Spectrum Issue 9

Sp 09

Spectrum

H o r a c e M a n n’s P r e m i e r S c i e n c e P u b l i c a t i o n • A p r i l 2 0 1 4

SECTION 1 • PAGE 5

Biology & Biotech Stem Cell Research

by Sophia Schein

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23 and Me: From Genetic Sequencing to GATTACA

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Humans Taking Over the World

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Dream Away

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A New Approach to Cancer

by Abigail Zuckerman

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Bioprinting

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by Karen Jiang

by Grace Guo

by Cassandra Kopans-Johnson

by Lambert Song

Memory Engineering

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by Lily McCarthy

Cognitive Enhancement

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by Lauren Hooda

Immunotherapy

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Drinking Water

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by James Kon

by Irena Hsu

SECTION 2 • PAGE 19

Tech & Astronomy The Hyperloop

by Jason Ginsberg

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A Journey to “Smart” Household

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Google’s Robotic Army

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Silk Road and the Deep Web

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The Potential of Wave Energy

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The Future of Manned Space Exploration

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Mars One is a Go?

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The Future of Technology as Imagined by Sci-Fi Movies

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SmartWater: The Future of Crime Fighting

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Flying Cars

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by Jenna Karp

by Vaed Prasad

by Neil Ahlawat

by Sabrina Lautin

by Alex Karpf

by Ethan Parisier

by Madeline Bender

by Ajay Shyam

by Jasmine Katz

SECTION 3 • PAGE 35

Scitech Preview

Our Mission: To encourage students to find topics in science that interest them and move them to explore these sparks.

We believe that science is exciting, interesting and an intergral part of our futures. By diving into science we can only come out more knolwedgable.

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Letter from the Editor Dear Readers, It is finally starting to feel like spring! The change in weather is nice change of pace, and it came at the perfect time. There is nothing quite like blossoming flowers to take the stress off us Horace Mann-ers.

Congratulations to my fellow seniors who have gotten accepted into college, and to those who are still worrying, it will all be settled in the end, so just look towards the future with a smile!

This issue is about “The Future.” Last year, I stumbled upon an article in the Smithsonian magazine titled “The Million Dollar Man.” The author wrote comprehensively on the different parts of the body one could replicate through bionic technology, and, to show just how far technology has advanced, they put the bionic body parts together into one bionic man. The progress science has made in technology is absolutely astonishing. The fact that mankind can now replicate the basic structure of the human body using just robot parts is just unbelievable. This kind of development also makes me wonder where we are headed for in the future.

This issue is dedicated to how far we have come in science, the other huge leaps we have made, and what awaits us in the future. We expand on this topic through many different thoughtful articles that combines the topic with the author’s interests. This issue also features a preview of SciTech, which is Horace Mann’s annual exhibition of students’ scientific research and projects. I encourage many to attend because the booths are always very interesting and the speaker is a guest we are honored to have talk with us.

We hope that this issue will invite you to dream about the future and celebrate science for how far it has come. Thank you for reading this issue of Spectrum!

Brenda Zhou Editor in Chief Spectrum is a student publication. Its contents are the views and work of the students and do not necessarily represent those of the faculty or administration of the Horace Mann School. The Horace Mann School is not responsible for the accuracy and contents of Spectrum, and is not liable for any claims based on the contents or view expressed therein. The opinions represented are those of the writers and do not necessarily represent those of the editorial board. The editorial represents the opinion of the majority of the Editorial Board. All photos not credited are from creativecommons.org. All editorial decisions regarding grammar, content, and layout are made by the Editorial Board. All queries and complaints should be directed to the Editor-In-Chief. Please address these comments by e-mail, to hmspectrum@gmail.com.

Spectrum recognizes an ethical responsibility to correct all its factual errors, large and small (even misspellings of names), promptly and in a prominent reserved space in the magazine. A complaint from any source should be relayed to a responsible editor and will be investigated quickly. If a correction is warranted, it will follow immediately.

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Brenda Zhou Editor-in-Chief

Jenny Heon Mihika Kapoor Production Director

Joanna Cho Henry Luo Amanda Zhou Executive Editors

Yang Fei Ricardo Fernandez Managing Editors

Teddy Reiss

Communication Director

Isabel Friesner Lauren Futter Jason Ginsberg Kundan Guha James Kon Sonia Sehra Samantha Stern Abigail Zuckerman Junior Editors

Dr. Jeff Weitz Faculty Advisor

Biology reonis, Flickr Photo Sharing

Stem Cell Research

Sophia Schein

“BWJones, Flickr Photo Sharing” Injecting stem cells into retinas in an experiment to overcome blinding diseases.

Typically found in the blastocyst stage of an embryo, embryonic stem cells are essentially “shapeshifters,” having the ability to become almost any cell in the body. As an organism’s cells undergo many divisions, the range of functions a stem cell can perform narrows down until it develops into adult stem cells. These adult stem cells are organ-specific; for example, an adult stem cell from the blood can become any cell in only the organ of its origin, the blood.

Why are stem cells so important? Because of their unique self-renewal properties, stem cells have a lot of potential in both the development of new organs/tissues and the repair of damaged organs. By observing stem cell differentiation, scientists have a greater understanding of cell behavior, which may be the key to determining how birth defects and other disorders are caused. Stem cell transplants may also help cure medical issues such as burns, strokes, heart disease, and Parkinson’s.

Moreover, stem cells can address the medical issue at hand that the rate at which new organs and tissues are needed outweighs the rate of donations. With their self-renewal properties, stem cells can become the source of generated cells that can be used to treat cancer or test side effects of certain disease treatments.

Though the possibilities for stem cell use are endless, there are many ethical issues that come with their usage. For example, undifferentiated stem cells must be removed from embryos in order to be used. The question of whether em-

bryonic stem cell usage is ethical still remains up in the air.

Another ethical issue is the stem cell’s potential use for cloning. Many states and countries have laws against human cloning. The essential process of harvesting one’s embryonic stem cells to help repair tissue is similar to that required for human reproductive cloning. Even if these moral issues are resolved, a critical question remains: will the recipient’s immune system accept, not attack, the newly transplanted stem cells?

While the ethical dilemmas of stem cell therapy are still being debated, scientists at the University of California in San Diego have found a way to combat stem cell rejection.

Artificially engineered, an immune suppression molecule will hopefully stop the rejection of embryonic stem cells without “shutting down” the body’s entire immune system.

This molecule has now served the basis to the construction of immunosuppressant drugs, medicine that will weaken but not entirely tranquilize the body’s immune system. Mice engineered to have similar immune systems to those of humans have been tested with this new drug. In short, any patient who receives stem cell transplants would have to consistently take immunosuppressant drugs in order to avoid transplant cell rejection. The development of immunosuppressant drugs is one of the many new advances in the biomedical field of science that hold promise for finding new cures to diseases now deemed untreatable.

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Biology

23 AND ME: FROM GENETIC

By Karen Jiang

In the near future, it is highly possible that there will no longer be an “anonymous genome.” Privacy won’t just be an issue of protecting information such as name, social security number, and credit cards from strangers; it will also be a matter of protecting your DNA from other people. Since the completion of the human genome project in 2003, in which human DNA was first sequenced and genes were located, scientists have made advancements to the techniques of sequencing and evaluating DNA. Now, there are even genetic testing companies such as 23andMe, which offer to decode patients’ DNA and send them a genetic analysis with the probabilities of inheriting certain diseases. With the rise of these companies, people’s genomes may be tracked and stored for future reference, becoming part of the public record, rather than a private and protected matter.

Since 2007, 23andMe has been furthering the field of gene sequencing by extending cut-rate genetic testing to the masses. For $99, virtually anyone can have his or her genome sequenced through simple and foolproof procedures: spit into a vial and send it back to 23andMe. The company then goes through a process in which its scientists extract the DNA from the saliva sample, amplify it, and then place the DNA into a chip with a panel of probes that detect single nucleotide polymorphisms, which are single nucleotide 6

genetic variations and deletions. The chips generate up to a million points of data. A computer then reads the chips, and finally, the scientists analyze the data collected. In weeks, a customer can receive an evaluation of his or her DNA containing information ranging from serious (the probabilities of inheriting diseases like cancer or having markers for diabetes) to silly (do you have wet or dry earwax?).

While DNA sequencing seems like a grand plan, what does the biotechnology company really want to do with all of this data? Currently, it aims to use the collective data for medical research. The process of DNA sequencing, when applied to the genomes of hundreds of thousands of people, could help detect genetic causes for certain cancers and other genetic diseases. Furthermore, Anne Wojcicki, the CEO and co-founder of 23andMe, claims that as 23andMe sequences more and more people, it will be able to answer questions that will make humans healthier as a whole: “A genetic data resource of this magnitude has enormous potential to address unanswered questions related to the contributions of genes, the environment and your health. Understanding these factors and their interactions could lead to major improvement in diagnostics, preventive medicine and therapeutics.”

Biology

SEQUENCING TO GATTACA

It is no question that 23andMe has changed the lives of individuals and that it has the potential to leave a lasting mark on the field of genetics. Scientists will be able to track hereditary diseases and entire family lineages. On a small scale, results may prompt individuals to take precautionary measures for probable cancers or may help target the source of a digestive problem such as an allergy to gluten. However, on a larger scale, it’s no secret that 23andMe is looking to collect data. A board member recently told Fast Company, a business magazine, that 23andMe is looking to collect information in the long run in order to eventually become the “Google of personalized health care.”

