The purpose of this project is to better understand the effectiveness Term Paper

The purpose of this project is to better understand the effectiveness of the sling in hunting and combat - Term Paper Example Archaeologists give us a number of answers, one of which points to the use of sling. A sling may simply be explained to be an effective personal projectile weapon that was used in ancient times for purposes of protecting herds, hunting, and combat (York and York 2011: 56-59). Fundamentally, sling was used as a hand-on weapon that was fired by the use of the arm. Users loaded the sling with offensive pellets that included stones and clay. The carriers then spanned the sling in their arms till they felt they had gathered enough force or pressure in the sling before finally releasing it towards their enemies. A very popular story of the use of the sling is told in the story of David and Goliath, where we are told that David used a sling to project a stone against Goliath. There is a lesson learnt from slings here and that is, slings were very powerful weapons and once they were in the right hands, the size of the opponent or target was not a problem. As a shepherd, David was familiar wi th the use of the sling and so he succeeded. It is in this direction that this project is trying to find out how slings could be used effectively to accomplish hunting and combative missions even in today’s cotemporary world. Known history behind the sling Thanks to archaeologists, history behind the sling is fading no time soon. ... Again, history has it the use of sling can be traced to all continents of the world. Archaeologists today have, however, gathered more evidence on the presence and use of the sling in Europe and the Near East (Korfmann 1973: 33-37). What is even more beautiful among the role of the sling in world history is that up to date, the use of the sling are symbolically still in place in areas of the world such as Southern Africa, Pacific Island, Mediterranean and Andean cultures. The slings are used for traditional memorial contests, historical recreations and festival purposes. Much of the history also points to the reasons why the use of the sling started at all. In fact, the use of slings, though became very popular in battle, was not originally meant for that purpose. Knowing that man was basically living with wildlife in the forest in the days of old, the design of the sling was actually necessitated as a weapon for protecting man from carnivores and other dangerous animals that could a ttack them. The sling was found to be preferably for this course because it has the ability to swing its shot to chase the animals, most of which were very athletic. Materials and construction Even in the ancient times, the materials used in the construction of slings underwent a lot of changes. Generally, the weapon was inexpensive to make as its construction involved the use of readily available materials in the human environment. Basically, a sling was constructed to have a cord and a pouch. One ideal factor was that both the cord and the pouch needed not to be elastic. To this end, materials that were used in the construction included animal hide, flax, hair, hemp, plant fibers, sinew and wool. The ideal behind

Greenhouse Effects Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Greenhouse Effects - Essay Example However, an imbalance leads to varying degrees of abnormality leading to a change in climate. When solar rays hit a dark surface, heat is absorbed while the polar ice caps tend to reflect heat off. Every part of the earth absorbs and reflects heat differently resulting in differential heating and cooling of the earth. Elevated level of any the above mentioned green house gases can disrupt the balance which leads to increased temperature of the earth resulting in ‘Global Warming’ (UCAR, n.d.). What are Green House Gases? Carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (MH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), cholofluorocarbons, hydrofluorocarbons and sulphur hexafluoride (SH6) are collectively called as GHGs because they trap the solar radiation within the earth’s surface (Ramseur et al, 2008) What is the present level of atmospheric carbon dioxide? Why has Carbon dioxide increased since 1860? The level of carbon dioxide is increasing at an accelerating pace with each passing decade. The safety limit of atmospheric Carbon dioxide is 350 ppm (parts per million). However, since 1988, the level of CO2 has continued to rise. The current level of CO2 in the atmosphere is 396.78 ppm (CO2NOW, 2012). The International Energy Agency (IEA) reveals in its report that CO2 emission from fossil fuels hit 31.6 Gigatonnes (Gt) in 2011, just 1Gt below the threshold limit as predicted by researchers (Woodwell et al 1984). According to the energy Information Administration, there has been an increase of 25% of GHG emission since industrialization. What are some predicted environmental damages if carbon dioxide emissions are not reduced? The predicted environmental damages include rise in sea level. This may further lead to degradation of mangroves leading to environmental damages caused by cyclonic storms. Mangroves act as a barrier to wave off cyclonic effects into mainland. Depletion of the Ozone layer is yet another serious threat. Depleting layer of ozone leads to the penetration of ultr a-violet rays of the sun to reach the earth’s surface causing damage of soil properties, bio-degradation and causing skin cancer. Mitigating the effects of climate change can be accomplished by providing possible incentives and through CSR programs aimed at controlling the carbon footprint. Various Multinationals and powerful business houses are motivated to control this aggravating problem and thus taking steps to mitigate carbon emissions. Technological progress has ensured research in this particular field leading to a better understanding of the current scenario. Various software tools have been developed to mark the carbon footprint so that the carbon emission could be reduced by participatory management system. All these technological progress have been possible because complete data have been formulated into respective models of development (Green House Gas Emissions, 2012; Smith, Schellnhuber, & Qader Mirza, n.d.) In your analysis, how certain do we need to be about f uture predictions before acting on this problem? There is enough discourse on reliability of models related to climate change, since climate is a dynamic system. Climate change models are mathematical codes that are run on powerful computers after a series of observations. The confidence in predicted