive suppression systems.

In addition, Symalit PVDF 1000 was the first thermoplastic product to meet the strict ASTM E-84 test for non-combustibility, and it is recognized as versatile engineering material, particularly ideal for the manufacture of components for industries, such as nuclear, chemical, petrochemical, pharmaceutical, metallurgical, paper, food, and textile.

It took more than 500 scientists and seven years of research, but the first global earthquake hazard map is now complete. How come it took seven whole years? Well, for starters, the scientists had to contend with forces much greater than earthquakes. Try politics.

The above image shows the pattern of major fault lines throughout the Americas.

Unveiled in San Francisco at the American Geophysical Union, the map shows that about 15 per cent of the Earth’s land is in zones of high or very high hazard – which the researchers define as a 10 per cent chance or greater of violent shaking over the next 50 years. Less than half of the planet’s land is considered a low hazard. But coming up with the numbers once the data were in was the easy part, explains the co-ordinator of the international effort, Domenico Giardini of the Swiss Seismological Service in Zurich.

“The standards by which hazard is done is completely different from country to country. It depends on when it was done, what philosophy they adopted, the quality of data that was available. It was this lack of standards that until now has stalled any effort to look at the global seismic risk in a homogenous way,” says Giardini.

Giardini recalls particular problems. “There were political boundary problems. For example in the Near East, the difficulty of having Syria, Israel and then Jordan and Egypt working together was very difficult,” says Giardini, who also remembers that India and China had never worked together, nor had Turkey, Iran and the former Soviet Union. He recalls the difficulty that grew from the international set of criteria that had to be used – which meant scientists from some countries, in order to comply with the new global standard, had to recalculate their seismological data. “It was very difficult originally, this is why the project lasted so long,” he says, adding that once a consensus was reached and once the scientists got used to working together, “things started to fly.”

Researchers were surprised to learn how high the hazard of earthquakes is throughout the African Rift.

Much as you would expect, the map – which specifically predicts the probability of peak ground acceleration, or an earthquake that most likely damages low-rise buildings – highlights some infamous ground-shaking hotspots, such as southern California, Hawaii and Turkey. But, since for some countries this was the first-ever seismological hazard assessment, the map highlights some new earthquake zones. In Africa, for example – for which there was little data – the hazard is much higher than researchers would have thought. And finding that data was a little harder than they might of thought as well.

In the eastern part of Africa, along the African Rift, much of the historic seismic activity had occurred in unpopulated and undeveloped places. Giardini explains that the hazards we are familiar with are a measure of our memory. Unlike in heavily populated cities, though, memory is short in these kinds of barren regions. In the end, researchers had to go as far away as England to find historic data on past earthquakes in the African Rift. Similarly, some researchers even looked in the Bible to find out the history of earthquakes in the Middle East.

With the new map, which was launched by the International Lithosphere Program with support from the United Nations’ International Decade for Natural Disasters, every country now has information on its own hazardous zones. According to Giardini, the map will be useful for engineers, urban planners and insurers to help regulate codes of design and construction. What the map does not measure, however, is risk from earthquakes.

Seismologists make a distinction between hazard, which is the probability of ground shaking, and risk, which is the probability of damage or of casualties – a multiplication of the hazard by the vulnerability of the building. So Giardini cautions that just because you may live in a high hazard region is no reason to start packing your bags – after all, he says, there are very few completely safe places to live. Instead, cities can limit the impact of an earthquake.

“Now a society can live with earthquakes as it can live with volcanoes, but it has to be prepared for that. So in itself, the hazard can be high, but not necessarily the risk. If you live in a well-built house and your infrastructure is up to standards, then you can live with earthquakes,” says Giardini, who adds, that the difficult part is getting the entire world to achieve this.

How do you cope, working when it’s that cold? The answer, according to Auld, is one familiar to many Canadians: dress for it.

BAS scientists recorded weather conditions every three hours throughout the Antarctic winter (Photo courtesy BAS)

“Snow boots, thick and thin pairs of socks, thermal underwear, t-shirt,” Auld lists as the normal first layer worn. “Light fleece, thick fleece (moleskin trousers were preferred to fleece tracksuit bottoms). The outer layer depended on the weather. A thick cotton ventile top and bottoms for windy weather, a thick protective VR jacket and trousers for manual work, or a duvet style ‘doo suit’ for cold skidoo trips. Hat, fleece headover, thin and thick pairs of gloves, goggles (clear lens for winter, dark for summer), and sunscreen.”

Auld was at Halley’s base as part of an atmospheric study, setting up experiments to look at atmospheric chemistry, glaciology and meteorology, collecting snow and air samples and recording the weather every three hours. Working in a team of three, Auld and her colleagues covered the 24-hour shift.

And it could get really cold.

Close quarters can be more of a challenge to researchers than cold air

“The coldest temperature recorded while I was south was negative 51.2 Celcius,” Auld recalls. “The only work I did at this temperature was a quick trip to the meteorological station to record the temperature and check all instruments were working! Below -40C I found it becomes painful to breathe as the moisture on the hairs of my nose and mouth froze instantly. To help avoid this I wore a neoprene face mask (very kinky!).”

So what’s negative 51.2 feel like with the windchill factored in? Warmer.

“Unlike more normal conditions where there is a decrease in temperature with height, in the Antarctic winter the opposite is true,” explains Auld. “It is colder at the surface than maybe 500 metres above it, [because] snow is, obviously, always cold and cools the surface air above it. Furthur away from the ground there is less cooling effect. So the coldest conditions are when it is calm and clear. When fronts or depressions pass over the base, they bring strong winds which mix up the atmosphere allowing the warmer air above to reach the surface. So even in the middle of winter, with 40 knots of wind, it may bring the temperature up to -10 celcius.”

Auld insists that on a sunny day, you could work in a T-shirt and shorts so long as you keep moving. But for three months out of the year the Sun never rises in Antarctica at all. During those cold, sunless months, the scientists would find their way by the light of the Moon and the stars — or torches on cloudy days.

Despite everything, Antarctica is the perfect laboratory (Photo courtesy BAS)

“Base work was kept to an absolute minimum, with full preparation for the winter months completed in autumn,” Auld says. “Chefs and radio operators had little need to go outside, while the meteorologists, upper atmospheric engineers and vehicle mechanic were required to walk to work everyday. Other [people doing] jobs such as steel erector and field guide were occasionally required to complete grueling tasks in adverse conditions.”

However, their refuge stayed toasty. The heavily-insulated timber and steel living quarters were powered by generators, and kept at a comfortable 20 degrees C. It consisted of a kitchen, dining room, lounge (with TV, small bar and pool table!) library, dark room and computer room, and small pit bedrooms, and was built on stilts five meters off the ground, to prevent being buried in drifting snow.

But even though temperatures inside the rooms were usually a comfortable 20 degrees Celsius, the atmosphere could be frostier than outside.