Evidently, there are many positive ways in which the data can be used. However, this data can also be easily abused.

Some people fear that as 23andMe increases its genetic database, it will eventually follow in Google’s, 23andMe’s main financial supporter, footsteps. In the tech world, Google is famed for its overwhelmingly beneficial projects and programs, but it is also notorious for the speculation surrounding the misuse of and manipulation of search results and for having the ability to track its users and the people who post on the search engine. Likewise, 23andMe is restricted by the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) to use the DNA results in order to determine

health insurance or employment, but, in a Google-like fashion, it still reserves the rights to sell people’s genomes to pharmaceutical companies that will target customers with specific products and events.

The cons don’t end at corporate misuse, as it’s highly possible that something as unique as a genome will no longer be private. Through movies like GATTACA, a science fiction film depicting a dystopian society in which status is dictated solely by the superiority of one’s genome, Hollywood has already taught us that taking genetic testing to such extremes is highly dangerous. As 23andMe gains more and more customers and collects more and more data, society needs to ask itself whether or not it is worth it to continue down this path. Is it really beneficial to live in a society where the most unique and indisputable information is no longer private?

TOP: Image of part of a decoded DNA sequence; the letters at the bottom represent the different nucleotide bases: adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine. “Sjef, Wikimedia Commons”

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Biology

Humans Taking Over the World Grace Guo

When our founding fathers were alive, a mere one billion people inhabited this earth. On October 12th, 1999, the world population reached a staggering six billion. Just twelve years later, the population reached seven billion on October 31st, 2011. At this astonishing and rapid rate of growth, the population is expected to reach eight billion by 2025, nine billion by 2043, and ten billion by 2083. By the end of the 21st century, the population will exceed 10.1 billion people.

At its peak in the 20th century, the rate of population growth was as high as 2.2% per year. Although the population is still steadily increasing due to sturdy birth rates, decreased death rates, advancements in sciences, and other factors, the rate of population growth has been declining and is at about 1.1% per year. Discoveries in the fields of medicine, which have dramatically increased the life expectancy rate of humans and decreased the mortality rate, have also allowed the human population to grow at rapid rates. A few centuries ago, not many people lived passed their 40’s or 50’s, but now many people live well into their 70’s, 80’s and even 90’s.

If you have any eighty-year-old relatives or friends, they have lived to watch the human population triple! What will happen to our population when we turn 80? The ever-growing population has already caused many conflicts worldwide.

As the population increases, so will the quantity and severity of problems that come along with it. With this increase in population, more resources are being used and consumed at the expense of the environment and other species around us.

As more people populate the earth, there are less land and resources for other species and even other humans. With

every new baby comes a new mouth to feed. Every single one of the billions of people needs resources to survive, such as clean water to drink, food to eat, and a shelter to live in. Resources like clean water and oil are already being depleted.

Billions of cubic meters of water are used up every year for agriculture, industries, and domestic use. Fresh water sources around the world are being depleted and while fresh water sources are disappearing, contamination of water with harmful chemicals and disease continues.

As humans take over more and more land, the millions of other species have less places to go and less resources for themselves, so they are gradually becoming endangered or even extinct. Hundreds of species are already extinct and thousands more are endangered. Humans have had a negative impact on many different ecosystems. For example, overfishing not only depletes the number of fish in a particular area, but also affects the predators of the fish, who no longer have their source of food, subsequently affecting an entire food chain and ecosystem.

When we turn 80, the population won’t be able to triple like it did in the last 80 years, but we will get to watch as the world changes before our eyes for better or for worse. In that time, hopefully the trend of devastating the environment and taking advantage of precious resources will come to an end.

As the population continues to grow, more sustainable methods will be very imperative and necessary for the continuous growth and well-being of the population.

“stef thomas, Flickr Photo Sharing” Earth, modelled in 3ds Max and rendered with VRay. Satellite imagery courtesy of NASA.

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Biology

Dream Away Cassandra Kopans-Johnson

A Neuron “Ratbum, Flickr Photo Sharing”

Why is it that the first moments after waking up are generally considered to be among our most imaginative?

Throughout history, sleeping has been known to provoke the imagination and spark creativity. Writers, poets, and thinkers, such as the inventor Benjamin Franklin, have tried and tested this technique. Dmitri Mendeleev attributed his discovery of the periodic table to a dream that revealed the placement of elements. Friedrich August Kekule identified the ring shape of benzene through a languorous vision of a snake biting its own tail.

Such bursts of creative inspiration are often linked to dreams, a strange phenomenon that produces bizarre narratives. Dreams make connections between seemingly separate things. A person may dream about being on a train that then turns into the dinner party where he or she meets a friend who he or she has not seen for ten years. This dream is a chronicle of connections. These types of links are critical for imaginative thinking because creative people are able to connect these concepts in new and instinctive ways that make sense. Thus the immediate, post-sleeping state called the hypnopompic state enables people to instill their waking thoughts with dream world inspiration.

Insight from dreams is believed to originate from a stage in the sleep cycle known as rapid eye movement, REM.. In the 1990’s, Matthew Wilson, a neuroscientist at the Picower Institute at MIT., and Kenway Louie recorded neuron activity

in the brains of rats that were running around a circular track.

Wilson and Louie measured brain activity when the rats ran around the track and when they slept. The sleep of rats was similar to that of humans and included distinct stages including REM.. The scientists examined about forty-five dreams and discovered that twenty of the dreams repeated the exact same patterns of brain activity displayed while the rat was running around the circular track. Due to the similarity of the brain activity, Wilson envisioned the precise position of the rat in the track while it slept. During sleep, the brain is actively making sense of what the subject has recently done and integrating it into the memory storage of what the subject already knows. Memories are reshuffled and remixed to form a mash-up in the mind where connections are made, and creativity and problem solving skills emerge.

Sleep softens the control of the conscious self ’s grip and relaxes the brain This loosens the tight focus and makes the brain more likely to formulate fresh and distant relationships between previously independent areas. In the web of connections lie tendrils of inventiveness that enlighten thought and result in the development of ideas and the advancement of theories.

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Biology

A New Approach to Cancer

DNA Lego Model “Lego DNA, Wikimedia Commons”

Abigail Zuckerman

There are two fundamental challenges in treating can- the major challenges involved in cancer treatment. Even cer. The first is that in order to ensure that all cancer cells though these drugs would have to be created for each paare eliminated, a wide net must be cast during treatment. tient, or at least separately for each form of cancer, if they As a result, healthy cells are often damaged in the process were successful, they would eliminate all mutated cancer of killing cancerous cells, occasionally leading to long- cells without damaging the healthy cells and without causterm side effects for the patient, or at the very least, drastic ing the terrible side effects of chemotherapy and radiation. illness during treatment. The second difficulty in treating In practice, however, the application of this individuthe disease is the fact that no two cancers are exactly the alized treatment is slightly more complicated. There has same. Though there are specific categories into which can- already been clinical success with this approach, but there cers can be sorted, cancer is virtually never the result of have also been cases where a patient’s illness appeared only one genetic mutation. Instead, a multi-step mutation cured, but the cancer then mutated and came roaring back, process is required to cause the rapid reproduction of cells, often in an even more resilient form. There is no guarantee so that even very similar cancers can be caused by com- that all cancer cells in the body will have the exact same set pletely different sets of mutations. of mutations, or the other alterations in genetic sequence With today’s DNA may cause some cells to sequencing capabiliremain unaffected by the ties, the development precise treatment, and, of a new “personalized” therefore, account for the method for treating cancancer’s recurrence. cer has become possible.

Though these new If a cancer cell’s genome therapies do not yet funcis sequenced and comtion perfectly, they have pared to that of the pamade chemotherapy, the tient’s healthy cells, the treatment of cancers by mutations linked to the cytotoxic drugs, more efpatient’s particular case fective; have allowed for may be determined. Hythe use of less aggressive pothetically, a drug could chemotherapy and radiabe designed to target all tion treatments; and have the cells in the body with considerably extended those particular mutathe life expectancy of tions and no other cells, An image representing the results of gel elecrotphoresis, a method often em- certain patients. For exployed to identify mutated genes through comparison. thereby solving both of ample, a patient suffering 10

Biology from advanced lung cancer was given three months to live Wikimedia Commons. A in May of 2010, but thanks to genetically targeted treatyoung patient suffering from ments, she is still battling her cancer today. Furthermore, the effets of chemotherapy, recurring cancers have always been particularly difficult which include hair loss. to treat, but new techniques have proved what before was only speculation: that cancer cells mutate to become resistant to drugs. This is a logical conclusion, but was very difficult to prove without whole genome sequencing and close up studies of particular cancers. Studies of one of rhabdomyosarcoma, a pediatric soft-tissue tumor, undertaken by St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, have finally yielded some understanding of how tumors react in response to treatment. Moreover, doctors may be able to use genetic sequencing to predict tumors’ metastatic patterns and can therefore utilize preventative treatment in place of as technology improves and genetic sequencing becomes handling the tumors as they spread.

When cancer was first approached through a genetic even faster and more affordable, improvements on current perspective, soon after the very first human genome se- approaches will continue to be made, thus speeding up the quence was completed in 2003, geneticists and oncologists sequencing process and reducing sources of error.

