Understanding Climate Change
Mai Shashua ’26
Pg. 3
The Scientific Background of Hair Color
Delilah Weiss ’26
Pg. 5
Odor Prediction Through AI
Mai Shashua ’26
Pg. 7
The Milgram Experiment
Keren Teichner ’25
Pg. 9
Completing the Y Chromosome
Racheli Voda ’26
Pg. 12
Do Animals Have Consciousness?
Caroline Kollander ’27
Pg. 13
Climate change is something that not a lot of people take seriously when in reality, they should. Climate change means that the temperature changes over a long period. In our case, these temperature changes are warming rather than cooling. Another word for climate change is global warming. There are many different reasons why this is happening. One of the reasons is because of us, humans.
Humans have changed the world both positively and negatively. One of the negative things is climate change. We people burn fossil fuels which generate greenhouse gasses. Greenhouse gases trap heat in the atmosphere which allows temperatures to rise. The atmosphere lets in energy from the sun which allows these gasses to absorb this energy. The two main gases causing climate change are carbon dioxide and methane. We use these by driving cars with gasoline in them and for heating. Carbon dioxide also gets released into the atmosphere from cutting down trees and clearing forests. There is more carbon dioxide in the air than there ever was.
While people think that climate change is just the weather getting warmer, it's rather a chain of events that leads from that. Warmer temperatures lead to ocean levels rising, melting polar ice caps, storms, lack of biodiversity, droughts, and dangerous fires. Due to rising ocean levels, cities are flooding, which causes people to relocate. Heatwaves have also started to be a problem. Soon, climate change is said to cause an extra 250,000 deaths per year.
The ocean helps lessen climate change by absorbing the heat and the carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. However, due to climate change constantly worsening, the oceans are changing. Carbon dioxide affects marine life negatively by changing the water that they live and grow in. Ocean water change also threatens the food chain, and populations of carbon dioxide-absorbing animals to decrease. Every increase in climate change matters. The places that emit the most emissions that cause climate change are China, The USA, India, Europe, Indonesia, Brazil, and Russia. While everyone participates in climate change, these countries need to take responsibility and action. Everybody has a part in climate change, and preventing it from getting worse. We have to act now. The smallest things can help like taking the bus instead of driving a car or planting a tree. Overall, climate change is serious and to overcome it, we all need to work together.
“What Is Climate Change?: AMNH.” American Museum of Natural History, www.amnh.org/explore/ ology/climate-change/what-is-climate-change. Accessed 31 Dec. 2023.
“What Is Climate Change?” United Nations, United Nations, www.un.org/en/climatechange/what-isclimate-change. Accessed 31 Dec. 2023.
Mai Shashua ’26Every person is unique with different features, including hair color. There are so many variations of hair color including black, brown, blond, and red. In the United States, the most common hair color is black (85%) and dark brown (11%). Blond hair makes up two percent of the population with redheads being one percent. How is there such a variety of hair colors in the world?
Hair pigmentation is determined by the gene of MC1R gene that produces a protein called melanocortin 1 receptor that makes Melanin. Melanin is responsible for the pigment in our hair. When a receptor is turned on the melanin produces eumelanin. This is the pigment for the dark color of black and brown hair. If the receptor isn’t turned on or blocked then melanin will create pheomelanin. People with high concentrations of pheomelanin will have lighter hair. Other factors can influence the amount of eumelanin made, making that person blond. If both MC1R genes are turned off, then the melanin will only generate pheomelanin which in rare cases results in red hair. Also, outside forces throughout the gene process can determine the amount of which type melanin is produced. Scientists have found eleven different genes that can contribute to hair color! One explanation for why certain people have their specific hair color is genetics, whether you get a dominant or recessive gene. This can work in most places but there are some cases that this is false. Another theory is sexual evolution, where some rarer hair colors are present because of the attraction mates feel. Also in different places in the world, different hair colors are popular. For example in Scotland and Britain, red hair is popular. Throughout one’s life, his or her hair color changes too. Certain people may have lighter hair when they are young but it will grow darker as they mature. This can be explained that certain pigment proteins are activated as they reach puberty. At older ages, people have gray or white hair due to the loss of melanin produced in the hair follicles.