“The daily challenge of living in isolation with the same 15 people for 10 months of the year, three of which are in darkness, is the biggest challenge I faced,” Auld says. “Coping with the frustrations of personality clashes, even if the clash is between others, and little personal space can leave you feeling surprisingly lonely. And yet I find I have met some of my best friends while ’south.’”

And there were opportunities to “get away from it all” and visit the penguins.

“We had a small caboose that slept two or four, situated just one kilometre away from the base that people used for weekend retreats,” Auld explains. “On top of this our main relaxation was the field training trips where we would skidoo out to camp and then trek around the area looking for climbing areas, and visit the penguins. And darkroom photography development was also extremely popular.”

Sometimes nature itself was all it took to coax the staff out into the cold.

“The aurora could be guaranteed to get everyone outside, whatever the weather or time of night,” Auld says.

Could anyone survive work as an Antarctic researcher? Auld admits that she’s not too fussy about temperature, so long as it’s sunny, and she has the right gear to enjoy some type of sporting activity in whatever environment she’s in — so she may be more adaptable to the work.

“I found that walking to and from work every day reminded me just how fragile and quite frankly, odd, this world is,” says Auld. “The diversity of landscape and of people the world over is truly fantastic. I was constantly busy when working in the Antarctic and I enjoyed the reality of working to survive, having to think where you’re water is coming from daily, whether there’s enough fuel to last the cold spell.”

And for a scientist, it may be the most perfect of work spaces.

“I have heard numerous people say it, and I have to agree, that the Antarctic is the perfect laboratory,” Auld points out. “For my area of research it is about as controlled a situation as can be found. It is remote, flat, dark, and cold, with little if any anthropogenic impact. What more could anyone ask for?

Contrary to popular belief – the effects of moderate global warming may not be all bad. For the first time ever, a four year U.S. national assessment has examined the regional impacts of global warming revealing everything from potentially severe droughts to larger crop yields for some farmers.

The report, Climate Changes in the United States, predicts that as greenhouse gases continue to rise at their current rates and trigger extreme climate changes, average temperatures in the U.S. may rise 5 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit in the next century.

The report’s agricultural section projects yield increases for crops such as wheat, barley and most vegetables in regions like the northern plains. But on the downside, this would mean using more pesticides and an increase in the threat of nitrogen-fertilizer runoff into bays. And yes, on a positive note, the warming may take some of the chill out of winter in some areas, but when temperatures rise in the summer, the warming may lure disease-bearing mosquitoes and other animal sources of disease.

University of Toronto geography professor Danny Harvey says some of the report’s more positive projections should not detract from the many potential dangers of global warming. “A small amount of warming could have positive effects, but if we don’t take preventative action then we will end up not with a small amount of warming but a large amount of warming,” says Harvey. “A one or two degree of warming may have positive impacts in some areas but, a five to seven degree of warming could have very negative impacts.”

The report used computer climate models to predict the profound changes that may greatly transform regions, like the threat of drought in the Southeast and increased rainfall in parched areas of the Southwest. But some critics believe that computer models cannot accurately predict the impact of global warming on a regional basis.

Harvey thinks that these skeptics are missing the larger issue. “The things we’re most concerned about depend on very basic fundamental principals,” says Harvey. “We can say that drought risk will increase in the interior of continents and that does not depend on the details of any models. The point is that there is an overall risk.”

Although the U.S. report was the first that examined American regions on an in-depth scale, Environment Canada has been examining the regional impact of global warming for some time. Recent study by Canada Country Study (CCS) revealed many possible global warming consequences for Canada, including floods and droughts in southern British Columbia and coastal erosion in the Atlantic region. The six part national assessment examined the impacts of climate change on Canada as a whole and suggested modes of action as well as issues that need further research.

Roger Street, director of the adaptation and impacts research group for Environment Canada, says both the positive and negative issues that were uncovered in the Canadian study have to be put into context. “Having temperatures warm up in the winter cannot be all negative but even from this perspective we have to understand what could be positive for one community may be negative for another,” says Street, the study’s lead coordinator. “Warmer winters might be good for some but what happens to those communities that rely on snowfall or winter recreation?”

Street adds that many of the regional effects that are projected in the U.S. report were also stated in the CCS – one of the main concerns being a fresh water shortage. Both assessments also project that rain will fall heavily in some regions followed by long dry spells, bringing about flash flood weather patterns.

Street says that one of our hopes for dealing with global warming in Canada lies in the rate at which it is happening. “The slower the rate of change occurs and the less the rate of change occurs the more chance we have to adapt and develop coping technologies,” says Street. “Slow change will allow natural systems and human activities to adapt to changes.”

You remember Velociraptor: it’s the smallish, but deadly meat-eater featured prominently in Jurassic Park and its two sequels. In the movies, this predator is portrayed as fierce, and cunning — a dinosaur as smart as a dolphin or chimpanzee. But according a prominent paleontologist, you really can’t believe everything you see on the big screen. In fact, velociraptor probably couldn’t outwit a modern-day lap dog.

“If we compare its brain vs. body size, scaled for weight, to modern animals, it is at the very bottom level of modern birds and mammals,” he adds. “Velociraptors are comparable to an emu or an opossum.”

So where did the ‘raptor get its intellectual image? Well, says the scientist, it was something of a genius for its time (the late Cretaceous period), even compared to its contemporary mammals.

But being a genius of the late Cretaceous isn’t saying much.

“They were probably a lot smarter than modern reptiles or snakes,” the paleontologist says. “But a cat, dog or eagle would probably be smarter than a Velociraptor. Dolphins are way out, and chimpanzees are vastly smarter.”

That’s not to say Velociraptor wasn’t dangerous. As he points out, a crocodile is a lot dumber than a lion or tiger but it will kill you just as easily. The real Velociraptor was smaller than it’s portrayed in the movies, however. It was coyote-sized with its tail comprising half its two-meter length. And it had lots more feathers too, probably used for display, making it look something like a really tough peacock.

However, there’s indirect evidence Velociraptors made themselves more efficient killers by hunting in packs. Paleontologists have found multiple, individual fossils of Velociraptor’s close North American relative, Deinoychus, along with a prey dinosaur they were eating, a finding suggestive of predatory team-work.

“The prey dinosaur is a herbivore called Tenontosaurus, a primitive relative of the duck-bills that was about ten times as big as each Deinonychus,” he explains. “The thought is Deinoychus would be too small to take down one of these guys individually, but working as a team they could have, like a pack of wolves after a moose or lions after a water buffalo.”

So we could extrapolate pack-hunting-ability to other dromaeosaurs — the group that includes both Velociraptor and deinoychus — although the scientist is cautions that it’s not a sure thing.

“When you look at lions and tigers, it’s hard to tell their skeletons apart, their bones are almost identical,” he points out. “But lions have very sophisticated pack hunting while tigers are solitary – and we wouldn’t know that from individual skeletons. So it’s within their ability, but whether Velociraptor actually did it is not established.”

