Inside Tech

Inside tech Magazine

How tech has evolved its way into each aspect of our lives

MEET THE EDITORS

Henry Henry Strandwitz is 14 years old and a freshman. His favorite hobbies are playing baseball and video games. When Henry graduates he says he wants to be an astronautical engineer at NASA. This year, Henry is writing about Environmental Science.

AUGUST

August Marsee O’Neil is 14 years old and likes to play soccer and mountain bike. He also knows how to play the trombone. He doesn’t know what he wants to do after he graduates but he will have to see.

KIRAN

Kiran Kini is 14 years old and loves to play soccer for Lonestar, he also loves to read because it is calming for him. He wants to play D1 soccer through college at Michigan University. Anirudh

Hello! My name is Anirudh Jagavathi and I am a 14-year old freshman at LASA. I was born in Chicago, Illinois. I love playing videogames and I am interseted in tech, which is

Anirudh

HENRY KIRAN

-EngineeringA Greener Future

By Henry Strandwitz

How new innovation in renewable energy is stopping the threat of climate change and improving lives all over the earth

Photograph by Pfüderi / Pixabay

weltering heat is rendering places of the earth uninhabitable as ecosystems are shattered, affecting the entire globe. Yearly tsunamis knock down coastal cities while hurricanes displace thousands of people from their homes. Each year, the rising global temperatures are bringing more natural disasters. While this dystopian-like future may seem generations away, it could become a reality in the next 15 years. Earth as we know it could be thrown into an apocalyptic reality very soon with the cause being Climate Change, a man-made force of destruction. Climate Change had not been much of a problem until the 1850s when the industrial revolution threw everything off balance and increased carbon emissions exponentially.

From 1850 to 2022, NASA reports that the global carbon emissions rose from 285 ppm (Parts Per Million) to almost 425 ppm. This is a 1.31 ppm average increase per year which might not see like a lot until you realize what this increase has done to the planet. 1.31 ppm of carbon has melted off 427 billion metric tons of ice sheets from the face of the earth each year. The global average of temperatures has risen 1.01 °C (2.15 °F) since 1880, pushing the highest temperature ever recorded to a sweltering 134 °F as of 2022. According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the

number of disasters over the last 50 years has increased fivefold, but the number of deaths has fallen by twothirds. (As health care benefits get better and better) For 100s of years, places on earth have built infrastructure based on the normal environment around them. Now, as a result of Climate Change, the environment is rapidly changing, giving no time for the infrastructure to catch up. This combined with the fact that no species on the planet is made to be able to adapt that quickly, the world as we know it seems to be sliding away. However, there is hope! Ever since Climate Change has been recognized as a worldwide issue, global carbon emissions have slowed by a large amount. This slowing of emission is thanks to new technology as humans innovate for solutions. And they aren’t done innovating yet. Many companies have tackled this climate problem head on, which leads to new

challenges. To stop other emissions, you first have to stop your own. So to combat this, companies have come up with a system of tracking different types of emissions. Dave Dixon is the Director of procurement Onshore at Orsted, one of the lead innovation companies, and he explained that when you are tracking your carbon output, there are three “Scopes” to determine the amount of carbon.

“Scope one emissions are the emissions that you generate when you’re burning fuel or if you’re manufacturing processes, that sort of thing. The cars you use for your fleet also scope one emissions.” He explained, “You’ve got scope two, which is like the emissions from the electricity that you buy.“ He then detailed how scope three is the hardest to follow. “You have to think, ‘What about your supply chain?’ So if we’re using a lot of steel, for example, which is pretty carbon intensive, You have

to look at the guy making the steel beams we’re using.”

This scope system shows how hard it is to make your company completely carbon-neutral. While not created by your company, the scope three emissions are still counted in your emission stats.

concrete or steel, or whatever else I’m using to build, and I’ve got to go in and harass them to get emissions down because you don’t have control over them directly.”

Orstsed has set the goal of 98% carbon neutral by 2025, which is a big goal, but it is possible.

the stats just mentioned.. He told me that new technology is coming up on the market to reduce your carbon footprint.

