CATAPULTA FALL 2014
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News a bout th e Garden Club! Intervie w with Ms. Arn old Archim edes’ Epiphan y
Catapulta Fall 2014
Editorial Board Editor-in-Chief: Michael Gao, II Task Manager: William Gao, II Copy Editor: Neil Sun, I Copy Associates: Randy Chen, III Nena Kotsalidis, IV Alfred Yan, IV Content Editors: Jiayi Chen, II Kevin Yang, II Content Associates: Elisabeth Kotsalidis, II William Ho, III Alfred Yan, IV Ashley Chou, V Tim (Zhaoyang) Liu, V
Layout Editor: Yinyu Ji, III Layout Associates: Jenni (Bixuan) Chen, II Greta Gaffin, II John (Hanjin) Kim, II Hayden Codiga, IV Fahad Anwar, V Annie Tsan, V Treasurer: Daniel Sherman, II Website Coordinator: Michael Lee, II Faculty Advisor: Ms. Bateman Special Thanks: Mr. Smith
Mission statement Catapulta publishes this issue in order to illuminate scientific processes, phenomena, and recent developments, pique interests in the sciences, combine the contemporary with the classical, and secure the blessings of knowledge to ourselves and our fellow classmates.
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save the turtle
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turkey on the common
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the king of all snakes
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interview with ms. arnold
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thinning of ozone layer
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spotlight: leonhard euler
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buoyancy, volcanology
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the “anti-aging” drug
’ rs o Note t i d E Dear Reader,
Welcome to the Fall Issue of Catapulta, the school science magazine! In this issue, there are many great things we would like to share with you, ranging from an interview with Ms. Arnold, the faculty advisor of YouthCAN, to articles about cool species and groundbreaking discoveries in medicine. As always, we want you to make the most of this issue: enjoy the articles, try the puzzles at the end, and learn something really interesting. And of course, if you are interested in contributing in any way (writing articles, working with the publication crew), feel free to contact us at catapultasciencebls@gmail.com.
American New England Scholastic Press Scholastic Lastly,Press we are proud to announce that Catapulta received a American New England Association Association First Place Award for Overall Excellence from the American ScholasticPress Press Scholastic First Prize Meritorious Scholastic Press Association. This and future achievements Association Association 2014 would not be possible without the great work of everyAward First Prize Meritorious one 2014in the Publication Crew, as well as that of Ms. Bateman, 2014 Award our faculty advisor, who has given us the utmost support. 2014
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Liane Xu, V
S VE THE TURTLE “last species left of the genus Eretmochelys”
Although its habitat includes coral reefs and coastlines all around the globe, the hawksbill sea turtle is the only species left of the genus Eretmochelys, and is critically endangered despite the World Wildlife Foundation’s efforts to save the turtle with its “Adopt a Sea Turtle” program. Coral reefs— underwater ecosystems which consist of coral, fish, crustaceans, mollusks, bacteria, and other creatures—are being destroyed around the world. However, these sea turtles can play a major role in saving coral reefs before these reefs are all gone. By preying on heterotrophic sponges which compete with autotrophic coral, producers in the ecosystem, turtles improve the overall ecosystem. One major reason why the number of sea turtles is dwindling is that fishing lines and nets unintentionally capture them. This type of capture is called bycatch, which could be prevented by using different types of fishing hooks. The main
reason, however, for the depopulation of the turtles is that the pattern on their shell is very popular in the making of jewelry and other lux-
ury items. Despite laws that are currently in place in many countries, including Madagascar and Indonesia, the demand for these items in Asian trade continues to encourage massive amounts of illegal trading and fishing. Hawksbill turtles’ flesh and eggs are still valued highly for their taste, nutrition, and cultural significance. In a survey taken in Nicaragua regar-
ding the consumption of turtle eggs, about a third answered that they ate turtle eggs for the taste, while another third answered that they did it for the nutritional value, and fourteen percent answered that turtle eggs were were a traditional food. Nicaragua, located in the middle of the habitat, is among the many countries that has passed l aw s a g a i n s t turtle poaching and the sale of turtle products. Also, for many Indonesians living in the Coral Triangle, tourism for the turtle sightings provides a major source of income. So for the turtles, for the fish, for the coral, and for all those who depend on it, let us all work together to save the hawksbill turtles!
