The Inquirer Vol. 6 Issue 2 FINAL by phellstrom-wildwood

THE INQUIRER

Vol. 6 Issue 2

TABLE OF CONTENTS DESIGN BY MARLEY GEISLER-AMHOWITZ, REILAND BRUSKOTTER AND MADDY GIDDINGS

Basketball and the Quest for Efficiency Max Aronoff-Sher ...............................................................................4 A Cuttlefish's Secret Weapon Sadie Gardiner ....................................................................................8 Spending Money to Save Money (And the Planet) A Cost-Benefit Analysis of Climate Policy Dani Barrett ......................................................................................12 Improving Diversity in STEM: Weed-Out Classes, Workplace Professionalism, and Counterspaces Ximena Perez ....................................................................................16 From Dust to Dawn: The Origins of the Solar System Ian Norfolk ........................................................................................22 3D Printing in Medicine Justin Dewig ......................................................................................26 The Future of Prosthetics Max Staples ......................................................................................30 A Deep Dive into Robotics in Surgery Steven Castillo-Troya .......................................................................32 2

HEAD LIN E byauthor

Edit or ?s Not e

Welcome to Volume 6, Issue 2 of the Inquirer. In this edition, you?ll find writing from both seniors and ninth graders in the Institute, and read articles on biology, biotechnology, diversity in STEM, statistics, and more that reflect the evolution of WISRD Publications I?ve witnessed during my time as Senior Editor.

Over the past two years, WISRD members, writers, our Scientific Writing Coach, Dr. Amielle Moreno, our Editorial Team, and our Graphic Design Team have worked tirelessly to elevate the quality of The Inquirer and the WISRD Research Journal. From collaborating with Dr. Moreno through the WISRD Fellows program to attending our bi-annual Inquirer writing workshop to working remotely on creative designs, these groups and individuals have been instrumental in helping WISRD further develop into a fully-functioning Institute and solidifying scientific writing as a pillar of the Institute learning model.

As Institute members have invested more energy and time into developing their scientific writing skills, I?ve had the privilege of watching their abilities to communicate their research and articulate their thinking benefit every facet of the Institute.

We hope you enjoy the first WISRD Publication of 2021, and hope you?ll continue to follow WISRD writing and research in the year to come.

As always, I?d like to thank our Assistant Editor, Nnenna Brown, Publisher, Scott Johnson, WISRD COO, Joe Wise, WISRD Fellow and Writing Coach Dr. Amielle Moreno, writers, and Graphic Design Team ? Marley Geisler-Amhowitz, Reiland Bruksotter, and Maddy Giddings? and their instructor Patter Hellstrom. As always, please feel free to reach out to me at danib21@wildwood.org if you have any questions or would like to contribute to a WISRD Publication!

Sincerely, Dani Barrett Senior Editor of WISRD Publications Institute Director 8

Basketball and the Quest For Efficiency By Max Aronoff-Sher

When people talk about basketball they typically do not mention the math and physics behind it. Perhaps this is due to the countless movies, shows, and books that show the stereotypical ?jock? who makes fun of the stereotypical ?nerd? solely for being smart. Even when watching the game, it appears to be purely physical. However, this could not be further from the truth. As the availability of complex technology increases, NBA teams are taking full advantage of it and turning a game that is, at first glance, unsophisticated and raw into a sport of fine calculations in the everlasting search for peak efficiency. In the early 1950s, the NBA had a problem. Teams were taking leads in the game and then merely holding on to the ball until time ran out. This went against everything the newly founded league was built on. Basketball was supposed to be a fast-paced sport that kept spectators on their toes, and teams holding the ball for minutes was quickly boring the fanbase. This was an early case of teams using loopholes in the rules to gain advantage over their opponents. Our team is outmatched. Well, the other team can?t beat us if they can?t even get the ball. This thinking became increasingly popular, and after a game in 1954 where neither team

eclipsed 20 points, the league knew it was time for a rule change. Danny Biasone was the owner of a team called the Syracuse Nationals, and he was tasked with finding the solution and had the idea of implementing a timer on each possession. This would limit teams to a certain amount of time before they needed to take a shot. Biasone determined that in the most entertaining games, each team took 60 shots, so he came up with the equation of 48 (minutes in a game) multiplied by 60 (seconds in a minute) and then divided that number by 120, which is the ideal number of shots (60) multiplied by the number of teams (2). This yielded 24 seconds, which became the league?s first shot clock, and was implemented the very next season. It was a major success: in the first game under the new shot-clock, the winning team scored 98 points, a significant increase from the sub-20 scores seen the prior season. Although the shot clock was an early math-based decision on the league?s behalf, the real data revolution began with individual teams. In 1979, the NBA introduced the three-point line. This was revolutionary on multiple fronts. Not only did its introduction drum up excitement for a league that needed a

consistently in order to be an efficient point-earner. A shot from the corner of the three-point line averages 1.16 points-per-attempt, and a shot from the top of the three-point line averages 1.05 points-per-attempt.

boost in attention, but it also sparked the statistical era of basketball. As teams became acquainted with the three-point line, they began to realize the potential it harnessed. Shots attempted within the three-point line are worth two points, but not every shot is made. Shots attempted within three feet of the hoop are converted only 60% of the time, meaning that the average points-per-shot-attempt on shots within three feet is 1.2. This number decreases significantly as the shot moves farther away. Any shot made from further than three feet from the basket, yet within the three-point line, only averages 0.79 points-per-attempt. However, a shot from outside of the three-point line does not need to be made as

