Editors in chief:
Jaewon (Jennifer) Kang, Soowhan (Benjamin) Jun
Designers:
Jaewon (Jennifer) Kang, Soowhan (Benjamin) Jun
Link teachers: Shayna Coughlan, Steven Mann
Table of Contents
04 Cloning, is it a doubleedged sword?
Daniel Seungmin Shin, ‘27
08 The Science and Philosophy of Happiness
Angela Yumin Lee, ‘25
10 Spices, Sprinkles and Superstitions
Esther Ryeogyung Kim, ‘27
19 Oppenheimer
Jennifer Jaewon Kang, ‘26
24 Big Bang: from Nothing to Everything
Seojoon David Lee, ‘30
08 Is Carbon Capturing Effective?
Yoonso Kim, ‘30
30 Special Relativity
Sunjae Choi, ‘27
33 Ozempic: the game changer for losing weight?
Reina Jiyin Choi, ‘27
36 Breathing: the miracle
Reina Jiyin Choi, ‘27
38 The Drake Equation
David Seoha Kim, ‘28
44 Vampires: Origins
Angela Kyurim Kim, ‘26
46 Cosmic Solitude
Chloe Kyuwon Park, ‘27
50 Terraforming: Galactical Colonialism
Emi Noel Weber, ‘30
52 Ants, the Universe and Everything
Benjamin Soowhan Jun, ‘27
CLONING, IS IT A DOUBLEEDGED SWORD? “
Writer: Daniel Seungmin Shin ‘27
TECHNOLOGY IS FLOURISHING THESE DAYS. HUMANS have overcome what was once thought to be impossible, and are continuing to move forward into discovering more and more facts and technologies. For instance, mankind has made its way to the moon, gained a huge development in artificial intelligence and the internet, and achieved many more developments that were once totally a fantasy. However, it is very likely for most things to have two faces. And, unfortunately, some of the fascinating scientific discoveries have shown both pros and cons. One of the most talked about discoveries is the invention of dynamite by Alfred Nobel. Dynamite was originally invented to help people in the building and mining industries. However, criminals abused it as a weapon to bomb buildings, kill innocent civilians, and advance it to a more deadly source in society.
Gene editing and human cloning are other technologies that have not quite been fully discovered, though they are becoming frequent issues nowadays. Therefore, I decided to write and oppose gene editing and human cloning in a small effort to prevent the recurrence of the same mistake. This article will frst map out the basics of gene editing and animal cloning. Afterwards, the article will examine some previous cases of gene editing and human cloning and discuss the ethical implications. Finally, this article will state opinions of myself and experts of the feld, based on the ethics of gene editing and animal cloning.
Before going into the main debate, I will be informing you guys about some general facts about cloning. To start off with, there are mainly 3 methods of cloning. They are gene cloning, therapeutic cloning, and reproductive cloning. Gene cloning is a method that copies only the genes or parts of the DNA. The cloned genes are used to produce many important pharmaceutical drugs, such as insulin, and industrial enzymes, contributing heavily to the medical industry. Gene cloning is also used to produce food and biofertilizers, also giving a big help to the agricultural industry.
Therapeutic cloning is a system that uses cloned embryos in order to produce stem cells. For those of you who find stem cells a little unfamiliar, stem cells are cells that possess the ability to develop into many different types of cells in our body. Accordingly, therapeutic cloning is capable of producing even human organs. For now, however, the main purpose of the use of stem cells is to understand diseases and develop new treatments for diseases. In particular, scientists are studying how to generate stem cells so that, when transplanted, they can take the place of tissue damaged by disease, ageing or injury. For example, scientists
are studying the transplantation of healthy retinal pigment epithelial cells to the eye to replace those lost in macular degeneration. This is essential for us because the macula, which is an oval and a yellowish spot that lies at the middle of the retina, possesses the most powerful strength and eyesight in distinguishing light.
At last, reproductive cloning works by implanting an embryo to an artifcial or an actual uterus. As you can see, this is the most likely to bring up a result with an actual species of a kind. Scientists have tried to clone mammals from existing adults, however have failed. All the attempts were followed by failures, building up to presumptions that adult mammals could not be cloned. However, the announcement in February 1997 that an adult sheep, Dolly, had been cloned, changed scientific presumption about the impossibility of cloning an adult mammal. Dolly was cloned by a technique that is called Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer (SCNT). SCNT is a technique in which the nucleus of a somatic cell, which is any cell in an organism other than reproductive cells, is transferred to the cytoplasm of an enucleated egg, an egg that has its own nucleus removed. This is a very similar technique to reproductive cloning.
Now that we have flled our heads with some basic information about cloning, let’s move on to the ethical issues of cloning animals. First of all, some consequences might follow along with the cloned animals, such as an increase in birth size and a variety of defects in vital organs, such as the liver, brain and heart. This will result in severe sufering to the animals. Another consequence is premature ageing and problems with
the immune system. As cells go through their normal rounds of division, the tips of the chromosomes shrink. As time goes by, they shrink and shrink until they are no longer able to divide, which means the death of the cell. This has actually happened to Dolly the sheep. Dolly was cloned from a six-year-old sheep, which would have had chromosomes that were shorter than the others.
Based on these opinions of some experts, I suggest that cloning animals isn’t ethical. The cloning in animals might occur as the default in their essential organs or parts of the body. For example, the liver, brain and heart might be damaged severely, which could lead to a painful death. Also, they would not be able to have a normal lifespan. They would feel no difference from its other peer groups, though would face an earlier death, which wouldn’t be a life anybody expects. Finally, most of them would not have a life of their own. As we have seen previously, most animals are cloned for industrial purposes. They would be used in experiments that would defnitely be unwillingly, causing severe stress, or they might be born in an agricultural industry, where they will soon be consumed by people. For these reasons, I strongly believe that cloning is an ethically wrong action for us to do to animals. I hope that the writing of this article will inform and alert many to think about the animals that would be sufering because of cloning and, in the end, give a small hand in protecting the animals.
This resulted in an earlier death to Dolly, who lived only six years which is the half of an ordinary sheep’s lifespan.
Moreover, some agricultural industries are cloning animals for consumption. Cloning animals is usually based on the SCNT technology I mentioned earlier. However, this method is not as easy as it seems. When Dolly was cloned, she was the only successful clone out of 277 cloned embryos. This indicates that SCNT requires a severe amount of work. Even more, it also requires a large amount of either artificial or actual uterus the embryos are placed in. Unfortunately,as it is easier in many ways to use an animal, the animals will be used as incubators, causing not only the cloned animals, but also the animals used for cloning to suffer. Focussed on this idea, the European Food Safety Authority states that, despite the insufficient evidence and research, it is clear there are signifcant animal health and welfare issues for surrogate mothers and clones that can be more frequent and severe than for conventionally bred animals. Other than agricultural industries, there is the pet cloning industry. An entrepreneur, John Sperlin had attempted to establish a pet cloning industry, however, had decided not to. He stated that it involved too much suffering to the animals during the progress of cloning.
Works cited Kfoury, C. (2007). Therapeutic cloning: promises and issues. McGill Journal of Medicine : MJM, [online] 10(2), p.112. Available at: https://ncbi.nlm. nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2323472/. Sciences (US), N.A. of, Engineering (US), N.A. of, Science, I. of M. (US) and N.R.C. (US) C. on, Engineering and Policy, and P. (2002). Cloning: Definitions And Applications. [online] www.ncbi. nlm.nih.gov. National Academies Press (US). Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ books/NBK223960/#:~:text=Reproductive%20 cloning%20involves%20the%20creation.
SPICE, SPRINKLES, AND SUPERSTITIONS
Writer: Esther Ryeogyung Kim’27
OVER THE VAST COURSE OF HUMAN HISTORY, CIVILIZATIONS AND their healing practices have been developed through science and beliefs.
From ancient times to the present day, traditional medicines have captivated the imagination of communities. Ofering solace, hope, and healing, it has been afecting the evolution of human beings. However, the crucial question remains: Do these remedies yield tangible results?
Since the earliest times in human history, humans have used natural products such as animals, plants, microorganisms, and marine organisms as treatment for diseases. Fossil evidence suggests that humans have been using plants as medicine for at least 60,000 years(Yuan, 2016). For the first humans, using natural materials as medicines must have been very challenging. It is likely that they would have often consumed poisonous plants to try and heal the symptoms they had that time. However, as they were not familiar with these materials, they might have experienced lethal reactions. Through trial and error, early humans discovered edible materials and homoeopathic cures. Following this, humans invented fre, established religions, progressed technology, and learned how to make medicines.
THE POWER OF BELIEFS:
Belief has long been recognised as a powerful force in shaping our perceptions and experiences. It can impact how our bodies react to medical interventions and even how well they work. One of the most famous experiments that shows this efect is the “Placebo Efect”.
“The placebo effect is more than positive thinking — believing a treatment or procedure will work. It’s about creating a stronger connection between the brain and body and how they work together,”
says Professor Ted Kaptchuk of Harvard-afliated Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, whose research focuses on the placebo efect(Harvard, 2021). Placebos are not the solutions or treatments to cure diseases, instead, they are the most powerful treatments towards brain-modulated symptoms such as pain.
For decades, the placebo effect was an indication of
placebo
ineffectiveness. During clinical trials to test the treatmentsusually in drug studies- the participants in the clinical trial don’t know if they receive the real drug. Hence, placebo efect will be activated and people with inactive drugs would state that the drug is efective in relieving pain or other symptoms. Therefore, the researchers could not measure the efectiveness or the improvement of the drug through research. However, more recently, experts have come to the realisation that the responses the patients have come to are non-pharmacological mechanisms, signifying that such reactions will not be considered as indicators of the treatment’s failure.
Although the mechanism of placebo is not quite yet understood, it is known that it involves a complex biological reaction process that consists of increasing feel-good neurotransmitters such as endorphins and dopamine; greatly impacting the activity in regions linked to emotional reactions, self awareness, and moods(Harvard, 2021). These overall, can have therapeutic benefit, creating a more comfortable state to continue treatments for diseases with severe pain. “The placebo efect is a way for your brain to tell the body what it needs to feel better,” says Kaptchuk(Harvard, 2021).
