Emotional Intelligence Academic Achievement Motivation Among Adolescents Education Essay

Emotional Intelligence Academic Achievement Motivation Among Adolescents Education Essay The present paper is an attempt to examine relationship between emotional intelligence and academic achievement motivation. It also studies the emotional intelligence of students with high, average and low academic achievement motivation. Sample for the study includes 105 students (48 boys and 57 girls) of class XII of Patna. The data were analyzed with the help of product moment coefficients of correlation. The findings of the study reveal positive relationship between emotional intelligence and academic achievement motivation. The study also reveals that students with high, average and low academic achievement motivation differ from one another on emotional intelligence. KEYWORDS: Emotional intelligence, Academic achievement motivation. ______________________________________________________________________________ INTRODUCTION The rapid development of the era is challenging the adolescents to face the wave of globalization. Thus, the ability to control the emotions has become important for not carried away by the flow of negative and evil elements. A high emotional intelligence helps to maintain a state of harmony in oneself and finally be more self-confident in dealing with the challenges of living and learning in educational institutions. Emotional Intelligence is a cross-section of interrelated emotional and social competencies, skills and facilitators that determine how effectively we understand and express ourselves, understand others and relate with them, and cope with daily demands and pressures (Bar-On, 2006). It is that part of the human spirit which motivates us to perform, which gives us energy to demonstrate behaviours such as intentionality, persistence, creativity, impulse control, social deftness, compassion, intuition and integrity (Kapp, 2002). Lam and Kirby (2002) are of the opinion that emotional intelligence involves perceiving, understanding, and regulating emotions. High emotional intelligence can contribute to a student in the learning process (Goleman, 1996; Elias, Ubriaco, Reese et al., 1992, Svetlana, 2007). Students low on emotional intelligence may find failure more difficult to deal with, which undermines their academic motivation (Drago, 2004). Academic motivation is defined as enthusiasm for academic achievement which involves the degree to which students possess certain specific behavioural characteristics related to motivation (Hwang et al, 2002). It is the orientation to the actions which is important to compel with the perfect standards. Goc (2010) has stated the factors affecting studentsà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢ achievement motivation as; effectiveness of the teacher, friends, the individuals attitude towards school, students perceptions about their own abilities, past experiences (positive or negative), the importance given to the students success, parents approaches towards their children and school. For many years educators, professionals and the public alike have been focusing on the intellectual achievement of individuals. In the past, perceived cognitive potential, more than any other factor has been seen as a predictor of academic achievement. It has, however, been established that despite an individual having the intellectual potential to succeed at institutions of higher education, he/she may experience difficulty dealing with emotional issues, have poor relationships, and be ineffective in his/her decision making (Goleman,1995). These observations, among others, have led to the realization that individuals from changing populations may require more than intellectual abilities to exist and thrive academically. All students experience frustration and failure to achieve their goals. They depend on the strength of fortitude to control their negative thoughts and feelings. If they are able to control emotions, they will achieve the academic goals as well (Dweck, 1996). Finnegan (1998) argued that school should help students learn the abilities underlying the emotional intelligence. This he believes could lead to achievement from formal education years of the child. Likewise, Abisamra (2000) reported that there is a positive relationship between emotional intelligence and academic achievement. He therefore canvassed for inclusion of emotional intelligence in the schoolsà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢ curricula. Parker et al (2004) in their study found that highly successful students scored higher than the unsuccessful group on emotional intelligence. In the same vein, Low and Nelson (2004) reported that emotional intelligence skills are key factors in the academic achievement and test perfor mance of high school and college students respectively. A study conducted by Rode et al (2007) predicted that emotional intelligence was related to academic performance for two reasons. First, academic performance involves a great deal of ambiguity. Second, majority of academic work is self-directed, requiring high levels of self-management. Therefore, individuals with high emotional intelligence would perform better academically. Similarly, a study conducted on children aged 4 years found that controlling the impulses of action have shown their ability in achieving good academic and good social skills when they are in their adolescence (Shoda, Mischel, and Peake, 1990). Contribution of emotional management to academic performance was also supported by research done by MacCann et al (2011). The results suggest that better educational outcomes might be achieved by targeting skills relating to emotion management and problem-focused coping. Svetlana (2007) suggests the need to incorpor ate emotional intelligence training into secondary education curricula, due to a significant relationship between emotional intelligence and academic achievement. The intent of this study was to examine the relationship between emotional intelligence (EI) and academic achievement motivation among adolescents. Scant research exists on the relationship of emotional intelligence and academic achievement motivation in India. There are two major reasons for this. First, the emotional intelligence [EI] construct is relatively new (Mayer Salovey, 1990). Second, a century of research on general intelligence and cognitive performance has overshadowed the role of non-cognitive EI factors that may effect academic achievement. This has led to a consensus among educators that cognitive factors, like high scores on intelligence tests, predict student performance in college (Jensen, 1998). Yet, many students still fail to live up to their true potential despite their IQ or previous academic performance. Conversely, some college students with mediocre grades have managed to complete a college or university education. Both of these examples suggest that other factors, specifically non-cognitive EI factors, may be at work. In essence, the importance of emotional intelligence on academic achievement motivation has been found to be very significant. Nevertheless, and in spite of the studies reviewed, there is still a need to further investigate the relationship of emotional intelligence to academic achievement motivation most especially in country like India, where most researchers are yet to show interest in the construct. Investigations that address the interrelatedness of emotional intelligence and elements of academic achievement at institutions of higher education will strengthen the relationships between these constructs. The research findings may also support the need to incorporate emotional intelligence curriculum into college academic programs. OBJECTIVES: The objectives of the study were- 1. To study the relationship between emotional intelligence and academic achievement motivation.