Teams quickly realized this and the three-point era of basketball skyrocketed. In 1979, the average team

shot 2.8 threes per game. In the 2020-2021 season, Warriors?guard Steph Curry alone has been shooting 11.3 threes per game. It?s not just Steph. In the 2016-2017 season, teams shot an average of 26 threes per game. In 2020-2021, the Cleveland Cavaliers were last in the league in three-point attempts per game at 26.8 and yet still surpassed the 2016 average. The Portland Trailblazers are leading the NBA with nearly 43 attempts per game, a massive jump from just a few years ago. This movement toward more

point-efficient shots was largely catalyzed by two teams: the Golden State Warriors and the Houston Rockets. The Warriors were considered a dynasty for the latter half of the 2010s. On the backs of Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, two of the league?s best shooters, they won three championships, becoming the first team to win with a game plan that focused on three-point shooting. The success of the Warriors influenced the rest of the league to emulate the Warriors?barrage of deep shots, and none did it better than the Houston Rockets. With a sharpshooter of their own in James Harden, and a front office headed by two of the most statistically-minded men in sports, Mike D?Antoni and Daryl Morey, the Rockets took the search for efficiency to the extreme. Half of all shots they took in 2019 were from the three-point line or beyond while keeping their other shots within a couple of feet. This raises the question: is this an effective strategy? The Rockets had eight years with the trio of Morey (general manager), D?Antoni (head coach), and Harden. During this time, they were never able to reach the finals, let alone win a championship. The Warriors, however, won three. What did they do that the Rockets could not replicate? While the Warriors shot a heavy volume of threes, they also attempted more mid-range shots than the Rockets did. The Warriors?shot chart is much more

evenly distributed than the Rockets?. Although it sounds counterintuitive to shoot more mid-ranges in order to rack up points more efficiently, the Warriors factored in one component the Rockets did not: human error. The Rockets? game plans were perfect, an ideal scenario, but ignored the reality that the people taking these shots were susceptible to bad games and misses. When the Warriors had bad shooting stretches, they would take shots from closer distances, and although this would yield fewer points, it had a higher chance of garnering any points at all. All of the Rockets?success at the three-point line would also lead to massive failures on its behalf. The Rockets lived and died by the three. In a playoff game where the Rockets had the chance to beat the Warriors and advance to the championship, they missed an NBA record, 29 consecutive three-pointers. The Warriors went on to win the game and the championship. When data and analytics are used to show the most effective way to win, the Rockets forgot to plan for when the team was incapable of following those analytics, and it led to their demise. The Warriors were able to use data while balancing it with a level of preparation that cannot be achieved through algorithms.

Warriors' Shot Chart

What does the future look like for data in the NBA? Teams already have begun using all sorts of research to figure out the best training regimen, the best diet, and the best arch on a shot, leaving no stone unturned. The future appears to be that basketball, at least at a professional level, will be broken down by the second, both on the court and off. Players will be put on schedules for when they eat, sleep, and exercise in order to maximize potential. Teams? rotations will be predetermined to have each player playing with only the teammates who fit the best together, and only for a set amount of time. And teams will be in an endless search for the next big discovery that will give them the edge over the others. This league of extreme precision will beg the question of whether too much analytics is taking from the sport more than it is giving. As basketball enters a new era of hyper-analysis, teams are forgetting the Warriors owed their edge over the Rockets to a delicate balance of both analytics and raw preparation, instead of solely the former.

Rockets' Shot Chart

A Cuttlefish's Secret Weapon: Chromatophores By Sadie Gardiner

A Cuttlefish in Its Natural Aquatic Habitat

Contrary to their name, cuttlefish are not fish; instead, they belong to the class Cephalopoda, also including octopuses, squid, and nautiluses. They are distinctively characterized by a thick internal calcified shell, called a cuttlebone, made of a mineral called aragonite, responsible for maintaining the animal?s buoyancy. This alien animal comes in 100 Adifferent cuttlefish species in its natural aquatic habitat of various sizes. One of the smallest varietes, the flamboyant cuttlefish, measures about 6cm, while one of the largest species, the sepia apama can grow up to 50cm, or 20in. Like most cephalopods, cuttlefish eject ink into the water to defend themselves against predators, mixing mucus to create a potential decoy organism.

Another unique adaptation of a cuttlefish is their small skin cells called chromatophores which can change color in an instant. The ability to change the color of its skin allows the cephalopod to hunt amongst the reef bed, almost invisible to its prey. Cuttlefish can also use muscles in their dermis to change their skin texture from smooth to rough, enabling them to hide easily among rocks on the seafloor. A cuttlefish?s survival relies heavily on its quick changing skin, but how can these animals accurately match their surroundings? Surprisingly, cuttlefish don?t rely on their sight to change color; in fact, as far as researchers know, cuttlefish are

colorblind. Yet they can change and match the color of their skin to their surroundings almost perfectly. Scientists are still stumped as to how they know what colors to match, but there are some theories. One hypothesis involves the animal's unique ?W?-shaped pupil. Unlike human eyes, the eyes of cuttlefish , and other cephalopods, contain just one kind of color-sensitive protein restricting them to only black and white vision. It?s theorized that a cuttlefish can rapidly focus their eyes at different depths, taking advantage of a lensing property called ?chromatic blur.? Color is perceived in wavelengths, and each color of light has a different wavelength that?s distinguishable from another. The theory is that cuttlefish eye lenses bend some wavelengths more than others? one color of light shining through a lens can be in focus while another is still blurry? so by quickly switching back and forth between depths, a cuttlefish can figure out the color of an object based on when it blurs. In a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, scientists built a computer model of an octopus eye and showed it could determine the object?s color just by changing focus, supporting the stated hypothesis. The second theory has to do with small cells in the skin of the cuttlefish called leucophores. Leucophores are flattened, elongated, reflective cells found in the skin of some cuttlefish. The cells reflect white light? a combination of all colors? appearing brighter and whiter while at the surface, closer to the sun, and then darker and more complex as the cuttlefish makes its way down the water