TRADITIONAL TREATMENTS AND FOLK REMEDIES:
Numerous traditional treatments are based on the placebo effect, a phenomenon. Believing that a specific drug or practice has healing qualities might set off a psychological reaction that can really alter one’s body. However, some of the traditional medicines are actually efective; turmeric and garlic are some of the various examples of them.
turmeric
Turmeric, a vibrant yellow spice commonly used in Asian cuisine, has a long history for its anti-infammatory properties. While turmeric has gained recent attention for its natural healing properties, it has actually been used medicinally for over 4,500 years. Residues from turmeric, ginger, and garlic were discovered in pots near New Delhi, dating back as early as 2500 BCE(PBS, 2015). Around 500 BCE, turmeric became an integral part of Ayurvedic medicine, an ancient Indian system of natural healing that is still practised today(PBS, 2015). Ayurveda, meaning “science of life,” recognized turmeric’s diverse benefts. Inhaling its fumes was believed to alleviate congestion, turmeric juice aided in wound healing, and turmeric paste was applied to various skin conditions, ranging from smallpox and chickenpox to blemishes and shingles. Ayurvedic literature contains over 100 different terms for turmeric, including jayanti, meaning “one who is
victorious over diseases,” and matrimanika, meaning “as beautiful as moonlight”.
Recent scientific studies have confirmed that curcumin, the active compound in turmeric, possesses potent antiinflammatory and antioxidant effects(Hewlings, 2017). Turmeric is a major source of the polyphenol curcumin. It helps the management of oxidative and inflammatory conditions, metabolic syndrome, anxiety, and hyperlipidemia. It might aid in the control of inflammation and muscle pain brought on by exercise, improving recuperation and function in those who lead active lives. Furthermore, individuals without medical diagnoses may benefit from the complex at very low dosages. The majority of these advantages are related to its anti-infammatory and antioxidant properties.
Garlic was the most used medicinal plant for the Egyptians. “Archaeologists have discovered clayey sculptures of garlic bulbs dating from 3700 BC, while illustrations with garlic have been found in another crypt from 3200 BC(Hewlings, 2017)”. Furthermore in Ebers papyrus (around 1500 BC) various medicinal plants have been mentioned, and among others the much appreciated garlic, efcient in healing 32 illnesses.
At first it was used to represent individuals’ power; they were looking for strong aromas. In this period, garlic was an irreplaceable nutritional supplement.
The
Egyptians fed their slaves with garlic
to make them strong and capable of doing more work.
“The Old Greek historian Herodotus wrote: Inscriptions on the plates of the Egyptian pyramids tell us how much their builders used the garlic for this vegetable, 1600 talents of silver were spent (approximately 30 million dollars)(Petrovska, 2010)”. If it had not been for the garlic, which builders used to a great deal, they would not have been able to keep balance, let alone pull the gigantic plates. Besides providing them with the necessary quantity of vitamins, garlic additionally supported them with another of its properties – decreasing the need for food.
The Ancient Israelis also embraced garlic for its various benefits. It served as a starvation stimulator, blood pressure enhancer, body heater, and parasite killer. The Talmud, a book of Judaism, prescribed a meal with garlic every Friday, and the Bible mentions a meal with garlic and cheese consumed by reapers.
In Greece, garlic was highly regarded by early army leaders who fed it to their soldiers before major battles. Greek Olympic athletes incorporated garlic into their diets to enhance their performance, contrasting with the use of dangerous tranquillizers by some modern athletes. Garlic was referred to as a remedy by Orpheus and was recommended by famous Greek physicians such as Hippocrates and Dioscorides for various purposes, including treating intestinal parasites, regulating menstruation, alleviating colic, and even combating snakebites.
The Tibetans possessed ancient recipes that utilised garlic to cure stomach aches, while in Babylon, it was grown in gardens and referred to as a ‘rank rose.’ Roman physician Pliny the Elder considered garlic a universal remedy and noted that the Egyptians mentioned garlic and onion in oaths, considering them holy plants. Columel regarded garlic as an aphrodisiac, Celsius used it to cure tuberculosis and fever, and Galen, widely recognized as the father of galenic pharmacy, hailed garlic as a popular folk remedy that cured many diseases, earning it the name ‘rustic’s theriac.’ Galen also utilised garlic for digestion regulation and colic relief.
Recent scientific studies have confirmed garlic contains organosulfur compounds that could have anti-inflammatory properties. Allicin is an organosulfur compound found in garlic; it is known for its anti-infammatory properties(Kloss, 2021). This is a critical ingredient as it is found that the underlying cause of many major degenerative diseases, including heart disease, rheumatoid arthritis, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s is chronic infammation(Harvard, 2020). Hence, to prevent or to gain therapeutic benefts, eating ‘raw garlic’ is the key.
epsom salts
Epsom salt, also known as table salt, is a chemical compound made of magnesium, oxygen and salt. It is unique from other salts as it contains magnesium. The name originates from the place where it was discovered, in a rural community 15 miles southwest of London, near a town called Epsom.
According to the Royal Society of Chemistry, it was discovered for the frst time in the summer of 1618 when a cowherd in the town that was suffering from a drought discovered a spring that his thirty cattle would not drink. Upon closer examination, he discovered that the water tasted incredibly bitter and left behind a saltylooking material that he discovered had a strong cleansing impact on the body. He also observed that the wounds of the animals appeared to heal more quickly after they had a bath in the water(Saltbox, 2017). Soon, people began focking to Epsom to experience the purgative effects of its bitter water. Some sought relief from gout symptoms, primarily joint swelling, while others benefted from its laxative properties. The water was consumed from stoneware mugs, sometimes in quantities as high as 15 pints. It wasn’t until the 1690s that Dr. Nehemiah Grew, a British anatomist and physiologist, ofcially named the substance as “bitter purging salts” in his book, Nature and Use of the Salt contained in Epsom and such other Waters (1697). As more springs were discovered across England, it became readily available. Since then, its popularity and availability have grown exponentially, and today Epsom salt is widely used in households worldwide.
The belief behind using Epsom salt baths for muscle aches is that the magnesium in the salt can be absorbed through the skin and help relax muscles, reduce inflammation, and alleviate discomfort(Parkview Health, 2021). It’s supposed to soothe sore muscles for athletes, relieve cramps and improve performance and recovery in general. However, it’s important to note that scientific evidence supporting these claims is limited, and the efectiveness of Epsom salt baths for muscle aches is still a topic of debate.
If you decide to try an Epsom salt bath for muscle aches, here’s how you can do it:
1. Fill your bathtub with warm water. The temperature should be comfortable for you, but not too hot.
2. Add Epsom salts to the bathwater. The suggested amount is usually 1-2 cups of Epsom salts for a standard-sized bathtub, but you can adjust the quantity based on personal preference.
3. Stir the water to help dissolve the Epsom salts.
4. Soak in the bath for about 20-30 minutes. Relax and allow the salts to dissolve and potentially provide some relief to your muscles.
5. After the bath, rinse off with clean water to remove any residue from the Epsom salts.
Promotes sleep and stress reduction: It is known that adequate magnesium levels are essential for sleep and stress management due to magnesium aiding our brain to produce neurotransmitters that induce sleep and reduce stress(PubMed Central, 2020). Low magnesium levels may negatively afect sleep quality and stress. Some people claim that taking Epsom salt baths can reverse these issues by allowing your body to absorb magnesium through the skin. However, this hasn’t been scientifically proven. It’s also possible that the calming effects of Epsom salt baths are simply due to the relaxation caused by taking hot baths.
Cure of constipation:
Magnesium is commonly used as a treatment for constipation due to its ability to draw water into the colon, promoting bowel movements. Typically, magnesium is taken orally in the form of magnesium citrate, magnesium hydroxide, or magnesium oxide for constipation relief. Epsom salt, although not extensively studied compared to other forms, is also considered efective and is approved by the FDA as a laxative. It can be consumed orally with water, following the instructions on the package. However, it’s important to note that consuming Epsom salt may lead to unpleasant side efects such as bloating and liquid stool. Therefore, it should only be used occasionally as a laxative and not relied upon for long-term relief.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the study of folk remedies and beliefs on spices and herbs highlights the cultural signifcance and historical context behind these practices. While scientific research may not always support all claims, exploring these traditions provides valuable insights into human interaction with natural remedies. However, it is important to approach folk remedies with caution and critical thinking, considering scientifc advancements and potential risks.
Works Cited
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Beauty:
Epsom salt has been suggested for various beauty purposes, including skin and hair care. As an exfoliant, you can use it by placing some in your hand, dampening it, and gently massaging it into your skin.
Some individuals claim that incorporating Epsom salt into facial wash can be beneficial for cleansing pores. For this, you can mix approximately 1/2 teaspoon (2.5g) of Epsom salt with your preferred facial cleanser and massage it onto your skin(healthline, 2023).
Another suggested use is to add Epsom salt to your conditioner, potentially aiding in adding volume to your hair. To achieve this efect, combine equal parts conditioner and Epsom salt, apply the mixture to your hair, leave it on for 20 minutes, and then rinse it out.
Writer: Jaewon Jennifer Kang ‘26
We were too stunned to move, for about 10 minutes. When we fnally crawled out from under the tatami mat, there was glass everywhere, and tiny bits of dust and debris foating in the air. The once clear blue sky had turned into an inky shade of purple and grey.
- TAKATO MICHISHITA
We discovered that his body had been partially cremated. Only his wrists, ankles, and part of his gut were burnt properly. The rest of his body lay raw and decomposed. I could not bear to see my father like this.
- YOSHIRO YAMAWAKI
ALTHOUGH ONLY 2%, OR EVEN LESS, OF THE URANIUM ACHIEVED FISSION, THE IMPACT OF THE HYDROGEN BOMB LITTLE BOY WAS CATASTROPHIC, BRINGING ABSOLUTE CHAOS.
THE MUSHROOM CLOUDS VORACIOUSLY ENGULFED Hiroshima, vaporising more than 70,000 people in an instant. The traces of the bubbling, purple gas were followed by melted bronze statues, fre, and people screaming in pain of shedding their skin. Hiroshima, bombed, resembled hell, and Little Boy seemed to be a weapon born by a devilish intention.
However, what compelled J. Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb, to be involved in the development of atomic bombs was simple: his beliefs. During the First World War, nations began moving away from traditional weapons such as guns and grenades, and started to develop more sophisticated scientifc weapons. Germany was no exception. Adolf Hitler started to invest millions of marks in fostering new scientists along with new weapons: mustard gas, notorious for its lethality that led to approximately 90,000 deaths, were used to penetrate the existing gas masks and respirators and therefore attack the skin or blind the eyes of the Allied nation armies. Oppenheimer and his fellow liberal-minded scientists believed that, whether or not they participated in the Manhattan project, the atomic bomb would inevitably be developed, potentially by the Nazis. Their greatest fear was that Nazi Germany might be the first to possess this devastating technology, gaining momentum in their expansion and cruelty. This fear compelled Oppenheimer and other scientists to advocate for political sovereignty, where nations relinquish their sovereignty to the United States–the first country to successfully create the atomic bomb. In essence, they believed that establishing great, concentrated power could curb the ambitions of aggressors, ultimately preventing the outbreak of war. In other words, Oppenheimer convinced himself that developing atomic bombs could prevent future war.