Delilah Weiss ’26
Brennan, John. “The Differences between Mendelian & Polygenic Traits.” Sciencing, 2 Mar. 2019, sciencing.com/differences-between-mendelian-polygenic-traits-8777329.html.
“Is Hair Color Determined by Genetics?: MedlinePlus Genetics.” MedlinePlus, U.S. National Library of Medicine, medlineplus.gov/genetics/understanding/traits/haircolor/ #:~:text=Hair%20color%20is%20determined%20by,pheomelanin%2C%20gives%20people%2 0red%20hair. Accessed 20 Dec. 2023.
“Is It Possible for Humans to Evolve ‘Weird’ Colored Hair (like Green, Blue, or Purple)?” The Tech Interactive, www.thetech.org/ask-a-geneticist/articles/2023/evolving_blue_hair_unlikely/. Accessed 20 Dec. 2023.
Thomas, Dr. Liji. “Genetics of Hair Color.” News, 29 Dec. 2022, www.news-medical.net/health/ Genetics-of-Hair-Color.aspx.
The chemical structures of molecules influence what we smell. However, people have yet to learn how. This is where AI comes in. Researchers try to solve this issue through artificial intelligence, also known as AI. They created an AI model with human-level skills that allows it to describe how chemicals will smell to humans. This discovery is proof of how AI is getting more advanced by the day.
The human nose has about 350-400 types of olfactory receptors. Olfactory receptors are what allow one to perceive smell. These receptors bind to a large amount of airborne molecules. This then leads to neuronal signals that the brain interprets as scents. Scientists know how this process works, but what they don’t know is how the system sends these signals. They then created the AI structure that was trained using a dataset of 5,000 known odorants. This enabled it to predict smell based on the structures of the molecules.
This advance allows an easier approach to this question. The artificial intelligence skips over all the workings of the nervous system. It makes direct connections between the molecules and smells instead. The model also responds in a precise, numerical way to describe the smell. Not only did it do what it was trained to, but it also accurately showed off other important factors such as predicting the strength of the odors.
To see if the model’s answers were accurate, there was a study. A neuroscientist took a set of molecules with undocumented scents. Then, 15 trained participants sniffed each. Their averaged prediction was like the model’s prediction. It was found that for 53 percent of the molecules, the model came closer to the average of the participants than just one participant’s answer. This means that the model performed better than one participant.
Although the model has surprised many with its fascinating skills, it wouldn’t do so well in the real world. Due to most smells being mixtures, it would be way more difficult for the artificial intelligence to catch, especially with the way that it was originally programmed. But, even with these limitations, the model can help those who are interested in the chemistry of smell. Overall, AI can do so much such as predicting the smell of chemicals from a human’s perspective, which is both interesting and useful.
“Neuroscience News. “Ai Cracks the Code on Odor Perception.” Neuroscience News, 2 Sept. 2023, neurosciencenews.com/odor-perception-ai-23858/.
Parry, Wynne. “AI Predicts What Chemicals Will Smell Like to a Human.” Scientific American, 26 Oct. 2022, www.scientificamerican.com/article/ai-predicts-what-chemicals-will-smell-like-toa-human/.
Mai Shashua ’26Stanley Milgram was an American social psychologist. Born in New York City in 1933, he received a PhD in social psychology from Harvard and later went on to teach at Yale, where he conducted many different experiments. Among his most famous experiments were his experiments on obedience, conducted in the 1960s. Milgram's experiments were highly controversial, bringing into play ethical and moral questions.
