SCIENCE MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2018
SPACE PLACEHOLDER OCTOBER 2018
OUT OF THIS WORLD
THE SCIENCE MAGAZINE
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UP, UP AND AWAY
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hroughout humanity’s history, people have gazed upward to understand the stars above. Although there is still so much we don’t know about our universe, scientific advancements have brought us far from the ancient folklore we once used to explain the stars. In this issue, you get a glimpse of the people and technology behind the ongoing exploration of space. Beyond a purely empirical perspective, we hope to share beauty — the beauty of scientific discoveries and the beauty of something so vast and poorly understood. With stories about Stanford students who hope to circumnavigate the world with floating balloons (p. 13), a Paly alumnus trying to capture the night sky in photos (p. 18) and solutions being explored to mitigate the hazards of debris floating in low-Earth orbit (p. 10), you can explore space without leaving the ground. We hope these stories can expand your understanding of the diverse ways to learn about our universe the way it did for us. “To infinity and beyond!” — Buzz Lightyear Enjoy! — Kaitlyn and Nicole
Editors-in-Chief
Guest Writers
Nicole Adamson
Anna Tomz
Kaitlyn Khoe
Warren Wagner
Digital Editor
Adviser
Calvin Yan
Paul Kandell
Staff Writers Estelle Martin Allison Mou
@palyveritas
Cover: Astrophysics student Charlotte Kadifa witnesses the alignment of Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Venus through a telescope. With Mars in the background, Kadifa views Saturn’s rings as the rest of the students wait for their turn. Front and back cover photo by Kaitlyn Khoe Letters to the Editors The staff welcomes letters to the editors but reserves the right to edit all submissions for length, grammar, potential libel, invasion of privacy and obscenity. Send all letters to palyveritas@gmail.com or to 50 Embarcadero Road Palo Alto, CA 94301. All Veritas stories are posted online and available for commenting at verdemagazine.com/veritas Advertising The staff publishes advertisements with signed contracts providing they are not deemed by the staff inappropriate for the magazine’s audience. For more information about advertising with Veritas, please contact the Veritas business manager Allison Mou through our adviser at 650-329-3837 for more information. Publication Policy Veritas, a science magazine published by the students in Palo Alto High School’s Magazine Journalism class, is a designated open forum for student expression and discussion of issues of concern to its readership. Veritas is distributed to its readers and the student body at no cost. Printing & Distribution Veritas is projected to print four times a year in October, December, February and May by aPrintis in Pleasanton, California. All Veritas work is available at verdemagazine.com/veritas.
EDITOR’S CHOICE SNEAK PEAK: We are happy to introduce to you a new recurring feature called “Career Catalog.” We hope this section inspires you to explore new pathways for your future in and out of science. In this story, Paly alumnus and astrophotographer Andrew Chalmers combines art and science in his hobby. Photo by Andrew Chalmers
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TABLE OF CONTENTS 5 6 7 9 10 12 13 17 18 20 21 22 23
Gallery 1700s Shorter Pieces Josh Bloom Space Junk Time Machine Stanford Space Tom Keating Astrophotography Star Gazers Gender and STEM The Drake Equation Comic
STUDENT RESEARCHER
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his summer, senior Anthony Xie carried out an independent research project at Stanford’s Luo Lab. Xie used genetic screens, a laboratory technique that involves introducing mutations into a population, with the goal of finding genes that affect neural development in flies. Guided by a mentor, he chose a few genes to focus on and deleted those genes in the flies to observe the effects of the genes on their expression patterns
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Exploring the myths and facts of space
A multi-division team at the intersection of engineering, biology and policy
Paly students finds the beauty of science in the sky
Mutations in Fly Neural Development Text/Photo by KAITLYN KHOE in early development. Through data analysis, Xie found the role of each gene and its formation. Xie looked deeper into the preexisting patterns of genes like ROBO2 and ROBO3 that his mentored had researched before. He conducted around 20 crosses, which are experimental breedings, throughout the summer to yield sufficient results. “The biggest takeaway was staying motivated, being patient with working and getting results,” Xie said. “It definitely wasn’t instant.”
GALLERY
The beauty of science in images Email palyveritas@gmail.com to have your science photos featured.
MOSSES are non-vascular plants, so they do not have tissues like xylem or phloem to transport nutrients and water. As a result, they must directly absorb water without roots, so a cool and wet environment is ideal. Photo by Kayla Brand in Big Basin State Park, California
HONEYBEES collect pollen on their fuzzy bodies while they drink nectar. When they fly to a different flower of the same species, the pollen transfers to the next flower, fertilizing the plant’s ovules which later become seeds. Photo by Kayla Brand in Palo Alto, California
Text by NICOLE ADAMSON
ARCHES like the one below distribute the weight of the building down through the posts of the arch. In square doorways, pressure is applied to the beam across the top of the doorway putting stress on the corners. Photo by Kamala Varadarajan in London, England
CALIFORNIA NEWTS have multiple defenses against predators. Their skin secretes a neurotoxin and they can regenerate limbs and organs. Like frogs, their life begins as a tadpole before they mature. Photo by ZoĂŤ Wong-VanHaren in Little Basin State Park, California
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THE SCIENCE DEPARTMENT SCOOP
NEW SCIENCE TEACHERS Compiled by NICOLE ADAMSON and ANNA TOMZ
Paul Durdle
Classes Years Teaching Advice for Students
Favorite Planet
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Dunant Hin
Aparna Sankararaman
Chemistry and Chemistry Honors
Biology and Physics
Chemistry and Chemistry Honors
5 years
5 years
6 years
“I’m very impressed with how well they are coping with a very intensive course. Keep your energy up, get lots of sleep, work hard and play hard. It’s important to do it in that order!”
“Always try your best in everything you do because you’ll never regret doing your best work. You never know who is watching or what skills may become useful one day.”
“Keep up with your work. The easiest way to succeed at something is to find passion in what you do. If you don’t care about what you’re doing, you’re not going to do it well, so find a way to care about something.”
