Look Mom! No Hands
ence T i c S , e g ec n
y , g Med o l o n ic h
pg.16
Sp ine
ace, Po l i t i
Unrest
Climate
C h a
pg.4
Beind The Scenes Of The Machines That Save Lives
What’s Up With The Weather?
pg.28
c s,
The Future Of Self Driving Cars
Fall 2019
In The
Southwest pg.22
Look Into the Void Of Black Holes pg.10
Table Of
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Introduction
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Team Bios and Credits
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In Autonomy (Technology) .
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Capturing M87’s Monster
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The Magic of Medicine
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Unrest in the Southwest
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Change is Upon Us
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Letter from the Editors
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Introduction Hi! Welcome to The Future Digest. We have an assortment of informative stories within the pages of our magazine. From politics to space, The Future Digest aims to inform people about important issues that will affect the future of humanity. If you don’t believe us, maybe you will trust the word of numerous specialists who so graciously contributed to this issue of The Future Digest. Keep reading to learn all about what’s going on in the world and what you should know for the future.
Enjoy! -The Future Digest Editors
LASA, 2019 Fall, The Future Digest, 5
Credits Peter Sadibo
Drop Cap Design and Copy Editor
Peter Sadibo is a ninth grader, at the Liberal Arts and Science Academy in Austin, Texas who wrote their story based on political events in the current world. He believes our youth researching and reading about things happening outside our own environment, and to have their own ideas and thoughts on how the world runs around. So he wrote his section on politics on a neutral side. Peter, even at a young age, loved to divulge in geopolitics and have fun learning about governments and large events happening nationwide, and worldwide.
Alexander Zavadsky Folio Design and ASF Editor
Alexander Zavadsky finds passion in technology and enjoys thinking about future possibilities. For ever since he can remember he has had a fascination with advancement and loved reading about and playing with cars. He wrote an informative story about self driving cars that dives into the technological advancements that can be expected of the world in the coming years. He lives in Austin, Texas with his family and goes to the Liberal Arts and Science Academy as a Freshman.
6 , The Future Digest, 2019 Fall, LASA,
Ava De Leon Content and Feature Editor
For Ava De Leon, climate change has always been an issue that is important to her and she is dedicated to learning all she can about the issue. Ava wrote the article on climate change and the effect it is having on the world. She is fourteen years old and is currently attending the Liberal Arts and Science Academy as a Freshmen. She enjoys volunteering and helping her community as well as solving puzzles and spending time outdoors. In the future, Ava hopes to continue educating the public on pressing matters going on in their world and what they can do to make a change.
Ahnsa Campbell Masthead Design and Layout Editor
Ahnsa Campbell has written a story on medicine and the importance of advancements in the medical world. She enjoys learning, taking time to indulge herself in knowledge about medicine, and is inspired by shows like Grey’s Anatomy to learn more. She also likes to read and be with friends and hopes that in the future she can go into the medical field and help others. Ahnsa is in ninth grade at the Liberal Arts and Science Academy in Austin Texas.
Tyler Hawkins
Pull Quote Design and Fact Check Editor
Tyler Hawkins has a love of science and exploring the unknown. From a young age he had deep interest in Science and technology. As a kid the ideas of the Universe, galaxies, back holes and all these phenomenal principles that defined the very reality we live in really caught his attention and fascinated him. To this day Science and Astronomy largely interest him and it is his goal to get more people his age fascinated with the studies and their undergoings. Tyler is a first year High School student at the Liberal Arts and Science Academy and he lives in Austin, Texas with his family. LASA, 2019 Fall, The Future Digest, 7
IN
AUT NOMY Navlab’s latest self-driving vehicle is a Jeep Wrangler equipped with many sensors. It is designed for short and mid-range detection. Courtesty of Navlab.
A Future with Self-Driving By Alexander Zavadsky
T
he smartphone blew up in popularity, 81% of all Americans have a smartphone, and self-driving cars may be next. Although unclear when and how they will come, autonomy is being rapidly developed and soon millions of deaths per year, and traffic may be history. In the last decade, with the large technology advancements, the world has created almost fully self-driving cars. Autonomous cars
have been growing in popularity recently and a lot of technology and automotive companies have begun work on self-driving. This technology can be a large step forward for some of the most dangerous current technology. Auto-pilot helps solve one of the deadliest problems in the world: Car crashes. These last few years, Auto-Pilot has seen a huge growth in popularity and many companies have been dedicating resources and time into developing these safety
8 , The Future Digest, 2019 Fall, LASA,
features. Some features involved in self-driving can also help alleviate traffic, and make commutes shorter and cheaper. There are many varying opinions on when and how autonomy will come, but no one knows for sure yet. “One of the biggest problems we have as a society is that in the U.S. every year over 30 thousand people die in car crashes,” Contributor to Nav Labs at Carnegie Mellon University, Christoph Mertz said. According to ‘Our World in
Data’, In the U.S, over 37,000 people die yearly, and said. “‘hey I’m ahead of you, I’m about to break’ and it globally that number leaps to 1.25 million. Every sends that signal to the car behind… It’s a key part of day thousands of people die and thousands more autonomous driving.” are injured from car crashes. Road accidents are the In a world where cars are autonomous and all leading cause of non-health related death, and those traffic is interlinked, traffic jams can be limited. When numbers are not relatively closely shared with any cars are able to know what the other cars and all the other technology. stoplights are going to do, they can perfectly maneuver “In any other tech in which we have, industrial without delay and without creating a backup. The robots, nuclear power plants, if anybody dies then all concept may sound far fetched but that is where hell breaks loose,” Mertz said. “And we do everything technology is headed. we can to prevent this. Except in traffic. We tolerate 30 “I think we have come a long way but I don’t think thousand plus deaths every year.” anybody really understood how complex the whole Car crashes account for such a large number of complete problem is,” Khane said. “It seems like a deaths and the count just continues to go up. While totally possible problem when we talk about well two planes crashed killing 346 people and every defined environments and then we look at what the real single Boeing 737 max was grounded until they were environment is and it’s a lot tougher.” perfect and ready to go. According to Mertz, Cars do Technology has been rapidly evolving and