Many organizations, including the Genome Institute, focused on specific genes that were quickly demonstrated MSKCC, and St. Jude, are deeply involved in researching to be connected to particular types of cancer, or a wide range of types. It was then determined that this approach cancer genetics as it seems thus far to hold the key to unyielded little new information, but with the development of derstanding and treating cancer on an individual basis. a much more efficient method of sequencing the genome Cancer genetics may also be the answer to the overarchin 2005, whole-genome sequencing soon became readily ing question of what role genetics plays in susceptibility to available and lead to more applicable discoveries. Cancers cancer, and therefore, a means to prevent cases in future began to be grouped not only by the effects they had on the generations. Cancer fundamentally stems from genes, so bodily tissues which they invaded, but also by the genes the ability to understand the genome of each patient holds causing them. Furthermore, cancers with similar effects great promise for the future of oncology. occasionally turned out to be caused by very different mutations. These sorts of insights have led to an entirely new perspective on tackling different variations.

The first cancer genome to be sequenced was that of a patient with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), and the results were published in 2008.

In 2009, the genome of another patient with AML was sequenced, and then in 2010, the first genome from a woman with inflammatory breast cancer was sequenced. In the last few years since these original subjects were sequenced, hundreds of cancer genomes Wikimedia Commons. An image from a genetics lab depicting one of the steps have been sequenced, and taken to sequence and analyze DNA. 11

Biology

cosmomagazine.com

BIOPRINTING Starting in the early 1980’s as an idea and bulky prototypes, 3D printing has proved itself to be one of the most revolutionary and influential technologies of the 21st Century. These once colossal machines, limited to factory usage, have now become smaller, much more readily accessible, and capable of digital models or designs. 3D printers print by repeatedly layering successive thin layers of plastic, metal, or

The ability to custom-make organs directly from a patient’s own cells and ensure that the organ would be accepted by the patient is no longer just a dream imagined by scientists.

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LAMBERT SONG

other materials to build the object from a sequence of cross sections determined by the digital model. This fundamental process behind all 3D printers (known as an additive process), along with the printer’s ability to create highly customized parts has led to its usage in many fields, including the food industry and space exploration, among many others.

Recently, scientists and bioengineers have also been exploring the idea of using 3D printers to print transplantable biological organs. This novel concept of harnessing 3D printing technology to print biological organs is known as bioprinting, and as such the 3D printers used are known as bioprinters. Experimentation into bioprinting started in 2002 when Professor Makoto Nakamura observed that the size of human cells are around the same size as the droplets of ink in an inkjet printer. Professor Nakamura, utilizing a modified version of the inkjet printer technology, was able to construct a tube of living cells 1 millimeter in diameter by studying cross sections of an array of cells. In the future, Professor Nakamura hopes to be able to use stem cells as the “ink” for

Biology bioprinting, which would in turn be used to grow healthy organs. With the development of the 3D printer, Professor Nakamura’s goals have recently gained greater feasibility.

Organovo, a company founded by Professor Gabor Forgacs and his research team, has already modified a 3D printer into a commercial bioprinters and has successfully printed an organ and blood vessels. Organovo’s bioprinter modifies the standard 3D printer to eject what Organovo calls “bioink spheroids.” These spheroids consist of tiny spheres, containing thousands of cells and a collagen scaffold that is used to support these cells while being printed. The actual printing process is similar to the process used in any normal 3D printer: the cross-section of an organ or other internal body part

The printer first lays down a layer of the collagen scaffold to serve as a base for the cells and then ejects the actual cells onto this scaffold in the appropriate formation. is analyzed. The printer first lays down a layer of the collagen scaffold to serve as a base for the cells and then ejects the actual cells onto this scaffold in the appropriate formation. The scaffold then disappears and the cells in the bioink spheroids merge together to form the completed tissue.

Organovo has also shown that exact placement of cells during printing is not necessary. Organovo’s printing method places the appropriate cells roughly where they belong, and when the printing is finished, the cells are capable of rearranging themselves into their exactly correct locations.

This process was illustrated in the printing of blood vessels.

Once a mix of cells that compose blood vessels had been

placed into their approximate locations, the cells themselves were capable of shifting to their precise locations; the endothelial cells of the mix moved to the interior, the muscle cells went to the middle, and the fibroblasts moved to the outside of the vessel. Such a discovery allows for more flexibility and versatility in bioprinting and also saves time.

In December 2010, Organovo succeeded in printing blood vessels with cells taken from a human; however, their biggest accomplishment came in 2013, when they printed a tiny model of a human liver using liver cells taken straight from donated human livers. Their model managed to survive just over five days, a huge improvement on previous attempts at such a feat using 2D printing technology. This 3D printed liver mimics nearly all the functions of the human liver. Although this printed liver isn’t yet suitable for transplantation into humans, such an accurate model of the liver can easily be used to research diseases, develop drugs, and pave the way for bigger, transplantable printed livers. Another team of scientists has begun to work on bioprinting an entire, transplantable heart that would have a longer lifespan, and they predict that their project should be completed in a decade, if not less.

With the rise of the 3D printer, bioprinting is looking more and more promising. The ability to custom-make organs directly from a patient’s own cells and to ensure that the organ would be accepted by the patient is no longer just a dream imagined by scientists. There are, of course, still many significant obstacles to overcome, including cost and lifespan of printed organs, but in the near future it may be entirely possible for bioprinters to be used in every hospital.

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Biology

Memory Engineering The New Frontier

Lily McCarthy

Human control over memories has long been a source of wonder to medical researchers and science fiction filmmakers alike. For decades, the possibility of such an action seemed relatively slim as all scientific endeavors to rewrite memories were unsuccessful. However, this seemingly unachievable feat was recently explored by a team of neuroscientists who discovered an ingenious way to manipulate the memories of mice.

Their work was part of a study performed by the RIKEN-MIT Center for Neural Circuit Genetics. Through a revolutionary technique known as optogenetics, researchers at the lab in Boston were able to exploit individual brain cells with light and alter associated memories. This elaborate procedure was a multistage process, necessitating a series of carefully orchestrated steps. The team first focused on marking each neuron activated when the mice were placed in a designated environment. Scientists targeted the hippocampus as the primary region of interest, a structure that manages various facets of memory. The neurons were later surgically modified to contain a light-sensitive protein switch called channelrhodopsin.

Scientists then exposed the mice to conditions in two different locations, both of which were intended to stimulate the encoding of engrams, which are lasting biochemical impressions on brain tissue left by a person’s psychic and conscious experiences. These neurological mechanisms, found in mice and humans, assist in the formation of memories by consolidating information about an organism’s position in relation to objects, space, and time.

Because this is a relatively recent finding, researchers are still exploring the precise sequence of steps involved and specific areas where such encrypting takes place.

In the first compartment, the subjects were allowed to roam around the enclosed area, designed with a specific scent and shape. In a second chamber built with physical features that were distinct from those of the first, the team members shocked the mice repeatedly as a means of inducing pain. In addition, a series of microscopic light beams was released to trigger the cells that had been activated in the initial setting. This caused the mice to mistakenly connect their emotional responses to the first room.

The mice reacted with prolonged anxiety and unsettlement upon their re-entrance into the first chamber, illustrating the effectiveness of the novel memory disarrangement and its subsequent impact on behavior.

On a basic level, this body of research serves to dramatically improve scientific understanding of the construction of genuine and false memories. However, its ramifications extend beyond the biological realm. Due to the study’s proof of the mind’s startling unreliability, the findings also increase the complexity of the age-old philosophical debate over truth and subjectivity.

Moreover, the ethical implications of artificial interference with the mind are considerable. Although the experiment at MIT was solely confined to rodents in a laboratory, many speculate that researchers’ command over mental processes will eventually evolve to include human beings. If used for benevolent purposes, memory engineering could be employed as a tool to alter certain individuals’ memories of traumatic experiences. Nevertheless, excessive tampering with the mental and psychological agents of human beings would likely have disastrous consequences.

Biology “Liz Henry, Flickr Photo Sharing: DICOM files of the top of someone’s brain

The Pros and Cons of Cognitive Enhancement

Lauren Hooda

As technology and science progress, human capability and enhancement are becoming common subjects in popular culture. The concept of swallowing a drug that ramps up brainpower, memory, or math ability, heightens language acumen, or renders the individual proficient in a musical instrument is much too appealing to ignore. Why not learn three languages, write a journal, sight-read Rachmaninoff, and reap profits as a trader in a matter of hours? Why not swallow a pill that restores forgotten memories? Although researchers are currently developing such drugs for medical use to treat chronic diseases, the controversy over such drugs concerns their abuse by a healthy consumer. Nevertheless, humans are on the edge of an influx of both medical breakthroughs and cognitive enhancement.

Drugs of the future that enhance and destroy memory-pathways are currently a major topic of research. Presently, expansions in knowledge about how memories are formulated in the hippocampus of the brain are guiding the way to such memory-enhancing therapies; so far, researchers have found memory-boosting molecules, which seem to play a significant role in the preservation and structure of memories after they have become permanent. According to researcher Karim Nader of McGill University, memory can be improved or erased by influencing these molecules. When combined in a drug, these molecules could potentially enhance the memories of patients diagnosed with amnesia from brain injuries and strokes or even dementia such as Alzheimer’s. Similarly, drugs that destroy these memory-pathways could potentially treat mental illnesses like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and phobias. Therefore, in order to clinically manipulate memory to potentially treat Alzheimer’s or PTSD, researchers are striving to elucidate these key molecules.

Experiments conducted by Cristina Alberini at Mount Sinai revealed a naturally occurring molecule that enhances the memory of a rat both during its formation and recall.

