What Are Geothermal Pools or Hot Lakes

Geothermal pools can be found on every continent, including Antarctica. A geothermal pool, also known as a hot lake, occurs when groundwater is geothermally heated by the earths crust. These unique and spectacular features are home to a plethora of species found nowhere else in the world. In addition, geothermal pools provide a cornucopia of ecosystem goods and services such as energy, a source of hot water, health benefits, thermostable enzymes, tourism sites, and even concert venues. Dominicas Boiling Lake Philip Dumas/Getty Images   The small island nation of Dominica houses the worlds second largest geothermal pool, aptly named Boiling Lake. This hot lake is actually a flooded fumarole, an opening in the Earths crust that often emits steam and noxious gases. Boiling Lake is accessible only by foot in an arduous four-mile one-way hike through the Valley of Desolation in Dominicas Morne Trois Pitons National Park. The Valley of Desolation is the graveyard of a formerly lush and verdant tropical rainforest. Due to an 1880 volcanic eruption, the ecosystem of the valley has changed dramatically and is now described by visitors as a lunar or Martian landscape. The fauna and flora found in the Valley of Desolation are limited to grasses, mosses, bromeliads, lizards, cockroaches, flies, and ants. The distribution of species is very meager, as to be expected in this extremely volcanic marginal environment. This lake is a gargantuan 280 feet by 250 feet (85m by 75m), and it measured to be approximately 30 to 50 feet (10 to 15m) deep. The lakes waters are described as grayish-blue and keep a relatively stable temperature range of 180 to 197 °F (approximately 82 to 92 °C) at the waters edge. The temperature in the center of the lake, where the water is most actively boiling, has never been measured due to safety concerns. Visitors are warned to be mindful of the slippery rocks and steep slope leading to the lake. Like many other geothermal pools all over the world, Boiling Lake is a huge tourist attraction. Dominica specializes in ecotourism, making it a perfect home for the Boiling Lake. Despite its physically and emotionally grueling hike, Boiling Lake is the second most recommended tourist attraction in Dominica and  is just one example of the strange power that geothermal pools have to attract visitors from all over the world.​ Icelands Blue Lagoon Cavan Images/Getty Images The Blue Lagoon is another geothermal pool renowned for attracting visitors from all over the world. Located in southwestern Iceland, the Blue Lagoon geothermal spa is one of Icelands top tourist destinations.  This luxury spa is also occasionally used as a unique concert venue, for example for Icelands famous weeklong music festival, Iceland Airwaves. The Blue Lagoon is fed from the water output of a nearby geothermal power plant. First, superheated water at a scorching 460 °F (240 °C) is drilled from approximately 220 yards (200 meters) beneath the Earths surface, providing a source of sustainable energy and hot water to the citizens of Iceland. After exiting the power plant, the water is still too hot to touch so it is then is mixed with cold water to bring the temperature to a comfortable 99 to 102 °F (37 to 39 °C), just above body temperature. These milky blue waters are naturally rich in algae and minerals, such as silica and sulfur. Bathing in these inviting waters are said to have health benefits such as cleaning, exfoliating, and nourishing ones skin, and are particularly good for those afflicted with certain skin diseases. Wyomings Grand Prismatic Pool Ignacio Palacios/Getty Images This visually stunning hot spring is the largest geothermal pool in the United States and the third largest in the world. Located in the Midway Geyser Basin of Yellowstone National Park, the Grand Prismatic Pool is over 120 feet deep and has a diameter of approximately 370 feet. In addition, this pool expels an immense volume of 560 gallons of mineral-rich water every minute. This grandiose name refers to the uncanny and magnificent bands of bright colors organized into an immense rainbow radiating from the center of this gargantuan pool. This jaw-dropping array is the product of microbial mats. Microbial mats are multilayer biofilms made up of billions of microorganisms, such as archaea and bacteria, and the slimy excretions and filaments that they produce to hold the biofilm together. Different species are different colors based on their photosynthetic properties. The center of the spring is too hot to support life and is therefore sterile and a beautiful shade of dark blue due to the depth and purity of the lake water. Microorganisms that are able to live in the extreme temperatures, such as those in the Grand Prismatic Pool, are a source of heat-tolerant enzymes used in an extremely important microbiological analysis technique called Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). PCR is used to make thousands to millions of copies of DNA. PCR has innumerable applications including disease diagnosis, genetic counseling, cloning research for both living and extinct animals, DNA identification of criminals, pharmaceutical research, and even paternity testing. PCR, thanks to organisms found in hot lakes, has truly changed the face of microbiology and the quality of life for humans in general. Geothermal pools are found throughout the world in the form of natural hot springs, flooded fumaroles, or artificially fed pools. These unique geologic features are often mineral-rich and house unique temperature resistant microbes. These hot lakes are extremely important for humans and provide a swath of ecosystem goods and services, such as tourist attractions, health benefits, sustainable energy, a source of hot water, and probably most importantly, a source of thermostable enzymes that enable the use of PCR as a microbiological analysis technique. Geothermal pools are a natural wonder that has affected the lives of humans around the world, regardless of whether one has personally visited a geothermal pool or not.