However, this belief does not seem to warrant his refusal to sign Leo Szilard’s 1945 July petition, urging the then-U.S. President Harry Truman “to rule that the United States shall not resort to the use of atomic bombs in this war unless the terms which will be imposed upon Japan have been made public in detail”. According to Oppenheimer’s initial logic, the bomb could have been only used as a bargaining tool rather than an actual weapon, as stated in the petition. This is where his other belief, on the roles of scientists in politics, takes part, which was clarified by his fellow theoretical physicist who is also known as ‘the father of the hydrogen bomb’, Edward Teller. “Oppenheimer talked me out of it, saying that we as scientists have no business to meddle in political pressure of that kind,” said Edward Teller. Oppenheimer believed that scientists who were involved in the birth of the atomic bomb had no rights or responsibilities on controlling its use, and that should be left to the politicians.
From the modern perspective, this belief seems to be
Works Cited
reprehensible. Scientists are not merely purveyors of technical expertise; they are stewards of knowledge with a moral duty to guide humanity to the right path. They bear an obligation to oppose the misuse or abuse of scientific findings and to be accountable for the consequences, both intended and unintended, of their work. Despite being fully aware of the deadly nature of the weapon, Oppenheimer proceeded to create the atomic bomb. Even though he was given a second chance to prevent its abuse, Oppenheimer deferred this role to the politicians, refusing to sign Szilard’s 1945 July petition. His passiveness in his own creation resulted in the sufering of millions of people across generations, susceptible to the pain inflicted by the atomic bomb. In other words, Oppenheimer failed to meet the fundamental duties of being a scientist, possibly committing a ‘passive murder’. Even he himself, in his later years, regretted this belief. For instance, he states, “Mr. President, I feel I have blood on my hands”, referring to his sense of guilt, therefore admitting his beliefs have been responsible in postponing the deaths of innocent men.
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Haring, B. (2023). Oppenheimer Stifed Petition From Atomic Scientists Begging US Government To Not Drop The Bomb – Report. [online] Deadline. Available at: https://deadline.com/2023/07/oppenheimer-stifed-petition-begging-us-government-to-not-drop-the-bomb-report-1235439053/. Time. (2023). Here’s How Close ‘Oppenheimer’ Sticks to J. Robert Oppenheimer’s Life. [online] Available at: https://time.com/6295760/oppenheimertrue-story/#:~:text=Following%20the%20war%2C%20public%20opinion.
BIG BANG
FROM NOTHING TO EVERYTHING
Seojoon David Lee’ 30
ISN’T SPACE INTERESTING TO KNOW?
Filled with planets, stars, galaxies, and, most importantly, mysteries. Space is massive, and did you know that this big, mystery-filled space all started from a single point? This single point has infated and stretched until now, and it is still stretching! Scientists call such an event the Big Bang, and this theory is about how the universe is formed.
The temperature at a Big Bang single point would have been extremely hot(5.5 billion degrees Celsius according to NASA) and tiny particles were mixed with light and energy. It was totally diferent from what we see now. Then, at some point, very suddenly, an explosive
expansion began. This is not the same expansion that is going on right now. This explosive expansion is called cosmic infation, which lasted real quick. Like really quickly. It was between 1e-33 to 1e-32 seconds. So, the time of cosmic inflation is 10^-32 seconds. Then, the universe kept expanding, but at a slower rate. This expansion is the expansion that is still continuing right now. This moment. Even while you are reading this.
While everything started and then continued to expand from a single point, it cooled down. The speed of the universe expanding is faster than the
speed of light! And the tiny particles that were one of the components of the point grouped together and became atoms. These atoms regrouped with each other for many years, and they formed stars and galaxies. Then, those galaxies kept crashing into each other, and stars were born and dead. After that, things like asteroids, comets, black holes, and planets formed.
Then, who discovered this? Who had this brilliant idea that the universe started at a single point and was still expanding right now? The name of the person who discovered this is Georges Lemaître. So, Lemaître
published a paper in 1927 about this and 3 years later, in 1930, other cosmologists, including Eddington, Willem de Sitter, and Einstein, had concluded that the static (non-evolving) models of the universe they had worked on for many years were unsatisfactory. In addition, Edwin Hubble, using the largest telescope at Mt. Wilson in California, found out that distant galaxies all appeared to be receding from us at speeds proportional to their distances. Then, Eddington called the attention of other cosmologists to Lemaître’s paper he made in 1927 and arranged for the publication of an English translation. Hubble’s observations, which supported Lemaître’s claim, made the majority of astronomers convinced that the universe was expanding until now.
Works cited NASA (2021). What Is the Big Bang? | NASA Space Place – NASA Science for Kids. [online] Nasa.gov. Available at: https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/big-bang/en/.
Is Carbon Capturing effective
Writer: Yoonso Kim ‘30
As you may have seen or read from THE NEWS, GLOBAL WARMING WORSENS DAY AFTER DAY. Global warming is caused by the thick atmosphere. As we emit more carbon dioxide, it piles and piles on top of each other, making the atmosphere thicker, thus blocking the solar light from reflecting into space. The heat trapped inside the atmosphere heats up the Earth, creating natural disasters: foods due to rising sea levels, forest fres, heat waves, drought, etc. To “solve” global warming, in other words, to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide, scientists and engineers developed a method called ‘Carbon Capture and Storage’, in short, CCS.
Global CCS Institute (2024). CCS Explained: The Basics. [online] Global CCS Institute. Available at: https://www.globalccsinstitute.com/resources/ccs-101-the-basics/.
There are two types of carbon capturing. One is capturing carbon directly from the factory before it is released into the air. The other method is, taking in the air with a giant fan and filtering it. The major steps of carbon fltering go like this: to separate carbon and nitrogen, which is what factory fumes are made of, we insert a chemical substance called amine. Amine molecules stick to the carbon molecules and sink while the segregated nitrogen molecules will be freed outside. Then, we heat the amine and carbon to separate them. The separated amine will go back to recollect the carbon molecules while the isolated carbon molecules go through more heating and pressurisation to make them into a liquid state or a carbonate mineral straight away. Those carbonated substances will be stored in a marine gas field around 500-1000 metres under water.
In our current world where carbon dioxide feels like our mortal enemy, this technique is very much looked
forward to in decreasing the carbon dioxide. Using the CCS, 90 percent of the carbon molecules from the power plant can be captured and stored in the marine gas field. This is very
significant because around 70% of the world’s net emission comes from power plants. The carbon dioxide that is stored can be sucked out from the marine gas field to make things like fizzy drinks, carbon fibre, diamond, and more. Not only that, if we combine hydrogen and the stored carbon, then, pressure it, it makes crude oil. If the production of crude oil is made possible, it could be our new source of energy: biofuel. Companies, such as United Airlines, announced investing $5 Million in Carbon Capture, furthermore, Amazon, which bought 250000 tons of carbon removal. A Massachusetts-based startup that captures carbon dioxide directly from the air has raised $80 million from investors, including Bill Gates.
Although CCS may seem like it works and is believed to work, the truth is quite disappointing. The first and
most essential problem of the carbon capturing mechanism is that it uses a lot of energy. In the process of changing carbon into a liquid state or a solid state (carbonate mineral), it is necessary to heat and apply a lot of pressure on the carbon molecules. Since neither biofuels nor bioenergy are available for use now, we need to use fossil fuels, which negates the principle of CCS, to reduce carbon dioxide. Moreover, it is expensive yet risky. People started using carbon capture technology in 1972. Despite its long history, it hasn’t been successful until now. We can clearly see that it was a failure because, if it had
Works cited
been successful, more people would have known about carbon capturing and it would have been publicised. Carbon capture technology requires $100 per ton of carbon dioxide, and we produce around 37.12 billion tons (2021) of carbon dioxide every year, which makes it $3.712 trillion every year. There are possibilities of failure in the injection of carbon in the marine gas field, which could potentially release even more carbon than injected. The leaks from under the sea could contaminate and pollute the groundwater and soil, damaging agriculture severely. As global warming is getting worse
every second, a method of reducing carbon is necessary. That’s why carbon capture was invented and received high expectations from investors. Although carbon capture is currently not making much progress, in order for us humans to stay on our planet Earth, scientists and engineers have to develop the efficiency of removing carbon from our atmosphere. Stay cool!
Moseman, A. and Herzog, H. (2021). How efcient is carbon capture and storage? [online] MIT Climate Portal. Available at: https://climate.mit. edu/ask-mit/how-efcient-carbon-capture-and-storage.
Hart, P. and Schlosberg, M. (2021). Top 5 Reasons Carbon Capture And Storage (CCS) Is Bogus. [online] Food & Water Watch. Available at: https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/2021/07/20/top-5-reasons-carbon-capture-and-storage-ccs-is-bogus/. Bill Gates Invests in Carbon Capture Startup After Tech Breakthrough. (2022). Bloomberg.com. [online] 2 Feb. Available at: https://www. bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-02-02/new-tech-could-cut-carbon-capture-energy-use-by-70#xj4y7vzkg.
BELIEF IN ‘LIVING IN THE SAME TIME’;
SPECIAL RELATIVITY
Writer: Sunjae Choi ‘27
BEING RELATIVE IS A COMPLEX WAY of expressing one’s egocentrism. This means that the observer, or yourself, is always in the 0,0,0 coordinate and has a velocity of 0.