selfnot get the same treatment even though the numbers driving has been following that trend. Just a few years are much higher. Self-Driving could be a large step in ago, autonomy in cars was just a dream, and now it is that direction. According to Brian Kahne, a hardware reality. There are a lot of predictions of when the world architect at NXP Semiconductors, there could be many will see full autonomy. People like Kahne and Mertz benefits to automated cars in the future. predict that it will be quite a while, but then there are “Eventually, I think we will want fully automated people like Elon Musk, Tesla CEO, who expect full driving in order to help reduce overall traffic,” Kahne Self-Driving By 2020. Mike DiBrino, multiple Tesla said. owner, thinks that it will be a while until full selfEvery year the average person spends 2.5 work weeks in traffic according to INRIX. Traffic has been a problem for years and it continually gets worse as cities develop further. The government builds new highways and express lanes While the car self-drives, a man works on projected holograms. This is a prediction of but that doesn’t what commutes may be like in the future. Courtesty of NXP SemiConductors. solve the problem, it’s just a temporary solution. Kumal Khouri, vice driving, but has noticed improvements over time. president at NXP semiconductors, thinks that V2V “Initially there have been some cases when you can be a good way to help address traffic and avoid going along the highway and then there is an exit collisions in self-driving cars. so the early models would want to take the exit on “So there is vehicle to vehicle communication autopilot even though it’s programmed to go straight which is V2V, so cars talking to each other. Khouri ahead,” DiBrino said. LASA, 2019 Fall, The Future Digest, 9
Mike Dibrino drives his Tesla Model S, a self-driving vehicle, and the car uses sensors to determine location and other objects like vehicles as seen on the dashboard. The Model S decides on its next move based on its current surroundings. Courtesy of Mike Dibrino. A car uses sensors to create an advanced heads up display on the windsheild. This technology is not available yet, and only shows how self-driving displays may function. Courtesy of NXP SemiConductors.
10 , The Future Digest, 2019 Fall, LASA,
Self-driving cars are like smartphones on wheels. unpredictability of human behavior.” They need high-quality hardware but they also need This is the largest problem standing in the way of very well developed software. A smartphone is nothing autonomy. Autopilot exists, and many companies have without its software, and self-driving cars are the same systems and vehicles capable of driving themselves, way. but they can’t do it safely. The AI is just not advanced “There’s a lot of hype about machine learning but enough, and according to Khane it is very difficult to when you look at it, it can do pattern recognition and judge how advanced AI is and how long it might take some amazing things in certain areas but in terms of to get there. generalized intelligence that is really robust sometimes “My guess, my wild guess, is that we will have it’s not,” Khane said. autonomous vehicles which drives like 15mph for all Self-driving cars are trained mostly with machine the short trips,” Mertz said. “The last mile, around the learning. Every time a car drives it collects data to neighborhood. Then the autonomous vehicle dumps learn from. An easy way to think about it: The cars you off at a place where there are busses or trains.” essentially teach themselves. The AI learns from its Mertz and others like Khouri believe that perfect mistakes, and observed behaviors and every day it gets self-driving in all situations may not be the current best smarter and better. option. They believe “The trick is how that there must be do you teach the AI infrastructure for it. what we call corner Full Autonomy may conditions or corner come, but currently scenarios, ”Khouri the most effiecient said. “These very option is to create rare things that may good infrastructure happen that you that regulates the don’t have a lot of environments in which data on that you these cars regulate. - Kumal Khouri need the machine “There is a lot of Vice President at NXP Semiconductors learning or the AI work that needs to be to adapt to. Right, and so I think eventually we will done on the infrastructure side,” Khouri said. “Smart have enough data to make it happen. So I think it will roads, smart signs, smart highways… there is a camera happen it’s just gonna take some time and effort.” and the camera looks out and it tracks the lanes and There has been improvement, and owners like sometimes those lanes fade out… If we had a highway DiBrino have noticed it. Driving is a very basic that had smart lane markers… the highway is telling it, idea, but very complicated in reality. The unlimited here are the lanes here is where they are.” possibilities make it very difficult for AI to get driving Like V2V, this is called V2X or vehicle to perfect. infrastructure. This communication is very important “It’s just difficult for computers to predict radic for self-driving and will bypass many issues that behavior which is typically what human beings do,” “vision” sensors encounter. Although no one knows Khouri said. “And so if there is a situation that a what the future will look like, infrastructure like smart computer has not experienced before it has difficulty roads will be vitally important for the development of figuring out what to do in that situation.” self-driving. Autonomy still has a long way to come and there is ““Give me a self-driving car and ill drive it through a lot it is not yet capable of. It does mostly well with a snowstorm and some weird roads. It might work most driving especially without any unexpected external of the time and in that sense, its actually completely factors, but there are still problems most notably not amazing, but even 99% of the time is not good enough reacting to road signs and stop lights. because that 1% of the time is a fatality. So, full “What we haven’t solved is how to drive safely in autonomy, where you can hop in and drive wherever an autonomous environment,” Khouri said. “How to you want, is a long way away.”,” Mertz said. get the cars to drive safely. And the biggest factor is the
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What we haven’t solved is how to drive safely in an autonomous environment.
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LASA, 2019 Fall, The Future Digest, 11
The Sight of Self-Driving Graphics by Alexander Zavadsky
Cameras Short Range Radar Ultrasound Lidar Long Range Radar
Sources: ThoughtCo. & MachineDesign
History of Autonomy in Cars First fully driverless experience. Cars mass produced with driver assistance.
Full sized car with driver assistance tested. Radio Controlled Car powered by electromagnetic fields 1920
1960 1930
Radio Controlled Full size Car
1950
1980
2000 1990
Driverless roads powered by underground cables
Huge expansion in the race to full autonomy. Self driving cars were mass produced. Self Driving regulations were passed.
Cars directed through ‘vision’ and first cars directed with neural networks.
2010
Army began developing Autonomy and Autonomous vehicles were being used commercially
Self-Driving cars use all sorts of sensors in order to navigate autonomously. The most common sensors include: Cameras, Radar, Ultrasound, and Lidar. The model to the left shows where these sensors are placed and the ranges of each sensor. Each sensor is color coded according to the key on the left side of the model.
