Example Paper Topics for NSci 140T (Astronomy)
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This is only a sample.  You may make up your own topic. Indeed, please do!

Many of these suggestions are technical, because that's what I know.  You
may also choose political, economic, or historical topics.  Whatever you
choose, substantiate your arguments with logic and evidence.  Avoid bias and
gratuitous opinion, and let the facts tell the story, not your feelings.  
Everyone has feelings, but "Facts are stubborn things" (Lenin).

- The Cosmic Background Radiation: Remnant of the Creation of the Universe
- The Hubble Deep Field: Seeing the Early Universe by Looking Back in Time
- The Large-Scale Structure of the Universe: Cosmic Sheets and Voids
- Is the Expansion of the Universe Accelerating? (Sci American, 2001 Jan)
- SOHO: Mission to Study the Sun (see Scientific American, 1997 March)
- Gamma Ray Bursters: the Most Powerful Explosions in the Universe
  (see Sky & Telescope, 1998 February)
- Do All Galaxies Have Supermassive Black Holes in their Centers?
- LIGO: Detecting Gravitational Waves (see Sky & Telescope, 2000 October)
- The Cassini Saturn Orbiter (see http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/cassini/)
- The Volcanoes of Io (see http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/moons/io.html)
- The Terrestial Planet Finder Mission (see http://tpf.jpl.nasa.gov/)
- The Kuiper Belt: Beyond the Orbit of Neptune (see David Jewitt's page)
- The Discovery of Extrasolar Planets: Hot Jupiters and Other Surprises
- The Future of Mars Exploration, Robotic and Human
- Women in Spaceflight, from Valentina Tereshkova to Eileen Collins
- Interstellar Travel: Warp Drive When? (www.lerc.nasa.gov/WWW/PAO/warp.htm)
- Future Spaceflight Propulsion (ion drives, solar sails, fusion, etc.)
- The Magic Dreams of Konstantin Tsiolkovskiy (great for history majors)
- American Rocket Pioneer Robert H. Goddard (great for history majors)
- Avebury/Carnac/Other Stone Circles in Europe (But beware of unreliable 
  information, especially the book Stonehenge Decoded by Gerald Hawkins.)
- Astronomy in Medieval Arabia: How are Star Names Pronounced?
- Astronomy of the Ancient Egyptians/Chinese/Aztecs/Toltecs/Mayans/Incas
  /Anasazi/Navaho/Pawnee/Hindus/Celts/Ethiopians/Babylonians/many others
- Astronomy Today in Mexico/Chile/China/Hawaii/California/elsewhere
- SETI: the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (see Scientific
  American, 1975 May, other works by Carl Sagan, and www.seti.org)
- Debunk something pseudoscientific.  Be fair, though!

Above all, imagination and originality are encouraged.  With a Universe of
  possibilities, it may be easy to find something useful for you:

- Education majors: Astronomy lesson plans for elem/middle/high school
- Psychology majors: Perception and Illusion through the Telescope
- Fashion merchandising majors: Space Suits (my thanks to Amber Irick)
- Agriculture/bio majors: Closed Ecology Life Support for Spaceflight/
  Greenhouse Agriculture on the Moon, Mars, and O'Neill Colonies/
  Terraforming (see http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~mfogg/zubrin.htm)
- Criminology majors: Image Intensifiers/Night Vision/Spy Satellites/
  Astronomy-Friendly Lights that Deter Crime (see http://www.darksky.org)
- Social science majors: Human Mass-Migration into Space/O'Neill Colonies
- Journalism majors: Satellite communications/Public outreach at NASA
- Econ/Business majors: Commercial Space Launchers/Space Manufacturing
  /Communications Satellites/GPS/Lunar and Asteroid Resource Development
- Physical Therapy/Kinesiology majors: Spaceflight and the Human Body
- Art majors: The History of Russian Space Art (It's fascinating!)
- English or art majors: I would prefer you _not_ hand in a science
  fiction piece, as I'm not well qualified to judge fiction.  Better 
  would be a paper on the science in your fiction, e.g. the paradoxes of 
  time travel, the problems with human hibernation, interstellar flight.

Papers are due anytime before 5 p.m. on Wednesday, May 11, in McLane 173
(the Fresno State physics department office).  Papers must use 5 or more
references, with no more than two of the five from the web. For an A,
there should be substantially more than five references.

The papers and summaries must be typed, and be at least 1200 words long.
Plagiarism absolutely will not be tolerated, and will be checked for. For
more detailed instructions on these papers, see the Writing Guide for
Research Papers (http://zimmer.csufresno.edu/~fringwal/nsci140tpaper.html).