“Pluto. It’s classified now as a sub-planet, but my dog’s name is Pluto, so I’m very happy to think about Pluto. It [Pluto] is only just a bit bigger than California.”
“Earth. It’s where people are, and it’s where life is. I teach Bio, so it has to be Earth.”
“When I was very little I found out that the two moons of Mars are named for ‘fear’ and ‘anxiety’. Mars is supposed to be the God of War and I thought it was really cool that they thought to name it like that.”
OCTOBER 2018
Q&A:
New science Instructional Lead Erik Olah Text by NICOLE ADAMSON Additional reporting by ANNA TOMZ
Olah discusses questions with his AP Biology students Naomi Jecker-Eshel (left) and Nathan Strope (right). Although he enjoys teaching, one benefit of teaching fewer classes is the reduced grading, according to Olah.
Teaching transition After 15 years teaching, 12 of which at Palo Alto High School, Erik Olah is now Instructional Leader of the Science Department. Veritas sat down with Olah who currently teaches AP Biology and Marine Biology to see how he is adjusting to his new role.
Veritas: What does being IL involve? Olah: “I lead department meetings and I coach for teachers. I help them in terms of classroom help students learn and that kind of thing. I also attend [school-wide] meetings ... [and] I bring back information to share with the department.” Veritas: What are your interests outside of school? Olah: “I’ve been coaching [basketball] on and off for about 13 years, and I have two young children at home, so I hang out with my family.” Veritas: What are the noticeable differences between being IL and being a teacher? Olah: “I have less interaction with students. In two more years, just think of how many fewer students I’ll know. It’s just a different feeling.”
ANCIENT SCIENCE
YOUR OCTOBER
HOROSCOPE
According to the American Federation of Astrologers, Astrology’s origins trace back to the ancient Babylonian civilization, which used astrology to make predictions about the future, including weather cycles, looming war, and success of agriculture. Early stargazers knew that there were 12 lunar cycles (months) in a year. Due to the rotation of the Earth, some constellations were more apparent during certain cycles than others. These constellations were named after various animals and people, which then resulted in 12 Zodiac signs. Before major astronomical discoveries and advancements, this was science for humans.
Virgo: (Aug. 23–Sep. 23) This month Virgo must remember that even when things don’t seem to be progressing forward, it is all part of the process. Libra: (Sep. 23–Oct. 23) In October, Libra will be a welcomed friend, helping others steer in the right direction. Scorpio: (Oct. 23–Nov. 22) This month gives Scorpio the opportunity to take risks and leave their comfort zone. Sagittarius: (Nov. 22– Dec. 21) This month, Sagittarius should stay cautious, especially pertaining to rules and order. Capricorn (Dec. 21–Jan. 20) Changes are looming for Capricorn, however, take this month to be grateful and enjoy what you presently have. Aquarius (Jan. 20–Feb. 18) October is Aquarius’ month to use their bonding and creating powers to mend or match relationships.
Pisces: (Feb. 18–Mar. 20) Pisces will have deeper insight into crucial and complex matters. Aries: (Mar. 20–Apr. 20) This month Aries will have an increase in self-confidence and tap into inner sources of energy. Taurus: (Apr. 20–May 21) In October, Taurus will be capable to notice everything around them. Gemini: (May 21–Jun. 21) October is for fearless Gemini seeking thrilling experiences. Cancer: (Jun. 21–Jul. 22) For those born in Cancer, it is not your time to be modest, rather, be demanding in all life has to offer. Leo: (Jul. 22–Aug. 23) This month demonstrate your expectation of decency and fairness from others.
Source: xtarot.com Text/Art by ESTELLE MARTIN
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Astronomical Calendar October 21 - Orionid Meteor Shower, visible from Palo Alto (11 p.m. - 7 a.m.) 24 - Full moon
November 17 - Leonid Meteor Shower, visible from Palo Alto (12 p.m. - 7 a.m.) 22 - Full Moon 29 - Venus at maximum brightness
December 8 - Puppid-Velid Meteor Shower 13 - Geminid Meteor Shower, visible from Palo Alto (7 p.m. - 7 a.m.) 22 - Full Moon 25 - Puppid-Velid Meteor Shower
BLUE MOON:
MYTH OR FACT?
A misunderstood lunar phenomenon Veritas: What do you know about blue moons? Sophomore Amanda McVey: “It’s the second full moon of the month.” Veritas: What color is it? McVey: “A normal moon or yellowish-orange.” Veritas: How often do you think it happens? McVey: “Not more than 6 times per year.” Veritas: Do you believe any superstitions about blue moons? McVey: “I don’t know. The Placebo Effect can be strong sometimes, but I don’t think it’s a concrete thing. It’s fun to make a connection out of coincidences.”
January 3 - Quadrantid Meteor Shower 5 - Partial Solar Eclipse 21 - Total Lunar Eclipse and Full Moon, visible from Palo Alto (from 6:36 p.m.11:48 p.m.)