Carbon Capture is this new

“You’ve got direct control over scope one and scope two. Scope three, however, it’s a lot harder to track down my supplier, who’s given me

It is a good thing that companies are taking carbon emissions seriously because, according to The Guardian, just 100 companies are responsible for 71% of all carbon emissions. This 70% is responsible for 298.9 billion metric tons of ice sheets melting into the ocean which would cause a 71.75 millimeter rise since 1993 NASA estimates. Even Texas is not helping the problem by releasing 683.2 million metric tons in 2019 alone.

Jason Modglin is the President of the Texas Alliance of energy producers in the Capital of Austin and provided

concept and has two different versions. “The first version is called a carbon scrubber and it was developed by

“The biggest issue of renewables that they’re trying to get their arms around is a storage capacity for renewable energy that has been generated. They are trying to figure out how they can store that and then use it on demand?”

- Kevin Ramburg ACI Consulting

Photograph by anjanadaksh / Pixabay

Photograph by geralt

a company based in Houston. This ‘Carbon Scrubber’ is a direct air capture system. DAX is what they call this machine and it is a manufactured plant that captures carbon dioxide by a filter. ” He then describes to me where the liquified carbon dioxide ends up. “They either compress it, or cool it, and then inject it underground.” While this might seem dangerous to store carbon dioxide gas underground, waiting to erupt, having gas underground is not unnatural.

“It’s highly unlikely that it would erupt because of how deep into the ground it is. We also don’t have quite the level of caverns that it would be stored in, so it would largely be permeated into rock.” Topo Chico is a popular drink that is made of carbonated mineral water. This carbonation comes from natural carbon stored under-

ground.

In every aspect, renewable energy sounds like the final fix to climate change. However, this is just one side of the story. Green energy is not always perfect.

Kevin Ramburg describes these set-backs perfectly. He works for an environmental consulting company called ACI consulting.

“Hydroelectric, you know, can last a very long time. But the question is maybe kind

of how sustainable it is within the river systems” He then goes on to also describe how solar can have its inefficiencies as well, whether it be cloud cover or at night. “The biggest criticism that I always hear about renewables is that renewables aren’t something you can turn on and off immediately.”

Solving climate change is a complicated issue and will take many years to finally fix the problem. Although with the help of technology, solving the issue became a lot easier. From solar panels to carbon capture, none are a complete fix, with the end goal being a carbon-neutral earth.

A solar feild generation thousands of watts - Photograph by mrganso / Pixabay

Driving into the Future

How electric cars have increased in popularity over standard engines

Standard Car Overview Electric Car Overview

The first gasoline-fueled four-stroke cycle engine was created by a German engineer, Nicolaus August Otto in 1861. However, the first commercial productions of motor vehicles began in 1886 by Carl Benz. By the 1890s gasoline cars had hit their peak stage of developement. In fact, the modern models of that decade were so successful that there has been no change to the fundamentals of the standard engine since that time

The first electric motor was invented by two Dutchmen by the name of Sibrandus Stratingh and Christopher Becker in 1835. This motor was used to power a small model car. Then, in Feburary 1837, Thomas Davenport was granted the first electric motor patent. The synchronous motor (invented by Friedrich August Haselwander) and three-phase cage induction motor (invented by Michael Dolivo-Dobrowolsky), as we know electric motors today, didn’t come around until between 1887 and 1889.

Company Logos With Electric Cars

68%

For electric

32% For Standard

Electric Reasons Standard Reasons

I would really like to support electric cars but I find it really hard to maintain an inconvenient and expensive car. Until electric becomes the default my family can’t afford such a car. - Anonymous

Less harmful emissions from driving, but the electric batteries and engines produce a lot of emissions as well. It’s mainly just cuz I’d rather drive a Tesla than a Toyota. And it’s practical to charge your car in your garage. - Anonymous

The standard gas engine uses gasoline to fuel it and that’s derived from more unsustainable sources so I picked electric since it causes a little less harm than the standard one.Anonymous

I would really like to support electric cars but I find it really hard to maintain an inconvenient and expensive car. Until electric becomes the default my family can’t afford such a car. - Anonymous

Gas smells good - Anonymous

Electric cars are overrated, and I don’t want to be charging a car every day. - Anonymous

I’m a huge fan of big v8’s and turbos/supercharger and jdm engines. - Anonymous

E-volving the

How sports have transitioned into eSports and have grown

By: Kiran Kini

This is a picture of David Alaba in the popular eSport, FIFA 22. Photo courtesy of Trusted Reviews.