Turkey on the Common
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Greta Gaffin, II Turkeys. Where did they come from? What do they want? And who do they think they are? The turkey (Meleagris gallopavo), is not from the Eurasian country with which it shares its name, but rather from right here, in North America. The turkeys you may see wandering around Brookline, Cambridge, or even occasionally right outside our very own Boston Latin School (BLS), however, are not related to the fowl that escaped the Pilgrims’ poor, hungry hands. In fact, for a long time, Massachusetts had no turkeys at all—its last native turkey was killed in 1851. Therefore, in 1972 and 1973, the state took turkeys from New York and reintroduced them to the Berkshires. Then, between 1979 and 1996, turkeys were brought to the rest of the state. Today, Massachusetts is home to over 20,000 turkeys. All seemed to be well so far— your standard animal reintroduction plan. What officials did not anticipate was how urban those turkeys would become. There have been turkeys on Morrissey Boulevard, turkeys in the Back Bay, turkeys in the
Financial District, and turkeys in Downtown. In Brookline, there are turkeys that even attack people. They were the hunted… and now they are the hunters. But why? Why do they not stick to the forests and glens their ancestors preferred? It is partly because these birds are lazy.
“officials did not anticipate how urban they would become” The turkey of yore had to get its own food. The turkey of today can rummage around in trash bins, so cover your garbage cans! It is also partly because there is not much woodland left for them to dwell in. The forest primeval, especially in eastern Massachusetts, has been almost wholly destroyed, formerly for farms and now for subdivisions. On the other hand, in previously more agricultural parts of
Massachusetts, there is now more forest than there was a century ago due to a large amount of farmers moving to Ohio. Greater Boston stopped being heavily agrarian before
“They were the hunted… and now they are the hunters” the mass exodus to the Ohio River Valley in the nineteenth century, so there was no farmland to become forest again. But, thanks to how difficult it is to legally hunt a turkey in the twenty-first century (only during certain months, not at all on Sundays, and only with certain kinds of arrows and shotguns and so forth, not to mention how strict gun regulations are in Boston), the urban turkey is here to stay.
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Kevin S. Qi, V
According to a survey taken in 2001, fifty-one percent of Americans are afraid of snakes. Until recently, Gigantophis, a prehistoric snake measuring up to thirty-three feet in length, would have been the worst nightmare of these snake-fearers. The snake Titanoboa, however, has now usurped its place. Measuring fifty feet long and two feet wide, this monster of a snake existed in the lost period after the extinction o f t h e d i n o s a u r s. A f t e r t h e d e va s t a t i n g extinction of all the dinosaurs, Titanoboa ruled in the prehistoric tropics and was at the top of the food chain. Along with Titanoboa, Acherontisuchus , an animal resembling a modern day crocodile, has been discovered. It could only g r ow u p to s even feet. The real stunners, however, are the turtles that were found with Titanoboa. These turtles could g row up to six feet in size.
While modern day Galapagos turtles can also grow up to six feet, the ones found with Titanoboa were freshwater turtles, and it is uncommon to find freshwater turtles of this size. Titanoboa hunted using a method very similar to that of modern day anacondas. They could dislocate their jaws to fit large prey in their mouths, and could also utilize the power of constriction. Scientists have calculated that the constriction
THE KING OF ALL SNAKES
power of a Titanoboa would be equivalent to being squished by three Eiffel Towers! However,
“TOP OF THE FOOD CHAIN” Titanoboa’s huge size gave it a disadvantage in speed, so it most likely stayed in shallow water most of the time, to be neither vulnerable nor sluggish. Scientists have tried to explain how Titanoboa could have become so enormous. They have realized that in modern times, snakes around the world would be larger if they lived in warmer e nv i r o n m e n t s. Snakes are cold- blooded, so they draw heat energy from their sur roundings. There- fore, Titanoboa would have had to really live in an e x t r e m e l y wa r m environment for it to g row so large. So for those who do not want another Titanoboa, prevent global war ming!