Beauty and Body Image Essay - 562 Words

Look at all the images we see with tanned, shiny, thin bodies glowing and shimmering; the women with perfect jaw lines, makeup, and whose faces that never really age for many years that have passed them, yet they stay as beautiful as ever. Does any of it make sense or sounds familiar? The results lead to many women spending thousands of money and time to make themselves a beauty queen. Toddlers, teens, and women are drawn into what the media portrays of an ideal woman: unhealthy and its body image. We are so caught up with the media and it’s â€Å"perfection† we see in it, it is self destruction. Toddlers and teens are being sexualized too much at a young age. They participate in beauty pageants. Their needs and wants are higher than usual,†¦show more content†¦It has become an obsession. We do things that make us seem pathetic. This is what has cause many children and women to develop eating disorders. Many women in the U.S. today have anorexia or bulimia. The y sometimes starve themselves so they can stay skinny or skip meals. The need of wanting to look like a supermodel and have a beauty image has gone over control. According to the article, Beauty and Body Image by Sammi Sweetheart, a teen who lives in New Jersey states, â€Å"When you’re thinking and wishing that you could look like someone or be as pretty as them regarding their looks we do things that aren’t so smart. This is what caused many women to develop eating disorders. It’s been researched that one out of every four college-aged women use unhealthy eating habits to manage their weight.† Not only it is affecting the women but toddlers and teens are as well. They are also skipping meals and trying to lose weight while they’re young so that when they grow older they won’t be what many people call â€Å"Obese,† or â€Å"Fat.† Everyone shouldn’t have to go through this to live such a miserable life. Imagine how many people spend just for beauty and time in a day to make them perfect. Many people are neglecting their love ones, children, their jobs, and most importantly themselves. People always say, â€Å"You know beauty comes with a price,†Show MoreRelatedBeauty Vs Body Image1772 Words   |  8 Pageshumans generally feel the need to be liked and accepted among their peers. The same ideal can be applied to body image and self-image. The term body image means how we view our own bodies while the term self-image is how we view ourselves as a person such as our personalities and appearances. The idea as humans we need to be liked and accepted by our peers can be applied to body image and self-image because these are the things that we change about ourselves in order to fit in with our peers.   What determinesRead MoreBeauty and Body Image in the Media978 Words   |  4 PagesReview Of Literature Beauty and Body Image in the Media ( Men ) Review – 1 From the , Journal of Marketing Communication Vol. 11. No. 1. 3-19. March 2005 Idealized images of the male body in advertising: a reader-response exploration BY- RICHARD ELLIOTT CHRISTINE ELLIOTT Warwick Business School. University of Warwick, Coventry. UK. Harris Manchester College University of Oxford. Oxford. UK Introduction : This is a study which particularly focuses on how men are beingRead MoreThe Effects Of Beauty Standards On Body Image1090 Words   |  5 PagesThe Effects of Beauty Standards Understanding the effects of beauty standards to both men and women requires research of both sexes and different orientations in regard to the influence the media has on them. While cultural standards contribute to beauty standards, media carries most of the responsibility for swaying public opinion of attractiveness. In order to find an answer as to why certain beauty standards currently exist, one must examine the root cause: media. Literature Reviewed First GroupRead MoreEssay Beauty Contests Are Bad for Body Image616 Words   |  3 PagesBeauty Competitions, or as some people call them Beauty pageants degrade women to mere objects. Such a competition is the exploitation of women by men and other women. If the beauty competition was based on skill or ability, that would be fine. But nowadays people judge them for their outer appearance. For example, if five people were running in a race, only one will win. There is no doubt as to who ran faster. There is also no need for anyone to judge such competitions. These competitions also affectRead MoreSocial Norms Of A Female s Beauty And Body Image1234 Words   |  5 Pagesthe damn red velvet cupcake.