Many say space is the final frontier, but they forget about the ocean. In the 1960s, two men traveled to the deepest part of the ocean, which is the Mariana Trench. Fifty years later and no one has gone that deep (Cousteau 193). Only five percent of the ocean has been explored, and so much of it is unknown to the world (Bardoe 208). One hundred seventy-five years ago scientists thought that the deeper the ocean got, the less sea creatures there were. Today with new technologies scientists have found that there is much more life than they previously thought in the deepest parts of the ocean.

A theory called the azoic hypothesis was created by a scientist named Edward Forbes in the 1840s regarding the amount of organisms that lived at the bottom of the ocean. To determine the number of organisms at the bottom of the ocean, he joined Thomas Graves on the HMS Beacon and dredged the Aegean Sea 100 times (Bardoe 202). As he got deeper samples he came up with less life. Many others believed his theory because this is what happens on land. If the extremely high and cold mountains kept life away, the cold dark ocean must do the same. “Forbes concluded that nothing at all lived below 1,600 feet (500 meters) deep” (Bardoe 203). Forbes recorded this data and then showed his findings to fellow scientists. Many believed Forbes because he was a very persuasive man (Deserts on the sea floor). However, there were some scientists who did not believe his theory and sought to disprove it.

After Forbes came up with this theory, sea stars and clams have been hauled up from even deeper depths than 1,600 feet. Much evidence was found against the azoic hypothesis during the next century. John Ross who was captain over HMS Erebus and HMS Terror and collected samples of worms and sea stars from 1,800 feet deep. Despite this evidence, scientists overlooked it because John Ross was not considered reliable and scientists didn’t believe him when he showed them his findings (The Azoic Hypothesis). In addition, corals were found at 2,500 feet, starfish and oysters were found at 7,500 feet, and 4,700 new species were found at 16,000 feet. Scientists thought that since photosynthesis wasn't possible at such depths that life would subsist on marine snow (Bardoe 203). Forbes was a very influential man and many believed his theory despite the contradicting evidence. It wasn’t until the 1970s that views on the matter started to change.

In 1977 a team of researchers got into a mini-sub called Alvin and went to the bottom of the ocean to find life. They found a hydrothermal vent coming out of the ocean floor with an ecosystem living around it. This discovery was extraordinary because they found chemosynthetic bacteria which use chemicals to create energy. Then after this discovery they found that life on the bottom of the ocean was thriving and not surviving off of just marine snow, but off of chemosynthetic bacteria (Bardoe 203). The life they found included spider crabs, mussels, worms, and a wide variety of new sea creatures. After a lot of hard work and time, scientists retrieved enough evidence to convince everyone that life at the bottom of the ocean was plentiful.

Less than two centuries ago Edward Forbes created the azoic hypothesis, and then after much contradicting to his theory scientists learned that life was abundant deep in the ocean. Philippe Cousteau states, “You may think I’m doing my grandfather Jacques Yves- Cousteau and my father Philippe a disservice when I say we’ve only dipped our toes in the water when it comes to ocean exploration” (194). Cousteau is explaining that we have barely gotten our hands dirty exploring the ocean and that we need to pick up the pace. So little of the ocean has been explored and so the more discoveries we make about the ocean the more our knowledge of it will change.

Words Cited

Anderson, Rice. “Deserts on the sea floor: Edward Forbes and his azoic hypothesis for a

lifeless deep ocean.” National Center for Biotechnology Information. 13 November 2006.

Web.

Bardoe, Cheryl. “Living in the Dark.” California Collections 2017: 201-208. Print.

Benningfield, Damond. “Azoic Theory.” Science and the Sea. 29 September 2017. Web.

Cousteau, Philippe. “Why Exploring the Ocean is Mankind's Next Giant Leap.”

California Collections 2017: 193-196. Print.

“Edward Forbes.” HMS Challenger Project. 24 September 2014. Web.

“Edward Forbes.” Wikipedia. 15 January 2018. Web.

White, Isobel. “The Azoic Hypothesis.” Extreme Marine. 11 September 2017. Web.

