The Now

THE

DECEMBER 2017

MOST INFLUENICAL EVENTS OF THE YEAR

CONFERDATE STATUES REMOVED pg. 12

COVER PHOTO COURTESY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN

Elena Gareau Orlando Mora-Torres

Noel Elias Cade Dulaney

OUR TEAM

Walker Grim

LETTER FROM THE

Editors

Dear Readers, We are proud to introduce our new magazine, “The Now”. Within its pages are written the most influential events of the year: both good and bad.

As current high school students, we have become very interested in what is going on in the evolving world around us. We find it fascinating to know how others are living and how their lives are constantly being affected by current events. This year, in particular, has been very eventful, with grand developments in medicine, devastating natural disasters, and political unrest.

When beginning to create “The Now”, we wanted to write about some of the most significant events of 2017 for us. By engaging readers in what is going on in the world, and especially in our own country, we hope to educate them on the importance of these occurrences and encourage them to continue being informed.

Nowadays, talk of politics and certain current events has become fairly controversial due to everybody’s diverse opinions. So, over the past few months, we have constructed a magazine based solely on facts, with no direct bias being presented. We worked our best on creating a neutral tone throughout the articles so that the readers are able to form opinions and reactions of their own.

We hope you are able to learn more by reading through these thoughtful articles, and maybe even become more interested in the world’s current events.

Best wishes,

CONTENTS

CURRENT EVENTS DEVASTATION ON THE COASTS Find out the extent of the effects on coastal residents after this year’s hurricane season.

CONFEDERATE MEMORIALS Learn about the controversy over the removal of Confederate statues in the South.

EVERYONE’S GOAL Read about the significance of the World Cup for people around the world.

WHEN MEDICAL AVENUE MEETS TECH CORNER Discover the new medical technology that has been created throughout recent years.

FORECASTING CANCER’S STORM

Explore how an oncologist works on creating an equation to forecast cancer.

D EVASTATION O

By the end of the 2017 hurricane season, thousands were inju

By Elena Gareau ain poured, homes flooded, and belongings were destroyed. Winds blew, bringing roofs and trees with them. Lives were lost. Hurricane season struck.

Millions of Americans and their families have been greatly affected, both physically and emotionally, by this year’s unprecedented hurricane season. With five major hurricanes, two of which reaching Category 5, the 2017 hurricane season has been significantly above average.

Many experts believe this active season may have been caused by climate change.

“This season has been above average including numerous destructive major hurricanes in part due to abnormally warm ocean temperatures,” explained CBS Austin meteorologist Chikage Windler.

Florida State University Assistant Professor Allison Wing, who teaches tropical convection and climate, agreed with Windler.

“Global warming is affecting hurricanes,” Wing said. “Because hurricanes get their energy from fluxes of heat from the warm sea surface, as sea surface temperatures increase, we expect the intensity of hurricanes to increase. That means that because of global warming, the likelihood of getting a very intense hurricane is higher.”

However, some experts still fail to see a correlation between the climate change and powerful hurricanes.

“There is no evidence that the number of

Category 5 hurricanes this season is related to global warming,” said University of Miami Atmospheric Science Professor Dr. Sharan Majumdar.

Nonetheless, disastrous damages were made after this year’s deadly hurricane season.

TEXAS ENGULFED BY HARVEY First, Hurricane Harvey made landfall on the Texas Coast on August 25 as a Category 4 hurricane, making it the first major storm of the season to hit the United States. For days after the landfall, heavy rains and

An event like this takes a huge toll psychologically and emotionally on everyone,

catastrophic winds carrying debris devastated millions of Texans as the storm moved northward towards Houston.

“All of us were personally affected… with the stress and worry of whether we would flood, if our friends and family would flood, and concern for those who did,” said KPRC meteorologist and Houston resident Frank Billingsley. “An event like this takes a huge toll psychologically and emotionally on

O N T HE C OASTS

ured or homeless, and costs of damages were in the billions.

A woman is carried out of her flooded home by a Texas National Guardsman after the worst of the storm had passed.

Hurricane Harvey resulted in nearly 52 inches of rain in some areas. Photo by Lt. Zachary West, courtesy of the U.S. Department of Defense

everyone, but, of course, is much more difficult for those who actually face repair and recovery.”

For days after the hurricane hit, non-stop rain poured over Eastern Texas, notably in Houston. Highways, bayous, buildings, and countless homes along the storm’s path flooded. An estimated one million cars and thousands of homes were destroyed by the

extreme storm surge.

“Storm surge is the height of the seawater at the coast above the normal tide,” said Florida State University Research Scientist Steve Morey. “The surge can of course damage structures due to flooding, but the wave action on top of the storm surge can tear apart structures.”

When it came to rescues, many people

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relied mainly on good samaritans. This is because many government officials and large scale organizations had specific regulations that restricted them from being able to reach certain areas. With the help of everybody, more than 50,000 people were saved from the floods.

As well as selfless locals, some celebrities, such as Beyonce and Simone Biles, also went down to Houston to assist with disaster relief by helping local organizations or charities.

Many others helped financially by donating significant amounts of money or by hosting benefit concerts.

Millions of regular people also donated goods, money, and their time to help Houston and other cities affected by the storm. To shelter evacuees, sanctuaries were set up all around Texas.

According to recent estimates, the death toll from Hurricane Harvey was at least 82 people, which includes people from Texas and Louisiana, and there were over $180 billion worth of damages caused after the storm.

On August 27, Texas National Guard soldiers tread through flooded Houston highways on their way to provide assistance. Before they arrived, victims of the hurricane relied mainly on good samaritans. Photo courtesy of Texas Army National Guard

FLORIDA SUDDENLY STRUCK BY IRMA Just days after Harvey had made landfall in Texas, Hurricane Irma slammed into the Caribbean Islands as a Category 5 hurricane on September 6. It caused great damage to many different islands, including the U.S .