* 2. To study emotional intelligence of students with high, average and low academic achievement motivation.* METHODOLOGY: The sample for the present study consisted of 105 class XII students. Out of which 48 were boys and 57 were girls. Simple random sampling technique was adopted to select the sample. Academic Achievement Motivation Test of Dr. T. R. Sharma and Emotional Intelligence Inventory by Dr. S. K. Mangal and Mrs. Shubra Mangal were used as tools for the study. High, average and low groups of academic achievement motivation were formulated on the basis of the norms set by the Academic Achievement Motivation Test of Dr. T. R. Sharma. Product moment coefficients of correlation were computed for the analysis of the data. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION TABLE 1 VALUES OF COEFFICIENTS OF CORRELATION BETWEEN EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT MOTIVATION Groups Sample Size (N) Correlation Coefficient (r) Total 105 0.275 Boys 48 0.225 Girls 57 0.344 Perusal of Table 1 shows that the values of coefficient of correlation between emotional intelligence and academic achievement motivation for total sample, boys and girls are .275, .225 and .344 respectively. It means that there is low positive correlation between emotional intelligence and academic achievement motivation among total sample and both boys and girls. It may be due to the reason that as they are better motivated to handle, manage and control their emotions, their academic achievement motivation also increases. The above finding draws support from the findings of Mahyuddin, Elias and Noordin (2009). They also found significant correlation between EQ and academic achievement motivation. However, Bissessar (2008) and Drago (2004) found no relationship between emotional intelligence and intrinsic motivation and achievement motivation respectively. * This objective was achieved with reference to total sample, boys and girls separately. TABLE 2 LEVEL WISE VALUES OF COEFFICIENTS OF CORRELATION BETWEEN EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT MOTIVATION Groups Level of Academic Achievement Motivation Sample Size (N) Correlation Coefficient (r) Total High 25 0.320 Average 71 0.198 Low 9 -0.320 Boys High 17 0.422 Average 28 0.104 Low 3 0.127 Girls High 8 -0.012 Average 43 0.200 Low 6 -0.770 Values of coefficient correlation depicted in table 2 reveal that there is low positive correlation between emotional intelligence scores and high and average levels of academic achievement motivation i.e. (= .320 and .198 respectively). Value -0.320 depicts the negative correlation between the emotional intelligence and low level of academic achievement motivation for the total sample. In case of boys, there is positive correlation between emotional intelligence and high, average and low levels of academic achievement motivation i.e. (= .422, .104 and .127 respectively). In case of girls, there is negative correlation between emotional intelligence and high and low levels of academic achievement motivation i.e. (= -0.012 and -0.770 respectively). Average level of academic achievement motivation is positively correlated with emotional intelligence (= .200) for the selected sample of girls. CONCLUSIONS There is low positive correlation between emotional intelligence and academic achievement motivation among both boys and girls that indicates with increase in emotional intelligence, the students are academically motivated. There is low positive correlation between emotional intelligence scores and high and average levels of academic achievement motivation. Emotional intelligence is negatively correlated with low level of academic achievement motivation for the total sample. In case of boys, there is positive correlation between emotional intelligence and high, average and low levels of academic achievement motivation. High and low levels of academic achievement motivation are negatively correlated and average level of academic achievement motivation is positively correlated with emotional intelligence for the selected sample of girls. IMPLICATIONS Excellent performance in academic is the key target and goal for each student regardless of ethnic group. In order to obtain good results, apart from effective learning techniques, students should be able to recognize themselves in particular of self emotions, so that it does not become a stumbling to success. Hence the need to identify oneself, emotional intelligence should be noted not only for academic interest but also for success in life. The key to obtain success of learning is to give full attention and concentration during the process of teaching learning. High level of emotional intelligence can help calm the mind and thus to increase the absorption of information received. As a result it will contribute to their academic achievement. It is recommended that studentsà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢ academic achievement should be enhanced with the use of emotional intelligence training. The inclusion of emotional intelligence as part of the curriculum could lead to a variety of positive personal, social and societal outcomes. Increasing emotional intelligence may not only facilitate the learning process and improve career choice and likelihood of success, but could also enhance the probability of better personal and social adaptation in general. The educational experience would be more balanced or holistic as it would focus on educating the whole person. There could also be beneficial effects for the institutions, improving the environment in which the educational experience occurs. Students need the ability to appraise a situation correctly, react appropriately in difficult circumstances and exercise stress tolerance or display impulse control when making judgments about academic decisions. Students need activities and advising sessions that help establish proactive patterns that increase awareness about emotional intelligence. The goal is to foster skills that lead to academic success.