Have you ever wondered why you play video games? It is because video games fill in basic needs that our brains desire, which are competence, autonomy, and relatedness. These three desires are always in your head, no matter where you are. Video games are a perfect way to satisfy these three desires. They allow players to control the game, be independent at times, and help strengthen bonds between friends.

One of the most common tools a player will use to play a video game is the controller. This device gives the player complete control over the actions of the character in the video game. The ability to master the situations in the game creates a feeling of competence and sense of achievement through mastery of this make-believe world. The more one plays video games the better they will get at them. This growth and improvement creates a feeling of accomplishment in a player’s gaming skills (Why People Play Video Games). Just as the controller allows you to feel in charge of the game it also creates a confidence in your own abilities.

As a player’s skills grow, confidence in his abilities will grow along with it. With increased self confidence, they will increase their playing time. As they play more their confidence will continue to grow. This cycle gives a feeling of autonomy, which is a need to have control over our actions. The need for autonomy can be explained through the terrible twos. As parents tell their children to do something they will simply say no to their parents refusing to do what they are told. This is where they express their independence and decide which paths they would like to take (Why People Play Video Games). In a video game you have control over every decision your character makes. Just like two year olds, players like feeling in control of their actions. Despite the autonomous nature of gaming there is still a social aspect involved.

The social aspect involved with gaming is called relatedness, the want to fit in and matter to others. Video games help us reach this goal by allowing us to relate to others. They also allow players to interact with friends in an online game or even play with non-player characters. As a teen plays video games, he or she will play with others online with others 75% of the time. Roughly 50% of those are friends they know in real life (Why Do Teens Play Video Games). Studies have also shown that even playing a video game with a fake person will give a person the sense of relatedness. This is the reason why some games are built around the player helping a non-player character (Why People Play Video Games). One game that allows players to relate to others is Fortnite, which allows players to strategize and interact with friends.

All three of these needs, competence, autonomy, and relatedness, contribute to the satisfaction of the human brain. There are many methods of receiving these needs, but a very effective method is through video games. These desires will never go away and playing video games helps fulfill them. Although video games are fun, our brain also uses the experiences in them to help players grow and learn. If only teenagers could convince their parents to allow them to play video games more.

Mount Everest is one of the tallest mountains in the world and many people over the past 60 years have tried to climb it, some losing their lives in the process. There are over 150 dead bodies that are still on the mountain today. Alan Arnette, who is a mountaineer who has climbed everest four times said, “The body of one climber who died in 1996 still lies next to the trail on the north side and is used as a landmark identified by the green boots he is still wearing.” (Moreau 25) Despite the risk of climbing Everest people continue to attempt the climb, forcing rescue services to get involved. This is a waste of rescue service resources as they have to go on rescue missions the could’ve avoided.

People put themselves in dangerous situations making more rangers risk their lives to save them. In one instance a ranger was preparing a group of climbers who got stuck in a crevasse on Mt. Rainier. “As Hall, 34, was preparing some of the climbers for helicopter evacuation at 4:59 p.m., he fell down the mountain’s northeast side from the 13,700-foot level” (Ranger killed). On the Grossglockner (Austria’s tallest mountain) a rescue helicopter went out and as the patient was put on, the weight was imbalanced and the helicopter fell just a few feet from the cliff’s edge. "Amazingly, the pilot, flight rescuer and the patient were all unharmed in the crash - and the paramedic on board suffered only minor injuries. If the helicopter crashed just a few feet away, it could have tumbled hundreds of feet down a steep cliff” (Dramatic moment). This is not fair for the rescue services to risk their lives for people who knowingly put themselves in danger.

In addition to putting rangers in harm's way, rescue operations are very expensive. Nick Heil, a Senior Editor of the Outside magazine, stated that helicopters are privately owned and cost quite a bit of money. “I mean, these machines, the B3s, cost about $2 million apiece, and they're quite expensive to operate” (Heil 24). At Austria’s tallest mountain, Grossglockner, a man made it to the top of the mountain only to have a heart attack when he got there. As the rescuers put the patient on the helicopter a huge gust of wind reaching 40 miles per hour spun them out of control and they crashed. Luckily, no one was killed in the crash but the damage to the helicopter was very costly. Roy Knaus, flight operator and owner of the rescue helicopter said that, “such rescue missions are never without risks” (Dramatic moment). There is just too many things to risk in these rescue missions.