What is established is how Velociraptor killed: a Velociraptor fossil has been found with what was going to be its last meal, a primitive horned dinosaur called Protoceratops.

“The Velociraptor has the head of the Protoceratops gripped with one claw and the other hand’s sickle-shaped claw is stuck deep in it’s neck, just a few millimeters from the bone,” he concludes. “So it seems clear that it would grab its prey and rip out its throat and belly with the claw. Although in fairness, the Protoceratops had the Velociraptor’s other hand in its beak so its final move would probably be to close its jaws and snap off Velociraptor’s arm. They would have wound up killing each other.”

OBJECTIVES
Grades 5 – 8
°Become familiar with the microscope and its proper use.
°Prepare wet mount plant and animal slides.
°Observe prepared slides.
°Study diffusion and osmosis using dialysis tubing.
°Observe the stages of mitosis and understand that nuclear division is an important part of the cell cycle.

Grades 9-16
°Prepare slides and study the response of plants to changes in their osmotic environment.
°Examine a mite that is a normal inhabitant of human hair follicles.
°Observe stomates in the lower epidermis of a leaf and use counts of stomates in order to estimate the number in the entire leaf.
°Calculate the time needed for one cell cycle. The learner will understand cell growth and reproduction that occurs through mitosis and cytokinesis.

SCIENCE PROCESS SKILLS
Observing
Comparing
Inferring
Questioning
Applying
Hypothesizing
Collecting/Analyzing data
Logical thinking
Modeling
Writing scientifically
Designing an experiment
Forming conclusions

AAAS SCIENCE BENCHMARKS
5A Diversity of Life
5CCells
6CBasic Function

STATE SCIENCE CURRICULUM FRAMEWORKS
Grades 5 – 8
4.1.9Describe similarities/differences between single celled and multi- celled organisms.
4.1.10Explain how cells use food as a source of energy.
1.1.13Generate conclusions based on evidence.

Grades 9-12
2.1.15Analyze how scientific technology provides new tools for solving problems in all disciplines.
4.1.20Describe and explain the complexity of cellular structure and function (i.e., organelles, biochemistry, metabolism, photosynthesis, membrane functions, cell division).

SCIENCE EDUCATION STANDARDS (NCR)
Grades 5 – 8
Structure/Function in Living Systems
Reproduction and Heredity
Populations and Ecosystems
Diversity and Adaptations of Organisms

Grades 9-12
The Cell
HeredIty
Matter, Energy, Organization of Living Systems
Evolution of Living Systems
Biosphere and Interdependence

MATERIALS
Compound light microscope
Water source
Prepared animal and plant cell slides
Methylene blue stain
Toothpicks
Microscope slides
Covers lips
Droppers
Microscopes
Paper towels
Microscope immersion oil or mineral oil
Cardboard sheet or stiff index card
Oil of clove
Geranium plant leaves
15 cm plastic ruler
Dialysis tubing
20 cc syringe
15% glucose/2% starch solution
(15 grams of glucose, 2 grams of starch and 100 ml of water).
(This is enough solution for six groups.)
Iodine solution
(90 ml of water and 4 ml iodine)
Glucose testape
Plastic cups (large enough to hold 250 ml of water)
Triple beam balance
Salt solutions: 10% NaCl
Distilled water
Living Elodea leaves

KEY QUESTIONS
1.How are cells structured?
2.Explain how cells grow and divide.
3.What is the mechanism for cellular reproduction?
4.How do diffusion and osmosis differ?
5. What is dialysis?
Activity 1- Microscope use [The instructor should demonstrate as the students practice.]

Care of the Microscope
1.Carry the microscope in an upright position, one hand under the base, the other hand around the arm.
2.Do not permit excess electrical cord to dangle; leave some of the cord wrapped around the microscope.
3.Clean the lenses each time you use the microscope. Always use lens paper.
4.Report any difficulties with the microscope to the instructor.
5.Do not remove any part(s) of the microscope.
6.Do not allow the objective lens to strike the stage or slide/coverslip. 7.To store the microscope:
A.Turn nosepiece to the lowest power objective.
B.Wrap the cord around the microscope.
C.Cover.

Identification of Microscope Parts Using the table and the microscope diagram that follows, find and try out the various parts.
PartNameJob or Function
Aeyepiece/ocularholds top lens, usually lOx magnification through which object is viewed
Bbody tubesholds top lens, connects eyepiece to
objectives
Carmsupports body tube, a handle for carrying
Dnosepieceholds the objective lenses, turns to specific
objective
Ehigh powerobjective contains lens usually 40x, longest objective
on the nose iece, greatest detail
Fmedium power objectivecontains lens usually lOx, medium length if
3 objects are present, greater detail
Glow objectivecontains lens usually 4x, shortest length to
locate some detail
HCoarse adjustment moves body tube or stage up and down,
IFine adjustmentThe only adjustment used with high power.
JStageSupports the slide
Kstage clipsholds the slide in place
Ldiaphragm iris or diskcontrols the amount of light that enters the
microscope
Mlight sourceelectric lamp that provide the light into the
microscope
Nbasesupports the microscope, and used when
you carry the microscope
Ostage opening/apertureallows light to enter into the objectives

Use of the Microscope when using the microscope for the first time:
1.Turn on the microscope.
2.Look through the eyepiece. The cicle of light you see is called the field of view. Turn the diaphragm as you look through the eyepiece. You should notice that the light gets brighter or dimmer. Adjust the diaphragm with each specimen to determine the be st setting for that specimen.
3.Turn the nosepiece to change the objective lens. You should feel and/or hear a click as the objective is moved into place. Always start with the lowest power objective.
4.With a monocular microscope only one eye is used. Learn to work with both eyes open. If you have difficulty, hold your hand over one eye. It will be easiest to look through the microscope with your dominant eye.
5.The compound light microscope combines the magnifying power of two lenses. Total magnification equals the eyepiece magnification times the objective magnification. (eyepiece) x (objective) = total magnification. The eyepiece is usually lOX, the objectiv es are usually 4x, lOX, and 40X

The following procedure should always be used when observing any specimen under the microscope:

1.Start with the lowest power objective. Lower it as far as it will go.
2.Place the slide, prepared or temporary, on the stage. Be sure to use a cover slip.
3.Center your specimen over the stage- aperture. Raise the stage while looking through the eyepiece until you see the blurry image of the specimen.
4.Adjust the coarse focus, then fine tune with the fine focus. Remember to use the coarse focus only on low power.
5.Switch to medium power, adjust with the fine focus. Parfocal microscopes can switch directly from one objective to another without danger of hitting the slide.
6.Switch to high power, adjust the fine focus.

Making a temporary wet-mount slide (Figure 1)
1.Place a drop of water on a clean slide.
2.Place the specimen in the drop of water.
3.Position a cover slip at an angle over the specimen and gently lower into place.
4.Place slide on microscope stage and examine under low power.

