Dr. Dragon Issue #9

DR. DRAGON HSMSE’S MATH, SCIENCE, ENGINEERING AND ARCHITECTURE MAGAZINE

WHAT’S INSIDE

BIOART LIVIN’ TINY EXISTENCE OF TIME IMMUNOTHERAPY NEEDLE FREE VACCINES AND MUCH MORE!

spring SPECIAL INTERVIEW WITH PO-SHEN LOH

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Dear Readers, Welcome to the Spring issue of Dr Dragon! We worked really hard on it, and I hope you enjoy it. Special thanks to our advisor, Mr. Choi, our Designer, Fatema, and our graduating seniors. We will miss you guys! Also, check out our new website at hsmsedrdragon.wix.com/dr-dragon - carin queener, president

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LUNG CANCER THERAPY

FARM TO FORK

NEEDLE FREE VACCINES

SPENCER HA

EANA BACCHIOCCHI

JADA HEREDIA

STAFF PRESIDENT

HEAD DESIGNER

VICE PRESIDENT

HEAD EDITOR

TREASURER

EDITORS

CARIN QUEENER REBECCA MIKOFSKY JOY AUN

SHARON YOUNG

SECRETARY

HAMIDA CHUMPA

JEENERA HOSSAIN JIM HUYNH RICHELLE CHEN TALYA GUENZBURGER

FACULTY ADVISOR

SPECIAL THANKS

RONALD CHOI 1

FATEMA BEGUM

HSMSE PTA

WRITERS

JONAH ROHLFING CARIN QUEENER REBECCA MIKOFSKY LISETTE PERES EANA BACCHIOCCHI RICHELLE CHEN JOY AUN SHARON YOUNG SPENCER HA AFSANA RAHMAN JEENERA HOSSAIN HAMIDA CHUMPA JADA HEREDIA

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EXISTENCE OF BACON FOR TIME VEGANS

STEM CELLS &WEAK KNEES

AFSANA RAHMAN

LISETTE PERES

HAMIDA CHUMPA

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BIOART INTERVIEW

LIVIN’ tiny

PO SHEN LOH INTERVIEW

SHARON YOUNG

CARIN QUEENER

JOY AUN

21 23 25 27 CAFFIENE & edible EFFECTS insects

REBECCA MIKOFSKY RICHELLE CHEN

MODERN MAN

JEENERA HOSSAIN

CONCEPT ONE

JONAH ROHLFING 2

immunotherapy

Rather than destroying the tumor directly through radiation, immunotherapy uses the body’s immune system to attack cancerous cells.

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got water?

Lung cancer is estimated to kill 158,080 Americans in 2016 alone. As a leading cause of death, lung cancer takes more lives than breast, colon, pancreatic and prostate cancer combined each year. Despite decades of research, the search for a complete cure has always seemed bleak. Thankfully, in recent years, with the introduction of new drugs and treatment, there has been reinvigorating hope that lung cancer will soon be a disease of the past.

Cancer is the uncontrolled growth of mutated cells in the body.

Cancer can disrupt the maturity of healthy cells and may block vital functions the body needs to survive. Traditionally, cancer, particularly lung cancer, is combated through chemotherapy, which targets fast growing cells, and radiation, which destroys tumors. Although commonly used, chemotherapy and radiation are often only a stopgap solutions for cancerous tumors. In fact, some patients were reported being cleared of cancer only to find a bigger tumor growing months later. Despite the potency of these treatments, the high rate of cancer recurrence has led doctors to try to find a more effective type of treatment.

Fortunately for cancer patients, a new type of therapy is at the forefront of lung cancer research: immunotherapy.

Rather than destroying the tumor directly through radiation, immunotherapy uses the body’s immune system to attack cancerous cells. A patient undergoing immunotherapy is given a drug designed to use a system known as checkpoint inhibitors. This allows immune cells to bypass the “hold back” function preventing it from attacking tumors. This procedure is similar to taking a vaccine shot for polio or smallpox. There have already been successes with immunotherapy in some forms of cancer, such as melanoma.

The Cancer Research Institute even showed that the results of this kind of treatment are staggering - 98% of people diagnosed with melanoma survive longer than those treated with chemotherapy. There has recently been a breakthrough made with a new type of immunotherapy drug for lung cancer.

Nivolumab™ and pembrolizumab™ were both approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2015, allowing patients to live much healthier lives. These drugs deregulate the binding between gene proteins PD-1 and PD-2. Doing so allows T cells in the immune system to replicate and attack tumors. In fact, Nivolumab™ and pembrolizumab™ have already shown promising results, allowing patients to live longer lives. According to OPDIVO, the manufacturers of Nivolumab™ and pembrolizumab™, 45% of patients who would have died from lung cancer were still alive after 2 years.

This is a cause for hope for people suffering from lung cancer.

Even with all of these new advancements in treating lung cancer, doctors still have a long way to go before declaring its standardization. Fortunately, immunotherapy has allowed thousands of cancer sufferers to have a better quality of life. With each passing year, there is a greater chance that a new immunotherapy breakthrough could eliminate the need for chemotherapy and other similar treatments.

-Spencer Ha “Managing Cancer as a Chronic Illness.” Managing Cancer as a Chronic Illness. American Cancer Society, n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2016.

“Nivolumab.” (Opdivo) Chemotherapy Drug Information. Chemocare, n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2016.

“Side Effects of Chemotherapy.” Cancer.Net. Cancer. net, 09 Nov. 2012. Web. 22 Apr. 2016.

“Understanding Immunotherapy.” Cancer.Net. Cancer. net, 25 Mar. 2013. Web. 22 Apr. 2016.

“Why a New Immunotherapy for Lung Cancer Works for Only Some People.”Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. MSKCC, n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2016.

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“Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants” recommends Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma and In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manual. Well, most of us would look down at our plates thinking, “Well this is food, right? At least one thing on the plate is resembling a plant!”

However, in reality, do we really know what our food is, where it’s coming from, who’s growing it and how it’s grown?

Farmers are key figures in bridging the gap between us, the consumers, and our food. One significant aspect of eating is consuming locally produced foods. The concept of eating locally in order to reap environmental, economic, and healthy benefits has been deemed the “farm-to-fork” movement, with its followers considered locavores -- those who are interested in eating food that is locally produced.

What does local even mean? 10 miles? 25? Yes, thanks to being in the city, the number of farms within a 10-25 mile radius is limited. In reality, there are farms in New York City itself, such as North Brooklyn Farms or Boswyck Farms in Queens. Throughout the Hudson Valley, there is also an abundance of farms which are an hour or so drive outside of the city. Too much of our food is being driven hundreds of miles across the country or even worse, being imported from other countries, thousands of miles away, just to land on our plates at home. The significantly better alternatives are the local farms, which produce food just tens of miles or maybe a hundred miles away. Most local farms support freerange or pasture-grazing farming methods and many of them are organic, USDA certified. As opposed to many

Farm to Fork

large factory farms, locally grown food is minimally, if at all, processed, and is grown in season, ensuring the best quality. In addition, 39% of fruit and 12% of vegetables are imported from outside of the United States. This means that in order to preserve the food, the fruits and vegetables are picked before they are completely ripe and thus, unable to absorb all the nutrients. Locally grown food is transported a minimal distance and distributed fresh and at its finest quality through farmers’ markets and Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) shares.