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Morgan Stevenson-Swadling
Interview with Ms. Arnold Q: What sparked your interest in environmental protection? How did YouthCAN begin? I didn’t really have interest in environmental protection until my dad, the year YouthCAN started, gave me a copy of Al Gore’s Inconvenient Truth on climate change. It just so happened that I always do the mock trial and Zenger trial with the students and then do a followup to see how the media is involved on a current issue. That year, I decided to make
it about climate change. I showed them a documentary and asked the students to talk about how the media was covering the issue [climate change] and students were saying, “It’s terrible, [the media’s] not covering anything.” So the students were the ones who drew me into this idea of environmental protection, they were the ones that came up with the ideas on what to do regarding the problem, and one of the ideas was to have club about environmental protection. When I started asking how many people would come to meeting, I found it was going to be over ninety people, and quite a few of their parents volunteered. I began to feel that we could actually change things with so many people. At first, I wasn’t really an environmentalist; it was the students who drew me into it.
"OVER NINETY PEOPLE" Q: What are some ways we can protect the environment? A: Well, there are some very simple ways we all make protect the environment—recycling, using a reusable type of water bottle to
cut down plastic usage, taking a a Boston City Council meeting to slightly shorter shower to reduce ask that the councilors make the daily water usage, turning the water off between brushing your teeth. There are a million things you can do to protect the environment.
“RAISING MORE AWARENESS”
Q: What do you personally think has been YouthCAN’s biggest project? A; I think the Green Roof is still the biggest project although now it’s in the stage where the architects and engineers and the fundraisers, are working on it, so it’s become part of the fundraising campaign the school has launched. We do a lot of other things: for instance, the mayor and city council have reached out to us and want to work with BLS YouthCAN to spread the successes we have had to other schools. I would say one of the longest term successes is our Annual Summit at MIT. Over fifty schools go to this day about environmental protection, and the majority of the preparation for the event is done by BLS students. Q: Are there any YouthCAN events coming up? A: Students are currently collecting pledges to recycle from people in the school community as one part of the Zone Captains program. Hopefully this type of initiative will also raise awareness about what types of things we should recycle. We’re launching a fundraiser with Next Step Living to get families to sign up for free energy audits, and we’re testifying at a public hearing in the
city of Boston divest from spending city funds on organizations that promote fossil fuel use—Harvard has done a similar campaign successfully. We’re also competing in the Lexus Eco Challenge. Anyone can come to the events and help in this campaign to protect our environment.
The first thing that students in Earth Science class are introduced
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to is the concept of studying Earth makes this collaboration a is the concept of studying Earth as necessary part of sustaina whole. Humans have learned that ing the planet and its resources. working alone is often not an option : people must work Ozone, or O3, is a key part of the together to make an atmosphere, protecting the earth impact. The disfrom harmful ultraviolet radiation. covery of glo- The ozone layer, however, has been bal warm thinning since the late 1970s due i ng to man-made chlorofluorocarbons, now or CFCs, which release chlorine and bromine. These gases deplete ozone molecules in the upper atmosphere. Originally, they were used in agriculture as pesticides, but by using them, humans unknowingly greatly reduced the atmosphere’s ozone layer. After scientists made this discovery in 1987, countries around the world agreed to the Helsinki Treaty (1989), promising that they would no longer use CFCs. Today, over 98% of the ozonedepleting substances have been banned throughout the world. Now, for the first time in 35 years, scientists have confirmed a statistically significant rise in ozone. For instance, from 2000 to 2013, ozone layers increased by four percent in northern latitudes (Canada, Russia, and other Arctic areas). Scientists say this development demonstrates that when the world comes together, it can avert a brewing crisis. Unfortunately, the news of of the recovering ozone is bittersweet; atmospheric levels of greenhouse gases and carbon dioxide reached a record high in 2013. This update on ozone levels has shown that when we work together, progress is made- so why not take on global warming next?
