The case of cadmium poisoning in japan Research Paper

The case of cadmium poisoning in japan - Research Paper Example In most zinc ores, this element occurs in minute quantities. Excessive exposure to the Cadmium chemical is the result of Cadmium Poisoning. Human exposure to Cadmium causes damage to the body. The high levels of toxic compounds in Cadmium are dangerous to humans and the environment. If the chemical is taken orally or inhaled, it can cause tremendous health issues for the human body, and there have been numerous reports of fatalities after exposure to the body. Immediately after contact of large amounts of Cadmium with the body, the Cadmium poisoning poses a threat to the body. Small amounts of the chemical do not require much to detox the body. However, according to reports, 10 milligrams of cadmium is dangerous to the body. The most common disease associated with Cadmium is the Itai-itai disease. It is a severe form of chronic Cadmium poisoning, and it is caused by prolonged oral Cadmium ingestion. It harms the body by causing renal and bone injury. During the initial stage, femoral pain and lumbago are present. This pain gradually spreads t hroughout the body. If pressure is applied to the bones, the pain increases. Additional damage to the bones can cause the body to worsen. If the patient is bed-ridden, the body continues to deteriorate. The first study presented in this research analysis of Cadmium Poisoning in Japan is a study on the â€Å"Influence of Drinking and/or Cooking with Jinzu River Water on the Development of Itai-Itai Disease.† The second study is a Comparison between â€Å"Cadmium in Rice and Renal Effects among inhabitants of the Jinzu River Basin.† The third study focuses on the â€Å"Influence of Consumption of Cadmium-Polluted Rice or Jinzu River Water on Occurrence of Renal Tubular Dysfunction and/or Itai-itai Disease.† According to the study on the â€Å"Influence of Drinking and/or Cooking with Jinzu River Water on the Development of Itai-itai Disease,† the authors’ focus was on evaluating the amount