In addition, researchers at New York University announced that they had discovered how a molecule, PMKzeta, could be controlled to both enhance and destroy deep-seated memories. Such molecules coupled into a drug would alter the parameters of the brain’s supply of neurochemicals by generat-

ing nerve growth and heightening the brain’s oxygen, thereby working as a memory-enhancer or eraser. Extensive research on the properties of PMKZeta is still being conducted.

The creation of these drugs for medical purposes will undoubtedly be abused for non-medical use. An existing cognitive enhancer, Modafinil, termed in the US as Provigil, is an effective stimulant that advances memory, intellect, and other cognitive activities. It eliminates fatigue and enlarges cognitive function in the brain for non-impaired people. Other examples of abused drugs for cognitive enhancement are Adderall and Ritalin, both initially produced to treat attention deficit disorder (ADD), which are now a widespread problem in schools and workplaces. As a result, memory-enhancing and blocking drugs could, like these drugs, be abused or used to abuse others.

Using memory-enhancing drugs for non-medical purposes can create a risk for mental impairment, because “forgetting” is integral to how our brains work; brains constantly extract and extrapolate, and having to memorize interferes too much with the brain’s function of remembering, forgetting, and filtering of everyday experiences. Paranoia and extreme personalities can potentially form as a result of too many ingrained memories in the abuser’s brain.

In a world with a strong demand for not only medical procedures but also recreational uses for brain enhancement, scientists are grappling with the ethical impulses of human enhancement, and what a world of cognitively enhanced human beings might look like. On one hand are scientists who state that the motivation toward enhancement is an aspect of human nature; in the past, humans have already heightened brain capacity by developing literacy and numeracy, academic institutions, and more recently computers and the Internet. On the other hand are those who argue that using these drugs for recreational use will damage or interfere with human nature. Cognitive enhancement could additionally aggravate social disparity by benefiting those who could afford the drugs. However, ingrained in all these standpoints about the morality of human enhancement lies a question very telling about the nature of humans and our innate drive to develop: why be normal when you can be exceptional?

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Biology

Immunotherapy James Kon

Examining substances for immunotherapy at Envita Medical Center. “wronger2012, Flickr Photo Sharing”

Cancer, the rapid proliferation of cells in the body, is the second leading cause of death in America, killing 1,600 Americans per day. This staggering number of deaths reflects the serious harm cancer has caused in the past and the significant challenge cancer will pose in the future. The uncontrollable growth of cancer cells cannot be stopped by the human immune system because it protects us from foreign invaders, not from threats from inside our own bodies. The presence of certain protein receptors, such as Cytotoxic T-lymphocyte Antigen 4(CTLA-4) and Programmed Death Receptors 1(PD-1), prevent the T-cells from attaching to and recognizing or killing tumor cells.

Due to this lack of immune response in cancer patients, scientists at Merck, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and other pharmaceutical companies are trying to use cancer immunotherapy to develop drugs or vaccinations that will either help identify the cancer cells for the body’s immune system or help to stimulate the body’s immune system. Cancer immunotherapy differentiates itself from other treatments because instead of targeting the cancer directly, it helps the immune system attack the cancer. Such an approach has shown promising results in decreasing the size of the tumor and elongating a patient’s life. There are three major methods of immunotherapy: monoclonal antibodies, cancer vaccines, and checkpoint inhibitors.

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Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) are specific antibodies, proteins that help to identify and neutralize harmful cells, that are made in the lab. These antibodies are able to locate the antigens on the cancer cells in order to help the immune system attack the cells. There are two types of mAbs: Naked mAbs and Conjugated mAbs. The difference between the two antibodies is that Naked mAbs do not have any radioactive material or drugs attached to them while Conjugated mAbs do contain such substances. Naked mAbs can function in two different manners. The naked mAbs can boost a person’s immune response or they can block specific proteins required for the proliferation of cancer cells. One such drug is Herceptin, which stops HER2/neu protein from activating, thus preventing the cancer cell from growing. Conjugated mAbs, on the other hand, use mAbs as a homing device.

Zevalin and Bexxar, two examples of conjugated mAbs, deliver radioactive material to a certain antigen. Other conjugated mAbs such as Adcetris and Kadcyla have chemotherapy drugs such as MMAE and DM1 attached to them. The use of Conjugated mAbs has greater side effects than the use of Naked mAbs; however, the usage of these drugs provides a more powerful way to fight these cancer.

Another way to fight cancer is to treat patients with vaccines. These cancer vaccines are meant to stimulate and direct the immune system to attack cancer cells unlike tra-

Biology ditional vaccines that target pathogens. Cancer vaccines use cancer cells or parts of cells to induce the immune response.

Furthermore, they are usually combined with adjuvants, a substance that enhances the body’s immune response to an antigen. The only cancer vaccine that has been approved by FDA is Dendreon’s Provenge, which is used for advanced prostate cancer. To promote an immune response against prostate cancer cells, the patient’s cancerous cells are exposed to certain chemicals and then infused into the patient’s blood stream using Dendreon’s Provenge. Other vaccines are made up with tumor cells, vectors, and antigens. One such vaccine uses dendritic cells to break down cancer cells into smaller pieces, making it easier for T cells to fight the cancerous cells.

The most extreme vaccines that are being experimented with are the engineered DNA vaccines that attempt to mutate the DNA inside of body by using engineered DNA vectors that contain specific antigens. In any case, most cancer vaccines need to be created with the patients’ own cells, resulting in very high prices. Thus, this form of treatment is too expensive for the average cancer patient.

A third type of immunotherapy involves checkpoint inhibitors that are used to shut down certain receptors such as PDL-1, PD-1, PD-L1, and CTLA-4, which in a cancer patient, work to decrease the T cells’ response to cancer cells.

Bristol-Myers Squibb and Merck are both developing their own checkpoint inhibitors in order to block the PD-1 receptors. Both of these drugs share similar results in reducing

the size of the tumors in late stage melanoma. Bristol-Myers Squibb reported that 22% of 1800 trial patients were living after 3 years of receiving this drug. Scientists Jedd D. Wolchok and Harriet Kluger showed in a study, called “Nivolumab plus Ipilimumab in Advanced Melanoma,” that when two drugs, Nivolumab and Ipilimumab, were administered together, a larger decrease in tumor size was observed than when Nivolumab or Ipilimumab was administered individually. Specifically, an 80% reduction of the tumor size was noted. These drugs come with various side effects, however, such as rashes, pruritus, and fatigue. Similarly, Roche, unlike Bristol-Myers Squibb and Merck, is developing an inhibitor for PDL-1. Their drug, Genentech, is being used to fight lung cancer, melanoma, and kidney cancer. The drug appears to be more effective on smokers; however, the drug is in early stages of development. This work demonstrates the possibility of using checkpoint inhibitors in the future as a plausible means of eradicating a tumor.

Checkpoint inhibitors and cancer vaccines appear to be the most promising immunotherapy drugs in development, making the reality of curing cancer in the near future a plausible outcome.

Process of creating immunotherapeutic drugs at Envita Medical Center. “wronger2012, Flickr Photo Sharing”

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Biology

Drinking Water

Irena Hsu

Barefoot Photographers of Tilonia, Flickr Photo Sharing Clean drinking water from rainwater harvesting tank

Water is life. Though many people often take fresh, drinkable water for granted, humans know that it is a resource they cannot live without. Ancient civilizations were built close to vast water sources and one of humanity’s oldest fears has been having too little water. Today more than before, with 7 billion people and even more plant and animal species all depending on precious water to survive, access to safe, clean water is becoming a serious concern.

American citizens are priveleged with easy access to safe water. The thought of drinking tap water might still be uncomfortable for some but, through water treatment facilities, the quality of tap water is often better than government requirements. Not all countries, however, have such an advanced water treatment system, and few places can even afford to create these facilities. 780 million people lack access to clean water, and 3.4 million people die each year from water-related problems. For example, in Africa, due to the dry, desert-like effnvironment, little pure water exists naturally on the surface of the earth, and the few pockets of pure water that are available are shared with all kinds of animals. As the animals bathe and defecate in that water, germs and bacteria proliferate within it. When humans come back to that water source to collect drinking water, they unknowingly endanger themselves.

Noticing the damaging effects of dirty water, people have been devising ways to improve water quality ever since 2000 BC. The simplest ways to do so were by heating or filtering water so that the largest particles could be removed. Later on, the Egyptians discovered the principle of coagulation and applied certain chemicals in their water to settle the sus18

pended particles. Centuries later, aqueducts were invented to carry clean water from a water source farther up into land for further expansion of cities. The water treatment methods of today are developed from44 the older models, with only slight variations to them.

In the US, water is purified through three main steps: coagulation, clarification, and disinfection. Pumps first draw in raw water from reservoirs and other water sources to treatment facilities where they will be mixed with chemicals that cause the sediments and particles to coagulate and form “flock�. The flock then either settles to the bottom of the tank or floats to the top of the water after air is pumped into the tank. The water then flows into a tank with sand, activated carbon, and gravel so that the smaller pieces of sediment can be filtered out. By this step, though the water may look clean, bacteria and germs still reside in it, necessitating disinfection.. By adding chlorine or ozone to the water, harmful microorganisms are killed, and the water is then completely safe to be delivered to homes and businesses. Workers at the facilities perform tests on the water at each step of the process to collect data and further expand their knowledge on the purifying process. The main focus of the water treatment is to disinfect by-products and remove harmful bacteria that are hard to see and not easily removed.