column. In order to change their color, cuttlefish rely on chromatophores, organs within their skin that contain pigment sacs which become more visible as small muscles pull the sac open, making the pigment expand under the skin. The muscles contracting the pigment sacs are closely linked to electrical activity in the chromatophore nerve. An electrical impulse causes the radial muscle fibers to pull outward which expands the middle of the pigment sac. An early experiment done by Ernst Florey in 1969 showed that the increase in frequency of the electrical nerve activity widened the radial muscle, which in turn expanded the pigment sac. Florey believed the radial muscle to have elastic properties which allowed the pigment sac to contract after being opened. Chromatophores are able to open and close quickly because they are neurally controlled. Neural control of the chromatophores allows for cuttlefish to change their appearance almost instantly, enabling them to generate small patterns or details on their skin for camouflage. Chromatophores are used to match the brightness of the background and to produce components that help the animal achieve general resemblance to the substrate or break up the body's outline. Another researcher named Roger Hanlon, theorized that cuttlefish have three basic camouflage patterns or ?templates? that the animal cycles through. ?In the laboratory we can test each of these pattern types and the animal?s magic is looking at a complex visual scene and only picking out one or two visual cues to turn on the right camouflage pattern type,?

Diagram of Taiwan's National Tsing Hua University's Experiment on Juvenile Cuttlefish.

Hanlon says. Not only can cuttlefish skin shift colors and patterns in the blink of an eye, it can also change texture just as fast. Even in complete darkness, cuttlefish gather and constrict bands of muscles beneath their skin to small points on the surface of their skin. Cuttlefish use their complex visual ability for a variety of things. They are able to flash different sections of their body in order to hypnotize their prey and strike. They use similar flashes to ?fight? with other cuttlefish for dominance; whichever has the brightest and most alarming pattern is the victor. Male cuttlefish utilize their unique skin pattern while mating, changing their

backs to mimic female patterns in order to deter other rival males. By mimicking another female cuttlefish, it deters suspicion that the male is courting a female. Cuttlefish, like their close octopus relatives, are considered highly intelligent, so it?s no surprise that cuttlefish exploit their skin?s abilities to its full potential; cephalopods are sometimes called ?honorary vertebrates,? despite being invertebrates, for their cognitive ability and potential consciousness. A study from Taiwan's National Tsing Hua University suggested that cuttlefish are even able to comprehend numerical

quantities. In their experiment, fifty-four juvenile cuttlefish were presented with two separate boxes, one of which had a single shrimp while the other had five. Each time the cuttlefish was presented with these two options, it chose the larger quantity of shrimp. The next experiment tested whether cuttlefish were able to distinguish the difference between closer numbers like three versus four, and each time the cuttlefish would choose the larger group. The final experiment ruled out that the cuttlefish chose the more densely populated area of shrimp. The scientists confined the three shrimp in a smaller enclosure and let four shrimp roam in a larger tank and still, every time, the cuttlefish were able to choose the tank with the most shrimp. The

experiment suggests that cuttlefish are able to ?count? and understand small numerical quantities which greatly benefits them in the wild. These unique skills set cuttlefish apart from other cephalopods and aquatic invertebrates; not only can they identify and instantly adapt to their surroundings, but they can comprehend numerical value and use their skin patterns to fend off rivals. Cuttlefish are one of the most incredible species on Earth and scientists learn more about them every day.

Spending Money to Save Money (And the Planet): A Cost-Benefit Analysis of Climate Policy By Dani Barrett

Anthropogenic climate change, or climate change induced by human activity, will impact weather patterns, biodiversity, and global and domestic economies in the next century. These ramifications will be ?significant? and ?increase over time,? according to a study by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Multi-billion and -trillion dollar industries such as energy, agriculture, and real estate that account for much of the United States?economy stand to be severely compromised if the delicate balance of the global climate is disrupted. To halt climate change, the US would need to reduce CO2 emissions by 80 percent, right now. As outlined in the United Nations? Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), ?urgent? climate action is needed immediately to stave off the worst consequences of anthropogenic climate change and warming, and the United States is positioned to be a global leader in fighting climate change. Under the Trump administration, however, we?ve seen very little federally backed movement towards these goals and even regression. In the past four years, former President Trump sponsored the rollbacks of 104 environmental policies, including withdrawal from the 2015 Paris Accord (which President Biden has rejoined). So as President Joe Biden enters his

fourth month in office, the United States? and the world? are watching how the new administration has tackled the climate crisis. Biden was elected on promises of bold climate action including decarbonization, phasing out fracking, natural gas, and fossil fuels, and a shift to 100% clean energy by 2035. These goals are ambitious and will undoubtedly be expensive, but they?ll save money, industries, and lives in the long run. Here?s why. Aggressive climate action comes with a hefty price tag, making it unpopular amongst conservatives who avoid big federal spending bills and tax increases in certain tax brackets. They claim that climate policy and investment in green energy will cut jobs and waste funds that could be spent ?cleaning up after ? climate change. One problem with this logic is that studies show that by waiting to see the worst of climate change, we?ll lose money, but we can save that money if we get out ahead of it. Consider asset depreciation of a car. The longer you wait to sell it, the less return you?ll get on your investment. The longer we wait to address climate change, the slimmer the chances that we?ll be able to salvage our economy, our industries, and ourselves. Just four consequences of climate change? property damage from hurricanes, losses in real estate, and

