Chapter 2 Part A Internet Research Topic Look up firewalking on the internet See if you can find organizations that offer firewalking training and also see if you can find sites that explain how firewalking is possible Describe what you find Firewalking is when a person walks barefoot over an area of hot stones This practice has been around for hundreds of years because it has been used by many different people and cultures for various reasons In some places it was used as a right of passage ritual while in other places it was used to test a person s strength and courage Firewalking is still something that is still practiced today Most people think that when someone walks over hot stones barefoot that they will get burned but if they are properly trained and have the right mindset they are able to do it There is an explanation of why someone is able to do this without getting injured in the process Conduction is the process in which heat transfers from one matter to another In the case of firewalking conduction is what transfers heat to a person s feet Because feet are poor conductors of heat and there is very little contact between the person s feet touching the coals or embers it is too short of a time for their feet to be burned A person s feet will only burn when there is direct contact meaning the person is standing on the hot coals and is not moving There are many organizations that train people to firewalk While they do explain to people the physics and the conduction of heat they also say that a person has to be in the correct state of mind when firewalking The science or spirituality behind being able to firewalk without getting burning is a somewhat debated topic As stated before organizations who teach firewalking believe while it is good to know the physics behind how it works it is more mind over matter Though physicists and anyone in the scientific world believes that the only reason someone is able to firewalk is solely because of the science of conduction Their basic explanation behind it is that because the person stays constantly moving above the coals their feet are able to stay cooler than the burning coals themselves leading their feet unburned Though one thing scientists do mention is that the person also needs to stay relaxed to promote strong blood flow as they walk and in order to stay relaxed they do need to be in the right mindset So one could argue that it is both science and spirituality that allows a person to be able to firewalk and not burn their feet Part B News Article Ever since the world s populations started to grow immensely crowds became something that can not controlled Though recently Cornell University has figured out how to use physics to predict crowd behavior This is all centered around a giant math problem They are able to do this by first watching public video data of a crowd and study it From there they are able to predict how a crowd will disperse meaning what direction people are most likely going to take when they are in a big crowd Cornell was able to figure this out by measuring the density variations by using an app on a smart phone This is able to explain the behavioral state of a crowd and what is most likely going to happen in that current situation This study and work is all centered around being able to detect early on if a crowd s behavioral tendencies could become dangerous One thing I do not understand about this is how they could possibly figure this out from a math problem I ask this because only each individual person knows the next move they are going to make so I find it very interesting that a math equation could predict something someone else is going to do before they have done it Part A Roach John Why Fire Walking Doesn t Burn Science of Spirituality National Geographic https news nationalgeographic com news 2005 09 why fire walking doesnt burnscience or spirituality Accessed 11 September 2018 Wikipedia Firewalking Wikipedia https en wikipedia org wiki Firewalking Accessed 11 September 2018 Part B Cornell University Using physics to predict crowd behavior ScienceDaily www sciencedaily com releases 2018 08 180830180108 htm Accessed 30 August 2018
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