Local food brings quality food to the consumers and economic benefits to the local farmers. On the other hand, corporate farming has been prominent since the Green Revolution in the late 20th century, with its goal of producing the most food at the lowest cost. With the mass production of agriculture in other countries and in parts of the United States, local and small-scale farmers have difficulty competing with prices and production rates. Unlike the nameless, faceless industrial agriculture corporations, local farms are known for fostering community and providing economic support to the community.

In 2010, the introduction of 152 farmers’ markets into a state economy led to the creation of 576 jobs.

Farmers’ markets enable consumers to buy their fresh produce where it was grown: in the outdoors amongst hard work and friendly cheer. “Meet your local farmer” is no longer an alien concept, written on branded food with fake pictures of grassland and a cheerful old man with a pitchfork. Farmers are able to sell their product directly to the consumer, cementing the bond between the farmer and the eater.

The importance of eating local food is not emphasized enough in today’s eating culture. A common American mindset is to eat more for less, no matter what the quality. However, local eating is beneficial for the consumer in terms of the quality of food they are eating as well as for the producer and their economic profit and environmental footprint. Finding local foods through farmers’ markets and CSA shares may sound difficult, but in such a large city, the opportunities definitely exist!

-Eana Bacchiocchi “Local Food: 5 Benefits of Farm-to-table Eating.” The San Diego Union-Tribune. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 May 2016.

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needle free

All throughout history humans have attempted to prevent disease. Some of the first documented vaccinations were seventh century Indian inoculation attempts, and eighteenth century variolation, inoculation against smallpox using a live virus to stimulate protection. The newest shift in how medicine is delivered is the needle-free vaccine.

Although different organizations call it by different names, the idea is this: a small patch is stuck to your skin with microscopic sized needles.

For many people, especially children, the worst part of the year is going to the doctor’s office and being poked by a needle, multiple times, for multiple vaccines. The needle-free vaccine changes everything.

Mark Kendall, a biomedical engineer, calls his invention the Nanopatch. It works the same way a regular vaccine does; it is still an injection, except it is coated with a dry vaccine, which eliminates the need for refrigeration, and delivers the vaccine just under the outer layer of skin. There, the vaccine is delivered to dendritic (immune) cells, where they stimulate other cells around the body to form protection. Mark Prausnitz at the Georgia Institute of Technology developed a small stick-on patch, less than a square inch large, that has been successfully tested in animals.

They are now looking into testing it on people, and the design could be in use in as little as five years.

In Seattle, the Infection Disease Research Institution, in collaboration with a company called Medicago, has a slightly different approach. Their design is a vaccine delivered by a needle-free syringe, similar to a jet injection, developed by Israeli company NanoPass.

In today’s world, there are areas with large populations that still lack the means to keep vaccines and do not have the doctors to administer them. Papua New Guinea has a population the size of France, but only 800 refrigerators. Currently, vaccines are passed along by a “cold-chain,” an arduous process of keeping vaccines viable at specific temperatures. One half of

the vaccines used in Africa are ineffective because the cold chain has been broken somewhere between the creation and of the administration of the vaccine. The NanoPatch and other designs do not need refrigeration, eliminating the need for a cold-chain and decreasing waste, time, money, and effort. Also, as the patch is usually self-applied, people with minimal training can deliver it to remote areas of the world. The resources put into carrying and securing biohazard containers would also be lessened because of this needle-free invention. Still, by far, the most impressive thing about this device is its effectiveness. According to Kendall’s research, a smaller dose from the Nanopatch is actually more effective than a larger dose with a needle.

The delivery system of the nanopatch also causes less trauma, swelling, irritation and redness to the injection site. The vaccine enters into the bloodstream faster, creating a more rapid therapeutic effect.

Currently, needles are the standard vaccination procedure for immunizations, but the medical field has been able to advance this technology. To the comfort of every child who has dreaded the sharp pricks from the doctor’s office, and the people in developing countries without access to standard vaccines, it is no longer a dream, but a probable reality, that in the near future we will live in a needle-free world.

-Jada Heredia Mandal, Ananya, MD. “Needle-free Nanopatch Vaccine Delivery System.” News-Medical.net. NYS Department of Health, 03 Aug. 2011. Web. 21 Apr. 2016.

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the existence of time The concept of time is essential for our lives. It measures the duration of events and builds the foundation for many mathematical descriptions. For example, an object’s speed is defined as its displacement over a given time. One thing to ponder is the idea of time being an independent variable, a quantity that works on its own or the notion that it does not exist in our perceptive reality. In two papers published by Physics Essays, Amrit Sorli, Davide Fiscaletti, and Dusan Klinar from the Scientific Research Centre Bistra in Ptuj, Slovenia, have described in depth what this means — space has no time dimension. Does time exist? Or is it simply a numerical order of events?

Space Has No Time Dimension...

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Time is often used as an absolute physical quantity, an independent variable. However, these scientists explain we never actually measure time. Rather, we measure an object’s speed, motion, and frequency in relations to the tick of a clock. By itself, time only has a mathematical value and no physical existence. The universe is viewed as having the Minkowski Space, with three dimensions of space and one dimension of time. The researchers’ views suggest that spacetimes should be considered in four dimensions with no separate dimension granted to time. Time is simply a numerical order of a photon motion in a 4D space. They conclude that, “the point of view which considers time to be a physical entity in which material changes occur is here replaced with a more convenient view of time being merely the numerical order of material change.”

Quantum Physics vs. Time Einstein’s special and general theories of relativity

have denounced the idea of time being a universal concept. The past, present, and future are not absolutes.

However, a few decades ago renowned physicist John Wheeler, at Princeton University, and the late Bryce DeWitt, at University of North Carolina, developed an equation that provided a possible framework for unifying relativity and quantum physics. The controversial Wheeler-DeWitt equation does not include any input of time; hence time has no existence in it.

Carlo Rovelli, from the University of the Mediterranean in Marseille, France, states, “It is an issue that many theorists have puzzled about. It may be that the best way to think about quantum reality is to give up the notion of time—that the fundamental description of the universe must be timeless.” Time in quantum mechanics does not make sense in relation to time in reality.

The equations of quantum physics are fundamentally reversible, they do not give a particular direction to the arrow of time. Naturally we assume that time goes forwards, but this assumption of time going in a particular direction is false in quantum mechanics.

Thus, the interpretation of quantum physics becomes much simpler if one assumes that time goes both forwards and backwards!

The arrow of time does not exist in the universe as a whole. It only exists in individual subjective views of the universe.