As well as the risks for the rescuers and the helicopters, there are still many risks for the climbers themselves. Nick Heil explained that some inexperienced climbers might feel a false sense of security as they start to climb the mountaintop, having the safety net of a helicopter ready if they need it. Even though most expert climbers will be quick to push aside the fact of the safety net’s influence, it is difficult to think they haven’t thought of the rescue helicopter’s (Heil 23). Another risk for climbers is that climbing season is very short, at most 2 months long, and many people want to climb the mountains during that time. This can causes many people getting stuck in the same spot, and it can sometimes be deadly. This also applies to the rescuers because as more people get stuck in the ‘death zone’ and use up their supplies of oxygen, more rescue teams have to be on the job ready to go save someone at extremely high altitudes. “They may have faced bad weather, and they have struggled up the icy slopes of the ‘death zone.’ This is the part of the climb above 26,247 feet, where the final camp before the summit is located. A person cannot survive in this zone for more than two days because of the lack of oxygen and the extreme temperatures” (Moreau 26). I understand many of the reasons why these people would want to climb Everest, the world’s tallest mountain. But they must understand the huge amount of risk their are putting on top of themselves, and that the worth of climbing the mountain is insignificant compared your own safety.

People may argue rescue services choose this job and that it comes with many risks, including dangerous helicopter rescues. While this is true, they should not have to go on unnecessary missions instead of going on missions that are serious. The rescuers have to go on missions that cannot be avoided, rather than going on missions that should’ve been avoided. More people have started to take on hard tasks where they can possibly die, and make the rescuers come and risk their lives. Nick Heil explains how many helicopters there would be at Mount Everest at any given time, “What I'm hearing now is that at the peak of the climbing season, you might see as many as four or five helicopter flights into Everest base camp in a given day” (23). This increase of people wanting to conquer Everest has let to having more helicopter rescue teams flying around making sure everyone is safe, endangering themselves in the process.

Works Cited

Dramatic moment a rescue helicopter trying to save a mountaineer having a heart attack

crashes near the snowy summit of Austria's highest mountain just feet away from cliff edge.

Daily Mail, 3 August 2017. Web. 14 November 2017.

Heil, Nick. Helicopter Rescues Increasing On Everest. Interviewed by Robert Siegel. 23

May 2012. Print.

Moreau, Guy. “Why Everest?” Performance Assessment, 2017. pp. 25-27. Print

“Ranger killed on Mount Rainier.” Seattle Times, 22 June 2012, p. 28-29. Print

“Come on dude!” Deryk Morogoph said, ”We’re not going to make it if we don’t go now.” Deryk was now 17 years old and had short black hair, was tall, and fit. He loved running and ran all the time because there was nothing else to do. Deryk was now very excited to get on the road and was hurrying to pack all of his things, his lucky socks, his cloths, and his special pair of binoculars he got from his parents. They had died when he was only 11 years old and had to take care of his brother on his own. Sometimes people would adopt them, but they always ran away because being with a new family brought to much painful memories.

Pushing those thoughts away Deryk went into the other room to help his brother pack his things.

Deryk, not wanting to startle his brother knocked gently on the door, Timmothy Morogoph, his brother quietly said, “Come in.” Timmothy wasn’t in the best of condition and hated running, but if it was necessary to do it, he can. He is short with dark brown hair and has some freckles on his face. As Deryk came in he saw that Timmothy was done packing, but was holding one of the last picture his family took together.

“So,” Deryk said awkwardly, ”You ready to go.”

Slowly and carefully Timmothy got up and said, “Yeah, let's go.” Sometimes, Deryk thought, Timmothy would get so lost in pain and misery that he thinks one day he will stay paralyzed forever.