Event Explanations: FULL MOONS occur roughly once per month. During a full moon, the moon is on the direct opposite side of the Earth from the sun, so only the illuminated face of the moon is visible. METEOR SHOWERS occur when Earth passes through a field of large rocky particles in space, causing meteors to shoot across the sky from what appears to be one common point. The best places to view them are places away from large cities to ensure minimal light pollution and clear skies. TOTAL LUNAR ECLIPSES occur when the Earth’s shadow completely blocks the sun’s light from reaching the moon. During a lunar eclipse, the moon can appear a different color (red, orange, yellow, or brown) because the only light that reaches through the moon is filtered through the dust in earth’s atmosphere. SOLAR ECLIPSES, which are more unusual, occur when the moon fully or partially blocks the light of the sun. Although there are no upcoming solar eclipses visible from Palo Alto, there will be a partial solar eclipse in January. Text by ANNA TOMZ
Facts on blue moons:
Palo Alto High School sophomore Amanda McVey is generally correct. Today, many people use the term “blue moon” to refer to the second full moon of the month. However, until popular usage changed the meaning around 20 years ago, a “blue moon” meant the third full moon in an astronomical season (solstice to equinox or vice versa) that has four full moons. Since a season contains three 30 or 31 day months, and the lunar cycle is 29.5 days long, it is unusual for four full moons to fit into one season, according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Blue moons generally once every two to three years, but there were two in 2018. The next blue moon is in October 31, 2020. Although blue moons appear gray and white like the moon does any other day, blue colored moons are not impossible. When a volcano erupts, it can release small ash particles into the atmosphere. If these particles are a small and uniform size, they will scatter a specific color of light, such as red light, making the moon appear blue, according to NASA. Forest fires also have the potential to generate the necessary ash. However, it’s more common for ash to scatter blue light, making the moon appear orange. Text by NICOLE ADAMSON
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TOP Sophomore Amanda McVey considers urban legends about blue moons. Photo by Nicole Adamson MIDDLE A blue moon actually appears white and gray, like this waxing gibbous moon. Photo by Anna Tomz BOTTOM A moon that looks like this digitally edited version will probably be seen in nature ‘once in a blue moon.’ This example demonstrates the ease with which images can be altered, often leading to misconceptions about scientific concepts. Photo illustration by Kaitlyn Khoe
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Astrophysics alters persp
“W
HAT? Wait. What? You can see the ring. You can see the ring!” says Senior Maria Fletcher, one of 20 or so students taking turns to peer through a telescope for a view Saturn’s rings. Exclamations emanate from the students on the lacrosse field of Palo Alto High School as they witness the alignment of Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. Josh Bloom’s outing with his astrophysics class initiates a rumble of awe and moments of reflection, a true example of taking educating outside the classroom. Approaching 20 years of teaching, Bloom brought the Astrophysics course to Palo Alto High School in 2010, creating an experience that goes beyond just astronomy for students. As a kid, Bloom would doodle space shuttles in his notebook, an indication that he always wanted to pursue a future in science, according to Bloom. His plan to major in aerospace engineering switched to bioengineering and then physics. After beginning work towards a major in Physics, Bloom reconsidered aerospace engineering and graduated from college with two majors, one in physics and the other in astronautical engineering. But the flip-flopping didn’t stop there. Bloom entered an internship at National Aeronautics and Space Administration right after college while during the summers he worked as a camp counselor with kids and teens at the YMCA. Although the internship was fascinating, he felt a stronger affinity working with the teens. When faced with the opportunity to receive training for preparing astronauts at the Johnson Space Center, Bloom went back to college to launch into a teaching career. By teaching, Bloom combines his passion for science with fulfillment from impacting the lives of students.
Text/Photo by KAITLYN KHOE
Text/Photo by KAITLYN KHOE
DO YOU SEE WHAT I SEE? Bloom adjusts one of the three telescopes he brought to show students Jupiter. “Every now and then, I get this flash of being this tiny little part of something much, much bigger, and there it is, right before my eyes,” Bloom says. I have a sense of not just looking at the sky but into space.”
“Once you teach long enough, you hear back from a student you taught who tells you what a difference that you made in their lives, and that is the greatest reward that I can get as a teacher,” Bloom says. Bloom began teaching at Gunn High School, where he was a former student, before setting up the astrophysics class at Paly from scratch. Besides pure science, Bloom tailors the class to help students realize the scope of their problems in comparison to the size of the universe. “What I really want students to come away with is perspective and hav-
ing a better idea of what makes them significant,” Bloom says. While the science plays a major role in understanding the relationships between everything in our universe, the goal is not to front-load information to students but rather to build connections between science and each student’s life. “They [students] are connected to the universe. All the processes that created the universe, galaxies and stars also create the fundamental building blocks of their body,” Bloom says. “Their bodies are basically composed of the exploded guts of stars that lived and died long before our solar system ever formed.”
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Findings Art by
MAYA ANDERSON
Text by ALLISON MOU
GALACTIC GARBAGE
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New solutions to tackle the space junk problem
ONSIDER THIS repeated sto- is de-orbited, which can be achieved by ryline through human histo- slowing it down enough for it to re-enry: we gain access to a new, ter Earth’s atmosphere or by using an pristine place that is full of engine to propel it back into the atmopotential, exploit sphere. Stanford that potential to sophomore and its fullest extent of Seer “I just simplified an orbit down founder and then leave Tracking, Ambehind heaps of to a few patterns that can be ber Yang, is an trash. Unfortupiorecognized by the artificial emerging nately, this pheneer in this field. nomenon seems “Space junk neural network that I’m workto be happening is any defunct, ing with.” in space, too. man-made ob— AMBER YANG, Stanford student ject. It can be as Space debris is essentially small as a paint space junk, a term fleck to as big more representative of this man-made as a completely dead satellite that’s orproblem. Space junk continues to orbit biting in Low Earth Orbit,” Yang says. around the Earth at high speeds until it “They [pieces of space junk] can travel
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at speeds up to 17,500 miles an hour, and they pose really big threats to other orbiting objects in space, such as the ISS [International Space Station] and any company that is sending big assets into space.” Most of the time, space junk in orbit comes from leftover components of rockets and satellites. Additionally, paint flecks can chip off of a spacecraft, creating more tiny pieces of debris.
Tracking Trash
Yang has been working on a program to track space debris since her sophomore year in high school. Her program differs from current tracking methods in that it uses machine learning to predict the trajectory of space junk instead of mathematical models.
Findings by sensors belonging to NASA or a Menlo Park based startup called Leo Labs. Yang’s greatest problem right now is that she only has publicly available data on space junk locations from space-track.org to use with her neural network and not the official classified data from NASA. “I’m not getting the classified version of the data, and the [publicly available] data hasn’t really been refined, so there’s a lot of error in it,” Yang says. Yang has recently asked a Stanford professor with access to the classified data sets to be an adviser to her startup. Once Yang gains access to the refined data, she will use it to continue to test her neural network.