As Brandon Rodriguez sits at his desk and hits the power button on his Playstation, he has a feeling of anticipation and excitement. He watches as the familiar symbols on his screen start to form, and the voices of his friends on a phone call begin to ring in his ears.

This is the one time that Rodriguez feels free and happy every day: playing video games and eSports with his friends. The feeling of his headset wrapping around his ears, his fingers hitting the keyboard, and the background noise of his friends laughing at the opponents on the other end. This is what he lives for, and he has loved this for quite some time.

ESports started from humble beginnings, a Spacewar competition at Stanford University in 1972. Back then, eSports just existed, not generating the same buzz it does today. It wasn’t until early 2005 that eSports took off and became well-known.

“I think that technology has advanced so quickly because we are becoming more and more dependent on technology. I think COVID had a lot

to do with this between online school and work zoom meetings. Many jobs, for example mine, include a lot of technology and screens,” says Brandon Rodriguez. Rodriguez is an eSports player, soccer player, and soccer reel editor. He has played eSports and regular sports for many years, and his job revolves around video games. “I think, similar to technology gaining speed so quickly, and eSports has become more and more popular as we become increasingly more and more reliant on technology and screens. I would not say that sports have not necessarily transitioned into eSports, but I think that they are both growing. Especially eSports.”

Not only are they appealing to watch in person, but thousands of people watch on streaming platforms like Twitch and Youtube. Even nationwide networks that are very popular like ESPN and CBS, have begun putting eSports on their top channels.

FIFA is a video game depiction of the world’s most popular sport, soccer. What makes it different from other video games is that a new version of the game is released nearly every year. As

the world of soccer changes, FIFA changes with it. Another reason why FIFA is so engaging for the people playing it is that it provides a wide variety of different modes they can choose from. They can play Kick-off which allows players to play as any team they want. In this mode, they can play against their friends or the computer. In addition, FIFA offers a career mode, allowing players to become managers and take control of any club they want. This will enable them to become the manager of their dream club. These are just some of the many modes that you can choose from, making FIFA a viral game that is constantly changing. This change is what keeps the gamers for FIFA always wanting the new version and keep updating.

Major European soccer leagues are beginning to host end-of-year FIFA tournaments, where teams from that respective league will compete against each other. The eMLS Cup is just one example of these FIFA tournaments. FIFA is becoming more and more recognized as an actual sport and is being brought on to a larger stage. So what makes FIFA so enticing as an eSport? After all, what good is an eSport if no one watches it being played?

EA saw the mass market potential that FIFA had. Being the world’s most popular game, soccer has a lot of global appeal, and anybody interested in soccer could be interested in FIFA. “Our team is actually super invested in

“ESports, on the other hand, I think at some point will become more interactive. I think AI will help with this and we will be able to actually experience what we are only playing right now. It changes every year, and it will only continue to grow and adapt!”

-Brandon Rodriguez

This is a photo of Kipp Keller, my interviewee, celebrating an Austin FC goal. Photo courtesy of SBNation.

FIFA. We have these competitions throughout our team, when we’re resting in our areas, we have a FIFA team that we’ve all play on together, and it’s really fun,” says Kipp Keller , who is a young center back in the new MLS team, Austin FC. Keller is just one example of a soccer player who has found himself engaged in the online version of his favorite sport.

video game at the highest level, and you don’t have to worry if you are good or not. You can play eSports for fun or even professionally if you want to. For most players, playing at that level is a dream, but watching eSports of their favorite games allows them to experience the highest levels for their favorite games. “I don’t

shared interest, and sometimes these bands can last for life. “FIFA has been my favorite eSport and video game since I was a very little kid, maybe when I was like 14 years old,” says Rodriguez as he laughs about how long ago this was. “It started because I saw all of my friends playing it from school. I wanted to join in. I ended up loving it so much it became

This is a photo of MSDossary winning the 2018 FIFA eWorld Cup. No attribution required. This begs the question of what makes eSports so popular. Why do people watch them and play them? What can be attributed to their recent success and rise in popularlevel. “I watch professional soccer all of the time! When I’m just relaxing at home, that is the first thing I turn to,” says Rodriguez.