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Interview with Ms. A
Morgan Stevenson-Swadling, VI
Q: What sparked your interest in environmental protection? How did YouthCAN begin?
cut down plastic usage, taking a a Boston City Council meeting to slightly shorter shower to reduce ask that the councilors make the daily water usage, turning the water off between brushing your teeth. A: So I didn’t really have interest in There are a million things you can environmental protection until my do to protect the environment. dad, the year YouthCAN started, gave me a copy of Al Gore’s Incon- Q: What do you personally think has venient Truth, and it just so hap- been YouthCAN’s biggest project? city of Boston divest from spending city pened that I always do the mock trial and Zenger trial with the stu- A; I think the Green Roof is still the funds on organidents and then do a followup to biggest project although now it’s in zations that prosee how the media is involved on the stage where the architects and mote fossil fuel a current issue. That year, I decided engineers and the fundraisers, are use--Harvard to make it about climate change. I working on it, so it’s become part has done a showed them a documentary and of the fundraising campaign the similar camasked the students to talk about how school has launched. We do a lot of paign sucthe media was covering the issue other things: for instance, the mayor cessfully. (climate change) and students were and city council have reached out We’re also saying, “It’s terrible, [the media’s] to us and want to work with BLS competing not covering anything.” So they YouthCAN to spread the successes in the Ledrew me into this idea of environ- we have had to other school. I would xus Eco mental protection, they were the say one of the longest term successes Challenge. ones that came up with the ideas on is our Annual Summit at MIT. Over Anyone can what to do regarding the problem, 50 schools come to a day about en- come to the and one of the ideas was to have vironmental protection, and the events and club about environmental protec- majority of the preparation for help in this tion. When I started asking how the event is done by BLS students. campaign to protect our many people would come to meetenvironment. ing, I found it was going to be over Q: Are there any YouthCAN 90 people, and several parents even events coming up? volunteered. I began to feel that we A: Students are could actually change things with currently collecting so many people. At first, I wasn’t pledges to recycle really an environmentalist; it was from people in the the students who drew me into it. school community as one part of the Zone Captains program. Hopefully this type of initiative will also raise awareness about what types of Q: What are some ways we can things we should recycle. We’re protect the environment? A: Well, there are some very sim- launching a fundraiser with Next Step Living to get families to sign ple ways we all make protect the up for free energy audits, and we’re environment--recycling, using a testifying at a public hearing in the reusable type of water bottle to
“RAISING MORE AWARENESS”
"OVER 90 PEOPLE"
The first thing that students in Earth Science class are introduced
to is the idea of studying Earth as a whole. Humans have learned that working alone is often not an option : people must work together to make an impact. The discovery of global warm ing now
5 makes this collaboration a necessary part of sustaining the planet and its resources.
Ozone, or O3, is a key part of the atmosphere, protecting the earth from harmful ultraviolet radiation. The ozone layer, however, has been thinning since the late 1970s due to man-made chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, which release chlorine and bromine. These gases deplete ozone molecules in the upper atmosphere. Originally, they were used in agriculture as pesticides, but by using them, humans unknowingly greatly reduced the atmosphere’s ozone layer. After scientists made this discovery in 1987, countries around the world agreed to the Helsinki Treaty (1989), promising that they would no longer use CFCs. Today, over 98% of the ozonedepleting substances have been banned throughout the world. Now, for the first time in 35 years, scientists have confirmed a statistically significant rise in ozone. For instance, from 2000 to 2013, ozone layers increased by four percent in northern latitudes (Canada, Russia, and other Arctic areas). Scientists say this development demonstrates that when the world comes together, it can avert a brewing crisis. Unfortunately, the news of of the recovering ozone is bittersweet; atmospheric levels of greenhouse gases and carbon dioxide reached a record high in 2013. This update on ozone levels has shown that when we work together, progress is made — so why not take on global warming next?