Virgin Islands. Then, on September 10, it pummeled towards Florida and the Florida Keys, causing flooding and major winds. The Keys were expected to get a staggering storm surge of 15 feet. However, the farther up the storm moved, the more it weakened and eventually became a tropical storm.

I had to evacuate from Miami for a week, and my university was closed down for 10 days, “Here in Tallahassee, we had fallen trees and tree branches, some of which fell on homes and cars, and power outages, but most things were back to normal within a day or two,” said Wing. “Luckily, I had no damage at my home and did not lose power.”

But, some people weren’t so lucky. Many homes in the Florida Keys were flooded and destroyed and residents of Southern Florida were forced to vacate to safety. Many others experienced power outages.

“I had to evacuate from Miami for a week, and my university was closed down for 10

days,” said University of Miami Atmospheric Science Professor Dr. Sharan Majumdar.

Similarly to Harvey, many Florida locals willingly volunteered and donated what they could in order to help with the disaster relief for those affected.

Unfortunately, because Irma struck the Caribbean islands, where the infrastructure isn’t as strong as in the US, the death toll for this extreme storm was much higher than that of Hurricane Harvey, with an estimated 132 deaths caused due to Hurricane Irma.

MARIA CRUELLY DESTROYS PUERTO RICO Just after the Caribbean Islands were completely devastated by Hurricane Irma, Hurricane Maria formed and headed straight to the exact same place. It made landfall in Puerto Rico on September 20 as a Category 4 hurricane, which brought 155 mile-per-hour winds with it. Rain fell onto Puerto Rico, as well as the other islands for days on end, with some areas receiving nearly 38 inches of rain.

Most of the island was utterly destroyed, with thousands of homes ruined and debris left everywhere. The weaker infrastructure wasn’t able to withstand the hurricane’s winds.

Although victims of Hurricane Harvey and hurricane Irma were able to get help relatively easily and quickly, it was much harder for Puerto Rico to access the assistance they needed. Not only did the entire island lose power after the storm, but residents lacked the food, water, and medications they needed in order to survive.

“The damage in Puerto Rico is catastrophic,” said Wing. “I’m not an expert

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Residents of Dominica, a country in the Caribbean, walk upon the debris of what were once their homes, taking anything that was left behind. Hurricane Maria resulted in the destruction of millions of homes across the Caribbean islands. Photo by Roosevelt Skerrit, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

in this area, but the local government is estimating that it could take many months to restore electricity. For people whose homes were destroyed … it could take years to rebuild. It is going to take a long time for Puerto Rico to recover.”

Even weeks after the storm hit, people continued to lack food, water, and electricity, and Puerto Rico wasn’t receiving the media coverage or the help it needed.

San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz did everything she could, helping citizens of the country firsthand and understandably grew impatient after they weren’t getting the supplies they required. The estimated death toll is now at 51 people, but hundreds more

have died from related causes.

“They need our help now and will continue needing help for a while,” said Wing.

WHAT NEXT? In the case of another hurricane, there are many things one can do to ensure safety.

Windler says that “The best thing to do is to be prepared. Have a hurricane supply kit ready to go in the event you will need to hunker down and ride out a hurricane…

If you’re told to evacuate by government officials or police, please do so. And make sure you stay abreast of the ever-changing

Getting in your car and leaving is not advised unless you are in the way of the storm surge... forecast. Having a radar app and hurricane tracker app on your phone are very handy. If cable goes out or power goes out but you still have power on your mobile device, you can

stream television forecasts and newscasts to get additional information on mobile.” “[In the case of a hurricane,] hunker down in your home, it is safe and high, or go to a nearby friend’s or shelter. Getting in your car and leaving is not advised unless you are in the way of storm surge, living near or along the coast,” advises Billingsley.

For those interested in helping the hurricane victims, make sure to find a trustable charity, or help out firsthand by donating goods to families or volunteering in the affected areas.

On September 25, U.S. Marines assist victims of Hurricane Maria with disaster relief by cleaning the debris in Ceiba, Puerto Rico. The Department of Defense is supporting the Federal Emergency Management Agency, to help minimize suffering after the disastrous storm. Photo by Lance Cpl. Tojyea G., courtesy of the U.S. Marine Corps

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BEYOND THE HORIZON Exploring the full solar eclipsees of the next 15 Years December 14, 2020 This solar eclipse will elapse for 2:10 minutes. It can be viewed best in Chile, Argentina, Kiribati, and Polynesia.

July 2, 2019 This solar eclipse will last for 4:33 minutes and can be viewed in totality if one travels to the Pitcairn Islands, Argentina, Chile Tuamotu, and the Galapagos.

April 20, 2023 In Indonesia, Australia, and Papua New Guinea this hybrid eclipse will be visible for 1:16 minutes.

December 2, 2021 This takes place in Antarctica, which makes it almost impossible to view in totality. It can be viewed for only 1:54 minutes.

By Cade Dulaney

April 8, 2024 Mexico, central and northeastern United States, East Canada can watch this eclipse which will last 4:28 minutes.

August 12, 2026 This eclipse will be visible for 2:18 minutes in the Arctic, Greenland, Iceland, Spain, and northeastern Portugal.

July 22, 2028 This solar eclipse will be visible in Australia, and New Zealand for about 5:12 minutes.

Because it takes place on tropical islands, it is already a very sought after viewing.

August 2, 2027 Surprisingly, lasting 6:23 minutes this solar eclipse will be able to be viewed in Morocco, Spain, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and Somalia.

March 30, 2033 This eclipse is visible in only east Russia, and Alaska. It will last only a mere 2:37 minutes.

November 25, 2030 This eclipse is visible for a 3:44 minute time period. You can watch it in Botswana, South Africa,and Australia.