Not only can you watch regular professional sports, but you can also watch professionals play your favorite

play many eSports, just fantasy football a little. I’m not very good at it, but it always is fun to play with friends and laugh about who lost that week,” says Sankarshan Balaji. Balaji is a young worker in the Austin technology center and is an expert in the technology sector. “You can also watch people play the video games you play yourself. I don’t personally do this much, but I know many people that enjoy this a lot.”

part of my job! I think that is the best part of video games in general, playing with friends and just having fun!”

By Kiran Kini

Gaming Over The Years

In 1970, There was a TV with 800 pixels at 15 inches, to now 85 inch TV’s at sky high resolution at 8K. Not just in TV’s, but technology as a whole improved, in everything. From computers to devices to cars, but the most improved aspect is in video games.

Video games started from a tiny ball being hit to two different blockers to now unreal story games with amazing characters and nonstop action sequences and fun parkour gameplay. This change is often overlooked since the category of technology in gaming isn’t in technology which went right under our noses. This article will show the true biggest improvement in technology which went right under our noses.

Although video games one of the biggest improving games over the years has to be the franchise, Grand Theft Auto. This franchise has one of the best improvement of the years, with its first game was a small 2D shooter game with simple mechanics, released in 1997, to its current game, Grand Theft Auto V, with the ability to fly planes and drive cars, and complete missions in an realistic 3D world. Through the multiple improvements of technology in games, there are four key changes which revolutionized gaming, and they are dimensions, graphics, online games, and additional aspects. These changes caused a big hit among gamers and completely changed their viewpoint on gaming.

revolutionized gaming, and they are dimensions, graphics, online games, and additional aspects. These changes caused a big hit among gamers and completely changed their viewpoint on gaming.

most significant changes in graphics across the games being released. The first big game was Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, having high quality details for a game released in 2004. To bigger detail games like Skyrim or Batman: Arkham Knight being released around 2015 to 2016. Moving onto modern technology, we have games running at high resolutions with high scale graphics.

-mates you can queue up and play solo, or you can mute your microphone and you can mute your teammates microphone.

2The first big change in the gaming industry was dimensions, specifically from 2D to 3D. The first commercial 3D game was called Battlezone which was released in 1980, just 8 years after the first proper video game was released, Pong. What made this so revolutionary was the fact that players, due to playing simple games in 2D and not a lot of freedom, saw the first 3D game. Another thing that is different is how such a big change occurred in just 8 years after video games were created, which is big compared to other big changes in other departments with big changes occurring 20 or 30 years later. Not just in dimension of 2D or 3D, dimensions of the map size which players game on has improved, changed and become bigger over the years. More changes in gaming are not just on your screen, but in another reality. VR gaming has become one of the most surreal gaming experiences ever, the feeling of a man-made world around and playing in multiple different worlds is an experience that gamers won’t forget.

The next big change is graphics, with more details and textures being added to each game released each year. At the beginning of 2000 having the

FUN FACT

The famous game franchise Assassin’s Creed was a prince of persia

Online gaming was a big change for gamers, instead of sitting on a couch at the same place, you can play with your buddy from across the world. Online gaming was one of the biggest revolutionary changes in gaming overall. The best part about online games is that you don’t need to craft a story to trap players in, people are already playing because they can play alongside their friends. Additionally, if you don’t have a friend to play with, you can queue up and play with a random person and talk to them, and if you don’t want to talk or listen to teammates you can queue up and play solo, or you can mute your microphone and you can mute your teammates microphone.

FUN FACT

Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 made around $775 million in the first 5 days alone.

The next big changes are on smaller aspects compared to dimensions and graphics. These changes are things like combat, side quests, physics of the game, NPC reactions, and other minor things that make a big difference altogether. One of the games that has the most of this aspet is Grand Theft Auto IV, which has physics that seems very realistic, such as your character’s reaction to a car crash, NPC’s reaction to rain and other aspects of the world. Another game with a lot of this is called God of War, which has amazing combat and surreal backgrounds that trap the players inside the world itself. These small qualities of the games are one of the biggest reasons why people love them so much.