† – Emma Stone. The world is rapidly changing in the world of women. Even over the last decade, the role and social norms of a female has changed substantially. With that said, societies standards of a women s beauty and body image has a direct effect on teenage girls, leading many to develop eating disorders such as anorexia. There are two main types of eating disorders: anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. Both of these types are characterized as a major concernRead MoreDisney Princess Movies And Childrens Impact On Beauty And Body Image1297 Words   |  6 PagesSnow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Ariel, Belle, and Jasmin are all too familiar to little girls. These characters are often the response when girls are asked, â€Å"What do you want to be when you grow up†? When boys are asked a similar question, their responses are much more masculine, a fireman, policeman, or football player. This paper will focus on the Disney Princess movies and the role they play in shaping a young girls perspective of beauty and body image and what effects they have on children’sRead MoreEssay on Media’s Impact on Beauty and Body Image of Young Girls1917 Words   |  8 PagesIt’s difficult to envision a world where idealized representations of females do not exist. However, before the creation of the mass media, our ideas of beauty were restricted to our own communities in which we live. When photography was introduced in 1839, real-life images of faces and bodies were not exposed to society. The likelihood of someone owning a mirror during that time was very rare. Today, however, one is considered odd if they do not own a mirror. Today we look for any excuse to lookRead MoreEssay about Media’s Impact on Beauty and Body Image of Young Girls1638 Words   |  7 Pagesworld where idealized female imagery is not plastered everywhere, but our present circumstance is a relatively new occurrence. Before the mass media existed, our ideas of beauty were restricted to our own communities. Until the introduction of photography in 1839, people were not exposed to real-life images of faces and bodies. Most people did not even own mirrors. Today, however, we are more obsessed with our appearance than ever before. But the concern about appearance is quite normal and u nderstandableRead MoreCampaigning for Real Beauty: Dove ® and Changing Stereotypical Body Images as Seen in the Media3020 Words   |  13 Pagesof attractiveness and beauty are young females. Their quest to imitate such artificial images of beauty has challenged their health and their lives and has become the concern of many. As a result, advertisements used in the media are featuring more realistic looking people. As the modern world has changed, the idea of what is beautiful has changed as well. Since the middle of the last century, female adolescents have developed an obsession with their weight and how their body should look accordingRead MoreThe Subjectivity of Women to Modern Mass Media‚Äà ´s Construed Views of Beauty and How Their Effects on Body Image847 Words   |  4 PagesMass Media’s Construed Views of Beauty and How Their Effects on Body Image According to Medline Plus’s medical dictionary, a portion of the National Institute of Health’s website for patients and their families and friends, â€Å"body image† is defined as â€Å"a subjective picture of one s own physical appearance established both by self-observation and by noting the reactions of others.† From the start, it is made obvious by such a definition that any person’s self-body image is sculptured partly by others’

The Strategic Information System for Qantas Airways Free-Samples

Question: Discuss about the Strategic Information System for Qantas Airways. Answer: Introduction Qantas Airways is an Australian airline that operates at global level. The company has to manage its operations across the globe. The company uses ERP system to manage its operations. It also used MYOB accounting software and this is integrated with the ERP system of the company (Brewer Sorensen, 2014). The objective of this paper is to discuss the literature review for accounting software in Australia, with specific focus on Qantas Airways. Qantas Analysis Current organizational structure Qantas has a very flat organizational structure. It has some levels of hierarchy; however, the level are less. The company has close to 30,000 employees. Still, the company operates in three levels of execution. The senior management or the top leaders of the company reports to Chairman (Leigh Clifford) and CEO (Alan Joyce). The next level is mid-level management that reports to various top leaders in the organization. There are more than 1000 mid-level managers at Qantas and all the employees reports to this mid-level management. The company also has some contractual workers that also reports to mid-level management (De Lange Jackling, 2013). It can be said that the company has very closed eco-system. Operational problems (e.g., inefficiency, errors) Qantas is experiencing The problem for Qantas to is to maintain and further improvise its operations and flight control management system. In general, one of the problems for players in the airline industry is inventory management. The seats are empty and sometimes seats are overbooked. It is always difficult to