Information from Emily Demarco on Science News

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CONFEDERATE MEMORIALS From Austin To Charlottesville, Controversy Rages

The statue of Robert E Lee, focal point of the battle in Charlottseville, stands covered by a tarp. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

By Walker Grim Though segregation officially ended in the 1960s after the heroic efforts of activists like Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, white nationalists still exist and are not hiding their opinions. Though their numbers have fallen from over 4 million, at their peak, to under ten thousand, they have recently been making a larger impact than one would expect from a group their size. This can be seen through their protests in Charlottesville and through national coverage on mainstream networks after President Donald Trump hesitated to disavow the previous KKK leader, David Dukes.

On Friday, August 11, violent protests broke out in Charlottesville over the decision to remove a statue of Robert E. Lee, a confederate general. The protest was organized by White Nationalist Richard B. Spencer, who had also organized a smaller protest over the decision to remove the statue in May, and a Ku Klux Klan rally in June. On Saturday at 1:45 p.m. a speeding car suddenly plowed into a crowd of counter protesters, killing one person and wounding 19 more.

“We were all terrified,” said Ainsley Momorella, a high school student who lives in Charlottesville. “I had to cancel a mall trip with my friends and stay indoors.”

In addition to the car attack, a police helicopter crashed while the police officers were overseeing the riots, killing both officers in the helicopter. Another 13 more people were injured in the violent protests.

Many people were very frustrated with Trump’s actions regarding Charlottesville.

Will Stalfort, a high school sophomore in Charlottesville, said, “He should have acted sooner, and done more”.

Donald Trump waited until Monday to

condemn white supremacists, and even then his response was infuriating to many people.

The Ex-Klu Klux Klan leader, David Dukes, was not among them. After Donald Trump attempted to pass some of the blame from the alt right onto the ‘alt left’, David Duke Tweeted out, “Thank you President Trump for your honesty & courage to tell the truth about #Charlottesville & condemn the leftist terrorists in BLM/Antifa” On Saturday, October 7, around 50 white supremacists surprised everybody by carrying torches in another protest. The protesters had come from at least 35 states, the protest a tight kept secret, with everybody operating on a need to know basis.

“We are not going away” stated Richard Spencer, the organizer of the rally. He also said that they were going to continue with the smaller, unexpected rallies, saying they were “much more effective” “Charlotteville will always be known for having the riots” said Stalfort.

It has become a touchstone - that name – Charlottesville now refers to a historic event.

- Richard Spencer Charlottesville has become a focal point for the fight against racism and discrimination, just like South Carolina was in 2015.

As of August 18, 2017, 1,503 confederate symbols are still on display in the United States, including flags, statues, and even military bases named after confederate heroes. Brittany Newsome is hailed by many as a hero by illegally climbing a flagpole to

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remove a confederate flag that flew at the capitol building of South Carolina. Many other symbols have been vandalized over the years, such as the statue of Robert E Lee at Duke University.

“We have had the experience of statues being vandalized, and all of the statues had been vandalized in the past.” explained JB Bird, UT director of media relations. “It’s just a reality that they have been. I wouldn’t call it a fear, but it’s an experience we have dealt with” said University of Texas Director of Media Relations, JB Bird.

The removal of confederate symbols does not come without consequences. Bree Newsome live s with the reality that she could receive up to 5 years in jail for deciding to remove the flag. The University of Texas also faced legal consequences for removing the statue.

“We were sued by the Sons of Confederate Veterans over the removal of the Jefferson Davis statue back in 2015” Bird said “The Texas Supreme Court dismissed the case”.

In 2015, the president of the University of Texas, Gregory L. Fenves, made the controversial decision to remove an 8’ 6” statue of Jefferson Davis, the president of the confederacy, following the mass shooting in an African American church located in Charleston, South Carolina. The attack killed 9 people in what authorities call a hate crime.

“The Jefferson Davis statue was taken down from one spot and put up in another, and you can go see it today at the Brisco Center for American History”, said Bird, “It has been restored, and it is in a wonderful display there that gives historical context so that you can go see the statue and learn about its history.”

There are split opinions over whether or not the statues should be removed.

Momorella said, “Whether or not we like it, those statues are our history. We can’t change history, and we can’t pretend it didn’t happen. Removing the statues won’t erase what happened” J.B. Bird, however, has his own argument.

Whether we like it or not, those statues are our history -Ainsley Momorella “When people criticize and say history is being erased, I would make two points. First, history is what happened. It’s not a statue, it’s what happened, and we can’t erase that.

The second point is as far as the statue is concerned, it hasn’t been erased, it’s very well displayed and in a way that allows people to understand American history and the role of these kinds of statues in American history.”

On August 21st, the University of Texas removed another 4 statues in lieu of the events in Charlottesville. One of the statues that was removed was a statue of the exTexas Governor Jim Hogg, who was just 10-years-old at the beginning of the Civil War. He was removed with the others because the group of statues was a set, and he is planned to be relocated back to a different part of the campus.

“As for the other three statues that were taken down, they will be going into storage, but they will be stored in a historical archive where they also will be available for study,” added Bird. “I think we are seeing a case where history is being very well treated and not being erased.”

The statue of Robert E Lee at the University of Texas, just moments before it was removed. Photo courtesy of the University of Texas

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EVERYONE’S GOAL

Professional teams from around the globe gather and compete to win the World Cup.

By Orlando Mora-Torres

a soccer field in Austin, with his friend, Tom Ohlgren, and a competitive team. he World Cup brings teams from Soccer is a sport for everybody, which is around the world to compete for the something Eric Ortmann, a teacher and title as the best team in the world. soccer coach, identifies with. In his free Countries send their most skilled players to time, Ortmann likes to go to the Onion represent them and to have the best chance of Creek Soccer Complex, a soccer field in being victorious over the other teams.