Duy Nguyen, II
6 On the banks of the Rhine River, there is a city named Basel, the third most populous city in Switzerland, with a population of about 200,000. On April 15, 1707, Leonhard Euler was born there to a pastor’s family. With his father as a pastor of the Reformed Church, and mother as a daughter of a different pastor, his life was set to continue the family “tradition” of being a pastor. However, by chance, Euler was tutored by Johann Bernoulli, a member of a family of great mathematicians, and a great mathematician himself. And so, Euler soon followed the call of mathematics instead of God. He enrolled at the University of Basel at the age of 13 and quickly graduated at 16 with a master’s degree in philosophy. After college, however, he found himself without a job. At about the same time when Euler was growing up, Peter the Great was establishing the Imperial Russian Academy of Science in Russia, because he was envious of his royal friends in other European countries. Peter wanted to show that the Russians were also skilled in science, and thus created his academy. He invited scientists from everywhere to be in the academy, two of whom were the Bernoulli brothers. In 1727, one of the Bernoulli brothers died and left a vacancy in the academy. On May 17 of that year, Euler was
invited for a spot in the Mathematics Department in the Russian Academy, and quickly packed his belongings and moved to St. Petersburg. Little did he know, Russia would become his second home. It was a wise move at the time, since there were not many jobs for mathematicians in his native Switzerland, unless one were a Bernoulli. Though enjoying his life in Russia, Euler moved to the Berlin Academy in 1741, due to the turmoil from the Seven Years’ War. He would live in Berlin for another 25 years. Euler eventually moved back to Russia in 1766, where he died in 1783. His tomb is in the St. Alexander Nevsky Monastery, one of the handful of foreigners’ tombs among the native Russians.
years to publish one article). Although Euler’s eyesight was bad, it did not interfere with his work. Interestingly, when he lost his eyesight, his productivity actually increased. As quoted upon losing the use of his right eye, he said, “Now I will have less distraction.” By 1766, he was completely blind. However, his mathematics work did not stop. With assistance from his family and servants, he continued to work until the day he died. After his death, hundreds of articles were published posthumously from his notes for 50 years. He published more while deceased than most scientists publish when alive. To date, there are more than seventy volumes already published, and more are still being prepared. Each volume costs hundreds of dollars and is as thick as a textbook.
Euler has left his footprint virtually everywhere one looks. In his lifetime, he published about 800 works ranging from articles of a few pages to hundred pag e b o o k s. O n average, he produced one article every week (compare this Given all of these contributions, Eul to that of a normal er is still not as well known as some scientist, who scientists (Newton, Einstein, etc.) might take This is unfortunate, since as one months delves into history, he or she will find that there are many interesting to figures who deserve the spotlight. Newton and Einstein have dominated the spotlight for too long, and it is time to explore some other old faces.
seventy volumes,
hundreds of
articles Published
Leonhard Euler:
Math Genius
David Qian, VI & Connor Stowe, vi You may ask yourself, what is buoyancy? Well, buoyancy is the upward force caused by a water-like fluid. Basically, it is why things float. Something that is often related with buoyancy is density. Density determines if things float or not. The density of an object is the object’s ratio of mass to volume. Buoyancy is an important part of the design of many water-based objects.
negative buoyancy, when an object sinks; and neutral buoyancy, when an object hovers in the water. If the object weighs more than the weight of water it displaces, it will sink. However, if it is lighter, then it will float. It is not the size or shape that determines if an object sinks; it is the comparison of the object’s weight and weight of the water it displaces. This explains why large boats can float while small bricks sink in a matter of seconds.
buoyancy ARCHIMEDES’ epiphany
The Greek mathematician Archimedes. who lived from 287-212 B CE, discovered For example, if you put a how buoyancy works. While block of wood in the water, doing research, Archimedes the water will rise. If you found out that an object is buoyed up by a force measure the amount of water that the wood equal to the weight of the water displaced, or displaces, you would find that it is equal to the moved, by the object. This concept is now called wooden block’s volume. If you put in two pieces of the Archimedes Principle. pine or oak wood that are the same shape and size, the oak wood would sink a little lower because it There are different types of buoyancy: positive is heavier. If you increase the density of something buoyancy, when an object floats in the water; in water, it will sink lower and lower in the water.