To specify when or where an event is occurring, we use what is called a coordinate system. This will not be a shock to you, since from around year 3, you will have been brainwashed with the concept of the xy plane by drawing graphs, shapes and anything related to maths. This specific coordinate system is called the cartesian plane; mathematician Rene Descartes first invented it, looking at a fly roaming around the ceiling. With this specific coordinate system, we can locate the position of a particle according to the x, y, and z space axes. Correspondingly, a question will pop up in your head:
‘ Then where is the origin? ’
In special relativity, you, the observer, should be eager to put yourself in the centre of the universe at the coordinate of 0,0,0. Wait, in this case, with diferent positions of you and your friend, the position of a soccer ball can differ in our frame of reference. Then, how do we ensure that ‘the ball’ I’m absorbing is the same ball my friend is looking at? This is when the phrase ‘put yourself in another person’s shoes’ comes in. A way to actively sympathise with your friend, axis translation is needed. Note that, in this stage, we are only considering the position not the velocity; implying how simple it is. Here, we first need to identify the location of your friend in your frame of reference, meaning the horizontal and vertical displacement according to each axis. Let’s say that your friend was located in (a,b) and the ball was located in (n,m) simply here, with the position of the ball in your friend’s frame of reference being (n-a,
m-b). This is quite intuitive and simple, I won’t doubt following up to this point. After this stage, the rotation comes in. The first thing that is needed is the angular displacement between your set of axes and your friend’s set of axes. Let your friend’s axes be x’ and y’ while yours are x and y. Here, you don’t need to change your position, you just need to rotate the ball with the pivot point yourself. With this method, you can simply use a rotational matrix. Multiply a 2x1 matrix of the ball’s coordinates and a 2x2 matrix of a set of trigonometric values according to the direction of angular displacement. Then we will get the result of a 2x1 matrix, identifying our new coordinate of the ball, fully in your friend’s shoes. The only problem here is that we live in a 3D plane, not a 2D one, meaning the mathematical work should be done 3 times more than the description. However, do not get intimidated by the amount of toil, as we are only going to work on 2D axes or even 1D time by time.
Fig1. rotational matrix
Now, let’s deal with the fun part: the velocity. Velocity is a very important factor. Even if a particle is stationary (I might be criticised for this since there is no such thing as an objective frame that decides the universal property of an object) if you have a certain velocity in your frame of reference, it will be the particle that moves, not you. Unlike an ordinary notation of a single number value, velocity is noted as a vector, including the velocity components of both the x and y directions. To find the ordinary numerical value, you can use the Pythagorean theorem to find
the addition of two components. Just like coordinates, we note the velocity component according to each axis as Vx, Vy, Vz and the magnitude of it as v. Calculating the relative velocity of an object is as simple as dilating axes. For example, in a specific case, with the frame of reference of a stationary observer, particle A has a velocity of 3i + 4j. i and j each represent the vector component, meaning in this case, it has a magnitude of 3m/s for the x component of the velocity and 4m/ s for the y component of the velocity. Correspondingly, particle B has a velocity of -1i + 3j. Then in the frame of reference of particle A, particle B has a velocity of Vb - Va, meaning -4i - j. We can derive a simple equation finding the relative velocity by subtracting the velocity of an observer from the velocity of the particle. This is called Newton’s principle of relativity.
According to Newton’s principle of relativity, we are now quite sure how velocity and position work relatively. Now here’s a tricky question. In this situation, we will treat light as a stream of photons, which means an existing particle. If we beam a photon in a positive direction, and you were travelling in a negative direction with a magnitude of v. If we let the speed of light as c, then the relative velocity of the light to you would be v+c. However, if you had a velocity towards a positive direction, the relative velocity of the photon in your frame of reference would be c-v. In the extreme, if you have the same velocity as the photon, in your frame, it will look like the photon is stationary.
Fig 2. Electromagnetic Wave
This is a huge problem since, according to the Maxwell equations, the speed of light is constant in any situation, independent of your velocity. Even if you are travelling at the speed of light (which is not possible), the photon would not look like it is stationary. Maxwell equations are a set of equations explaining the characteristics of electric and magnetic fields. Since light is a type of a certain range of electromagnetic wave, it is possible to define the way light particles move, including their velocity. The four equations are as follows:
With these equations, let’s derive the speed of light. First, in a vacuum, the charge density and current density, ρ and j, have a value of 0. Then the frst and last equation can be reduced in this form; and
Then, if we take the curl of the third equation, we get a laplacian operator which looks like
The left-hand side can be written in a general coordinate
. If we substitute the values of and according to the Maxwell Equations, we can get an expression that is a form of a standard wave function.
If we solve this second-hand diferential equation, the velocity of the wave, in this case, an electromagnetic wave will have a velocity of
Then to conserve this identity of ‘same speed of light throughout velocity’, scientist Hendrik Lorentz came up with a way to transform the space-time axis in a weird way to conserve the speed of light. This is called the Lorentz transform.
OZEMPIC: The Game Changer for Losing Weight
Writer: Reina Jiyin Choi ‘27
KIM KARDASHIAN AT MET GALA 2022 CAME TO GREAT prominence not only because of her outft in Marilyn Monroe’s dress but also because she had lost more than 7kg of weight in just 3 weeks (Kirkpatrick, 2022).
The secret behind her sudden weight loss hasn’t been revealed, but several news outlets pointed to the drug Ozempic as the secret behind Kardashian’s striking change. Ozempic is a brand name for semaglutide, a medication developed to manage type 2 diabetes (Bendix). Intriguingly, by the end of 2022, Ozempic’s popularity had unexpectedly skyrocketed: not as a treatment for diabetes but due to its most notable side efect — a dramatic weight loss.
People are able to manage blood sugar levels and lose weight in a safe and efective way using hormones. The same applies to Ozempic, a drug, made with semaglutide, originally developed to treat type 2 diabetes by mimicking a crucial digestive hormone called glucagon-like peptide 1, or GLP1. When food enters the stomach and works its way through the digestive system, our body releases GLP-1 in the intestine. Several receptors of GLP-1 serve diferent functions when it is
triggered with hormones. The GLP-1 receptors in the pancreas promote the the production of insulins while suppressing the production of glucagon, a hormone responsible for raising blood sugar levels. People who sufer from type 2 diabetes are often insulin resistant and can produce only a small amount of insulin. Injecting synthetic insulin, such as semaglutide, into those people’s bodies, enables them to manage their blood sugar levels regardless of its synthetic or natural state. Then, another GLP-1 receptor in the stomach slows down the gastric emptying,, making the food not move through the digestive system and slows the whole process of digestion, preventing from having blood sugar spikes. The drug also has side efects: nausea, vision changes, pancreatitis, and kidney problems are representatives (Forbes Magazine, 2023).
The two closely related diseases -- diabetes and obesity – are often caused by unavoidable reasons. For instance, factors such as the genetics of the family and environmental factors are often hard to overcome just by one’s effort. American Diabetes Association has informed that if you are a man with type 1 diabetes, the odds of your child developing diabetes are 1 in 17, which highlights the inevitableness of diabetes (ADA,
Genetics of diabetes). However, even though it is not their choice to get any of those diseases within society, people who are deemed overweight sufer discrimination, prejudice, and humiliation from several fronts, whether they suffer from diabetes or not. Ozempic would be a lifesaver for people who are sufering from the disease but also from social stereotypes.
This negative stereotype in society towards obese people creates a compulsion towards a “skinner” or “prettier” body, not a healthier body.
As Ozempic got famous through social media, young teenagers who live adjacent to them get greatly impacted by this trend of extreme weight loss using Ozempic in social media such as TikTok.
However, their belief in the unnatural extreme body shapes created in the utmost ways, such as using drugs, will cause negative consequences as teenagers would have incorrect values of ideal body shape.
Furthermore, due to drug shortages, diabetic patients who require Ozempic will essentially be unable to get the proper prescriptions.
These incidents have happened since many individuals view Ozempic as a shortcut for unnecessary weight loss after the big trend in social media. Last August, the US Food and Drug Administration announced that Ozempic was in shortage
(FDA drug shortages). As Ozempic is a necessary drug for patients suffering from diabetes and obesity as it enables people to manage their illnesses better, this situation that is currently happening in the US is a severe problem that decides the life and death of severe diabetic patients. Mila Clarke, a YouTube creator who also has a type of diabetes called latent autoimmune diabetes said, “(Ozempic) can make ourselves a little easier and that can cause less diabetes burnout and helps you think about diabetes less. It’s one of those things that I think that all of us want to protect at all costs.”(Clarke, 2023).
Works cited
Bendix, A. (n.d.). Ozempic and Wegovy add new layers to the understanding of obesity as a chronic health condition. NBCNews.com. https://www.nbcnews.com/health/healthnews/ozempic-wegovy-obesity-chronic-health-conditionrcna68831
FDA drug shortages. FDA Drug Shortages. (n.d.). https:// www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/drugshortages/dsp_ ActiveIngredientDetails.cfm?AI=Semaglutide+%28Ozempic%2 9+Injection&st=c&tab=tabs-1
Forbes Magazine. (2023, May 11). Ozempic for weight loss: Risks, side efects and more. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/ health/body/ozempic-for-weight-loss/ Genetics of diabetes. Genetics of Diabetes | ADA. (n.d.). https:// diabetes.org/diabetes/genetics-diabetes Kirkpatrick, E. (2022, May 3). Kim Kardashian lost 16 pounds in 3 weeks to ft into Marilyn Monroe’s dress for the 2022 met gala. Vanity Fair. https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2022/05/ kim-kardashian-2022-met-gala-marilyn-monroe-dress-jfkhappy-birthday-diet-weight-loss
Lowndes, C., & Clarke, M. (2023, March 14). Ozempic is a game-changer. here’s how it works. Vox. https://www.vox.com/ videos/2023/3/14/23638717/ozempic-semaglutide-hormonesweightloss-glp1
Lowndes, C. (2023). Ozempic is a game-changer. Here’s how it works. [online] Vox. Available at: https://www.vox.com/ videos/2023/3/14/23638717/ozempic-semaglutide-hormonesweightloss-glp1.
Breathing The Miracle Jiyin (Reina) Choi, '27
Take a deep breath. If you notice you are breathing up to your chest and limbs, you are breathing the wrong way! Wrong way? You would probably be questioning if there is a right or wrong way of breathing. We breathe all our lives, and we are technically experts at it! You would be surprised to learn, however, we were doing it wrong all the time. Thousands of videos, all over social media, tell you that correct breathing can surprisingly change your life. Breathing is in the limelight not only in social media but also in bigger, more important places. Mayor Eric Adams of New York City announced that mindful breathing exercises will be required in all city schools from next academic year (Melnick, 2023). The belief that breathing can improve your health, treat mental disorders, and even boost your brain function is the main reason for the boom of interest in breathing. But is this belief true?