Austin, with his friend, Tom Ohlgren, This sporting event is the one that keeps and a competitive team. soccer fans hooked to their screens wondering “If you what their team don’t watch will accomplish soccer all and who their the time... opponent the World will be. Every Cup is when four years, 32 you start qualifying team to see new enter, and only players...it’s a one will be great event to awarded the showcase new golden cup. For talent,” said many people Dennie who interested in has and is a sports, soccer soccer coach -Bola Olanitori, soccer coach isn’t just a for adolecent game; it’s a way boys in The of life and a Lonestar Club in Austin Texas. tradition around the world.

A lot of soccer sport fans that had seen Olanitori, originally from Nigeria, is one of the 2014 World Cup were disapointed many from around the world that travel to see when they saw that Spain’s team didn’t and enjoy the game. get as far as expected. Years since then Soccer is a sport for everybody, which is people have seen them getting better and something Eric Ortmann, a teacher and soccer bringing in new players and expect to see coach, identifies with. In his free time, Ortmann more of them this upcoming year’s World likes to go to the Onion Creek Soccer Complex,

That’s when people come together as one country, and maybe some have some tribal conflicts or racial conflicts. Sports is one of the few occasions that actually brings everyone together and the World Cup is actually the biggest parts of it.

Bola Olanitori runs out onto the field as to referee a game which is something he does on his free time. October 1, 2017. Photo Coutresy of Orlando Mora-Torres

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Cup. “I think Spain will do better, I think they had a disappointing year, I think they had a disappointing 2014 World Cup and I think they’ll respond, I think they have too much quality in their team and they have some new players coming through like Xisco and Asensio starring for Real Madrid, and I think they are gonna return back to being in the final four” said Dennie For the soccer fans that had been keeping up with game with the game will know who and what teams to be aware of, as well as knowing who didn’t do as good as everyone expected them be. But after the four year break we have seen that some teams have improved since then, some have stayed the same, and some have sadly deteriorated since the last World Cup. Based on responses from Dennie and Olanitori, I can say that a lot of people can see Spain’s team doing a lot better

Kenneth Kleiman is a soccer fan who likes to play the sport in his free time. Even though having recently been on crutches, he’s ready to get back in the game. Photo by Orlando Mora-Torres

this upcoming World Cup than the one before that. Dennie believes that Spain has too much potential to not be as good

The World Cup is good for the soccer sports fans because that’s when everyone should represent a country, when a lot of people find pride in there country, especially a lot of countries that have diversity -Bola Olanitori, soccer coach as the last time, they have a lot of new young athletes coming in too that have a lot to give and show to the world.

The U.S. men’s soccer team has participated in every World Cup since 1990 but after the loss against Trinidad and Tobago they will not be participatating in The 2018 World Cup. Many soccer sport fans have been giving they’re own opinion on why the team didn’t qualify and how they could improve themselves overall. Dennie, Ohlgren and Olanitori had different opinions on how they could improve.

“I think right now sometimes people don’t perform and still get selected, I think that is one area that we can change right away because we have a big pool, we have a lot of players in Europe and a lot of players obviously playing throughout the MLS and in Mexico and other leagues and I just think we need to do a better job at picking the end form

On November 13, Alec Lippman, one of the many students who enjoy soccer, plays the sport in his free time. Millions of teenagers and adults around the world love becoming invloved in soccer. Photo courtesy of Orlando Morra-Torres.

players and picking less on reputation.” said Dennie thinking that the US team only looks at the history of the players and not how they are currently doing.”

“I think they need to be more tactically compact and not let the easy goals in, I think thats been a weakness of theirs”. Ohlgren believes that the man’s soccer team is just not thinking like a team and they need to focus more and not let simple things get by them.

“I think they need to start from the youth level and they have to focus on different things, specially when they try to recruit players, I think they have to develop technical players instead of physical athletic players, I think if you look at the top countries in the world like Spain, the Germans, the French national team, they

have a lot of technically very good players, I think that is a thing the U.S. team needs to focus on.”

Olanitori suggested that at this point the men’s soccer team is in a bad state and that they should start at the beggining.

Overall soccer is a sport that all people can relate to no matter what knowledge they possess on it. The World Cup is a major international event that brings people together and lets them be able to relate to something and put aside all disputes or conflicts and enjoy the game.

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MOST MEMORABLE 2014 WO JUNE 12 Let the Games Begin: The first game is played between Brazil and Croatia which ends in Brazil coming victorious in the end with a score of 3-1.

JUNE 13 Fall of the King: Spain, the last World Cup Winner is destroyed by the Netherlands with a score of 1-5 with 2 goals from Van Persie , 2 from Robben, and one from De Vrij for the Netherland Side

JUNE 17 Unstoppable: A game between Mexico and Brazil ended with a tie of 0-0. The Mexican goalie, Guillermo Ochoa, was the MVP of the game with block after block after block from shots by Neymar and many other players.

JUNE 24 Italian Flavored: A game between Urugay and Italy had been going like any normal game except that at the minute 78, Luis Suarez bit the Italian player Giorgio Chiellini. Suarez was banned from all fotball related activitys for four months which made him miss the rest of the World Cup. Surprisingly this wasn’t the first time Suarez had done this he had bit a player in 2010 and another one in 2013

MOMENTS OF THE ORLD CUP JUNE 29 “No era penal”: A game between Netherlands and Mexico seemed like it was going ot end in a draw of 1-1 but in the last minute Robben leaps foward and gets a penalty shot his team which takes them to the next stage. This controvertial moment got turned into a widely use meme.

JULY 8 Home Invasion: Brazil was playing a game against Germany and the odds were not in there favor. Brazil had a tragic loss against Germany with the score being 1-7. Maybe it was the team not having their star player or maybe itwas bad communication.