Though much of the world still lacks potable water, the global society is beginning to realize the problem with unsafe water sources. Every day, more efficient and inexpensive water treatments are being designed so that one day, everyone can have access to this important resource.

technology & astronomy

The Hyperloop

The hyperloop, a proposed high-speed train created by Elon Musk “TechGlam, Flickr Photo Sharing”

Americans hate trains –or rather they do not use trains.

It makes sense, considering the fact that trains are always delayed, often because the tracks they run on are owned by freight companies, air travel is relatively cheap and accessible, and most people prefer driving cars. This reluctance to railroad use is unfortunate considering trains can provide a safe, fast, and cheap alternative to travel. Enter billionaire Elon Musk, who at forty-two has already founded three companies, PayPal, SpaceX, and Tesla, that have changed the rules of their respective industries. The ambitious South African native is proposing an exciting new form of travel: the Hyperloop, a machine that travels at 760 miles per hour and connects Los Angeles to San Francisco.

Envisioning a system and actually building it, however, are two different things. Fortunately, Musk, in a fifty-seven-page proposal outlining the technical details of the Hyperloop, has proven that he is serious about the project. According to Musk, Hyperloop train pods will travel through low-pressure tubes. Though the tube normally would pose an issue to travel, as at high speeds the pods would accumulate an air column, Musk states that an electrical compressor fan will transfer higher-pressure air to the rear of the pods to resolve this problem. At the same time, the compressor fan will create a cushion of compressed air beneath the pod, allowing for a near frictionless suspension system, necessary for subsonic travel. To accelerate the pods, Musk intends for external linear electric motors to be placed every 70 miles on the tube. The tubes themselves will run alongside the relatively straight California Interstate Five Highway, and will be placed above the ground on pylons to minimize the dis-

Jason Ginsberg

ruption to the people living nearby and lower costs. Most amazingly, Musk claims that the Hyperloop will be entirely powered by solar power, receiving enough energy to operate day and night, rain or shine. The pods are intended to hold up to 28 people each and depart once every thirty seconds.

Musk plans for the cost of a single one-way ticket to be twenty dollars.

While many people are eagerly anticipating the Hyperloop, its feasibility has been questioned. Musk claims that the project could be completed in ten years and for less than six billion dollars. However, politics and economics will come into play, as acquiring the rights and capital to build such a system will be challenging. To address critics of the construction timeline, Musk has stated that a prototype of the system will be demonstrated in 2015.

If Musk follows through on his plans, the Hyperloop has the potential to revolutionize travel and create a more connected nation. People may one day commute regularly from New York City to Washington D.C. Musk has even declared that he envisions a future version of the Hyperloop shortening the travel time between New York and Los Angeles to forty-five minutes. Whether or not this all pans out is still uncertain; nevertheless, Musk has brought to the table a much-needed novel approach to improving America’s infrastructure.

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technology & astronomy

A Journey Towards a “Smart” Household Jenna Karp

Samsung’s 2014 Smart Oven, “SamsungTomorrow, Flickr Photo Sharing”

Thanks to Samsung and other giant electronics companies, an entire household controlled by a smartphone is now a feasible concept. Samsung is pioneering a “smart” revolution that extends from smartphones to everyday appliances, such as refrigerators and washing machines.

According to Kurt Jovais, vice president of home appliances at Samsung, the company “is playing in the smart home space from so many angles.” Using Wi-Fi or a cellular network, Samsung consumers can already connect with technological devices throughout their homes and keep track of household needs on an integrated network.

The Korean electronics corporation’s first foray into “smart” kitchen technology was via the introduction of an LCD refrigerator line in 2011. Each fridge includes a WiFi enabled LCD Digital Display that is pre-loaded with applications for both social media and grocery shopping.

Apps include Google Calendar, Picasa Web Albums, Weather Bug, Twitter, Pandora, Epicurious and Evernote. Users can create shopping lists with the Evernote app, which in turn synchronizes with smartphones for easy grocery shopping and sharing among family members. The Evernote app can also connect to Epicurious, a recipe-sharing database.

Consumers can even keep a log of the ingredients in their fridge on Evernote, and then sync that log with Epicurious, which will then display a relevant list of recipe options to prepare. Samsung hopes that the 8” LCD screen will promote the kitchen as the hub of the home.

Samsung is also streamlining the laundry process by using a touch screen LCD. The Samsung Smart Washer and Dryer have interfaces similar to the smart fridge, allowing the owner to select customized cycles and use the childlock feature. Outside of the home, consumers can connect to their washers and dryers using the Smart Control App on the iPhone and Android. This app allows the consumer to turn on the machine remotely and monitor laundry’s progress, seamlessly interweaving a tedious task with day-to-day 20

activity.

Despite the innovative nature of Samsung’s new technologies, many news outlets and individual consumers have questioned the practicality of these inventions. Neil Strother, an analyst at Pike Research, writes: “It seems like a cool dryer here, a fancy refrigerator there. It needs to be better packaged where if I pay an extra $200 for an appliance, show me the payback.” Customers’ opinions mostly mirror Strother’s disappointment. According to reviews in the iTunes Store, the Samsung Smart Washer app is cumbersome. On Samsung’s official website, owners of the LCD refrigerator complained about the fridge’s faulty Wi-Fi connectivity; others questioned the helpfulness of applications like Twitter. Warner Doell, a vice president in the home appliance division at Samsung Canada, explained that the purpose of fridge-front social media is to eliminate the need to carry tablets and phones to the kitchen, consumers seem to find portable devices more convenient and cost-effective. Additionally, Samsung’s refrigerator was made to be compatible with 802.11b and 802.11g wireless Internet standards but, problematically, not with the fastest 802.11n standard. Owners of the Samsung fridge who have an 802.11n wireless network may not be able to connect with their appliances, losing their significant net data rate advantage. Moreover, owners of this fridge can only use preinstalled apps, without the option to download other favorites. While this fridge’s LCD screen is preloaded with Google Calendar, Evernote, and Twitter, consumers may be loyal to other scheduling and note-taking apps and even hesitant about the need for social media of any kind on a refrigerator.

Samsung certainly has forged the path toward a technologically connected home. However, only time can tell whether “smart” household appliances are practical enough to become in-home mainstays.

technology & astronomy “Aray Chen, Flickr Photo Sharing” A Google refrigerator

Google’s Robotic Army Vaed Prasad

Between 2007 and 2012, the compound annual growth rate of robot supplies to the America was about 8% on average. As of now, the robotics industry has a very bright and profitable future. Google has realized this potential, which is a primary factor for its recent acquisition of yet another robotic engineering company, Boston Dynamics. Boston Dynamics is the eighth robotics company Google has purchased in the last six months. Google’s vast experience and capability with robots have paid off throughout the years. In 2009, the company launched a robotic car project that currently has a fleet of 10 converted Toyota Priuses, which have covered more than 300,000 miles on Californian roads without an accident. These robotic cars have roof-mounted cameras and sensors that monitor the road ahead and their surroundings while simultaneously building a 3D model of the route and navigating obstacles. This exclusive feature allows Google Maps to create accurate representations of the streets that we search via the Internet.

Boston Dynamics has also engineered many marvels intended for military, most of which contain animalistic features. The robotic fleet of Boston Dynamics includes the galloping and pivoting Wildcat, the nine-meter jumping Sandflea, the agile and rough terrain tolerant BigDog and the Pentagon funded 28.3mph (45.5km/h) Cheetah, which according to BBC, sprints faster than Usain Bolt. The Cheetah, in fact, is the world’s fastest running robot. These robots are fascinating and will play a large role in the future of engineering. Kevin O’Leary, chair of O’Leary Funds, states that the majority of money invested in startups in Silicon Valley is in not social media, not mobile technology, neither big data nor the cloud, but rather robotic sensor technology. Essentially, these robots are a bundle of sensors and Boston Dynamics is one of the few companies that are extremely advanced in writing useful software to interface with such sensors. An example of how sensors can improve science and people is the development of breath sensors. These sensors read key tones

in one’s breath that can be used as innovative alternatives for diabetics, who would be able to use these devices to detect when their blood sugar level changes without having to prick themselves. This illustration is one of many ways that these sensors can be beneficially incorporated into our lives.

Google has been intending to ramp up its robotics program by hiring new and creative employees, including machine learning expert Geoffrey Hinton and former Android chief Andy Rubin, who are in charge of Google’s robotics.

The purchase of Boston Dynamics has helped Google’s robotics progress tremendously. As demonstrated in the generation of Google Glass, Google has once again stretched its wallet to help create a new technological future. While this action does not mean that Google is investing in any idea it comes across, Google’s tendency to spend money does indicate that the company is successful in finding areas with clear commercial potential and making rewarding investments. With Google investing a lot into the field of robotics, it can be ensured that there will be plenty more technological developments, including robots, to come in the near future.

“dybbuk2, Flickr Photo Sharing” Boston Dynamics robot

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technology & astronomy

Silk Road and the Deep Web Is this what the Future of the Internet Looks Like?

Neil Ahlawat In Ancient times the Silk Road was a series of trade routes extending from Rome to China. Today, however, there exists a new Silk Road – online. Like the ancient Silk Road, this new virtual marketplace is the ultimate trading hub, where shoppers can purchase all sorts of goods. However, it is also known as the eBay of drugs, permitting users to buy illegal substances with just the press of a button.

This new means of drug purchases poses new issues for the members of law enforcement who must combat a network more complicated than the shady alleyways of the past.

The Silk Road exists on what is known as the Deep Web, an increasingly massive and concealed part of the Internet.