Let’s think of your body as a car. Just like a car, we have an accelerator and a brake called ‘autonomic nervous system (ANS)’. ANS can be divided into two divisions: the sympathetic nervous system (SNS), the accelerator, and the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS), the brake. When you breathe in, this accelerator initiates by activating the SNS that reacts with a “fght or fight” response. It raises your heart rate and releases a hormone called noradrenaline, which energises you. On the other hand, when you breathe out, you activate your PNS, which inhibits the body from overworking and restores the body to a calm and composed state through the “rest and digest '' response. So, as we slow our breathing down, we are highly stimulating the parasympathetic system. Moreover, when we exhale at a slower rate, it physically pushes more blood into the heart which can slow down your heart rate (Russo et al., 2017). It is also shown in studies have even found that slow breathing can boost the activity of a neurotransmitter in your brain called gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) which calms your nerves down (Streeter et al., 2020). Hence, we can say that breathing at a slower rate can calm our body!
But does this mean that breathwork can help in curing serious mental disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression? Is breathing for all a panacea? Numerous studies and articles have explored this fascinating phenomenon. Richard Bränström and his colleagues experimented to fgure out the efect of mindfulness training, which often involved breathing, on patients treated for cancer with various mental disorders. They recruited patients with previous cancer diagnoses and randomised them into an intervention group or a waiting list control group. An 8-week mindfulness training course consisted
of the intervention. The following result of the experiment indicated there were no significant changes in overall PTSD. However, the study mentions that mindfulness training can signifcantly reduce PTSD symptoms of avoidance. (Bränström et al. ,2011) On the other hand, T. Descilo and his team conducted a study evaluating the effect of a yoga breath program on people who were suffering from disorders such as PTSD or depression after the 2004 Asian tsunami. The result came out of a 60% decrease in PTSD symptom severity after the 6 weeks of observation (Descilo et al.). Even though both studies were trying to find the effectiveness of mindfulness breathing, they had opposite conclusions. Future studies and more diverse samples are needed to replicate the divergent results of the studies on the efectiveness of mindfulness breathing.
Breathing certainly can calm and relax your body, which is often lacking in modern people’s lives, but we can’t yet say that breathing is a magical cure. To find the true value of breathing, further investigation into the efectiveness of breathing should be held. By investigation, if breathwork becomes a proven treatment for such a disease, it would be the best as every single one of us can access it!
Works Cited
Bränström, Richard, et al. “A Randomized Study of the Efects of Mindfulness Training on Psychological Well-Being and Symptoms of Stress in Patients Treated for Cancer at 6-Month Follow-Up.” International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, vol. 19, no. 4, 20 Sept. 2011, pp. 535–542, https://doi. org/10.1007/s12529-011-9192-3. Accessed 23 Dec. 2019.
Descilo, T., et al. “Efects of a Yoga Breath Intervention Alone and in Combination with an Exposure Therapy for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Depression in Survivors of the 2004 South-East Asia Tsunami.” Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, vol. 121, no. 4, 1 Apr. 2010, pp. 289–300, pubmed.ncbi. nlm.nih.gov/19694633/, https://doi.org/10.1111/ j.1600-0447.2009.01466.x.
Hampton, Lucinda. “Sympathetic Nervous System.” Physiopedia, www.physio-pedia.com/Sympathetic_ Nervous_System.
Melnick, Kyle. “NYC Schools Add Mindful Breathing to Lesson Plans: “a Lifelong Skill.”” Washington Post, The Washington Post, 29 June 2023, www. washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/06/29/newyork-city-schools-breathing/.
Russo, Marc A., et al. “The Physiological Efects of Slow Breathing in the Healthy Human.” Breathe, vol. 13, no. 4, 2017, pp. 298–309, https://doi. org/10.1183/20734735.009817.
Streeter, Chris C., et al. “Thalamic Gamma Aminobutyric Acid Level Changes in Major Depressive Disorder after a 12-Week Iyengar Yoga and Coherent Breathing Intervention.” The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, vol. 26, no. 3, 14 Jan. 2020, https://doi.org/10.1089/ acm.2019.0234.
the Drake Equation
the Equation
Seoha (David) Kim '28
I. Abstract
The question of whether our existence in this universe is solitary has been discussed throughout the years, yet no one has come up with a satisfactory answer to this question. The closest in which humanity ever came to explaining this idea was using the Rare Earth Equation, which encompasses complex ideologies leading to an approximated probability of the number of sustainable civilisations in the universe. This equation also happens to be the revisited version of the Drake Equation, established in 1961 by astronomer Frank Drake. 1961 was an interesting year to conduct space research: this was 3 years after the creation of the major space government agency NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), which led multiple space explorations and was responsible for countless accomplishments, notably the discovery of the frst exoplanet.
II. On Drake
So, what does NASA have to do with the Drake Equation?
The tale begins with Drake becoming the frst man to conduct a search for extraterrestrial life, better known as the SETI search. This search, namely Project Ozma, involved a radio telescope of length 26m, looking into the stars Tau (τ) Ceti and Epsilon (ε) Eridani. The radio was at a 1420 MHz marker frequency, a wavelength of 21cm; this corresponds to the energy emitted by a “solitary, electrically neutral hydrogen atom”. There was a reason behind this, though—the Wow! Signal. In 1977, the radio telescope Big Ear of Ohio State University detected 72 seconds of random signal reading ‘6EQUJ5’. The words ‘Wow!’ were written on the computer printout of it, hence the name. Approximately a year after this expedition, the first (informal) SETI meeting was held at Green Bank, West Virginia, USA. Drake, who knew that the space industry would develop over the following decades, decided that he was going to announce this equation at the first meeting of SETI, an institute launched by NASA. This was when the Drake equation was officially published and known to the public.
III. On the Equation
Let’s look deeper into the equation itself. This equation will undoubtedly feel daunting at frst, but it is quite simple overall. The equation consists of various factors that lead to communication with advanced civilizations. All of these factors constantly change over time and can vary depending on when these factors were measured, which is why these variables are written as letters (unknown values). First, the value we are looking for is N, where N is the number of civilizations humans can successfully communicate with. The rest of the values are multiplied, simply because they act with each other and contribute equally to the solution. R* is the rate of star formation measured as an annual average, fP is the fraction of stars in the universe that have planets (similar to the Earth), ne is the number of planets that support life (given that the star has planets), f is the fraction of the life-supporting planets which appears to have life, fi is the fraction of the planets having intelligent life, fc is the fraction of those intelligent lives that has the intelligence to develop communication with other civilizations, and L is the length of time that the two civilizations, (if possible) can communicate for, measured as an average. As we approach the fnal
variables, we come to realise that there are too many variables to cope with and that the result provided will be large or small in magnitude to the extreme. Trying out a calculation based on the sources given for 2023, it turns out that the probability that we will be able to communicate with an exo species is 7starsyear* 0.4planetsstar* 0.5habitable planetsplanets* 0.5able to communicateintelligent life* 1,000,000 years = 2625 civilizations we can communicate with. This is not that much considering the scale of the galaxy.
IV. On the Revisited Equation
The year 2000 saw the publication of the book: Rare Earth: Why Complex Life Is Uncommon in the Universe by Peter D. Ward. In this book was an equation called the Rare Earth Equation, considered by scientists the updated version of the Drake Equation. The Drake Equation and the Rare Earth Hypothesis are merely additions, the latter being the revisited version. The same elements of the equation will not be included in the description.
If there is one difference to be counted comparing the Drake equation with the Rare Earth Equation, it would be that the Rare Earth Equation does not consider the probability that complex life will go through evolutionary processes to become fully intelligent life. But here comes one important question, a phrase that should be defined before we should continue further: What is Life?
The part to be dealt with is not the psychological features of life, which most philosophers have provided us with sophisticated answers we accept. Instead, the scientific characteristics should be considered, and they are the following: being an extant bipedal vertebrate (with hand-eye coordination), relatively adept vocal apparatus (with the ability of speech), the ability to formulate abstract theories that lead to the invention of mathematics and sciences. These three conditions are what make the fundamental abilities of intelligent species.
V. Confrmations
In the timeframe of approximately a century, 5 pieces of evidence were gathered and developed regarding the proof of the existence of extraterrestrial life. Two of these pieces of evidence are investigated here.
In March of 2011, astrophysicist Richard Hoover published a paper claiming that he found evidence of life on Mars. After an investigation on a carbonaceous meteorite, Hoover found that the meteorite contained cyanobacteria, a type of blue-green unicellular algae. Hoover used morphological features and chemical tests to prove his point, yet this topic still remains a question in the field of microbiology. The scientists had a reason to be skeptical, as cyanobacteria are photosynthetic and exist only in the presence of liquid water. All these factors, mixed with high concentrations of oxygen, are not something that we find likely on the surface of Mars. Despite all that, Hoover’s methodology and reasoning showed the meteorite was not contaminated as it landed on Earth. What could be settled here is the fact that it was “too soon to say for sure whether the claim would hold up”, although the research was done thoroughly.12
In 1976, NASA developed and launched two Mars Viking landers, and an onboard experiment Labeled Release, designed to test and check for organic compounds and bio -
signatures, found a reactive substance within the Martian soil. This substance increases the portion of carbon dioxide over time. To elaborate, the Viking landers used gas chromatography via the use of the GCMS (Gas chromatograph — mass spectrometer), where gas components are chemically separated and measured. This matter was concluded with Gilbert Levin, the chief engineer of Labeled Release deciding that microorganisms on Mars were what created the change. Unfortunately, this claim was not widely accepted by the scientific community, as they stated that the results were a false negative case. This was because Later in December 2010, the Journal of Geophysical Research published a report, stating that this substance did exist a few years ago, but was destroyed just as the Viking came to investigate it.
VI. Conclusion
Space is an area of constant study, and we all know from common knowledge that it expands. These two instances mentioned previously were not sufficient evidence regarding extraterrestrial life. Despite that, there is still evidence showing the current struggle of mankind for the ‘Second Earth’, with a total of over 60 being the ‘Potentially Habitable Planets’ NASA released and updated a few years ago. The signifcance of the Drake Equation lies in the fact that humans may not be able to undo all the problems that they caused over the past years since their irreversible use of nuclear weapons and plastics contributed as a dominating factor towards the annihilation of what was supposed to be our ‘permanent home’. Their past wrongdoings, notably the occurrences of multiple oil spills, deforestation and river evaporation, are not helping the current condition of the Earth. This urgency, however, did not bring the call for action from the inhabitants of Earth (quite sadly). It is my belief that the search for extraterrestrial life and adapting to the potentially habitable planets may be the only feasible solution there is to most of Earth’s problems.