Durkheims Study Of Suicide

Durkheims Study Of Suicide Durkheim was a sociologist of French origin born in year 1958 and died on the November of 1917. He instituted various academic disciplines and is considered as the current social science principal architect. He actually maintained dominancy in the field of social sciences until the time of his death. Durkheim also presented several sociological knowledge papers alongside religion. His studies such as the suicide study have actually picked a popular discourse. Most of Durkheims work involved social facts study, term which he developed so as to depict phenomena that is self-existent and which cannot be affected by individuals actions (Lukes, 1985). Durkheim considered social facts to possess sui generis, which is a self-sufficient existence which is greater as well as more objective when compared to the individuals actions which make up the society (Martin Lee, 1994). Contrary to the facts covered under natural sciences, social facts thereby refer to particular phenomena category and they as well exist independently, free from individual manifestations (Durkheim, 1951). Social facts of this kind are actually endowed with coercion power due to their capability to take control of personal behaviors (Martin Lee, 1994). In accordance to Durkheim, these types of phenomena should neither be condensed to psychological nor biological grounds (Martin Lee, 1994). Therefore, the phenomena which is considered as most individualistic, for instance suicide, would end up been classified as a fact which is socially objective. Durkheim further argued that the persons who compose the society do not cause suicide directly (Ritzer, 1992). He ba sed his argument on the fact that suicide being a social fact, its presence in the society is independent in spite of the prevailing desires of the individuals forming the society (Ritzer, 1992). Consequently, the departure of any individual from the society will have no effect on the suicide fact as the society which the individual leaves behind still contains suicide. Sociological tasks entail the discovery of various social facts characteristics which can only be revealed by the means of either experimental or quantitative approach (Hassard, 1995). For the case of the suicide study conducted by Durkheim, he particularly depended on statistics (Bellah, 1973). Durkheim is considered to be amongst the initial structural functionalism founders. In general, Durkheim discarded reductionist arguments (Durkheim, 1951). Instead, he focused on the cultural values and norms, social structures alongside social facts; which he considered as being external to every human being. Durkheims study classified suicide into four categories and provided evidence to one of his theories which states that suicide rate differences are as a resultant of changes in the immaterial social facts (Thompson, 2002). Durkheim is famous due to his social reality macro-level views and its relationship at individual level. Actually, Durkheim managed to make major contribution on the structural functionalism development alongside sociology in general (Durkheim, 1951). Basically, Durkheim explored the various suicide rates amongst different religious groups and specifically between the Catholics alongside the Protestants. He discovered that the suicide rates were lower amongst the Catholics when compared to the Protestants (Stark William, 1996). Durkheim believed that the low rates of suicide among the Catholic were a result of the religions vibrant social control mechanisms (Stark William, 1996). Consequently, he attributed the escalated suicide frequencies among the Protestants to the regions big freedom space. In Durkheims perspective, the catholic society integration level was normal but the Protestants integration levels were low (Stark William, 1996). However, this interpretation was faced by two major problems. First, Durkheim had relied on earlier researchers data, specifically Wagner, A. and Morselli, H (Stark William, 1996) who had basically generalized their individual data. Secondly, succeeding researchers discovered that the suicide r ates differences amongst the Protestants and Catholics tended to be prominent in the German-Speaking European part and thereby may only have been other factors spurious reflection (Pope Danigelis, 1981). In spite of its limitations, Durkheims suicide study has really influenced the control theory proponents (Pope Danigelis, 1981). Durkheim came up with four categories of suicide which included Egoist suicide, Fatalistic suicides, Altruist suicide alongside Anomic suicide (Thompson, 2002). Durkheim considered Egoistic suicides as those that result from the weakening of individual bonds that naturally integrate collectivity (Thompson, 2002). In different words, Egoistic suicides are caused by the social integration breakdown or even decrease. Durkheim associated this suicide type to excessive individuation implying that most victims initially become more detached from the other community members (Thompson, 2002). Generally, the individuals who are insufficiently committed to specific social groups: end up with minimal social support and hence the likelihood of them committing suicide is high (Thompson, 2002). For instance, Durkheim revealed that the unmarried people, specifically males, committed suicide more often than their married counterparts due to their less bondage with the established social norms goals . Apparently, similar problems affected the widows. Among 1Million widows aged 65 years, 628 of them committed suicide while amongst I million men aged 65 years, only 461 did commit suicide (Lukes, 1985). The sample composition was appropriate as the age bracket comprised of married men to the large extend (Almost 90%) (Lukes, 1985). Durkheims analysis however indicated that despite the fact that the widows had a higher likelihood of committing suicide than married persons, their suicide rate was lower when compared to that of single individuals (Ritzer, 1992). Durkheim linked the figures to the family factor as he was of the view that a simpler conclusion would turn out as problematic (Ritzer, 1992). It would be problematic due to the changes in the marriages numbers that occurred during this period as the suicide rates tripled. Significantly, Durkheim was quick to note that the factor was not simply marriage but a marriage that had children (Ritzer, 1992). This is because marriage s with children had lower suicide rates when compared to infertile families (Thompson, 2002). Thus, the main factor was considering family like a basic social unit but not marriage. Additionally, Durkheim further studied the wars and crises roles on suicide rates. He discovered during the course of social crises (for instance, revolutions) alongside wars; the suicide rates dropped remarkably (Bellah, 1973). In overall, he found out a more religious society had lower suicide rates and also the strength of family relationships determined the magnitude of suicide rate (Thompson, 2002). Moreover, the society integration greatly affected the suicide rate. On the other hand, Durkheim classified Altruistic suicides as those which occur in highly integrated societies in which the whole