Cascading Collisions
“Earth’s gravity gradient [Earth’s gravity is stronger closer to its center] and solar radiation cause orbits to change really quickly, and they’re not really predictable by a mathematical model,” Yang says. “Rather than trying to understand how the Earth’s atmosphere and space are impacting orbit, I just simplified an orbit down to a few patterns that can be recognized by the artificial neural network that I’m working with.” According to Yang, her neural net compiles and recognizes changes of the debris’ path in between each orbit around the Earth. It finds a pattern in the change to better predict its future path. Yang is currently in the early stages of creating a startup, Seer Tracking, to support her program and make it commercially viable. Orbital debris is actively tracked by a collaborative effort between the National Aeronautics Space Administration and the Department of Defense. All data currently used to calculate the predicted orbit of space debris is provided
Low Earth Orbit has a nightmare scenario. Former NASA scientist David Kessler proposed a syndrome, now called the Kessler syndrome, where he calculated the existence of a critical density point for space junk in LEO that will cause an unstoppable chain reaction of space junk collisions. In this case, the cascading collisions will not stop until there is nothing left in LEO. Since important active satellites share the space in LEO with space junk, such a chain of collisions would be catastrophic to our global communications systems, according to the scenario proposed by the Kessler syndrome. For active satellites and objects like the International Space Station, maneuvering out of the direct collision path, although difficult, is possible. However, for other objects, such as defunct satellites or objects floating around without active propulsion systems, a collision that generates more space junk pieces is unavoidable. Since humans first started launching items into space, the junk has continued to increase steadily. According to NASA, as of August 2017, there are more than 21,000 pieces of debris being tracked by the DoD’s Space Surveillance Network, which only tracks objects larger than 2 inches. As of January 2018, according to a graph compiled by the European Space Agency, there
has been an increase of 12,000 pieces of space debris tracked by the SSN. As private companies and countries continue launching more satellites and spacecraft, the risk of collision between objects only increases. The importance of tracking space junk to avoid collisions has become a higher priority for these companies trying to protect their assets. According to Yang, companies like SpaceX will look for launch windows for their rockets that reduce the risk of collisions with space debris, which is a concern that will only increase with time. Right now, proposed solutions to the space junk problem are plentiful, though none have yet been put into practice. There are many people and companies like Amber Yang floating new proposals to deal with the problem, running tests and getting closer to solving this issue.
Art by KAITLYN KHOE
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Findings Text byPhoto NICOLE ADAMSON by KAITLYN KHOE
TIME MACHINE
F
LAUNCH IN 1968 PAVED THE WAY TO THE MOON
IFTY YEARS AGO IN OCTOBER, National Aeronautics and Space Administration engineers were preparing for the launch of Apollo 8. The launch vehicle arrived at the launch pad on Oct. 14, 1968 in preparation for its launch on Dec. 21, according to NASA. The goal of Apollo 8 was to send a three-person crew around the moon and back to test key spacecraft systems in anticipation of more ambitious moon landing programs. The news media extensively covered this exciting mission, even writing a story about sliced turkey the astronauts snuck aboard to supplement their meals.
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Findings Text by CALVIN YAN
Additional reporting by ALLISON MOU
ASTRONOMICAL AMBITIONS
Stanford Student Space Initiative launches payload of fresh ideas
CRASH COURSE Jonathan Zwiebel, Palo Alto High School class of 2017, shows off a rocket avionics system inside a facility once home to Stanford’s particle accelerator. The Stanford Student Space Institute, abbreviated SSI, cleverly named their base of operations the ISS, both a reverse of their organization’s acronym and the acronym for the International Space Station. “For me, it [the balloons team] was the easiest way to get hands-on with programming,” Zwiebel says. Photo by Calvin Yan
“W
E ARRIVE AT the launch site at about 6 p.m. And of course, nothing works when we get to the launch site. Comms [communications] don’t work, some of the batteries knocked together in the car and had fried, and so we spent hours and hours in the park in the middle of the night just trying to get everything working. At around midnight, the sprinklers go off.” That’s Kai Marshland speaking. He’s one of two presidents of the Stanford Student Space Initiative, a multi-division organization giving Stanford University students the opportunity to explore the science and
ethics of space exploration and research. With expressive hands and an animated storytelling voice, he describes his favorite moment on the team, preparing for a weather balloon launch in a public park in central California. “And so our table’s sitting here with all of our fancy electronics on it, the sprinkler is rotating, rotating, rotating,” Marshland says, sweeping his outstretched arm in an arc. Not willing to watch their labor of love be destroyed, the team acted fast, cutting off the offending stream of water — by standing right on top of it. “At around 3 a.m., we finally launch this thing, and we were exhausted,” Marshland
says. “We’re cold, we’re soaked from the sprinklers — just absolutely miserable. We launch this thing? And it works.” The nine-hour ordeal reminded Marshland why he came here in the first place. “The payoff for seeing something that you’ve worked so hard on fly, and not only fly, but fly better than [anything] anybody else had ever done? That’s the cool thing,” Marshland says. “That’s the reward.” Adventures like this are what makes the SSI unique, according to Marshland. One reason he joined was because of the stories he had heard at Stanford’s annual Fall Activities Fair, like a microgravity experiment and a collaboration with the International Space
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Findings Station. Fellow president Shi Tuck describes a less spontaneous motivation to join. “I actually read about it [the SSI] in high school, so it was initially on my radar,” Tuck says. Once she joined, Tuck committed to the satellites subteam, recalling her task of building a flight computer with no electrical engineering experience. The process of learning from square one, she says, was the highlight of her membership on the team. “It is [was] a really good experience to get my feet wet in the field and also work on actual space hardware,” Tuck said. Tuck’s journey is that of an archetypal success story. As a girl in an inner city high school, opportunities to explore aeronautics were scant, so she created her own. She propelled model rockets with rocket candy, a solid mix of sucrose as fuel and potassium nitrate as an oxidizer to enable combustion. She educated students on rocketry as founder of her school’s astronomy club. She hosted an event in conjunction with the club to encourage women and minorities to engage with STEM. The presidents’ stories are two among many in the SSI. They, along with the team leads who agreed to tell their stories, are several stars in a constellation of contrasting personalities, talents and ambitions, which altogether form the self-proclaimed largest