Nature of Business: Genting Group Essay

Nature of Business Genting Group has twenty six years of experience in developing, operating and marketing casinos and integrated resorts in different parts of the world. It is the Malaysia’s leading corporation and one of Asia’s best multinational companies. Genting’s main niche market is leisure and hospitality services integrated in resorts. Genting’s first integrated resort is the Resort World Genting, formerly known as Genting Highlands Resort. The resorts and casino properties in Malaysia are ; * Resort World Genting, Malaysia * Genting International Convention Centre, Malaysia * Awana Genting Highlands Golf & Country Resort, Malaysia * Awana Kijal East Cost Golf, Beach &Spa Resort, Malaysia * Awana Langkawi, Spa & Island Resort, Malaysia. These integrated resorts are among the most popular destination for local and foreign tourist. In this facilities, Genting had provide casinos, hotels, theme park, concert show, Food & Beverages, retail shopping, golfing, cable car terminal and many outdoor activities such as eco-sport, jungle trekking, abseiling, mountain biking, and horse riding. In Resort World Genting, Malaysia for example, there are five hotels with more than 8000 rooms, 50 fun rides, over 200 dining and retail outlets, mega shows and business convention facilities. The five hotels are; * Maxims Genting * Highland Hotels * Theme Park Hotel * Resort Hotel * First World Hotel Until now, Genting had expand and diversified their market into many other product and services line includes plantation, properties, power generator, oil & gas, e-commerce, information technology, biotechnology and cruise liner. * Genting Power Generator * Operated by Genting Sanyen Power Sdn Bhd in Kuala Langat station. It supplies electricity to Tenaga Nasional Berhad, Malaysia, under a 21-year power purchase agreement. The first and only thermal power plant to provide  its own water supply and to supply steam to another industry. * Genting Plantation * Had oil palm plantation which spearheaded by Genting Plantations Berhad. Started since 1980 when they acquired Rubber Trust Group which owned 13,700 hectares of plantation land in Peninsular Malaysia. Further acquisition were made and acquire land banks and oil palm mills. Now Genting have a total milling capacity of 255 tonnes per hour. * Genting Properties * Genting’s initial primary objective is holding land based assets for long term appreciation and develops potential to the current strategic move to expand and market the Group’s landed properties. Genting began the project at Genting Highland Resort developing 83-unit Kayangan Apartment. The project was followed by the launch of 428-unit Ria Apartment and luxurious 320-unit Awana Condominium. Promoting Services and Educating Customer Genting had run many initiatives in their promotion of services and product lines. They are taking steps in educating customer effectively as a proof, everyone in this country knows about Genting and its services and product line. The sales and marketing department had outlined their responsibilities in ensuring to educate the customer more effectively and in promoting services. Firstly, the responsibilities of the sales and marketing department are; * Research, analyze and plan business strategies to achieve set goals and develop new ideas to secure more business/arrivals from new and existing target countries; * Constantly develop new action plans to counter competitive market environment; * Proactively drive and develop new business development opportunities, including new trends and new markets; * Market information provider to our various business units both local & overseas; * Able to effectively monitor all business plans and its success reporting; * To assist Awana marketing on evaluation coordination and execution of all advertising, plans and activities; * To assist Awana sales in ensuring all overseas arrivals are well coordinated and accounted; * To assist AVP on all road shows’ products presentations and programmes; * To provide feedbacks on sales and marketing activities  in various countries and markets to AVP on weekly and monthly basis; The list above shows how Genting had ensure that their services promotion mainly in leisure and hospitality will run effectively and could attract more customer thus increase sales. Genting’s promotion considered success referred to the annual reports published each year. In running promotion, Genting had used many mediums for advertisement such as: * Pamphlets * Blog * Website * Television * Social networking sites (eg; Facebook) * Radio Besides that, in empowering their promotion, Genting had also work with TOURISM Malaysia to raise their brands as one of the most popular tourist destination in Malaysia. Genting also had join promotion with the transportation company like Bus Company to attract more customers. They make the tourists’ trips to be more convenience by offering transport from the bus company and tour guides that will guide the tourist around the resort. Promotion had been done exclusively and excessively yet cost effective and successful. References * Genting Highlands Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/gentinghighland) * TOURISM Pahang official website http://www.pahangtourism.org.my/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=99&Itemid=188 * The Genting Malaysia Berhad (http://www.gentingmalaysia.com/default.htm) * The Genting Plantation (http://www.gentingplantations.com/)

Night World : Soulmate Chapter 16