societys needs are more prioritized than individual needs (Thompson, 2002). Altruistic suicides therefore come about on a integration scale which is contrary to that of egoistic suicide (Thompson, 2002). Durkheim stated that the suicide rate in altruistic societies was generally low as personal interests were not viewed as important (Thompson, 2002). Durkheim viewed the armed forces with this perspective and was really surprising to find out that suicide rates occurred at a high rate within the military service (Thompson, 2002). It was startling due to the fact that the military, just like religions as well as cohesive societies should exhibit strong solidarity and moreover the people in the military are usually the most physically fit in the society (Durkheim, 1951).Besides, it was not right to attribute the suicide causes to either the military service h atred or even the failure to get used to military service routines (Durkheim, 1951).This was because it was evident that suicide rates were directly proportional to the military service length (Durkheim, 1951). Additionally, senior officers committed suicide at a higher rate than their juniors (Bellah, 1973). Moreover, the elite units were affected by higher suicide rates than the normal units (Bellah, 1973). Finally, the suicide rate was low in the units which demonstrated weaker military spirit (Bellah, 1973). Therefore, Durkheim stated that the senior military officers had to abandon the personal individuality to cope with the service requirements as it increased their risk of committing suicide (Lukes, 1985). Durkheim classified Anomic suicides as those which arise due to moral deregulation alongside the absence of legitimate aspirations definition through restrictive social ethic, which has the potential of imposing a different individual conscience meaning as well as order (Ritzer, 1992). This is indicative of economic development failure as well as the labor division to result to the organic solidarity of Durkheim (Ritzer, 1992). In this situation, people fail to recognize their appropriate positions in the society. Durkheim explained this moral disorder state as that which the desires of the individuals are limitless, thereby resulting to personal infinite disappointments (Ritzer, 1992). Lastly, Durkheim suggested that Fatalistic suicides mainly occur in the exceedingly oppressive societies which make people to opt for death other than continue living in such societies (Durkheim, 1951). Generally, this is one of the rarest reasons which can push an individual to committing suicide (Durkheim, 1951). However, fatalistic suicides are common features in prisons as individuals choose to die other than going on with the abusive, excessively regulated prison life which denies them the opportunity to fulfill their desires (Durkheim, 1951). The Durkheims suicide types had their basis on the twin social forces imbalance degrees which are the moral regulation alongside the social integration. Durkheim revealed how impacts on the social aggregate aspects such as; war can lead to increased altruism, booms in economy or catastrophe contribute to anomie. Durkheims suicide analysis indicates the way in which social facts on the contrary to biological as well as psychological facts can be stressed upon, and bring about constructive methods of examining individuals actions. Besides, suicide rates are considered as social facts as they express social currents that affect people and the society as whole. Despite the fact that psychology study is also essential in resolving individual motives and the process through which certain circumstances push people to committing suicide; it is equally important to undertake circumstances analysis within the prevailing individuals social currents (Durkheim, 1951). Durkheim as a matter of fact established that the suicide rates in males were higher than in females; the singles had a higher rate of committing suicide than the married; suicide rates were also higher in the infertile couples than the fertile ones; protestants committed more suicide incidences as compared to the Catholics alongside Jews; Soldiers were more vulnerable to suicide than Civilians; there were more suicide incidences in the peaceful times than in war periods; Scandinavian countries exhibited higher suicide rates and lastly the people who had accomplished higher education level were at a higher risk of committing suicide. However, the Durkheim suicide study has received a wide range of criticism from various sources. It has actually been criticized as the perfect example of logical error which is commonly termed as ecological fallacy (Freedman, 2002). Durkheims conclusions on personal behavior on the basis of aggregate statistics have been termed as misleading (Freedman, 2002). This is because the Simpsons (1987) paradox has revealed how erroneous it is to analyze micro events in macro properties terms. Nevertheless, diverging views have arisen on whether Durkheims work should actually be classified as ecological fallacy. Researchers such as Van Poppel (1996) alongside Day (1996) have proposed that suicide rates differences between different religious groups (such as the Catholics alongside the Protestants) could be entirely explained in terms of how the social groups categorized deaths. For example, while the protestants recorded sudden deaths alongside deaths resulting from unspecified causes as sui cides, this was not the case on the Catholics side (Thompson, 2002). Thereby, Durkheim error would be considered as empirical other than logical. Other researchers such as Gibbs, Inkeles, alongside Johnson have alleged that the main intention of Durkheim was to socially analyze suicide on the holistic perspective with the intention of expounding social environments variation within suicide incidences but not specific individuals suicides. In addition, researchers of the recent times like Berk (2006) have also queried the Durkheims work micro-macro linkages. Berk (2006) particularly noted that Durkheim spoke of collective current reflecting the joint inclination going down the social organization channels (Freedman, 2002). However, the current intensity is the determinant factor of the suicides volume thereby bringing about psychological variables like depression which could be viewed as independent or non-social suicide cause (Freedman, 2002). This thereby, ignores Durkheims concept ion of considering these variables as the mostly influenced by the wider social forces and the notion that suicide can not affect such individuals in the absence of these forces (Martin Lee, 1994). Apparently, Durkheim brings out issues that affect people directly. In addition, he tends to possess vibrant structural society view, as well as the mode in which everyone within the society is affected by various social facts and how it is a must for each to comply with them. Durkheim indeed tried to have the situation where the social roles are distinguished from psychological, economical alongside biological roles. This is actually be observed within his social influences view on the rate of suicides, in which he studies several factors and determines their effect on the propensity to commit suicide (Ritzer, 1992).