manage the inventory of seats for its different flights. Qantas Airways does have a flight management system in place that is used for inventory management and dynamic pricing of tickets. However, the company needs and integrated system that can come up with the pricing based on a large collection of historical data, customer trends and other factors. The current system has limited efficiency and it can be scaled beyond a limited point. Most suitable system acquisition method commercial software, custom software, or ERP? There are many accounting software and every software has its own core competency. If that core competency of the software is what core requirement of the organization is, then this alignment is the best match. Having said that, some software are good at handling financial stuff very well like GST, taxation, cycle counting, min max planning, procurement but ability to integrate with 3rdparty bolt-on systems while other are good at integrating with 3rdparty systems but at the time provides limited financial capabilities.The company should not focus to develop the software and it is not its core competency. The company should use the ERP system and this system should be customized for Qantas Airways. There are various players in the market who can customize the ERP or accounting software based on the organizational needs. The benefit or customization is that Qantas can prioritize the modules for accounting and ERP. MYOB has few advantages over other ERP software like XERO. The two key advantages are cost and quality. The cost of MYOB customization is less that XERO customization and the after sales support of MYOB is better than XERO. Qantas flowchart of the sales procedures The business model of Qantas is to earn from the tickets of domestic and international travelers. The company also makes some revenue from the airport freight system. It is important that the accounting software and ERP system should help Qantas to manage its processes and sales procedures in an effective manner (Kosalge Ritz, 2015). The flowchart of Qantas sales procedures can be shown as: Control problems and frauds possible in current system The Information Systems has various advantages for the organizations. However, there is a place for various frauds system that should be observed (Watson, Brunner, Wellard, Hughes, 2016). Here there are 2 potential problems first is the identification of appropriate inventory and thus order size and another one is that current information systems are not built that can supports e-procurement and often there is large lead time in procuring the materials (Zunk, Marchner, Uitz, Lerch, Schiele, 2014). It is important that the frauds around the area of inventory management should be minimized. Accounting software Analysis There are various accounting software that Qantas Airways can use. It is always better to have a deep understanding of the system before implementing the system (Mastracchio Jimenez-Angueira, 2015). The various aspects of accounting software can be discussed as: Development of the accounting software packages History of accounting software in Australia goes back to 1950 and later when Intuit launched computer software for finance called Quicken in 1983. It has evolved to a much better product today with different number of modules like inventory, purchasing integrated with finance suit. It also has complete finance suite consisting of sub ledgers i.e. Account payables, account receivables and other modules like General ledger. During the same time, Teleware has also developed one such software which also does the accounting which was later acquired by another company and renamed to MYOB in 1999. MYOB then become the most successful accounting software and the best of breed software among many other like Reckon, Quickbooks, SYSPRO. Xero was also gaining popularity and its unique proposition is to handle the requirement that MYOB is not capable of (Pan, Pan, lim, 2014). For instance, it has excellent integration with numerous 3rdparty systems, mobile apps and bolt on systems. It also focus es well on reporting and provides management dashboard. It was during the year 2015 when Xero capture the maximum market share in Australia and become the top selling accounting software (https://www.xero.com/au/). Not only this, different softwares has different pricing and version to capture different markets. The current market size There is huge market size for accounting software. With more and more organizations realizing the digital revolution around us, more is their interest in switching to digital way of doing things and transform their organizations. MYOB is the biggest accounting software provider while Xero is the largest cloud provider company. MYOB has also realized the potential of Cloud and huge Australian market and investing heavily in developing could technology.As per the data from the IBIS research, accounting