-David Qian, VI Did you know that volcanologists actually knew that On the morning of May 18, 1980, a 5.1 magnitude Mount St. Helens was going to erupt before it happened? earthquake was recorded. David A. Johnston, a volcanologist working for the U.S. Geological Survey, A seismograph at the University of Washington was set was recording this activity. He knew this earthquake up in early March 1980 to measure earthquake activity in was significant and radioed the U.S. Geological the Cascade Range, where Mount St. Helens is located. Survey: “This is it!” Unfortunately, he was right, and Later that month, there were several earthquakes with a massive volcanic eruption followed the earthquake. magnitudes greater than 4.0 on the Richter Scale, Johnston became one of the 57 people within the which were located on fault lines beneath Mount direct blast of the eruption who lost their lives. St. Helens. On that very same day, the first eruption occurred, sending steam and ash 6,000 feet into the air. A portion of the mountain’s north face opened up This eruption had a huge impact on how volcanologists study volcanoes. Volcanoes in the Pacific Northwest in two places, creating fissures. are now monitored at a facility set up in honor Volcanologists were able to of Johnston: The David use reflective targets inside A. Johnston Cascades those openings and lasers Volcano Observatory, on another mountain nearby to record any seismic changes. The equipment started showing “volcanic located in Vancouver, Canada. They are working tremors” in late March and all through April and with two other U.S. Geological Survey groups May. This told them that there was a large swelling in Hawaii and Alaska. These survey groups are between the fissures that was growing more and now able to provide important data on volcanic more each day and that the magma below the surface activity in the U.S., as well as volcanic data on other of the mountain was pushing up and bulging out. countries that are within the Pacific Ring of Fire.
VOLCANOLOGY -Connor Stowe, vi
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8 There is no doubt that death is a devastating and tragic subject. In the case of pets, a pet owner lives with the awareness that his or her beloved pet will eventually succumb to old age before he or she does. However, there is a drug that could slow down the aging process of pets. Numerous studies have shown that yeast, worms, flies, and mice, all causes of death in pets, can be affected by a drug called rapamycin, delaying age-associated diseases and stretching life spans up by forty percent. Interestingly, the drug is also applicable to mammals, including humans. While the specific details on how the rapamycin acts as a life-slowing agent are unclear, the most probable theory is that rapamycin retards, or slows down, aging in cell growth. Rapamycin derives its name from Rapa Nui, the Easter Islands, where it was found in bacterial metabolite. The bacteria secrete rapamycin into the soil to delay fungal growth and to consume nutrients. Recently, scientists at the University of Washington (UW) have been planning to conduct experimental research to determine whether rapamycin affects dogs. The goal of this research, as one scientist noted, is “to study the normal aging process of dogs, as well as the long-term effects of ra-
John Kim, II
THE “ANTI-AGING” DRUG pamycin and also how the drug functions in canines,” and it is open to the participation of dog owners nationwide. Matthew unrestricted $200,000 grant. Kaeberlein, one of the several researchers at UW, believes that if the research is successful, the results can be linked to the longevity of human life because dogs suffer heart and kidney “We’re talking about whether diseases similar to humans. For aged pets will benefit, and that’s humans, however, rapamycin is a good model for a human popknown for its lethal side effects, ulation,” says David Harrison, such as causing a viral infection who studied the effects of rapamycin on mice. Hopefully, reof the brain. Despite this, it is search on rapamycin will be the prescribed as an anticancer drug next step for the advancement by doctors. Today, rapamycin is of human biology and medicine. off-patent, resulting in the reluctance of pharmaceutical companies to invest their funds in its research and development. In addition, human trials require a great amount of dedicated time and many expenses. Fortunately, the researchers at UW will be able to car r y out the research with an
Some lethal side effects
The BLS Garden & Scavenger Hunt Cultivation of a Healthy Environment: The BLS Garden
Four years ago, as part of Boston Latin School’s environmental initiative, a small group of students constructed an organic vegetable garden near BLS’s main entrance. The Garden cultivates its three planting beds to grow numerous vegetables, herbs, and fruits throughout the spring, summer, fall, and early winter. Over the four years of its existence, about six to ten members work weekly to maintain it, care for the vegetables, and produce as great a yield as possible for BLS and the Longwood community. The BLS garden was created for the purpose of promoting sustainable, efficient, and urban agriculture. Today, poor agricultural practices, including over-fertilization, use of monocultures, and application of destructive pesticides, have resulted in environmental degradation and insalubrious conditions for humankind. With the greater use of urban agriculture, as the BLS Garden exemplifies on a small scale, dependence on such large-scale farms, which endorse and utilize these practices, would diminish. Furthermore, the BLS Garden desires to promote a more healthy population, one built upon a diet rich in plant materials. Although many individuals shrink from consuming vegetables because of their unpalatable taste, the science of nutrition is supplying increasingly more evidence that many of America’s most devastating medical problems, such as hypertension and heart disease and cancer, can be alleviated or remedied with a diet rich in vegetables and other plant matter.