Bette Howlands Criticism of Henry Jamess Washington Square :: Henry James Washington Square

Bette Howland's Criticism of Henry James's Washington Square Bette Howland, in her criticism of Henry James's Washington Square, focuses on two different aspects of the story's development. She begins by impressing on the reader how Henry James himself viewed his creation and then plunges into the history behind the plot. In doing this, she describes how Henry James has used irony to make this story his own creation. Half way through the article she changes directions and shows how Washington Square is the forerunner of his other novels. She describes how they all have the same basic plot. According to Bette Howland, Henry James never cared for his novel Washington Square. He refers to it as "A poorish thing" and "a tale purely American" (1). In fact, when he compiled his stories in his New York Edition he omitted this story from its pages. He claimed that, "I've tried to read over Washington Square and I can't and I fear it must go" (1). Ms. Howland claims that it is "a fitting irony. You might say that like Dr. Sloper in the novel, James disinherited his heroine, he cut her out of his will" (1). The author of the criticism then focuses on how Henry James received the anecdote that he would transform into his novel. Henry James twists the basic story into his own work by way of irony. Dr. Sloper is at the center of James's irony. While Dr. Sloper criticizes Catherine as a simpleton who is "ugly and overdressed" (3) he states, "I expect nothing . . . so that if she gives me a surprise, it will be all clear gain. If she doesn't, it will be no loss" (3). This is ironical because he himself played a part in her creation. Bette Howland states that while Washington Square may lack the 'supersubtle' nuances of Henry James' future novels, it "offers his irony at its most efficient. The novel is a system of ironies a closed system. . . James is always doing two things at once. Except for Catherine, the characters are always describing themselves and each other . . . and everything they say cuts both ways" (5). Bette Howland also examines the similarities present between Washington Square and The Portrait of a Lady, The Wings of the Dove, and The Golden Bowl. In the four novels, Henry James uses his favorite configuration of a triangle.

A Letter To Myself Essay

No one knows you better than you know yourself.   Moreover, out of all you will experience receiving a letter from yourself 50 years ahead in space-time will be your most profound experience.   So, here I am communicating with myself to inform what I have to look forward to in life. In writing I’m remembering receiving this letter five decades ago.   The odd thing is remembering its receipt but experiencing the writing for the first time.   With only 500 words, rather than focus on the strangeness addressing what will be is my mission.   Your life will be a strange and cruel mix of wonder and despair.   You will experience a living nightmare for love.   You’ll marry a woman who’ll turn out to be schizophrenic.   Dealing with her will be more than troublesome, yet the finer qualities of your character will arise out of the ashes of that experience. Knowing I received this letter will not prevent you from having the experience.   We all are purposed to play a role in life.   Writing this letter affirms some things are inevitable, even when you know about them in advance. You’re at an age where talk of marriage and difficult times are somewhat distant to your experience.   You’re yet to reach your teen years and the joy those years will bring.   Like yourself mom will undergo a troublesome marriage after she and dad divorce.   What you see in her next marriage will be a prophecy for your own.   In the midst of seeing her struggles will be happenings in your life that others will envy.   You’ll be very popular in high school and college.   You’ll turn out to be a champion sprinter and hurdler, you’ll sing in a singing group that will gain national prominence and you’ll have girlfriends that most men could only hope for.   Your teen and early adult years will be rewarding.   Those times I still treasure all these years having passed. Your love for learning will be a beacon to illuminate the way through your marital troubles.   Your field of study, along with your faith would be means to help you recover from troublesome times following your marriage.   This will be a battle however, one that would probably break the average man.   You’ll spend almost two decades unraveling the turmoil you experienced in being married for one decade.   In this you’ll get to know yourself as few people do.   You’ll become very wise and insightful as a result and you’ll be a blessing for what life will take you through. Do not be dismayed at what tomorrow will bring, it will lead to wonderful ends.   You will have a son who will do well in life.   A woman will come into your life who will be a dream come true and you’ll wind up content in your living.   You will appreciate life’s foibles and remember , â€Å"Try not to become a man of success but a man of value.†Ã‚   (Albert Einstein, Great Quotations, pg. 225)   That’s what you’ll do I’m proud to say. References Einstein, Albert, The Great Quotations, 225, George Seldes, May, 1978.