software market size is growing at continuous rate of 2.6% from 2013 and is around $ 20 billion currently and expected to grow at a better rate with the advent of cloud which is a way cheaper than desktop version (https://www.ibisworld.com.au ). MYOB has always sold desktop versions which were expensive however Cloud is the flavor of today with most of the companies wanted to keep the licensing cost less and focus more on their core competency by using Cloud application. Xero is the largest cloud provider and thus well placed in market having huge potential for cloud products. MYOB has also announced its massive investments in developing the cloud infrastructure and already started pushing its clients to switch to cloud version of MYOB to drive higher revenue growth (Islam, 2017). Leaders in the market and their competitive advantage One of the most important benefits that MYOB could get is that it could ask his current customers to upgrade to cloud and since its customer base is the largest, it will again become the leader and its churn rate is also very good. MYOB also has the strategic plans to stop supporting its legacy software to shake people off to upgrade to its latest offering but it could backfire also. One thing that MYOB could do is to charge premium from the customers who need support of legacy systems as legacy systems are expensive to maintain (https://www.myob.com/au). Current gaps or challenges encountered customers of accounting software/packages and recommendations MYOB premium though has limited capabilities but all these shortcoming of MYOB was removed in the MYOB exo business version which as designed for large businesses and supports reimbursements, payments, tracking deliveries however it still has certain drawbacks that its supports only standard and average costing and not first in first out costing (https://acaciacs.com.au/comparison-table-for-myob-exo-vs-myob/). The recommended accounting software for Qantas is MYOB. One of the unique advantages of MYOB is that it can be customized as per the need of Qantas. There are a lot of vendors in the Australian market who will be ready to customize MYOB. Another key advantage of MYOB is the after sales support. MYOB has a dedicated support team that is willing to provide both offline and online support (Gillis Petty, 2014). It is also recommended that Qantas should have a phased implementation of MYOB. The phased implementation plan helps organizations to learn from their mistakes and this may not be possible for big bang implementation plan (Canning O'Dwyer, 2016). Therefore, it can be said that phased implementation of MYOB is the way forward for Qantas Airways. There would be four key phases of this implementation plan. The first phase would be assessment phase. This is the phase where goals and objectives are set and the gap between the current state and desired state is assessed. It is important that Qantas Airways should have the support of various internal and external stakeholders in this phase. The second phase is framework development phase. This is the phase where the framework of implementation is decided (Ossimitz Wieder, 2016). In this phase, Qantas can benchmark its accounting software implementation project with other industry players. The third phase is the actual implementation phase (Mescall Phillips, 2016). This is the phase in which the accounting software is implemented. It is also important to mention that accounting software product lifecycle is short and every year there are new improvements in the product. The last phase would be continuous improvement phase in which the focus of the organization would be to continuously improve the existing accounting package and focus on further optimization. The timelines for implementation can be shown as: Phase M1 M2 M3 M4 M5 M6 M7 W8 Assessment Framework Development Actual Research Continuous Improvement Conclusion This above paper discusses the accounting software industry in Australia and the need of accounting software for Qantas Airways. With the above discussion, it can be said that Qantas Airways should have a dedicated system in place where it can manage its Information Systems and accounting systems. The above paper highlights that Qantas should have a phased implementation of MYOB. The phased implementation plan helps organizations to learn from their mistakes and this may not be possible for big bang implementation plan. References Brewer, P. C., Sorensen, J. E., Stout, D. E. (2014). The future of accounting education: addressing the competency crisis.Strategic Finance,96(2), 29-38. Canning, M., O'Dwyer, B. (2016). Institutional work and regulatory change in the accounting profession.Accounting, Organizations and Society,54, 1-21. De Lange, P., Jackling, B., Basioudis, I. G. (2013). A framework of best practice of continuing professional development for the accounting profession.Accounting Education,22(5), 