Daniel Sherman, II
For example, kale, a vegetable grown in the BLS Garden, as well as all cruciferous vegetables (plants of Brassicaceae or Cabbage family) contain a group of chemicals known as glucosinolates. An enzyme, found in the Brassicaceae cell walls, known as myrosinase, hydrolyzes these glucosinolates into isothiocyanates, a group of chemicals that protects animals from the neoplastic characteristics of many carcinogens, increases effectiveness of the antioxidant defense system, and allows for detoxification of harmful materials in the body. Plants are the richest source of hundreds of micronutrients and phytochemicals, which boost the immunological powers of the body. The BLS Garden is trying to raise awareness of this information, critical to the wellbeing of all people. By eating vegetables more frequently, not only does one’s body begin to function more efficiently, fight sickness faster, and protect against disease, but also one’s sense of taste does, in fact, adapt to find the healthy vegetables more appealing.
Scavenger Hunt
The first person to answer all of the following correctly and email responses to catapultasciencebls@ gmail.com will receive a $10 gift card: 1) The equation on the front cover of this issue is attributed to a mathematician, who was born in this city. 2) Rapamycin, a recently discovered drug, derives its name from this cluster of islands. 3) YouthCAN’s annual summit is held here. 4) Countries agreed not to use CFCs anymore after a treaty in 1989 in this city. 5) This country administered a recent survey about the consumption of turtle eggs. 6) In 1972 and 1973, Massachusetts introduced turkeys from New York into this region. 7) This many percent above fifty are afraid of snakes in the United States, according to a survey. 8 ) The Brassicaceae f a m i l y is also k n o w n a s t h i s. 9) Catapulta seeks “to _____ interest in the sciences.” 10) This category was chosen by the most people as the element of sci-fi they find most interesting.
Extraterrestrial Intelligence
Time Travel
Extraterrestrial Intelligence
Mysteries in Outer Space
Time Travel
catapulta asked:
Mysteries in Outer Space
Cloning
“Time travel is extremely fascinating because it’s the Destruction of one constant in our life that we Civilization humans don’t expect to change. Destruction of Civilization Time should be linear but if people could go forward or go backwards in time a lot of questions arise: Would we have to face consequences if we could fix our mistakes in time? What are the repercussions of time travel? Is there a predetermined future? Are “Destruction of civilithere multiple timelines?” zation because what -Julia Pan, I could be cooler than the apocalypse?” “Extraterrestial -Peter Choi, V intelligence is my “I definitely like defavorite sci-fi element struction of civilization “I find the destruction because it is intriguing to the most, because of the “Destruction of of civilization most interconsider the fact that other suspenseful and dystopian civilization: There esting because there will be life forms may live in atmosphere.” are so many ways that a day when civilization will end, our universe.” -Carina Layfield, V the human race can deand a science fiction book about it -Lily Yang, V stroy itself, which are scientifcould actually happen in the future. Also, ically possible, yet still seem like humans have been civilized for so long; I fiction. This shows how far the “I feel that time find it interesting to read a prediction human race can advance, and [Destruction of civitravel has the most what science can do.” of what would happen when civililization] because it shows interesting elements zation is suddenly taken -Masha Leyfer, V our rise and fall in life and and twists to it. It would away from us.” the extent technology should go be interesting to see someone “Destruction -Clair Fu, V to, and since it’s just an who’s supposed to be dead of civilization is interesting topic.” appear in the present.” Shemar Stewart, IV the most interesting -Lina Liu, II of these elements for me because it is a problem that deals with the very direction “I personally am partial that humanity is going to time travel, because I enjoy to go." trying to wrap my head around -Kelly Zang, IV the concepts that are connected to movement in time and space: what will be changed each time you go backwards or forwards, why the things have changed, how they affect people, and what would be different if you hadn’t interfered with the natural order of things and the way in which they were meant to happen.” -Imogen Watts, IV
Cloning
Most interesting Sci-Fi Element?
YOU
Answered: