Sp 05
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 AT I O N • D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 2
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NOTE from the EDITOR Dear Readers, A few weeks ago, I sat on the edge of my seat and watched the live-streaming video of Felix Baumgartner, the Austrian skydiver who made history while breaking the sound of speed in his free fall from the stratosphere. This summer, NASA’s newest rover, Curiosity, finally landed on Mars after the dreaded seven minutes of terror. Voyager 1, a spacecraft that started its journey in 1977, continues to travel farther away from the sun and earth. It may leave the solar system very soon. Humans continue to reach new heights in space travel. While we made a big leap in our discoveries in space, we lost the first man on the moon, Neil Armstrong. His legacy is strong and continues to inspire people to venture into the world today. In addition to space travel, there have been many recent discoveries in physics, including the discovery of the Higgs Boson. When we decided on a theme for the issue, we wanted to incorporate all of the exciting discoveries from the summer. The articles in this issue focus on all the topics I have just mentioned, along with many more within space and physics. We enjoyed putting together this first issue, and we hope that you learn something new about physics or space travel from these articles! Our staff and our writers have a passion for science, and we hope to share that passion with you. Research, for these large-scale projects, always begins with students who are curious about the world around them. We, from this issue on, will have a section on the science research that Horace Mann students have been undertaking through the year and over the summer. We hope that you read these articles and are inspired to investigate something on your own. The world around us is waiting to be discovered, and it is our job to find out more about it and make it a better place.
Deepti Raghavan Editor-in-Chief
Jay Moon
Production Director
Jay Palekar Justin Bleuel Executive Editors
Michael Herschorn Managing Editor
Juliet Zou
Business Manager
David Zask News Editor
James Apfel Senior Columnist
Deepti Raghavan 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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Joanna Cho Yang Fei Ricardo Fernandez Jennifer Heon Mihka Kapoor Teddy Reiss Amanda Zhou Brenda Zhou Junior Editors
Dr. Jeff Weitz Faculty Advisor
SECTION 1 • PAGE 5
PHYSICS Higgs Boson
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Quantum Entanglement by Jason Ginsberg
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ISS Alpha Spectrometer
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by Aditya Ram
by Dorothy Quincy
Schrodinger’s Cat by Ethan Gelfer
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Radiation
by Kundan Guha
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Post Selection in Quantum Mechanics
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Wormholes & Time Travel
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NASA’s Warp Drive
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by Lauren Futter
by Eliza Christman-Cohen
by Josh Siegel
SECTION 2 • PAGE 14
SPACE Curiosity
14 & 15
Timeline of the Mars Rovers
16 & 17
Voyager 1 is Leaving the Solar System
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by Cassandra Kopans-Johnson
by Jeffrey Weiner
by Stanley Zhang
History of the Voyagers 1 and 2
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The Death of Earth
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by Ajay Shyam
by Lauren Hooda
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Neil Armstrong by Samantha Stern
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Space Tourism
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Black Holes
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Expansion of the Universe
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Is Pluto a Planet?
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by Jenna Karp
by Rebecca Okin
by Sonia Sehra
by Grant Ackerman
SECTION 3 • PAGE 28
RESEARCH Research by a Dartmouth Professor
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Stem Cell Research
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by Daniel Yahalomi
by Brenda Zhou
Chiara Heintz: Summer Research by Chiara Heintz
30 & 31
SECTION 4 • PAGE 32
COLUMNS Senior Column: Quantum Computing
32 & 33
Sci-fi & Doctor Who
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by James Apfel
by Jay Moon & Deepti Raghavan
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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THE
HIGGS BOSO N
by Aditya Ram
This summer on July 4th, a long-awaited announceThe Higgs Boson was theorized and modeled in 1964 ment blasted through the scientific world carrying news by three teams of physicists: François Englert and Robert that the “Higgs Boson” was found in the CERN laboratory Brout in August, Peter Higgs, The Boson’s namesake, in in Geneva. Now, such an esoteric term can hardly mean October, and Gerald Guralnik, C. R. Hagen and Tom Kibble anything to someone unfamiliar with the crucial place in November. The Higgs boson is extremely unstable the Higgs Boson holds in physics. The Standard Model, decaying almost immediately after creation. This coupled otherwise informally coined as the “theory of almost evwith its large mass means it can only be observed by a erything,” outlines theorized principles governing weak, high energy particle accelerator. strong and electromagnetic nuclear reactions. It relies Active efforts to study the elusive particle only began on the Higgs boson to explain why elementary particles in 2010 at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear have mass. The Standard Model can be compared to a Research, using the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva. recipe in which all particles are ingredients. Alone, howCERN is the largest particle accelerator in the world to ever, this recipe does not explain why elementary partidate. It was created to allow particle physicists to test cles have mass. theories about the existence of CERN, as printed in Popular Science So, how do parhypothetical particles like the Higgs ticles have mass? Boson. The Hadron Collider is the The answer is only particle accelerator capable the Higgs Field. If of conclusively proving the existhe Higgs Field is tence of the Higgs Boson due to introduced into the machine’s massive size. Finally, the recipe, then the tremendous efforts payed off the resulting when a new particle with a mass of Here, two protons have collided, creating two particles act as approximately 125 to 127 GeV and high energy photons, the red bars. This pictures though they have the decay of a Higgs Boson Particle. properties mirroring those of the mass. Before theorized Higgs Boson was this summer, the found. existence of such a particle remained in question, howevAs stated before, this elusive boson is an excitation of er, and now the discovery has verified some of the most the Higgs Field, and it is therefore very hard to detect. So, critical theories in science. why do physicists not simply attempt to detect the Higgs The Higgs boson is associated with the omnipresent Field and work from there? The Higgs Field is virtually Higgs field, a quantum field which gives mass to elemen- inseparable from the weak nuclear force (and radioactive tary particles. The interactions in the Higgs field parallels decay). Thus it is extremely difficult to detect. those in the electromagnetic quantum field. There, oscilThe Higgs boson could be the finishing touch to the lations are dubbed quantums, while here they are labeled Standard Model, but it is possible that the boson will be Higgs bosons. The Higgs mechanism, introduced by Peter the link that allows the Standard Model to finally encapHiggs in 1964, assigns particles mass, and is considered sulate things such as gravity and dark matter. If the boson the “origin” of mass. However, it is impossible that the turns out to be the gateway beyond known physics, then mass is whipped out of no where. This is where the Higgs humanity will have a lot more work ahead to understand field comes into play. Mass is transferred from the Higgs the workings of the universe. Boson in the Higgs field. The Higgs particle is itself a massive (with mass) elementary particle.
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Quantum Entanglement Einstein did not believe the idea that it is possible to change the state of an object from a distance, an idea belonging more to the world of comic book superheroes rather than physics. But years of work have shown that the phenomenon of quantum entanglement can transcend the bounds of space-time by breaking the principle of locality. Locality states that to affect an object while not in direct contact, one must pass or send something over the gap between one’s self and the object. For example, if one wants to kick a soccer ball, he or she has to get near it and send his or her foot over the remaining gap until contact with the ball. One cannot simply kick the ball without touching it. Quantum physics begs to differ. The history of quantum entanglement truly begins with Erwin Schrödinger. Schrödinger tried to understand how Louis de Broglie’s electron, defined as behaving as both a particle and a wave, changed over time. What Schrödinger and Max Born discovered was that the atom was a “fuzzy” cloud where electrons existed probably in certain places, not in actual locations. Another scientist, Werner Heisenberg, would later add that in such an atom the more one knows about a property of the electron, the less one could know about any other. Basically, this meant that once one makes a measurement on an electron, no other accurate measurements can be made as one has changed the electron just by looking at it. This became known as the uncertainty principle. Einstein, however, did not accept this; how could an electron exist without a concrete value and how could it be all probabilities at the same time? So, Einstein, with two of his friends, Podolsky and Rosen, joined together to write the EPR paradox, aiming to disprove the probability nature of quantum physics. One of their main arguments against Heisenberg and Born’s model was a theoretical example. If two particles shoot off each other in opposite directions in a mirror image, according to Newton’s laws of motion, their momentums should be the same. If one were to measure the momentum of
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Jon Heras, Equinox Graphics Ltd, as Printed in Popular Science
by Jason Ginsberg
one particle he or she would automatically know the momentum of the other. This would refute Heisenberg’s uncertainty, as he or she would know a property of the second particle before it had been measured. The only way that the fate of quantum physics could survive was if the principle of locality was broken. For years, this assertion caused scientists to abandon the crazy quantum world, until, in 1964, John Bell came up with a thought experiment. The experiment created a situation where two mirrored particles would be measured by two different detectors for a particular property. Depending on the results the detectors gave, one would be able to tell if the locality was broken or not. Eventually, a scientist by the name of Alain Aspect would test Bell’s experiment and confirm quantum physics, as well as deny that locality is always true. Quantum Entanglement is the culmination of a centuries worth of thought into the bizarre world of quantum physics. With Quantum Entanglement, it is possible to change a particle light years away without having to traverse any of the space between yourself and the particle. This has lead to recent research into quantum teleportation. Currently, scientists, according to Science Daily, have been able to teleport particles 143 km, by having particle A become entangled with particle B. Scientists introduce a particle C which A copies. Immediately, particle B becomes a replica of particle A and C. Quantum communication could potentially exist in which entangled particles may be used to pass information faster than the speed of light.
Anto Zeilinger et al/via arXiv, as Printed in Popular Science
This pictures the ion propulsion in the alpha spectromter.
ALPHA SPECTROMETER by Dorothy Quincy
AD Astra, as printed in Popular Science
From 1999 to 2010, hundreds of scientists from 56 institutions across 16 countries joined forces to construct a revolutionary piece of equipment that is currently exploring our universe. The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, or the AMS-02, was launched into space from Kennedy Space Center in May of 2011. Nobel laureate, Dr. Samuel Ting first proposed the project in 1995, and the United States Department of Energy sponsored the program for $1.5 billion. According to NASA, it is a module attached to the International Space Station (ISS) with the intention of discovering the whereabouts of antimatter and dark matter through data collection of cosmic rays and their measurements. A large magnet within the structure measures the individual charges of passing particles and records the data. The information gathered from the AMS-02 can further our understanding of our universe’s genesis and development. The most accepted theory for the creation of the universe is that the universe came into existence by rapidly expanding from an extremely hot and dense state, a model known as the Big Bang theory. According to the theory, 13.75 billion years ago, when the universe was just beginning, there was a balance in the quantities of antimatter and matter. Matter is anything that takes up volume and has mass. It is made up of atoms, which are composed of charged particles called quarks. Antimatter is any material that consists of antiparticles. Like matter particles, antiparticles have mass, but have opposite charges. Essentially, antimatter is a mirror image of matter. Today, we are unable to find antimatter anywhere in our universe in large quantities. The capture of large amounts of antimatter is crucial to reinforce the
acceptance of the Big Bang theory and to further human knowledge of the universe’s evolution. AMS-02 searches for dark material within the universe. According to Dr. Samuel Ting, a current project investigator for NASA, scientists estimate that 95% of the universe is made up of either dark energy (72%) or dark matter (23%). Dark material does not emit nor absorb any electromagnetic radiation, so the only proof of its existence is the gravitational effect the matter and energy have on visible matter. Neutralinos, a probable constituent particle of dark matter, can be detected by the AMS-02 if they collide. The AMS-02 may also be able to discover traces of strangelet particles, which are composed of 3 types of quarks, up, down and strange. Matter on earth is only composed of 2 types, up and down. Measurement of cosmic rays by the most sophisticated particle physics module ever created is not only filling in gaps in human’s understanding of space but is also essential for future interplanetary travel involving humans. According to the AMS Experiment Website, Galactic Cosmic Rays pose an obstruction to sending humans to other planets, and correct calculations to counter the fluxes of the rays are necessary to create a safe environment for human travel in space ships. The AMS can search for new phenomena in nature, for the unknown, according to Dr. Ting. The spectrometer has been referred to as the Hubble Telescope of Cosmic Rays.
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by Mihika Kapoor
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Christian Schirm, Wikimedia Commons
SCHRODINGER’S CAT by Ethan Gelfer
One of the most mind bending theories of quantum mechanics, unproven, and, in fact, requiring a redefinition of microphysics as we know it, like all good theories, begins with a cat. According to minutephysics, one way of understanding Schrodinger’s Cat begins with visiting an Army base somewhere around the world. There is an empty bunker, completely sealed from the outside, with the exception of one small hatch on the top. Being theoretical physicists, we do the obvious thing. We go inside, and place a cat in the bunker, along with a barrel of highly volatile gunpowder that has a 50% chance of exploding in the next minute. Leaving the cat with the gunpowder inside the bunker, we leave, closing the bunker hatch behind us. For a minute, we all sit in suspense. Is it alive? Is it dead? We know that the cat has to be dead or alive when we open the bunker, but not both. The quantum mechanical interpretation of this is that, before we look, the cat is in a superposition. That is to say, it is both dead, and alive. What’s more, if we look at the cat’s perspective, we actually have these two possibilities. Either the gunpowder explodes and the cat sees it explode, or the gunpowder doesn’t explode and the cat doesn’t see it explode. Therefore, the reality of the cat becomes mixed up with the outcome of the decision. Our act of looking causes a decision. The cat either lives, and we see it alive, or the cat dies, and we see it dead. Our reality now depends on the outcome of the experiment as well! Could there be a bigger force watching us, or could two actions both happen in parallel within a larger multiverse?
In a world with many universes, each event or decision splits into two; the cat could either be dead or alive.
Schrödinger’s cat experiment is one of the most famous and mind bending thought projects in physics. This question touches on a lot of major subjects of quantum theory: the multiverse, quantum tunneling, the probabilistic nature of quantum mechanics, and more. This experiment concerns the question of alternate reality. Since before we open the bunker, before the cat sees anything, and we see anything. Whoever is watching us sees anything, the cat is both dead and alive. Does this mean that once we forced a decision, we actually force the universe to split into two parallel universes? Another topic this thought project covers is quantum tunneling. Quantum tunneling is a phenomenon that allows for the existence of objects where they shouldn’t be. For example, if we roll a ball down the hill, using only the force of gravity, we know that it cannot come back up the other side any higher than the height from which we dropped it. If there is a slope that the ball could possibly roll down on the other side, through the quantum mechanical interpretation, there is a chance that the ball will be there. This is because quantum mechanics is probabilistic; the greatest chance is that the ball will still be in the valley after you drop it. It is possible, though very unlikely, that the ball is on the other side of the hill. Schrodinger’s Cat is one of the most famous thought experiments that continues to spawn new theories. More sources on quantum mechanics and string theory include “The Elegant Universe” or “The Fabric of the Cosmos” both by Brian Greene, or the channel “minutephysics” on YouTube.
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R A D I AT I O N Nowadays you hear a lot of talk in the news about this thing called “radiation.” Due to the way it is portrayed in the media, people are only exposed to a vague idea about radiation and don’t actually know what it is. Radiation is defined as any energetic particle or wave that travels through either a vacuum or any other material that the particle or wave is not required to travel through. Therefore, sound would not be considered radiation because it requires a material to travel through, while light would be considered radiation. There are two types of radiation, ionizing and non-ionizing. Particles are considered to contain ionizing radiation when they have enough energy to strip an electron away from an atom without raising the temperature to ionization temperatures. This is also why ionizing radiation is so dangerous, but we’ll get to that later. First let’s see what types of ionizing radiation exist. Alpha radiation, or α-radiation, is composed of fast moving helium atoms releasing alpha decay. Then there is β-radiation, or beta radiation, made up of fast moving charged particles, specifically electrons in β- decay and positrons in β+ decay. Finally there is γ-radiation, or gamma radiation, which is comprised of photons within the upper limits of ultraviolet light, x-rays, and gamma rays. Gamma rays are the strongest and most dangerous type of ionizing radiation due to their high energy and penetration ability. Radiation can be damaging when a body cell is exposed to some type of radiation since there is a chance the radiation will hit a critical target, usually the cell’s DNA, and ionize an atom within it. This ionization of an atom within DNA leads to a chain of damage within the DNA and eventually leads to biological side effects. This process is called direct action. Direct action is the dominant form of damage for particles with high linear energy transfer (LET) such as α-particles due to their size. However, that is not the only way radiation can affect a body cell. There is another process, known as indirect action, caused directly by x and γ-rays. Indirect action occurs when radiation hits another atom within the cell, typically water, and creates a free radical, an element or molecule that has an unpaired electron. The created free radicals can then diffuse into the nucleus damaging the DNA. It is estimated that about two thirds of the damage done by x-rays is through OH- radicals.
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by Kundan Guha Doctors are regularly exposed to radiation, like when taking a chest x-ray.
Rebecca Boyle, as printed in Popular Science
When the DNA of a cell is damaged, many biological side effects can occur. If the damage is severe enough, the cell will kill itself upon reaching mitosis, apoptosis. The exception to this is when the radiation knocks out a tumor suppressor gene, in which case cancer can develop within a time span of 40 years. Moreover, if a sex cell was damaged by the radiation then it will take several generations before the mutation will be expressed. These are all the effects of radiation on an individual cell, but radiation generally doesn’t just affect one cell, rather many if not the entire body. The gray (gy) is the unit used to determine the exposure of ionization radiation, specifically the absorption of one joule of energy per kilogram. The human body dies after roughly 4 gy of radiation from a syndrome known as radiation poisoning. After 4 gy the lymphatic system is destroyed as is a large portion of the blood cells. Individual organs, however, can take much higher doses of radiation and it is due to this that different symptoms of radiation poisoning are based on different exposures of radiation.