the team, which has traditionally focused on innovating avionics, aerodynamics and altitude prediction technology — “every part of Trajectory to success the rocket except for propulsion,” in Shorr’s A large and aggressively expanding own words. member base is just one privilege that the “A lot of students want to go off after rockets team enjoys, according to team co- they graduate and work for the SpaceXlead Daniel Shorr. He says this is due in part es and Blue Origins and NASAs [National to the team’s broad appeal. Aeronautics and Space Administra“What is a group that I can tion] of the world. … The only go to and feel welcomed? way to do that is to have Well, rockets,” Shorr worked on it [propulsays. “What is a sion] before. It’s an group that I can go experience-driven “It really does feel like to and find a techprocess.” nical challenge? The team prewe’re in the 60’s and Rockets. What is a viously opted for we’re hearing about what group that I can go store-bought, solto … and send stuff id-propellant rockthe Soviets are doing.” to space? Well, et motors, consist— DANIEL SHORR, rockets team lead that’s rockets.” ing of a blend of According to volatile compounds Shorr, the team’s atthat, like gunpowder, tempt to develop its provide a strong kick first custom, liquid-propelwhen ignited. While sollant rocket engine has drawn id motors are easy to use and further interest. They plan to achieve transport, they’re relatively weak. this by launching Helios, a liquid-motor The transition to liquid propulsion is rocket built by non-affiliated graduate stu- the SSI’s entry ticket into a race to become dents in a Stanford rocketry course. Shorr the first collegiate rocketry team to send says the launch, planned for the beginning a payload above the 100-kilometer-high of the school year, is a major milestone for Kármán line, representing the divide between Earth’s atmosphere and space. Their self-imposed deadline, the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing, is slightly under a year away on Jul. 16, 2019. “There’s this kind of low-key space race happening,” Shorr says. “And it’s really cool, because when we’re sitting around discussing this pursuit, there are whispers. Like ‘Oh, what’s Purdue doing?’ ‘Oh, what’s USC doing?’ ‘Oh, you heard this from MIT,’ ‘Oh, Boston University [BU’s rocket] exploded,’ so on and so forth. It really does feel like we’re in the 60’s and we’re hearing about what the Soviets are doing.” Shorr says the team is as logistically and technically challenging as it is attractive. New members must obtain a standardized rocketry certification from an issuing organization by building and launching their own rockets at one organization’s launch site. Student leadership works intensively with school administrators to ensure that safety measures are robust — especially with regards to liquid propulsion. Furthermore, the propulsion mechanism requires PEER REVIEW Former SSI biology team lead Cynthia Hao inspects a bacteria sample in the biology team’s home in Stanford’s a plumbing system, and the pressurization Shriram Center for Bioengineering and Chemical Engineering. The team will begin the school year by getting new members and composition of fuels and oxidizers have familiar with lab spaces like this one. “We want students to be able to have the skills that they need to make it in aerospace industry or biotech industry or where-ever they’re going next,” Hao says. Photo by Calvin Yan a low tolerance for error.
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project-based student group that Stanford has to offer.
Findings “Effectively, it means a lot of calculations and a lot of double-checking, triple-checking, and redundancy to make sure that: A, we’re being safe, and B, we’re getting the burn that we want,” Shorr says. “It’s rocket science, through and through. It’s not diet rocket science; it is rocket science.”
You can’t rush gene-ius
Phosphoramidite chemistry. Oligonucleotides. Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase, or TdT for short. Cynthia Hao drops these terms and more as she discusses the SSI’s biology team, which she helped captain until this summer. The former Harker School student and Stanford bioengineering major has been with the team since its conception and remains at the forefront of its interdisciplinary effort to build a portable, space-compatible DNA synthesizer. The synthesizer could find use in research aboard space installations as well as the production of biopharmaceuti- WORK HARD, PLAY HARD Sitting in his home in Kensington, California, Stanford SSI co-president Kai Marshland describes cals, or ingredients for drugs derived from the high-altitude balloons team’s tradition of launching strange objects, such as a single tortellini or a banana with a fake mustache. “It [the SSI] is not just a technical organization,” Marshland says. “It’s a family that lets you have fun.” Photo by Calvin Yan natural processes. Hao says the current state-of-the art duced movement across hydrophobic pads She lists a couple of ideas, like an aquaphosphoramidite method, which assembles on a circuit board. ponic system to sustain fish and plant life, or small DNA sequences one base at a time, Pioneering and validating the synthesis a digital-to-biological converter, which turns sees widespread use in academic and com- method itself has been a lengthy process for the idea of creating biopharmaceuticals into mercial settings. That said, it is not without the team. In the search for a more organic reality. But for now, the team is all-hands-on its flaws. alternative to the phosphoramidite method, -deck working on their synthesizer — and “That [method] is done unnaturally, it’s they are looking inward, at the enzymes, Hao wouldn’t have it any other way. done with a bunch of toxic solvents, it’s done specifically polymerases, that synthesize “The way we all just work together and in the opposite way that nature does it,” Hao DNA in our bodies. Specifically, they rely flow, and each of us have a job that we’re says. “A lot of solvents that are needed for it on TdT for the synthesis of DNA strands doing; that feeling is really, really great, and are really flammable. … We are working on a without a template — something other poly- it’s one of the reasons that I’m still here,” way to make it water-based, safe, merases cannot do — and exonu- Hao says. cheap, hopefully a little more clease T to cut back on the efficient and non-toxic, strand. What goes up... and that actually inThe team’s method “All throughout my four years at Paly, volves creating our currently works with I was part of the Paly Robotics team, and “When I got to Stanown [DNA syntheone nucleotide, but through that team I saw how much I could ford, I said ‘I want to sis method].” its accuracy, while learn by doing project-based engineering,” Other orgaalmost perfect, is says Jonathan Zwiebel, a Paly graduate and find clubs and teams nizations are also not perfect enough. sophomore at Stanford. “I had a really good and groups that do stuff pursuing such a Hao brings up time doing that. And so when I got to Stanmethod, Hao says, an example of a ford, I said ‘I want to find clubs and teams similar to what I did at but only the SSI 99-percent-accu- and groups that do stuff similar to what I did Paly.’” is factoring space rate method used to at Paly.’” — JONATHAN ZWIEBEL, Paly alumtransport into the synthesize 30 nucleoHis search lead him to the SSI, and his nus and balloons team lead equation. This means tides; the chance of suc- computer science background meant an afthat the method must cess is 99 to the 30th pow- finity for the balloons team, over which he be done autonomouser, or an unacceptably soon assumed leadership. One of the team’s ly, without relying on gravity and low 74 percent. Once accuracy is objectives, and perhaps the most significant, in a small space, in order for it to happen maximized, Hao hopes to eventually publish is to launch payloads carried by high-altion devices with small payloads. To that end, a research paper. But what comes next? tude helium balloons for as long as possible, Biology’s device subteam has developed a “That is probably going to be up to the according to Zwiebel. device that can carry out the reaction using next generation of people,” Hao says. “There’s This is achieved using a technology electrowetting, transporting droplets of fluid a lot of really cool projects that people can called ValBal. A portmanteau of “valve” and that combine and react through voltage-in- work on that involve biology and space.” “ballast,” the name describes the balloon’s