water and energy costs? would siphon $1.9 trillion from the nation?s GDP by 2100. These projections from the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) are based on an adapted version of a model employed by Nicholas Stern, author of 2006 report The Economics of Climate Change. The 2008 NRDC report uses the model to assess the costs of climate change across the four high-risk key indicators mentioned above. Without running any of the numbers, we know this: every American will be impacted by the consequences of climate change, from private citizens to lawmakers to public institutions to corporations. In 2025, hurricane damages are expected to pull $10 billion dollars from the economy, with that number increasing four-fold by 2050 and rising to $422 billion by 2100. Rising temperatures on the surface of the Atlantic Ocean create optimal conditions for hurricanes, intensifying storms, and flooding, which results in erosion. These trends have played out in recent years with storms like Hurricane Dorian which ravaged states bordering the Atlantic in 2019, leaving 29,500 people without homes or jobs, and resulting in more than 69 confirmed casualties and upwards of 282 people missing. By 2100, the annual death toll as a result of climate change is forecast to reach 760, not unlikely considering just one event in 2019 killed at least 11% of that annual projection. Atlantic and Gulf Coast states will bear the brunt of these disasters, which can create significant

loss of life, property damage, and disrupt crucial sectors of the economy. Mostly targeting the same region, real estate losses are projected to account for a $34 billion decrease in US GDP by 2025, increasing to $80 billion in 2050 and $360 billion by the end of the century. Along with a 13 degree Fahrenheit temperature increase (by some estimates), NRDC researchers expect to see a 23 inch sea level rise by 2050, which is on track to rise to 45 inches by 2100, threatening residential, commercial, and industrial real estate in coastal areas and inland as oceans expand in surface area. In 2020, it can be argued that real estate losses due to climate disasters extend well beyond that region and into the Western United States, with devastating losses due to wildfires in California and Colorado, which are increasing in magnitude and frequency each year. In the energy sector, costs are expected to reach $28 billion by 2025, $47 billion in 2050, and $141 billion by 2021, impacting mostly the Southeast and Southwest United States. If weather patterns become more extreme in the coming decades, air conditioning, heating, and refrigeration costs will skyrocket to match demand. Not only will this demand require additional heating, air conditioning, and ventilation infrastructure, electricity use will increase. This will impact residential structures as well as commercial, because many industries rely on refrigeration systems to function. Accounting for the greatest loss of annual GDP, water costs will likely reach $200 billion by 2025, $336 billion by 2050, and swell to $950 billion by 2100, affecting mostly Western states prone to drought

conditions. Increasing temperatures and more severe weather patterns like droughts and heat waves indicate significantly less rainfall during the remainder of the twenty-first century. The impacts of this decreased rainfall have been felt in California during the longest drought in state history, which spanned from 2011 through 2019. During 2015, California?s agricultural industry alone lost $1.8 billion in direct costs and 10,100 in jobs and was forced to idle 78,800 acres of farmland. The agricultural industry?s troubles didn?t end there: decreased rainfall required farmers to truck in irrigation water, the price of which could soar to more than $1,000 per acre-foot. Consequently, in many areas where crops did manage to survive, they were rendered unprofitable by the cost of production. The catastrophic impacts are inextricably linked to anthropogenic climate change, as confirmed by Stanford University researchers in a 2014 study. With the help of computer modeling and data, researchers uncovered a link between emissions and California?s drought: the increased presence of greenhouse gases as a result of human emissions triggered the formation of a high atmospheric pressure system that repelled water-rich storms from California, leading to an intense period of drought conditions. The study found that the increased likelihood of this pressure system?s formation is directly correlated with rising CO2 levels. By the end of the century, the United States is on track to

lose over $1,870 billion in GDP as a result of anthropogenic climate change? and that?s just accounting for these four factors. Combined, the economic losses from these four factors alone are projected to account for a $1.9 trillion economic loss annually, with that number topping $3.8 trillion per year by 2100 when health risks and wildlife damages are included. These statistics present a daunting future if anthropogenic climate change continues without intervention. Luckily, though, markets, investments, and consumer habits are shifting towards sustainability in the United States and abroad. And under the Biden administration, it?s clear that climate change policy is a priority in a way it never has been before. Biden?s climate plan has an estimated cost of $1.7 trillion and focuses on investing in clean energy, green jobs, updating infrastructure, offering tax incentives for using renewable energy sources and electric vehicles, and creating 10 million new jobs in green industries. This focus on building a bridge to sustainable energy rather than an abrupt switch would ease economic pain and job losses and make decarbonization a feasible option. While new green jobs, less fossil fuels, and more clean energy and transportation will cost us $1.7 trillion over the next four years, waiting to address climate change will cost us over $15 trillion in the same amount of time. If we want a livable future, healthy planet, and flourishing economy, the choice is clear. We don?t have to choose

between economic progress and environmental progress. In reality, a climate-focused, sustainable future is the only way to achieve an economically stable future.