The first ever image of a blackhole which is of the supermassive blackhole at the center of galaxy M87. Courtesy of NASA, credit to the Event Horizon Telescope Project
CAPTURING M87’S MONSTER
The Story Behind the Single Black Hole Image that Changed Everything By Tyler Hawkins
T
The statement saying that you shouldn’t believe in something until you see it has been taken to heart by scientists. For decades on end, the existence of black holes has been rumored about and now, for the first time in history, the world has access to what these elusive bodies actually look like. On April 10, 2019, an international collaboration known as the Event Horizon Telescope project, revealed the first ever real life image of a black hole, an astronomical body that have infinite mass and consume everything it encounters. The single picture was a product of years of work by a team of roughly 14 , The Future Digest, 2019 Fall, LASA,
200 astronomers, data scientists and astrophyscists working within the collaboration. Their original mission was to create the first image of a particularly giant supermassive black hole located in the center of galaxy Messier 87. To capture an image of their target that lay over 50 million light years, the distance light travels in a year, away from Earth the team needed a colossal telescope the size of the Earth. Instead of constructing one unrealistically large telescope, they created a network of telescope arrays in 8 different sites around the world, spanning an area equivalent to the effective size of the Earth. Each array was tasked with the job of generating specific data by capturing light waves emitted from the black hole. With the data gathered, computational
astronomers and data scientists were tasked with the job of piecing together the different pieces of data gathered by the telescopes, eventually interpreting it into the single image that astonished the astronomical world. Considered to be one of the most puzzling and elusive astronomical phenomena by the scientific community, for decades black holes and their existence were solely prelined by for speculation and theory. UT astronomy professor Karl Gebhardt believes the first black hole image was fundamental to astrophysicist understanding of black holes as well as significant to the study of astronomy in general. “I consider the images of black holes and the one they did of M87, to be the most important images in the history of astronomy,”
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I consider the images of black holes and the one they did of M87, to be the most important images in the history of astronomy. -UT Astronomy Professor, Karl Gebhardt
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and that collision you see in the middle, that is caused by the event horizon,” Chan said. “so in some sense it’s the first ever measure of the event horizon’s existence,” The event horizon is described as the point of no return in a black hole; It’s the boundary where gravity becomes so strong that nothing, not even light, can escape. It’s one of the defining characteristics of black holes and a region of space that hosts all sorts of bizarre and mostly theoretical properties. All black holes have an event horizon and are largely characterized by it as much as they are by the large amounts of density and gravity that make them a black hole in the first. Texas A&M university grad student and blackhole enthusiast Yaswant Deverakonda, describes the principles that define blackholes. “There’s so much matter incriminated in one spot the
Gebhardt said.”What it shows is Horizon project collaborator and that black holes are real objects. computational astronomer working We’ve been talking about black from the University of Arizona, holes for a hundred years now and Chi-Kwan Chan recognizes how we’ve never seen an event horizon the project contributed to scientists that’s the defining property of understanding of the Event black holes, this point where not Horizon. even light can escape.” “There was a lot of things I Scientists have been predicting, read with evidence that black theorizing, and modeling black holes exist, however, none of them holes and their existence for really prove the event horizon ages. In the 1910s and 1920s, exists, so this time in the event Astrophysicists like Albert Einstein horizon telescope, we joined and Karl Schwartzchild created the together 8 telescopes all around theories and principles that define the world to create a single image, black holes, which are still largely in use today. Astronomer Chi Kwan from the university of Arizona. Dr. Chan worked Astronomers within the event horizon collaboration as a computational astrophysicist. Pierre Laplace Courtesy of the Universtiy of Arizona. and John Mitchell Predicted the existence of black hole like objects all the way back in the 1700s. Proving the existence of the event horizon-the boundary where light is sucked into a black hole--is more difficult for scientists to prove without real life evidence. Event
LASA, 2019 Fall, The Future Digest, 15
monstrous phenomenon, and that’s not even considering the massive distance between our solar system and M87 measuring 53 million light years. “The one that we found...is the equivalent size of the sky as a penny on the moon basically,” Deverakonda said. “It’s so tiny and it’s really, really hard to see something so tiny, unless you have a telescope with the effective size of the Earth.” How exactly were scientists able to overcome these immense, overbearing challenges? The Texas A&M Grad student Yaswant Devarakonda. Yaswant Devara- answer is through an observation konda specializes in the studies of galaxy evolution and super masprinciple called VLBI (Very sive black holes. Courtesy of Yaswant Devarakonda. Long Baseline Infronometry) which combines the signal and densities, so great there that the unable to escape it never reaches data across multiple telescopes gravity sort of tears a hole in Earth and that’s why the area’s to produce higher level results space time.” Deverakonda said. viewed as a black, life-less sphere. resulting in the image of the “The gravities so powerful that Considering the definition of black brilliantly lit gaseous matter being not even light is able to escape it, holes and that of the event horizon sucked into the black hole. because light in fact, is affected it seems impossible to produce a “We catch the waves of the by gravity and so light can’t real image of these strange radio waves from the black hole escape it and light is the fastest and and the telescopes, we cut these thing in the universe. There is waves up on hardware, and just no information that could then store them,” Chan ever come out of it, it’s just total said. “They then go to destruction.” data scientists at a As elusive and mysterious peta-byte, and then as black holes may seem, we coordinate the basis of what makes them, so what a black hole is relatively that means is we simple. A point in do the interspace with immense frequent step on matter packed into a the computer, so microscopic area which that’s the basic yields gravity at an idea.” extreme, uncomparable The Event The distant Elliptical galaxy level. The gravity from Horizon team Messier 87. The galaxy hosting the a black hole is so intense used a more blackhole of which the first that it sucks everything in, practical approach blackhole image was taken. including light which is the than creating an Earth Courtesy of NASA. fastest thing in the universe. Since sized telescope. Instead, the light within the event horizon they used an array of eight boundary of the black hole is different telescopes crossing the 16 , The Future Digest, 2019 Fall, LASA,
The Atacama array in South America makes up one of the 8 telescope sights used in the Event Horizon projects virtually Earth sized telescope. Each array is tasked with recieveing radio waves emitted by M87. Courtesy of NASA’s JPL.