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Findings ability to adjust its altitude, increasing al- enhancement and controls and even Bal- says the format is somewhat free-form, and titude by dropping biodegradable pellets loonerang.” often resembles an impromptu conversation (ballast) and decreasing weight, or decreasHu says there are other collegiate teams more than it does a scripted dialogue. ing altitude by venting helium from a valve. that launch balloons — Columbia and MIT The team is also discussing a possiWhile this allows the balloon to stay 12 to 18 chief among them — but considering that the ble collaboration with For All Moonkind, a kilometers high for days on end, it doesn’t SSI keeps breaking its own world records for nonprofit advocating for the preservation of stay up forever. flight time, she is confident about her team’s moon landing sites as heritage sites. The idea “Sometimes we cut it down,” says bal- ability rise above and beyond. is to turn discussion into action in the form loons co-lead Grace Hu, citing internationof a proposal to the United Nations Commital no-fly zones as a reason to end a I think, therefore I land tee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space. flight. “Sometimes it just lands Outsiders may see Chloe “America sticks a flag into the moon and naturally after the balloon Glikbarg’s title of policy they’re like ‘It’s ours now,’ but, like, what? pops or we run out lead and assume she What does that mean?” Glikbarg asks. “And of ballast, and then lacks STEM expertise. so … the model convention idea is to create “It’s really important to we’ll try our best to That’s a common a place for people to come together and talk recover it … otherm i s c o n c e p t i o n , about things, in the same way that UNESCO have ... some sort of diswise occasionally it Glikbarg says: as is [where] people come together and detercussion about what they lands in the ocean. a matter of fact, mine whether places should be preserved.” That is unrecovershe studies elecThe policy team has struggled to recruit [engineers] are doing and able.” trical engineering and maintain members in the past. Memberthe doing itself.” In order to and spearheads the ship went from a single student to eight stuguide balloons to rocket team’s new dents this year — an expansion Glikbarg jok— CHLOE GLIKBARG, policy lead recoverable locapropulsion division, ingly touts as a 700 percent increase. While tions, the team is in addition to her lead- that’s still relatively small compared to other working to develop ership of the policy teams, Glikbarg doesn’t see the need for the a modular parafoil, team. policy team to compete for membership. like those on paragliders, called “There were a lot of brain“I don’t see the policy team becoming Balloonerang. Hu says Balloonerang storming sessions on some of the new the top priority for a lot of our members, but steers a spent balloon by means of two mo- directions that the policy team could be I also don’t think it should be, because we all tors, which tug on parafoil strings to change going towards, and I had a lot of ideas, and joined because we love engineering,” Glikits orientation. The latest test was scheduled people were like ‘alright, you should just be barg says. for Sept. 22, which was cancelled partially in charge,’” Glikbarg says. That said, she contends that “it’s good to due to a global helium shortage, according The team’s most immediate focus is a create balanced engineers. I think it’s really to Zwiebel. weekly podcast called “This Week in Space,” important to have … some sort of discussion He adds that ValBal technology, with covering topics from space history to astron- about what they [engineers] are doing and or without the Balloonerang, is sought af- omy to industry titans like SpaceX. Glikbarg the doing itself.” ter by researchers specializing in the earth sciences: The team has worked with labs to measure glacier depth in Greenland and monitor California wildfires, and are looking forward to a new partnership with the Stanford Research Institute. But one of Zwiebel’s favorite launches — conceived by Netflix employees at a corporate hackathon — had much lower stakes. “We had this fantastic payload of this polycarbonate wall with a phone at the background and a camera looking at it, … and we were able to show that this phone was playing Netflix at high altitude,” Zwiebel says. “It was just amazing. You could literally see and hear the video playing and you could see Earth in the background.” According to Hu, however, the team also has its sights set on more personal achievements. “We really would like to be able to … potentially circumnavigate the world,” Hu A SPACE FOR DISCUSSION Policy lead Chloe Glikbarg talks lunar heritage sites and Pluto classification inside the Stanford says. “That would be a great combination Graduate School of Education. This building was once home to SSI student led course AA47SI, “Why Go To Space?”, one of of a lot of our different subteams for latex the policy team’s landmark achievements. Photo by Kaitlyn Khoe
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Findings Text by NICOLE ADAMSON
Photo by KAITLYN KHOE
TURTLES TO TEACHING
The influence of science on one new Paly administrator’s career
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e’d jump from the boat and grab them [green Next, Keating launched his career as a marine biology researchsea turtles], and you’d grab their flippers and er and science and technology educator. From President of Learning wrestle them in the water, then throw [them] at the Tech Museum to Director of 21st Century Learning at Porinto the boat — they’re big turtles — and do all tola Valley School District, Keating has varied experience beyond the measurements, tag them and follow them through their natural the realm of research. Even though he may have now left his days history [life cycle],” says Palo Alto High School counting pelicans in local wetlands behind, he assistant principal Tom Keating, recounting has brought his scientific approach to the his job as a Curator and Research Associate high school administration. “The physical and living world“Inofscience, at the Charles Darwin Research Station in we really need evidence systems [in the school about things,” Keating says. “Making sense the Galapagos. Tagging sea turtles may seem worlds that, we try to come up with more genenvironment] all interact to of away from Keating’s current role as Assiseral rules about how things work. ... It come up with this endeavor.” makes me a skeptic in a healthy way. You tant Principal; but according to Keating, his diverse experience as a marine biologist and have to show me the evidence first before I — TOM KEATING, assistant principal am going to leap.” professor gives him a unique perspective on his current role. Beyond applying the scientific methAfter receiving a bachelor’s degree in od to finding solutions for problems in biology from the University of San Francisschools and districts, Keating uses his life co, Keating joined the workforce to get money to travel. In fact, it science background as an ecologist as a metaphor to view a school was his travel experience that really gave his career direction. community as an ecosystem. “While I was in Northern Spain on this beach, I was just in“As an ecologist, you can think about systems. The physical and spiration struck, and I decided I wanted to be a marine biologist,” the living systems [in the school environment] all interact to come Keating says. up with this endeavor,” Keating says.
