DOORDeerfield Academy’s to stem
Issue I 2015
Table of Contents
Mission Statement...... 1 Letter from the Faculty Advisor...... 3 Letter from the Editor-In-Chief...... 4 Science...... 5 Genomics by Justin Xiang...... 7 Stem Cells: Part I - An Introduction by Elizabeth Tiemann...... 8 Music as Numbers by Victor Kim...... 11 Memory Deciphered by Gia Kim...... 13 Universal Graviation by Robin Tu...... 14 Take a Sniff by Gia Kim...... 16 Technology...... 17 Internet of Things by Drew Rapoza...... 19 The Living Dead by Alice Sardarian...... 21 Net Neutrality by Drew Rapoza...... 23 Engineering...... 25 Solar Planes by Teddy Vallar...... 27 The Travel of the Future by Teddy Vallar...... 28 The Power of Plasma by Teddy Vallar...... 29 Math...... 31 Crises in Mathematics by Robin Tu...... 33 Addition and Subtraction Properties of Infinityby Michael Wang...... 35 The Doomsday Argument by Richard Park...... 37 The Team...... 39 Mission Statement “Encompassing science, technology, engineering and mathematics, Door to STEM provides an outlet for Deerfield Academy students to share science-inspired opinions, reviews and research, with the intention of piquing and encouraging the interest in STEM by all members of the Deerfield Community.
1 Mission Statement
Encompassing science, technology, engineering and mathematics, Door to STEM provides an outlet for Deerfield Academy students to share science-inspired opinions, reviews and research, with the intention of piquing and encouraging the interest in STEM by all members of the Deerfield Community.”
2 Letter from the Advisor Dear Reader, Welcome to Door to STEM! Congratulations to the students who have worked diligently to assemble this inaugural issue. Also congratulations to you for being inquisitive about science, technology, engineering, mathematics and the natural world around you. One of the implicit traits of quality science is learning to ask in- teresting questions. In this edition the students have chosen to re- view topics motivated by questions such as: What are stem cells?; How are music and math related?; and What is on the horizon for genomics research? The writers have also explored and shared their opinions on topics including: 3D printing; space travel; the historical development of the theory of gravity; memory; and the arithmetic as- sociated with infinity. As you can see, there are many topics to be curious about and I once again applaud the staff for taking their curiosity to the next level by digging further and sharing their findings with others. I challenge and encourage all of you to do the same and I thank you for opening a Door to STEM.
Sincerely Curious, Dr. Ivory Hills, Faculty Advisor
3 Letter from the Editor Dear Reader, First, I would like to extol you for performing the sincere act of opening the front cover of this magazine. This relatively effortless act that you just exacted by way of neurons in your brain firing to incite mechanical movement in your arms and fingers shows your inquisi- tiveness, your zeal for self enlightenment and edification. Who doesn’t appreciate someone who endeavors to better himself? Is betterment not one of the handful of impetuses of life? If so, congratulations! You are doing life right. Second, I write this flying on a Singapore Airlines elephantine A380 Airbus over India, going on my 14th hour of being confined to a seat. Door to STEM has been a vision of mine for going on more than a year. I remember first learning about cell cycles in the 6th grade, and coming to the revelation that there is a whole world, a myriad of systems occuring within me that was completely obscured to me. Just like the miracle of human functioning, I hope Door to STEM reveals and highlights the work and thoughts of students on campus that without an outlet, would be just like my awareness in 6th grade - naught. Much like crossing half the continent, the drafting and laying out of this magazine has been both lengthy and onerous. At times, we as a team have encountered turbulence, but we have persisted. Touch down is now, with the printing and a physical man- ifestation of all the blood, sweat, and tears - kidding, time and ener- gy - that the team has so willingly poured into the publication, not for fear of a grade or on motivation of anything else other than the simple mission to bring a taste of enlightenment to you, our reader. We hope that we, even diminutively, do just that.