Double Slit Experiment A quantum experiment can demonstrate how “time”

does not exist as we assume. In this experiment, tiny bits of matter, such as photons, are shot toward a screen that has two slits in it. A high tech camera records the action. When scientists close one slit, the

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the matter hits the screen in the expected pattern.

However, something interesting happens when both slits are opened and the photons pass through them an interference pattern emerges. The matter acts like waves, and looks like waves as well. How does this pattern emerge? Each photon individually goes through both slits at the same time and interferes with itself, but also goes through only one slit, and also goes through the only other.

Furthermore, it also goes through neither of them! It expresses itself in multiple possibilities. How does a single piece of matter express itself in multiple states?

How does it choose which path to hit the screen? It depends on what the observer measures. When the observer, such as the camera, decides to measure and look at which slit the piece of matter goes through, the “wave” of potential directions the matter can take collapses into one single path. The particle goes from becoming, again, a “wave” of potentials into one particle taking a single route. It is as if the particle knows it is being watched! The camera, the observer, is somehow affecting the behavior of the proton!Now, how does this relate to time? How we choose to measure “now” affects what has already happened in the past! If we choose to observe the past now, such as how the observer, the camera looked at the photon, the past can have multiple directions, yet since it was observed specifically, it appears to have taken a single course. As the photon appeared to have taken a single path, our past appears to have gone one way, but that does not necessarily mean it happened that way. It depends on how we observe it, how we measure it now, and that affects the past. In this case time does not exist for there is no absolute way to measure it.

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What Now? Scientists and physicists have yet to find an absolute

solution to the mind-boggling problem of time. Although solutions have been proposed, none have yet been confirmed with substantial evidence. The concept of time has yet to be confirmed in the eyes of science and through universality. Nonetheless, questioning such topics may expand the horizon in which we try to discover the fundamental existence of humans and how consciousness and reality work together. For now, the question of time’s existence remains open. As Einstein once said, “As far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain, and as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality.”

-Afsana Rahman Amrit Sorli, Davide Fiscaletti, and Dusan Klinar. “Replacing time with numerical order of material change resolves Zeno problems of motion.”

Physics Essays @Davide Fiscaletti, 24, 1 (2011). DOI: 10.4006/1.35/ Amrit Sorli, Dusan Klinar, and Davide Fiscaletti. “New Insights into the Special Theory of Relativity.” Physics Essays 24, 2 (2011) “On the Physics and Phenomenology of Time.” The Physics and Phenomenology of Time. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Mar. 2016.

“Quantum Experiment Shows How “Time” Doesn’t Exist As We Think It Does (Mind-Altering).” Collective Evolution RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Apr. 2016.

“Scientists Suggest Spacetime Has No Time Dimension.” Scientists Suggest Spacetime Has No Time Dimension. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Mar. 2016.

bacon for vegans Americans love bacon. However, this deliciousness comes at a price. Its high sodium count can cause heart disease if eaten regularly. But what if there were a way to enjoy bacon without the consequences? Too good to be true? Actually, the solution exists in nature already.

Researchers from Oregon State University have found a strain of seaweed that when fried, tastes exactly like bacon. Instead of causing harm to your body, it has double the nutritional value of kale. It is a marine seaweed called Dulse. Originally, it was made to feed abalone, a group of sea snails which are a desired food in Asia. Researchers were developing ways to grow Dulse at a faster rate when they realized its potential in the human-food market. The fresh form of Dulse does not attract people to consume it, but this new fried form might attract people who love bacon, but do not want to deal with the grease and high sodium count. Currently in the U.S it is not sold commercially, but has been consumed and produced in Northern Europe for centuries, with France being the largest producer of Dulse. The seaweed grows along the northern coastlines of the atlantic and pacific ocean and has been eaten in Ireland for a millennia.

However because of this new strain of Dulse that grows extremely quickly, 20-30 lb of Dulse could be grown in day. Chris Langdon, one of the researchers at Oregon State University, is planning on growing 100lb of dulse a week. If this seaweed proves to be a hit in the U.S, it could provide a huge opportunity for Oregon to grow

this seaweed commercially, especially since the university has already begun growing Dulse.

Dulse is not only good for your body, but also good for the environment. With waste being pumped into the water through pollution, the acidity of the oceans is increasing, which causes aquatic ecosystems and species to possibly collapse or weaken. This presents a problem for the 4.8 billion pounds of seafood Americans eat annually. A solution is present -- Dulse thrives in oceans with high concentrations of carbon dioxide, nitrogen and phosphorous.

This discovery has yet to reach any global scale as it is still being grown in a tank at Oregon State University.

However, the Oregon State Department of Agriculture has declared it a “specialty crop,” which allows the research team to apply for a grant to help expand Dulse research. The researchers have come up with a couple of ideas for products that could include Dulse. For those who love bacon flavored salad dressings, but not the sodium that accompanies them, Dulse dressing will do just the trick, and contains plenty of vitamins.

Another concept that could be hitting shelves soon: Dulse-flavored crackers: healthy and delicious.

-Lisette Peres Fox, Maggie. “A Seaweed Treat That Tastes Like Bacon.” NBC News. N.p., 16 July 2015. Web Geiling, Natasha. “This Seaweed Tastes Like Bacon.

It Could Help Clean The Oceans.” ThinkProgress RSS.

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Stem cells & weak Knees

Osteoarthritis comes along with immense pain and rigidity, and ultimately may cause permanent knee damage.

The adult bone marrow includes at least two distinct quantities of stem cells: Hematopoietic Stem Cells and Mesenchymal Stromal Cells (MSCs). Stem cells are cells that can renew themselves and specialize into various functions within the body. Primarily, stem cells function is to repair tissue defects. AD-MSCs are the MSCs derived from adipose, a type of fat. AD-MSCs may offer many advantages if applied into clinical practice. They are used because they are easy to gather and rapidly divide in culture. If these stem cells were injected directly into damaged regions of the body, treatment of many tissue defects would be very simple and effective.

Stem cells have a promising future in the treatment of osteoarthritis. This condition is the leading cause of disability among adults. In fact, according to the Arthritis Foundation, more than 27 million people in the U.S. have osteoarthritis, with the knee being one of the most commonly affected regions. The natural cushioning that

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allows for flexibility between joints is called cartilage.

Arthritis is when this natural cushioning wears away, causing the bones of the joints to rub against each other. Without the cartilage to absorb the shock between joint movement, the joints experience painful inflammation and stiffness. Old age, heredity, and repetitive sports injuries can all cause osteoarthritis.

Osteoarthritis comes along with immense pain and rigidity, hinders the function of the joints, and ultimately may cause permanent knee damage. Joint replacement can be done to completely replace the disabled joint with a new functioning one. However, other current treatments for osteoarthritis such as physical therapy, pain relievers, and braces are not as invasive. Most of these treatments focus on relieving arthritic pain and not directly curing it. Luckily scientists have discovered a new kind of treatment that seems a lot more promising. The journal, “Intra-Articular Injection of Mesenchymal Stem Cells for the Treatment of Osteoar-

thritis of the Knee” characterizes osteoarthritis as, “the degeneration of the extracellular matrix resulting in loss of articular cartilage.” Regenerated cartilage has a thick glossy white matrix with a plateau-like surface.