Improving Diversity in STEM: Weed-Out Classes, Workplace Professionalism, and Counterspaces By Ximena Perez

Historically, STEM fields display the same lack of diversity observed in many other facets of American culture. Apart from a few female and racial minority scientists, most people would find it difficult to name historically significant non-white, STEM researchers. This is not to say that they don?t exist, but the norm is white males. In almost every field of STEM, men outnumber women, particularly in physics and engineering. And in the fields in which men and women are equally represented, women face drastic under-representation at a faculty level as well as income inequality. The disparity is even more astounding when examining the rates of members of racial and ethnic minority groups in STEM. Based on proportion of the population, an overrepresentation of white individuals exist in STEM fields with 67.4% in the general STEM field and 74.5% in the science and engineering workforce (Dou, n.d.). A 2011 study by the National Research Council found that the number of people from underrepresented minority groups participating in STEM fields proportionately represented about a third of the total minority population in the country (Dou, n.d.). Two factors that contribute to the scarcity of diversity are weed-out classes in undergraduate institutions and grappling with

professionalism later in the workforce. One of the root causes of this inequity is academic tracking and weed-out classes. Weed-out classes were introduced in the 19th century to separate students that were likely to excel in STEM fields due to the limited slots available in those classes. Weed-out classes are particularly common in science and mathematics fields at American universities. As the name suggests, they?re designed to ?weed out? students who may be unlikely to do well and succeed in these fields. These classes are often lecture based and have high D, F, Withdrawal, Incomplete (DFWI) rates. Weed-out classes come to define student career paths and end up pushing some out of STEM fields entirely. Those who excel in these introductory weed-out courses often go on to complete a major in the field. Those who do poorly are discouraged and made to feel as if they don?t belong in STEM. Undergraduate students?experiences in introductory STEM classes correlate with the student retention and persistence in STEM majors and careers. According to a study published in the Journal for STEM Education Research, half of college students who intend to graduate with STEM degrees fail to do so within six years of starting college. The majority of students who leave STEM majors drop

out after the first year of their program. Students cite course factors including their perceptions of classroom climate and faculty behavior as reasons to leave STEM majors. Weed-out classes also disproportionately affect historically underserved groups such as women and Black, Native American, and Hispanic people, pushing them out of the STEM field. Doing well in these introductory courses has more to do with social relationships, connections to teachers, tutors, collaboration, rather than the rigor. Weed-out classes are part of systemic racism which contributes to the diversity challenges the STEM field faces, and they can be traced back to early education. Students from marginalized groups are more likely to have attended high schools where advanced math and science classes aren?t offered. A study by the Gardner Institute of introductory chemistry courses at 31 institutions, including community colleges and public and private 4-year colleges and universities, found an average DFWI (including incompletes) rate of 29.4%. The DFWI rates for Black and Latinx students in introductory chemistry at the 31 institutions were above 40% (Arnaud, 2020,). Angela Kelly, a physics education researcher at Stony Brook University says, ?If students hadn?t taken chemistry and physics in high school, they really come to the university with a disadvantage in terms of their likelihood to choose a STEM major and to persist in STEM majors. The lack of

access at the precollege level is a particular issue that is just not getting the attention that it needs.? Research on the rates of participation and persistence of underrepresented groups in higher education in general, and women of color in STEM in particular, demonstrate the historical prevalence of white males in STEM and underrepresentation of women of color. This is especially noted in physics, astronomy, engineering, and computer science. National data consistently illustrate that women who self-identify as Asian American, Black, Latina, Native American, or mixed race/ethnicity are severely underrepresented in receiving science and engineering (S&E) degrees relative to their population in the United States. In a 2014 dataset from the National Science Foundation, at the bachelor 's level, women of color collectively represented 13.3% of S&E degree recipients, while their representation (age 18?24) in the U.S. population was 21.9%. Similarly, at the doctoral level, women of color represented 10.0% of S&E degree recipients, while their representation (age 25?64) in the U.S. population was 18.8%. Research is continuously demonstrating that women of color and other underrepresented groups do not persist in STEM at the same rates as their white male counterparts due to social or interpersonal factors. They often struggle and leave because they do not experience a sense of social belonging. Even if students survive a weed out

class, they then have to contend with professionalism in the workplace, continuously fighting to be taken seriously and seen as equal. Professionalism is important in unifying principles in medicine and have been historically described as ?the basis of medicine?s contract with society.? Professionalism is a historical construct which gained recognition in the 1990s, when members of the medical field agreed to uphold a set of ?ethical values and competency standards? that ?the public and individual patients can and should expect from medical professionals.? Afterwards, medical professionalism was made a core competency taught at an undergraduate and graduate medical education to govern how members should conduct themselves in public, with patients, and with each other. However, professionalism is a fluid and contextual notion that is often overused and misused. Professionalism is often used to describe the behavior, dress code, language, and hierarchies that are deemed appropriate in medicine. Historically, medical institutions didn?t have women or minority groups in leadership and authority positions, which led to professionalism being defined by the heterosexeual, white male identity and cultural norms associated with whiteness. That concept of what is deemed professional and unprofessional doesn?t include diverse groups and therefore can be noninclusive and discriminatory. Thus, the way certain groups dress, eat, and

wear their hair or speak may be deemed unprofessional. With an increase in diversity of the healthcare workforce, it is important to reevaluate and redefine professionalism standards to be applicable to more diverse populations and cultures. In a study conducted by the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, they found that underrepresented minorities place more importance on professionalism, yet they experience it differently within their organizations. It?s believed that the high value these groups place on professionalism stems from feeling like they?re lacking in their work environment and the gap between institutional values and personal experiences. Participants of the study who identified themselves as members of marginalized groups expressed violations of their professional boundaries ranging from microaggressions to blatant racism, sexism, xenophobia, homophobia, and other forms of harassment. These violations of professional boundaries disproportionately impacted women and gender, sexual, and racial/ethnic minority groups. Furthermore, studies show that women in the STEM workforce are significantly more likely to leave their occupation than women with other occupations. Researchers at the University of Texas-Austin sought to find the reason behind this and compared womens? employment trajectories to those of a