Best Discoveries, Elizabeth Tiemann ‘16, Editor-in-Chief 4 5 6 Genomics By Justin Xiang ‘16 Review In a world of ever evolving technolo- patient and therapy. gies, genomics is going to be at the center The cost of genomic sequencing has of future medical advances. Genomics as rapidly declined. When James Watson, defined by the OED is “the branch of mo- co-discoverer of DNA’s double helix shape, lecular biology concerned with the struc- had his genome sequenced, it cost rough- ture, function, evolution, and mapping of ly $1 million. Nowadays it typically costs genomes.” $1,000 to $4,000 to sequence an individu- With modern day genomics, it is possi- al’s genome. Yet, scientists are even more ble to analyze an individual’s genome and ambitious; they want to achieve the $100 learn a lot about the individual. For exam- price tag for genomic sequencing, allow- ple, Mark Costa, a primary care physician, ing many people in developed or develop- sequenced his DNA and discovered that ing countries to find out more about their he has a higher-than-average risk for stom- health condition. ach cancer, has a lower-than-average risk It is possible that genomics can further for Alzheimer’s and metabolizes caffeine medical care to the point that living beyond very slowly. Armed with such information 100 years old may not be absurd. In fact, about himself, Costa knows that because many scientists predict that by 2050 the he has a higher-than-average risk for stom- average life of women will live to 89 to 94 ach cancer he must pay extra attention to and men will live to 83 to 86. what he eats. He also knows not to drink Thanks to genomics and genetic se- caffeine in the afternoon because it might quencing it is possible to identify potentially keep him up late at night. cancerous cells and fight them before it is Genomics and next generation gene too late. Personalized medication based on sequencing also allow the opportunity such genomic sequencing will also prolong for personalized medication. All individu- human life expectancy. Maybe in the future als possess unique genomes and can be being “middle aged” might mean the mid- affected differently by the same disease or 70s! therapy. Genetically sequencing patients allows for better, more effective matching of
Citations http://money.cnn.com/2013/06/25/technology/enterprise/low-cost-genome-sequencing/ http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/genomics?searchDictCode=all http://www.genengnews.com/media/images/AnalysisAndInsight/May162013_49113423_DNASequencing_GenomicsCloser- Clinic_II1443522313.jpg 7 Stem Cells: an introduction By Elizabeth Tiemann ‘16 Review You might have heard obscure terms to differentiate into other cells. The potency like embryonic, hematopoietic, mesenchy- levels follow: chymal, unipotent, totipotent, pluripotent and other seemingly thorny terms in the Totipotency vast conglomeration of garble that sur- Cells that possess the capability to differ- rounds stem cells or maybe even just the entiate into embryonic and extraembryonic broad topic of cancer. We all know that cell types. They are produced by the fu- cancer has either affected, or will some- sion of a sperm cell and an egg cell. They time in the future, touch us individually or can produce any type of cell that is in your those surrounding us. In this article, I en- body. Thus, they can form a full viable or- deavor to first introduce the very definition ganism. of stem cells (SCs), the two broad types of them – embryonic and adult – and subse- Pluripotency quently delve one level deeper and pres- Cells that are descendants of totipotent ent the six types of stem cell sources that cells, they can differentiate into almost any we currently have extensive research and type of cell that encompasses the three knowledge on. I will give a brief discussion germ layers that make up your entire body. of how each is “harvested” and what their respective advantages and disadvantages Multipotency are. In this series of articles, I will continue Cells that can differentiate into a restricted to update and discuss current research in group or family of cells. exploiting stem cells for curing cancer and other afflictions that currently plague us. Oligopotency The general definition of a SC is a bi- Cells that can differentiate into a small ological cell that is undifferentiated, mean- number of cells. ing that it can differentiate or “transform” into specialized cells that are employed Unipotency in different organs and parts of the body. Cells that can produce only one type of They can divide through mitosis to produce cell, their own. more SCs, which also possess the capa- bility to differentiate. In discussing SCs, we have to consider the “power” of each type of SC. Their individual level of “power” or Article continued on the next “potency” can be measured by their ability page... 8 When one thinks of SCs, the natural ten- unless someone has an ardent fear of nee- dency is to lean towards thinking they dles. The first type of adult SCs I will ex- are related to fetal sourcing – embryonic plain are the most difficult to grasp concep- sourcing to be more precise. This is where tually. They are induced pluripotent stem a large source of incertitude stems from, cells (iPSCs), and they are derived from any the notion that the only way for researchers origin that contains any type of adult SC. to procure SCs is through the destruction They are “reprogrammed” using a process of an embryo, a fertilized zygote, an early that utilizes various transcription genes and stage fetus. Because of this, many coun- factors that force changes in the form and tries have outlawed the use of embryonic characteristics of the adult SC, rendering SCs in research. This summer, I was for- them close to an embryonic SC. iPSCs are, tunate to intern at an institute in a country essentially, the second best type of SC, as where embryonic SCs are legal for utiliza- they hold the same core advantages as tion. embryonic SCs without the controversial Embryonic stem cells are considered the destruction of embryonic SC sourcing. The “premium” stem cell source because they only other disadvantage that blights iPSCs are pluripotent – meaning they can differ- is that the process of inducing pluripotency entiate into virtually any type of cell that is and altering the cells is highly meticulous currently in your body. and technically challenging. It is much eas- The disadvantages to using embry- ier to extract embryonic SCs than to repro- onic SCs are that their extraction from an gram adult somatic cells into iPSCs. embryonic body results in the destruction Another type of adult stem cells is of embryos, making them an ethically con- hematopoietic SCs. They are sourced from troversial source. A secondary, less severe bone marrow, umbilical cord blood and disadvantage is that when transplanted peripheral blood. They can also come from in vivo, meaning in living organisms, they the differentiation of embryonic SCs and have the tendency to differentiate “wrong- induced pluripotent SCs. They are multipo- ly” and form benign tumors that consist of tent and can form lymphoid and myeloid more than one germ layer. This means that blood cells. They are extracted in high embryonic SCs transplanted into say the yields and have been proven to possess ovary to target ovarian cancer might differ- intrinsic tumor-tropic properties. entiate into a tumor very different from its Mesenchymal SCs are extracted from fetal surrounding environment. Teratomas “have origins such as Wharton’s jelly and cord been reported to contain hair, teeth, bone blood as well as adult tissues such as and, very rarely, more complex organs or bone marrow and adipose tissue, which is processes such as eyes, torso, and hands, essentially fat. They can also come about feet, or other limbs from the differentiation of embryonic SCs The other broad type of SC is adult and induced pluripotent SCs. Their only SCs. Unlike embryonic SCs, researchers disadvantage other than limited differentia- harvest them through non-destructive and tion is limited yield depending on source. almost completely harmless processes, Neural SCs are sourced from the brain, 9 spinal cord and retina. They are multipotent The sc research phenomenon is relative- and can give rise to neurons, astrocytes ly new to the scientific world with serious and oligiodendrocytes, essentially compo- research arising only in the 1960s. Since nents necessary to the functioning of your then, we have come a long way in dis- brain. They are readily genetically manipu- covering more about these unique cells, lated but are difficult to source. Endothelial but we still have not even begun to truly SCs are sourced from only one source decipher and unlock their true capabilities. - bone marrow. They are multipotent and STEM will continue to publish pieces on give rise only to endothelial precursor cells, the stem cell phenomenon in a series that which form blood and lymphatic cells. Their will discuss specific niches in the subject only downfall is that they can only differen- as well as broad occurrences. tiate into these cells.