“Well let’s hit the road before we are late and miss our ride.” Little did they know that after Deryk said those words their lives would change forever.

Luckily they made it to the bus in time to get to the abandoned fair. Deryk had wanted to go to that “haunted” abandoned fair ever since he had started his youtube channel, The Abandoned Adventurer. It was just him and his brother operating the channel, his brother videoed him exploring places in Montana that have been abandoned. This was his third video so far, his first video was at an abandoned train track and his second one was at an abandoned water park. Those trips were both pretty exciting but Deryk couldn’t wait to go to the abandoned fair.

Finally, after long hours of waiting the two boys both made it to the town that has the abandoned fair in Granite, Montana. As soon as they were dropped off they had to walk 2 whole miles to get to the fair, but eventually they made it around midday. They explored the fair and found many exciting places; they went to the ferris wheel which was alright, they explored the bumper car rink which was cool, but then they found . . . The Corn Maze! Deryk was very excited for this, but Timmothy wasn’t.

“Hey Deryk,” Timmothy said, “I don’t think we should go in there.”

Deryk said, ”Why not bro?” What could it be this time, thought Deryk.

“Well, there is a huge sign saying ‘Those Who Enter Will Meet Their Doom!’ and I think that the park closed down because of the corn maze,” Timmothy said worriedly.

“Really,” Deryk said,” you’re scared of what a sign says, please we went to an abandoned train track, this corn maze will be nothing compared to that.”

Slowly Timmothy relented, “Fine, I’ll go with you.” Then together they set off into the corn maze.

“Are we live Timmothy?” Deryk asked.

“Live and running” Timmothy said back.

“Oh ok, that is great,” thanked Deryk, “And so we are in the most exciting part of our whole trip to Granite, inside of . . . The Corn Maze! We have been trying to get to the heart of the maze but have been so far unsucces-OW!” Deryk thought of all the things that could hurt you in a corn maze, never would he have guessed that this could hurt him.

“How did I get hurt by a scarecrow, I was like 3 feet away from it?!?!” Timmothy then rushed over to Deryk to check if he was alright, “You ok dude?”

Well, Deryk thought, my hands are bleeding, my knees are bleeding, and my arm hurts but other than that I’m ok. “Yeah dude I’m ok, let me just stand up for a second.” Trying to stand up was so hard and painful but eventually Deryk did it, “Thanks Timmothy for helping me.”

Timmothy, obviously very proud of himself said, “No problem, I’ll help you anywhere, anytime.” Well after helping Deryk up Timmothy noticed that Deryk was limping so he said, “Maybe we should finish for the day Deryk, you’re look hurt.”

Immediately Deryk said, “No way, I didn’t come here for nothing, I won’t stop until we make it to the middle.”

Timmothy thinking about how he can change his brother’s mind said, “B-b-b-b-ut why-y-y-y-y-y, I want to go home no-o-o-o-o-ow.” There is no way Deryk will say no now Timmothy thought. After much thought Deryk remembered that he is responsible for his younger brother so he relented, “Oh fine, we can go home now.”

Timmothy pleased that his plan worked said, “Thank You, Thank You, Thank You Deryk!”

Well Deryk said at least Timmothy is happy, “Come on let's get a move on Timmothy.” So both of them started walking back the way they came to the entrance of the corn maze.

“Whattt!” Deryk said, “The entrance was right here where did it go?!” Deryk now panicking for his and his brother’s sake frantically trying to find another way out.

Timmothy also very worried asks, “Are you sure that this is where the entrance was?” Deryk positive that this was the spot said, “Yes Timmothy, I’m absolutely sure that this is the place, but the entrance is… gone.” Both of them were very scared at this moment because they were trapped in the maze and it was starting to get dark.

Bravely Deryk said, “Well, we aren't going to get anything done just standing here, let's go.” Timmothy started to get up and then froze.

“Hey what's wrong Timmothy, let's go,” said Deryk. Timmothy just started shaking his head and pointing behind Deryk. Deryk wasn't afraid to look back because Timmothy gets scared of a lot of things, one time there was a cat in front of him and he started to run away screaming.