POS T- S E L E C T I O N I N QUAN T U M M E C H AN I CS People have been fantasizing about how time travel could change society and physics for centuries. For example, shows like Doctor Who and Star Trek portray time travel as the Metro-North of the future. Unfortunately, sometimes the naysayers like to inject a bit of cynicism into the conversation. “Time travel could never work,” they cry, “just think of the Grandfather paradox!” Being the inquisitive sci-fi fan you are, you most likely respond, “What’s the Grandfather paradox?” The theoretical naysayer would respond as such: The grandfather paradox is when you go back in time and kill your grandfather. Therefore, one of your parents would never have been born, and neither would you. So, because you never lived, there was no one to kill your ancestor in the first place. Eventually, this creates a cycle: your grandfather lives, you kill him, you never live, granddad’s alive again, but wait… now you’re alive again! Who’s alive, who’s dead, are we both simultaneously alive and dead in this thought experiment? After several minutes of staring into space with a crippling headache trying to decipher this paradox, you most likely decide to abandon all hopes of meeting your ancestors. While the Grandfather Paradox is a legitimate concern, there are a couple of theories that can allow you to resume your travel plans. The first theory, proposed by Seth Lloyd from MIT, is called post-selection. Lloyd argues that if you were to travel back in time, you would not be able to kill your ancestor. Little events that occur would inhibit you from changing history, such as a misfiring or not being able to find your ancestor. On a larger scale, in addition to solving the Grandfather Paradox, post-selection applies to all of time travel. Someone from the future begins with the ability to do anything, but by tracing the action to the reaction, the time traveler becomes circumscribed and is “post-selected.” While Lloyd’s theory is new and controversial, other physicists argue that post-selection is not necessary for avoiding a paradox. In the 1980’s Russian physicist Igor
by Lauren Futter
Novikov proposed the self-consistency conjecture, which solves paradoxes associated with time travel. In Novikov’s proposal, he suggests that there is only one timeline, and that timeline is the one we inhabit. For example, if there were time travelers on the Titanic, we know they did not get a chance to save the Titanic because in the version of the story we know now, the Titanic sunk. If two theories were not enough, Hugh Everett III, a deceased physicist, came up with the idea of parallel universes in 1954. Everett theorized that every time a decision is made, parallel universes are created that branch off like a tree. So, if you ruminate on whether to recycle a water bottle or throw it away, you are not just making a thoughtless decision, you are splitting worlds. Theoretically, we will say that your school’s environmental club later chastises you for throwing out your water bottle instead of recycling. They force you into a time machine, and make you recycle the water bottle. Based on the Grandfather Paradox, your recycling of the water bottle should have created a paradox in which, had you recycled the water bottle, the environmental club would have no reason to toss you in the time machine. In Everett’s model, your going back in time would cause you to go to a parallel universe in which you recycle the water bottle without causing the paradox. When Rene Barjavel first proposed the Grandfather Paradox in his book La Voyageur Imprudent, he probably did not imagine that it would spawn so many theories and hypotheses. Luckily, people are always thinking of new possibilities for the theoretical world of time travel so that, if this fantasy becomes a reality, we will know all the likelihoods.
The Final Twist
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TIME TRAVEL: FROM FICTION TO FACT? By Eliza Christman-Cohen
vast distances in relatively short periods of time. Furthermore, wormholes may enable time travel to be possible. According to General Relativity, time is directly related to gravity. On earth, where the gravitational force is strong, time runs slower than in space, where there is little or no gravity. Thus if a wormhole could be expanded and used for such purposes, the returning space traveler for whom time has moved slowly could return to earth in the future. Sadly, even the most renowned proponents of time travel, such as physicist Stephen Hawking, acknowledge that the technology to achieve both the creation of wormholes of sufficient size and the means to travel through them at speeds close to the speed of light is far beyond the capability of 21st century science. However, the theory stating that time travel may be possible is no longer mere science fiction; it is now rooted in existing principles of science. Given our centuries-old fascination with time travel, it is a good bet that scientists will continue to search for ways to accomplish such a means of time travel.
NASA: Artist’s rendition of a wormhole with a spacecraft travelling through. it
Science fiction writers and readers have been preoccupied with time travel for more than a century. Books such as H.G Wells’ The Time Machine have sparked people’s interest in going forward and backward in time while movies including “Back to the Future” have explored the possibility of people leaving changing the past. These readers and moviegoers, although keenly interested in time travel, recognize that there is, as yet, no practical way to go forward or backward in time. However, scientists now believe that the fiction of traveling through the fourth dimension of time may one day become reality by bridging the gap between past and present through wormholes. Albert Einstein and one of his colleagues, Nathan Rosen, first provided the theoretical framework for wormholes in 1935. Applying Einstein’s principles of relativity, they concluded that it could be possible to create a “shortcut” in space by traversing a wormhole, going from one end of the galaxy to the other at rapid speed. Although wormholes are microscopic in size and exist for only the brief periods of time, scientists now surmise that if they could be expanded through anti-gravitational negative energy, the holes could provide a bridge for travelers from one point in space to another, covering
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Schwarzschild Wormhole: These wormholes exist as answers to some of Einstein’s equations when wormholes are calculated mathematically.
Allen McC, Wikimedia Commons
Allen McC Wikimedia Commons
Is
Warp Drive
Real? This is an Alcubierre Drive, which is a model of a possible Warp Drive. Pictured here, space is contracting and expanding around the place where the spacecraft could be. The spacecraft can then move with a speed faster than the speed of light through it.
Whether you are a so-called “Trekkie,” a Star Wars fan, or anything else in between, you will be happy to know that a future with a warp drive may not be so far away. A Warp Drive is a hypothetical faster-than-light (FTL) propulsion spacecraft system that has been part of Science Fiction lore for decades. In contrast to other fictional FTL technologies such as a “jump drive” or the Infinite Improbability Drive, the warp drive does not permit instantaneous travel between two points; instead, warp drive technology creates an artificial “bubble” of normal spacetime that surrounds the spacecraft. Dr Harold White, the Advanced Propulsion Theme Leader for the NASA Engineering Directorat claims that “perhaps a Star Trek experience within our lifetime is not such a remote possibility.” Dr White and his team of researchers not only believe that a kind of warp drive is theoretically possible but have also already started making one. Why can we not just move across space using conventional space travel? With our current propulsion system, interstellar travel is impossible. Even with experimental technology, such as ion thrusters or nuclear pulse propulsion, such an attempt would require staggering amounts of fuel and mass to get to any nearby star. Moreover, a trip would take centuries. Astronauts would pass away before completing the mission. The answer to finding new ways to navigate the time/ space continuum lies not in breaking the laws of physics but in finding a way to use the continuum to our advantage. Dr. White and other physicists have found loopholes in some mathematical equations—loopholes that indicate that warping the space-time fabric is indeed possible. Using an instrument called the White-Juday Warp Field Interferometer, White’s team continues to search for proof of these loopholes. They do this by, “generat[ing]
by Josh Siegel
and detect[ing] microscopic instance[s] of little warp bubble[s.]” Such research is crucial to the possibility of interstellar flight. If White’s team can successfully create a warp bubble, the spaceship’s engine would theoretically compress the space ahead and expand the space behind. As a result, the craft would have to be transported without traditional physical movement. The ship itself would float in a “bubble” of normal space/time and float along the wave of compressed space/time in the same way a surfer rides a breaking wave. If these experiments are confirmed we will be able to create an engine that could get us to Alpha Centrari, the closest star, in “…two weeks… as measured by clocks here on earth,” according to Dr. White. In contrast, using current experimental space technology such as Nuclear Pulse Propulsion, Gravitational Assist, and Ionic Drive Propulsion, would take 85, 19 thousand, and 81 thousand years, respectively. They have encountered some setbacks such as the lack of energy to drive such an engine. In the past, many physicists have argued that energy in the form of exotic matter the size of Jupiter would be required to power the engine. Recently, Dr. White has found a solution that changes the game completely, involving a decreased amount of necessary energy and an optimized warp bubble thickness. A door is now opening to an exciting new kind of exploration—warp drive— one that may foster the beginning of a new age of space exploration, and finally take humanity from its pale blue home to the distant stars where scientists and poets have always dreamed of going.