Stem Cell Culturing
Citations http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teratoma http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cell_potency 10 Music as numbers By victor kim ‘16 Review What’s music? Essentially, music is a use ultra high pitch sound, such as dolphins, compilation of bass and treble. Or at least can hear sounds as high as 100kHz.[3] that’s what most people view it as. Musi- Humans also have a lower hearing limit at cians view it as a collection of notes, and about 20Hz. The Earth vibrates at 8Hz, so we audio enthusiasts tend to separate music should probably be glad that we are unable into three sections: bass, mids and tre- to hear anything below 20Hz.[4] Just imag- ble. But how does a sound engineer view ine hearing the Earth all the time. I’d go nuts. music? And by sound engineer, I mean Anyhow, sound engineers change the those sitting in the studios and the re- amplitude of these frequencies to increase cording rooms, not singers or musicians. or decrease the amount of sound we per- Although I haven’t met tons of sound ceive. Engineers measure loudness in deci- engineers, every one of the engineers I’ve bels(dB). On average, normal talking voice met told me that they view music as a com- is about 60dB, and speakers during a typ- pilation of different frequencies. Basically, ical Deerfield dance blasts about 100dB(at every sound, from a meow of a kitten to a C a 10-foot distance). Anything above 85dB sharp of a clarinet, is a vibration. These vi- can cause permanent hearing loss if ex- brations are measured in Hertz(Hz), defined posed to for a long duration.[5] So if you as cycles per second.[1] are getting a ringing sound in your ears af- 40Hz wave is a rumbling deep ter a dance, you might want to consider bass. 100Hz is the thumping bass every- taking some measures to prevent hearing one loves in the clubs. 500Hz is my voice. loss (you may even end up with tinnitus!). So what does this mean? 40Hz If you’re feeling geeky enough means that the sound wave had 40 ups during the next dance, you may ask the and downs (cycles) in one second. Each DJ to turn up 100Hz range by 7dB, rath- Hertz has different properties. From 20Hz er than screaming “drop the bass.” Of to 250Hz is what most people call bass. course, do this at your own risk of losing Human voice ranges from as low as 70Hz your friends (not that geeks aren’t cool…). to as high as 1.2kHz (12,000Hz). Sound waves we perceive as harsh or shrill are located between 2.5kHz to 9kHz.[2] Humans have about a 20kHz hearing limit. This means that we can hear sound waves vibrating at 20,000 cycles per sec- ond. On the other hand, some animals that 11 Citations http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hertz http://www.independentrecording.net/irn/resources/freqchart/main_display.htm http://www.cochlea.org/en/hear/frequency-hearing-range-in-man-and-some-common-animal-species http://www.glcoherence.org/monitoring-system/earth-rhythms.html 12 Memory Deciphered By Gia Kim ‘16 Opinion You can’t trust anyone – but can you The definition of “learned” in this con- trust yourself? You are you – you know text may be qualifying my conjecture, re- yourself well enough to see all of the log- stricting this forgetting into the realm of ed- ical reasoning behind your wrongdoings; ucation. However, these statistics can still you are, after all, the protagonist – the hero be a reasonable reference point to estimate – of your life story. Thus, this subjectivity the rate in which other things “learned” are hinders you from being able to trust your forgotten. memory completely. Otherwise, this provides obvious ev- There are some memories that are idence for the fact that most people forget remembered vividly, and there are other a lot. This leads to another guess: some memories that are completely lost. The people actually have memories that are detail of a memory usually depends on its not only romanticized, but also fabricated. intensity, repetitiveness or significance to Two people might have clashing opinions the person. Most people remember the on a specific memory that both sides vehe- fact that they spent their childhood with mently defend. My mom claims that when their parents, although they may forget she asked me if I wanted to study abroad, about that one time when their aunts and I said yes, and that it was my choice to uncles came over. People forget both insig- come study in the States when I was ten nificant and pertinent things, such as when years old. I, on the other hand, thought that a chemistry lab is due or a friend’s birthday. my parents told me so, and I agreed to it. This happens because the brain can hold The conclusion for why one remem- so many memories; everything that was bers and forgets only comes down to seen, smelled, touched, heard and tasted what may be an educated guess; there are is in the brain. always some exceptions. In my opinion, So how much do people actually for- what’s rather important is not why; it’s the get? According to Will Thalheimer, people effect of remembering and forgetting on forget 40% of what they learned in 20 min- oneself. We constantly evolve and change; utes and 77% of what they learned in six memory is the one thing that makes one- days. People forget 90% after one month, self unique, that makes up one’s identity. and people forget 50-80% of what they’ve learned after one day and 97-98% after a month. Citations http://willthalheimer.typepad.com/files/how-much-do-people-forget-v12-14-2010-2.pdf 13 Universal gravitation By robin tu ‘16 Opinion Why do objects fall downwards on M1 and m2 are masses of objects, Earth? Well, because of gravity, of course. and r is the distance, with G being the This obvious common sense didn’t come gravitational constant. The law explains the easily into the brains of our ancestors, motion of planets on the grand scale: even however. In ancient Greece, the great if they are far apart, their masses are so philosopher and scientist Aristotle postu- large that the attraction keeps them in their lated “all bodies move toward their natural orbits. The law adds clarification to Cou- place.” His theory set the stone for later lomb’s Law on the micro scale: electrons modifications, but Aristotle did not recog- having infinitesimal masses are still attract- nize the existence of a pull from other ob- ed because of the small distances among jects (including the Earth), as he contend- them and distance apart. ed that the “inner heaviness” of objects