KEATING’S CAREER PATH Bachelor’s degree in Biology University of San Francisco Curator and Research Associate Charles Darwin Research Station, Galapagos Marine Vertebrate Zoology Instructor Moss Landing Marine Labs, Monterey PhD in Teacher Education Stanford University Assistant Professor Boston College Educational Technology Coordinator Portola Valley School District Assistant Principal Palo Alto High School
Curatorial Assistant California Academy of Science Master’s Degree Moss Landing Marine Labs, Monterey Math and Science Teacher San Benito High School Assistant Professor Indiana University Bloomington Vice President of Learning The Tech Museum, San Jose Director of 21st Century Learning San Carlos School District
OFFICE GECKO Keating shows off Spot, his pet Leopard Gecko. “It [Spot’s presence] just makes it a richer environment, certainly for students,” Keating says. “It’s something to talk about. It makes people feel better.” When a student could no longer care for Spot, Keating took in the lizard.
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Findings Text by KAITLYN KHOE Photos by ANDREW CHALMERS
STARMAN
Paly alumnus captures the sky
CAREER CATALOG
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URROUNDED BY DARKNESS, of each class, which Chalmers credits as a camera suspended on a tripod a major inspiration for his photography separates him from stars billions today. of miles away, according to An“At the time it [the class] didn’t drew Chalmers, Palo Alto High School mean a lot to me, but, looking back, it Class of 2014.. definitely had a huge Joined by his sis“The camera’s an extension influence on a hobter on the domes of by I never thought of your eye... gathering more I would be into,” Yosemite, Chalmlight and information the Chalmers says. ers admires the expanse of the unWhen he was human eye can’t see.” known before him. browsing the inter— ANDREW CHALMERS, Class of 2014 net, he became fixOnce midnight comes, the sky, as ated on photos of dark as can be, gives the stars the stage, the Milky Way galaxy, inspiring him and he sets the exposure for minutes at to replicate what he saw, according to a time to capture the shining spheroids Chalmers. of plasma. “Out of the spur of the moment, on Chalmers picked up his interest in some impulse, I took my family’s camastrophotography, taking photos of as- era and went to the darkest place I could tronomical bodies, his first year after find — Skyline Boulevard,” Chalmers college, though his love for space began says. “I sat in the pitch dark fumbling before. While at Paly, Chalmers took with the camera for hours, and I actualJosh Bloom’s Astrophysics class, since ly did get some [photos]. Now looking he was an astronomy fanatic. Chalmers back on it, [they were] pretty bad but inattributes his understanding of the solar teresting photos of the night sky.” system and the sky to the class. Besides He continued experimenting with the lessons, Bloom displayed an astron- the camera, and spontaneous trips like omy photo of the day at the beginning this one became regular occurrences.
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Taking the shot
The hardest part is researching and planning the photos, not actually taking them, according to Chalmers. He must first find a location far from cities and the moon to avoid light and air pollution. This need for darkness causes his shoots to fall on weekends, as the most optimal lighting occurs very late. For Chalmers, the best conditions are usually between midnight and 5 a.m. because even after the sun sets, there is still light in the atmosphere. As Chalmers has found, astrophotography conditions are optimal in late summer because Earth faces the center of the galaxy which has a higher star density.
Findings
High ISO (a camera’s sensitivity to light), long exposure (the duration the lens is open) and low aperture (a large lens opening) are key elements to maximize the amount of light let into a camera, allowing the satisfying spattering of stars to appear in his photos. With minimal editing, Chalmers is able to represent the night sky authentically, as a photo people could see and believe. “The camera’s an extension of your eye. It’s not really altering an image, it’s just gathering more light and information that the human eye can’t see,” Chalmers says. “The goal is to keep it as natural as possible.” Although he is a business major at the University of Alabama, his passion for astrophotography has continued to be a hobby of his because of his powerful fascination with the relationship between space and photography, according to Chalmers. He encourages everyone to take their family’s camera and experience the sky’s charm. “During those 20-30 seconds, you get to sit there in the pitch black of the night and wait for the camera to develop that exposure,” Chalmers says. “You’re staring at this huge, beautiful sky.” LEFT Half dome, a granite dome, is a popular hiking trail located in Yosemite National Park and known for its perilous ascent for the last 400 feet. TOP Black Rock Desert in Nevada, once covered by water that evaporated, has turned into a semi-dry alkali flat, containing deposits of alkaline compounds. RIGHT Erosion of the Alabama Hills, set between Sierra Nevada and Inyo Mountains, create polished, rounded rocks. Andrew Chalmers makes final adjustments to his camera.
