Elsie Said:

What are some questions that you may have about reading and writing?

We Answered:

Wow, this is a very large topic, so pick one sub-topic and stick to it or else it'll be way too long if you try to cover too many topics.

Personally, I like the aspect of pen names. Women and men use them alike. Romance is a women's genre with mostly women writers and readers. Sci-fi is a man's genre with mostly men writers and readers. People in general can be biased. Studies have shown that men will not buy a book written by a women who's writing in a male-dominated genre (sci-fi, for example). Sorry, if that was convoluted, but women who write sci-fi will not get many male readers because she's a woman. Men tend to think that women can't write sci-fi well.

Same thing happens with men in a female-dominated genre like Romance. Women tend to think men can't write good romance and might not read the book because there's a man's name on the cover.

What happens in both these situations? The author's use a pen name (a name other than their own). It's not uncommon for women to use their initials like J K Rowling when writing in a male-dominated genre. It's also common for women to use a completely gender neutral name or a man's name when writing. For instance, that sci-fi book with Jerry Miller's name on the cover, well, the author might be Jennifer Miller. Also, the reason for the initials with some women authors is because men will automatically assume the initials are those of a male author's, instead of a woman's initial, so they're more likely to buy it. It's no different for S E Hinton and J K Rowling, and many other women authors who write in a certain genre where the main audience might be boys/men.

It's the same with men. You might pick up a romance book with Jennifer Miller's name on it, but the real name behind it might be Jerry Miller. This is because men aren't known to be the romantic types, so it's easy for women to assume a man writing romance isn't a good thing and might not buy the book.

More on pen names: http://www.jh-author.com/pename.htm

Also, you can go into the aspect of how people choose which books to buy and read. Will a white patron buy a book with a black, or another person of color, on the cover? What are the differences between book covers in Europe and the US? Like, kind of cover appeals to each audience. You can get into how readers might feel when they see a cover that differs widely from the book. Go to Stephenie Meyer's website and look at the different covers of Twilight that's sold in different countries. The text has only be translated, so the content is still the same. On some covers, you'll see a blond Bella, even though in the book she's brunet. Why are these types of covers chosen, when they differ so widely from the book?

Annette Said:

I need help writing an essay with this prompt: Describe how scientists think life may have originated on Earth

We Answered:

Bacteria appeared on earth between 3.4 and 4 billion years ago. Precambrian evidence of filamentous bacteria-like structures, found making up fossilized sediments called stromalites, has been discovered in Australia and southern Africa. These fossils date back between 3.4 and 3.5 billion years old. Environmental conditions of earth 4 billion years ago were much different than those of today. It has been theorized that the atmosphere was a reducing atmosphere with intense lightning, tremendous volcanic activity, very little oxygen, intense ultraviolet radiation, and meteorite bombardment. These conditions made it impossible for any type of aerobic life to exist. The first cells may have originated by chemical evolution in an anaerobic environment.
A.I.Oparin postulated, in the 1920's, that primitive earth with its reducing atmosphere favored chemical reactions that produced simple monomers that eventually formed complex organic compounds necessary for life. Stanley Miller and Harold Urey tested this hypothesis by building an apparatus to simulate the conditions of the earth at that time. Their experiments produced 20 amino acids and other organic compounds including: ATP, lipids, some sugars, and the bases of RNA and DNA. The main problem of organic synthesis is how did these molecules develop without the aid of enzymes to speed up the reactions? Sidney Fox, of the University of Miami, dripped a dilute solution of organic monomers onto hot sand, clay , and rock. The water vaporized and left behind polypeptides he called proteinoids. Clay was abundant in prebiotic earth. Clay has the ability to act as a substrate for this type of chemical reaction. The charged sites on the clay attracted monomers in such concentrations to bring them into close proximity for chemical binding. Once these organic compounds were produced, aggregates of these proteinoids self-assembled into small spheres called protobionts. These small spheres were capable of osmotic swelling and shrinking and even able to produce a membrane potential.
Evidence to support the idea that RNA was the first genetic material includes: short polymers of self-replicating RNA have been abiotically produced in a test tube without enzymes. RNA has the ability to act as a catalyst to help make mRNA, tRNA or rRNA. The RNA folding is unique depending on its sequence. This along with mutations, creates a variety of closely related molecules. Through chance this self-replicating material was captured by the protobionts and the entire structure developed under the guide of natural selection.

Other Origin Theories:

Panspermia. Extraterrestrial organic compounds located on the surface of meteorites could well have contributed to the pool of material found on prebiotic earth. Modern meteorites have given up specimens of simple organic compounds such as amino acids.

Some researchers believe that life began on the sea floor away from the harsh surface environments. The discovery of deep sea vents showed the scientific community that the materials needed for life to begin were present away from the harsh surface.

Kathryn Said:

Trying to win a contest writing and responding to prompt about human space travel, where should I start?

We Answered:

Why not start at the NASA web site?

www.nasa.gov/home/index.html

Good luck