However, Newton was not able to causes the motion. Also, Aristotle thought derive the value of this G except from that the acceleration is greater as mass proving its existence. The Cavendish increases. Experiment later arrived at the value of Aristotle’s system of physics re- 6.674×10−11 N m2 kg−2 from a bril- mained unchallenged for almost 2,000 liant lab set-up. Together with his other years, until a bored Italian guy started achievements like the Newton’s Laws of throwing metal balls from the Leaning Motion, Sir Newton successfully created Tower of Pisa. This smart dude, called the Newtonian Mechanics, also known as Galileo, found out that “all objects accel- the Classical Mechanics, which has tor- erate equally while falling,” and his physics mented high school students ever since. teachers had been wrong the whole time. Newton passed away and everyone Only a few years later, a smarter guy was happy with the legacy he left behind: in Britain named Hooke suggested a force his laws of physics were like sacred lines of attraction between objects. Then the of the Bible to scientists. However, what great genius, Sir Issac Newton, on April Newton didn’t foresee was the appearance 15, 1726, observed the fall of an apple in of someone even smarter than him, Albert his garden. Newton somehow, by means Einstein. Einstein, who probably suffered no one knows for sure, came up with the from studying high school physics, hated one and only Law of Universal Gravitation. Newton so much that he found the flaws His law states that “any two bodies attract in Newton’s “impeccable” Laws. He pub- each other with a force” proportional to lished his al their masses and distance apart. 14 ternate theory of General Relativity and theory of Universal Gravitation. The devel- a set of field equations no one could un- opment of Science nevertheless involves derstand at the time. Without diving too the process of Evolution, in which the bet- deeply, his theory basically says, “Objects ter supersedes the obsolete. Who knows can accelerate with respect to each other,” what comes next after Einstein? which was never considered in Newto- nian Physics. If Newton’s system were a giant cruiser, this little flaw discovered by Einstein would be lethal enough to sink an entire ship. This seemingly destructive discovery crashed the old system but created pros- pects for a more complete and accurate
Issac Newton Albert Einstein
Citations “Aristotelian Physics.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 20 Jan. 2015.
Citations http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intoxicative_inhalant http://greatist.com/health/smell-of-gasoline-addictive 16 17 18 Internet of things By drew rapoza ‘16 Opinion
The idea of a network of intercon- This increasing level of connectivi- nected devices has never been stronger. ty among devices in our lives looks to be We have cell phones and the Internet - all leading to a large network of embedded networks that connect devices in ways devices called the Internet of Things. Using that would hardly have been thought of the Internet as the means of connection, a 100 years ago. Device interconnected- large range of devices can be connected ness is also strong; computers and smart- and used to automate everyday activities. phones can connect to printers, scanners At the recent Consumer Electronics Show and headphones, all wirelessly. We even in Las Vegas, everything from tennis rack- have refrigerators that can connect to the ets to baby clothes had electronic chips Internet and browse Facebook or Twitter. in them. These products aim to improve Recently, even more mundane objects by making them smarter and inter- household appliances have been getting connected, able to accomplish tasks that smart makeovers. Nest Labs, a company the former “dumb” versions of the devices based in Palo Alto, California, produced couldn’t. However, getting to the Internet the first smart thermostat in 2011. Called of Things is easier said than done. With the Learning Thermostat, it can acquire so many different standards and protocols and apply the preferred temperature pat- between devices today, we would need tern for the homeowner over time and to get them all to communicate over the can turn itself down to save energy and Internet rather than a standard like Blue- money when no one is home. It connects tooth. There’s also the issue of availabili- to the Internet and can be remotely con- ty. Where there’s no Internet coverage or trolled by a smartphone app from any- service, devices cannot be connected. The where. The device was well received upon increase in both the power and availability its initial release and after the initial hype of smaller and more powerful computing had calmed down. The company has also chips, as evidenced by the smartphone released a smoke and carbon thmonoxide industry, is looking to lead to a future in alarm called the Nest Protect. The alarm which what are now every day items are can announce whether the problem is fire connected and able to communicate or carbon monoxide, what room it’s in and through the Internet. the level of danger. It also connects to the Internet and can notify you on a smart- phone if there is an alarm when you’re away. 19 Nest Labs, Learning Thermostat (http://artistsinspireartists.com/wp-content/up- loads/2011/10/nest-thermostat-003-610x406.jpg)
Citations http://techcrunch.com/2011/06/21/samsungs-lcd-fridge-with-apps-is-a-fridge-that-has-an-lcd-and-apps/ http://techcrunch.com/2011/06/21/samsungs-lcd-fridge-with-apps-is-a-fridge-that-has-an-lcd-and-apps/ http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2012/08/a-thermostat-that-learns-three-months-with-the-nest/2/ http://recode.net/2015/01/15/a-beginners-guide-to-understanding-the-internet-of-things/ http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-ces-internet-things-20150106-story.html#page=1 20 The living dead By alice Sardarian ‘17 Opinion Yes, a contradiction, but the truth in and does not have to be glued, or fas- new, innovative creations. With the aid of tened, or put together by any means. The 3D printers and the right materials, scien- object also has the handy ability to shape- tists are now able to manufacture objects shift, not unlike Mystique from X-men. that can shift form and therefore carry out This ability relies on the presence of different functions, also referred to as 4D stress and flex points, but more important- printing. Of course, the objects cannot ly, nano-materials, wires or