span of the earth each tasked with the job of receiving the light in the form of radio waves emitted from the black hole beyond the region of of the event horizon in which the light can’t escape. This effectively created a silhouette of the black hole and it’s event horizon. Once the data had been captured, the bulk of the project began on computers where data scientists and computational astronomers interpreted and stitched together the data to create the black hole image. “In 2017 we actually observed many different black holes, two of them were big enough for us to image the event horizon,” Chan said. “One of them is M87 which we already imaged, the other one is super massive black hole at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy, so that one is much more difficult to study because the black hole
mass is smaller and that in the time scale of things makes things much harder because things move so fast, so it’s very difficult to create a static image with our data. We have been working very hard trying to compute the image from our data so one possibility is to create a movie instead of image for that black hole that’s something we are working on.” The people behind the Event Horizon Telescope project certainly don’t plan on retiring after their first groundbreaking discovery. They have many plans for the future including one not too far away from home. Imaging the supermassive black hole in our own galaxy would give scientists loads of useful information on this black hole and maybe even the Milky Way itself since one of the things astronomers have discovered recently is that a
galaxys’ supermassiveblack hole--every galaxy has one-can actually define some of the traits and characteristics of that galaxy. The process of creating this new image is already in the works, but this first black hole image of M87 remains the token of 21st century astronomy. It’s without a doubt, one of the most impactful discoveries to Scienc’s understanding of black holes and the universe in history. “This fact that the Event Horizon Telescope was able to image the event horizon now says very strongly, that black holes actually exist,” Gebhardt said. “So it’s a technical detail but it’s an extremely important technical detail, that we never really knew black holes existed as an object that had an event horizon, until they took this image with the event horizon telescope.”
LASA, 2019 Fall, The Future Digest, 17
A timeline of the events and discoveries that defined astronomies most elusive phenomena
1915
1939
Albert Einstein proposes the theory of general relativity which leads to the realization that matter can be packed into infinetly warped space in what would be named blackholes.
2019
The Event Horizon Telescope project produce the first picture of a blackhole by capturing an image of the supermassive blackhole within galaxy M87.
Source: Science News and NASA
Robert Oppenheimer and Harland Snyder predict that massive star collapses lead to the creation of black holes.
2008
The EHT project provide prototype images of the black hole at the center of the Milky Way, proving it’s existence and testing their global telescope network.
Graphic By Tyler Hawkins
1963
The first quasar (an astronomical phenomena that emits immense energy and radiation usually powered by blackholes) is discovered by Martin Shmitt.
1974
Scientists predict the existence of an enormous super massive blackhole at the center of the elliptical galaxy Messier 87.
THE MAGIC OF MEDICINE The Importance of Advancements in Health Care
By Ahnsa Campbell
Needle and vials of the antibiotic penicillin. There are many types of medicine that are advancing everyday. Photo courtesy of Rudolf VlÄ?ek. 20 , The Future Digest, 2019 Fall, LASA,
F
rom eyedrops to ibuprofen medication is everywhere and all around. This is because of the many
advancements in medicine humans have worked hard to make. With the advancements made people have been able to live longer, better, and safer lives. Having this ability to progress in medicine is important in order to further develop people’s lives. The process of developing a new product is important as well, it takes extensive research, patents, many doctors, clinical trials, investments, money, and lots of trial and error. Eventually the new and improved products produced by the work that goes into making new technology will make medicine safer and more effective at expanding lifespan, improving the quality of life, and further improving the way humans function day-to-day.
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help advance the use of medicine. “For a long time people focused on things they could do to extend their life, but I think it’s important to not only extend your life but also to improve your quality of life,” Herpin said. Herpin is developing a product to administer medicine into a person’s eye without the use of eye drops at the University of Texas. Ja
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This work will hopefully improve life for a lot of people in the future. “I don’t think it’s very exciting to live to be old if you have a bunch of health problems.” Herpin said. Over the years we’ve made great strides in improving, not only increasing life-span, but also alleviating some really painful and
production of medicine and medical devices. “100 percent of all human beings have a body, so it is from an economic and business standpoint important for companies to be able to address the diseases that people have, and improve the quality of life.” Hopkins said. According to Hopkins, everybody in the medical world has a role, from the people such as Herpin who do research and collect data, to general practitioners. Everyone involved has a special and
Graphic By Ahnsa Campbell
For a long time people focused on things they could do to extend their life, but I think it’s important to not only extend your life but also to improve your quality of life. - Matt Herpin Research Scientist
Drugs and medicine are important for many reasons and are often there to create a better life for humans. Matt Herpin, a research scientist at the University of Texas at Austin, has a lot to do with the world of medicine and the development of products that will
horrible diseases that have plagued humanity, some of them, since the beginning of time.” Medicine is also very important for companies and businesses according to Sam Hopkins at Johns Hopkins University. Companies can benefit greatly from investing in the
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important role in people’s healthcare. “The job of even your family physician is to know what they’re looking at and how to diagnose a patient who says, ‘I’m sick’, and the job of researchers is to be able to address or at least explore how
LASA, 2019 Fall, The Future Digest, 21
Doctor pointing to part of x-ray reading. Devices like x-rays are an example of medical technology people use every day. Courtesy of the Food and Drug Administration. made throughout time, especially the body works,” Hopkins said. in the last thirty years or so. Not only medicine, but the People have seen major advances machinery is important, and the in medicine which have greatly growth in that area is worth noting improved the way people live and as well. Dr. Nick Collebrusco, an helped people learn more about the Austin based anesthesiologist, has human body and how it works. seen technology advance right “Just in the last couple of years before his eyes in his 31 years as a there have been an effective cure doctor. for hepatitis using some antiviral “When I started… the pulse drugs, and then another area that oximetry and capnography, those has grown dramatically in the last [were] two very important things 15 years is in the use of biological that happened,” Collebrusco said. medicine.” Herpin said. Collebrusco couldn’t do his According to Herpin, job without all the equipment that biotechnology is an area of comes along with the job. Having medicine that has been in the works the tech is important and crucial in for a while. Biotechnology is the order for him to effectively treat use of living organisms already patients. found inside of the human body and “If I had absolutely no equipment… I couldn’t do my job.” taking those organisms and using Callabrusco said. “I have to deliver them to combat diseases or to create medication. anesthesia gasses to a patient, and “There’s a whole wave of, a new I do it through a ventilator and I era in medicine, that’s specifically simply couldn’t do it without an anesthesia machine that delivers the related to biotechnology,” Herpin said “These medicines are very very anesthetic.” accurate, they’re very precise, and Many advancements have been 22 , The Future Digest, 2019 Fall, LASA,