Ironically, the Deep Web was originally created by the government in 2003 to provide secure channels of communication between intelligence and law enforcement agents, but criminals now exploit the network. In order to get access to the Deep Web, one can legally download a free encrypted browser known as TOR. Through TOR, the Deep Web becomes an extremely complex program to navigate, comprising millions of sites, including the Silk Road, which sells child pornography, firearms, services of hit men, and forged passports.

Curious, although hesitant, I decided to investigate the Silk Road website myself. The homepage is full of information from the site’s creaTORs, and divided into 32 categories placed in the left-hand part of the page.

These categories range from Cannabis, Ecstasy and LSD to Opioids, Stimulants, Psychedelics, and many more.

Most troubling of all is the website’s appearance/ façade, which mimics the format of popular sites such as eBay or Amazon. The users of this website are from different areas from all over the world, including Netherlands, UK, Belgium, US, and many other nations.

Most of the items online are sold by the Bitcoin system.

Bitcoins are the first decentralized digital currency to ex22

A list of categories on the Silk Road website.

ist. The main advantage of Bitcoin is that it can be transferred from person to person through the Internet without the presence of a third party, such as a bank. As of November 15th 2013, one bitcoin was worth $503.01 US dollars.

technology & astronomy

“Rock1997, Wikimedia Commons” One cannot just search for the Silk Road, Users must download Tor in order to access the website.

the charges of drug dealing, money laundering and computer hacking. After arresting Ulbricht, the F.B.I successfully shut down the Silk Road. However, just about a few weeks later, a new version of the website, Silk Road 2.0, debuted, illustrating the little control the government practices over websites such as the Deep Web. This scenario raises questions for the future: how will the government use its power to regulate internet use as the world continues to become more and more dependent on the digital world? Though it is only a single site on the Deep Web, the Silk Road has already garnered $1.2 billion in sales and caters to the interests of over 1 million customers . Is this what the future of the Internet will look like?

Users can buy drugs on the deep web.

Catching criminals and shutting down websites on the Deep Web is a job almost impossible for law enforcement agencies to execute. The TOR network is completely encrypted so that one’s personal IP address is never shared with the network of other computers. As a result, the police cannot shut down websites like Silk Road because the server IP addresses are hidden. Recently, Ross Ulbricht, who went by the username “Dead Pirate Roberts” on Silk Road forums, was discovered to be the creator of the Silk Road. It took the F.B.I two and a half years to catch Ulbricht and arrest him under 23

technology & astronomy “SM14, Wikimedia Commons” The sea lashing its waves at high tide

T h e P ot e ntial

Since the industrial revolution and the development of the steam engine, there has been a constant demand for energy, but only recently have people associated environmental damage with greenhouse gas emissions released by fuel consumption. As concerns about the environmental impact of potentially hazardous energy sources arise, the discovery of an alternate means of generating energy to supply power grids has become more and more a dire issue. One promising type of alternative energy is tidal and wave energy.

Ocean Renewable Power Company was founded by Paul Wells, a licensed U.S. Coast Guard sea captain who worked in shipping, in shipbuilding, and on cruise ships. ORPC is one of the first companies to commercialize hydropower. In fact, ORPC’s Turbine Generator Unit (TGU) uses a system of rotating foils to power a central permanent magnet generator, a procedure similar to that of a wind turbine. A major point of difference, however, is that the density of water is much higher than the density of air. As a result, with every blade rotation, the TGU generates more power than a wind turbine would produce in high winds. Moreover, hydropower units are eco-friendly. They require little maintenance, necessitate neither lubricants nor fuel, and are built with non-rusting composite materials. They release zero emissions into the surrounding water, and their energy outputs can be predicted based on currents and tidal patterns.

ORPC produces three types of TGUs: RivGen, TidGen, and OCGen. RivGen, which is suitable for small river sites,

of

can supply energy to remote communities with no large centralized power grid. It surpasses commonly used diesel generators that connect to local power grids in terms of efficiency, cost efficacy, and carbon footprint minimization. RivGen has an automatic fuel-switching mechanism to turn off the diesel generators when it is producing energy. Each unit generates 25 kW in a 7.5 feet-per-second current.

TidGen, on the other hand, is designed for depths of 50100 feet and can be positioned in shallow tidal and deep river sites. Through an underwater transmission line, TidGen units connect to an onshore substation, a set of equipment that regulates the voltage of the energy and makes the units compatible with the area’s energy grid. These units can produce 150 kW per unit in a 7.5 feet-per-second current.

Last but not least, OCGen is geared towards deep tidal and ocean current sites at depths of more than 80 feet. It is set up in stacks of up to four units, which are moored to the sea floor with a low-impact mooring system to avoid the tumult of the ocean’s waves. Multiple modules can be moored at the same site. Like TidGen, OCGen connects to on-shore substation through an underwater cable. One module of four OCGens has a peak generating capacity of 600 kW in 6-knot water current, or around 10 feet-per-second.

ORPC’s units have had success, especially the TidGen in Cobscook Bay, Maine. On March 26th, 2012, the company submitted its first annual environmental monitoring report of activity to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

technology & astronomy

W av e E ne r g y

(FERC). The report discussed the construction, installation, energy output, and environmental effects, and fortunately, the TidGen unit reportedly had no negative impact on the surrounding marine ecosystem. This report is one of many pieces of evidence that indicate that ORPC is a major contributor to a rapidly growing industry. While wind turbines account for only 1% of the energy used by Americans, hydropower currently accounts for 7%, illustrating that hydropower is the more pragmatic and high-yielding option on the spectrum of renewable energy sources. The amount of gigawatts produced worldwide also increased by 3% to an estimated 990 GW with the usage of hydropower, surpassing other sources of renewable energy that fall short of hydropower at 480 GW. While ORPC’s TidGen and OCGen hydropower units seem to be the optimal solution to global energy crises, there are some downsides to the small-scale use of hydropower.

First and foremost, the placement of TGUs is restricted by their site-specificity. The depth, width, and overall size of a body of water dictates whether or not it can hold a TGU, as well as the distance from the power source to the grid. Secondly, water levels and currents, especially in smaller bodies of water, fluctuate seasonally, meaning that a TGU that rests underwater at the time of installation is at risk of being exposed as the water level recedes. Third, TGUs have low-level environmental impacts on the ecosystems of the bodies of water where they preside. The units inadvertently divert

S ab r ina L au tin

water away from a certain section of the body of water as they channel water through the foils, which can decrease the presence of aquatic life in that specific area and can damage the biological infrastructure. Lastly, the size of the unit is dictated by the nature of the site; as a result there is almost no room for energy expansion. The beneficiaries of the unit are unable to increase the energy output, and the amount of energy that the units already yield is subject to change, based on fluctuations in the tides and currents.

Although there are some logistical problems with TGUs, ORPC has picked up on an up-and-coming industry. To reflect nature’s mutability, TGUs have become increasingly more dynamic, and as they become even more adaptable to different conditions, hydropower will continue to be accessible and will have an even larger and more substantial impact on global energy consumption. So far, ORPC has successfully installed TidGen in Maine, Alaska, and Nova Scotia, with the intent of contributing power to local towns’ power grids.

For now, TGUs have already averted the issue of requiring oil or fossil fuels to operate, eliminating the potential operating cost and potential safeguards against an oil shortage. This aversion has also led the company to promise to add another 5 megawatts of capacity to its units in coming years. With new up and coming alternative sources of renewable energy, it seems that the issue of depletion of gasoline and oil is in good hands for now, as long as we can rely on the hydropower units of ORPC.

technology & astronomy

THE FUTURE OF MANNED SPACE EXPLORATION

technology & astronomy

By Alex Karpf For thirty years, the Space Shuttle Program served as America’s only program for human spaceflight. The program, which was started in 1981 under the administration of President Reagan and was funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), oversaw the creation of five space shuttles and 135 manned missions.

Shuttles launched vertically like rockets, using boosters that would eject after going into orbit, but landed horizontally on a runway at either the Kennedy Space Center in Florida or the Edwards Airport Base in California. Unlike the Apollo Program’s rockets, which conducted manned landings on the moon, these shuttles acted like “moving vans.” Humans were sent into space to facilitate the study of space physics and gravity while in free fall, the placement of satellites into orbit, and the construction of the International Space Station.

Space shuttles, unlike rockets, are also partially reusable.

However, the Space Shuttle Program began to decline under President George Bush. In 2004, President Bush had promised that the Shuttles would be succeeded in 6 years by another program of human spaceflight, the Constellation Program, which aimed to conduct scientific research and develop technology necessary for life away from Earth.

However, the program was canceled by President Obama in 2011, due to budget changes.

The cancellation of the Space Shuttle Program, if anything, is a relief for the future of exploration considering the shuttles were riddled with numerous drawbacks. For example, according to Space Magazine, the total lifetime cost of the program was $173 billion or $1.3 billion per flight.

These shuttles also were not able to travel very far above ground. Shuttles that docked at the International Space Station traveled only 350 miles above the Earth’s surface.

On the other hand, the moon is 188,000 miles away from the Earth, a distance that the shuttles designed for the Space Shuttle Program could not have traversed.

President Obama, in his speech on space policy in 2010, promised a manned voyage to an asteroid in 2025 and to Mars in 2030. Between now and these launches exists Images: Astronaut. “NASA, Wikimedia Commons”

the “Space Gap,” or pause in manned space exploration.