Questions
a.why should you use a wet mount slide when viewing living cells?
b.why should the coverslip be lowered gently at an angle rather than being dropped on top of the specimen to be viewed?

Hints for Successful Microscope Observations
PROBLEMSOLUTION
Field of vision appears blackCheck to be sure that objective has clicked into position
Image appears fuzzy or unclearCheck eyepiece. Rotate it. Clean if
necessary.
Dirty eye iece or objectiveClean it.
Inability to locate specimenLower magnification. Recenter
specimen
Lack of sharp imageCheck to see that cover slip is on top
of slide
Too much or not enough light intensityAdjust diaphragm.
EyestrainObserve with both eyes open.
Out of focusAdjust focus frequently.
Inadequate observationScan all preparations by moving slide from side to side and up and down.

1.Place a drop of solution (stain, distilled, or salt water, etc.)
2.On the other side of the cover slip, put a piece of paper towel under the cover slip.
3.Allow the paper towel to draw the excess from under the cover slip.

Rules for microscope drawings
1.Pencil with shading or natural color with colored pencils.
2.Unlined paper, use one side only, leave at least a one inch margin on all sides.
3.Print all labels.
4.Three to four drawings per page maximum.
5.Draw and label only what you see through the microscope.

Pulling solutions across a wet-mount slide (Figure 2)
Activity 2- Cell observation

Materials
Paper towels
Coverslips
Eyedroppers
Microscope slides
Probes
Razor blades
Toothpicks
Unlined paper
Food coloring
Cork and/or bamboo
Methylene blue stain
Two or more colors of threads
Purple and yellow onion
Pencils and/or colored pencils
IKI/iodine stain
Assorted prepared slides such as:
Amoeba, paramecium, euglena, spirogyra, ulothrix, cholella, butterfly winds, insect eyes/mouth parts/legs, ox neuron, frog blood, etc.

Safety Considerations
°Breakage of glass slides and coverslips.
š IKI and methylene blue are toxins.
°Care should be taken in handling and using probes, razor blades, scissors, and toothpicks.
°Keep electrical connections dry and take care while plugging in or unplugging.

Procedures:
Make wet-mount slides of the following specimens. Observe them first on low power then on high power. Draw a representative cell on high power and label visible structures. Follow the directions given previously for making a wet-mount slide and for a dding solutions to a wet-mount slide.

1.Crossed Threads
Position two different colored threads (red, green) in an X on a clean slide. As you practice focusing note that because they are at different depths on your slide, both threads will not be in focus at the same time. This depth of field will also be n oticeable in cells viewed under the microscope.

2.Cork or Bamboo Cells
Shave a thin section from a piece of cork or bamboo, make a wet-mount slide and observe. A bottle cork, an old bamboo reed from a wind instrument, or fresh bamboo may be used. Note that in the dead cells, you will only see cell wall.

3.Onion Cells
Pull off the dry brown outer layer of a white or yellow onion and discard. Peel off a piece of the thin inner skin from between the thick layers of the onion and place it on a dean slide. Be careful to keep the tissue flat and in one layer. Put a drop of yellow food coloring or a drop of IKI (iodine) solution on the onion tissue. Wait a few seconds and blot the excess gently with a corner of paper towel. The cell and its structures will show up better after being stained. You should be able to see the cell wall, cytoplasm, and the nucleus. The cell membrane is directly inside the cell wall.
To see the cell membrane, compare fresh onion skin with onion skin that has been peeled off for around thirty minutes. The old onion will have dehydrated and the membrane and cytoplasm shrunk toward the center.

Questions
a.what differences do you notice between the unstained and stained slides?
b.what organelles, if any, can you see in the stained slide that you could not see in the unstained slide?

4.Purple onion
Repeat step three using a purple onion. Staining will not be necessary.

5.Cheek Cells
With the flat edge of a toothpick, gently rub the inside of your cheek. Smear the collected cell debris into a drop of water on a clean slide. Stain using methylene blue, iodine, or food coloring. You should be able to see the nucleus, cytoplasm, and cell membrane.

6.Stem Cross-Section
Slice as thin a section as possible from a fresh woody twig. Pace the section on a slide and observe it unstained, then stained with iodine, methylene blue or food coloring ring. Repeat with an herbaceous stem. You should be able to see various cells and tissue layers.

7.Prepared Slides
Observe various prepared slides (see materials list).

Typical Eukaryotic Cell Structures

Cell Parts

Nucleus
Nucleolus

Nuclear envelopes
pores
Chromosomes
Cell membrane

E.R.
smooth E.R
rough E.R.
Ribosomes
amino adds
Mitochondria
Vacuole
Vessicle
Lysosome
Golgi
Centriole

Microtubules
Chloroplast

Cell wall

Cytoplasm
Size (microns)

5-7
2

0.12-0.14
0.125
0.0024
0.006

0.01-0.08
0.01-0.08
0.01-0.08
0.025
0.0008
1.5-0.5
0.1
0.1
0.1
1-0.5
0.2-0.4

0.02-0.05
5.5-2

1-1.3

whole cell
Functions

šcommand center for cell activities and protein synthesis.
šproduces ribosomes and RNA
šregulateslates material entering and leaving nucleus.

šControls heredity
š controls materials entering and leaving cells
š lipid synthesis
šprotein synthesis
š protein synthesis
šbuilding blocks for protein
š cellular respiration produces energy from ATP

šstores water,minerals, food, waste

š membrane bound sac transports material

š garage collector in cell, cellular digestion

špackage material for export

šanimal cells only, microtubular organizing
center. i.e. Mitosis spindles and asters
šstructure and cytoplasmic streaming

š photosynthetic center of cell, contains chlorophyll. plant onl

šplant only, made cellulose
šmost cell activities occur
Activity 3
Observation of an animal living on the human skin: Follicle mites

Purpose
To examine a mite that is a normal inhabitant of human hair follicles.

Materials
Compound microscope
Two or more glass slides
Two or more glass cover slips
Toothpicks
Microscope immersion oil (or mineral oil)
A thin piece of cardboard (back of notepad, etc.)

Background Information
Animals come in all shapes and sizes. Some of the multicellular animals with complex and variously specialized organ systems are hardly larger than some of the one celled protozoans. Mites of the genus Demodex are closely related to the spiders and ticks, but are so small that they can live within the human hair follicle and feed on the follicular cells and the oils produced by the glands associated with the hair. The two species found on humans, D. folliculorum and D. brevis, do not commonly cause problems to their hosts, in fact, they are far less numerous in individuals with skin disorders such as acne. In some older people, D. folliculorum has been suspected of causing irritation and a reddening of the skin near the eye bro ws and lower forehead, painful but not severe. However, the related mite that occurs on dogs, D. canis, can cause demodectic mange, a rather severe skin condition. Numerous D. folliculorum may be found in a single follicle, but only one D. < I>brevis is found in an oil gland. Passage of mites from person to person is by direct contact.