they tend to be very safe too.” Collebrusco has seen a lot of changes happen during his time as a doctor. Devices such as the video laryngoscope came around during his time as an anesthesiologist. “We have to place airways, in what we do, meaning when a patient’s asleep we have to put a tube in their vocal chords, into their lungs, and standard placement is direct visualization” Collebrusco said. “But lately one of our big advances is video laryngoscopy that allows us to look at a small monitor and place the tube that way.” The video laryngoscope has been around for a very short while, coming to the market back in 2001. Advancements like the video laryngoscope are being made all the time in all in every area of medicine. Different procedures, devices, and medications are always being created. “Think about anything in computing, we have a lot of personalized medicine or
techniques for trying to find out and then they file the patent.” how medicine can be individualized Herpin said. “Over time, it will be are coming into play.” Hopkins reviewed by the patent examiners said. and they will do an extensive Universities like Johns Hopkins search to see if anything has been are constantly working on different previously invented or reported. If research and experiments. Clinical it hasn’t been done before and they trials are happening every day, deem it to be novel then they will and many medications are waiting issue the patent.” for approval from the Food and Even after the patent has been Drug Association. For universities issued, the process isn’t over. The and their researchers to produce patent still has to be reviewed by new technology they first need to the public. go through the patent process. A patent ensures that the item being produced is not taken or reproduced by someone else, and that the item has never been produced before. “As an employee at UT Austin technology is owned by the university, so whenever we make a discovery in the laboratory we’re required graphic by Ahnsa Campbell to report it to the technology commercialization office.” Herpin “At that point the patent is available said. “They review the invention to the public to review, and if the to decide whether or not it’s technology has some potential place something the university wants to on the market, then it will be the job pursue.” of an interterested company or an Anything in production has to be investors that would like to either approved by the university before a license the patent or try to develop patent can be filed. After approval the product based off of the patent.” the real process into filing the Herpin said. patent begins. During the time the drug or “Ultimately they’ll make a device is being tested with clinical decision and if they want to move trials a lot of money is spent on that forward they’ll hire a patent process. According to Herpin, after attorney and then we will report all the trial and error is over, the people of the findings to the patent attorney making the drug or device have to
FIRST AID
try to regain the money that was spent making the product. “In the very beginning of the drug development process a substantial investment is made to put the drug through clinical trials and then the first years of marketing the drug is whenever the company will try to regain the money they’ve lost, and potentially earn a profit.” Herpin said. The human lifespan can be largely attributed to medicine and the many advancements that have been made over time. From the first stethoscope to heart-ina-box technology, the capabilities scientists have made in medicine has grown to become limitless. Medicine will only continue to advance and so will the lives of humans.
LASA, 2019 Fall, The Future Digest, 23
From the Past, Into the Future Throughout time, medicine and medical technology has changed tremendously, working its way up to the incredible point it’s at today; expanding the human life span and improving the quality of life for people everywhere at the fastest rate it ever has.
Ancient greek physician, Hippocrates, was said to have prescribed the first pain killer, made from willow leaves and bark. 460 BC
Dr. Crawford W. Long first used ether as an anaesthetic during surgery where he removed a tumor from a young man’s neck. 1841
Microbes were discovered as the reason alcohol went sour, by Louis Pasteur. He also discovered that bacteria was destroyed by being heated. This led to the discovery of germs.
1857
Benjamin Franklin created the first flexible catheter, when his brother, John, had bladder stones.1752 The magnifying glass was developed by Roger Bacon and then later used for medical use. 1250
Dr. Willem Einthoven invented the first logical electrocardiogram (EKG), later on receiving the Nobel Prize for his invention.
1903 1903
By Ahnsa Campbell
108bpm
Claude Beck was the first surgeon to successfully preform defibrillation.
1947
The Human Genome Project (HGP) was developed to map the genetic blueprint of a human being. Scientists became succesful in 2000. 2000
The first ever uterine transplant was preformed in 2017. The woman, who was born without a uterus, received her mothers. The baby was then born the next year. 2018
Godfrey Hounsfield was an electrical engineer who eventually won the Nobel Prize for his invention of the CT scanner. 1971
The first successful heart transplant was preformed by Dr. Christiaan Barnard. It was also the first heart transplant where the patient regained consciousness. 1967
CRISPR is a a way to edit genes. With certain methods, singular cells in the genome can be cut at a specific location. After that you can then remove or add on genes. 2016
Biologist, Leroy E. Hood, developed DNA sequencing among other synthesizers and DNA arrays. 1992
Graphics By Ahnsa Campbell Sources: CNN, URO Today, JAMA Network, Science History Institute, Past Medical History, Case Western Reserve, c , National Academy of Engeneering, CRISPR, National Human Genome Research Institute, Web MD
Unrest in the Southwest A rundown on Immigration, illegal and legal, across the Southwestern border of America.
By Peter Sadibo The McAllen-Hidalgo International Bridge. People traveling across Texas to Mexico. Courtesy of Bibi Sadibo.
M The natural border between the United States and Mexico in McAllen. Courtesy of Bibi Sadibo. 26 , The Future Digest, 2019 Fall, LASA,
igrants from all over the world come in and out of the United States for their own reasons, and some come illegally without proof or identification. Its importance to an American citizen is opinionated and debated throughout the country. Illegal immigration around the Southwest border has been becoming more massive over the years. In 2019 alone, illegal immigration has increased 53 percent from 2018. Immigrants are coming to the United States in hopes of finding jobs where they can use their skills for work, or to receive asylum, protection given by the United States to migrants who left their native home from the violence in their countries.