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CURIOSITY: THE SEARCH FOR MARTIAN HISTORY By Cassandra Kopans-Johnson
NASA: Mars
Three…Two…One…Blast off! On November 26, 2011, at 10:02 a.m. EST, Curiosity, NASA’s newest rover, embarked on an eight-month long journey. Its task is to find life or evidence of past life on Mars. This evidence will contribute to a better understanding for what is necessary for life to exist and what to look for in the search for life. Part of the task involves the confirmation of the existence of water on Mars. The Mars Science Laboratory of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program is overseeing the mission. The laboratory uses robotics to investigate Mars and was also responsible for the creation of Curiosity. An engineer from the Engineering Development Laboratory in Nasa, Adam Steltzner, said that “[Curiosity] is the result of reason, engineering, thought, but it still looks crazy.” Constructed from 500,000 lines of computer code, it incorporates technology from the past and necessitated the invention of new technology. In this way, every space mission is constantly pushing boundaries in the attempt to improve the world technologically. According to NASA, examples of instruments it utilized include three cameras, four
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NASA
spectrometers, two radiation detectors, one environmental sensor, and one atmospheric sensor. All of these tools work together to gather information about our neighboring planet. They act as Earth’s investigators. The first step in landing a rocket on another celestial body is launching it. Curiosity used Atlas V-541 rockets that weighed 1.17 million pounds and utilized oxygen and fuel tanks to power the rover into Earth’s orbit. The second phase of launching was the “Centaur”. The centaur stage used oxidizer and fuel to launch the rocket into low Earth orbit and than out of the orbit completely. From there, Curiosity journeyed through space until it approached Mars. After its long journey, the rover entered into another stage of the mission called EDL, which stands for Entry, Descent, and Landing. This part of the mission was nicknamed the “7 minutes of terror” because it took seven minutes for the rover to travel from the top of the Martian atmosphere to the landing site in Gale Crater. However, it takes approximately fourteen minutes for a signal from Mars to reach Earth. As a result, when Earth first received
NASA Goddard Photo and Video
information on the landing, the vehicle had already been alive or dead for seven minutes. During the landing, nobody had direct control or knowledge of the rover’s present state. Curiosity had to go “from 13,000 miles an hour to zero in perfect sequence, perfect choreography, perfect timing and the computer has to do it all by itself with no help from the ground,” according to Tom Rivellini, an engineer for Curiosity. If one step went wrong, then the mission was over. During the descent through the atmosphere, a heat shield protected the rover and reached temperatures up to 1,600 degrees Fahrenheit. As Curiosity approached the ground, it released a supersonic parachute, which can withstand 65,000 pounds of force even though it only weighed 100 pounds. The parachute slowed the rover down to 200 mph. The heat shield then detached from the rocket and exposed the lenses. This enabled the rover to survey the landing site in order to make a more precise landing. Then the parachute was released, and small rockets took over, pushing the rover back up and out of the parachute’s way. This diminished the horizontal and vertical velocity. Following that, the rover headed to the bottom of the crater next to a 6 km high mountain. However, the rockets could not come too close to the ground, because they might create a dust cloud, which can potentially harm the rover and its instruments. About 20 meters above the surface, a large crane, also known as the sky crane, using steerable engines, lowered the rover to the Martian surface. It used a bridle-like cord to make a soft and controlled landing. Unlike previous missions, Curiosity could not employ the air bag method for landing, because it is too big and heavy. At approximately 1:30 am EDT on August 6, 2012, Curiosity arrived successfully at Gale Crater. Gale Crater is a unique landing site because of the geological history it contains. The crater itself is 90 miles wide and was formed approximately 3.5 to 3.8 billion years ago. The central peak reveals layers of rock that were formed throughout Mars’ planetary evolution. Each layer represents a different geological phase. It provides clues for discovering answers to whether life ever existed or exists on Mars and if there is or was water. In order to answer these questions, Curiosity presently searches for rock and soil samples that required water in their formation. On September 27, NASA disclosed images of conglomerate rocks, rocks that are formed from water-borne debris, on Mars. This discovery is monumental because it suggests that Mars might have once been capable of
supporting life. The rover is also looking for chemical evidence necessary to life such as carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, hydrogen, and sulfur. Another goal of Curiosity is to acquire more knowledge about Mar’s planetary evolution and past habitats. Geology is a driving science in this process. The rover attempts to fulfill its task by drilling and digging into the crater to examine the chemical composition, structure, and formation of rock and soil samples. This information will also give us a better idea of how the crust has changed over the years. Martian land and organic materials contain clues to the mysteries of the planet and its past environments. Scientists also want to characterize Mars’ climate. Currently, the only information we have is that it has a cold and thin atmosphere. The Mars Science Laboratory will be able to precisely determine the atmosphere’s composition, look at stable isotopes and bio signatures such as big changes in the temperature due to life, and measure the levels of elements in the atmosphere and radiation. In addition, Curiosity’s technology acts as a stepping-stone towards human space travel to Mars. The development of technology that can land, transport, and support bigger masses can be applied to spacecrafts that carry humans between the two planets. Curiosity continues on its journey of discovery by examining rocks and soil samples in the depths of Gale crater, advancing technology, and opening up new possibilities. Photo of the Rock “Et-Then” taken by Curiosity on October 29 2012
NASA
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Timeline of the Mars Rovers 1971
by Jeffrey Weiner
The USSR launches the first three Rovers into
space: Mars-1, Mars-2, Mars-3
Mars 3 from 1971
NASA, as printed in Popular Science
1975
US begins its first attempted landing with the Mars-7, and it ultimately misses the Red Planet
1975
Viking 1 and 2 Rovers are successful, sending images of Mars back to Earth along the first soil
analyses
1988 The USSR send the Phobos 1 and 2 to Mars, and both get lost along the way
1996 Mars 96 rover is lost after Rocket malfunction
Viking 1 from 1976
NASA, as printed in Popular Science
1996 Pathfinder moved 500 meters from the lander, transmitting photos and soil analyses 1998 Mars Climate Orbiter collides with Mars due to units errors 1999 Mars Polar Lander & Deep Space 2 in 1999, crashed into Mars due to software problems 16
2003 Beagle 2 radio stopped transmitting
2003 Spirit and Opportunity rovers both landed successfully
2004 Spirit rover became stuck in soft soil Mars Exploration 2004
NASA, as printed in Popular Science
2007 Phoenix rover was launched and successfully landed
2011 the rover Curiosity was sent to Mars to explore whether environment of Mars could have ever supported the lives of small microbes
2013 Maven will be launched.
2016 InSight will be sent to Mars to examine the Phoenix from 2008
Interior of Mars
NASA, as printed in Popular Science
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PHOTO: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center/CI Lab, as printed in Popular Science
Voyager is Leaving the Solar System
by Stanley Zhang The end of the solar system contains the heliosheath or heliopause. According to popular science, it is full of “magnetic bubbles,” and it is not continouous, but it has breaks and indents.
Earlier this summer, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California received evidence from Voyager 1 suggesting the spacecraft was passing through the heliosheath, the last layer of the solar system, so it could soon be the first man-made object to leave the solar system. Voyager 1, launched on September 5, 1977, recently turned 35 years old. The probe was originally launched to investigate Jupiter and Saturn and carries six instruments intended to study magnetic fields, charged particles, plasma, and cosmic rays. Voyager 1 fulfilled its first mission only three years after its launch. However, interstellar travel was its next mission . It now studies particles, waves, and fields outside of the influence of the sun’s solar winds. The 3.7 meter wide high-gain antenna mounted on it still transmits data to the Deep Space Network, a series of large receivers mounted around the world. It also carries the famous “Golden Record,” a 12-inch gold-plated copper phonograph with a sample of the culture and life on earth, in case the craft ever encounters any other forms of intelligent life. Along with its sister craft, the Voy-
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ager 2, Voyager 1 has made many important discoveries in the solar system. The boundary of the solar system, or the heliopause, is defined as the area where the “solar winds,” or charged particles and gases from the sun, are no longer strong enough to counteract the “winds” from other stars and objects in the galaxy. The craft began to detect significantly more charged particles from outside of the solar system in June 2012, and the amount has slowly been increasing. Now, scientists from the JPL, which has five research teams analyzing the stream of data that Voyager 1 has been sending for the last three and a half decades, believe the probe has nearly reached the heliopause. This means that it will finally be able to collect interstellar data. However, it is impossible to pinpoint exactly where the heliopause truly begins. This makes it hard to guess when Voyager 1 will actually exit the solar system. NASA’s best guess is some time in 2014, ten years after it crossed termination shock, the point where the sun’s solar winds begin to slow. However, the increasing amounts of cosmic, interstellar radiation will hopefully signify Voyager’s
long-awaited departure. Voyager 1 is now approximately 18.27 trillion kilometers, about 122 AU from the sun. Its path is precisely calculated to use gravitational “slingshots” to propel itself at a speed of 17 kilometers per second. Complicating matters, the sheer space between the craft and Earth means that it takes almost 17 hours for data to be transmitted. Unfortunately, leaving the solar system doesn’t put Voyager 1 anywhere even remotely close to another star, let alone another planet. Its plutonium fuel source will only last until around 2025, stopping the probe’s transmission of data. Continuing on just momentum, however, will put it within about 14.88 trillion kilometers of a star named AC+79 3888 – in 40,000 years. The presence of a manmade object outside of our own solar system is an incredible achievement as space exploration has only been around for about half a century. Even at the beginning of the project, it was anticipated that Voyager 1 would be able to travel much further than the original mission goal, hence the installation of
the Golden Record and massive antenna dish. Voyager will most likely reach deep space before the end of its lifetime, so all that is left to do is wait and see, wondering where this voyager will float next. NASA/JPL - CalTech
Voyager 1 took this image of Jupiter and its Great Red Spot. This is an artist’s visualization of the Voyager Spacecraft. Voyager 1 and 2 were desigmed identically. NASA/JPL - CalTech
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Voyagers: The Adventurers of Space
Voyager 2, Wikimedia Commons, NASA By Ajay Shyam