Procedure

1.Clean a slide and cover slip. Place one drop of immersion oil or mineral oil onto the slide.

2.With one hand pull the skin of your forehead tight. Taking the card in the other hand press the edge of the card firmly against the skin and scrape it across your forehead. Remember, you are expressing oils and mites from the pores and follicles of the skin, so the firmer the pressure, the more likely you are to find mites. Best results are obtained by using the edge of a glass slide, but extreme care must be used to avoid breaking the slide and cutting yourself.

3.With the toothpick, remove the oily mass you have collected on your car and stir it into the drop of immersion oil on the slide. Place a cover slip over the drop.

4.Examine the slide under lOOX and change to 400X magnification when a suspected mite is observed. These mites are small, but easily seen under lOOX. The 400X is required only to examine the details of their structures.

5.It may be necessary to make more than one slide to determine how much pressure on the card is required to express the mites. However, everyone has some skin mites, so given patience, success should be virtually assured.

6.Good hunting!

To observe stomates in the lower epidermis of a leaf and to use stomatecounts under high power fields of view to estimate the total number in one leaf.

Activity 4- Gas exchange and photosynthesis

Purpose

Background Information
During photosynthesis CO2 and H2O are used as raw materials in the production of glucose. Light energy and enzymes are required in order for photosynthesis to occur. As water molecules are split providing electrons and H+ used in photosynthesis, oxyge n molecules are released. Most photosynthesis occurs in chIoroplasts in the mesophyll (middle) layers of the leaf. CO2 diffuses into the mesophyll region through stomata (small openings) in the leafs epidermal layers. Oxygen diffuses outward through th e stomates during photosynthesis. During periods of darkness with no photosynthesis and only cell respiration occurring, the direction of diffusion is reversed. Water diffuses into the mesophyll region from xylem cells in the veins providing a continuous flow of water from root hairs to the leaves. During any period when the stomates are open, water will diffuse outward from the leaf (transpiration). Opening and closing of stomata are controlled
In this activity, a portion of the lower epidermis will be removed from a leaf, and the stomates, with the surrounding guard cells, will be observed and counted. The total number of stomates in the lower epidermis of the entire leaf will be estimated from these counts.

Procedure
A.Number of Stomates
1. Tear a leaf at an angle while holding the lower surface upward. The tearing action should peel off a portion of the lower epidermis. It will appear as a narrow, colorless zone extending beyond the green part of the leaf.
2. Using forceps, tear off a small piece of this epidermis. immediately place it in a drop of water on a slide. Add a cover slip. Do not allow the fragment to dry out.
3. Using the low power objective of your microscope, locate some stomates. Then switch to the high-power objectives. Make a drawing to show the shape of a stomate, its guard cells, and a few adjacent cells in the epidermis.
4. Count the number of stomates in 5 high power fields of the microscope and average them. Calculate the average number of stomates per mm2 of leaf surface. This can be done by finding the diameter of the high power field of view and then computing the h igh power field of view area (area = r2). To find the high power diameter, divide the magnification number of the high power objective by that of the low power objective. Then divide the diameter of the low power field of view by this quotient. The resu lt is the diameter of the high power field of view.
5. Measure the total leaf surface area using cm2 grid paper and estimate the total number of stomates in the entire leaf.

Questions
1. What purpose do the guard cells serve?
2. What are the structures visible in the guard cells?
3. Why are there more stomates in the lower epidermis?
4. Can you think of a plant that would have more stomates in the upper epidermis than in the lower epidermis?
5. What plant types would be likely to have the fewest stomates?
Activity 5 – Diffusion and osmosis The life of a cell depends on movement of atoms and molecules. One of the results of this molecular motion is diffusion. Diffusion is the random movement of molecules from a place of higher concentration to a place of lower concentration. The concent ration of molecules at various points between the high and low areas forms a gradient, which is known as the concentration gradient.
Osmosis is the diffusion of water through a selectively permeable membrane. A selectively permeable membrane allows the diffusion of certain solutes and water molecules and restricts the movement of some solute molecules.
When comparing two solutions, the solution with the greater concentration of solutes is the hypertonic solution, while the solution with the lesser concentration of solutes is the hypotonic solution. when the two solutions are divided by a selectively per meable membrane, water molecules move from the hypotonic solution to the hypertonic solution. The solute molecules move from the hypertonic solution to the hypotonic solution. If the two solutions have the same concentrations of solutions are isotonic.

Background Information

Purpose
This activity is designed to observe diffusion and osmosis through a selectively permeable membrane (dialysis tubing). A selectively permeable membrane will allow substances to diffuse at different rates. The movement of a solute through a selectively permeable membrane is called dialysis.

Part A: Diffusion 1.Secretly place a drop of oil of clove in the front corner of the room.
2.Allow the aroma to diffuse through the room until students begin to notice the aroma and comment on it.

Procedure

Questions
1.What part of the room noticed the aroma first?
2.What part of the room noticed the aroma last?
3.Explain how the aroma moved through the room.
Part B: Dialysis

Procedure
All of the molecules of a given substance are about the same size, but the molecules of different substances are different in size. Iodine and water molecules are very small, glucose is larger and starch molecules are very large. A selectively permeable membrane allows some molecules to pass and restricts others. Design an experiment to show dialysis.

Materials
Dialysis tubing
20 cc syringe
15% glucose/2% starch solution
(15 grams of glucose, 2 grams of starch and 100 ml of water) (This is enough solution for six groups.)
Iodine solution (90 ml of water and 4 mi iodine)
glucose testtape
Plastic cups (large enough to hold 250 mL of water)
Water
Triple beam balance

Procedure
1.Using glucose testtape, test the glucose/starch solution. Record the results in the data table.
2.Cut a 30 cm length of dialysis tubing. Soak the tubing in a cup of water for five minutes. Remove the tubing from the water and tie one end.
3.Using the 20 cc syringe, place 15 ml of the glucose/starch in the dialysis bag. Tie the other end of the dialysis bag leaving enough space for expansion.
4.Record the color of the liquid in the bag in the data chart. Mass the bag and record the mass in the data table.
5.Mix 90 ml of water and 4 ml of iodine in a cup. Using glucose testtape, test the iodine solution and record the results in the data table.
6.Mass the cup and its contents. Record the mass in the data table.
7.Place the dialysis bag in iodine-water mixture and allow the setup to stand for thirty minutes. After thirty minutes, remove the dialysis bag from the iodine-water solution. Drain as much of the liquid as possible from the outside of the bag back into t he cup. Blot the dialysis bag dry on a paper towel. Mass the dialysis bag and record the results in the data chart.
8.Mass the cup and iodine solution. Record the results in the data chart.
9.Observe the color of the contents of the dialysis bag and the cup and record this information in the data table.
10.Using glucose testtape, test the liquid in the dialysis bag and in the cup and record the results in the data table.
11.Calculate the percent change in mass of the dialysis bag and of the cup (% Change in mass = (Final mass – Initial mass)/Initial Mass x 100).
Note:If water enters the bag, there will be a positive value for % change in mass. If water leaves the bag, there will be a negative change in mass. The same will be true for the cup.
DATA TABLE