The Art of Game Design

The gaming industry not only changed in games itself, but much more. These technological changes shaped gaming to be what it is today. Not just the gameplay itself changed though, the softwares and the development of making games changed drastically too. The ease of use when working with games on certain platforms has become much easier than how it was before. Employees now have a lot of their work cut off due these improvements and

their ability to work has become much easier.

their ability to work has become new softwares is being made so that novices can learn game design with their high quality softwares and step-by-step tutorials that can help newcomers follow along and learn to design with one of the most popular being UnrealEngine5where you can learn the basics of gaming to create one of the most complex games with unique combat and fun parkour. This improvement of games overall has shocked everyone in the gaming industry.

Dan Marks, an animator for education games, said that the difference between how he started and the technology he is using now is massive. The development of technology overall has been pretty fast overall with a night and day difference in gameplay in just 30 years.

The gaming industry’s changes in development improved in three main stages overall: storage, size of console, and PC gaming. These are the key changes in the development of the game industry in terms of hardware and software. The first major change is storage. Storage is a big thing in gaming because it determines how many games you can have on.

The first major change is storage. Storage is a big thing in gaming because it determines how many games you can have on. It started from a small console with 64 bytes as its storage. The amount of storage changed over time is massive. Now we have computers and consoles with 500 Gigabytes to a terabyte(1000 GB). The evolution of storage in gaming has changed over 1 billion bytes in less than 50 years. The next change is the console size. Console size varied a lot throughout the years. It was first a bit smaller compared to more modern

consoles due to the lack of technology then versus now. But the consoles remained around the same size until the late 1990’s to the early 2000’s. In that era, a new gaming platform was portable gaming.

Portable gaming was revolutionary at the time since gamers could be outside while still enjoying gaming. The first portable console was the Nintendo Gameboy. The Gameboy was the most revolutionary console due to its portability. Then, alongside this release, more portable consoles, such as the Playstation Portable, the Nintendo 2DS/3DS, and more. This technology remains to this day but isn’t as popular as it used to be, with only a few portable consoles being popular, such as the Nintendo Switch and the newly released Steam Deck.

Fun Fact

Instead, they can elevate a particular computer part without spending much money on every upgrade.

These changes caused a revolutionary alteration in the gaming design industry. But some of these changes are outside the biggest-selling consoles right now. The biggest reason a console is sold is that it was perfect for that time. For example, the Playstation 2 is the selling console on the market because it had a built-in DVD player, which doesn’t seem special now, but when it was released, players had to buy an external DVD player to play games, which was expensive.

Another significant change is PC gaming. PC gaming has become more popular over the years. PC gaming is unique compared to other consoles since you can upgrade your PC. In addition, PC hardware has improved a lot over time, with advanced Graphics Cards and additional hardware being released yearly, better every time. So every time a player wants to upgrade their setup, they don’t have to worry about buying a whole new system.

But with all these changes, the gaming industry is improving faster than ever. Now the gaming industry focuses on more advanced graphics cards, more powerful consoles, and much more. More changes will impact the gaming industry and make them better than ever before. With all these changes in technology, our predictions of the future can be faster than we think in terms of technology. The software can become more straightforward so that even the most clueless people can learn. These changes can revolutionize the world and completely change our daily function.

The Playstation two is still the best selling con-sole even after twenty-two years years

POPULARITY

Here is a snapshot of the monthly viewers and players among the most popular games. Seen below, Grand Theft Auto is one of the most popular videogames. What makes this game so popular are its unique storylines and interesting and complex characters. An additional aspcect that made Grand Thefto Auto popular is its online mode where you can hop on with a friend. The first online game ever made was relaesed in 1970 called MUD.

THE NEW EFFECT

How technology has been implemented into sports.

As Mane sprints down the pitch, he feels the presence of the Bremen right back behind him, their legs collide and he falls to the ground in pain, after his game he realizes that he will be out for one of the biggest and most important tournaments in the world. After a week of no recovery Mane discovers a new technology provided by his trainers that he now incorporates into all of his recovery and training sessions which is now predicted to be back playing in no time.

Owen Wolff, a player for the Austin FC team, has watched technology change and mold sports for the better. He claims that sports technology is so advanced that it can create a ‘digital code’ for winning tournaments. What he means is: data collected and compared can ultimately translate into a strong performance. Technology has increased an athlete’s prowess simply because it magnifies performance-related actions and events that have been previously unseen.