specially de- transform by themselves, and instead are signed circuits that are embedded into the prompted to do so when exposed to a object while it is being printed. They are certain environment. This may be water, the key sensory receptors that react to the electromagnetic waves, lighting and many changes in the environment that the object other possible triggers. is exposed to. To understand this phenomenon, What becomes exceedingly diffi- we must begin with the simple process- cult is conceptualizing the images for the es of the modern 3D printer. First, the “programmable objects” as they are titled model of the desired final object must be in a recent article (The Programmable inputted either using computer designing World, S.A.). Designers must be able to software or a 3D scanner. Once the image simulate the changes that will take place is formed, it is split into many small layers after the object is made, and it is quite a before it can be transferred to a physical task to predict this. Often, the issue arises structure. The 3D printer then takes each when there is a realization that in real life, 2D, individual layer and uses heated ma- the objects are highly likely to change in a terial to create the object one 2D layer at different way than anticipated. Fundamen- a time. Eventually, a 3D model is formed, tal building blocks to form all things must seamless with no traces of the thousands be devised as well as new programming of pieces it took to form the object in its software in order to advance and apply 4D entirety. printing to benefit humanity. With the idea of 3D printing, comes The 4D printed objects are indeed 4D printing which is the umbrella over this a living dead. The very basic fabrications science of morphing objects; the fourth from this novel and extraordinary idea can dimension is time. It involves the layering be used to the great betterment of soci- of material to build something larger, like ety, placing us into futuristic worlds full of its predecessor, but the trick lies in the fact “self-assembling houses and shape-shift- that the final product is already connected ing robots” 21 (The Programmable World, S.A.). Imagine, ic chips in them. These products aim to we can reduce the costs of building cities, improve objects by making them smarter whether they be on Earth or a foreign plan- and interconnected, able to accomplish et, by using multi-functional products. For tasks that the former “dumb” versions of example, a desk that is also a chair. How the devices couldn’t. However, getting to about self-healing objects? This would the Internet of Things is easier said than reduce the need for manpower to fix our done. With so many different faulty creations. Camouflage and heating standards and protocols between devices self-fitting suits are also of interest in army today, we would need to get them all to operations. All this hints at quite an excit- communicate over the Internet rather than ing future that is fortunately ours to behold. a standard like Bluetooth. There’s also the This increasing level of connectivity issue of availability. Where there’s no Inter- among devices in our lives looks to be net coverage or service, devices cannot be leading to a large network of embedded connected. The increase in both the power devices called the Internet of Things. Using and availability of smaller and more power- the Internet as the means of connection, a ful computing chips, as evidenced by the large range of devices can be connected smartphone industry, is looking to lead to and used to automate everyday activi- a future in which what are now every day ties. At the recent Consumer Electronics items are connected and able to commu- Show in Las Vegas, everything from ten- nicate through the Internet. nis rackets to baby clothes had electron-
Citations Campbell, Thomas A., Skylar Tibbits, and Banning Garrett. “The Programmable World.” Scientific American 311.5 (2014): 1-92. Print. “What Is 3D Printing?” 3D Printing .com. Genesis Framework, 2014. Web. 23 Dec. 2014.
Citations http://lifehacker.com/5720407/an-introduction-to-net-neutrality-what-it-is-what-it-means-for-you-and-what-you-can-do- about-it 24 25 26 flying on the power of the sun By teddy vallar ‘16 Review Imagine a world where plane tickets challenging enough, but this would take were just a few dollars. Vacation would be incredible design to pull off. However, Pic- a lot more reasonable. Now, while this may card and Borschburg felt they could do it. seem unreasonable, this future could be a But it was not all success, for in reality with solar planes. Thought to be im- 2012 while testing the strength of a wing, practical, two engineers shocked the world tragedy struck. In the final round of tests when, in 2010, they successfully took a on the new wing, when determining if the night flight in a solar powered plane and wing could take the stress of turbulence, made it through the entire night. The two a mistake in the design caused the spine engineers, Bertrand Piccard and André of the wing, known as a spar, to break Borschburg, came together when Piccard under the weight. Engineers had spent decided to do something about the en- nine months designing the wing, another vironmental problems of high emissions. nine building it, and four weeks testing it, This came in the idea of a solar powered only to see it fail. Upon seeing the wing, plane that could fly around the world with Borschberg commented that its failure was just the power of the sun. Named the Solar rough, but it did not waver his confidence. Impulse, the plane was their first attempt They went right back to designing, and this at a functional solar plane. For the plane, time vowed it would not fail. and for the engineers, the flight in 2010 Along with the wing, there is much was a massive achievement. It was a 26- to do. Details both small and large must hour flight with the plane reaching a record be addressed before the plane is ready breaking 30,000 feet. The success of this for flight. Every piece has to be tested just prototype furthered their drive. as the wing was, but no more problems The engineers then set their sights like the wing have been encountered. In on greater things and promptly started a February 2013, the fuselage, the last piece new project. Now, pushed on by the suc- needing to be tested, passed with flying cess of the night flight, they planned to colors, and the plane came one step clos- make a solar plane that can fly around the er to its 2015 debut. world, only on solar power. One night was