How useful are the views of Anzac soldiers at Gallipoli suggested in Source A, B and C

All the sources are useful because even though they may not be reliable, they show the people's opinion of the Gallipoli campaign. Sources that show peoples opinion can be used to explore how the solders felt through out the wars. Source A was published in 1916, just one year after the Gallipoli campaign. This makes it a primary source, which could mean that its more reliable as it was written nearer the time, and details have had less time to be forgotten. It was made on the Gallipoli peninsular, which shows that the artist had an eye witness account this would mean he was relying on his own knowledge not someone else's. Although it as created by an Australian artist, which might mean it, is biased or exaggerated because he might want to make the Australians look better, it shows both the good and bad side of the war. The cartoons show two ANZAC soldiers as they looked during the Gallipoli campaign. The first cartoon shows a man in a large over coat, shoes that are to big for him, a gun, he's yawning and has skinny legs. The large coat and shoes that are to big for him suggest that the supplies aren't getting through and they are very low on resources so he has to use anything he can get. The skinny legs also show that there is a lack of food and that the soldiers are very weak. I know from my own knowledge that supplies weren't getting through and that food supplies were very low. Also there were thousand of flies, which infected the food so that the little food that was left was not edible. The title â€Å"another hopeless dawn† shows the soldiers feel that they are not getting anywhere and that they are not going to progress anywhere with the knew day. The source is quite reliable and is useful because it shows an actual account of the soldier's time in Gallipoli and is not over exaggerated to make them look better as it shows the positives and negatives. Therefore it can be use to show how the conditions affected the soldiers, it also shows what the soldiers looked like during the war. Source B is useful because it provides a historical account. However it maybe bias as an Australian writes it and he might want to make his army look better. It is a secondary source so it might be more reliable because there might be more sources available. Also the people who have written the sources he's based his book on have had time to recover from the shock they may have suffered and write the sources more accurately. I know part of it is truthful and is reliable, as I know that the citizen soldiers were trained from an early age for military. It is also similar to the feeling in Britain – † to be left behind was unthinkable. So we know that this part is truth and reliable. However, part of the source is unreliable as it is just one man's opinion (John Kegan). â€Å"New Zealanders skills with the rifle and spade would win them a reputation as the best soldiers in the war during the 20th Century. † We know this is not true as the New Zealanders lost their battle at the Gallipoli campaign to the Turks. As the British and French troops won most of their battles during the first and Second World War it could be argued that they were the stronger and better troops of the 20th Century. It also says in the source â€Å"†¦ ormidable offensive power, as the Turks were soon to discover† we know this is not true as they lost to the Turks. I also know the landings at Sulva bay went wrong for the ANZAC troops and also the landings at ANZAC cove and Cape Helles beach failed. This shows they cannot be the â€Å"formidable offensive power† the author makes them out to be and that he is maybe exaggerating what happened to make it his troops sound better. This source can be used as an insight as to what happen when the new Zealanders got called up to war, and what the New Zealand people thought of their troops. Source C is written by a reporter, but it is not clear as to what country he is from, the way he talks about the Australians suggest that he is not from Australia, but is impressed by them. He seems to over exaggerate the part they played in the war and the way they dealt with it. This would suggest the source is unreliable as it is his own opinion not actual facts. This source shows what some people thought of the Australians â€Å"it was great to watch them as they went†. It shows the high moral and ANZAC spirit that was present through the campaign, I know this is probably true because is very similar to what happened in Britain through out the first and second war there was arguably very high British spirit. It also has some inaccurate points i. e. ‘absolutely unaffected by the bullets' – this cannot be true as many troops were killed by bullets. I know that there were 200,000 allied casualties and some of these were from the ANZAC troops, therefore they weren't unaffected by bullets. This source is best used as an opinion and insight into what was thought of the Australians rather than as reliable account of what actually happened. In conclusion Sources A, B and C are useful in different ways. Source A is the most reliable and accurate account of what actually happened and could be used to show what actually happened. Source B and C is best used as opinions of what happened, where the truth may have been exaggerated or distorted. It can be used to show an account from the ANZAC point of view and how their people felt towards the campaign.