What do the natural radioactive decay of plutonium, trajectory preserved the option of continuing to Uranus rare geometric arrangement of planets, and gold plated and Neptune should the fly-by of Jupiter and Saturn time capsules have to do with Voyagers? They make up be successful. Voyager 1 was launched the next month the history of these interstellar probes that are meant on September 5th. It had a faster and shorter trajectoto help us study the solar system and galaxy beyond. ry. Within 2 years, both Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 had The Voyagers are our explorers of the vast and deep reached Jupiter. By 1980, Voyager 1 had reached Saturn, unknown of greater space. The history of these Voyagers whereas Voyager 2 would reach Saturn the following have shaped them into what they are today, our final year. frontier of discovery. The Voyager probes have already discovered much on The Voyagers started with the idea that it would be the four outer planets as well as on their moons. Accordpossible to launch two probes to gather data from far ing to NASA, their findings include the discovery of three off regions at the end of our solar system. According to new moons orbiting Jupiter, the twisted magnetic field NASA, the mission was meant to last five years, but, due of Uranus resulting from its axis, the discovery of 10 new to the objectives’ continual successes, moons orbiting Uranus, 12-mile NASA/JPL-Caltech the mission was stretched to 12 years deep canyons on one of Uranus’ and beyond. It was decided that the moons, Miranda, 1,200 mph winds Voyagers would go through with a on Neptune, the fastest of any planhistoric fly-by of Jupiter and Saturn. et in our solar system, Neptune’s Both probes were identical, equipped complete rings, and more. Voyager with instruments designed to conduct 1 became the farthest man-made 10 different experiments, including object in space. It is now just at the television cameras, infrared and ultraedge of our solar system and on the violet sensors, magnetometers, plasma brink of interstellar space. detectors, cosmic-ray, and charged-parThe Voyagers carry something ticle sensors. The probes were charged even more important than the by RTG’s (radioisotope thermoelectric instruments: a time capsule. It is In the summer of 1989, the Voyager 2 was the first generators). These would convert also known as the Golden Record. It probe to observe Neptune. It took this photo. the heat produced by the radioactive is a 12 inch gold plated copper disc. decay of plutonium into electricity to According to NASA, it is encoded power the spacecraft. filled with audio of some of the diverse sounds of Earth, Many trajectories, by which the probes could be including surf, wind, thunder, birds, etc., as well as 115 launched, were studied. Engineers working for the images that best capture the diversity of Earth. It also Voyager mission studied over 10,000 possible trajectocarries recordings of spoken greetings in 55 languages ries. Each took advantage of a particular arrangement of of Earth. There is also a 90-minute collection of Eastern Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune that happens every and Western classic movies. The records are inscribed 175 years. This arrangement is special due to the fact with how they were made, as well as how they should that it would allow a four planet tour only using a relabe played. They are packaged in a protective aluminum tively small amount of propellant and time. Based on the casing, together with a cartridge and needle, so it can be gravitational pulls of the planets, the method is referred played. It is a message to any other civilization in space to as the “gravity assist” technique. The gravity of each in case an alien recovers the Voyagers after they have planet bends the flight path of the spacecraft and gives it been shut down and drift away into the vast cosmos. The additional velocity to get to the next destination (which Voyagers are truly the adventurers of space and beyond. is the next planet). They continue to gather new information from the vast In the end, two trajectories were chosen for each unknown of space and alert the rest of the galaxy of the probe. Each would allow fly-by’s of Jupiter and Saturn. presence of Earth. Voyager 2 was launched first on August 20th of 1977. Its
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The Death of Earth T
By Lauren Hooda
he Sun won’t keep Earth alive much longer. It already has for around 4.5 billion years. The Sun warms the Earth, allowing for the life and growth of organisms. This star is important to humans and we’ve recognized its significance throughout history; religions, cultures, and technology have always been associated with it. The life of the Sun must cease like everyone and everything, but the question that remains is what will come of Earth. The creation of the Sun takes us back to minutes after the birth of our universe 13.75 billion years ago. Hydrogen particles had started quickly spreading out. Just 200 million years later, gravitational attraction compressed these same particles together, along with hydrogen, helium and trace amounts of lithium. Bundles of these gases are solar nebulas, and in them stars are born. Around 4.6 billion years ago in a particular solar nebula, areas of high concentration were rotating in a disk shape, heating up and condensing. Eventually this cloud of gasses collapsed unto itself, pulling most of the material toward the center where nuclear fusion began. The Sun was born. The Sun is a medium sized star of 1 solar mass, so its life span is 9-10 billion years according to NASA. One billion years in the future, the Sun will begin to expand as it runs out of hydrogen fuel. Earth is 149.6 million kilometers away from the Sun, so the Earth’s biosphere will be destroyed with the Sun’s steady increase in brightness. The extra solar energy input will cause Earth’s oceans to evaporate, with total water loss in 3 billion years. Over another billion years, most of the atmosphere will get lost in space as well, leaving Earth as a desiccated, dead planet with a molten rock surface.
In 5 billion years, our Sun will have mostly exhausted its supply of hydrogen which it would convert into helium. This transformation will leave it a red dwarf. Nuclear reaction at the core will stop, switching to thermonuclear fusion of hydrogen in a shell surrounding the core. This will cause the star’s luminosity to increase by a factor of 1000-10,000. The outer atmosphere of the sun will be swollen and tenuous, causing the radius to expand 200 times larger and the surface temperature to drop low, somewhere from 5,000 K. According to research physicists at Georgia State University, the Sun will become large enough to engulf the current orbits of the solar system’s inner planets up to Venus. Due to tidal interactions with the Sun, the Earth will be engulfed inside the Sun before it expands to its largest size. Life on Earth will die in a billion years, and four billion years later Earth will be engulfed inside the Sun due to its loss of hydrogen. This fate of Earth is irrevocable and inevitable; Earth is against the natural and final phases of stars that have been occurring for 13 billion years. Why should we care about Earth’s death if it’s in so long and we can’t do anything about it? Many people do care, and it’s because they are intrigued by the idea of what humans will do as the final centuries, decades, or even years approach their end. Will we adapt to the new and extreme living conditions? Will we have the technology to move to another planet? Will there even be humans around, or would we have already killed each other? A billion years can only tell.
PHOTO: JASON MAJOR
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NEIL ARMSTRONG By Samantha Stern Neil Armstrong was more than an astronaut. He was
tell you now just why in the end I made the decision I
a military pilot, a hero and legend; he represented the
did, but I consider it as fortuitous that I happened to
American dream and was the first man to touch foot on
pick one that was a winning horse.”
the moon. Born in Wapakoneta, Ohio in 1930, Armstrong was
On July 20th, Apollo 11 landed upon the surface of the moon in a lunar mare known as the Sea of Tran-
the oldest of three children. Neil Armstrong enjoyed
quility. Astronauts Armstrong and Aldrin spent 2 ½
flying since childhood. He worked after school to earn
hours taking photographs, collecting soil samples, and
money to fly airplanes at a nearby airfield and earned
planting the American flag on the moon. Looking back,
his pilot’s license at the age of sixteen. In the 1950s,
Aldrin had this to say, “Whenever I look at the moon
after earning a navy college scholarship and studying
it reminds me of the moment over four decades ago
aeronautical engineering, he joined NASA and was
when I realized that even though we were farther away
transferred to Edwards Air Force base in California as a
from earth than two humans had ever been, we were
research test pilot. He flew experimental aircraft such as
not alone. Virtually the entire world took that memora-
the X-15 and the X-1, planes that were meant to break
ble journey.”
the sound barrier, beyond 2,000 miles per hour. In 1962,
“One small step for man, one giant leap for man-
NASA chose Armstrong as an astronaut, and, by 1966,
kind.” These are the very words that echoed throughout
he was selected to command the Gemini 8 flight, an
America that joyous day. Since then parents have been
attempt to perform the first docking in space. Sadly,
explaining this quote to the future generations
though, he was forced to undock and return to earth
In addition, the landing of Apollo 11 and the dimin-
upon a problem with the thruster. After commanding a
ishing political rivalry ended the Soviet-American space
series of flights, early in 1969, Armstrong was chosen to
race, a major concern and source of competition to the
command Apollo 11, which was scheduled to land on
Americans and Soviets alike. According to the book
the moon that very year.
Science and its Times, “With competition giving way to
In an interview with Armstrong, an Ohio native
a new spirit of superpower co-existence, the space race
asked why a top U.S. navy pilot would want to join the
seemed to belong to another era.” The mission was a
astronaut corps. Armstrong responded, “It wasn’t an
milestone and source of hope and inspiration for future
easy decision. I was flying the X-15 and I had the un-
American achievements.
derstanding or belief that if I continued, I would be the
Armstrong was a hero. Even though he knew there
chief pilot of that project ... Then there was this other
was a good chance he would not return from the moon,
project down at Houston, [the] Apollo program ... I can’t
he took his chances and embraced the challenge. He
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NASA, John Frassanito and Associates
This is a rendition of Armstrong on the moon, making history.
was a man who put others before himself and stayed out
accomplishment and modesty, and the next time you are
of the so-called “lime-light,” and “[a] quiet man who val-
outside on a clear night and see the moon smiling down
ued his privacy, Armstrong rejected most opportunities
at you, think of Neil Armstrong and give him a wink.”
to profit from his fame.” According to an interviewer, “Full of stoic reluctance, he didn’t really want to be the Ameri-
Mercedes 1976, Flickr Photo Sharing
can hero, regaling future generations with swashbuckling tales of his galactic triumphs. Immune to fame, he was merely a dutiful pilot and Purdue University-trained engineer who performed his NASA tasks competently.” This past summer, on August 25, 2012, Armstrong passed away as a result of complications from cardiovascular procedures. His family released a statement that they hoped Americans would all abide by. They hope that Neil’s life would serve as an example for young people across the nation “to work hard to make their dreams come true, to be willing to explore and push the limits, and to selflessly serve a cause greater than themselves. For those who may ask what they can do to honor Neil, we have a simple request. Honor his example of service,
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SPACE and YOU By Jenna Karp
Photo: Virgin Galactic
Imagine traveling to space next year. In fact, various companies will be offering sub-orbital spaceflights to tourists as soon as 2013. One of the best-known companies in the industry of space tourism is Virgin Galactic, which was founded by Sir Richard Branson in 2004. Virgin Galactic has developed SpaceShipTwo, whose design is based on aerospace engineer Burt Rutan’s SpaceShipOne. In 2004, SpaceShipOne became the first privately developed manned vehicle to go to space, but no tourists were allowed on the expedition. However, tourists will be welcome on SpaceShipTwo, and over five hundred people have already booked voyages. According to Virgin Galactic’s official website, the sixty-foot-long SpaceShipTwo can hold six passengers and two pilots. The spaceship has a rocket motor and will be launched by a twin-fuselage jet. The jet will depart from Spaceport America in New Mexico. Upon reaching an altitude of 50,000 feet, the spaceship will detach from the jet and blast off upward. Once passengers are sixty miles up, they will be allowed to unfasten their seatbelts and float in zero gravity. The spaceflight will be sub-orbital, which means the spaceship will not complete a full orbital rotation. Still, passengers will be able to view the Earth’s curve through side and overhead windows.