man in STEM fields to explain the disproportionate loss of women in STEM over time. They found that the women perceive a less positive and supportive climate, greater workplace demands, and fewer accommodations. This suggests that STEM employment is less conducive to family building than other professions. Along with gender expectations that differ from those of their male counterparts, these limitations often push women out for lack of support and flexibility. Perception of gender ability is particularly notable in S&E jobs. Men are typically assessed by employers as being more capable, worthy of career mentoring, and deserving of higher salaries than women with objectively identical performance. Additionally, men are more likely to be promoted quickly and enter higher supervisory roles than similar women. So, not only are women?s expectations likely to be lower than men?s, many STEM workplaces are designed to stimulate men?s productivity but not women?s. This is especially true for women with family responsibilities. These disparities have contributed to the lack of diversity in the workplace, and these systems have been historically maintained; minorities are still alienated and their voices continue to be suppressed. Unfortunately, most intervention efforts implemented to increase persistence in STEM among students from underrepresented groups are rooted in a deficit model

and only aim to ?fix? students, offering tutoring sessions, teaching them self-confidence, or socializing them into S&E (Ong et al., 2017). Until we address these disparities at a classroom, departmental, and institutional level, examining social and cultural reform at these levels, it won?t be enough. We need to ensure minorities are supported and set up to succeed. Counterpaces offer a method for providing the support to succeed. A study by the University of Wisconsin-Madison indicated that institutions and departments may enhance persistence by offering opportunities for formal and informal counterspaces. They found that underrepresented students?persistence in STEM could improve if students had key academic experiences, such as strong peer support. In this study, counterspaces are defined as academic and social safe spaces that allow underrepresented students to: promote their own learning wherein their experiences are validated and viewed as critical knowledge; vent frustrations by sharing stories of isolation, microaggressions, and/or overt discrimination; and challenge deficit notions of people of color (and other marginalized groups) and establish and maintain a positive collegiate racial climate for themselves (Charleston et al., 2014). Counterspaces may contain more heterogeneity, such as women from multiple racial or ethnic groups,

allowing for broader connections to be made. Though not explored in this study, the benefits of potential for one-on-one relationships with senior colleagues to be a part of counterspaces seems promising. Existing counterspaces, in educational institutions and the workplace, such as peer relationships, mentoring relationships, and STEM diversity conferences have enabled bridge-building across levels of differential power as they involved participation by members at multiple stages, such as undergraduate, graduate, and faculty. Similarly, there's already been success and progress seen in campus cultural organizations, such women's centers which help facilitate students?social integration by providing a sense of cultural connection, a space to develop and express their racial/ethnic or gender identities, and give back to their communities by supporting other students like themselves. In the workplace, counterspaces may manifest as mentoring relationships between underrepresented groups and diversity conferences. When establishing new counterspaces, it?s imperative that they?re close to STEM's center, because that?s where more stakeholders and members with power can publicly address bias, exclusion and microaggressions, and advocate for underrepresented members. Ultimately, the goal should be to

operate in fully inclusive ways that there is no opportunity for microaggressions and the resulting isolation that commonly affect minorities at a departmental and institutional level. By reducing reliance on weed-out classes to select scientists early on, creating more inclusive professional norms once researchers enter a field, and providing and encouraging counterspaces for historically marginalized groups at all institutional levels, diversity in STEM fields can be improved.

From Dust Till Dawn: The Origins of the Solar System By Ian Norfolk

The Solar System is humanity?s home in the universe. We are blessed with a bountiful star system, including asteroids, comets, gas giants, moons, and most importantly Earth. But how did it all get here and what are the origins of the Solar System? This is a complicated question that humankind has struggled to answer for centuries. But if you look in its name you can find a big clue: Solar.

and helium eventually coalesce, due to gravity, into large balls of gas. Which once a certain mass is reached, will collapse into a true, nuclear-fusion-powered, star.

Depiction of Solar System Today

Molecular Clouds in the Eagle Nebula

The history of the Sun is closely knit with the Solar System?s history. So let's look back to where it all began roughly, 13.8 billion years ago, at the Big Bang. This event populated the universe with matter that eventually formed into stars. Over the next 9 billion years, the universe would go through the lives of countless stars. Some of which exploded into supernovae and filled the universe with more and new types of matter and clouds of gas and dust. These clouds are called molecular clouds but often in popular science are referred to as a ?star nursery.? These ?nurseries? are able to form stars because the large amounts of hydrogen

Five billion years ago, where the Solar System is today, there was one of these clouds.With a little help from time and gravity, 400 million years later, the Sun formed from a collapsed portion of this cloud. The newly formed star had a plethora of dust orbiting it and due to the conservation of angular momentum, this rotation sped up when the star collapsed and formed. This formed what scientists call a proto-planetary disk, a large plane of dust rotating a star (think of a Solar-System-sized asteroid belt that's filled with much more material). This dust is the original material that formed our solar system. Eventually as dust

particles collided, they formed planetesimals which are minor planets that filled the young Solar System. The famous Trans-Neptunian Object (TNO) MU69 that was visited by the New Horizons probe in 2019 is the only planetesimal visited by humanity. Over time these planetesimals clumped together and eventually formed into objects large enough to have their own gravitational pull on other bodies, which eventually formed into spherical planets, moons, and dwarf planets.

objects were thrown across the Solar System which created an extremely unstable environment. On top of this, with the frequent collisions between planets, planetesimals, and other objects, new matter was added to the planets. From these collisions, hot magma was lifted from the mantle, creating a hellish environment. But during this fiery and fierce time in Earth?s history, Earth may have gained its most unique trait: the presence of water. Scientists believe that a type of meteor called a Carbonaceous Chondrite, meteors rich in water and carbon, had many collisions with the developing Earth and gave us the thing that makes this marble blue.