It was a very long time before Hannah heard footsteps again. She distracted herself during the long wait by whistling songs under her breath and thinking about the people she loved. Her mother. Her mother didn't even miss her yet, didn't know she was gone. But by tomorrow she would. Tomorrow was May first, Hannah's birthday, and Chess would give her mother the letter. Chess, of course. Hannah wished now that she'd spent more time saying goodbye to Chess, that she'd explained things better. Chess would have been fascinated. And she had a right to know she was an Old Soul, too. Paul Winfield. That was strange-she'd only known him a week. But he'd tried to help her. And at this moment, he knew more about Hannah Snow than anyone else in Montana. I hope he doesn't start smoking again if he rinds out I'm dead. Because that was probably how she would end up. Hannah had no illusions about that. She had a weapon-but so did Maya, and Maya was much faster and stronger. She was no match for Maya under the best of circumstances, much less when she was weak and feverish. The best she could hope for was to get Maya to kill her while she was still human. She thought about the Circle Daybreak members. They were good people. She was sorry she wouldn't have the chance to know them better, to help them. They were doing something important, something she instinctively sensed was necessary right now. And she thought about Thierry. He'll have to go wandering again, I guess. It's too bad. He hasn't had a very happy life. I was starting to think I could take that sadness out of his eyes†¦. When she heard a noise at last, she thought it might be her imagination. She held her breath. No. It's footsteps. Getting closer. She's coming. Hannah shifted position. She had stationed herself near the mouth of the cavern; now she took a deep breath and eased herself into a crouch. She wiped her sweaty right palm on her jeans and got a better grip on her stake. She figured that Maya would shine the flashlight toward the pole where Hannah had been tied, then maybe take a few steps farther inside the cavern, trying to see what was going on. And then I'll do it. I'll come out of the darkness behind her. Jump and skewer her through the back. But I've got to time it right. She held her breath as she saw light outside the mouth of the cavern. Her greatest fear was that Maya would hear her. Quiet†¦ quiet†¦ The light came closer. Hannah watched it, not moving. But her brain was clicking along in surprise. It wasn't the slanted, focused beam of a flashlight. It was the more diffuse pool of light from a lantern. She's brought another one. But that means†¦ Maya was walking in. Walking quickly-and not pausing. She couldn't shine the light onto the pole yet. And she didn't seem anxious to-apparently it didn't occur to her that she needed to check on Hannah. She was that confident. Hannah cursed mentally. She's going too far-she's out of range. Get up! Her plan in ruins, she flexed her knees and stood. She heard a crack in her knee joint that sounded as loud as a gunshot. But Maya didn't stop. She kept going. She was almost at the pole. As silently as she could, Hannah headed across the cavern. All Maya had to do was turn around to see her. Maya was at the pole. She was stopping. She was looking from side to side. Hannah was behind her. Now. Now was the time. Hannah's muscles could feel how she had to stab, to throw her weight behind the thrust so that the stake went in under Maya's left shoulder blade. She knew how to do it. †¦ But she couldn't. She couldn't stab somebody in the back. Somebody who wasn't menacing her at the moment, who didn't even know they were in danger. Oh, my God! Don't be stupid! Do it! Oh, my Goddess! a voice echoed back in her head. You're not a killer. This isn't even self-defense! Frustrated almost to the point of hysteria, Hannah heard herself let out a breath. It was wet. She was crying. Her arm drooped. Her muscles collapsed. She wasn't doing it. She couldn't do it. Maya slowly turned around. She looked both beautiful and eerie in the lantern light. She surveyed Hannah up and down, looking in particular at the drooping stake. Then she looked at Hannah's face. â€Å"You're the strangest girl,† she said, in what seemed to be genuine bewilderment. â€Å"Why didn't you do it? You were smart enough to get yourself out and make yourself a weapon. Why didn't you have the guts to finish it?† Hannah was asking herself the same thing. Only with more expletives. I am going to die now, she thought. And maybe die for good-because I don't have guts. Because I couldn't kill somebody I know is completely evil and completely determined to kill me. That's not ethics. That's stupid. â€Å"I suppose it's that Egyptian temple training,† Maya was saying. â€Å"Or maybe the life when you were a Buddhist-do you remember that? Or maybe you're just weak.† And a victim. I've spent a couple thousand years being a victim-yours. I guess I've got my part down perfect by now. â€Å"Oh, well. It doesn't really matter why,† Maya said. â€Å"It all comes down to the same thing in the end. Now. Let's get this over with.† Hannah stared at her, breathing hard, feeling like a rabbit looking at a headlight. Nobody should live as a victim. Every creature has a right to fight for its life. But she couldn't seem to get her muscles to move anymore. She was just too tired. Every part of her hurt, from her throbbing head to her raw fingertips to her bruised and aching feet. Maya was smiling, fixing her with eyes that shifted from lapis-lazuli blue to glacier green. â€Å"Be a good girl, now,† she crooned. I don't want to be a good girl†¦. Maya reached for her with long arms. â€Å"Don't touch her!