Whatever the setback was, Brazil had never been scored on so much in they’re home territory

JULY 13 New Reign: Germany defeats Argentina with a score of 1-0. Gotze was the man of the match when he scored the winning goal in the minute 113. The Argentinian team left the game with dissapointment and with one sad Messi JULY 4 Broken Back: In the minute 88 Neymar got kneed in the back by a Colombian player named Juan Zuniga. He was taken to a hospital in Fortalez. There in the hospital, it was determined that Neymar would miss the rest of the World Cup because of a broken bone in his back. This drastic event of one of Brazil’s best player would surely make things hard for them.

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UPCOMING The Death Cure is coming out on Friday, February 9th, 2018. It will be the third and final movie in the Maze Runner trilogy.

The story follows a young hero named Thomas who attempts to find a cure for the deadly disease known as The Flare. Some famous actors in the movie will include Kaya Scodelario, Dylan O’Brien, and Walter Goggins.

Ready Player One is coming out on Friday, March 30th, 2018. Based on a bestselling book, Ready Player One is about a teenager named Wade Watts who seeks to complete an online, virtual reality quest created by a diseased billionaire. The prize for completing the quest is the billionaires entire fortune. Some famous actors in the movie will inlcude Hannah John-Kamen, Ben Mendelsohn, and Olivia Cooke.

The Black Panther is a marvel movie coming out on Friday, February 16th, 2018. It is about T’Challa (The Black Panther), returning home to his country in Africa to rightfully claim the throne ater the death of his father, the old king. Some famous acotrs in this movie include Chadwick Boseman, Lupita Nyong’O, and Michael B. Jordan.

MOVIES Avengers: Infinity War is coming out on Friday, May 4th, 2018. A sequel ot the first two Avenger movies, Infinity will join even more characters from the marvel universe, including Dr. Strange. It is currently planned to be the culmination of everything marvel had created up to this point, stretching across 2 films. Some Famous actors will inlude Chris Pratt, Chris Evans, and Tom Holland.

The Incredibles 2 is coming out on Friday, June 15th, 2018. The basis of the plot is that while Elastagirl is out saving the world, Mr. Incredible has to care for their kid Jack Jack.

Some speculate that one of the incredbiles will turn into a bad guy, or be possessed/ brainwashed by an evil spirit. Some Famous actors in this movie will include Samuel L Jackson, Holly Hunter, and Craig T Nelson.

Ant Man and The Wasp is coming out on Friday, July 6th, 2018. The basis oof the plot is that as Scott attempts to balance being a superhero with being a father, Doctor Hank Pym give him an urgent missin that ends leads him to fight alongside the wasp to learn secrets about their past. Some famous acotrs in this movie will include Walter Goggins, Evangeline Lilly, and Michelle Pfeiffer.

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WHERE MEDICAL AVENUE MEETS TECH CORNER Scientists all over the world turn to a new approach for medical difficulties in health care

By Noel Elias

M

edical technology has been more than any other occupation in the advancing for thousands of next few years. Growing technology and years, from the magnifying its application to medical equipment and glass in 1215 to making artificial heart devices will increase demand for the work valves in 2016. Many people may wonder of biomedical engineers. what the future of medical technology Michael Sacks, is a professor of holds. biomedical engineering at the University The answer of Texas Sciences is biomedical Chair No. 1, and engineering. the director of the Biomedical ICES Center for engineering is Cardiovascular the application Simulation-based of engineering Engineering.

- Jason Mehta, graduate student Sacks recently principles and design received a $2.2 concepts to medicine and biology for million dollar grant to develop simulation healthcare purposes. Biomedical engineers technologies for improved replacement of designs systems and products, such as a heart valve durability. artificial organs, artificial devices that He is currently working on mitral valve replace body parts, and machines for research. The mitral valve is a valve that diagnosing medical problems. Because it allows blood to flow from one chamber is a relatively new field, employment of of the heart, the left atrium, to another, biomedical engineers is projected to grow called the left ventricle.

Engineering as a discipline could benefit with crossfunctionality.

The Peter O’Donnell, Jr. Building for Applied Computational Engineering and Sciences, is located on The University of Texas at Austin campus and is home to research of computational science and engineering, mathematical modeling, biomedical engineering, software engineering and computer visualization. Photo by Noel Elias

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Professor Sacks is a professor at UT, as well as a leading authority on the function and behavior of heart valves. Photo courtesy of the University of Texas; Biomedical Engineering

and that is the clinical problem,” said Sacks, explaining how this regurgitation causes a number of risks for a patient. “First of all you can cause thrombus emboli, you can actually cause clots to form and they can go into the patient’s arterial system and cause them to have a stroke, another way to put it is trying to turn a clinical practice into a science as opposed to a religion” Luckily, scientists have been able to come up with a solution for this by using an annuloplasty ring.

“It’s basically a ring of a certain shape that the implant uses to bring the valve together,” said Sacks.

Scientists have also come up with other clever solutions to problems that many patients face. An example of this would

be coronary stents, tube-shaped devices placed in the coronary arteries which supply blood to the heart to keep the arteries open.

“Essentially, the inventor was doing or watching some basic masonry work where he was putting a brick facade on a building and he saw that they used chicken wire to help support the bricks. He found that the chicken wire could serve as a good supporting mechanism for an artery. And I believe the first stents were made of metal in a chicken wire type geometry” said Jason Mehta, a mechanical engineering graduate student at UT. Jason Mehta works in a lab with some of the most advanced professors at UT and has a lot of insight on the current projects that they’re carrying out. Tumor research is also a priority at the University of Texas, all involving biomedical engineering. “[Another] emerging technology that our lab is working on is a device that can

Another way to put it is trying to turn a clinical practice into a science as opposed to a religion.