This journal focuses on conducting clinical trials to test the possibility of injecting AD-MSCs into the knee to treat osteoarthritis. The results in the journal show that new cartilage is able to grow on the injected regions.

In fact, the new cartilage seems to be well embedded into the bone after several weeks. The group that received high injections of AD-MSCs were the most promising in comparison to the group that received low doses. The knees among the high dosage group were thick, glossy, and seemed no different than natural joint cartilage.

There is a direct correlation between the quantity of AD-MSCs and regenerative growth. The more ADMSCs are injected into the deteriorated region, the more healthy cartilage seems to grow. In osteoarthritis, MSCs are depleted. So, supplying the region with a sufficient amount of AD-MSCs helps return the region to its healthy structure. MSCs regulate inflammation and create a protective environment for tissue growth.

In addition, MSCs are known to be attracted to diseased tissue instead of healthy tissue. This is especially helpful for arthritic areas that need replenishing.

Intra-articular injections of MSCs can specifically at-

tach to cartilage defects and repair the region straight from the source. The specific method that guides the homing of MSCs is not clear, but we do know that these cells release a huge range of bioactive molecules, which have immunoregulatory and regenerative properties. These bioactive factors inhibit tissue scarring, suppress cell death, and stimulate the development of new blood vessels.

At least 100 million MSCs per injection would be a substantial amount to begin with for treatment. This sounds like a lot, but is reasonable when compared to the 37.2 trillion cells in the average human body. Is there a specific range of MSCs that is healthy before it becomes detrimental? Not much can be said as of now, but it is no doubt AD-MSCs will be extremely prevalent in the future.

-Hamida Chumpa Dillon CF, Rasch EK, Gu Q et al. Prevalence of knee osteoarthritis in the United States: Arthritis data from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1991-94. J Rheumatol 2006;33:2271–2279.“Intra-Articular Injection of Mesenchymal Stem Cells” for the Treatment of Osteoarthritis of the Knee: A Proofof-Concept Clinical Trial.” Wiley Online Library. CHRIS HYUNCHUL J. Web.

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the beauty of bioart An Interview with Marta Molina Gomez, an experimenter of Bio-Art

In 2000, contemporary artist Eduardo Kac sparked public dialogue with his creation of Alba, the first genetically modified glowing rabbit. Kac collaborated with French geneticist, Louis-Marie Houdevine, to create Alba using GFP (green fluorescent protein) found in jellyfish. When Alba was exposed to blue light, she would glow a fluorescent green.

It uses the properties of life and its material to provoke social discussion such as identifying the line of what is ethical in reorienting biology. It questions if artists should play around with life, especially with genetic technology advancements. However, there are small fields within BioArt that advocate for conserving nature better.

Kac coined the term BioArt, referring to the practice of manipulating live tissue, bacteria, and other organisms to create intriguing and controversial works of art.

Why do you work with mixed media?

The possibilities in BioArt and biotechnology are endless! It gets richer as more disciplines are combined, because you get the knowledge from biology and the possibilities from technology. People from different disciplines see things differently because you just do not realize when you’re so focused on your discipline. You know the technique, but sometimes you don’t see beyond that. Working with others makes you more open minded, makes the project more creative, and opens more options.

BioArt evokes political, economic, and social awareness about altering life for the sake of art.

Some argue that artists are merely amateur scientists playing god, remapping the building blocks of nature. But are these methods of genetic modification, such as the ones used on Alba, ethical? I spoke with Marta Molina Gomez, who experimented with BioArt for her MFA thesis at The New School, about the implications of altering nature and the ethics behind them.

Can you describe your background?

I’m a visual and interactive designer from Spain where I studied fine arts. I did a couple of years abroad in the U.S, where I focused on design and photography, and did my master’s in design and technology at Parsons.

In high school, my favorite subject was biology, so I became fascinated with BioArt. Can you describe a little more about BioArt?

Bio-Art is a new direction in contemporary art that manipulates the processes of life.

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What inspires your work?

Eduardo Kac, the first person that started the BioArt concept, is a really big inspiration. He was the first person to genetically modify a bunny to glow in the dark.

It was a huge controversy, that’s when people started asking who are you to play with nature? You’re not a scientist, there have to be precautions, for the purpose of art.

A professor at my school, Nurit Bar-Shai, worked with bacteria that made beautiful, complex patterns.

It was the first project that I saw and loved. That’s how I got introduced to BioArt. The more complicated the landscape gets, the more creative bacteria will become to get to the food. She put the plates with the food on top of speakers, and that created wrinkles in the gelatin, so then bacteria created more patterns.

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The challenges of these works?

Time! We’re talking about living organisms.

So everything is going to have a time frame. The organism is either going to die or you really need to go back to the lab and make changes at a specific time. Biology doesn’t care, right? Everything has an expiration date.

Safety’s of course, very challenging, because we don’t really know how it can affect us when we’re working with it. We don’t know much about biology, so it can get risky. It can be a little dangerous, especially when you’re changing the properties and the techniques.

We’re not professionals, we learn as we go, and there’s a certain risk of doing it wrong.

How is technology changing art?

The aesthetics of the projects obviously. We have a lot of screen-based projects, creating coding projects, the fusion of projects, and social reach. If an art piece is shared on the internet, everyone can access it. BioArt is still exclusive, but with creating and coding there’s a lot of open sources for people to learn and do it themselves. BioArt and biotech obviously have some limits because of the materials and the requirements for a lab (biosafety, too). There’s a lot of bio labs in the city that you can go to, and they do a lot of workshops. I got to a BioArt lab called Gen Space in Brooklyn.

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What is Habitat and how did it come to be?

Habitat is a series of landscapes composed of a 3D printed skeleton covered with a biomaterial called agar.

It’s a gelatin medium, and I put a natural living organism on top, so that the gelatin was like a food. The mold is called physarum polisi farm, which is a jello mold. It was really interesting because I could observe the artificial environments I created and see what happened when they coexisted with living organisms.

My goal was to try to create a habitat or ecosystem to see how organisms can adapt to that artificial world.

Now, more than ever, we are creating artificial worlds all around us and altering the weather and the climate.

We need to learn how we can adapt to that. By looking at very simple living organisms, you can see the complications and how they behave. I used gelatin, 3D printing, and 3D modeling, which is something that I had to learn during this process because I didn’t really know how to 3D model and 3D print.

What have you learned since you started it?

BioArt and biotechnology are influencing biology and art. Everything is interconnected. There have been BioArt projects where artists work with scientists. A lot of discoveries have happened because of these collaborations. Instead of doing what’s scientifically correct, there have been more exploratory projects. I think it’s really cool that because of artists, scientists can now

discover new things. For example in 3D printing and bioprinting they even print ear bones from cells. It’s not BioArt because its purpose is science, but you could make an ear bone with a 3D printer if the message of the artists relates to that.