† Thierry said from the cavern mouth. Hannah's head jerked sideways. She stared at the new pool of light on the other side of the cave. For the first few seconds she thought she was hallucinating. But, no. He was there. Thierry was standing there with a lantern of his own, tall and almost shimmering with coiled tension, like a predator ready to spring. The problem was that he was too far away. And Maya was too fast. In the same instant that it took Hannah to make her brain believe her eyes, Maya was moving. In one swift step, she was behind Hannah, with her hands around Hannah's throat. â€Å"Stay where you are,† she said. â€Å"Or I'll break her little neck.† Hannah knew she could do it. She could feel the iron strength in Maya's hands. Maya didn't need a weapon. Thierry put the lantern down and raised his empty hands. â€Å"I'm staying,† he said quietly. â€Å"And tell whoever else you've got in that tunnel to go back. All the way back. If I see another person, I'll kill her.† Without turning, Thierry shouted. â€Å"Go back to the entrance. All of you.† Then he looked at Hannah. â€Å"Are you all right?† Hannah couldn't nod. Maya's grip was so tight that she could barely say, â€Å"Yes.† But she could look at him, and she could see his eyes. She knew, in that moment, that all her fears about him not wanting her anymore were groundless. He loved her. She had never seen such open love and concern in anyone's face before. More, they understood each other. They didn't need any words. It was the end of misunderstandings and mistrust. For perhaps the first time since she had been Hana of the Three Rivers, Hannah trusted him without reservation. They were in accord. And neither of them wanted this to end with a death. When Thierry took his eyes from Hannah's, it was to look at Maya and say, â€Å"It's over, now. You have to realize that. I've got twenty people down here, and another twenty on the surface waiting.† His voice became softer and more deliberate. â€Å"But I give you my word, you can walk out of here right now, Maya. Nobody will touch you. All you have to do is let Hannah go first.† â€Å"Together,† Hannah said, coughing as Maya's hands tightened, cutting off her breath. She gasped and finished, â€Å"We go out together, Thierry.† Thierry nodded and looked at Maya. He was holding his hand out now, like someone trying to coax a frightened child. â€Å"Just let her go,† he said softly. Maya laughed. It was an unnatural sound, and it made Hannah's skin crawl. Nothing sane made a noise like that. â€Å"But that way, I won't win,† Maya said, almost pleasantly. â€Å"You can't win anyway,† Thierry said quietly. â€Å"Even if you kill her, she'll still be alive-â€Å" â€Å"Not if I make her a vampire first,† Maya interrupted. But Thierry was shaking his head. â€Å"It doesn't matter.† His voice was still quiet, but it was filled with the authority of absolute conviction, a kind of bedrock certainty that held even Hannah mesmerized. â€Å"Even if you kill her, she'll still be alive-here.† He tapped his chest. â€Å"In me. I keep her here. She's part of me. So until you kill me, you can't really kill her. And you can't win. It's that simple.† There was a silence. Hannah's own heart was twisted with the force of her love for him. Her eyes † were full. She could hear Maya breathing, and the sound was ragged. She thought that the pressure of Maya's hands was infinitesimally less. â€Å"I could kill you both,† Maya said at last in a grating voice. Thierry lifted his shoulders and dropped them in a gesture too sad to be a shrug. â€Å"But how can you win when the people you hate aren't there to see it?† It sounded insane-but it was true. Hannah could feel it hit Maya like a well-thrown javelin. If Maya couldn't have Thierry as her prize, if she couldn't even make him suffer, what was the point? Where was the victory? â€Å"Let's stop the cycle right here,† Thierry said softly. â€Å"Let her go.† He was so gentle, and so reasonable, and so tired-sounding. Hannah didn't see how anyone could resist him. But she was still surprised at what happened next. Slowly, very slowly, the hands around her neck loosened their grip. Maya stepped away. Hannah sucked in a deep breath. She wanted to run to Thierry, but she was afraid to do anything to unbalance the delicate stalemate in the cavern. Besides, her knees were wobbly. Maya was moving around her, taking a step or two in front of her, facing Thierry directly. â€Å"I loved you,† she said. There was a sound in her voice Hannah had never heard before, a quaver. â€Å"Why didn't you ever understand that?† Thierry shook his head. â€Å"Because it's not true. You never loved me. You wanted me. Mostly because you couldn't have me.† There was a silence then as they stood looking at each other. Not because they understood each other too well for words, Hannah thought. Because they would never understand each other. They had nothing to say. The silence stretched on and on-and then Maya collapsed. She didn't fall down. But she might as well have. Hannah saw the life go out of her-the hope. The energy that had kept Maya vibrant and sparkling after thousands of years. It had all come from her need to win . . . and now she knew she'd lost. She was defeated. â€Å"Come on, Hannah,† Thierry said quietly. â€Å"Let's go.† Then he turned to shout back into the tunnel behind him. â€Å"Clear the way. We're all coming out.