“All the technology our team uses, whether it is the technology from our tech sponsor Q2 or our other tech deals helps us improve. Q2 offers platforms for us to review our games and analyze our techniques, and some

By August Marsee-O’Neil

of our other tech sponsors which I can tell you about yet help us get real-time data analytics that we can use during our training sessions or during games.”

For example, trainers place sensors on Athletes body’s or in “smart clothing’’ so they can measure and track performance in real-time. Almost anything about the athlete can be measured, from breathing and heart rate to hydration and temperature These live metrics can help the trainer determine what aspects each athlete needs to focus on more.

Acorrding to Sarah woods of the UB soccer program, These technologys are critical to perfroming well they create endless possibilities for player and coaches and without them she says that thier program would fall behind other schools.

Florida state was one of the first programs to implement these technoologys and they say its the main reason they were able to place first in their divisiob. In the last five years with the guideince of the new technology, buffalo has moved from seventh place to third in there devision. She also states that soon everyone will be using these technologys to be able to keepup keep up with these programs.

Sarah also states that there are multiple programs to use but her primary choice was soccer DA for multiple reasons.

“I would say that the primary app that I use is soccer DA due to its versatility. It provides basic features like heart rate tracking miles run as well as complex features such as how many vitamins are needed in order for you to replenish after a training session.”

As sarah stated these programs are becoming incredibaly advanced not only do they provide the basic utilities like miles ran calories burned and basic features that have been used for a while, they also have new features that has made them much more advanced.

This new Technology provided to us at UB are some of the most technologically advanced methods of training that I’ve ever seen. It offers endless possibilities for us players that were never availible to us before” -Sarah Woods

and GPS have been incorporated into various aspects of the sports training world. Instead of relying on times and splits, trainers can measure the exact position, distance, velocity and acceleration of athletes to better understand where they can improve.

Identifying more intricate data leads to improved performance with less stress and a chance for injury.”

-Owen Wolf

Becuase of how advanced these technologys are many of these technologies are not open to the public. Sports teams have sponsorships with tech companies which allow them. If you were to purchase these technologies you would end up spending anywhere from 100,000500,000. An alternative to this is the fitbit watches according to Juan Hernandez these watches are some of the most advanced in their price range. They have everything that you would want in a regular fitnes tracker but unlike other watches in thier product range fitbit offers the same versatility as these

high cost high maintenence products but for much less. The average fitbit costs anywhere from 150 to 350 doloors.

Most fitness trackers track number of steps taken, heart rate, and sleep patterns. But FitBit offers connected apps that allow you track your overall progress, set goals as well as offer guidelines to help you achieve your fitness goals.

Juan predicts thaty in the future if there isnt some large uprising of another product fitbit will become the leader in public fitness

the next 5-10 years FitBit will be the leader in personal fitness our watches are soon to have the highest peformance rate and will make upcoming sports stars have a much easier chance of improvin.”

-Hernandezz

“Lasers

“In

In the past, sports training required extensive paperwork and post-practice effort from both the trainer and the athlete. While the athlete practiced, notes and videos were diligently taken and then collated into charts and graphs representing that athlete’s performance. After practice, the trainer and athlete would work together discussing aches, pains, and thoughts about physical

movements that happened much earlier. The system was grueling but worked as far as athletes and trainers knew. That is until recent technology transformed the field of sports training.

BY:August Marsee-O’Neil

LETS GET TECHNICAL

How tech has been has been implemented into sports.

The companies initially tried to make a profit with training equipment that matched their app. So fitness bracelets, headbands or smartwatches came onto the market. The strategy only worked moderately.

This was followed by a focus on in-app advertising. The snag: most fitness apps were suddenly flooded with advertising, so that the user could hardly use the app without

Summary!

In 2010, most fitness apps contained training plans only. Many companies now combine lifestyle sports with sophisticated health advice. Nutrition plans via app are now standard. In adtion, fitness apps are no longer limited to running, cycling or hiking, but cover all possible fitness and health areas.

Then functions the free app were reduced. Addi tional functions which were originally alrea dy available in the free version, became premium

functions of were Addifunctions, origidy the premium

The subscription model emerged from the idea of a premium version. This means that the user pays a monthly fee in order to be able to use all functions at any time as a

Today, users are regularly reminded of the app and sport by the increasing personalization. Push notifications with prompts such as "Did you train today?" or "Get back on the scales!" are intended to prevent the app from