InitialInitialFinal% ChangeFinal
ContentsColorMassTestapeColor
MassTestapeIn MassContents

Bag

Cup
Questions
1.Which substance(s) are entering the dialysis bag and which are leaving the bag? What evidence do you have to support this answer?
2.Which substance(s) did not pass through the membrane? Give supporting evidence for your answer.
3.Did water move in this experiment? What evidence do you have for the movement?
4.Referring to your experiment, were you correct? If you were incorrect, rewrite it to account for your observations.
5.Was the dialysis bag selectively permeable? Give evidence to support your answer.
6.Predict the effect of temperature on your experiment of…

Increasing the temperature:
Decreasing the temperature:
 To examine the response of plants to changes in their osmotic environment.

Activity 6- Membrane responses of living organisms

Purpose

Materials
Compound microscope
Slides and cover slips
Salt solutions 10% NaCl
Distilled water
Living Elodea leaves

Background Information:
In a healthy plant cell, isotonic with its environment, the cytoplasm, chIoroplasts, and other cell organelles are pressed against the rigid cell wall by a large central vacuole filled with water applying turgor pressure to the contents. The size of the central vacuole changes as water passes into or out of the cell in response to differing environmental conditions. when the plant is in a dry environment, the fluid outside the cell becomes more concentrated (hypertonic) than the cytopla sm, water passes out of the cell by osmosis, the vacuole becomes smaller, and the cytoplasm shrinks away from the cell wall. This process of cell shrinkage in plants is called plasmolysis. The combined shrinkage of all the plant’s cells cause it to appear wilted. when water is taken up by the plant, the fluids outside the cell become more dilute than the cytoplasm and water enters the cell, the vacuole increases in size, the cytoplasm becomes pressed against the cell wall by increased turgor pressu re, and the plant regains its unwilted shape. Since the central vacuole is the first cellular structure to gain or lose water, its size and effect on the positions of other cellular structures can be used as in indicator of the osmotic conditions with the plant cell.

Procedure
1.Make a temporary wet amount of an Elodea leaf using water from the plant’s container.
2.Cover with a cover slip and observe the distribution of cellular structures (chIoroplasts will be particularly visible) under low and then high power. Best results will be obtained in the thin area where the leaf was torn from the plant.
3.Place a drop of 10% salt solution on the side of the cover slip. On the other side of the cover slip, put a piece of paper towel under the cover slip (See Figure 2 in Activity 1). Allow the paper towel to draw the salt solution under the cover slip by c apillary action Observe the distribution of the chloroplasts as before. If no change occurs within a few minutes add another drop of 10% salt solution and draw it under the cover slip as before. Continue to observe the cells for up to 15 minutes.

Questions
1.Why do we use water from the plant’s container?
2.What changes would you expect to observe? what do you observe? Explain the results.
3.Is the 10% salt solution hypertonic or hypotonic to cellular contents?

Procedure
4.Place a drop of distilled water at the edge of the cover slip and draw it under the cover slip by capillary action, as before. Continue to add distilled water while observing the cells for changes in vacuole size for up to 15 minutes.

Questions
1.How is the salt concentration of the medium surrounding the leaf?
2.What do you expect to observe in the cells? what do you observe? Explain.

Activity 7- The cell cycle To identify cell cycle stages and estimate the time needed for one cell cycle.

Purpose

Background Information
The cell cycle includes both the period of time for the division of the nucleus (mitosis) and the period of time for cell growth and chromosome duplication. Interphase is the cell cycle stage between mitotic divisions during which cell growth and chromosome duplication occurs. Mitosis includes four cell cycle stages: prophase, metaphase, anaphase, and telophase. During prophase, the chromosomes become distinguishable as they condense. A spindle forms, and the nuclear membrane br eaks down. During metaphase, the chromosomes become arranged near the center of the cell. The chromatids of the chromosomes separate and move to opposite ends of the cell in anaphase. Cell division is completed in telophase as the cy toplasm divides (cytokinesis), the nuclear membrane reforms, and the two daughter cells separate.
Cell division in plants occurs in meristem tissue located in buds, cambium, and root tips. Of these regions of growth, the greatest number of dividing cells can be seen at the root tip. You will observe sections of Allium (onion) root tip. Toward t he main plant body the cells have grown to full length and are no longer dividing. Near the root tip, however, is the root apical meristem, a region of rapid cell division. Among the small cells of the root meristem you should be able to find cells in all stages of the cell cycle.
Unllke plants, which grow only in certain areas, animal growth occurs in various tissues throughout the body. Some cells in the human body are continuous replicators or are cell populations that continuously run the cell cycle. Examples of continuous repl icators would be skin, gastrointestinal lining, bone marrow, and hair follicles.
Some other cell types become incapable of continued cell division and are called non-replicators. Examples of these types of cells would be brain cells, heart muscle cells, and skeletal muscle cells.
A third class of cells are the occasional replicators. These cells normally do not undergo cell cycle but are capable if stimulated to do so. The most popular example of this kind of replicator is the liver cell. Liver cells normally do not divide. Howe ver, if part of the liver is surgically removed, the “stump” can regenerate the missing part by the re-initiation of the cell cycle in the “stump” liver cells. The cell cycle continues until there is complete replacement of what was surgically removed. As an animal matures, its rate of cell division declines; therefore, cell division is most common in embryos shortly after fertilization. For these observations, use a prepared slide of a whitefish blastula (a blastula is an early stage in development). A t this stage, the embryo is largely a mass of dividing cells. Four slices of about one hundred cells each were placed on each slide and stained. Among these sections you can find cells in all of the stages of the cell cycle.

Part A: Identification of the mitotic phases

Procedure

1.Using the Allium root tip slide, locate, sketch, and label cells in interphase, prophase, metaphase, anaphase, and telophase. Also notice the manner of cytokinesis, i.e., the formation of a new cell wall, called a cell plate, between the t wo new nuclei.
2.Using the whitefish blastula slide, locate, sketch, and label cells with nuclei in interphase, prophase, metaphase, anaphase, and telophase.

Part B: Calculation of cell cycle time
The chemical colchicine stops nuclear divisions at metaphase, but affects no other stage of the cell cycle. This can be used in attempts to determine the time needed for a full turn of the cell cycle. This can be used in attempts to determine t he time needed for a full turn of the cell cycle. First, the percentage of nuclei in metaphase of untreated tissue is determined (This value is about 1%). Living material is then treated for a specific time of 30 minutes (T) with colchicine. Slides of t he colchicine treated material are prepared, and again the percentage of metaphase nuclei is determined. The change in percentage over this specific time (T) relates to the overall time of the cell cycle as follows:

_____ % metaphase (colchicine treated cells)

_____-1% metaphase (normal cells)
=Q
T(time) = Q % of total cycle

Therefore, T/Q % = time of entire cell cycle

For example, if cells were treated for 30 minutes and (% treated) – (% normal) = 20%, then T/Q = 30 min/0.20 = 150 minutes for the entire cell cycle.

