Nueva defends title as “Physics Fights” champion

It was Post-It note galore the weekend of Feb. 4 as students from schools around the world participated in this year’s United States International Young Physicist Tournament (USIYPT). Nueva’s research team finished the tournament with 86.99 points, out-scoring runner-up Philips Exeter by nearly 10 points and defending Nueva’s title as the Physics Fighting Champions.

On the first day of the tournament, schools were pitted against each other in head-to-head round robin rounds, scored by a team of jurors whose profession ranged from Apple Inc. engineers to MIT graduate students studying quantum computing. On Sunday, the six top scoring teams advanced to the semifinal round.

Nueva’s presenters were led by team captain Jack L. ’23, someone Anping Z. ’24 described as a “slam-dunk” presenter. Anping, who is part of the physics research team, explained that the presenters had saved Jack's presentation on tuning forks for the semi-finals.

“I could have never presented like Jack,” said Mark Hurwitz, upper school physics teacher and one of the tournament’s organizers.

But Jack wasn’t the only star Nueva had to offer; FanFan J. ’25 presented on the electrostatic pendulum problem, William F. ’23 took opposition against Rye Country Day School’s research on the electrostatic pendulum, and Thomas R. ’23 presented twice—once on Saturday and and once on Sunday—regarding the optical depth of milk.

The final rounds consisted of one 10-minute research presentation in which one presenter from each team gave a detailed explanation of experimental design, results, and methodology; one eight-minute rebuttal period during which the opposition asked questions and poked holes in the presentation; and finally, another eight-minute period during which jurors asked either side questions.

“How often do students get questioned so thoroughly about every aspect of their research?” USAYPT President Greg Jacobs remarked as he explained what made “physics fights so exceptional.”

After announcing Nueva’s victory, Jacobs announced his retirement from the organization. Previous board secretary Kacey Meaker will be his successor.

But before Meaker took center stage, Jacobs announced the location of the 2024 tournament: North Carolina. The research questions have not been released.

How does one get their voice heard when stuck behind bars? For Nigel Poor and Earlonne Woods, the answer was podcasting.

The duo met in 2015; Poor was volunteering at San Quentin State Prison, where Woods was incarcerated. With a shared interest in media, they teamed up to create Ear Hustle, a podcast bearing witness to the realities of life in prison.

Spearheaded in 2017, the podcast has gained an impressive following; today, over 60 million episodes have been downloaded. In 2020, the podcast was nominated for the 2020 Pulitzer prize for audio reporting.

In a packed Writing and Research Center, Poor and Woods spoke to upper school students about the creation of their podcast, discussing the trajectory of their work and the gut-wrenching conversations they’ve had with inmates.

“Everybody has a story to tell,” Poor said during the 75-minute seminar.

“The end goal is for people to really look at the prison system,” Woods said. “People didn’t know anything about what was going on in prison, only what they saw on the news or on shows.”

Throughout the seminar, the two hosts emphasized how Ear Hustle transcends common narratives about the role of media. Poor and Woods had no prior experience in journalism or broadcasting; their podcast was recorded within the confines of a state penitentiary. The duo proved the medium is accessible to anyone.

“Ear Hustle has taught me that two people, who don't have a lot of power, can actually make change,” Poor said. For Charlotte R. ’25, the seminar reshaped the way she views media and storytelling.

“It really opened my eyes to the importance of using the media to amplify people's voices,” Charlotte said. “These things can be used to change people’s lives.”