Free Essays on A Random Walk

A Random Walk Down Wall Street Burton G Malkiel, the author of A Random Walk Down Wall Street, gives me the reader an easy way understand information about personal investing in today’s stock market. The book is divided into four parts: Stocks and their values, how the pros play the biggest game in town, the new investment technology, and a practical guide for random walkers and other investors. This book reflects on many different aspects for an individual on what are the best ways for that person to invest their money. Random walk theory gained popularity in 1973 when Burton Malkiel wrote A Random Walk Down Wall Street, a book that is now regarded as an investment classic. Random walk is a stock market theory that states that the past movement or direction of the price of a stock or overall market cannot be used to predict its future movement. Originally examined by Maurice Kendall in 1953, the theory states that stock price fluctuations are independent of each other and have the same probability distribution, but, over a period of time, prices maintain an upward trend. In short, random walk says that stocks take a random and unpredictable path. The chance of a stock's future price going up is the same as it going down. A follower of random walk believes it is impossible to outperform the market without assuming additional risk. In his book, Malkiel preaches that both technical analysis and fundamental analysis are largely a waste of time and are still unproven in outperforming the markets. Malkiel constantly states that a long-term buy-end-hold strategy is the best and that individuals should not attempt to time the markets. Attempts based on technical, fundamental, or any other analysis is futile. He backs this up with statistics showing that most mutual funds fail to beat benchmark averages like the S&P 500. While many still follow the preaching of Malkiel, others believe that the investing landscape is very different th... Free Essays on A Random Walk Free Essays on A Random Walk A Random Walk Down Wall Street Burton G Malkiel, the author of A Random Walk Down Wall Street, gives me the reader an easy way understand information about personal investing in today’s stock market. The book is divided into four parts: Stocks and their values, how the pros play the biggest game in town, the new investment technology, and a practical guide for random walkers and other investors. This book reflects on many different aspects for an individual on what are the best ways for that person to invest their money. Random walk theory gained popularity in 1973 when Burton Malkiel wrote A Random Walk Down Wall Street, a book that is now regarded as an investment classic. Random walk is a stock market theory that states that the past movement or direction of the price of a stock or overall market cannot be used to predict its future movement. Originally examined by Maurice Kendall in 1953, the theory states that stock price fluctuations are independent of each other and have the same probability distribution, but, over a period of time, prices maintain an upward trend. In short, random walk says that stocks take a random and unpredictable path. The chance of a stock's future price going up is the same as it going down. A follower of random walk believes it is impossible to outperform the market without assuming additional risk. In his book, Malkiel preaches that both technical analysis and fundamental analysis are largely a waste of time and are still unproven in outperforming the markets. Malkiel constantly states that a long-term buy-end-hold strategy is the best and that individuals should not attempt to time the markets. Attempts based on technical, fundamental, or any other analysis is futile. He backs this up with statistics showing that most mutual funds fail to beat benchmark averages like the S&P 500. While many still follow the preaching of Malkiel, others believe that the investing landscape is very different th...