† That was when it happened. Maya had been standing slumped, her head down, her eyes on the ground. Or on her backpack. And now, as Thierry turned away, she flashed one glance at him and then moved as fast as a striking snake. She grabbed the black stake and held it horizontally, her arm drawn back. Hannah recognized the posture instantly. As Hana of the Three Rivers she'd seen hunters throw spears all the time. â€Å"Game over,† Maya whispered. Hannah had a fraction of a second to act-and no time to consider. All she thought was, No. With her whole weight behind the thrust, she lunged at Maya. Stake first. The sharp wooden point went in just under Maya's shoulder blade. She staggered, off balance, her throw † ruined. The black stake went skittering across the rough stone floor. Hannah was off balance, too. She was falling. Maya was falling. But it all seemed to be happening in slow motion. I've killed her. There was no triumph in the thought. Only a sort of hushed certainty. When the slow-motion feeling ended, she found herself the way anybody finds themself after a fall. On the ground and surprised. Except that Maya was underneath her, with a stake protruding from her back. Hannah's first frantic thought was to get a doctor. She'd never seen someone this badly hurt before- not in this life. There was blood seeping out of Maya's back around the makeshift stake. It had gone in very deep, the wood piercing vampire flesh like razor-sharp steel through a human. Thierry was beside her. Kneeling, pulling Hannah slightly away from Maya's prone form, as if she might still be dangerous. Hannah reached for him at the same time, and their hands met, intertwined. She held on tight, feeling a rush of warmth and comfort from his presence. Then Thierry gently turned Maya onto her side. Hair was falling across Maya's face like a black waterfall. Her skin was chalky white and her eyes were wide open. But she was laughing. Laughing. She looked at Hannah and laughed. In a thick choking voice, she gasped. â€Å"You had guts-after all.† Hannah whispered, â€Å"Can we do anything for her?† Thierry shook his head. Then it was terrible. Maya's laugh turned into a gurgle. A trickle of blood ran out of the side of her mouth. Her body jerked. Her eyes stared. And then, finally, she was still. Hannah felt her own breath sigh out. She's dead. I killed her. I killed someone. Every creature has the right to fight for its life-or its loved ones. Thierry said softly, â€Å"The cycle is broken.† Then he let Maya's shoulder go and her body slumped down again. She seemed smaller now, shrunken. After a moment Hannah realized it wasn't an illusion. Maya was doing what all vampires do in the movies. She was falling in on herself, her tissues collapsing, muscle and flesh shriveling. The one hand Hannah could see seemed to be wasting away and hardening at the same time. The skin became yellow and leathery, showing the form of the tendons underneath. In the end, Maya was just a leather sack full of bones. Hannah swallowed and shut her eyes. â€Å"Are you all right? Let me look at you.† Thierry was holding her, examining her. Then when Hannah met his eyes, he looked at her long and searchingly and said with a different meaning, â€Å"Are you all right?† Hannah understood. She looked at Maya and then back at him. â€Å"I'm not proud of it,† she said slowly. â€Å"But I'm not sorry, either. It just-had to be done.† She thought another moment, then said, getting out each word separately, â€Å"I refuse to be †¦ a victim†¦ anymore.† Thierry tightened his arm around her. â€Å"I'm proud of you,† he said. Then he added, â€Å"Let's go. We need to get you to a healer.† They walked back through the narrow passageway, which was no longer dark because Thierry's people had placed lanterns every few feet. At the end of the passage, in the room with the vertical shaft, they had set up some sort of rope and pulley. Lupe was there, and Nilsson, and the rest of the CIA group. So were Rashel and Quinn. The fighters, Hannah thought. Everyone called and laughed and patted her when she came in with Thierry. â€Å"It's over,† Thierry said briefly. â€Å"She's dead.† Everyone looked at him and then at Hannah. And somehow they knew. They all cheered and patted her again. Hannah didn't feel like Cinderella anymore; she felt like Dorothy after killing the Wicked Witch. And she didn't like it. Lupe took her by the shoulders and said excitedly, â€Å"Do you know what you've done?† Hannah said, â€Å"Yes. But I don't want to think about it any more right now.† It wasn't until they'd hauled her up the vertical shaft that it occurred to her to ask Thierry how he'd found her. She was standing on an inconspicuous hillside with no buildings or landmarks around. Maya had picked a very good hiding place. â€Å"One of her own people sold her out,† Thierry said. â€Å"He got to the house about the same time I did this evening, and he said he had information to sell. He was a werewolf who wasn't happy with how she'd treated him.† A werewolf with black hair? Hannah wondered. But she was too sleepy suddenly to ask more questions. â€Å"Home, sir?† Nilsson said, a little breathlessly because he'd just come up the shaft. Thierry looked at him, laughed, and started to help Hannah down the hill. â€Å"That's right. Home, Nilsson.†

Understanding Cosmology and Its Impact