When SpaceShipTwo returns into the atmosphere from the vacuum of space, special safety features will be utilized, including what is known as a feathered re-entry. Jessie McKinley of the New York Times writes: “[Feathered] re-entry will be a little more intense [than exiting the atmosphere], with the ship’s wings folding and body-depressing G-forces, until it arrives at about 70,000 feet, at which point the wings will open again and the plane will glide back to the Spaceport.” Another safety measure is that passengers will receive three full days of training before SpaceShipTwo’s departure. These measures show that safety is a top priority of Virgin Galactic.
Many people may be enjoying space travel soon.
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According to George Whitesides, the chief executive and president of the company, Virgin Galactic’s quest is to open up space to humankind by making space travel accessible to those other than the upper class. The current $200,000 price tag for a seat on SpaceShipTwo would have to be lowered significantly in order to achieve this goal. If costs can be substantially reduced, many people may be enjoying space travel soon.
U
BLACK HOLES By Rebecca Okin Visualize an area in space whose gravity is so strong it pulls in everything near it. However, this vacuum-like zone is also invisible to the human eye. How do you know where it is located, or if it even truly exists? The idea for the black hole first sprang up in 1783. John Mitchell, an English philosopher, speculated that it might be possible to have an object in space big enough to contain an escape velocity that would be greater than the speed of light, thus keeping light in its hold. Although at the time this idea seemed impossible, his theory eventually was published in an astronomy guide. However, Mitchell’s ideas were abandoned shortly after by the general science community, only to be revived more than 130NASA years later in 1916. While experimenting with one of Einstein’s field equations, astrophysicist Karl Schwarzschild developed the idea of a singularity, an area of indefinite depth. Scientists then hypothesized that a singularity rests in the middle of a “black hole,” a term coined by the theoretical physicist, John Wheeler. Black holes are objects where so much matter is squeezed into such an extremely small space and the gravitational pull is so heavy that it does not allow any light to escape. This makes them hidden to humans, thus posing the question: how are scientists able to identify them? Currently, NASA uses specialized satellites and telescopes to study black holes. The Hubble Space Telescope and the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer are used to collect information about black holes that has proven to be critical to the general understanding of these space objects. The key to discovering the location of a black hole is to study “the orbits of stars and clouds of gas in that vicinity and the speed with which they move,” according to Hubblesite.org. If, by way of counting the stars in a certain area, there is an abundance of mass, the most logical explanation is the presence of a black hole. One of the first concerns and misconceptions people have when learning about black holes is the idea that the Earth could be sucked into one. Yet, the closest black hole,
named V4641 Sagittarii, is several thousand light years away from Earth, rendering the probability that Earth get swallowed, nil. The quest to understand black holes is not over. We now have the technology to locate these objects but there are still many unanswered questions. We may not even be certain about the accuracy of the term “black holes.” Some scientists argue that black holes aren’t entirely black. Stephen Hawking proposed that they radiate heat and glow, which indicates the wide, vast world of knowledge that is just being uncovered.
This is the spiral galaxy M81, about 12 million light years away from the Earth. This picture includes data from the Chandra x-ray observatory, Hubble Space Telescope, and Spitzer space telescope. There is a black hole in the middle, about 70 million times bigger than the sun.
NASA MARSHALL Space Flight Center
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The
EXPA N S IO N
Researchers for the Hubble Space Telescope have found the oldest spiral galaxy so far, about 10 billion years old.
of the
UNIVERSE by Sonia Sehra Rebecca Boyle, as printed in Popular Science
The universe is expanding. The famous Big Bang Theory states that the universe began from an extremely dense point, and this point kept on expanding. The Big Bang theory had many implications that tell how the universe is behaving today. The exact nature of this expansion can be extremely confusing: the universe could be finite, yet it is infinitely expanding. According to the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, a joint venture between different universities and Physics and Astronomy Institutes, the Big Bang theory started with Edwin Hubble’s discovery in 1929. Hubble’s law essentially states that distance to distant galaxies increased is proportional to the red shift between the galaxies. Red shift is a celestial’s body’s tendency to emit bigger wavelengths when it is moving away from an observer. In other words, Hubble’s Law reveals that galaxies must be stretching or expanding. By this explanation, the universe itself, not what is inside of it, is like an ever-expanding balloon, taking galaxies along with it. In order for something to expand, it must be finite. This means that the universe would have an “edge.” We know our universe is finite because there are spaces between the stars in our sky. According to SDSS, in the 1800s, Heinrich Olbers, a German astronomer, stated that although a star may look smaller from far away, the brightness of the star should remain constant. Therefore, he argued that if the universe were infinite, the entire night sky would be extremely bright. The sky does have dark areas, so the universe has to be finite. According to SDSS, there are 3 different equations, some of which come from Einstein’s theories, which result in different outcomes for the universe. The three results are an open universe, a closed universe, and a flat uni-
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verse. An open universe keeps expanding to infinity. A closed universe expands and then re-collapses on itself, maybe spawning another big bang. Finally, a flat universe is between the open and closed one. A flat universe does keep expanding, though decelerating up to an infinite point in time where universal expansion stops all together. Though the universe is clearly expanding, there is no definite “point” that the universe is expanding from. There is no exact center of the universe. One could argue that everywhere is the center of the universe. When the universe expands, it does not expand from one point. According to Dave Rothstein, an astronomy and astrophysics post-doctoral researcher at Cornell University, the universe is “stretching,” and everything is moving farther away from everything else. In addition to research about the expansion of the universe, there is research about how a universe could start. There is an adaption of general relativity, called Einstein-Cartan-Sciama-Kibble theory of gravity that discusses how universes could exist inside black holes, according to Nikodem Poplawski, a columnist for Inside Science. Particles spin with a property known as “torsion”, which can bend and curve space-time. With this theory, during the birth of a universe, matter would compress into a singularity due to gravity, but torsion would prevent it from becoming infinitely small. As the particles spin, the hole expands and matter recoils outward. This outward recoiling would have the same shape as a new universe. Theories about expansion of the universe and how universes start continue to intrigue physicists.
NASA: PLUTO FROM THE SURFACE OF A POSSIBLE MOON (Smaller Body is Charon)
Is
Pluto a Planet? by Grant Ackerman
In elementary school, it is common to learn about our solar system. I learned that there were nine planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. In 2006, the International Astronomers Union or IAU officially demoted Pluto to the status of a dwarf planet. A dwarf planet, similar to a planet, needs to orbit around the Sun, to have a nearly round shape, to clear the neighborhood around its orbit, and not be a satellite such as the Moon. Some of the main reasons that Pluto was deemed a dwarf planet that it is a Trans-Neptunian Object (TNO), which means that it is past the orbit of Neptune, and it is smaller than Mercury, now the smallest planet. Currently, the four other dwarf planets are Makemake, Haumea, Ceres, and Eris. Some people thought that Eris, discovered in 2005, would be the tenth planet because it was more massive than Pluto. Although it seemed unfair to demote Pluto, it is not the first time that a planet had been demoted. Ceres was discovered in 1801 (before Neptune), and at the time, it was considered a planet. However, many other large objects in the region between Mars and Jupiter, now called the asteroid belt, were discovered soon after, and it became unclear if they should all be planets. By 1851, fifteen planets in this region had been discovered, so Johann Franz Encke decided to call these objects asteroids. Ceres was the only asteroid in the asteroid belt to be promoted to dwarf planet in 2006 making it the only dwarf planet inside Neptune’s orbit.