Any future projects?

I’m not working on any future projects right now because I’m working full time at a domestics company as a graphic designer.

But if I had the option, I’d keep working with Habitat and make it bigger and better, and probably keep working with bacteria as well.

Any exhibit you saw and will never forget?

My favorite was an interactive exhibit at The Tenement Museum in Downtown Manhattan because the tour was really personalized. There was a tour guide the whole time talking to us, explaining to us about the history and handing us objects. There was this interactive table with a projection so you could grab any object, like pick up the phone on the table, and it’d tell you the story of the object.

Any words of wisdom for the readers?

(Laughs) Even if it’s a cliche: never give up. It took me five years to get a master’s here in New York.

I’m from Spain, I came to New York when I was 18 as a tourist, loved it, and really wanted to study here.

It took 5 years of my undergrad of exchange programs, coming here, learning about the culture, the whole application process, to finally getting accepted into college. Now, I graduated from my master’s, and I feel like I’ve really made it you know? I wanted to study in New York, and I did and now it’s on to the next thing. I think what made it possible was never giving up. When your heart is set on doing something, just go for it.

-Sharon Young Anker, Suzanne. “The Beginnings and Ends of Bio Art.” Artlink Magazine. Artlink, n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2016.

“GFP BUNNY.” Ekac. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2016. <https://www.artlink.com.au/articles/4182/the-beginnings-and-ends-of-bio-art/> Walden, Stephanie. “BioArt: Is It Art? Is It Science? Is It the Future?” Mashable. Mashable, 29 Oct. 2013. Web. http://www.ekac.org/gfpbunny.html

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livin’ tiny

the american dream Growing up, little kids are taught to aspire to the American Dream: go to college, get married, have 2.6 kids, and do it all in a 2,100 sq ft home in the suburbs. However, as the makeup of America has changed, so has the reality of that dream.

In 2013, almost half of all 25 year olds lived with their parents. This is a far cry from the young adults of the 50s, who were often married with kids before they reached that age. Because of this cultural shift, young adults are forced to find new ways to be independent.

This search has been worsened by rising college costs, housing prices, and lower incomes. These factors all contributed to the birth of one movement: the Tiny House Movement.

Kera is a perfect example of a follower of this movement. She was a typical American, with a 1,100 sq ft house in Washington. Every morning, she got up to go to a standard office job that did not pay the bills, so she had to live in her garage and rent out the rest of her rooms. She felt “really overwhelmed,” and “trapped.”

Finally, she realized that something needed to change.

This change came in the form of her ‘Fortune Cookie,’ a 144 sq ft home that was custom designed for her, and changed her life.

For Kera and thousands of other tiny house proponents, cost is often one of the primary reasons for going small. In fact, while 70.7% of regular house owners have a mortgage to pay, only 32% of tiny house owners do. Additionally, 89% of tiny house owners have less than average credit card debt, which frees them for other pursuits that they consider to be more important.

Some tiny house owners use the lowered living costs to take lower paying jobs that they are passionate about, such as ones in the arts. Kera now makes her living running an online shop on Etsy that sells custom hair pieces. Others use it to travel around the country, or pursue an education. In fact, tiny house people are twice as likely to have a master’s degree.

Tiny houses are also environmentally friendly. The average tiny house is only 186 sq ft, and the average American house could fit 11.3 tiny homes, so, tiny house owners leave more land in its natural state. Tiny houses also force people to be more intentional in how they consume. For example, in a society where it is common to own a different set of plates for every holiday, tiny house owners need to have a purpose for each item they own. In Kera’s words, moving from a regular house to a tiny house caused her to see that “everything is connected, from the planet, to the people, to the life you are choosing to live.” Thus, tiny house owners often are not only aware of the space they take up, but also all of the implications --both economic and environmental-- of that space.

Because of the intentional nature of the tiny house movement, it has gained many admiring followers who seek a similarly purposeful life. In fact, conventions

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have formed in which tiny house owners converge and discuss their lifestyles. As a result, a new group of architects has arisen to meet the growing demands of the tiny house movement. These architects have a unique challenge to face; they must build a house in a space smaller than most walk-in closets. They employ a number of strategies to craft these perfect little houses.

Griswold, Kent. “Kera’s Tiny Fortune Cookie.” Tiny House Blog. N.p., 11 Nov. 2011. Web. 03 Apr. 2016.

Vara, Vauhini. “Little Houses by the Praire.” The New Yorker. N.p., 13 Aug. 2015. Web. 3 Apr. 2016.

Every space is used. Beds are usually put on lofts, and kitchens and bathrooms are put close together or even combined to save space and simplify plumbing. Tiny houses also often lack sharp corners, which makes the space seem less confined. Instead they have gentle slopes and large windows. So, while many Americans may scoff at the idea of purposely defying the McMansion pursuit, the tiny house movement deserves a closer look. Although it does force people to give things up, in the words of the famous romantic Thoreau:

“I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”

Living large might be the goal of many hardworking Americans, but perhaps that goal should instead be living well.

-Carin Queener

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po-shen loh An Interview with the us math olympiad coach What would you do with an extraordinary passion for math? Po-Shen Loh, National Lead Coach for the USA International Math Olympiad team, Associate Professor of Mathematics at Carnegie Mellon University, and winner of prestigious awards such as the NSF CAREER award, has used this love to create Expii, an educational, technology-based, startup that allows anyone to share interactive lessons on a variety of math and science subjects and levels.

When did you first discover your interest in mathematics?

I wasn’t good at anything else. In elementary school, I found that math was the subject that I could understand the best. Whenever I was wrong, I knew why I was wrong, and I could use that to become more right, while with the other subjects, when I got something wrong, I wasn’t sure how to do it better.

i suppose I liked the objective nature of math.

But at that time, I was just doing math problems, and it was only until middle school when I found Math

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Counts. I found it very fun, and I liked doing the harder questions because Math Counts isn’t just calculating something, but a clever way to calculate something.

In middle school, I liked solving interesting questions, and in high school, it got even more interesting, with 88 problems. But all through that, I liked math for the challenge. When I went to college, I began seeing the beauty and elegance of abstract mathematics -- where it’s not a contest anymore, but you’re trying to discover new theories and see how different things fit together.

That was my evolution of what I think of math. It started with ‘I couldn’t do anything else’ and ‘I don’t know why’ and ‘I can get better at math’ all the way to ‘I can see how math integrates into beauty.’ It’s in the fabric of reality.

What advice would you give to aspiring STEM students, especially ones interested in pursuing a career in math?

I think there are two ways. One way is to do hard math problems on your own -- which is what math competitions and math team help you do. I think another way to get involved is to be familiar with the teaching side.

When I was a high school student, I helped coach the middle school math team. For me, teaching has always been an interesting way of helping the next group do mathematics, and also getting to know it better myself.

