Custom «The Solar System» Essay Paper Sample

The discovery of the solar system was one of the most phenomenal events in the world of science. The natural arrangement of the elements in the solar system, i.e. the sun, the moon, the planets, and the stars enabled scientists to understand how forces are generated that drive life on earth. The continued exploration of the space by various interest groups such as the NASA has led to the discovery of new elements in the solar system that were previously unknown. For example, for a long time people knew that the ninth planet was Pluto; however, the discovery of other planets soon changed the knowledge. This had a large impact on the previous understanding of the solar system. In fact, it implied that the space aspect is so enormous such as making meaningful discovery will take a significant amount of time.

Another significant discovery of the solar system was the space exploration exercise on planet Mars, in which soil and rock samples were taken to establish whether there are any possibilities of life in Mars. Recent discoveries revealed that there are unique microorganisms that were found in some of rock samples from Mars. This changed the previous knowledge that life could only exist on Earth. However, there is still a major debate regarding the discovery. Consequently, the concept of life in Mars has taken on a new interest as scientists continue finding out whether there is a self supporting ecosystem. A new solar system was also discovered in 2010 consisting of five planets and a star. According to the European Southern Observatory mission, the star is located more than 127 light years away from Hydrus (AFP, 2010). This discovery had a major impact in the scientific world because it has renewed concerns on whether there could be another world far away where life exists.

The Chernobyl disaster that took place in 1986 in Russia is a perfect illustration of how the exploitation of natural resources can lead to the occurrence of dangerous impacts. This particular event completely changed the ongoing initiative by many developed nations on the use of nuclear energy. The event took place at a time when the Soviet Union was at its peak; hence, it turned out to be a major setback towards there technological advancement. This accident came at a time when there was major strife between the western capitalist states and the eastern communist nations. The occurrence of the disaster led to the evacuation of people from the surrounding zone in which the reactors were located.

The occurrence of the Chernobyl disaster changed the scientific understanding regarding the far reaching effects of nuclear power utilization. First, scientists were able to understand that energy generated from such an accident can have long term impacts on the population as witnessed in the number of birth defects that followed the incident. In essence, the accident led to the emergence of renewed interest in the field of genetics. It became apparent that the effects are irreversible and this led to the disappearance of human and economic activity in the surrounding areas. For example, occupants in houses that were connected to the distribution grid of the nuclear reactors were also affected. The final deliberation was that future exploitation of nuclear energy should be strictly confined to commercial use. In this regard, future reactors that were designed such as in other Asian nations were placed away from the population and there were major regulations to control occurrence of genetic effects. Additionally, the disaster also led to the discovery of new remediation techniques that can be used to stem the destruction from nuclear energy.