Citations http://discovermagazine.com/2014/june/13-light-makes-flight 27 the travel of the future By teddy vallar ‘16 Opinion Teleportation has always seemed like anything can be sent. This includes hu- a technology of science fiction, and only mans. The data comes in the form of exists in dreams. However, star trek style atoms and their physical states. The infor- teleportation may be more real than previ- mation each atom contains would include ously thought. Humans have entered into a what it is, where it is, and how it is inter- new age, where superpowers like invisibil- acting with other atoms around it. That is a ity are now possible with blankets that can lot of information for each atom, and with bend light around them. Our understand- the amount of atoms in an average hu- ing of how the universe works now allows man, there is a lot of data to keep track of. us to do the impossible. Approximately 4.5 x 1042 bits, or 5.625 x One such idea is teleportation. A 1031 gigabytes. That is a lot of info. Addi- major part of science fiction in shows tionally, to get this information, the object like ‘Star Trek,’ teleportation is one of the would have to be disintegrated into singu- things that everyone wants, but no one lar atoms, and then reformed at the de- expects. It is an idea that seems to break sired location. Every teleportation would be every rule of physics and that cannot exist. death and rebirth and the new body would However, quantum physics is a rule only be a copy. breaker. In quantum physics, there is an Teleportation is anything but sim- idea known as quantum entanglement, ple. The massive amounts of data and which is where two particles have a con- the fact that total disintegration is required nection, even at a distance, and infor- raises one of the major issues in telepor- mation can be sent between these two tation. With the amount of parts and data, particles. It does not travel between the rebuilding would be hard to do right and two, but just appears at the other. It can easy to mess up. best be described as a fax machine, but At this time, the technology needed the original copy is destroyed. The actual to teleport an object is non-existent. But object is not being teleported, the informa- the future is bright, and one day the ability tion is being transported and then the new to handle the massive amounts of data will object is made completely new. become real. Until then, teleportation will Since everything is made of data, continue to be a part of science fiction.
Citations http://discovermagazine.com/2012/jul-aug/06-how-to-make-anything-disappear 28 The power of plasma By teddy vallar ‘16 Opinion Space, the final frontier, is waiting to Chang had his inspiration when he be conquered. However, a few problems went to the applied plasma physics grad- have been encountered that prevent us uate program at MIT. The goal of the pro- from going any further. Mars, considered gram was to use plasma to try to discover the home away from home for many years, a new energy source. Plasma is the fourth is the next stop on our journey into space state of matter, and is a gas where enough and we could not go there, until now. energy has been put in where electrons The problem with sending humans break free from their atoms and are able to to Mars wasn’t Mars itself, but the journey. coexist. This means that it reacts to elec- The sun, although supporting us on Earth, tromagnetism, which will be important in is deadly. It emits massive amounts of radi- the design of the new engine. He contin- ation, and a person beyond the protection ued to work on plasma energy and devel- of Earth will get the equivalent of a whole- oped a machine that could pack plasma body CT scan every six days. This would down into a very small volume until the increase the likelihood of cancer in astro- gas’ nuclei would fuse and release massive nauts by massive amounts, going beyond energy. NASA’s permitted amounts. The other Chang soon realized this same sys- problem is the length of the journey. A 6-9 tem could be used for a space shuttle. month journey there, then a two-year wait Regular engines burn propellant to create to let Earth and Mars approach each oth- propulsion, but his system did not burn. er again, then a 6-9 month journey back. Instead, it used energy to heat a gas, such If the radiation does not get these astro- as argon, until it became cold plasma. nauts, the wait might. Cold plasma is still incredibly hot, usually However, a physicist may have dis- at a temperature of about 40,000 kelvins. covered a new way to get to Mars: a new The plasma would then be funneled into rocket, capable of getting there in just 39 container, where superconductor magnets days. Franklin Chang Díaz, an MIT gradu- would then push with enough force to fuse ate and former NASA astronaut, has spent the nuclei in the plasma. This compressed more than 30 years working on an engine plasma would then be funneled through a he created and believes it can change tube with superconductor magnets around spaceflight forever. He thinks the first per- it to keep the plasma in a beam to pre- son to walk on Mars is already alive, and vent it from touching anything. Once in he hopes that his rocket will be the one to the tube, the plasma is heated to 2 million take that person there. kelvin. At this point the plasma contains 29 massive amounts of energy, and this ener- the superconductors is a lightweight nucle- gized plasma is released through a mag- ar reactor, a machine that does not exist netic funnel, working much like a water yet. However, Chang Díaz sees this as hose. The energy is then released and the only another hurdle and is confident that plasma accelerates out at massive speeds, a manned mission to Mars will give him pushing the ship in the opposite direction. backing to find this technology. The VASIMR could change every- The future is now, and with innova- thing about space. But there is one issue tions like this humans will soon visit other that needs to be addressed - the prob- planets in our system and maybe further. lem of energy. As the rocket is not using burning fuel, the energy has to come from a generator, and the only thing capable of generating the 10 megawatts needed for