Works Cited
Adler, D. (2022). Rare Earth hypothesis: Why we might really be alone in the universe. [online] Astronomy Magazine.
Avail -
able at: https://www.astronomy.com/science/rare-earthhypothesis-why-we-might-really-be-alone-in-the-universe/. Berkeley, U. (2021). The Drake Equation - Understanding Evolution. [online] evolution.berkeley.edu. Available at: https:// evolution.berkeley.edu/a-place-for-life/research-profile-dr-eric-korpela/the-drake-equation/ [Accessed 31 Oct. 2023].
Chick, G. (2015). Length of time such civilizations release detectable signals into space, L, 1961 to the present. [online] Cambridge University Press. Available at: https://www.cambridge. org/core/books/abs/drake-equation/length-of-time-such-civilizations-release-detectable-signals-into-space-l-1961-to-the-present/8B9BF410029D0C1061922ECF9C7BFBB7.
Elizabeth Howell (2018). Drake Equation: Estimating the Odds of Finding E.T. [online] Space.com. Available at: https://www.space.com/25219-drake-equation.html.
Hurley, S. (2018). The Rare Earth hypothesis. [online] Explaining Science. Available at: https://explainingscience.org/2018/04/08/the-rare-earth-hypothesis/.
Larson, D. (2023). Planet Frequency and the Drake Equation - Complex Life. [online] Fossil Hunters. Available at: https://www.fossilhunters.xyz/complex-life/planet-frequency-and-the-drake-equation.html [Accessed 31 Oct. 2023].
Marino, L. (2015). Fraction of life-bearing Planets on Which Intelligent Life emerges, fi, 1961 to the Present. [online] Cambridge University Press. Available at: https://www.cambridge.org/core/ books/abs/drake-equation/fraction-of-lifebearing-planets-onwhich-intelligent-life-emerges-fi-1961-to-the-present/E2AD81F1689510ADEE59B70B78E4EDCF [Accessed 31 Oct. 2023].
Retherford, B. (2018). How Many Exoplanets Might Have Life? The Number Is. . . [online] Forbes. Available at: https:// www.forbes.com/sites/billretherford/2018/05/28/how-manyexoplanets-might-have-life-thenumber-is/?sh=707d13fe2d51 [Accessed 31 Oct. 2023].
SETI Institute (2019). Drake Equation | SETI Institute. [online] Seti.org. Available at: https://www.seti. org/drake-equation-index. Sierra, L. (2016). Are We Alone in the universe?
Revisiting the Drake Equation. [online] Exoplanet Exploration: Planets beyond Our Solar System. Available at: https://exoplanets. nasa.gov/news/1350/are-wealone-in-the-universe-revisiting-the-drake-equation/. Magazine, S. and Schulze-Makuch, D. (2015a). Astronomers Just Doubled the Number of Potentially Habitable Planets. [online] Smithsonian Magazine. Available at: https:// www.smithsonianmag.com/air-space-magazine/astronomers-just-doubled-number-potentially-habitable-planets-180953898/ Staff, Space. com (2013a). 5 Bold Claims of Alien Life. [online] Space. com. Available at: https://www.space.com/11057-science-claims-alien-life.html
The movie E.T.'s famous finger-touch scene, as shown on its poster. Image courtesy of John Alvin.
VAMPIRE: Origins
The sound of bats screeching wakes you up. When you open your eyes, knifelike fangs fash and the windows swing open, revealing a pool of blood. These creatures have been haunting children's dreams since the 18th century—they are vampires. Unlike the prevalent myth of vampires being revenants of evil beings, the driver behind their birth is actually our ancestors. When medical science was far from being advanced, scientists attempted to explain the incomprehensible phenomena of death and symptoms of unknown illnesses. Thus, in reality, the curiosity of humans marked the birth of vampires.
Firstly, to introduce what the vampire myth is about, vampires are typically depicted as demonic creatures that rise from their graves to feed on the blood of the living. They have a nocturnal nature: they rest in their cofns during the day and emerge at night. Vampires have an insatiable craving for human or animal blood, a necessity to sustain their existence. They may use their fangs to puncture the skin and drink blood from their victims. Often portrayed as immortal or longlived, vampires possess supernatural powers such as shape-shifting into animals. Legends describe various ways to repel vampires, including the use of garlic and holy symbols such as crucifxes.
Porphyria, a group of rare genetic blood disorders, is often referred to as the “vampire disease.” In porphyria, there is a dysfunction or deficiency in the enzymes involved in the heme production pathway. The heme production pathway involves a series of reactions that synthesise heme, an essential component of oxygen-carrying molecules. When there is a dysfunction or defciency in the enzymes of this pathway, porphyrins, the building blocks of heme, accumulate. The excess porphyrins can interact with red blood cells, leading to several consequences. The accumulated porphyrins bind to haemoglobin and interfere with its normal function. For example, they displace oxygen from the heme molecule or impair the ability of haemoglobin to bind and transport oxygen effectively. As there is a reduced capacity of the blood to carry oxygen, the infected body experiences fatigue and shortness of breath. Also, porphyrins, especially certain types like uroporphyrins, have phototoxic properties. When exposed to sunlight, the accumulated porphyrins can absorb photons and generate reactive oxygen species, causing damage to skin cells. As they are deposited from the red blood cells to the tissues, porphyrins can cause damage to tissues. These deposits cause oxidative stress, the imbalance between the production of reactive oxygen species and the body’s ability to detoxify them. Consequently, the skin, liver, and nervous system are negatively afected and these effects are shown by physical symptoms. Although the several different types of porphyria each have their own specifc manifestations, the main symptoms of porphyria are:
1. Extreme sensitivity to sunlight: leads to blackened skin, hair growth, and facial disfgurement
2. Receding of the gum: exposes the teeth, leaving them to look like fangs
3. Red urine: because the patients had dark red urine, people assumed they were drinking blood.
Blackened skin, fangs, and the drinking of blood… Even from looking only at the symptoms, it is apparent that these are common descriptions of vampires. The patients’ behaviours were reflected in the mythology as well! The facial disfigurement caused by porphyria worsens as poor oxygenation leads to a complete collapse of the facial structure. Therefore, patients understandably avoided mirrors, leading to the current myth that vampires are not able to look at their refections. Also, people had an aversion to garlic at that time, as the sulphur content of garlic could lead to porphyria. Nowadays, children believe in the power of garlic to ward of vampires.
As such, the elements of vampire folklore correspond to the real-life symptoms and behaviours of those diagnosed with porphyria.
Another disease that inspired vampires was Rabies, a viral disease that affects all mammals, including humans.
The Rabies virus (RABV) belongs to the genus Lyssavirus, having a distinct “bullet shape” and nonsegmented RNA genomes. The RABV cell has five proteins, one of which is a glycoprotein that plays a crucial role in the virus's ability to enter and infect host cells. The glycoprotein facilitates viral attachment and fusion with the cell membrane, allowing the virus to enter the host cell. Once inside the host cell, the RABV serves as a template for viral replication and protein synthesis, which are then assembled into new virus particles. During this process, the RABV hijacks the host cell's machinery to produce more virus copies. RABV primarily targets and infects nerve cells (neurons)
in the central nervous system (CNS). The virus can gain entry into the CNS by travelling along peripheral nerves from the site of the initial infection, typically through a bite or scratch from an infected animal. Furthermore, RABV has developed mechanisms to evade the host's immune response. It can inhibit the production of interferons, essential molecules involved in antiviral defence, allowing the virus to evade detection and establish a successful infection. As the infection progresses, RABV can also spread from the CNS to other organs and tissues, including salivary glands, where it replicates and accumulates. This viral amplification in the salivary glands facilitates transmission of the virus to new hosts through the bite of an infected animal, continuing the cycle of infection.
In infected animals, Rabies is known to cause abnormal behaviours such as increased aggression, hyperactivity, sensitivity to light, and excessive salivation. These symptoms give the appearance of a creature that attacks its victims, avoids sunlight, and craves blood: vampires.
Not only do the symptoms of Rabies match with the description of vampires, but the way of transmission also establishes a deep connection with vampirism. In fact, both Rabies and Vampirism are transmitted via bites or blood-to-blood contact. Furthermore, human deaths from Rabies tend to result from suffocation or cardiorespiratory arrest. The bodies of people who have died in these ways exhibit signs such as haemorrhage and slower decomposition. Haemorrhage is a condition with uncontrolled bleeding, either internally or externally, through a break in the skin, which gives people the impression that the patient has been drinking blood. At the same time, slower decomposition seemed to imply that the person was not truly dead. To further reinforce the idea that Rabies stimu-
lated the tale of vampires, Neurologist Gomez-Alonso stated, “During the period when dramatic tales of vampires were frst emerging from Eastern Europe, a major epidemic of rabies in dogs, wolves, and other wild animals was recorded in the same region between 1721-1728.” Clearly, the symptoms, route of transmission, and historical background of Rabies reveal its association with vampires.
Post-mortem decomposition is a natural biological process that begins shortly after death. It involves the breakdown of tissues and the release of gases. Although the changes in the body’s appearance are ordinary, some observers misinterpret the natural decay process. For example, during decomposition, the body's skin can appear pale or translucent, giving the impression of a creature that avoids sunlight. The tissues around the teeth may diminish, making the teeth appear more prominent, resembling vampires’ fangs. Additionally, as the body decomposes, it can release fuids, including blood-like fuids, which could be misconstrued as evidence of blood-drinking. As death is an obscure afair even now, legends were created to comprehend these peculiar and frightening transformations observed in the deceased.
To this day, many people enjoy diverse stories about vampires, such as Hotel Transylvania, and others shudder in their own imaginations. However, the scientifc explanations behind vampires may be infrequent news to hear. It is important to note that other than the circumstances described above, well-known diseases such as the Bubonic plague and Cholera also contributed to the birth of vampires!
Works Cited
CDC. “What Is Rabies?
.” CDC, Centers for Disease Control and prevention, 2019, www.cdc.gov/rabies/about.html.
Fooks, Anthony R., et al. “Rabies.” Nature Reviews Disease Primers, vol. 3, no. 1, 30 Nov. 2017, www.nature.com/articles/nrdp201791, https://doi. org/10.1038/nrdp.2017.91 .
Hefferon, Michael. “Vampire Myths Originated with a Real Blood Disorder.” Queen’s Gazette | Queen’s University, 29 June 2020, www.queensu.ca/gazette/stories/vampire-myths-originated-real-blood-disorder.