Procedure
1.The slides available in lab are of onion root tips treated for 30 minutes with colchicine. In normal tissue the percentage of nuclei in metaphase would be 1%. Two students work together, one as an observer and one as a recorder. The observer ranges up and down three central vertical rows of cells visible within the field at one time and identifies the cell cycle stage for each cell. The recorder records the data in the table below. Four such field counts should be made, with the observer and recorde r changing roles alter the second count. It is suggested that only the three most central rows be counted in each field.

Field Count

Phase1234Totals

prophase
_______________________________________________________________

metaphase
_______________________________________________________________

anaphase
_______________________________________________________________

telophase
_______________________________________________________________

interphase
_______________________________________________________________

Sum of all totals = ______ 2.Now divide the total of all metaphase cells by the total of all phases combined. This gives the percentage of 30 minute colchicine treated cells in metaphase. From this, subtract 1%, the percentage of untreated cells in metaphase. The normal length of the cell cycle can be calculated as shown above.

The length of the cell cycle for onion root tip cells is ___________

 a complication in the relationship between strings and spacetime. String theory does not predict that the Einstein equations are obeyed exactly. String theory adds an infinite series of corrections to the theory of gravity. Under normal circumstances, if we only look at distance scales much larger than a string, then these corrections are not measurable. But as the distance scale gets smaller, these corrections become larger until the Einstein equation no longer adequately describes the result.
    In fact, when these correction terms become large, there is no spacetime geometry that is guaranteed to describe the result. The equations for determining the spacetime geometry become impossible to solve except under very strict symmetry conditions, such as unbroken supersymmetry, where the large correction terms can be made to vanish or cancel each other out.

The subject of the existence and properties of time has been a problem for many philosophers. John McTaggart Ellis McTaggart argued that anything existent cannot possess the characteristic of being in time. McTaggart’s rationale is that “nothing that exists can be temporal, and that therefore time is unreal.”[1] McTaggart begins by defining two ways of representing time, and then showing how these models are not appropriate. He holds that change is essential to time, and looks for this change in the events which he proposes make up time, not in the objects present in time. McTaggart looks for change in the wrong place, and attempts to prove that time cannot exist by showing how inappropriate models of time cannot be properly explained.

McTaggart’s argument begins by misrepresenting Kant. He states that “In philosophy, time is treated as unreal … by Kant …”[2] Continuing, he contends that there are no things to which either of two sets of temporal relations apply. The first set, the “A-series” of time uses relations such as past, present, and future; the “B- series” relates events in time as “earlier than” or “later than”. McTaggart asserts that these are the only two ways to order events in time. He terms all the “simultaneous contents of a single position [on the time line]” a group, and this group he considers to be a compound substance. This compound substance which consists of individual events may also be considered an event itself. McTaggart continues to argue that the B-series alone is inadequate to describe time. The A-series must be essential to time, McTaggart states, because the only events we perceive are those which are in the present, an A-series attribute. McTaggart’s argument begins: The B-series alone cannot account for change, because events which are earlier (or later) than other events will always be thus. McTaggart states, “The B-series depends on permanent relations, no moment could ever cease to be, nor could it become another moment.”[3] The death of Queen Anne, McTaggart purports, is static in that every characteristic of it never changes. The only characteristics relating to such an event which may change are whether it is in the future or the past (or in the present for a brief moment). Thus, change can only be found in the A-series.

McTaggart presents an argument put forth by Russell. Russell suggests that McTaggart is looking in the wrong place for change; change is in the objects, not the events. The example of a poker which is hot at one time and not hot at another if presented. Russell purports that the change is in the quality of the poker between the two times, while both events (ie. the poker being hot or not hot) are static. McTaggart agrees that Russell’s example does show change, but disqualifies it because it presupposes the existence of time. Russell’s tenseless view of time does not allow for an A-series, but McTaggart believes that the A-series is essential to time. Thus, the poker cannot be hot at one time and not hot at another, because there is no time. An alternative example proposes that the poker is hot on Monday, and not hot at any other time. McTaggart insists in this example that no change occurs in the poker itself, because it is always a quality of the poker that it is hot on that particular Monday and at no other time. To further prove his point, McTaggart introduces the Greenwich meridian analogy: “we can find two points in this series [on the meridian], S and S`, such that the proposition ‘at S the meridian of Greenwich is within the United Kingdom’ is true, while the proposition ‘at S` the meridian of Greenwich is within the United Kingdom’ is false. But no one would say that this gave us change.”[4] The essence of McTaggart’s A-series argument is summarized in the statement, “…no fact about anything can change, unless it is a fact about its place in the A series. Whatever other qualities it has, it has always. But that which is future will not always be future, and that which was past was not always past.”[5]

Returning to the B-series, McTaggart describes events as being earlier than an utterance, later than that utterance, or simultaneous with that utterance. He insists that such statements are always true or always false, and therefore no facts change. Thus, the B-series cannot allow for change. Since the B-series cannot allow for change, the A-series is essential to change, and therefore to time as well. To show that the A-series is contradictory, McTaggart states “Past, present and future are incompatible determinations. Every event must be one or the other, but no event can be more than one.”[6] If a given event is past, it must have been present and future. If one attempts to escape this contradiction by considering the past, present and future views of the same event as being distinct, then still each of these views of the event has pastness, presentness and futureness. The contradiction has not been escaped. Thus, the B-series does not allow for change and the A-series, which is essential to time, is contradictory. Because the A-series is the only way to account for change, by rejecting the A-series, change must be rejected as well. Rejecting change means rejecting time, which depends upon change, and the B-series, which requires on time.

While McTaggart’s argument may seem to support the contention that time cannot exist, this illusion quickly falls away under investigation. Neither his B-series nor A-series arguments support his conclusions. McTaggart’s initial statement that the A-series and B-series are the only way to represent time is definitely a debatable topic, but for the purposes of brevity and to add strength to my retort, I shall assume that they A-series and B- series are the only models. By grouping all the simultaneous events at a given moment together, and considering them as a compound substance, McTaggart changes the notion of time from a logical entity to a physical entity. This would mean that an infinite amount of time would have an infinite amount of matter, thus every piece of matter in the universe would have to be part of the compound substance of time. An interesting proposition, and a wise choice for McTaggart not to pursue it, as it is based upon a nothing but his own definition. If the compound substance representing all the individual events is an event itself, is the action of summing all the component events into a sum of events an event in itself? Then is the action of making this event also part of a larger summation of events? This implication would lead to an infinity of events which would spawn from the simple summation of even two events into one combined event. Once again, this is a risky argument, and while McTaggart introduced the possibility of it, he did not argue it.