Citations http://education.jlab.org/qa/plasma_01.html http://discovermagazine.com/2014/may/12-rocketman 30 31 32 Crises in Mathematics By robin tu ‘16 Review The system of Mathematics, as we system of numbers was needed to com- know it today, was actually totally differ- plement the rational numbers to represent ent from that of thousands of years ago. these exceptions. Pythagoras, the abso- Though known for its rigid rules and strict lute authority of Math, was proved wrong. logic, Math has never been perfect. Math- In fact, he was so angry that he ordered ematicians were always able to discover the execution (drowned in the sea) of our loopholes that could potentially destroy the hero Hippasus, as God’s punishment. entire system. Each time, the incident was Anyhow, Hippasus’ discovery opened up named a “crisis,” and there were three of a new chapter in Mathematics as people them in total. (What a miracle for Math to first recognized the existence of irrational survive!) numbers, in this case √2. This was the first Math first flourished in Ancient crisis of Mathematics. Greece: Euclid wrote his masterpiece Ele- The introduction of Calculus in the ments, which created the basis of Geom- 17th century by Newton provided a crucial etry that we have today. Archimedes also tool for calculations impossible with tradi- devised a crude method for calculating tional Mathematics. For example, Calculus volumes of 3D objects. Another mathema- revolutionized the notion of movement: tician, Pythagoras (yes, the Pythagorean people used to believe that a moving ob- Theorem was named after him) focused ject is actually “not moving.” A flying arrow more on numbers. He said, “All things are stays at one position at any given time, so numbers,” which postulated that every it isn’t moving at that moment. Further, the number can be represented as an integer arrow is static at every point in its path. or a ratio of two integers, in other words, Therefore, it’s not moving at all. Calculus a rational number. You might instantly see solved this dilemma by stipulating that for the problem with this hypothesis, but peo- an extremely small period of time dt, the ple did believe him for quite a long time! arrow flies over a small distance dx, and The problem came eventually. Hip- these infinitely small intervals add up to pasus, a follower of Pythagoras, encoun- the entire path. However, the initial Calcu- tered an impasse when using his theorem: lus theories lacked an explanation for this What is the length of the hypotenuse of notion of “extremely small.” Is this infini- a isosceles right triangle with leg-lengths tesimal value 0 or something else? Critics 1? The square of this number should be commented the use of Calculus as “some- 2, but there’s no way to write the number how obtaining the correct results with in terms of two integers! Therefore, a new unscientific methods.” 33 The ambiguity in the definition made pos- barber, who is male. sible these accusations, regarded as the In this town, every man keeps himself second crisis of Mathematics. It was not clean-shaven, and he does so by doing until the 1800s that mathematicians devel- exactly one of two things: oped the concept of limit and derivative to 1. shaving himself; or clarify the infinitesimal value. The value was 2. being shaved by the barber defined as a variable approaching infinitely Also,‘the barber is a man in town who close to 0, but doesn’t equal to 0 or any shaves all those, and only those, men in constant. This strict definition with other town who do not shave themselves.’” improvements finally legitimized Calculus as part of Math and also added years of With these conditions, the question “Who math curriculum for high school and col- would shave the barber?” results in a par- lege students. adox. The barber couldn’t shave himself After years of implementing the sys- since he couldn’t shave those who shave tem, Mathematicians assumed that their themselves! This little paradox points to a work was finally done and the logic of loophole in the Set Theory, and gave Math Math was impeccable. In particular, the Set a crushing blow. In response, Mathemati- Theory, discovered in the last 1800s, pro- cians were forced to modify the Set The- vided a foundation which other branches ory to circumvent this paradox in order for of Math could build upon. Henri Poincare, Math to survive. a French mathematician, declared in 1900, These crises in the field of Math were “Now we can say that the full rigor has not totally negative. They served as alarms been reached!” However, only two years for urging change and improvement. With later, British philosopher Bertrand Russell them, we humans could approach the ulti- posed an interesting paradox: mate perfection one step closer, if it exists.
“Suppose there is a town with just one
Citations http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barber_paradox http://www.doc88.com/p-917992011772.html http://zhidao.baidu.com/link?url=n93yvBXX5h7A-UW6zWZu6ZvhCQnY4HlpOm8n54ITdlDWuGiejHrqHOUQ54oNVndLEB- N5cztUVCihH_5v6NTHb_ http://baike.so.com/doc/4852776.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippasus 34 Properties of infinity By Michael wang ‘18 Review Infinity is just like poetry; we, more in Room 1 now moving into Room 2. Ev- or less, all have an idea regarding what it ery guest now has a new room, and Room means, but to understand what it really 1 is now empty for me to move into. In a means, we need to delve deeper into this hotel with a finite number of rooms, this concept. Merriam-Webster defines infini- system would leave one guest without a ty as “unlimited extent of time, space, or room; since there exists no last room at the quantity.”1 This definition, although clear, Hilbert, I could be accommodated without is not comprehensive. It also raises a few taking anybody else’s room. questions: What is infinity plus one? What Let’s translate this into math and is infinity divided by infinity? What is infinity numbers. Before my arrival, there were ∞ minus infinity? guests at the Hilbert because there are an John Wallis (1616-1703) invented the infinite number of rooms and all of them symbol we often use to denote infinity: ∞. It were occupied. With my arrival, the total is written like a horizontal 8. The origins of number of guests becomes ∞+1. Howev- the symbol for infinity is unclear; some say er, considering the occupancy of the hotel, that it may have been derived from the low- its infinite number of rooms is all occupied er case omega symbol whereas others say with no guest without a room. Therefore, that it was derived from the Roman symbol there are ∞ guests at the hotel, including M, which represented 1,000.2 me. Essentially, ∞+1=∞. David