494-497. Gillis, P., Petty, R., Suddaby, R. (2014). The transnational regulation of accounting: insights, gaps and an agenda for future research.Accounting, Auditing Accountability Journal,27(6), 894-902. Hossack, S. (2015). Cloud-based accounting and productivity tools for practitioners and taxpayers.Taxation in Australia,50(5), 265. Islam, M. A. (2017). Future of Accounting Profession: Three Major Changes and Implications for Teaching and Research.Business Reporting, International Federation of Accountants (IFAC). Kosalge, P.U. and Ritz, E., 2015. Finding the tipping point for a CEO to say yes to an ERP: a case study.Journal of Enterprise Information Management,28(5), pp.718-738. Mastracchio Jr, N. J., Jimenez-Angueira, C., Toth, I. (2015). The State of Ethics in Business and the Accounting Profession.The CPA Journal,85(3), 48. Mescall, D., Phillips, F., Schmidt, R. N. (2016). Does the Accounting Profession Discipline Its Members Differently After Public Scrutiny?.Journal of Business Ethics, 1-25. Ossimitz, M., Wieder, B. and Chapman, P., 2016, May. Management Accounting Functionality in SAP SolutionsImplications for Research and Practise. 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Scarlet Letter Symbols Essays - Fiction, English-language Films

Scarlet Letter Symbols In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, the letter "A" changes it's meaning many different times. This change is significant. It shows growth in the characters, and the community in which they live. The letter "A" begins as a symbol of sin. It then becomes a symbol of her ability to do and help things, and finally it becomes a symbol of her respect for herself. The letter "A," worn on Hester's bodice, is a symbol of her adultery against Roger Chillingworth. This letter is meant to be worn in shame, and to make Hester feel unwanted. "Here, she said to herself, had been the scene of her guilt, and here should be the scene of her earthly punishment .. ." (84) Hester is ashamed of her sin, but she chooses not to show it. She committed this sin in the heat of passion, and fully admits it because, though she is ashamed, she also received her greatest treasure, Pearl, out of it. She is a very strong woman to be able to hold up so well against what she must face. Many would have fled Boston, and sought a place where no one knew of her great sin. Hester chose to stay though, which showed a lot of strength and integrity. Any woman with enough nerve to hold up against a town which despised her very existence, and to stay in a place where her daughter is referred to as a "devil child," either has some sort of psychological problem, or is a very tough woman. The second meaning that the letter "A" took was "able." The townspeople who once condemned her now believed her scarlet "A" to stand for her ability to create her beautiful needlework and for her unselfish assistance to the poor and sick. "The letter was the symbol of her calling. Such helpfulness was found in her- so much power to do and power to sympathize- that many people refused to interpret the scarlet 'A' by its original signification." (156) At this point, a lot of the townspeople realized what a high quality character Hester possessed. "Do you see that woman with the embroidered badge? It is our Hester- the town's own Hester- who is so kind to the poor, so helpful to the sick, so comforting to the afflicted!" (157) The townspeople soon began to believe that the badge served to ward off evil, and Hester grew to be quite loved amongst the people of the town. Hester overcame the shame of her sin through the purity and goodness of her soul. Unselfishly offering her time and love to those who needed her the most proved that she was not worthy of the fate which had been dealt to her. The final face of the letter "A" was a symbol of Hester's respect for herself, and for her life. It just changed to a way of life for Hester. After returning to England for years, and helping Pearl to gain a better life, Hester returned to don the badge which she now felt was a part of her. It is not as if she could not live without it and begin a new life in England, but it was easier for her to return to America. The Puritan settlement was her home. It was where the most important events in her life had occurred, and she felt best being there. "But there was a more real life for Hester Prynne here in New England than in the unknown region where Pearl had found a home. Here had been her sin; here, her sorrow; and here was yet to be her penitence." (244) Hester was in no way legally or religiously bound to wear the badge. She did though. She had found her home in New England, and that is where she intended to stay. The three changes in the scarlet letter were significant, and they showed her sin, her ability and her life. Hester was a strong, admirable woman who went through more emotional torture that most people go through in a lifetime.