It is easy to relate the period of discovery of asteroids in the asteroid belt to the more recent period of discovery of larger bodies in the Kuiper Belt. Pluto was the first large TNO, discovered in 1930. Recently, other discoveries of large TNOs such as Eris, Makemake, Haumea, Orcus, Quaoar, and Sedna make it hard to distinguish between planets and non-planets. Just as the discovery of other large asteroids caused Ceres to be relegated, the discovery of other large bodies in the Kuiper Belt caused Pluto to be demoted. There are still many flaws with the IAU classifications of Solar System bodies. The cut-offs on some of the determining factors are completely arbitrary. For example, how round is “nearly round”? How round do the orbits have to be? How large does it have to be? No planet is perfectly round or has a perfectly round orbit. It is still debated whether satellites should be one of the factors in determining a planet Pluto has more than Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars combined. The IAU could have chosen to include bodies in the asteroid belt and the Kuiper Belt as planets, but that would take away the exclusivity of the title. If Pluto were a planet, they would have to make Eris and similar bodies planets. Especially because they are still discovering many analogous bodies in the asteroid belt and the Kuiper Belt, there could have ended up being hundreds of planets. This would make a first grader’s task of knowing all the planets much harder.
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European Southern Observatory
Voyager TIMELINE
Y Z Z JA
S C I S Y H P
thi “Dare to
nthink nk the u
able.”
by Daniel Yahalomi
The universe and sub-atomic particles, jazz and theoretical physics, Professor Stephon Alexander would argue that these two seemingly opposite concepts could not be more related, and Professor Alexander has made a fantastic career out of connecting them. Stephon Alexander is the Ernest Everett Just 1907 Professor of Natural Sciences at Dartmouth College. Alexander has pushed the frontiers of physics with his research on theoretical cosmology, quantum gravity, and particle physics. Born in the Caribbean, and growing up in the Bronx, Professor Alexander says that he “always felt like a bit of an outsider.” Yet despite this, and with the help of an inspirational tenth grade physics teacher, Professor Alexander went on to get his BS from Haverford College and his PhD from Brown University. He went on to explore and write on some of the most important and exciting topics in theoretical physics today. Some of Stephon’s recent work has been on the Chern-Simons Modified General Relativity. This provides an explanation for the Big Bang, and, in particular, the cosmic baryon asymmetry. Baryons are a subatomic particle made up of 3 quarks. The theory of the Big Bang, in which the Universe was created, includes that there was a certain amount of Baryons and a certain amount of anti-baryons present. In an instance, their asymmetry led to
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European Southern the excess baryons. The amount ofObservatory baryons happened to be the perfect amount for nucleosynthesis, which in turn created our Universe. The gravitational Chern-Simons term was used in the derivation of the cosmic inflation principle, which states that in an infinitesimal instance (about 10-35 seconds after the big bang) the universe experienced rapid expansion of at least 1078 in volume. Professor Alexander believes that his playing of jazz saxophone and physics research both feed off of each other. Indeed, his “Ted Talk” is all about the ways in which jazz and physics are related, even suggesting that a John Coltrane “puzzle” diagram of notes inspired a realization that allowed him to complete his post-doctoral research. The theme to Professor Alexander’s body of research is in exploring connections between seemingly unrelated phenomena, and his creative genius is in his ability to find these obscure links. “For me, playing and composing music can help my mind relax, the way a muscle would relax, and allow me to think more freely.”
CLONING
The 2012 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine By Brenda Zhou Can you imagine turning a cell barely visible to the In 2006, Shinya Yamanaka was able to induce pluhuman eye into a fully functioning heart? Or even a ripotent stem cells from mouse fibroblasts, which are duplicate organism? This kind of transformation doesn’t connective tissue cells that maintain the structure for seem possible outside of scientific fiction, but John B. many tissues and are important in healing wounds. He Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka made cloning a reality. discovered that the fibroblasts could be reprogrammed Gurdon and Yamanaka are the joint laureates of the No- into pluripotent cells by injecting four transcription bel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2012 as the leading factors, proteins that regulate the expression of genes, pioneers in stem cell biology concerning induced plurip- into the adult cell. These four transcription factors, otent stem cells. Induced pluripotent stem cells have the now called Yamanaka factors, can induce adult cells to potential to develop into almost any cell type. IPS cells become induced pluripotent (iPS) cells, which have the have the ability to replace nearly all types of damaged ability to specialize into any type of cell in the body. cells. They are now in the Yamanaka’s discovery can lead This is an image of a mouse embryo fibroplast, spotlight for their potential to further analysis of an ailbefore it has been reprogrammed into an induced pluripotent stem cell. in treating diseases such as ment by cloning the diseased diabetes and heart disease organ and performing tests on which involve cell damage. the clone rather than on the Gurdon and Yamanaka have actual organ. Scientists would significantly advanced the be able to more easily model field of stem cell research by diseases and find cures. Shinya discovering different ways of Yamanaka introduced the use cloning. of iPS cells as a novel technique In 1962, John B. Gurdon of reverse specialization, which Wikimedia Commons, Subtle Guest presented to the world the can eventually develop to be cloning of somatic cells, fully incredibly helpful in the medimatured cells. To accomplish cal field. this, he cloned a frog by removing an immature nucleus John B. Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka, the winners from an egg cell and replacing it with an intestinal cell of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2012, are from an adult frog. The egg cell successfully developed exemplary pioneers of stem cell biology. Gurdon develinto a tadpole, indicating that mature cells have all of oped a technique to clone organisms by replacing the the DNA needed for development. In making his exnucleus of an immature cell with the nucleus of an adult periments public, Gurdon was the first to confirm the cell of the targeted organism. Yamanaka discovered the possibility of reverse specialization, allowing scientists Yamanaka factors that stimulate pluripotent abilities in to further delve into its potential. Since his successful mature cells, allowing them to specify into almost any cloning of frogs, Gurdon has been further researching cell type. Gurdon’s and Yamanaka’s research symbolize his technique of nuclear reprogramming. Known as the a large advancement in today’s technology and pave a godfather of cloning, John B. Gurdon paved the way for path for scientists to build on. With these discoveries, new research in the field of stem cell biology by being to cloning has breached the borders of scientific fiction to the first too perform reverse specialization. become a possibility.
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Student Research
Chiara Heintz: Fragile X Syndrome
Diagrams that Chiara Heintz provided for the Siemens Competition
SUMMARY: Fragile X Syndrome (FXS), caused by a mutation in the FMR1 gene, is a neurologic disorder that causes severe intellectual disability and is the most common
us to try to block the Ago binding and increase levels of the FXR1P and FXR2P proteins. We used a system called a luciferase reporter assay
single-gene cause of autism. The mutation prevents the
to mimic the regulation of FXR1P or 2P that happens
gene from producing a protein called FMRP, which regu-
in cells. The system replaces the protein coding part of
lates many functions of neurons. However, two proteins,
the FXR gene with a protein called luciferase that can
FXR1P and FXR2P, have similar properties to FMRP and
catalyze the production of light, measured by a lumi-
remain present even in the absence of FMRP. Because all
nometer. Mutations can also be made in the regulatory
three proteins may share redundant functions, a possi-
parts of the FXR genes to test binding of Ago and mi-
ble therapy lies in raising the levels of either FXR1/2P.
cro-RNAs. We have found that Ago binds to two specific
A common mechanism that cells use to regulate the
sites in the gene encoding FXR1P, mediated by three
levels of proteins involves the binding of a protein called
specific micro-RNAs (miR-124, miR-9 and miR-182). We
Argonaute (Ago) to their messenger RNAs. This causes
successfully increased protein production by blocking
a decrease in protein production. Ago associates with
the Ago effect with either added target protectors that
different micro-RNAs that are responsible for targeting
block Ago binding or antagomirs that block micro-RNA
it to specific sites in messenger RNAs. The questions we
function. Our study presents a novel approach toward
asked were whether Ago binds to the genes for FXR1P
developing a therapy for Fragile X Syndrome.
and FXR2P and, if so, which micro-RNAs are responsible. Knowing the identity of the micro-RNAs then allowed
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I’ve always been interested in science, and particular-
affected by the disease. Our task was to raise the levels of
ly that of the brain, so when I applied to the summer
functionally similar proteins called FXR1P and FXR2P to
research program at Rockefeller I knew I wanted to be in
compensate for the absense of FMRP. The first few weeks
a neurobiology lab. I was placed in the Laboratory of Mo-
was a lot of practice and getting used to lab techniques,
lecular Neuro-Oncology, and assigned a wonderful men-
but by the end of the program we were able to increase
tor who was studying Fragile X Syndrome. It was a disease
protein production and rescue loss-of-function of FMRP
I had heard of but didn’t know much about. As soon as
in human neuronal cells. It was so cool! I wrote my first
she began to give me a little background on the intrica-
scientific paper and created my first scienctific poster and
cies of the gene affected in patients with Fragile X, I was
placed as a regional semi-finalist in the Siemens Compe-
hooked on the topic. The research project my mentor de-
tition for my work. Thanks to my inspiring experience this
signed for my partner and me to work on seemed daunt-
summer, I’ve realized that science is something I plan to
ing, but very relevant and very exciting. I couldn’t wait to
continue with throughout my life.
start. In Fragile X Syndrome, there is one protein called FMRP that is very important but is absent in patients
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Quantum Computing
by James Apfel Wikimedia Commons, D-Wave System, Inc.