The United States’ new strict policies and requirements to reside in the nation causes most immigrants to come here without U.S visas, which is required to be obtained and placed inside a passport for any foreign citizen wishing to enter the United States. More than 90 percent of these immigrants crossing illegally are from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras. More than half of them cross into Southern Texas region, and Arizona. The country’s law enforcement agency, CBP, does a major job as part of the Department of Homeland Security, intercepting immigrants coming illegally, smugglers, unlawful traders, harmful chemicals, and pesticides from crossing the Southwest border. “CBP will continue its mission of securing America’s borders, between and beyond the ports of entry,” Richard Pauza, a Public Affairs Officer who deals with media and communal issues in Laredo Texas said. The protection agency has major stations across the Southwest border, and have different sectors to identify the regions that touch the large Mexican border. CBP acknowledges their task to maintain security and officers must stay diligent in order to keep the country safe, whatever the order or threat may be. “Border Patrol agents are excited about the work they do in keeping America safe and secure,” Pauza said. These agent’s presence has increased over the few recent years. In corellation
to the increase in illegal immigration, more policies made by the executive branch were made, and an increase in CBP agents on the field alongside the Southwest border. These new laws and institutions have affected the United States on its own. “Although CBP agents could be seen often, it was mostly at the bridge crossing or checkpoints,” Judit Martinez, a long time McAllen resident said. “Their presence has definitely increased and they are now sometimes seen as somewhat of a threat or an adversary. Many people are afraid they will be stopped and interrogated for no reason, especially if you “look” like someone who may not have been born in the U.S.” An executive order was instituted around Jan. 2017. It’s purpose was to increase homeland security to reduce
illegal immigration, and to begin construction on the border wall planned to span across the entire Southwest border, with a mixture of fences, walls, and barriers. The construction of the wall gives the public, different opinions and views on the whole thing. “Currently, construction of the border wall is just beginning.” Martinez said. “This is because of the opposition in the community and landowners along the border fighting to keep their land. Rather than discourage people from crossing illegally, there has been an increase in the number of illegal immigrants coming across the border since the Trump administration took over.” Border crossing without a VISA or any form of legal identification isn’t the only method of illegal immigration. Becoming labeled as an illegal
A service building where most migrators coming from Latin America convert Pesos to USD in McAllen. Courtesy of Bibi Sadibo. LASA, 2019 Fall, The Future Digest, 27
A photograph of Ursula. It is largest detention center for migrant offenders in the United States. Photo Courtesy of Bibi Sadibo.
migrant can come in different “When you look at how much forms. do they contribute, versus how “Many come with visas and much do they use. I think you will overstayed, and the largest number find that the overall answer is that of those people are coming from they contribute more than they use.” Canada, far more than from Rodriguez said, who supports the Mexico.” Nestor Rodriguez, an claim that immigration is not an immigration professor said. issue in the country. The question regarding if this Immigration being addressed recent mass immigration is affecting by the United States’ government the United States is a mixed and the new policies they have opinion. One side of the party initiated along with the talk about thinks that immigration is becoming it, is showing to affect the United an increasing issue, and is a very States in a different way. People on serious topic that must be resolved. The other side, like Rodriguez, may say it is has little to no effect on the country. Most of them are contributing to the economy in the service sector, with things like construction, yard work, health and -Immigration professor education. 28 , The Future Digest, 2019 Fall, LASA,
“
different sides of this issue are in more disagreements and debates. “The people seem to have become more divided and interested in politics since the new border policies were induced by the Trump administration.” Martinez said. Illegal immigration plays a role in the agricultural economics in the United States. Undocumented immigrants are major contributors and make up a portion of the service sector and the agricultural labor force as well. Wages in the United States not rising because of illegal immigration is a possibility. Immigrants in violation are not taking away jobs from American citizens, but are competing and are ‘taking’ away the possible jobs available for legal immigrants with nearly on the fence the requirements to receive a VISA, especially in areas with low payment. “They earn some of all of those wages, but they people they compete with are not U.S workers, but immigrant workers, so the dynamics of the labor market gets complicated.” Rodriguez said. According to Rodriguez, most immigrants are not happy with the status of being undocumented. The requirements to receive a VISA, being financially capable, owning a business, or showing
About half of the agricultural labor force is about 800k-1M are undocumented workers
”
Nestor Rodriguez
significant income, may prove difficult for poor migrants that are trying to refuge to the United States from the danger in their country of origin, and are trying to seek asylum. The new laws imposed are changing the immigration system in America making it very difficult to come into the country. “Everybody, believe me, wants to come legally.” Rodriguez said. In the past, immigration was very different than how it is now. Immigrants and settlers were from Europe, rather than developing countries. These developing nations in the past before didn’t send migrants to the United States, or were independent. Now that there are more developing countries in the 21st century, more and more people are coming to the United States. “It’s not always possible to stay in their country, that’s why we have asylum laws.” Rodriguez said. “Become informed so that you can make a better decision when you vote for politicians who make policies.” What people choose to believe about immigration will influence how they want the country to be run, and by whom, in this democracy of America.
The Border Protection Station in McAllen. It is responsible for securing 53 miles of the Rio Grande. Photo Courtesy of Bibi Sadibo.