Milgram wanted to study the extent to which people would obey when instructed by authority figures. The experiment involved three participants, the experimenter, the learner, and the teacher. The only real participant in this experiment was the teacher. The experimenter and the learner were both in on the experiment. The role of the teacher was simple: when the learner did not answer the question correctly, they were to administer a shock. However, there was a catch: after every problem, the voltage of the shock increased. The learner was not actually receiving any shocks; rather they were acting to make the teacher believe that with every shock they were in more and more pain. The experimenter would continue to instruct the teacher to administer shocks.
In the original experiment at Yale University, the obedience rate was high. 65% of the participants would continuously administer shocks despite the learners' protests of agony. Variables of this experiment were further manipulated in order to draw more conclusions.
One aspect of the experiment to be studied was the perceived legitimacy of the authority figure. In one variation the experiment was moved to a more run-down office. There the obedience rate was only 47.5%. A second variation in the experiment was a change in the experimenter's clothing. The obedience rate when the experimenter was wearing a lab coat was higher than that when the experimenter was wearing normal clothing. Both of these variations point to the idea that the perceived legitimacy of authority figures plays a role in obedience.
Another aspect of this experiment that was studied was the responsibility of the participants. One case of this was the touch proximity condition. When the learner refused to participate the teacher was required to force their hand down onto the shock plate. In this variation, the obedience rate dropped to just 30%. This is because by forcing the learner’s hand onto the plate the teacher felt much more responsible for his/her actions. The reverse of this was also shown through the two teacher conditions. In this variation, the teacher was able to instruct an assistant to administer the shocks. In this experiment, the obedience rate rose to 92.5%. This is because the teacher did not feel responsible for the pain they were causing the learner.
Two more variations were conducted. One was the abstract experimenter condition where the experimenter was not in the room. Instead, they instructed the teacher through a telephone. In this variation, the obedience rate plummeted to just 20.5%. The second was the social support condition. When allowed to discuss with two confederates, of which one or both were not obedient the teacher was much more likely to disobey as well.
This experiment sheds light on how people can do such horrible things when instructed by others. Take the Nazis for example. Every day people were able to justify what they did by claiming that they were just following orders. They were listening to their seemingly legitimate authority figures. Additionally, the use of gas chambers to kill Jews seems to agree with Milgram's experiment. The Nazis did not actually have to watch the people they were killing die, they were removed from the environment. This experiment goes to show that humans may not be as inherently good as we thought that they were.
Barajas, Joshua. “How Nazi’s Defense of “Just Following Orders” Plays out in the Mind.” Scientific American, 19 Feb. 2016, www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-nazi-s-defense-of-justfollowing-orders-plays-out-in-the-mind/.
Main, Paul. “The Stanley Milgram Experiment: Understanding Obedience.” Www.structuralLearning.com, 3 May 2023, www.structural-learning.com/post/stanley-milgram-experiment.
Keren Teichner ’25Russell, Nestar. “Conclusion—the Milgram-Holocaust Linkage and Beyond.” Understanding Willing Participants, Volume 2, vol. 2, 28 Dec. 2018, pp. 277–299, https://doi.org/ 10.1007/978-3-319-97999-1_9.
Climate change is something that not a lot of people take seriously when in reality, they should. Climate change means that the temperature changes over a long period. In our case, these temperature changes are warming rather than cooling. Another word for climate change is global warming. There are many different reasons why this is happening. One of the reasons is because of us, humans.
Scientists have finally been able to understand the entirety of the Y chromosome, more specifically the genes that are linked to it. Although this is very fundamental to futuristic concepts, one should understand what the X and Y chromosomes are. To refresh your brain, there are 23 pairs of chromosomes and 46 chromosomes in total. One of those pairs is the sex chromosomes, which determine your gender. This specific pair of chromosomes contains genes that link to either female or male characteristics, depending on the chromosomes in that pair. Why is this information important? It shows us that now, with this information, we can understand many things that we didn’t know before. This is a large step toward the future because it helps us answer questions about significant topics like reproduction, evolution, population change, and disease.