Paknikar, Simi. “Porphyria | Vampire Disease - Causes Symptoms Diagnosis Treatment, Prevention.” Medindia, 2022, www.medindia.net/patients/patientinfo/porphyria.htm.
Snider, Laura. “3 Real Diseases That Infuenced Vampire Folklore.” Www.visiblebody.com, 2020, www.visiblebody.com/blog/3-real-diseases-that-infuenced-vampire-folklore.v
Cosmic
Kyuwon (Chloe) Park '27
When we look up at the stars, we dream of countless wonders awaiting beyond the horizon of our understanding. We think of great galactic civilizations erecting otherworldly monuments on distant planets, of strange new technologies and raw materials just waiting to be discovered. In the realm of our imagination, strange slimy creatures shoot through the darkness of space, sipping extraterrestrial smoothies and fantasising about a vacation in far-away solar systems. Aliens are everywhere in popular media, dominating flms, literature and videogames. One of the greatest desires of the human race is to discover life within the boundless depths of the cosmos. Considering the scale of the universe, this is not an unreasonable goal.
There are approximately 100 billion stars in the Milky Way alone. Therefore, we can assume that the Milky Way has, on average, between 800 billion and 3.2 trillion planets. It is highly probable that some of these planets orbit in a habitable zone. Many of these stars and the planets orbiting them have existed far longer than the Sun. If Earth-like planets are typical, intelligent life must have developed before now. If the rate at which technology develops is even remotely similar to the rate of development on Earth, it is highly probable that at least some of these civilizations would have developed interstellar travel. The Milky Way could, even at a slow rate of interstellar travel (that is, slower than the speed of light), be traversed within a few million years. Since Earth is many billions of years old, it must have been visited by either intelligent lifeforms or probes in the past. However, there is no convincing evidence that this has happened. So where are all the aliens?
This conundrum is the Fermi paradox, named after the Italian physicist Enrico Fermi after he blurted out this conundrum in a dinner conversation. Judging by the probable proliferation of life throughout the universe, it is strange that no alien civilizations have made contact with the Earth sometime in the past. While there is no clear-cut answer to this question, numerous possible solutions have been proposed, all of which strive to explain why our existence has been one of cosmic solitude.
The first and arguably the most straightforward solution is simply that intelligent life is actually an extremely rare occurrence. The Rare Earth Hypothesis claims that complex, intelligent life requires an astronomically improbable combination of factors to occur. Many astronomical, biological and geographical factors are needed to support life. Earth is located within a galactic habitable zone. We have a central star and a planetary system that meet the requisite conditions, a gas guardian (Jupiter) and a natural satellite (the Moon) to protect us from frequent impact events, and tectonic plates that ensure the formation of new terrestrial landmasses which drive evolution by creating new competitive environments.
Our world has also had one or more evolutionary triggers for complex life, meaning life (which tends to remain quite basic unless prompted) has, for some reason, developed into complex multicellular organisms capable of forming massive civilizations. It is clear that a combination of such factors is implausibly rare. Even if a few Earth-like planets did support life, due to the improbability of the phenomenon, they would be few and far between, making communication be-
tween them very difcult. Anthropomorphic life must surely be rarer. We are dexterous, terrestrial, bi-pedal non-avian organisms with great hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills, a vocal apparatus that enables speech, and the mental capacity to form abstract ideas, all of which have allowed for the development of complex civilizations.
The second proposed solution is that intelligent civilizations may not have developed advanced technologies. There have existed anywhere between 5 and 50 billion species in the history of the Earth. 8.7 million of them exist in the present. Among them, only one species has developed technology that is capable of exiting the Earth’s orbit. This lack of development may parallel many planets in the universe. There are three main explanations for this. The frst is that Water Worlds, such as the Earth, usually have far lower percentages of continental landmass, making the development of technology difcult. The second is that the nature of intelligent life is to destroy itself, either through war, climate change, resource depletion or other means. Case in point: our civilization.
Fig 2. Possible results of a man-made climate change. Three of the four results in societal collapses and major dieofs.
Within the last two or three centuries, we have developed weapons of mass destruction, each capable of levelling cities and killing millions. Global warming is an ever-present problem and our technological development has so far failed to catch up with the rate at which we empty our planet’s treasury of natural resources. Perhaps, as a rule, all civilizations developed enough to attempt interstellar navigation fall victim to one or more of these great flters. The fnal and most depressing/alarming explanation is that the nature of intelligent life is to destroy each other. The Dark Forest Hypothesis conjectures that all intelligent, spacefaring life is by nature belligerent, silent and hostile to other civilizations. It may be that any nascent civilization that unwittingly makes themselves known is immediately and completely destroyed by the others. According to this hypothesis, the universe is a
dark forest, full of hunters stalking through the woods.
The third proposed solution is that, sociologically, colonisation and exploration are not the cosmic norm. Human beings are unreasonably aggressive. When they encounter another sentient species, they try their utmost to wipe them out, as the Neanderthals and the Hominin Erecti, our unfortunate cousins, found out the hard way. When they see a distant horizon, they itch to colonise it and erect their tiny flags on their vast plains. This may be because they are compensating for their small size, lack of durability or physical weakness. Regardless, it is highly unlikely that such belligerence is common to every intelligent species or civilization. Perhaps the reason we haven’t been contacted by extraterrestrials is because all alien civilizations really want to do is just stay home and chill. Further, more advanced civilizations may simply choose to isolate themselves from reality, uploading their consciousness into a collective computer, which would again prevent them from colonising other planets.
Let us assume that we are, in fact, the only civilization in our galaxy capable of spacefaring. Perhaps we are the only spark in the unending darkness of the universe. In that case, it may well be our duty to explore and colonise its many nooks and crannies, seeding it with life. To propagate populations within barren galaxies, to synthesise sentience, to vivify the dying embers of vitality may be our fnal purpose. Or perhaps the universe is fated to remain a dead wasteland, leaving our solitary existence to be forgotten in the mindless aeons to come. Does that scare you? Me too.
Works Cited
Webb, S. (2015) If the universe is teeming with aliens ... where is everybody? Seventy-five solutions to the Fermi paradox and the problem of Extraterrestrial Life. Springer International Publishing.
Boyle, R. and Quanta Magazine moderates comments to facilitate an informed, substantive (2021) Galaxy simulations offer a new solution to the Fermi paradox, Quanta Magazine. Available at: https://www.quantamagazine.org/galaxy-simulations-offer-a-new-solution-to-the-fermi-paradox-20190307/ (Accessed: 29 November 2023).
Yasser, S. (2021) Aliens, the Fermi paradox, and the Dark Forest theory, Project Nash. Available at: https://www.projectnash.com/ aliens-the-fermi-paradox-and-the-dark-forest-theory/ (Accessed: 29 November 2023).
A. Vakoch, D. (2017) ‘Hawking’s fear of an alien invasion may explain the Fermi paradox’, Theology and Science, 15(2), pp. 134–138. doi:10.1080/14746700.2 017.1299380.
A rocket fired from the Kennedy Space Centere. Image courtesy of Bill
Jelen.
Terraforming: Galactical Colonialism
Emi Noel Webber, '30
Do you think we can find another planet…? If we plan on doing this, how do you think we can manage to travel thousands of light years away in only a few seconds? Well, scientists believe that if we evolve our technological abilities, then we might be able to swiftly hop on to a different planet in a matter of only a few seconds.
As you probably already have noticed, there are inherent problems on Earth, starting with the fact that there are many global warming, pollution, and population overload that need fixing before the problem becomes even more serious than it already is. This means that we need to move planets. We could do this in multiple ways,but the most efcient being, moving to a new planet.
Now, you may be thinking, why out of all solutions would we choose to move planets? This is because, with technology evolving so quickly, we will be able to find our way to another planet quite efficiently and quickly without trouble. If we choose to use a different tactic, for example, reducing, reusing and recycling, the only problem with this is that not everyone is willing to do such actions. Imagine if you were to step away from Jeju, and go somewhere like Chile or Turkey. Both countries, according to Global Citizen, written by Joe McCarthy, recycle an abysmal 1% of total waste. They are also the only countries to have become worse at recycling since 2000, with 33% and 78% declines, respectively. In addition, even if the world decided that recycling would be a law, then, in that case, the average human breaks around 7 laws each day.
So, it brings us to the idea of which planet we would move to if we even had the technology to do so. There are many oppositions starting with Mars. Mars would have the wind and clouds to be similar enough to Earth. Mars also once had water and the right amount of oxygen to support human life, but the one thing that is more on the negative side is the fact that Mars doesn’t have any water anymore. This is extremely important because humans can only survive without water for a maximum of 3 days, leading to the fact that living on Mars would give you a life span of only 3 days or possibly less because humans haven’t accustomed to the habitat yet.
The next planet that would be possible to live on would be Kepler 62f or Kepler 62e. Kepler 62f orbits the sun every 267 days and is 40 percent larger than Earth while Kepler 62e orbits the sun every 122 days and is 60 percent larger than the earth. These are also positive due to the fact that because we managed to destroy the earth slowly we would need something a little larger in size so we would be able to survive for thousands of years more, rather than the not so long life earth had before it started to become more and more sick. A study suggests that Kepler-62e would have a very hospitable climate for life, as it would be a damp and warm environment even up to the area around its poles. Borucki, who led the team that discovered Kepler-62e and Kepler-62f once said, "Look at our own ocean — it is just absolutely full of life,".This means that even professionals believe there is a chance of life surviving on the planet.
And the last planet would be TRAPPIST-1e.
TRAP
PIST-1e According to the Habitable Exoplanets Catalog, TRAPPIST-1e is among the best potentially habitable ex oplanets discovered. It has a rocky terrain and is 7,292 miles away from the Earth orbiting every 6.1 Earth days, TRAPPIST-1e is smaller than Earth, with a diameter of 7,292 miles (11,736 km) — just 0.92 times our planet's — and 69% Earth's mass, equating to a surface gravity of 93% that of Earth. This means that if we decided to move to this planet, it would give us just enough space to thrive.
Now, after all the information about what's happening now, it brings us to the topic of what the future holds for us. Right now, if we find ways and methods to move to a diferent planet, then everything will be fne. Yet, if we don’t do anything about the problems of our home planet, then at some point, our planet will be a dead planet; one that is just in our solar system for no reason. A totally useless habitat. Dead. But according to many scientists, they have said that if we don’t address the issues of Earth the planet will die. This means that if we don’t, quickly, re alise how big of a deal this is, then our planet and the human species will become extinct.