A Border Protection vehicle. It is active, and parked outside the wall construction in McAllen. Photo Courtesy of Bibi Sadibo LASA, 2019 Fall, The Future Digest, 29
A neighboring crisis Immigration routes, and illegal migrant arrests by count, and country origin by 2018
YUM
EL C
SDC 1
2
A
B
TCA
3
EPT
BBT
C
Ensenada
4
5
D
E 6
F
Hermosillo
SDC - San Diego Sector ELC - El Centro Sector TCA - Tucson Sector EPT - El Paso Sector BBT - Big Bend Sector DRT - Del Rio Sector LRT - Laredo Sector RGV - Rio Grande Sector
DRT LRT V G R Mexico 7
G
Chihuahua Monclova Culiacรกn
Sister Cities on the Mexican Border;
8
Zacatecas
9
San Carlos
I La Paz
A. Tijuana B. Mexicali C. Algodones D. Nogales E. Ciudad Juarez F. Ojinaga G. Ciudad Acuna H. Nuevo Laredo I. Reynosa J. Matamoros
H 10
J
Mazatlan
San Luis Potsi
Tampico
United States 1. San Diego 2. Calexico 3. Yuma 4. Nogales 5. El Paso 6. Presidio 7. Del Rio 8. Laredo 9. McAllen 10. Brownsville
Puerto Vallarta
Mexico City
Maritime Migrant Route
Veracruz Chetumal
Puebla
Land Migrant Route
Acayucan Puerto Escondido Salina Cruz
Foreign Apprehensions by Origin in each Sector: Population in the 10 thousands San Diego (SDC) 60000
30000
0
Other Nicaragua
10000
Mexico India Honduras
20000
Guatemala El Salvador Ecuador Brazil
Other Nicaragua
India
Mexico
Honduras
0
El Salvador
10000
Ecuador Brazil
20000
Guatemala
30000
Other Nicaragua
Mexico India Honduras Guatemala
El Salvador Ecuador Brazil
0
40000
40000
30000
10000
50000
50000
40000
20000
60000
60000
50000
Yuma (YUM)
El Centro (ELC)
%
De
% 7.9 ns
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i an
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Nicaraguans 0.8%
ad
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T (EP so a P 8% El
Laredo (LRT) 8.2%
San Diego (SDC) 9.7%
El Sa lv
Mexicans 38.4%
Big Bend (B BT) 2.4%
6.6% UM) a (Y Yum
Tu c 13 son .2 (T % C
Rio Grande (RGV) 40.9%
In dia ns 2.2 %
Guatemalans 29.2%
Foreign Apprehensions by Region: 2018
Hondurans 19.3%
Statistics were taken from the official Border Protection webpage, and the International Organization for Migration. Displaying major land and martine routes for migrants venturing from Central and South America, reaching the United States split up into sectors by Border Protection, as well as ilegal migrant arrests from each sector sorted by place of origin
Foreign Apprehensions by Origin: 2018 *countries with more than 1200 arrests are displayed
Big Bend (BBT) Tucson (TCA)
El Paso (EPT)
50000
50000
50000
Del Rio (DRT) 60000
60000
Other Nicaragua Mexico India
0
Honduras Guatemala
10000
El Salvador Ecuador
20000
Brazil
0
0
Other Nicaragua Mexico
India
10000
30000 Honduras
20000
Guatemala
30000 Other Nicaragua
Brazil
El Salvador Ecuador
20000
40000
40000
El Salvador Ecuador Brazil
30000
Mexico India Honduras Guatemala
40000
10000
60000
60000
60000
Rio Grande (RGV)
Laredo (LRT) 60000
30000
30000
Other
Nicaragua
India
0
El Salvador
10000
Brazil
0
20000
Ecuador
10000
Other Nicaragua
20000
30000
Mexico India Honduras
Other Nicaragua
Mexico India Honduras Guatemala
0
Ecuador Brazil
10000
El Salvador
20000
40000
Mexico
40000
Honduras
40000
50000 Guatemala
50000
Guatemala El Salvador Ecuador Brazil
50000
CHANGE IS AMONG US The Future of the Environment
Courtesy of NOAA
by Ava De Leon
A
In the world today, countries are facing problems within themselves and there are numerous conflicts going on everywhere. It can be hard to think that any person in a country could understand what another is going through, but the sad truth is that there is a common enemy among all nations -climate change. Climate change is becoming a problem around the world and it is rapidly harming the environment. What is most concerning is that some of the bigger nations like America and China are producing the most global carbon emissions, but are doing the least to stop
climate change. Many scientists believe that if real action is not taken immediately, future generations will have much bigger problems to face. The main problem is that there are so many factors contributing to changing climate, it is hard to find solutions for every problem that arises. According to Environment America, a state-based environmental advocacy organization, the four main factors that contribute to climate change are electricity generation, transportation, buildings and industry, conservation and land use. Electricity generation uses much of the fossil fuels that are produced today like coal, but to use this energy requires burning fossil fuels and emitting greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere. When
32 , The Future Digest, 2019 Fall, LASA,
greenhouse gasses increase, so does the overall global temperature and this effect is better known as global warming. The senior director of Climate Campaigns at Environment America, Jesse Torrence, believes that there are available solutions to this ongoing problem. The struggle is initiating these solutions to a nationwide and global degree. “We have the new technology, the capacity to generate energy more than we need as a country every day just from wind and solar - believe it or not.” Torrence said. “The big push there is expanding renewable electricity...natural gas is better than coal. We’ve made a lot of progress on expanding renewable energy for electricity generation. We know how to do it, we just gotta pass the policies.” Electricity generation is not even
the biggest contributor to climate change, according to Torrence. The leading cause of climate change is actually transportation. With diesel engines, cars emit the most pollution out of any of the main factors. In a developed civilization, most people have cars and there are very few states that have public transportation that could limit the amount of pollution caused by cars. Some of the more rapid growing states, like Texas and California, are in need of transferring to renewable energy to stop their carbon emission from increasing as their population grows. Researchers at NOAA study ocean life. NOAA is dedicated to preserving “We are going to get 80 percent of the way to reducing marine life. Photo by Kevin Lino. Courtesy of NOAA the emissions in transportation technology now and even things transportation is either electrified that we need to by electrifying or using liquid fuels that are highly like the right kind of insulation things,” Torrence said. “Then the and the right kind of windows efficient and low carbon or maybe technology of turning biofuels and basically just setting building zero carbon one day.” into fuels that work really well for code standards for the state or your Buildings and industry tie into shipping and for aviation, some city can overnight reduce massive renewable energy as well. The airlines are already starting to use, more renewable energy there is, the amounts of emissions just by saying and have been for a while. They easier it is to run buildings that need your buildings have to meet these pride themselves on that and they electricity and AC all day long. This standards” need to do a lot more but that will Every day, scientists around is where technology comes into get us all the way the world conduct research in play. Technology is an important there so that part of understanding all there is to different environments to try and all of our know about climate change. understand what the effects of “All that heat waste kind of gets lost in the air and we have to use more electricity to heat and cool our homes,” Torrence said. “There is so much
Graphic by Ava De Leon
climate change are in the different parts of the world. With the help of new technology that can analyze rocks and ice from thousands of years ago, scientists are able to understand what exactly is happening within the world and what is causing the change. Frank Niepold, the climate education lead for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, describes the importance and impact that technology has had on