I think everything that I know well now in math is something that I’ve taught at some point. It is only when you can explain it to someone that you really understand it.

What I would encourage people to do is, if you have siblings at home or groups you can help to coach, teaching is a great way to get involved with math.

What is your goal for your USA International Math Olympiad team?

I would like to say I don’t just operate for the six people on the International Olympiad team. I actually warned the people who put me in this position. I said, “you know, the team might do worse with me in charge. I’m not going to just focus on this team of six people...” I want instead to have done something that allows for more people in America to be very strong in mathematics, and everyone that I have touched to be successful long term, not only for the competition. My goal for those people that I meet at the National Olympiad training sessions is for them to find ways to continue to engage their analytical quantitative abilities and creative problem solving to create and invent things that change the world.

My goal for society as a whole is to find that mathematics is much more interesting than what they thought, to find it’s more approachable than what they thought.

If you had to describe Expii in one word, how would you describe it and why?

I would call it a tutoring pocket... a free tutoring pocket which was programmed by everyone in the world. I could use two words to describe it, crowdsourced and mobile. It’s like taking the two paradigms of crowdsourcing and mobile into the education state and shaking up everything that’s been done before in education.

And what do I mean by that? Now these two are very loaded words.

For me, when I see a mobile phone, I see something that is internet connected and has computational ability.

Those two things are what make a mobile phone so unique, compared to what we have in high schools.

Crowdsourcing means you allow everyone in the world to pitch in at the same time, not just having some sites where we have some small team content, but where all 7 billion people could talk and contribute content.

When you put the two things together... it means that everyone in their pocket has something which can adapt to them based on what they see, or at least deliver an interactive lesson, like an Expii lesson. And then with the crowdsourcing, all the programming is free. So the short words are crowdsourcing, mobile, and education.

What do you think is a crucial trait for success in any field?

Grit. It’s not used enough. I think that if you are able to keep pushing yourself, even when you’re uncomfortable, you’re able to achieve a lot more.

An example of this is if you do any sort of sport. The idea is that you really don’t want to do the extra piece of effort, but you do it anyway, in sports, because you want to win. In the math olympiad and the math competition there is competition too, that’s why, even though I’m not a physical athlete, I can definitely identify with what that means, because you’re tired or you’re super stressed but you say “Well I’m just going to engage my brain a much stronger way than I could ever have before.” And you just keep going... I look for, for example, when I’m hiring people to work for Expii or I’m looking for people who I want to bring out as graduate students at Carnegie Mellon, I really want to find people who because of their determination to do something, have this unstoppable drive to them... This trait can be found in many different ways. I think that actually sometimes having some extreme ability to push gets you very far.

And I’ll say it in my own life, I got here at 4 am from Israel, flying overnight for 12 hours. I’ve been working since 4 am. But that’s just normal for me. When you’ve decided that’s going to be your life, legacy or whatever, then you just can’t be stopped. Plenty of people are just the ones who work really hard because they really believe in something. And that’s actually what I think is very important. I think once you have that, you’ll learn everything else.

-Joy Aun

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caffienated much?

The average person in the U.S. consumes 165 mg of caffeine a day, in everything from coffee to dark chocolate. Caffeine has many upsides, like alertness, and downsides, like anxiety or addiction. These all derive from the way it interacts with our brains and bodies.

Within 40 minutes, 99% of caffeine in a drink is absorbed into our blood, then its main influence lasts 4 to 6 hours. Within 24 hours, less than 6 mg of a 8 oz cup of coffee would be left in the body, leaving negligible effects.

Caffeine works by blocking the adenosine receptors.

Adenosine is the neuromodulator that causes sleepiness by signaling the brain to decrease neural activity.

Due to the blockage of the receptors, the sleepy feeling is suppressed. This results in an increase in adenosine in the bloodstream, which then causes an increase in adrenaline and neuron firing. It also slows the absorption of dopamine, (the â&#x20AC;&#x153;feel-goodâ&#x20AC;? neurotransmitter) similar to how cocaine and heroin work. Another neurotransmitter, serotonin, increases due to caffeine. In the liver, caffeine is broken down into its metabolites (products of the metabolism): theophylline (~5%), theo-

bromine (~10%), and paraxanthine (~85%), each of which has a different effect on the body. Theobromine and theophylline are also found naturally in chocolate, tea, coffee and guarana (a common ingredient in energy drinks). Theophylline smooths muscle, which can alleviate asthma and cause the feeling of urination.

Theobromine increases oxygen flow, and paraxanthine increases fat breakdown and muscle activity. The effects of these metabolites are the reasons why athletes frequently consume caffeine to help performance.

Sources of Caffeine

Caffeine is most commonly consumed from drinks (coffee, tea, soda, energy drinks), pills, powders or candies.

It is also found in dark chocolate and other foods. The amount of caffeine in these can be found in the chart below.

Of food and drinks, the caffeine content can vary largely between these different forms, with food and dark chocolate at the low end, and energy drinks and sodas at the high end. Energy drinks often have other ingredients which supposedly increase energy. Guarana is

Product

Apple Dark Chocolate (square) Coca-Cola (12oz) Tea (8oz) Coffee (8oz)

Monster Energy Drink (16oz)

5 Hour Energy Shot (2oz) Caffeine Pills Liquid Caffeine (128 oz) 1 oz of Liquid

Pure Caffeine Powder (124 g bag)

1 teaspoon of Powder

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Caffeine (mg) 0 14 34 25 - 150 160 - 300 160 200 200 64,000 (500) 124,000 (4706)

a common ingredient, which is similar to coffee beans, but contains higher concentrations of caffeine. Other common ingredients of energy drinks include taurine, which is an amino acid naturally found in the body. It may help the body function under high levels of stimulants by regulating minerals and water levels. Combined with caffeine, taurine may benefit cognitive and athletic ability. According to Caffeine Informer, it also helps “regulate heartbeat, muscle contractions, and energy levels” and “lower cholesterol, increase the effectiveness of heart muscle contraction, and improve blood flow and oxygen supply to heart cells.” Energy drinks also frequently contain B vitamins, which are thought to increase energy. There are other minor ingredients commonly added to energy drinks that either have no effects, boost caffeine’s positive effects of alertness and focus, or help to counteract caffeine’s negative effects like anxiety or jitteriness.

Positives

Caffeine’s main effects on the body are increased alertness and focus. Small amounts of caffeine (less than 2 cups of coffee) can increase happiness and sociability, especially for irregular caffeine users. Scientists have shown that caffeine benefits long term memory. Besides these effects of caffeine, studies and medical analysis have shown that caffeine helps prevent diseases like cancer and Parkinson’s, and three to five cups of coffee daily can prevent heart conditions. Current researchers are taking steps to prove the benefits of caffeine on headaches, asthma, dementia and diabetes. Caffeine has also been shown to boost metabolism and improve cognitive efficiency such as decision making and problem solving. However, the International Olympic Committee banned caffeine due to its athletic benefits.