On the other hand, if we were to ad dress this issue, we would have happy humans and happy life on planet Earth with a carefree environment. Therefore, if we were to do this, we would have to, using our planet's most advanced tech nology, somehow, move to one of the planets that are auto lee for human life.
As the earth's prob lems increase, we need to find an other planet. In this article, we have discussed the problem of Earth. Follow ing on, how planets can be replaced from
Earth to Trappist-e to Mars in the near future. “Everywhere I go, I’m the frst. Step outside the rover? First guy ever to be there! Climb a hill? First guy to climb that hill.” Would you ever like to live on Mars?
Works Cited
Cooper, K. (2023) TRAPPIST-1: A guide to the system with 7 Earth-size exoplanets. https://www.space.com/35806-trappist1-facts.html#:~:text=Orbiting%20every%206.1%20Earth%20 %20days,of%2093%25%20that%20of%20Earth. Howell, E. (2016) Kepler-62F: A possible Water World. https://www. space.com/24142-kepler-62f.html. McCarthy, J. and Sánchez, E. (2016) These countries are the best and worst recyclers in the world. https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/best-andworst-recyclers-in-the-world/. TRAPPIST-1 e - NASA Science (no
Ants Go Marching, a thousand by a thousand.
You’ve probably seen ants before. They scurry around in a somewhat undecided manner, zig-zagging their way to your picnic and stealing an imperceptibly small bite of your sandwich. You may have been unfortunate enough to learn that if such an ant is to be left to its business, soon an entire brigade of ants will come to launch a siege on your sandwich with the full force of the colony. (While the collective portion of the sandwich that you would lose is still relatively small, sharing your lunch with tiny formic insects may not exactly be one’s idea of an ideal picnic — especially if some of the ants become part of your lunch.)
Popular illustrations of ants generally tend to compare them to soldiers for how they march in strict ranks. In fact, the collective noun for ants is an ‘army’ (as in a pack of wolves, a herd of sheep, a murder of crows). Humans often behave similarly, but in human armies, there is a hierarchy in which the individuals are controlled by a superior leader. Removal of the leader would impede the functioning of the group until a new leader is elected. In ants, however, the removal of any given ant in a marching column will not result in a perceptible diference — if you remove all but one ant in the entire column, that lonely ant will still make its way to the sandwich, then scuttle proudly back home. However, the individual efficiency of an ant — that is, the amount of work each ant can do — is greater when it is working in a group than when it works alone, even though nothing about the ant itself or its behaviour changes.
This behaviour is part of what is known as emergence. Emergence is a property seen in a wide range of scenarios where a group of small, simple things that interact with each other in a specific way makes their collective behaviour much more complex and, often, useful.
Emergence: Renaming Tornadoes and How Ants Become Octopuses
As is often the case for phenomena that are common or fundamental to our understanding of the world, it is difcult to defne emergence. Humans have, for most of their history, taken emergence for granted. A tornado, for example, consists of a very large number of dust particles. Each dust particle is part of the identity of the tornado. The removal of a dust particle would change the tornado subtly. If you were to defne a tornado by its current state, then any given tornado would only exist for a single point in time. However, the removal of a single dust particle — or even the replacement of all the particles with new particles from the ground — would still leave the tornado recognisable as a tornado. In fact, an observer would still identify the tornado as being the same one as before.
Thankfully, atmospheric scientists do not rename a typhoon each time it changes its granular composition. This makes conversations about the weather much easier, but it causes difficulty in rigorously defining a tornado. What is a tornado? The dust particles that make it up? The air that it is composed of? Its location? The name? None of these characteristics are a defining feature of the tornado. Changing or removing any one of these will not alter the identity of the tornado in a way that is signifcant to us humans. This leads us to realise the dust particles and air molecules
swirling around in that particular way create a new entity. An entity that ‘emerges’ from the physical components, but does not depend on them, the one that we call a tornado.
The same principle applies to ants, but the individual ant in an ant colony is immensely more complicated than individual dust particles in a tornado– and so is the entity that emerges from them. Ant colonies are fascinating to watch–as I can testify as the owner of two Laisus niger ant colonies. The swarming and marching behaviour that is commonly observed in them is possible due to their communicative mechanism, consisting of an intricate chemical language of pheromones. There exists a massive variety of pherom,ones that each bear a unique message, that allows for ants to broadcast information to ants in their immediate vicinity and fag parts of their territory with messages that last for anywhere from 5 minutes to a whole day. Ants also keep a detailed record of which foragers have travelled in which direction– if a large number of foragers that scurried of in one direction do not come back, a fight mechanism is activated where ants cease to travel in that direction. If a large number of ants disappear within the nest, the entire colony evacuates, even if there is no tangible danger sensed by the ants. It is almost like a gigantic, extremely fexible and elastic octopus– blindly feeling through the world around it, seeing only through the eyes of individual cells– and retracting the tentacles when one of them is damaged and sends a ‘pain’ signal.
This ‘octopus’ is not limited to responding to the external environment- it can understand the internal situation of the colony and alter the overall behaviour of the individuals: it is capable of homeostasis. Most ants have what is known as a ‘caste’– a job which an individual is born for. Egg-laying queens with enormous, expandable abdomens that balloon up during the peak of growth of the colony and block-headed soldiers born to kill (and crack nut shells for small ants). However, the vast majority of a colony’s population usually consists of the worker caste. Workers are the ‘standard’ ant, and any ant you see on the ground is likely to be one of these. They tend to be the jack of all trades for the colony–they can do all of the jobs the colony needs to do to a certain extent. This means that unlike specialised majors or minors, worker ants can be used interchangeably between tasks. The survival of a colony relies on distributing these workers in each of the jobs as necessary.
This can be more difcult to do than expected. In the perils of the natural world, sending twelve ants to guard your nest does not always mean you will get twelve ants back at the end of their shift. The colony must be able to keep a record of decreasing populations in certain areas of the nest so that redistribution of the workforce occurs quickly and accurately. However, ants do not ‘record’ who is doing what job— in fact, most would not have an accurate idea of how many ants there are in the colony in the frst place.
How, then, have ants survived for 150 million years?
The answer is quite simple. When ants of a certain occupation decrease suddenly in number– say, an ant war breaks out, drawing all of the supermajors (big-headed, muscular soldiers) and soldier-workers to the battlefeld. This would leave only a few ants patrolling the nest, making it vulnerable to secondary threats. Ants have a habit of occasionally popping back into the nest– foragers and aphid ranchers bring back food, while soldiers lie around to rest. Hence, ants are used to seeing a certain number of soldiers within the nest whenever they visit it. In fact, they keep an extremely accurate record of the ratio of the occupations of the workers that they have met in the past few minutes. After the war breaks out, non-soldier ants visiting the nest will realise that the ratio of soldiers of-duty that they run into is lower than usual– lower than it should be. Once the frequency at which the ant meets a soldier drops below a certain threshold, the ant switches its job to a soldier and begins patrolling the nest. This behaviour is repeated by all the other ants in the nest until eventually the quorum for soldiers is met.
There is no ‘clerk’ ant involved in this process that counts the number of soldiers. No ant put up an “I want YOU for the Queen’s royal army” poster on the atrium of the nest. No entity decided which ants would meet which (and if there was, they weren’t acting in the best interests of the ants). Ants embrace uncertainty during job distribution. Over the countless generations of colonies, ants have learnt to use probability to their advantage, behaving in a certain way such that it becomes incredibly likely that things go as they want them to go without needing a plan. While tornado dust and air adhere to the relatively simple language of particle physics, evolution has gifted ants with the ability to communicate in a language of their own suited for their goals and purposes.
Biologists have noticed this emerging “octopus” entity in ant colonies as well. In fact, there’s a name for it: a superorganism. A superorganism is an entity that consists of multiple organisms that are capable of independent functionality– such as an ant. An ant performs all the processes of life even in isolation. Superorganisms, however, are unique in that they show all the processes of life as a group as well. Formic behaviour is surprisingly analogous to mammalian cellular organisation: Ants construct intricate neural systems, locomoting in a way that is designed to streamline the flow of information in the colony. The foragers of the colony are the digestive system– crushing and ingesting food, and storing the digested fuids in their social stomach. They then transfer the nutrients to their housekeeping sisters, who then travel around the nest rationing the food to hungry ants who work within the nest—a circulatory system. Repletes hoard surplus food in their social stomach for use when the colony runs out of food—fat cells. Alates, or reproductive ants with wings that are used to mate mid-air, are produced annually during mating season for colonies, which then form a new colony, each of whose members inherit part of the parent colonies’ genes, very much like gametes.
Emergence’s place in the Universe
Emergence is much more common than one may expect. Eusocialism, displayed in social insects such as ants, bees and termites, is one of the most intricate examples. A small variety of fungi that have confused scientists for a while on where exactly in the taxonomic tree they should be placed, known as Myxomycetes, congregate into a mass of cytoplasm that has unclear boundaries between individual cells and can locomote collectively while ingesting bacteria and other bits and pieces of nutrition. A flock of birds or sheep each herd each other, moving in formation in an optimised route, without an individual ever taking command.
Emergent entities may also provide a new window into the age-old problem of a ‘soul’ in humans. The progression of science has left us repeatedly asking “What am I? What is this ‘consciousness’ that I feel? Even if this is all an illusion, there must be something to be deceived if deception is to happen”. The collective communication between neurons forms an emergent entity that we call ourselves– which was also produced by the emergent properties of evolution. Emergence occurs on a galactic scale as well. Each atom interacts with one another according to the simple (by simple I mean finite) rules of physics. The atoms themselves, while interesting in their own respect, are not very grand when you look at them from a human scale. Any conceivable number of atoms would appear to our feeble eyes as very little more than a dust particle. However, these atoms and the interactions between them formed the universe, with a similar fractal-like pattern: moons orbit planets, planets orbit stars, stars orbit galaxies orbit barycenters. Emergence allows for order to be formed from chaos, for randomness to become predictable. It is what has allowed for us, infnitesimal apes that waddle around an insignificant planet somewhere on the arm of a small galaxy– but it would be an understatement to say that we are fascinating, as are the other products of emergence.
Works Cited
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Dybas, C. (no date) Ancient ants arose 140-168 million years ago, NSF. Available at: https://www.nsf.gov/news/ news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=106851#:~:text=Their%20conclusion%20that%20modern%2Dday,estimates%20from%20 the%20fossil%20record. (Accessed: 30 October 2023).
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A tornado in Arendal, Norway. Image courtesy of Espen Bierud on Unsplash.