- Professor Sacks remotely deliver therapy to a patient’s brain to help treat brain tumors. Essentially, we are trying to deliver therapeutics directly

to the tumor, we want to then image the research. drug delivery with MR scanners and adjust “The best image processing software or treatment parameters at a remote location hardware on the surface of this planet is based on the drug diffusion that we see on your visual cortex and your brain... [For the scanner,” explained Mehta. example,] I know that this is a pair of One might imagine that after solving glasses and I can pick it up, in fact, even all these problems in the medical field, what it took me to look at that recognize scientists all over the world have no other that it’s a pair of glasses and get my problems to solve and never meet any dead whole motor system to ends. This assumption is wrong. be able to do this, it’s a “When you go to the Apple miracle, its amazing store that’s been improved, how fast that works,” there’s been billions said Sacks. of dollars spent The only problem since those are well is that comprehending understood systems. and implementing the same In medical devices, processes the body is uses is we don’t really have a extremely difficult. good understanding “One the things that we of how the current would like to do is use images devices fail and to make a 3D reconstruction we don’t have of the heart. The information a fundamental embedded in that is enormous. understanding of But, we don’t really make a good how to improve it,” said advantage of extracting that Sacks. “So, another way information because we are of looking at it is by limited,” Sacks explained.

A cutout of a 3D reconstruction of identifying what would the heart. Photo by Noel Elias Humanity only has so much cause to improve it advancements. The universe would be maybe disproportionate to the has been around about 13.8 billion years, gain you get out of it. It becomes much we humanity have only been around for more difficult to do that”.

200,000 years. Surely, the knowledge that Sacks explains that the human body has the universe has gained is much superior to perfected these inter-complicated systems ours. over hundreds of thousands of years.

In the current biomedical engineering Scientists these days in the biomedical industry, some scientists still don’t have engineering field are trying to mimic body much understanding of how certain systems or incorporate biomimicry in their products or experiments fail, but are

27

take years and years of research and answers usually don’t come naturally. In fact, lack of understanding in these areas can be fatal as scientists struggle to find the answers with the lack of technology and funding.

“Even though we have researched brain tumors extensively for the past 80 years, patients afflicted with this disease most likely don’t survive more than 15 months after their diagnosis, we have to really understand our customer needs and doing our due diligence to validate the market for the product that were are trying to develop” said Egleide Elenes, a PhD candidate and teaching assistant at UT’s biomedical engineering department.

Biomedical engineers are hopeful about the future as they research years and years for that one possible answer to the question that they had. Hopefully, the future can solve the problems that we face with more

in-depth understanding, with prevention of these situations in the first place and more accurate identification of these problems.

“In certain aspects, it’s mainly about the problem, going back to the imaging problem that we were talking about, it’s a question of how you extract the information out that’s often called segmentation, you actually want to take an image of a heart or blood vessel and create a model of it, you need to figure what the boundaries are, you say here is the inner boundary and the outer boundary,” explained Sacks “That usually can really only be done accurately, manually. So, that’s okay if you have to do just a couple of them but if you have to do this in a major pipeline, it’s a whole different story and what you really want to do is have automated methods.”

Perhaps artificial intelligence could brighten our future and help scientists and

A customized, braincontrolled prosthetic arm holds a soft football.

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

With the help of advanced tools such as microscopes, biomedical engineers will be able to improve healthcare and medicine in the future. Photo by Noel Elias

clinical surgeons make life threatening technologies are also very significant in decisions on the fly. With more data and biomedical research. Monitoring one’s accurate test cases, computers body constantly to receive could also soon become the new data would help predict, and “doctors” of our world. A few other perhaps prevent, accidents. scientists have various ideas Wearable technologies and “Some interesting technologies automated may only play a that are being developed [are] 3D small part in the big circle of printed orthotics and prosthetics potential medical technologies which has the potential to we might have in the future. drastically reduce the overall Perhaps, like always, scientists patient cost of these devices while might surprise us and release also allowing doctors to customize another revolutionary product. the device to each individual’s body The biomedical engineering profile and needs. Additionally, this field is what all scientists allows for the spread of wearable are turning to these days. devices for people in need in lower Mimicking the human bodies income economies/countries, and creating artificial ones Graphic by Noel Elias engineering as a discipline could might help benefit today’s benefit with cross-functionality.” society’s health problems. Maybe said Mehta. one day, we can possibly learn Wearable chips or wearable more of our own secrets.

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The Evolution of X-Ray -

Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen, a German physicist, discovered the X-ray, an invention so remarkable that many did not believe the first reports of its use.

It was often describes as Dr. Röntgen’s “alleged discovery of how to photograph the invisible.”

Magnifying Glass -

Roger Bacon constructed the first magnifying glass. The magnifying power of crystal chips had been known for centuries, but this was the first convex lens for scientifc uses.

1250

1895

1815

Sethescope -

René Laënnec, a French physician, invented the stethoscope, a trumpet-shaped wooden tube, to examine a overweight woman’s heart that he could not hear by pressing his ear to her chest.

By Noel Elias

1936

Pacemaker

Dr. Albert S. Hyman showd a heart pacemaker., that gave a current adujustable voltage to the heart.

The device, Dr. Hyman said, had been used in seven cases, although the results were good in only two of them.

Medical Technology Artificial Heart Valves -

Professor Michael Sacks, director of ICES, received a $2.2 million National Institutes of Health grant to make the first detailed computer simulation to improve heart valves’s durability.

M.R.I. -

Dr. Raymond V. Damadian announced that he had patented a technique using nuclear magnetic resonance to find normal and cancerous tissue.

1978

1947

Cardiac Defibrillation

A cardiovascular surgeon, Claude Beck, successfully defibrillated the heart of a 14-year-old boy during cardiac surgery.

Although the principle of defibrillation had been known for decades, this was probably the first successful clinical demostration of it.

2016

2000

Human Genome -

The first draft of the human genome was announced. It was declared complete three years later.

Information Courtesy of The New York Times

31

FORECASTING CANCER’S STORM

Dr. Thomas Yankeelov works on creating an equation to forecast the growth of cancer cells within a patient’s body.