Negatives

The main downsides to caffeine are the side-effects of high doses, its mildly addictive properties, its interaction with drugs and alcohol, and its effects on certain risk groups. Caffeine addiction and withdrawal are both possible, and cases of caffeine overdose have been reported. Caffeine addiction is actually a biological dependence on caffeine, although not a serious addiction like drug or alcohol addictions. Withdrawal (suddenly

stopping usage) can cause headaches, fatigue, anxiety, irritability, depressed mood, and difficulty concentrating, but symptoms usually last only a few days. Too much caffeine in a short period of time (500-600 mg in a day, or about 5 cups of coffee) can cause an upset stomach, insomnia, nervousness, restlessness, jitteriness, irritability, or quickened heartbeat.

Many groups are at high risk to the effects of high doses of caffeine, so they should severely limit their caffeine intake. People with heart conditions are one such group due to the increased heart rate (Tachycardia) and blood pressure, which can lead to unconsciousness or cardiac arrest. Thus, many caffeine related deaths are due to interactions with heart conditions.

conclusions

Despite news reports on the deadly effects of caffeine, the only reported deaths were due to recklessly high intake or intensification of preexisting illnesses, like heart conditions. Caffeine can come in pill, powder, or pure liquid form, which allows for fast consumption in high doses. A teaspoonful of caffeine powder has around 4700 mg of caffeine, which is about 47 cups of coffee or 30 cans of 16 oz Monster Energy (480 oz). The ability to consume such a large amount of caffeine in such a short time is the main cause of deaths from caffeine overdoses. In normal usage from food and beverages, caffeine would not harm the average healthy individual. While sources vary, most agree that at least 5,000 mg, but most likely closer to 10,000 mg (10 grams) would cause a normal person to overdose on caffeine.

Overall, caffeine is the most commonly consumed legal drug in the world and does not regularly have major negative health impacts. If consumed in moderation, it can actually prevent disease and brighten moods. So, think about caffeine a little more positively next time you sip a coffee.

-Rebecca Mikofsky “Caffeine Metabolism.” Caffeine Informer. N.p., n.d.

Web. 03 May 2016.Coffee and Caffeine FAQ. N.p., n.d.

Web. 3 May 2016.“Effects of Caffeine.” Effects of Caffeine. University of Delaware, n.d. Web. 03 May 2016.

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would you eat a bug?

eating insects can save the impoverished and the environment You are happily concentrating on the task in front of you, when something suddenly scuttles in the corner of your eye. Your heart races and the panic rises. Slowly you turn, and behold, a six-legged, multi-eyed creature stares back at you, waving its antennae at you and crouching like it is ready to pounce. You could scream, scram, or kill it. But the better option might just be… to eat it?

One of the biggest causes of greenhouse gases is livestock, due to the methane it produces.

Every year about 124 million tons of poultry, 91 million tons of pork, 59 million tons of cattle and buffalo meat, and 11 million tons of sheep meat from is produced. About 18% of greenhouse gases come from agriculture, livestock included. Tending to and eating livestock creates a larger carbon footprint and uses more resources than most people realize. So how can we stop this problem? We could stop eating meat altogether, however, a third of our intake of protein comes from animal products, so to get rid of it would require

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a sufficient substitute. That is where insects come in.

The act of eating an insect is called entomophagy (entomon ― insect, phagein ― to eat).

Why eat an Insect?

Although the idea may be unappealing, it should be considered that the general population already consumes a lot of insect products. For example, sweet, yellow, gooey honey is actually bee vomit, and if you had eaten anything red recently, the coloring could be made of cochineal, or crushed bugs. Additionally, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has confirmed that “there may be 30 or more insect fragments per 100 grams” in peanut butter.

The list of delicious foods that are actually tainted by insects can go on and on, but what is a few unwitting fragments compared to decisive consumption of whole insects? As it turns out, eating bugs is not only plausible, but also healthy. While they do not differ much from chicken and beef in caloric, sodium, sugar, and saturated fat contents, crickets, beetles, honeybees and larvae are a richer source of iron and protein. In addition, entomophagy can save the planet. About 30%

of the ice-free land is used for growing fruits and vegetables that does not feed people, but feed the animals, and 40% of the world’s land is used for livestock farming. In comparison, insects take up so little space that one “farm” is a single, small building with no fields or fences, located in the suburbs of Toronto. Insects can be grown in boxes, stacked on top of each other, and eat just about any fruits and vegetables given to them.

They can even eat foods that we cannot consume (wood, mulberry leaves, etc.), and convert those extra nutrients into edible food for us. In fact, they are about two times more efficient in energy to nutrients conversion than chickens and pigs, and five times more efficient than cows.

the Environment

While cattle need 2,000 gallons of water per a pound of beef, and chickens need 500 gallons of water per a pound of poultry, crickets only need one gallon per pound of crickets, about 0.045% as much as cattle, most of which comes from foods such as potatoes and carrots. In addition, crickets need six times less feed than cattle.

This extreme difference in need of resources may be because insects are poikilothermic, or cold-blooded, so they need a lot less energy to maintain their body-temperature. Their need for less energy also translates into less need for heating, which would be good for the environment. It is also well known that cows are one of the major factors of greenhouse gases because of the methane they produce by passing gas.

Crickets, on the other hand, produce up to 80% less methane than cattle.

Many animals domesticated and raised by industry for consumption live in cramped, unsanitary places, with practically no room to move. Although few animals are considered self-aware, it has been argued that they at least have enough sentience to suffer and feel pain.

The definition of pain is the detection of uncomfortable stimuli through the nociceptors, or pain receptors. However, what makes it most controversial is how the definition of pain is tied in with suffering and terror. While animals do not resemble humans in our capacity to feel emotions (e.g. dogs can not feel guilt), most of them can feel pain, along with all the emotional response it comes with. Putting livestock through a suffering and terror for their entire lives is thus cruel and inhumane.

On the other hand, insects can arguably feel no pain.

They can learn, but not think. For example, dragonflies can learn to hone in on individual prey for the sole purpose of efficiency and survival, but not for emotional reasons. Taking that into perspective, insects are much less self aware than humans or mammals such as cows or pigs.

Despite all the benefits insects could bring to the environment, they can still do a lot of damage to plants, both domestic and wild. In order to combat this, pesticides and other harmful chemicals have been released into the air in order to kill insects. This, however, creates a lot of collateral damage because bees, birds, and other beneficial life forms are killed. What if instead of killing them, we catch them? Not only would that be beneficial for the crops, but it would also be a source of food.

Parting Words

Ethics and Morals

-Richelle Chen

One of the most controversial, yet undeniable objection for eating meat is the pain and suffering that livestock experience. Vegetarians and vegans emphasize the cruelty of tending livestock, and with good reason.

For now, to eat the squeamish pest that people like to run away from or kill is likely a strange suggestion.

But the benefits of it could be world-changing. Meat, like fossil fuels, is an unsustainable industry that is doing us harm. Yet, we have the solution to it right in our backyards. Perhaps you would be willing to give bugs a try, if not for their health of their environment, than perhaps for the taste. Bon appétit!