Recently, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics to David J. Wineland and Serge Haroche for successfully developing techniques that allow for the observation and manipulation of quantum particles. At one time this was believed to be impossible, a belief made famous by the Schrodinger’s cat thought experiment postulated by Erwin Schrodinger. In this thought experiment, the cat exists in a superposition of life and death. As a living being cannot possibly be viewed in a simultaneous state of life and death, the experiment seemed to indicate that a quantum system cannot be observed without destroying the quantum system. This is known as wave function collapse. This view, though, is no longer held in mainstream physics. Rather, scientists believe in a phenomenon known as decoherence in which quantum information bleeds out into the environment once a quantum system ceases to be isolated. Essentially, Schrodinger’s cat couldn’t be seen in its quantum state because by the time the box had been opened decoherence had already struck. It is possible to delay decoherence long enough, however, to ob-
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Quantum Computing Chip: Basis of a Quantum Computer
serve a quantum state. This was a goal both Wineland and Haroce reached using different techniques. As is often the case, the Royal Swedish Academy is awarding the prize to a discovery or development that occurred much earlier but is currently influencing an extremely active field. And right now, research into mainstream quantum technology is exploding. With quantum mechanics, the absurd and inexplicable is the norm, and, as long as decoherence can be prevented, incredible things can be achieved. At the center of research into the uses of the properties of quantum mechanics is the qubit, which is to quantum information theory as the bit is to classical information theory. They are similar in the sense that they are both two-state systems; they both consist of two basis states, a 1 or a 0. But whereas a bit can only be one of two values, 1 or 0, a qubit can exist as any of the values from 0 to 1. To account for this, in general an unmeasured qubit is generally represented as a probability curve, a curve that measures the likelihood that the qubit is some value.
Once a qubit is measured however, depending on these probabilities, the act of measuring, therefore, changes the probabilities, making one of them equal to one and the other zero. This is pretty complicated and very different from a bit, but the real disparity between a qubit and bit only appears when they are considered in a group. This is because qubits can become entangled with each other. Entangled qubits are in a state of superposition with one another. Entanglement presents so many problems that classical mechanics is completely ripped apart; not even Einstein could make sense of it. Having an entangled qubit A at the beginning location and an entangled qubit B at the ending location allows for quantum teleportation, a technique for the transmission of data that may allow for the creation of the quantum internet. If there is a third qubit, C, which has information that needs to be transmitted from beginning to end, qubits A and C can actually be forced to interact and produce two standard bits. If C is sent to the end, then the information it contains can be used to turn B into C, thereby successfully receiving the information. Although it does not occur superluminally, it is an absolutely secure form of communication, as intercepting the bits is meaningless. They are only meaningful to the possessor qubit B, and any attempt to somehow steal the quantum information would also be futile as such an act would alter the information. Quantum teleportation is currently an area of intense research; the record for the longest quantum teleportation has been broken several times recently. Scientists are already able to achieve quantum teleportation over a long enough distance to allow for earth-to-satellite communication, and the construction of a satellite based, perfectly secure, quantum internet isn’t that far off. The qubit’s potential isn’t restricted solely to secure communication. It extends into a realm far greater than that, quantum computing. Qubits allow for computation many orders of magnitude more complex than current computers are capable. A qubit, once measured, becomes just like a bit, so a 64-qubit qubit will only ever produce 64-bit answers. But this is Einstein’s old nemesis entanglement coming roaring back in. As previously discussed, one qubit is in a superposition of two basis states, but a system of
Wikimedia Commons, Smite-Meister
Bloch Sphere: a way to represent the qubit
two entangled qubits would exist in a superposition of four different states. Any system of N entangled qubits will be in a superposition of 2N different states. Although that doesn’t seem like a big deal, imagine a system of five-hundred entangled qubits, which would exist in a superposition of 3.27*10150 states. Although that enormous number will collapse to 500 bits once the computation is complete and the system measured, the computer can operate on every one of those 3.27*10150 until that occurs. A classical computer, no matter its complexity, is merely manipulating one value through a range. The potential capabilities of this new technology may result in many modern technologies becoming outdated. For instance, modern encryption systems used in everything from e-mail to software identification rely on presenting an NP-complete problem: a problem wherein it’s tough to find the correct answer but easy to check once you have the answer. One example of this is prime factorization, whereby multiplying the factors checks the answer, but it could take several thousand years to find the primes which make up the answer. These constraints, of course, only occur for classical computers; a quantum computer can solve a prime factorization or similar problem extremely quickly. If the development of quantum computing continues, it could have drastic implications for the future of computing, fundamentally altering the way problems are solved.
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OPINION:
Why Bad Science Doesn’t Get in the Way of Good Science Fiction by Jay Moon
Prometheus, 20th Century Fox
You’ve heard it many times before. The latest summer blockbuster is out in theaters, and the action-adventure’s ending hinges on a scientific impossibility. “Prometheus had a total disregard for evolution!” “Even if you are Batman, you can’t measure the decay of a reactor to the exact second!” “What the heck even happened in Looper?” Sci-fi nerds and the scientific community alike seem to enjoy analyzing plot elements to the last detail. NASA gives Armageddon to its prospective managers as an example of flawed science: according to their count, there are over 168 aspects of the film that are flat-out scientifically impossible. Yet people still seem to flock to these movies, and cult sci-fi classics grow their fanbase every year. Are people willfully ignorant of science? Perhaps. After all, fiction has its roots in entertainment. But there is a case to be made for the intentionally flawed, the purposefully downright poor science that merely sets the stage for what drives fiction more than plot: character.
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If you’re like me, you use fiction as a form of escapism from reality. With the stresses of senior year around me, I like to take every opportunity I can to settle down and watch, read, or otherwise consume some good science-fiction. It serves to me as a way of seeing the lives of people play out in a world that is not the one I live in, because the world I live in can sometimes be stressful. It’s why I don’t enjoy too many stories set in the “real world.” Characters’ reactions to everyday situations are predictable and follow logic, so drama is heightened for the sake of heightening drama. It’s easy for me to get actively annoyed at a character’s actions when the world follows the rules of our own - you’d expect a character to make the decision you would make in that entirely plausible situation. Procedural dramas such as Law & Order, CSI, and Grey’s Anatomy are always criticized by the respective professions that they represent because they’re a heavily fictionalized series of events in an otherwise realistic
world. But in a science-fiction world, you don’t know what’ll happen because its rules are not the same as our own. You don’t know whether you’ll create a mind-bending paradox in Doctor Who, whether you’ll uncover an inhumane conspiracy in Moon, or if you’ll create a dinosauric reign of terror in Jurassic Park. Sometimes to realize these fictional worlds, liberties have to be taken with the science behind the premise. The TV show Fringe discusses the concept of infinitely diverging universes, yet only ever shows two universes interacting with one another in questionably plausible ways. Looper’s laws of time travel are paradoxical but remain internally consistent throughout the movie. Doctor Who is about a madman with a box that’s bigger on the inside than it is on the outside and can travel anywhere in time and space... okay, that one is a little far-fetched no matter how you look at it. But with that last example, it’s a premise that spawns genre-bending episodes and dozens of seasons. There’s a reason why the show is approaching its 50th anniversary - and that reason is not the show’s devotion to scientific accuracy. In the end, it’s the characters’ decisions that make the story, not the science. There are some good science fiction works that take a hard approach to the science they incorporate, but good science is not imperative for a good science fiction - and often times, bad science makes for better story.
The Case for Doctor Who by Deepti Raghavan
The possibility of travelling back in time, traveling into the future, or even traveling to distant galaxies in literally 2 seconds is mind-boggling. Einstein tells us that we cannot surpass the speed of light. Even if the “time vortex” that the TARDIS travels through exists, humans are far from having the technology to access it. In some of the most recent Christmas specials, there is some invasion of aliens on Earth. We obviously have not had any direct contact with aliens as yet. The show attracts a huge fan base. Why? As Jay wrote before, its popularity is not because of a promise to be scientifically accurate. Steven Moffat, who also is the co-creator of the popular show Sherlock, writes plots that are crazy, but really allow the viewers to be taken out of their everyday lives and experience something new. Characters on the show cannot make everyday “normal” decision; the rules of our world do not apply to the world of Doctor Who. They also do these extraordinary things with their lives. Personally, I would love to go travelling to some distant planet made out of diamonds with the Doctor. I would love to go visit Pompeii before the volcano erupted. Unfortunately, the closest I am going to get is by watching an episode of Doctor Who. The characters in the show are fresh and never become boring. Moffat also makes the Doctor really human-like, someone we can all relate to. Yet we know that he is 1100 years and old and has seen things of which we can only dream of. Science fiction has the ability to let viewers see things beyond their wildest dreams. It can function as an escape from reality by giving viewers a new world in which anything is possible, but not by magic, by “science.”
The Famous Tardis: The Doctor’s Blue Box
BBC’s Doctor Who is the budding time traveler’s dream. The show never gets old. Really. The show revolves around a “time lord,” who is just like a human, except has two hearts and can regenerate into a new body when he dies. Sounds crazy, right? He travels through time and space with his TARDIS, Time and Relative Dimensions in Space Machine. Every few seasons, there is a new Doctor. Currently, BBC is on its 11th doctor, portrayed by actor Matt Smith. The show started in 1963. Why is it so popular? The “science” involved is not possible with the technology we have now.
Wikimedia Commons, Babbel 1996
Cover/Back Photo: NASA
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Sp 05
Spectrum
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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 AT I O N • N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 2 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 AT I O N • D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 2