Cosmology can be a difficult discipline to get a handle on, as it is a field of study within physics that touches on many other areas. (Although, in truth, these days pretty much all fields of study within physics touch on many other areas.) What is cosmology? What do the people studying it (called cosmologists) actually do? What evidence is there to support their work? Cosmology at a Glance Cosmology is the discipline of science that studies the origin and eventual fate of the universe. It is most closely related to the specific fields of astronomy and astrophysics, though the last century has also brought cosmology closely in line with key insights from particle physics. In other words, we reach a fascinating realization: Our understanding of modern cosmology comes from connecting the behavior of the largest structures in our universe (planets, stars, galaxies, and galaxy clusters) together with those of the smallest structures in our universe (fundamental particles). History of Cosmology The study of cosmology is probably one of the oldest forms of speculative inquiry into nature, and it began at some point in history when an ancient human looked toward the heavens, asked questions such as the following: How did we come to be here?What is happening in the night sky?Are we alone in the universe?What are those shiny things in the sky? You get the idea. The ancients came up with some quite good attempts to explain these. Chief among these in the western scientific tradition is the physics of the ancient Greeks, who developed a comprehensive geocentric model of the universe which was refined over the centuries until the time of Ptolemy, at which point cosmology really didnt develop further for several centuries, except in some of the details about the speeds of the various components of the system. The next major advance in this area came from Nicolaus Copernicus in 1543, when he published his astronomy book on his deathbed (anticipating that it would cause controversy with the Catholic Church), outlining the evidence for his heliocentric model of the solar system. The key insight that motivated this transformation in thinking was the notion that there was no real reason to assume that the Earth contains a fundamentally privileged position within the physical cosmos. This change in assumptions is known as the Copernican Principle. Copernicus heliocentric model became even more popular and accepted based upon the work of Tycho Brahe, Galileo Galilei, and Johannes Kepler, who accumulated substantial experimental evidence in support of the Copernican heliocentric model. It was Sir Isaac Newton who was able to bring all of these discoveries together into actually explaining the planetary motions, however. He had the intuition and insight to realize that the motion of objects falling to the earth was similar to the motion of objects orbiting the Earth (in essence, these objects are continually falling around the Earth). Since this motion was similar, he realized it was probably caused by the same force, which he called gravity. By careful observation and the development of new mathematics called calculus and his three laws of motion, Newton was able to create equations that described this motion in a variety of situations. Though Newtons law of gravity worked at predicting the motion of the heavens, there was one problem ... it wasnt exactly clear how it was working. The theory proposed that objects with mass attract each other across space, but Newton wasnt able to develop a scientific explanation for the mechanism that gravity used to achieve this. In order to explain the inexplicable, Newton relied on a generic appeal to God, basically, objects behave this way in response to Gods perfect presence in the universe. To get a physical explanation would wait over two centuries, until the arrival of a genius whose intellect could eclipse even that of Newton. General Relativity and the Big Bang Newtons cosmology dominated science until the early twentieth century when Albert Einstein developed his theory of general relativity, which redefined the scientific understanding of gravity. In Einsteins new formulation, gravity was caused by the bending of 4-dimensional spacetime in response to the presence of a massive object, such as a planet, a star, or even a galaxy. One of the interesting implications of this new formulation was that spacetime itself wasnt in equilibrium. In fairly short order, scientists realized that general relativity predicted that spacetime would either expand or contract. Believe Einstein believed that the universe was actually eternal, he introduced a cosmological constant into the theory, which provided a pressure that counteracted the expansion or contraction. However, when astronomer Edwin Hubble eventually discovered that the universe was in fact expanding, Einstein realized that hed made a mistake and removed the cosmological constant from the theory. If the universe was expanding, then the natural conclusion is that if you were to rewind the universe, youd see that it must have begun in a tiny, dense clump of matter. This theory of how the universe began became called the Big Bang Theory. This was a controversial theory through the middle decades of the twentieth century, as it vied for dominance against Fred Hoyles steady state theory. The discovery of the cosmic microwave background radiation in 1965, however, confirmed a prediction that had been made in relation to the big bang, so it became widely accepted among physicists. Though he was proven wrong about the steady state theory, Hoyle is credited with the major developments in the theory of stellar nucleosynthesis, which is the theory that hydrogen and other light atoms are transformed into heavier atoms within the nuclear crucibles called stars, and spit out into the universe upon the stars death. These heavier atoms then go on to form into water, planets, and ultimately life on Earth, including humans! Thus, in the words of many awestruck cosmologists, we are all formed from stardust. Anyway, back to the evolution of the universe. As scientists gained more information about