However, the claim that humans won’t enter space again until such technology is created is a bit deceiving. Although American astronauts haven’t been traveling to space on American shuttles, they do travel to the International Space Station using Soyuz rockets, built by Russia.

Furthermore, privately funded companies have begun to launch spacecraft themselves. The most accomplished of these companies is SpaceX, created by billionaire and business magnate Elon Musk and funded entirely by private investments. SpaceX’s long-term goals are to significantly reduce the cost of space exploration and to create a colony on Mars. The company has developed two launch systems, Falcon 1 and Falcon 9, along with, the partially reusable spacecraft, Dragon. Dragon, which has the future capabilities of carrying humans, has orbited around Earth and docked at the International Space Station, both firsts for private spacecraft. The company plans to send out its first crewed mission, in its Dragon spacecraft, in 2015, while NASA is experiencing its hiatus of manned space exploration.

Russia has also set its eyes on improving and reforming its space program. According to one report, the country may be planning to create a manned base on the Moon that will use the Moon’s helium gas deposits for energy and, if existent, its water ice deposits at the poles for consumption. Depending on the amount of funding and success of technological development, Russia may launch a manned mission to Mars within the next 20 years. The country has already doubled space funding over the past three years. In general, governments have taken a break from launching manned missions, instead focusing on developing superior technology for long-term plans of journeys to asteroids and Mars. However, America should expect to see manned missions within the next few years, as privately funded companies begin to launch their own spacecraft into space and to the International Space Station.

technology & astronomy

IS A GO? Ethan Parisier spaceindustrynews.com

Since the last manned mission to the moon in 1972, the space industry has blossomed and expanded into the private sector. In the past few years, society has seen the rise of private space companies like Spacex and Orbital Sciences that have been the top contenders in the private space race, vying for contracts from government agencies. However, there has been only one company that has attracted the worldwide media and curious stargazers alike: The Mars One Initiative.

is this mankinds first big step since the days of Neil Armstrong, or is it simply wishful thinking?

This group of scientists from the Netherlands and its bold mission has attracted astrophysicists and stargazers alike.

They plan to conduct a one-way manned mission to Mars in 2025.

This idea was pitched in May of 2012, by one of the co-founders of the group, Bas Lansdorp. His proposal was to send a group of four citizen astronauts to the red planet in 2025, and in the following years, more four-man teams would be sent to Mars in order to ultimately create a settlement. The plan to fund the mission is even bolder. According to Lansdorp, the team wants to turn the whole undertaking into a reality television “event” akin to the moon landing.

When it was first proposed, people were skeptical about the probability of the mission because the astronauts would live the rest of their lives on Mars, isolated from the rest of humanity. However, when the applications were opened to the public, there were over one hundred thousand applicants from 107 countries. In the past few years, the project has gained sponsors such as Spacex and even larger companies like Lockheed Martin. So as of now, Mars One is a go.

Yet, how feasible is this one-way trip to our closest celestial neighbor? Scientists have been studying and researching the factors that play into a journey to the Red Planet and the model for life when astronauts when they arrive. The initial trip is an odyssey in of itself, a long and treacherous voyage in a confined capsule for six to eight months. Along the way, there are uncountable environmental dangers such as the large amounts of radiation emitted from our sun and other distant stars that could cause numerous medical problems for the brave crew of astronauts. The dilemmas of the expedition also include the possibility of psychological damage from the lack of activity and physical degradation from the zero-gravity environment of space.

To counteract these many challenges, scientists are developing technology to aid the astronauts. During the voyage, the astronauts will need an advanced hull in order to counteract the radiation and galactic cosmic rays (GCRs). In order to fight physical decay during the trip, physicists and engineers have created the concept of a “spinning ship” using the Coriolis effect. The Coriolis effect is when an object in a spinning motion creates a field of artificial gravity, which allows the bones and bodies of the astronauts to stay in good

technology & astronomy condition. These measures would be used to ensure the safety of the colonists during the long trip through the void.

When astronauts arrive on the surface of Mars, they will face different challenges including sustaining the condition of the base and helping to create space for the new arrivals by learning to build with Martian materials. They will also have to battle sandstorms and other natural hazards. These challenges will make survival of the colony a more laborious task for the initial colonists.

Upon their arrival, the colonists will have to begin setting up the colony with the equipment they brought. This includes flexible, paper-like solar arrays that will be laid on the ground as a power source for the colony. Before their arrival, there will be two rovers and two capsules that will go to Mars in the years before in order to create living space and power before they arrive.

This begs the question of who might be the brave and adventurous people who would be the first to set foot on the red sands of Mars? In order to decide on the first Mars One crew, a group of Mars One experts, consisting of scientists and former astronauts, will select the most promising candidates for the mission. In December, this council made its first cuts and ruled all but 1058 candidates from the one-hundred-thousand person application pool. This is a considerable step in

the ongoing selection process that will continue throughout the coming year until the final cuts are made and then the training process will be set to begin in 2015.

However, is the Mars One program the name that will be go down in history as the group who sent the first humans on Mars, or is it just another flash in the pan? Society will have to wait until 2018 when the survey satellite and rover are being sent to Mars. This phase of the mission is currently undergoing a funding period on the website Indiegogo and has under a month to go in its funding period. So is this mankind’s first big step since the days of Neil Armstrong, or is it simply wishful thinking? Only time can tell.

indiegogo.com

technology & astronomy

The Future of Technology as Imagined by Sci-Fi Movies Madeline Bender

“raul2010, Flickr Photo Sharing.” An image of nucleotide base sequences from the opening scenes of GATTACA.

For years, humans have been fascinated by visions of what they think the future will be like, using film and literature to portray these visions. The science fiction film genre has been in existence since the years of silent cinema (George Melies’ A Trip to the Moon in 1902), but for the first half of the 20th century, sci-fi films were low-budget films and considered B-list movies by the general public. Only after the 1968 blockbuster 2001: A Space Odyssey, critics and viewers alike began to take the genre seriously. Not only science aficionados but also mainstream directors have now produced high-budget films including classics such as Terminator and

Creative Commons Media. An image from George Melies’ 1902 film A Trip to the Moon.

the X-Men franchise, hoping to portray creators’ visions of the future as accurately as possible. Two of these films, Gattaca and Meet the Robinsons, though different in mood, feature examples of technology of varying degrees of feasibility used to represent the directors’ visions of the future.

Meet the Robinsons (2007) is an upbeat Disney animated film depicting a future metropolis “Todayland,” notable for its inventions and the high-tech lifestyle of its inhabitants.

The antagonist of the film, Bowler Hat Guy, has an evil sidekick named Doris, a self-sufficient and sentient machine who occupies herself by flying around and secretly taking videos for Bowler Hat Guy. In the near future, it is unlikely that artificial intelligence will progress to complete self-reliance as in seen in Doris; however, talk of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs or drones) and their impact on our future have made headlines and even prompted statements from President Obama. UAVs are already being used in areas where it is too difficult to use piloted aircrafts and can stay aloft for up to 17 hours.

A second technological advancement featured in “Todayland” was a coffee patch that one woman used in order to stay awake for eight days. In 2007, a caffeine patch may have seemed unfeasible, but today coffee patches are readily available and are sold on Amazon. However, the effectiveness of these patches is questionable, and they do not contain a high enough concentration of caffeine (only about 65 milligrams) to allow someone up to stay awake anywhere near Todayland’s standards.

Finally, the Robinsons’ use tubes with vacuum-like pres-

technology & astronomy

destroying it. Now, however, it is possible to identify specific genetic disorders, such as cystic fibrosis or sickle-cell disease, by taking and analyzing cells from embryos as young as three days old without causing significant developmental harm. In the future, it does not seem so unrealistic that this technology could expand and our society could be faced with the moral implications related to IVF, such as whether it is right or fair to subvert the natural randomness of genetic inheritance for the sake of creating a “designer baby.”

In Gattaca, the protagonist Vincent is chosen to take part in a flight to Saturn’s moon Titan. Because of what we know now about Titan’s conditions and the presence of water, many believe it is inhabitable for human life. The only problem is finding a way to actually get to the moon. Current models of spaceships would take too long to travel the nearly 800 million miles to Titan, though with the development of new technologies its exploration may in fact be a viable option in the future.

The technologies shown in popular sci-fi movies, both past and present, seemed far-off and futuristic to many viewers in the past, but now some of these technologies are bigger than reality and only becoming more and more feasible as we progress into the 21st century. The possibilities may very well be restricted only by limits of imagination.

Creative Commons Media. A diagram of a pneumatic elevator.

sure to transport people anywhere in their house. This kind of futuristic technology does not sound very plausible, but building blocks in the form of pneumatic elevator systems are already in place to create a technology functioning similarly to these vacuum-powered tubes. Pneumatic elevators function using simple principles of physics – the difference in air pressure above and below the vacuum elevator cab is used to either push the cab up by vacuum pumps and turbines, or release the cab down by lowering the air pressure.

Gattaca (1997), another sci-fi film set in the future, does not take as bright an outlook on the technology of our future.

The futuristic technology used in this film pertains to genomics and DNA sequencing, two fields that have seen much advancement in recent years. In the film, couples wishing to have children are encouraged to use special in-vitro fertilization clinics offering not only IVF but also the ability to customize a perfect child by artificially selecting some genes over others. Until very recently, there was no way for scientists to observe what genes were contained in an egg without

Creative Commons Media. An image of Bowler Hat Guy and his almost sentient robot from the 2007 Disney film Meet the Robinsons.

technology & astronomy

SmartWater

The Future of Crime Fighting Ajay Shyam

Crime has undoubtedly evolved as time progressed, but methods of crime fighting have evolved as well right alongside. An innovative example of modern day crime fighting is SmartWater,a chemical marker that glows under ultraviolet light. Invisible under normal light, SmartWater can mark thieves without them knowing.