Deryk started to look back but was stopped by Timmothy who had tackled him to the ground.

“Deryk don’t get up,” Timmothy whispered. Deryk really curious about what is over there and gets up without thinking and sees this huge scarecrow standing in front of him. Deryk and the scarecrow just stare at each other at first but then Deryk starts to get scared and the scarecrow senses this fear. The scarecrow with surprising speed jumps out at Deryk, but Deryk too is very quick and jumps out of the way in the nick of time. Timmothy already started following Deryk to get away from the scarecrow, deeper into the maze.

Timmothy out of breath said to Deryk, “Hey Deryk I need a breather, I can’t run anymore.”

Deryk thinking the same thing starts to slow down and says, “Alright.” Both of them breathing really hard trying to catch their breath.

“Hey, why don’t we hide in the corn so scarecrows can’t see us,” Timmothy said thoughtfully.

“Yeah, that’s a great idea,” Deryk said. Slowly walking over to the corn they sit down and try to make sense of what they just saw.

“So what the heck was that?” asked Timmothy.

“Well I guess that it was a scarecrow that somehow turned alive and we are trespassing through their territory, but nothing wrong about that right?” said Deryk worriedly.

Timmothy, not knowing that Deryk was extremely scared, said, ”Deryk, come on everything is wrong with that sentence.”

Deryk now annoyed said back, ”Dude you’ve got to be kidding me I was nervous and didn’t know what to say.” Timmothy embarrassed said, ”Oh, my bad, so what should we do now?” Deryk looked around to make sure there weren’t any scarecrows around when he saw something move.

“Hey Timmothy, did you see that?!”

Timmothy having no idea of what Deryk saw asked, “Saw what?” Deryk now starting to get up to go look at what he saw walks over to the spot, he finds a whole new wall of corn the way they just ran.

“What the…” Deryk started, “Heck,” finished Timmothy who just got in view of what Deryk saw.

“Deryk, what does that mean?” Timmothy whispered as quiet as possible.

“Well, that means either we are able to run through corn or the maze shifted into something different,” Deryk loudly said. Realizing this made Timmothy think of something,

“What if that is why we couldn’t find the entrance after we left, the maze shifted and blocked it.”

Deryk proud of his brother for saying that said back, “Yeah you are probably right about that, well I think we should try and get back to the entrance to see if the corn will shift back.”

Timmothy not liking that idea said, “No way, I am not going back to where that scarecrow caught us.”

Deryk seeing how scared his brother was tried to calm him down in a soothing voice and said, “It’s alright Timmothy, we can get through this and make it out alive, all we have to do is be very quiet so no scarecrows see us.”

Timmothy still frightened looks at Deryk and says, “Scarecrow!”

Deryk jumps to his feet pulling Timmothy up with him and said, “RUN!!” Both of them started to run for their lives, again, to get away from the scarecrows. It seemed as they kept running more and more scarecrows joined the chase.

Timmothy out of breath started to slow down, but Deryk saw this coming and started pushing Timmothy along saying, “Nope, you’re not slowing down yet we’ve got to ke-.” Before he finished that sentence the ground beneath him fell and all he remember was falling deep into this hole.

When Deryk woke up he forgot where he was but when he saw Timmothy he remembered, he was in the corn maze. Slowly he got up and walked over to Timmothy to see if he was alright. As Deryk checked on Timmothy, he woke up startled.

“Where am I? Deryk is that you? Where are we?” Timmothy rattled. Deryk, seeing that Timmothy must’ve hit his head really hard, calmly said, “We are still in the corn maze, we were chased by scarecrows until the ground beneath us fell, and then we ended up here.”

Timmothy a look of remembrance on his face said, “But where is here?”

Deryk thinking about the question answered, “I think we are under the corn maze in this hole?”

Timmothy now worried said, “This doesn’t look like a hole, there are like these tunnels over there.” He started to point to an opening in the wall behind Deryk, as they both stared in that direction as they heard the scarecrows wailing above them.