the universe and more carefully measured the cosmic microwave background radiation, there was a problem. As detailed measurements were taken of astronomical data, it became clear that concepts from quantum physics needed to play a stronger role in understanding the early phases and evolution of the universe. This field of theoretical cosmology, though still highly speculative, has grown quite fertile and is sometimes called quantum cosmology. Quantum physics showed a universe that was pretty close to being uniform in energy and matter but wasnt completely uniform. However, any fluctuations in the early universe would have expanded greatly over the billions of years that the universe expanded ... and the fluctuations were much smaller than one would expect. So cosmologists had to figure out a way to explain a non-uniform early universe, but one which had only extremely small fluctuations. Enter Alan Guth, a particle physicist who tackled this problem in 1980 with the development of inflation theory. The fluctuations in the early universe were minor quantum fluctuations, but they rapidly expanded in the early universe due to an ultra-fast period of expansion. Astronomical observations since 1980 have supported the predictions of the inflation theory and it is now the consensus view among most cosmologists. Mysteries of Modern Cosmology Though cosmology has advanced much over the last century, there are still several open mysteries. In fact, two of the central mysteries in modern physics are the dominant problems in cosmology and astrophysics: Dark Matter - Some galaxies are moving in a way that cannot be fully explained based on the amount of matter that is observed within them (called visible matter), but which can be explained if there is an extra unseen matter within the galaxy. This extra matter, which is predicted to take up about 25% of the universe, based on most recent measurements, is called dark matter. In addition to astronomical observations, experiments on Earth such as the Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (CDMS) are trying to directly observe dark matter.Dark Energy - In 1998, astronomers attempted to detect the rate at which the universe was slowing down ... but they found that it wasnt slowing down. In fact, the acceleration rate was speeding up. It seems that Einsteins cosmological constant was needed after all, but instead of holding the universe as a state of equilibrium it actually seems to be pushing the galaxies apart at a faster and faster rate as time goes on. Its unknown exactly what is causing this r epulsive gravity, but the name physicists have given to that substance is dark energy. Astronomical observations predict that this dark energy makes up about 70% of the universes substance. There are some other suggestions to explain these unusual results, such as Modified Newtonian Dynamics (MOND) and variable speed of light cosmology, but these alternatives are considered fringe theories that are not accepted among many physicists in the field. Origins of the Universe It is worth noting that the big bang theory actually describes the way the universe has evolved since shortly after its creation, but cannot give any direct information about the actual origins of the universe. This isnt to say that physics can tell us nothing about the origins of the universe. When physicists explore the smallest scale of space, they find that quantum physics results in the creation of virtual particles, as evidenced by the Casimir effect. In fact, inflation theory predicts that in the absence of any matter or energy, then spacetime would expand. Taken at face value, this, therefore, gives scientists a reasonable explanation for how the universe could initially come into being. If there were a true nothing, no matter, no energy, no spacetime, then that nothing would be unstable and would begin generating matter, energy, and an expanding spacetime. This is the central thesis of books such as The Grand Design and A Universe From Nothing, which posit that the universe can be explained without reference to a supernatural creator deity. Humanitys Role in Cosmology It would be hard to over-emphasize the cosmological, philosophical, and perhaps even theological importance of recognizing that the Earth was not the center of the cosmos. In this sense, cosmology is one of the earliest fields that yielded evidence that was in conflict with the traditional religious worldview. In fact, every advance in cosmology has seemed to fly in the face of the most cherished assumptions that wed like to make about how special humanity is as a species ... at least in terms of cosmological history. This passage from The Grand Design by Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow eloquently lays out the transformation in thinking that has come from cosmology: Nicolaus Copernicus heliocentric model of the solar system is acknowledged as the first convincing scientific demonstration that we humans are not the focal point of the cosmos.... We now realize that Copernicus result is but one of a series of nested demotions overthrowing long-held assumptions regarding humanitys special status: were not located at the center of the solar system, were not located at the center of the galaxy, were not located at the center of the universe, were not even made of the dark ingredients constituting the vast majority of the universes mass. Such cosmic downgrading ... exemplifies what scientists now call the Copernican principle: in the grand scheme of things, everything we know points toward human beings not occupying a privileged position.