SmartWater operates under the principles of florescence.

When a photon, a particle of light, strikes an electron within an atom of a substance, the energy from the photon is absorbed, and the electron enters an excited state, which results in the electron’s entering a higher energy orbital. These orbitals exist in levels around the nucleus of the atom; the higher the orbital, the farther it is from the nucleus. Eventually, the electron returns back to its original energy orbital, causing the atom to release energy. This energy then takes the form of a new photon. However, this photon differs from the original photon since it travels at a longer wavelength. On an electromagnetic spectrum, ultraviolet light has shorter wavelengths than visible light. This process causes SmartWater to fluoresce under ultraviolet light. The atoms in SmartWater take

in a small amount of the photons of the UV light and release the energy as new photons traveling on a longer wavelength, visible light, causing SmartWater to fluoresce and glow when under ultraviolet light, so that we can see the glow. This unique ability of SmartWater can be used in a variety of ways as a result, most notably in cracking down on crime.

SmartWater contains a chemical code similar to that of DNA, so every SmartWater sample is unique. It involves microscopic security tags suspended in a solution (a vinyl acetate copolymer suspended in an isopropyl alcohol base), and 30 rare earth elements to add an extra layer of identification.

Subscriptions can be purchased from the company SmartWater CSI, which will provide you a unique chemical code of SmartWater. Thus, a person can order batches of SmartWater with the unique chemical code assigned to them upon purchase of a subscription of SmartWater. Each forensic code is entered into a secure database, which police have access to.

To use SmartWater, one simply applies small amounts into the small corners of the item the intended to be protected.

The user knows where the SmartWater has been applied and can avoid touching these areas whereas thieves do not.

The SmartWater will stick to their skin, clothes and other items they come into contact with, effectively “marking� them.

Because SmartWater can stay on a surface for periods of up to 5 months and is practically fire and water proof, it is extremely effective in linking criminals to crimes. If the suspect has been sprayed with SmartWater, the chemical code is present on their very skin and cannot be removed easily, and thus it serves as a durable piece of

technology & astronomy evidence in linking a criminal to a crime. SmartWater can also be used as a crime deterrent as stickers are given to purchasers of SmartWater subscriptions that identify them as SmartWater users. This informs criminals that their chances of arrest have greatly increased and their ability to sell stolen goods is greatly decreased. In a University of Leicester study, SmartWater was identified to be a more effective deterrent than security guards, burglar alarms and ink dye-tags.

SmartWater has been used to combat a variety of problems, including metal theft in the UK. Metal theft is essentially the stealing of items for the value of the metals they are composed of, a real problem in the UK. Because the UK is an industrial country, the value of scrap metal has skyrocketed, and metal theft has increased as a result. Metal theft can occur in war memorials, schools, churches, and more.

One step that has been taken to prevent metal theft in the UK is coating metal wires and cables with SmartWater, and this practice has resulted in the arrest of many metal thieves.

War memorials and metal objects belonging to churches and certain plaques have been coated in SmartWater as well in order to prevent their theft. SmartWater has also been used in sprinkler systems, several of which have been put in place

in Newcastle in United Kingdom. Custody offices have been fitted with UV light arches, through which suspects will pass, and as a result burglary rates have dropped dramatically.

SmartWater can also be installed in cars and automobiles, and is released if the automobile is opened illegally.

SmartWater is a glimpse into the future of crime-fighting. Though SmartWater has been used in the UK, its country of origin, primarily, it is steadily expanding into other countries, such as the US. Thus, SmartWater will likely soon become a leading agent in the prevention of future theft.

Wikimedia Commons. A sign citing SmartWater to warn thieves away.

25

technology & astronomy “massey_aero , Flickr Photo Sharing” The American designed flying car ,Terrafugia, in flight. Oshkosh 2013

Flying Cars Jasmine Katz

The flying car is universally accepted as the epitome of the future, and its absence is universally accepted as a great disappointment. However, with Amazon’s new flying delivery drones and Lady Gaga’s new flying dress, maybe the flying car that has been expected by engineers and depicted by science-fiction movies for nearly a century will finally become a reality.

In Slovakia, Stefan Klein has devoted decades to designing a car that can sprout wings similar to those on an airplane. After the wings are activated giving the car a wingspan of about twenty-seven feet, the car still requires a runway to take off and land. When the wings are not activated however, the car has features that allow it to function like a normal car.

It fits into a normal parking space, has an engine that accepts gasoline from any gas station, and can reach a maximum speed of ninety-nine miles per hour. Klein calls his design the “Aeromobil” and estimates its release date to be sometime this year. At this early stage of his invention, his goal is to provide an alternative to airplanes rather than a means of everyday transportation. The Aeromobil has already been tested on highways and has won publicity for being not only functional, but also more stylish than its competing flying cars.

Another competing company is an American corporation called Terrafugia. The company prides itself on its latest model, the “Transition,” which is currently being developed by a group of MIT graduates. They view their creation as more of a plane that can drive on ground than a car that can fly. They hope this approach will set them apart from failures of past inventors. Like the Aeromobil, the Transition has foldable wings designed for dual driving and flying. It is going to be released in 2015 with its base price set at $279,000.

This price introduces the first of several limitations that could keep this possible reality as a fantasy. As of September 2013, the average sale price of a new car in the United States was $31,252. Since the United States is the country with the wealthiest people in the world, if the flying car

is successfully manufactured, it will only be affordable to a fraction of the population.

Another complication besides price is the weather, a factor which can usually be ignored or easily dealt with by drivers of ordinary cars but which plays an important role in the safety and operation of flying cars. Possible dangers include strong gusts of wind, heavy fog, rain, lightning bolts, and even temperature changes affecting air pressure and aerodynamics.

Perhaps the most convincing argument against the practicality of mass-produced flying cars is the concern of accidents. Car accidents on ground are dangerous enough, but accidents in the air could result in crashing into buildings and bodies of water or even other flying cars, causing two massive vehicles to fall out of the sky. Nevertheless, some insist that flying car usage will have to be preceded by an automated roadway system. The system will prevent accidents using methods such as crash detection, which several car manufacturers have already created using radar and camera sensors. In addition, to ensure safety, each owner would have to obtain a pilot’s license before purchasing the vehicle. Although they are only anticipated to fly at an altitude of about 4,000 feet, there would have to be a set of rules to protect the multitude of flying cars in the air at the same time.

Despite arguments of skeptics and practical limitations, flying cars have the potential to be a product of the near future. After all, when the first automobile was introduced, the president of the Michigan Savings Bank advised Henry Ford’s lawyer, “The horse is here to stay, but the automobile is only a novelty, a fad.” In 1895, award-winning physicist Lord Kelvin, after whom the SI base unit for temperature is named, declared, “I can state flatly that heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible.” Even Wilbur Wright himself once said, “Man will not fly for fifty years.” Two years later, he flew the first successful airplane in history. Perhaps this year, we will have another ubiquitous innovation of our own.

SciTech

SCITECH

2014

When: Friday, April 11th, 2014 7-9PM Where: Cohen Dining Commons (There will be food!)

Student Projects: Arduino Projects Taylor Sanders, John Abreu, Jacob Hoglund, Esther Fleisher, Sophie Stern Designing and Building an Aiming Tennis Ball Shooter Jay Fleischer Autonomous Cars: Mapping Their Environment Teddy Reiss HM Tech Jeffrey Weiner, Lambert Song, Amit Chowdury

Competition Robots: Problem and Solutions Josh Gruenstein, Jon Edelstein, Dan Lein, Teddy Reiss, Jay Fleischer Maximizing Purity and Yield of a Chemical Synthesis Henry Luo Preserving Marguesan Cultural Autonomy: The Developments of the Local Perception of Archaeologiest and the Dwindling Role of Artifacts in Museums Michelle Kim A Study of Genetics in Fingerprinting Alexandra Stein Determining the Most Durable Pigment and Paint Binding to Conserve Art Julie Aaron Experimenting with Spat-On-Shell Oyster Configuration to Prevent Transport of Experimental Reefs

SCITECH Teo Armus-Laski Regulation of microRNA expression by Lin28 Joanna Cho Patterns to Puzzles: A Study of Austistic Children’s Approaches to the United States Puzzle Alyssa First A Study of Quantum Locking Sahil Gupta Novel Methods in Macromolecular Interactions Using Topology Sonia Sehra Examining the Behavior of Non-Newtonian Fluids Under Stress Ikaasa Suri Granular Flow Jeffrey Weiner Gender Perception in Children vs. Young Adults (In Progress) Zarina Bilgrami Alzheimer’s Disease: Using the Deterioration of the Hippocampus as a Mechanism to Predict the Rates of Cognitive and Functional Decline Lily McCarthy Evaluation of Synergistic Effects of Irradiation and Enhancement on Zeste2 (EZH2) Inhibitor on Pancreatic Carcinoma Cell Line (PANC1) Raag Agrawal Gene Therapy for Atherosclerosis Mihika Kapoor

Special Guest:

Professor Erika Zavaleta (HM ‘90)

Pepper-Gibberson Chair, Department of Environmental Studies, UC Santa Cruz (by Skype)

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