LASA, 2019 Fall, The Future Digest, 33
climate’s functionality. “Life plays a critical role in driving and impacting the climate system,” Niepold said. “humans are the key to the current climate change that we’re facing and that climate change is having an impact the but ultimately people have to make advancements decision to lower their impact on made in decrypting the climate system” climate change. The best way to start making “What’s interesting a difference in climate change about technology and science is to inform the public about is that they relate to each other what is actually happening in because one advance pushes their world. Both Niepold and our understanding which then Torrence expressed their concerns pushes our technology which then about reaching people and giving pushes our them the understanding,” information Niepold said. they need “They zig zag to make with each other. mindful Our ability to decisions study the world about as a whole was climate greatly advanced change. by having Niepold satellites in explained space. Because that the - Frank Niepold we have those driving Climate education lead for NOAA we are able force of to advance action other technologies but then our against climate change comes from technology is that the right understanding increased and our equipment, models and gadgets are the people, but the people have to technology for studying the earth be willing to change. not readily available for the world increased.” “We basically give the people at the moment. It could be many Technology is also vital when the power and the tools to pressure years in the future, when science talking about solutions and ways to has advanced enough to really stop their elected representatives to slow down carbon change. Not only do things that are good for them, global warming., There is another can the advancement of technology, people and for the environment.” issue that causes climate change help society find new ways to use that could start to be resolved in the Torrence said. “We educate people. renewable energy, but it can also Show them what their elected near future, human activity. Since be a helpful way to develop new leaders are doing on environmental the industrial revolution, humans methods of living. If there were issues.” have played a larger role in global new ways to grow crops with better There are numerous ways for warming and climate change. fertilizers, or make products with people to help and get involved Burning fossil fuels, cutting down less energy, or even find uses for and there are people everywhere trees, wasting resources, and not waste that empties into the oceans, that are working towards a better recycling, are contributors on a there would be a drastic decrease environment for everyone. Cyrus large scale to the decrease of the
“
in human contribution to climate change. “A lot of the technology were using in industrial activity is actually the root cause of why we’re having the climate change we are having right now, just to be clear, climate change happens over the lifetime of a planet,” Niepold said. “But the one were having right now is the first time humans have actually driven the change in the climate system not natural processes that happened just because the way the earth operates relative to the sun.” The unfortunate news about
Ultimately people have to make the descision to lower their impact on the climate system.
34 , The Future Digest, 2019 Fall, LASA,
”
Reed, Interim Director for the Lone Star Chapter, emphasizes the importance for cities to start switching to renewable energy in the near future. He also wishes that the people help fight policies preventing activist groups from achieving their goals. “There are different interest groups and some of them are opposed to what we are trying to do.” Reed said. “We work to get citizens involved and lobbying their city council to adapt climate action plans. While it’s true you can do things on a personal level, and you should, you can do more by getting involved in movements pressuring utilities and pressuring city councils into adapting climate action plans. Most importantly you should vote.” Reed, Niepold, and Torrence all agreed that climate change is no longer a problem for the future, but rather for the present and the only way to stop it is if action is taken. “Do the right thing for the environment and for people, not for big interests or special interests companies.” Torrence said. “The bottom line is we need to show people that the impacts are real. Climate change is real.”
Two schools from Hillsbrough county plant cordgrass at the Cockroach Bay AquarReserve. Volunteers helping to restore the land. Courtesy of Tampa Baywatch, Peter Clark
Research teams at NOAA measure tide gage levels in Glacier Bay. More often then not, there are numerous observation teams watching our worls’s developemt. Courtesy of NOAA LASA, 2019 Fall, The Future Digest, 35
Earth Is UN DE R By Ava De Leon
Symptoms:
- Deforestation is causing animals to move and is releasing carbon dioxide into the air
- Pollution releases excess chemicals into the air and damages the ozone layer and is a main factor that contributes to global warming.
- Human Activity is where all these problems
start. Every day, humans subconsiouscly contribute to the Earth’s demise. From drilling oirl, to not recycling.
Diagnosis: CLIMATE CHANGE Source: NOAA
R The Weather
Graphics By Ava De Leon
Letter From the Editors Dear Readers, Thanks for reading the very first issue of The Future Digest. We are proud to debut our many accomplishments in this short but in depth look on the recent events in the world. Our chosen magazine theme was the broad topic of current events in the world mostly concerning science and technology. The first major task we had to overcome was narrowing it down to 5 feature stories on technology and advancements in autonomous driving technology, recent undertaking concerning space and astronomy like the first blackhole images, medicine and advancement in medical technologies, politics and immigration, climate change, and all you need to know to understand it. After choosing our stories and the long process of learning how to handle each of the applications we would use to create the graphics, images, and pages of the magazines themselves, our job was to gather information and first hand sources on each of our chosen feature stories which we found in our interviewees. For most of us this was one of the most nerve wracking and memorable parts of the project, each of us had to contact and talk with experts in the fields we were each largely interested in which was an amazing experience itself. We recorded each of our three or so interviews and transcripted them; we then were finally able to really get into creating what would go into our magazine by getting into the creative process of making rough drafts of our feature stories and magazine layouts and after hours and hours of adding extra details and edits we put it all together. The proudest accomplishment for all of us was finishing our feature stories, as that took much time and effort all together. There was a lot of thought and planning that had to go into finishing the feature stories as well as designing the entire magazine. We hit quite a few speed bumps in trying to make our magazine as good as possible for our readers, but overall, we are really happy with the outcome. Thank you for picking up our magazine and we hope you enjoyed reading it! Sincerely, Alexander Zavadsky, Tyler Hawkins, Peter Sadibo, Ava De Leon, Ahnsa Campbell
38 , The Future Digest, 2019 Fall, LASA,
The Future Digest