“Well I vote we go in there, I don’t want to wait here until those scarecrows get enough courage to jump,” Deryk said on edge.

Timmothy ready to agree to whatever his brother says said, “Alright, I’ll just need some help up.”

Deryk thought about how his goal in life was to keep his brother safe, so far he has been failing that mission completely.

“Well then let's start going that way,” Deryk said. So together again and so far safe they walked deeper and deeper into the hole.

As they walked beside each other Deryk thought that it would be a good time to apologize to Timmothy for not being a good big brother.

“So Timmothy,”Deryk started, ”I’m sorry that I haven’t been taking care of you as I should have. I got so carried away with what I wanted I didn’t think for a second for what you wanted, I’m sorry. Will you forgive me?”

Timmothy can’t really see Deryk but he knew what he had to say, ”It’s alright Deryk, I forgive you. You know what, I just realized what I wanted.”

Deryk feeling terrible but happy he was forgiven said, “What do you want?”

Timmothy very pleased with his answer said, “What I want is for you to be happy.” Deryk, so shocked by this answer stopped walking entirely, not moving an inch.

“Deryk, you ok?” asked Timmothy.

Deryk replied saying, “Yeah, I was just surprised by that answer you gave me, but I’ll be alright.” Timmothy feeling this special, brother bonding moment looked ahead hoping Deryk wouldn’t see the tears in his eyes and saw a small light.

“Hey Deryk, there is a light up ahead!” said Timmothy now getting excited.

Deryk now seeing this started to pick up the pace and told Timmothy to do the same, “Come on Timmothy! That light up ahead might be our way out!” They both started running toward that light they saw in the distance, and as they got closer they could see it was an opening to outside.

“Come on Deryk! The exit is right there!” Timmothy yelled.

Deryk knew that but didn’t know what was out there, so he yelled back, “Wait!” Timmothy not wanting to wait didn’t listen and just ran straight out the hole. Deryk knowing that he was supposed to look after his younger brother ran straight into the hole after him.

Once Deryk got on the other side it took him a second to make sure he wasn’t dreaming, this place was gorgeous! Deryk had never seen anyplace like it, there were green trees, there was green grass, and there was this huge mansion right in the middle of it all. He walked over to Timmothy who has never seen anything this beautiful. As he touched Timmothy’s shoulder to check on him Deryk could see all the happiness Timmothy had kept bottle up.

“Hey Timmothy,” Deryk said, “Let’s go check out that mansion over there.”

Timmothy curious about the mansion said, “Alright, let’s go.” When they got over to the mansion and knock on the door they get the biggest surprise of all.

“Hey boys,” the man said.

“It is nice to see you again,” the woman said. Timmothy and Deryk were both taken aback for a second, these people that lived here were their parents.

“Mom, Dad? You’re alive?” both Timmothy and Deryk said.

Their parents exchanged sad smiles and said, “Yes we are alive, but not very well. We have missed you so much.”

Deryk was very happy to see his parents, but Timmothy was not so happy and asked them, “Then why did you leave us alone for so many years!”

His parents, having a guilty look on their faces, said, “We had an offer from this man and he said that we could live here but at a price, he said that we wouldn’t be aloud to take you guys with us.”

Deryk and Timmothy are now mad at their parents for abandoning them and said, “So you would rather live in luxury than be with your own kids?”

Both parents looking super guilty now said, “No, no, no we would never do that to you guys, we have always wanted what is best for you.”

Timmothy not trusting anything they say now said, “I don’t believe you guys, you traded our lives for your luxury. I think that Deryk did a better job of taking care of me, and I would rather stay with him than you.” Deryk agreed with Timmothy and walked over to him to hug him.

They stayed like that for a while and then Deryk said, “We are going to leave without you and go home, no matter if you like it or not.”

Their parents now worried said, “But you have to stay, we can’t bear to lose you guys again.”

Timmothy now ready to leave says, “Well sorry, but we don’t care. We are leaving now, goodbye forever.” After that sentence Deryk and Timothy left without looking back at their parents to live the life they have had for 6 years.