Protoplanetary Disc AS 209 But these young celestial bodies weren?t gonna have it easy. The young Solar System was a place of chaos. For example, the terrestrial planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars) faced a period of extreme celestial bombardment. These planets were struck by tens of thousands of, if not more, meteors causing massive geological change. From these events,

Depiction of Asteroid Bombarding Earth The general shape of the Solar System is often characterized as a plane or a plate shape. While this holds ground for 7

most astronomers, the tilt within the orbits of some bodies, mainly the Gas Giants (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune) all have semi-tilted and highly eccentric orbits. Saturn and the Ice Giants (Uranus and Neptune) all have an inclination, or tilt, of 2 degrees relative to the average plane of the Solar System, and all have eccentricities of at least 5% in their orbits. Scientists mainly believe this is due to the aforementioned bombardment of the early system. But rather than riddle the

Gas Giants with craters, the bombardment, overtime, warped their orbits into the not so perfect shape they have today. There are many theories as to how the Gas Giants formed but one of the best supported theories is that an original rocky core formed, much like the planetesimals mentioned before, although, during their formation these bodies that would soon become gaseous, were surrounded by gases, such as Hydrogen, Helium, Methane, and more. Eventually these gases

Diagram of Orbital Panes for Planets and Dwarf Planets

became attached to the rocky core by gravity and, hence, formed the Gas Giants. All of this leads up to the Solar System today consisting of an initial lineup of terrestrial planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars), a comfortable gap with the asteroid belt followed by the lovely gas giants (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune), a beautiful Kuiper belt, and its dwarf planet buddies (including Pluto), and, finally, a gargantuan Oort cloud stretching a

lightyear in every direction. Since the Solar System?s creation all the way back in the molecular cloud, it has been moving through the universe. Currently, its trajectory is taking us toward the star Vega in the constellation Lyra, but until we reach there it is nice to know a little more about our so-called ?Cosmic Neighborhood.?

Image of Vega

3D Priting in Medicine By Justin Dewig

Developed in the 1980s, additive manufacturing? better known as 3D printing? is the process of adding and printing layers onto an already established two-dimensional design, transforming that two-dimensional design to a three-dimensional object. 3D printing technology is still growing at a rapid rate, with new applications constantly being pioneered. Current applications of 3D printing can range from educational technology to automotive equipment to the aerospace industry. All of these are large and complex industries, which have been improved in efficiency by the use of 3D printing. However, there is one important field that utilizes this technology, but does not get as much attention since it is still in its early stages of development: the medical field. The medical field has an unbelievable amount of potential if 3D printing software and development are applied and mastered. Since most medical procedures are performed in a clinical setting and on real patients, there?s less room for error. Therefore, trials and development of 3D printing technology is at a disadvantage when compared to other industries, but that does not mean it doesn?t have potential. There are presently four main applications of computer-aided design and 3D printing in the medical industry. This technology

could be used to replace human organs in transplants, manufacture cheaper versions of surgical instruments, produce improved prosthetic limbs, and speed up surgical operations. Each of these four applications of 3D printing possesses growing potential for research and development, which researchers and surgeons are eager to explore as they strive to advance surgical medicine.

Human Organ Transplants Instead of dealing with the traditional risks of an organ transplant from one individual to another, 3D printing technology has allowed surgeons to utilize a technique called bioprinting. Unlike the traditional 3D printers that use both plastics and metals when creating objects, bioprinters employ a computer-guided pipette to layer living cells on top one another like a traditional printer would do with plastic. This substance, referred to as bio-ink, artificially creates a living tissue inside a laboratory. These artificially created tissues, known as organoids, can be used in laboratory research since they are miniature replicas of organs. Many organizations have been working to master this process and find new ways to apply it to the medical field. For example, the Wake Forest Institute in North Carolina announced that their laboratory successfully created a

functional blood brain barrier, completely cell-based, that mimics the organic human anatomy. Having this technology to produce copies of human tissue is a perfect tool for doctors to practice on before large surgeries, which in turn can speed up the process of these operations. This is just scratching the surface of what 3D printing could bring the medical field in the future.

and clamps. These are highly sought-after since they can be produced sterilely and can be engineered to exact specifications of a procedure. These are called patient-specific devices, and are now produced on a larger scale thanks to the development of 3D design and printing. This method can create tools that allow for more precision while minimizing the damage done to a patient's body during a procedure.

Prosthetics Prosthetics is another increasingly common application of patient-specific devices. 3D printing has allowed medical professionals to create extremely specific designs for each patient for half the price and in under half the time. It has not only made

3D-Printed Organoid

3D Development of Hospital Instruments 3D printing also sparks interest for engineers in the medical field. The cost of producing 3D printed hospital instruments is far lower than the cost of traditional, mass-manufactured tools. It also provides a free range of i nstruments for engineers to produce. 3D printing is most applicable to the production of surgical instruments like forceps, hemostats, scalpel handles,

medical professionals?jobs slightly easier, but also the patients?, since this is a cheaper alternative to traditional prosthetic systems. In particular, children benefit the most from 3D-printed prosthetic devices since they can be produced fairly quickly to keep up as a child outgrows their old prosthetic equipment. Not only that, but prosthetic innovations have developed so far that doctors can allow patients to design their own prosthetic that fits their needs exactly. Even though 3D design and printing in the medical field is still in its early stages, there are already countless applications of this technology. Whether it?s speeding up the process of procedures

or contributing to groundbreaking discoveries that can change the lives of many people, additive manufacturing will be the future of the medical field. In fact, not only in the medical field, but in every industry, 3D design and printing will have a part to play as the possibilities of this technology are endless.