By Cade Dulaney

The Dell Seton Medical Center, located in downtown Austin, is a research facility for many scientists including Dr. Yankeelov. The Dell Seton Medical center was built in 2017. Photo courtesy of the University of Texas; Biomedical

Just As meteorologists use supercomputers to forecast where deadly disasters will hit, Computational Oncology -- a new field in the medical industry -- explores the development of mathematical equations and models to predict the growth of cancer tumors.

Dr. Thomas Yankeelov works with the University of Texas Cockrell School of Engineering and the Dell Medical School department of Oncology to craft equations to model different cancer growths in the human body. His inspiration came from meteorology, a completely different field of science. Dr. Yankeelov moved from Vanderbilt to the University of Texas in order to get access to the supercomputers and a $6 million grant from the National Science Foundation for his research. Since then, Dr. Yankeelov and his team of twenty scientists have worked non-stop to create the equations to visualize and “forecast� cancer.

For years, meteorologists have used Navier Stokes Equations and large supercomputers to forecast the path of hurricanes. Planes fly into the center of the storms to collect measurements that tell the unique characteristics of each storm. These measurements are entered into the Navier Stokes equations and out come the spaghetti maps that we all see on television. Each line or spaghetti strand on the map comes from a different supercomputer and a different team of scientists using a slightly different model, always competing to be the most accurate.

These maps forecast the size and strength of the storm and where the storm will be the near future.

Dr. Yankelov wants to do the same thing for cancer tumors. He starts by taking detailed measurements of the the individual tumor together with very specific genetic

Depicted above is Dr. Yankeelov, medical oncologist and lead researcher of the project. Photo courtesy of the University of Texas; Biomedical Engineering

information about each individual patient.

Using the information he acquired, he is able to use imaging technology to make a map or image of the current state of the tumor that doctors can see on a computer screen.

Next, he tells the supercomputer what types of treatments the Oncologist will try for the specific cancer and the Navier Stokes math equations run in the supercomputer to generate an image of what the tumor will look like in a week or a month so that doctors can see which treatment does the best job of making the tumor go away.

Dr. Thomas Yankeelov focuses on creating a program to forecast the growth of cancer and predict which treatment will be able to reduce the growth of cancer best. Currently, his research is targeted towards breast cancer, but he hopes to open up the field to more types of cancer and make it easier to cure them. “The pie in the sky goal here is to have a system of equations to describe how

33

tumors grown and respond to therapy,” said Yankeelov, who is a professor of biomedical engineering at the University of Texas.

The goal of the project is to be able to predict, with 90 percent accuracy, how cancer responds to selected treatments. This technology will allow doctors to be able to test more treatments with a higher chance at success than if they were to do it without the program.

“You get one maybe two shots trying to give their treatment to people who have

and even knowledge in, but this is when you have to build a product here to build or in this case it would be a software package that you would then be able to sell or license off to somebody.”

Once done with clinical trials, Yankeelov must sell the product to doctors and convince them that it will be worth it.

However, this part of the project is long and expensive.

“The rule of thumb is it takes about ten years and about a billion dollars, one billion

The rule of thumb is it takes about ten years and about a billion dollars, one billion with a B, to bring a new drug to market for treating patients. This is a very long road and it’s very expensive and there’s lots of failures.

-Dr. Thomas Yankeelov, Oncologist been diagnosed with advanced cancer,” said Yankeelov.

Without this new technology, cancer patients have only a couple of tries to treat their cancer; however, with the ability to forecast cancer growth, doctors will be able to have three to four tries at least to treat advanced cancer growths. Currently Dr. Yankeelov’s cancer model is going through clinical trials. Once done, the project moves into the next stage of development and selling it to hospitals.

When asked how this will look in a clinical setting in the future Dr. Yankeelov said, “Now you’re getting into the stuff that I don’t have a lot of interest in or a lot of expertise

with a B, to bring a new drug to market for treating patients. This is a very long, road and it’s very expensive and there’s lots of failures,” said Yankeelov.

The hard challenge is to get other oncologists to accept and use the models.

There are preexisting beliefs that are often challenged by the new science.

To break these preconceptions you first must introduce it to the scientific world through science journals, if this goes well presentations and conferences come next.

After this, the project will hopefully be accepted into hospitals.

To get a better understanding of clinical oncology, Dr. Barrington, a practicing

Dr Yankeelov uses supercomputers such as these to forecast cancer. This is one of the few supercomputer UT has. Photo courtesy of the University of Texas; Biomedical Engineering

Oncologist, was interviewed on whether she would feel comfortable changing a selected treatment for a cancer patient if the model predicted with a 90% certainty that the treatment would not work. She answered, “So I think it would be dependent on how curable this tumor was. So if this is a tumor you feel comfortable with prior studies, prior experimental models or experimental in patients, like things that say this works 90 percent of the time with this regiment then no I wouldn’t trust the forecast ... If it’s not curable anyway then I’d be comfortable changing as long as I’m not denying the patient a clinically proven means of getting rid of the tumour…” said Rebecca Barrington.

Barington believes that if she knows

she can cure the cancer using a clinically proven method then she wouldn’t trust the program; however, if the cancer was more advanced and couldn’t be cured then she would trust the forecast model so long as she wasn’t denying a clinically proven method of treating the cancer. As a cancer survivor and a doctor of 50 years, Dr. Robert Dulaney believes that this technology would be beneficial as both patient and doctor.

“Well, imaging is important and a physical examination and history, of course, is the most important thing. When we suspect the cancer has spread, we can do chest x-rays, brain x-rays, you can do lumbar punctures to see if it’s spread to the central nervous system in the case of leukemia,” said Dr. Dulaney These are a few of the imaging machines used to forecast cancer. As Dr. Dulaney stated, each one was very important to being able to cure the cancer growths inside the patient’s body. Because of this, he believes that this new cancer forecasting technology will make curing cancer in a patient much easier than it was before. Dr. Dulaney recalls his first patient and how difficult it was to treat him.