Discover the Distant, Frozen Oort Cloud

Discover the Distant, Frozen Oort Cloud Where do comets come from? Theres a dark, cold region of the solar system where chunks of ice mixed with rock, called cometary nuclei, orbit the Sun. This region is called the Oà ¶rt Cloud, named after the man who suggested its existence, Jan Oà ¶rt. The Oà ¶rt Cloud From Earth While this cloud of cometary nuclei is not visible to the naked eye, planetary scientists have been studying it for years. The future comets it contains are made mostly of mixtures of frozen water, methane, ethane, carbon monoxide, and hydrogen cyanide, along with rock and dust grains. The Oà ¶rt Cloud by the Numbers The cloud of cometary bodies is widely dispersed through the outermost part of the solar system. Its very distant from us, with an inner boundary 10,000 times the Sun-Earth distance. At its outer edge, the cloud stretches into interplanetary space some 3.2 light-years. For comparison, the closest star to us is 4.2 light-years away, so the Oà ¶rt Cloud reaches almost that far.   Planetary scientists estimate the Oort Cloud has up to two trillion  icy objects orbiting the Sun, many of which make their way into solar orbit and become comets. There are two types of comets that come from the distant reaches of space, and it turns out they dont all come from the Oà ¶rt Cloud.   Comets and Their Origins Out There How do  Oà ¶rt Cloud objects become comets that go hurtling in orbit around the Sun? There are several ideas about that. Its possible that stars passing nearby, or tidal interactions within the disk of the  Milky Way, or interactions with gas and dust clouds give these icy bodies a kind of push out of their orbits in the Oà ¶rt Cloud. With their motions changed, theyre more likely to fall in toward the Sun on new orbits that take thousands of years for one trip around the Sun. These are called long-period comets. Other comets, called short-period comets, travel around the Sun in much shorter times, usually less than 200 years. They come from the Kuiper Belt, which is a roughly disk-shaped region that spans out from the orbit of Neptune. The Kuiper Belt has been in the news for the past couple of decades as astronomers discover new worlds within its boundaries. Dwarf planet  Pluto is a denizen of the Kuiper Belt, joined by Charon (its largest satellite), and the dwarf planets Eris, Haumea, Makemake, and Sedna. The Kuiper Belt extends from about 30 to 55 AU, and astronomers estimate it has hundreds of thousands of icy bodies larger than 62 miles across. It might also have about a trillion comets. (One AU, or astronomical unit, equals about 93 million miles.) Exploring the Parts of the Oà ¶rt Cloud The Oà ¶rt Cloud is divided into two parts. The first is the source of the long-period comets and may have trillions of cometary nuclei. The second is an inner cloud shaped roughly like a doughnut. It, too, is very rich in cometary nuclei and other dwarf-planet-sized objects. Astronomers also have found one small world that has a section of its orbit through the inner part of the Oà ¶rt Cloud. As they find more, they will be able to refine their ideas about where those objects originated back in the solar systems early history. The Oà ¶rt Cloud and Solar System History The Oà ¶rt Clouds cometary nuclei and Kuiper Belt objects (KBOs) are icy remnants from the formation of the solar system, which took place about 4.6 billion years ago. Since both icy and dusty materials were interspersed throughout the primordial cloud, its likely that the Oà ¶rt Clouds frozen planetesimals formed much closer to the Sun early in history. That occurred alongside the formation of the planets and asteroids. Eventually, solar radiation either destroyed the cometary bodies closest to the Sun or they were collected together to become part of planets and their moons. The rest of the materials were slingshotted away from the Sun, along with the young gas giant planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune) to the outer solar system to regions where other icy materials were orbiting. Its also very likely that some Oà ¶rt Cloud objects came from materials in a jointly shared pool of icy objects from protoplanetary disks. These disks formed around other stars that lay very close together in the Suns birth nebula. Once the Sun and its siblings formed, they drifted apart and dragged along the materials from other protoplanetary disks. They also became part of the  Oà ¶rt Cloud.   The outer regions of the distant outer solar system have not yet been deeply explored by spacecraft. The New Horizons  mission explored  Pluto in mid-2015, and there are plans to  study one other object beyond Pluto in 2019. Aside from those flybys, there are no other missions being built to pass through and study the Kuiper Belt and  Oà ¶rt Cloud. Oà ¶rt Clouds Everywhere! As astronomers study planets orbiting other stars, they are finding evidence of cometary bodies in those systems, too. These exoplanets form largely as our own system did, meaning that Oà ¶rt clouds could be an integral part of any planetary systems evolution and inventory.  At the very least, they tell scientists more about the formation and evolution of our own solar system.