Bratskeir, Kate. “It’s Healthier to Eat a Bug Than It Is to Eat a Steak.” The Huffington Post. N.p., 13 Oct. 2015.

Web. 11 May 2016.

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Neanderthals & the modern man Neanderthals have long been established as the closest relatives of modern homo-sapien sapiens.

It should be no surprise that, as a result of this, humans and Neanderthals interbred at one point.

At first, this was a blessing. Humans, being a new species, needed to adapt to their surroundings and Neanderthal DNA helped them do just that. One advantage that this intermingling has provided can be seen in the Neanderthal DNA’s link to keratin production in humans. Keratin is what gives our hair and nails extra thickness and durability, and having keratin serves as an advantage in colder environments, because it creates extra insulation. This brought upon a necessity for more interactions between the two species.

As a result, today, about 1.5% to 2.1% of the DNA in people outside of Africa is of Neanderthal origin.

Now that humans can walk on their own two feet, the Neanderthal DNA “leftovers” are not really doing much good. In fact, according to a series of research studies, they could be doing harm. In one study that David Reich, investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, led, DNA of hundreds of non-African and Sub-Saharan humans, and a Neanderthal man were analyzed. By finding genes that matched in the non-African and Neanderthal DNA, the scientists could check if that gene was also present in the African DNA. If it did not exist in the sub-Saharan gene variant, then that gene was passed down from Neanderthals to humans.

Next, electronic medical files of more than 28,000 individuals, from 9 hospitals in the U.S., of European ancestry were analyzed.

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This information included both the genetic information of the patient along with their health records. Through this analysis, Neanderthal genetic variants have been linked to the increased risk of 12 bad conditions. These conditions include urinary tract infections, hypercoagulation, depression, obesity, and malnutrition. The most significant increase was that in the nicotine addiction of modern humans. The cause behind this is unknown since Neanderthals most likely did not have access to it, so the only conclusion that can be drawn is that it served a different, more valuable purpose 50,000 years ago.

Another study was led by John Capra of Vanderbilt University. First, the researchers identified 135,000 genetic variants that were common in both Neanderthals and modern humans. In the same study led by John Capra, there was another interesting finding.

The presence of Neanderthal DNA in humans actually increases the risk of keratoses.

Increased keratin production was something passed down to us in an effort to help us adapt to our colder surroundings. Keratosis, on the other hand, is not such a good thing. It occurs because of abnormal keratinocytes which, when normal, are supposed to protect you from UV radiation and germs, but when they start acting up, they allow for sun-triggered skin lesions to occur more easily. This highlights both the upsides and the downsides of our own Neanderthal DNA inheritance.

-Jeenera Hossain Choi, Charles Q. “Neandertal–Human Trysts May Be Linked to Modern Depression, Heart Disease.” Scientific American. Scientific American, 12 Feb. 2016. Web. 21 Apr. 2016.

Dutchen, Stephanie. “Neanderthals’ DNA Legacy Linked to Modern Ailments.”

Harvard Gazette. Harvard Gazette, 29 Jan. 2016. Web. 21 Apr. 2016.

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Rimac: Concept_One Humble origins are rarely predicted and often disrespected. In recent years, not many car companies have been able to become well known unless they have come from other companies, but now, a new company — Rimac — might come out of the blue. Barely anyone has heard of Rimac. However, what they have done is amazing. They created an electric car likable to even the most skeptical car enthusiasts, something not many other companies have been able to pull off, and have shelled that amazing engineering in an absolutely gorgeous bodywork and design.

A perfect example of the difficulty of making an electric car is exemplified by the electric car that Mercedes-Benz, an automotive giant, came up with. Mercedes made an electric version of their SLS sports car, which seemed like a dream come true. It was a high quality automotive giant taking a stab at the electric car. It produced 739 horsepower, had a very low center of gravity, and could go fast while exuding luxury. This sounded like the perfect car. However, there were drawbacks. Starting on full battery, it could only go 160 miles before needing to be charged again, and even worse, to charge completely again would take 22 hours. Therefore, it is surprising that a company no one has ever heard of would come up with a car that succeeded where SLS failed.

Rimac has had less funding and experience, so why would it be successful? Well, no one knows for sure how it will go, as this is a bit of an unmarked territory.

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The thing is, the Concept_One, as Rimac calls it, has a lot of numbers on its side. The car has 1,088 horsepower, the most that has ever been produced by an electric car. It has even more torque; enough to translate into 1,000,000 watts of power, or one megawatt.

Unlike hybrid supercars, like the Koenigsegg Regera for example, this car is fully electric. Not only is this the most powerful electric car, but also it is by far the fastest, with an estimated top speed of 220 miles per hour, surpassing any other electric car.

While the charging time, about 30 minutes is still much longer than its gasoline-powered rival, it is still 1/44th of the time that the SLS takes to charge, with barely any wear to the battery as well. Thus, the Concept_One is doing a lot of what the Koenigsegg Regera is already doing, as mentioned in the previous issue. It is reforming the attitude towards cars, in a way that helps the environment.

The Concept_One also joins a group in which more and more cars go every year. It creates a more familiar environment for the electric car, and when more charging points exist, the electric car will become more common, and with that, the public can be more content with this new fuel system.

-Jonah Rohlfing Adams, Lawrence. “Official; Rimac Concept_One Production Version.” Gtspirit.com. N.p., 24 Feb. 2016.

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crossword

Across: 5. What gives our hair and nails extra thickness and durability 7. Important Quantum Physics Experiment 8. Po Shen Lohâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s startup 9. Stem cells are being used to treat this 10. 39% of this is imported from outside the US 11. A type of needle free vaccines

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Down: 1. Tastes like bacon 2. This animal once glowed in the dark 3. Most consumed legal drug in the world 4. An immunotherapy drug 6. Rimac is revolutionizing this type of car 12. One of the biggest causes of greenhouse gases *Solutions are on the Dr. Dragon website.

sudoku

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ISSUE #9

About Dr. Dragon Dr. Dragon is our school’s student produced magazine that focuses on math, science, architecture, and engineering.

The mission of this magazine is to give HSMSE students the opportunity to explore more in depth topics that particularly interest them in the STEM fields. Students on the magazine staff research and write about subjects of their choice. They are also involved with the production of the magazine, and learn about everything from design to fundraising and budgeting.

If you are an HSMSE student and want to contribute your thoughts, please talk to our officers or our faculty advisor, Mr. Choi.

Contact information: Dr. Dragon email: hsmsedrdragon@gmail.com Mr. Choi: RChoi@hsmse.org Also, you can read our previous magazines, and check the answers to crossword puzzles and Sudoku puzzles by visiting our website: hsmsedrdragon.wix.com/dr-dragon

Copyright © 2016 by Dr. Dragon All rights reserved. Published by Dr. Dragon No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means without prior written permission by the publisher.

Crystal Bonds, Principal