3D-Printed Prosthetic Arm

The Future of Prosthetics By Max Staples

After watching Star Wars as a kid, I was fascinated by the fact that one day I may be able to see, or even build, a prosthetic limb like the one used by Luke Skywalker. Luke Skywalker 's robotic hand is just as functional as his real hand: he can move each individual finger with precision and feel the objects he?s holding. When we examine today?s state-of-the-art prosthetics there?s still nothing like it on the market. Attempts have been made to implement the ability to feel objects into prosthetic technology, but that feature is far from becoming available to the consumer. That is not to say that we have not come a long way though. If we toss aside the unrealistic expectation of Luke Skywalker ?s fictional prosthetic hand, we would see that the real-world future of prosthetics is just as fascinating. Although highly advanced prosthetics have existed for years, one major barrier for consumers has been price. In the past, many individuals in need of a prosthetic weren?t able to access one. That is, until about 2010. After 2010, there was a surge of popularity as the 3D printer became more and more affordable to have at home. With this came a wave of brilliant engineers paving the way in all fields of engineering, including prosthetics. ENABLE is a nonprofit organization that works with underprivileged

communities and connects patients in need of a prosthetic with an engineer that has 3D printer access. After contact is established, the engineer meets and learns what the patient needs in a prosthetic limb and designs the prosthetic. Finally the engineer prints a prosthetic to the patient?s specifications and it?s ready for the patient?s use. The best part of the arrangement is that because of the low production cost, the engineers can afford to offer their services to the patient free of charge. The prosthetics are cheap to produce but of high quality and durable. Although they do not involve electronic components, prosthetics produced through ENABLE usually operate off of the motion of the users remaining joints. For example, if the wearer still has their wrist, the engineers can use the motion in that wrist to create a simple clenching motion with the prosthetic.

WISRD 3D-Printed Prosthetic for E-NABLE

On the other end of the spectrum are high-tech robotic prosthetics. These prosthetics contain a multitude of electronic components and can perform complex maneuvers, though even these models have their limitations. One common issue with robotic prosthetics is that the prosthetics internal computers can?t differentiate between a user ?s attempt to perform one motion over another. These prosthetics can identify a user ?s attempt to move a missing extremity, but this is the extent of its capabilities. With only one significant detectable motion, the possible maneuvers are limited. The ability to move the prosthetic through brain and muscle activity detection is no small feat, however, and the devices usually cost upwards of $10,000. As you can see, modern prosthetic technology has come a long way from the simple hook of the pirate days.

researcher, said. Weinberg?s team at Georgia Tech have begun placing ultrasound probes on patients' skin instead. One of the team?s trials involved a patient who had his arm amputated below the elbow, so with the ultrasound probe, the scientists were able to identify when the patient was trying to move a specific finger or limb. If the ultrasound technology used in this study is integrated into modern prosthetics, patients may enjoy more reliable and responsive prosthesis. This will not be the end of the line for prosthetic development, with much room left to grow. And if research continues to move in the right direction, we may one day see prosthetic technology the likes of which we can now only dream of? or see in Star Wars.

In an attempt to advance these technologies further, engineers have begun to integrate ultrasound technology into new prosthetics, a major improvement over the previous electromyogram (EMG) technology, in which sensors that are placed on a patient?s skin to measure the electric current being emitted from the muscles. ?EMG sensors aren?t very accurate. They can detect a muscle movement, but the signal is too noisy to infer which finger the person wants to move,? Gil Weinberg, a Georgia Tech

A Deep Dive into Robotics in Surgery By Steven Castillo-Troya

As the field of medicine is advancing and finding new ways to heal patients, robot-assisted surgeries might take the spotlight as the most promising new innovation. Robotics opens up the field of medicine to new possibilities. It leaves less room for human error and often yields better results for patients. Humans, of course, have limitations, but robots can surpass those limitations and bring a new level of precision and acuity to surgical procedures. The first reported use of robot-assisted surgery was in a brain surgery performed less than 40 years ago in 1985. The procedure was a stunning success because of the accuracy that human hands could never achieve. This first procedure became a gateway for the widespread use of robotic limbs and tools in surgery. As the new technology gained traction, researchers began to test its groundbreaking capabilities. In the year 2000, the Da Vinci surgery system was approved by the FDA after multiple tests on pigs, cadavers, and successful surgery on a human. It was a revolutionary piece of technology with robotic arms strategically placed next to the patient and the doctor at the console controlling the robot. Miniature nstruments are placed inside the patient through a very small incision and the doctor can see through a 3D

camera. The surgery system was used to remove a gallbladder from a 35-year-old female patient.

The Da Vinci Surgical System Robot-assisted surgery can be a preferable option in delicate procedures that require more accuracy. Robot-assisted surgery can also be highly beneficial compared to traditional surgery options. Surgical complications are greatly decreased in robot-assisted surgeries when compared to standard surgery, and because of the greater precision and less invasive techniques, scars are less noticeable and recovery tends to be faster and less painful. There is still a minimal risk of complications after robot-assisted surgery, but it's dwarfed by the risk of complications following traditional surgeries. Still, the chances

of getting a surgical site infection through regular surgery are already between 1 and 3%, so that means that regular surgery isn?t extremely dangerous and that robot-assisted surgery is the only option, with the help of a robot, however, that minimal risk is only reduced. Right now, not everyone can afford robot-assisted surgery, which still costs about $3,000 to $6,000 more than the already-hefty price of a traditional surgery. As the technology improves, however, manufacturers will be able to produce robotic surgical technology more cheaply. Therefore, the cost of these procedures will eventually drop, allowing more equitable access for people in many financial positions. Plus, as more insurance companies realize the benefits of robot-assisted surgery, they might begin to cover these procedures as well. In the meantime, robot-assisted surgery is an excellent option if your surgery requires a high level of precision and you?re able and willing to pay the extra amount. All we can do is look to the future and see the improvements that are already being made in the field of surgical medicine.

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