The complexity of the Y chromosome made it difficult to identify all of its information. Some of the DNA sequences of the chromosome were formed in palindromes, which are sequences that are the same forwards and backward. Additionally, another section called satellite DNA is a large and repetitive sequence that contains non-protein-coding DNA. These two components, including large and repetitive elements, made it tedious to uncover more information. Monika Cechova, the co-lead author on the Y chromosome paper and postdoctoral scholar in biomolecular engineering at UCSC said, “Back then we didn’t even know if it could be sequenced, it was so puzzling…”. Many scientists had trouble with the large gaps of information, as mentioned earlier the satellite DNA and the palindromes. As soon as researchers were able to create high-quality technology and precise methods, the Y chromosome was complete.
The completion of the Y chromosome will lead to many new advancements in the future. New cures to diseases will be found and past topics will be enhanced with more information. Although the complexity of the Y chromosome led to difficulties in starting that process, those problems were solved. In conclusion, the Y chromosome has opened up a lot of groundbreaking, innovative approaches to old information.
Cerf, Emily. “Scientists Release the First Complete Sequence of a Human Y Chromosome.” University of California, 24 Aug. 2023, www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/scientists-release-firstcomplete-sequence-human-ychromosome#:~:text=The%20researchers%20were%20able%20to. Accessed 18 Feb. 2024.
Racheli Voda ’26Have you ever wondered if your pet is just as self aware as you? Does your dog understand where they are? Does your cat comprehend it is them in the reflection of a mirror? The answer is, we don’t know. The thought of an animal being completely unaware is unsettling and hard to believe. We’ve seen animals that strategize, that love, hate and even animals that can speak. On the other hand, there is no confirmation that animals have the same level of complex thinking as humans do. Some say assigning animals with human consciousness is an example of anthropomorphic projection. They believe animals have two instincts, to reproduce and survive. Animals' self awareness isn’t nearly as advanced as humans, but studies show that they are on a spectrum of consciousness and do exhibit behaviors of self awareness.
Each species in the animal kingdom is different and there is a wide range of intellectual ability across all the living beings. The chimpanzee is unarguably more intelligent than the jellyfish. With this in mind, it is unfair to judge the entirety of animals as a whole. Brain activity for awareness is most recognized in primates, which are a type of mammal that includes humans, monkeys, lemurs etc. Certain birds show signs of human-like consciousness. For example, parrots can repeat after humans and even use words they've heard around them to form real sentences. Certain sea creatures like the goldfish are proven to have simple brains incapable of self awareness. Others like Dolphins have shown to have a higher level of consciousness through their manual breathing. There is a large spectrum of self awareness on which animals live. While some show almost human identical selfawareness, others display the awareness of an object. This is what makes the animal consciousness discussion more complicated and arguable.
It is clear that the question of self-awareness is not easily resolved. Each species presents a unique perspective on awareness. While some animals exhibit behaviors similar to human-like consciousness, others seem to operate on a more instinctual level. The diversity across the animal kingdom makes attempts to generalize animal consciousness difficult to do. This highlights the need for continued research. The study of comprehending the depths of animal self awareness is an ongoing journey that still has no final answer.
Caroline Kollander ’27
Blackmore, Susan. “Are Humans the Only Conscious Animal?” Scientific American, 20 Feb. 2024, www.scientificamerican.com/article/are-humans-the-only-conscious-animal/ #:~:text=Specific%20brain%20areas%2C%20such%20as,slug%20or%20a%20lively%20lizard
Falk, Dan. “Insects and Other Animals Have Consciousness.” Nautilus, 3 May 2024, nautil.us/insectsand-other-animals-have-consciousness-571584/.
“Scientists Push New Paradigm of Animal Consciousness, Saying Even Insects May Be Sentient.”
NBCNews.Com, NBCUniversal News Group, 2024, www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/ animal-consciousness-scientists-push-new-paradigm-rcna148213.
"Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is to not stop questioning." - Albert Einstein
This publication which encourages science research is generously sponsored by The Harriet H. Cohen and Paul Milberg Science Research Program
Sarah Silverman ’24
Noa Essner ’25
Ms. Lenore Brachot