Hilbert (1862-1943) attempted “Wait, what? How could a one plus a an explanation of some properties of infini- number still be itself?” In fact, if we extend ty. He proposed the idea of a hotel with an the previous example, if 20 guests arrive, infinite number of rooms. Say we have the if 500 guests arrive, the hotel would simply Hilbert Hotel, with infinitely many rooms on have to ask the current guests to move 20 a single, never-ending corridor, numbered or 500 rooms down. This method holds numerically from 1. Business is going very true for any value k; therefore, ∞+k=∞, with well at the hotel on the day I arrive; every k being a real number. room is currently occupied. At a hotel with What if the Hilbert Bus, with an in- a finite number of rooms, unfortunately, I finite number of guests, arrives? The hotel would have to find another hotel to stay at. reception is perplexed; if they were to ask However, at the Hilbert, its system could every guest to move down an infinite num- accommodate me. Over a loudspeaker, ber of rooms, nobody would live to the end each guest is asked to move one room of that trek. Luckily, the manager has an down in the corridor, with the guest staying idea. Over the loudspeaker, the manager 35 asks every guest to move into the room I could argue that I do not belong to the whose number is twice the value of the ∞ guests and do not need to move out. guests’ original room number. Now, as ev- This way, after the others move out, I am ery guest moves into a room, all the rooms left in the hotel, and ∞-∞=1. How could with even numbers are occupied, leaving the same equation yield two different an- all the rooms with odd numbers vacant. swers? Now the hotel is able to accommodate If we attempt to evaluate ∞-∞, we the Hilbert Bus, with an infinite number of can replace the first infinity with ∞+k (since odd number rooms. Further extending the ∞+k=∞) and the expression becomes aforementioned idea, ∞+∞ is still ∞. ∞+k-∞. We could then again replace the The idea of the Hilbert Hotel can also first ∞ in the equation with ∞+k. Since we be used to explain other properties of infin- do not know the value of infinites relative to ity. Let’s return to when it was only me who one another, we define the expression ∞-∞ moved in to the hotel. One day, the hotel as being indeterminate; we simply cannot decides that it needs to go into renovation. establish a value! The administration asks ∞ guests to move Infinity acts very differently than oth- out of the hotel, since that is the occupan- er real numbers; the usual properties for cy of the hotel. After everyone moves out, addition and subtraction do not hold true. there is nobody left. It seems that ∞-∞=0. Next time you use the word “infinity”, think However, before I came, there were ∞ about the Hilbert Hotel and its bizarre ac- guests in the hotel. Therefore, technically, commodation system.
John Wallis David Hilbert
Citations http://education.jlab.org/qa/plasma_01.html http://discoverma 1”Infinity.” Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 23 Dec. 2014. 2”Infinity | Mathigon.” World of Mathematics. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Jan. 2014. “Properties of Infinity.” Properties of Infinity. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Dec. 2014. “Infinity Mobius.” Infinity Mobius. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Dec. 2014. gazine.com/2014/may/12-rocketman 36 The doomsday argument By richard park ‘17 Opinion With the world steadily being from the group called X. plagued by warnings of darker days ahead If we compute the number of of us, people are desperate for a shed of humans born before X, the result is light that will empower them with hope 59,999,999,990 (just for the sake of argu- and dreams for the future. As expected, ment), which means X is among the first math disagrees (kind of). Similar to how 60 billion humans. If N1 is true, the chance the weird theorems made by people with that X is amongst the first 60 billion hu- really long names tortured us day by day in mans is 100%. However, if N2 is true, the class, math really seems to be determined chance that X is amongst the first 6000 to be as dark and bleak as its squiggly billion humans is 1%. Because X is actu- symbols allow it. It has placed a death ally amongst N1, it’s much more likely that warrant in front of us called the Doomsday the total number of humans is closer to 60 Argument. billion to 6000 billion. The Doomsday Argument is a prob- Naturally, the theory has its flaws. It abilistic argument that takes the current assumes that the chance of N1 and N2 number of humans born so far to estimate occurring are flat (50% for N1 and 50% the number of future members of the hu- for N2). N2 could be more likely than N1 man race. In other words, on the assump- which questions the logic of this whole ar- tion that the humans currently alive today gument. The Doomsday Argument also is are at a random spot in the timeline of not stating that humanity will or cannot live human history, it’s likely that humans are indefinitely. There is no limit on the number about halfway through the timeline. of humans that will exist or a prediction on To put it in simpler words, if a person the date of our extinction. happened to buy a lottery ticket and got What all this mathematical jargon a #7, would it be more likely that there are means is that human extinction is much 20 tickets or 70 million tickets? Of course, more likely to occur sooner than later. the former option is more logically sound. While the actual conclusion vary among To apply it in human terms, let’s assume Doomsday Arguments, the general opinion the total number of humans that will ever is that there is a 95% chance of humanity be born is 60 billion (N1), or 6000 billion going extinct, in 9,120 years. Humanity, (N2). Then, a random individual is chosen you better get to your bucket list soon.
Citations http://www.anthropic-principle.com/?q=anthropic_principle/doomsday_argument http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doomsday_argument 37 38 The team Faculty Editor/Overseer: Dr. Ivory Hills Editor-In-Chief: Elizabeth Tiemann Assistant Editor and Layout Editor: Claire Petrus Science Editor: Justin Xiang Technology Editor: Drew Rapoza Engineering Editor: Teddy Vallar Mathematics Editor: Robin Tu Conceputal Editor: Kento Yamamoto Writers: Michael Wang, Alice Sardarian, Gia Kim, Victor Kim, and Richard Park
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