Dr. Dulaney has seen the evolution of cancer treatment as his days of a doctor from x-rays to pet-scans and cat-scans, and he believes that cancer forecasting is the way to go as far as treating cancer.

In this new age of technology, the field of computational oncology is expanding at a rapid pace. Computational oncology will make cancer forecasting more prevalent and widespread throughout the world. Just as weather forecasting has expanded to forecast hurricanes and tornadoes, cancer forecasting will expand to forecast more advanced and dangerous types of cancer such as brain cancer.

35

Apple announced the release of their first iPhone, the iPhone 2G. The model was the first ever smartphone, featuring a 3.5 inch touchscreen display, a camera, and the classic home button, among many others.

Following the release of the original iPhone, Apple decided to release a new model, the 3G. It was cheaper than the previous model, thanks to the removal of the metal backing, featured GPS and connection to 3G, as well as an additional white color option.

THE EVOLUTION OF THE IPHONE

Due to the major success of the iPhones, the 3GS was released the next year. The newer model was very similar to the 3G with the expection of speed improvements and the addition of a better camera capable of recording video.

In 2010, the iPhone 4 was released. It featured a slimmer, square look to it with a forward facing camera, higher quality rear camera accompanied by LED flash, and overall improvements.

Like the changes between the iPhone 3G and 3GS, the iPhone 4 and the newer model, the iPhone 4S, looked nearly identical. The 4S featured a new 8-megapixel camera and the installation of Siri, a voice controlled assistant.

After five years of success with the iPhones, Apple released the iPhone 5. It’s changes included an improved camera, a thinner, lighter design, a 4 inch display, and a smaller charger.

To enhance the iPhone, Apple released the iPhone 5C, which had many different color options, including yellow, green, blue, and coral. They also released the iPhone 5S which featured an upgraded home button with a touch sensor.

In 2014, the iPhone had a major upgrade.

The screen for the iPhone 6 had a 4.7 inch display and the iPhone 6 Plus’ had a 5.5 inch display, making size the most significant change.

A year after the release of the iPhone 6, Apple released the iPhone 6S, which had a much stronger body than the previous model, as well as a new feature, the 3D Touch. The 6S is also capable of taking “live photos”.

In March, Apple released three new models: the iPhone SE, the iPhone 7, and the iPhone 7 Plus. The SE was like the 6S in the body of an iPhone 5. The iPhone 7, like the 6S, features Live Touch. It also has an improved camera and had the headphone jack removed.

This year, the newest additions to the iPhone family include the iPhone 8 and the iPhone X, symbolizing Apple’s tenth year making iPhones.

Both phones feature wireless charging and an “all around” glass casing. The X feautures facial recoginition and no more home button.

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 JUNE

JUNE

JUNE

JUNE

OCT.

SEPT.

SEPT.

SEPT.

SEPT.

MARCH & SEPT.

SEPT. & NOV.

iPhone

Infrared camera 7MP Camera

Face ID

4G LTE

12MP Dual Cameras

Silver and Space Gray Color Options

10:00

Wednesday, October 4

1,000,000:1 Contrast Ratio Edge-to-Edge Display

Dust and Water Resistant

5.8 inch Super Retina Display

3D Touch

Wireless Charging

Animoji

All-Around Glass Design

Fast Charge Option No Home Button

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Magazine

CONTRIBUTERS

Cheif Editor

Elena Gareau is a 14 year-old student who attends to the Liberal Arts and Science Acadamy and was born in San Diego, California. Elena enjoys to ride her bike with her friends in her free time. Elena is interested in natural events, which is why she wrote about this year’s hurricane season.

Designer

Walker Grim is 15 years old who attends the Liberal Arts and Science Acadamy and was born in Austin, Texas and does rowing in his free time. He rows at Texas Rowing Center and is very interested in current events, which is why he wrote about the events in Charlottesville.

Editor

Noel Elias is a 14 year old that attends the Liberal Arts and Science Acadamy. He was born in Austin, Texas and enjoys to play soccer in his free time. Noel is most interested in the current technology advances and wrote about a modern practice medical profesionals rely on.

Writer

Orlando Mora-Torres is 15 years old and attends the Liberal Arts and Sciene Acadamy. He likes to play soccer and does it whenever he has free time. This is one of the reasons why he wrote about the World Cup.

Photographer

Cade likes to swim in his free time, he also likes to play tennis as well. Cade swims at TXLA. Cade was born in Austin, Texas and is interested in chemistry and web design which is why he looked into medical oncology.

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Biomedical Cancer Confederate Engineering Forecast Harvey Heart Houston

Wordsearch courtesy of Discovery Education

Hurricane Irma Maria Prosthetics Soccer Statue Trophy

SUPPORT In “The Now”, we discuss many current issues that are affecting thousands of people around the world, specifically the United States. One of the main issues this year has been the disastrous hurricane season, which affected people in the Caribbean, Texas, Florida, and many more regions. These victims continue to be in need of clothing, food, water, and electricty. If you are interested in supporting this cause, please consider donating to any of the following charities that are working first-hand to help these people in need.

The American Red Cross helps many people with hurricane and disaster relief by supplying food, water, and other necessities. They rely on donations to help people during times of need.

Americares is a non-profit organization that assists with emergency disaster relief. They were able to help thousands of people after the hurricanes this year.

UNICEF (United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund) helps many women and children in developing countries. They were very helpful this year with helping with hurricane relief in Puerto Rico.

Thank you for your interest in helping others and we hope you enjoy the magazine.

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

The image shows the statue of Robert E. Lee on the University of Texas campus before its removal. The front cover shows it being removed along with other Confederate statues.