Although it is not possible to properly describe Kant’s views of time in this paper, I will attempt to explain why McTaggart was wrong in believing that Kant felt that time was unreal. Kant’s general opinion of how we see the world is that we don’t actually experience the objects we perceive. Just like we wouldn’t consider a photograph of a chair to be an actual chair, we should not consider the interpretations from our eyes, hands, etc. of a chair to adequately represent the chair. In truth, all we experience is a representation of the chair. In his transcendental aesthetic, Kant attempts to reveal what is actually real through a two step process, “First isolate sensibility, by taking away from it everything which the understanding thinks through its concepts, so that nothing may be left save empirical intuition. Secondly, we shall also separate off from it everything which belongs to sensation, so that nothing may remain save pure intuition and the mere form of appearances, which is all that sensibility can supply a priori.”[7] By filtering out anything that is not empirically evident (like dragons and unicorns) and then filtering out anything that we can sense (like tables and chairs) all that is left is that which is common to everything we experience, but not as a result of that experience. The only remaining things after this filtering are time and space. Everything we experience has space and time. Kant continues to describe time and space as “pure” intuitions, but that is beyond the scope of this argument.

McTaggart claims that the B-series does not allow for the “present”, and therefore we experience time in an A-series sort of way, via the present. If we define the present as a time which is neither earlier than or later than the utterance of a given phrase, we can represent the present in a B-series system. Furthermore, the B-series can allow for change. McTaggart tries to refute this possibility by presenting a poker which transcends time. He states that a poker which is hot on Monday and not hot at any other time (this presupposes time as much as Russell’s argument did) has the quality of being hot at no other time than that Monday, and that is the quality of the poker. Returning to McTaggart’s previous claim – that we experience time in the present, and the present alone – how can the poker have qualities that extend over several days, past our perception? Even if the poker did have qualities past our perception, we would have no way to verify those qualities. Thus, for a poker to be hot on a particular Monday and not hot at any other time, change must be involved. McTaggart’s example of the Greenwich meridian further demonstrates his misconception. Assuming that time is one dimensional, imagine the Greenwich meridian being a time line. Call point S, within the United Kingdom, “Monday”. Point S`, not in the United Kingdom, shall be called “not Monday”. If time is one dimensional, and we exist at a single point in time, then we can imagine ourselves as observers standing either at S (Monday) or S` (not Monday) or somewhere else, but never in more than one place on the Greenwich meridian. If we stand at Monday and look around, we see the United Kingdom. Travelling to Tuesday, we see something which is not the United Kingdom. When asked if there was a change, we must say “Yes, there was a change.” Now imagine that we have broken free of our one-dimensional time line and we are now orbiting above the earth looking at the Greenwich meridian. We see a line drawn on the surface of the earth. Is there any change? Of course not, we are looking at a line that always spans the globe. The point of this exercise is to demonstrate that as long as we consider ourselves the be “within” time, and only able to experience the present, then we will see change as we move along a time line. If we are looking down upon time from a different dimension, we are able to see more than one point of time at once and will not recognize change. McTaggart clearly states that we only experience the present, but violates this statement with his example. Russell correctly stated that McTaggart was looking for change in the wrong place, and McTaggart’s retort only strengthened this contention.

In order to express the notion of change, it is not essential to literally state that change has taken place. If we state that a balloon is inflated at one instance and not inflated at another (earlier or later) instance, then change has occurred, without the requirement of A-series predicates. Thus the B-series can represent the present and does allow for change.

McTaggart’s claim that all events must be have past, present, and future determinations is simple to understand from a macroscopic level, but his explanation for why these qualities are incompatible is quite convoluted. It is quite obvious that from a single viewpoint, a given event cannot have more than one of these qualities, but nobody ever asserted this. Each event is past, present and future in relation to no less than three distinct events, and assuming an infinite time series, a given event is past or future to an infinite number of other events. An easy solution to any concerns over the multiplicity of infinities spawned is to imply that the past and the future don’t physically exist, they are merely representations. Thus, just like there are an infinite amount of numbers between 0 and 1, there are an infinite number of events both prior to and subsequent to the completion of this sentence. Prior to the completion of the former sentence, it was just a probability, and subsequent to its completion, it shall be known as a logical truth (this sentence is complete) but not anything physical. The confusion arises from confusing the sentence itself with it’s own completion. The same analogy can be extended to events in time. Events do not exist, it is their results that exist. The death of Queen Anne is represented by Queen Anne being dead just after being alive, but the event does not exist, we simply mark the time of the first moment of her being dead as the event of her death for indexical purposes.

McTaggart’s claim of the future and past and their events as actually existing is nothing more than assuming that things which are defined exists. One could just as easily argue that dragons are large, green and scaled beasts which breath fire and fight knights. Just because dragons are defined does not mean that they exist.

Conclusion

To defend his argument against Russell’s claim that he was looking for change in the wrong place, McTaggart misinterpreted Russell’s complaints and demonstrated how Russell’s arguments were incompatible with his own criteria for change. Thus I reassert that McTaggart was looking in the wrong place for change, and short of resolving McTaggart’s self contradiction, there is no defence. I have also shown where McTaggart went wrong by showing how his own Greenwich meridian argument contradicts his earlier statements. McTaggart does not explain why it is inappropriate for events to be related to an infinite number of other events via pastness and futureness. Indeed, he does not discuss whether or not there can be an infinite number of events at all. If one were to claim that an infinite number of events cannot exist, I have established that events do not actually exist, only their representations exists. Furthermore, I purport that an infinite number of events must exist. Much as there are an infinite number of numbers between 0 and 1 and an infinite number of points between two distinct points on a line there are an infinite number of events between any two distinct events. Time shares qualities with numbers and Euclidian geometry in that it is not a physical entity. McTaggart’s models of time as being part of a “block” universe, or frames on a reel of film obviously disagree with my arguments, but I have demonstrated how in order for time to be real, these models are inappropriate.

McTaggart, J.M.E., Time p.87 in Gale, R. “The Philsophy of Time” MacMillan, 1968.
McTaggart, J.M.E., Time p.86 in Gale, R. “The Philsophy of Time” MacMillan, 1968.
McTaggart, J.M.E., Time p.90 in Gale, R. “The Philsophy of Time” MacMillan, 1968.
McTaggart, J.M.E., Time p.93 in Gale, R. “The Philsophy of Time” MacMillan, 1968.
McTaggart, J.M.E., Time p.93 in Gale, R. “The Philsophy of Time” MacMillan, 1968.
McTaggart, J.M.E., Time p.94 in Gale, R. “The Philsophy of Time” MacMillan, 1968.
Kemp, N. translation Critique of Pure Reason (Transcendental Aesthetic).