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Findings
SHOOTING FOR THE STARS
Star gazing: friendship and serenity
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HE ROAD TO ALPINE INN in Portola Valley is winding, and seems especially so at 11 p.m. The Inn’s parking lot is a short distance from the mouth of the trail that leads up an inconspicuous hill, overlooking the bay. It takes about 15 minutes to walk to the top, which is marked by a rickety wooden bench and a grand oak tree. Here, the view offers a juxtaposition between the man-made lights of the city below and the natural twinkling lights of the stars above. Palo Alto High School seniors Miles Shulman and Lucas Washburn, along with their friends, cite this secluded Arastradero hill as one of their go-to stargazing locations. This is partly because this spot is the most convenient in terms of transportation, according to Shulman. It is a short drive and a relatively close bike ride away from home, enabling this group of friends to star gaze around once a month. Shulman and Washburn enjoy the calmness of simply lying down on the ground and looking at the sky above. “It’s peaceful … a combination of tranquil and humbling,” Shulman says. “It’s what we talk about in Astrophysics: how big the universe is and how relatively small we are.” Both Shulman and Washburn take the Astrophysics course taught at Paly by Josh Bloom. Since it’s only the beginning of the
Text by ESTELLE MARTIN
year, students are not very far into the cur- They Might Be Giants,” Washburn says. riculum, so most of Washburn’s knowl- “They made a science album and one of edge comes from his father, who majored their songs is about the sun. They say that in Astrophysics in college. the sun is made of plasma, which is not a According to Washburn, as a young gas, liquid, or solid, it’s actually a fourth boy, he and his father would take the fam- state of matter.” ily telescope to the Foothills at night and Both boys are able to identify the conlook at the planets, a tradition Washburn stellations above such as the Big and Little hopes to revive this year. Dipper, but Washburn suggests that someWashburn begins to rattle off space times it’s more fun to make up one’s own facts, an action his close friends describe constellations. as “spamming.” Once he gets started, it As he says this, Washburn points seems like he can’t his finger towards stop. a series of five stars “It’s peaceful ... a com- in the sky that cre“We have never actually seen the bination of tranquil and ate a lightning bolt, Milky Way. When though some friends humbling.” one sees pictures pipe in, thinking it — MILES SHULMAN, Senior of galaxies, it’s looks like the numusually the Anber three. dromeda Galaxy, which is the nearest one, Washburn and Shulman agree that and people confuse that for the Milky Way soaking in the view, catching the occabecause they look the same; they are both sional shooting star, and enjoying their spiral galaxies,” Washburn says. “But we friends’ presence is what makes the starhave never seen it because we are inside gazing excursions worthwhile. of it; what we see is a line, which is a ring Humans have been looking up at the of our galaxy.” stars for as long as we have existed, and Washburn continues, “We have only Shulman suggests that high schoolers seen one side of the moon ever because it should take time out of their schedules, rotates at the same rate that away from their phones, to continue this it orbits the earth.” age old tradition. Washburn also learns Washburn adds in a suggestion to don some of his space facts from some headphones, play “Here Comes Scian unusual source. ence” by They Might Be Giants and admire “There is this band called the thousands of stars above.
FOREGROUND Paly seniors Lucas Washburn (center) and Miles Shulman (right) star gaze on the roof of a Palo Alto home with their friend Harrison Frahn (left). These students take every opportunity to admire the night sky. Photo by Estelle Martin BACKGROUND Milky Way photographed in Maui. Photo by Anna Tomz
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Opinion
DOLLS ON WHEELS This photo illustration juxtaposes toys traditionally given to boys with those traditionally given to girls to demonstrate the different influences on each gender.
Text/Photo by KAITLYN KHOE
SCIENCE, BRO
C
Opportunity or obligation in the generation of gender
IRCUIT-BUILDING toy kits for him. An Easy Bake Oven An obligation to go into a STEM field charms me. I hear about for me. Legos with a programmable robot for him. Polly the advocates encouraging women in STEM, and I want to establish Pockets for me. A science lab in a box for him complete myself as this ambitious female on the hunt for technically rigorous with plastic vials and mysterious liquids that I was not science opportunities while balancing my admiration for the arts. invited to touch. This feeling leads me to place pressure on myself to do all the science I rarely experimented with the many toys branded for boys, and math I can, but do I have to choose? Robotics or glass blowing? so now I explore as much as I can. The age for Silicon Valley is for coders and tech choosing a career path looms, and I frantically engineers and I feel the need to live up to I question whether I am that reputation, so I set aside urges to take consider if engineering or computer science is for me. classes and fulfill the expectation to doing it for me or for art To discover new interests, I applied for an make strides toward equality in careers, the cause of women in and I do not spend time thinking about the internship this past summer. Conscious that I was probably an under-qualified candidate, I other futures I could pursue. Now every STEM. did not expect to get accepted, and I was right, time I venture into the world of equations but I expected another girl to. Other females and numbers, I question whether I am doing had applied to the internship, so there should have been at least one it for me or for the cause of women in STEM. who got the position. Just one. When a bundle of only-male students If I spent time with plastic screwdrivers or beakers when I was were accepted into the internship, I felt it was my duty to do more. younger with nimble hands and a mind unburdened by the pressure This realization instilled in me a revived motivation to break to start a career, perhaps I would not have to challenge my passion barriers, shatter the glass ceiling and defy odds by diving into a for art as nothing more than a curiosity that must be overcome. STEM-related activity, so I could live up to that fiery feminist image. I do not expect every girl to go into a STEM field, not even And then I have to pause. Because maybe a career in STEM is myself. I just expect everyone to have the opportunity to, from the not what I want, it’s what I’m supposed to want. beginning.
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Opinion Text by WARREN WAGNER
Art by HANNAH LI
WHO ELSE IS OUT THERE? My path to finding an ‘answer’ through the Drake Equation
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T’S A QUESTION that has haunted and enticed humans for hundreds of thousands of years — are we alone in the universe? We aren’t able to know for sure unless we one day meet life from another planet, but that hasn’t stopped scientists from giving their best guesses over the years. One way of doing this is through something called the Drake Equation, invented by Frank Drake in 1961. Drake created this equation to serve as a
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his looks like a lot, but let’s take it step by step. The first three terms, R*, fp and ne, represent the rate at which stars are created in the Milky Way, the fraction of stars with planets and the number of planets per system that are habitable for life, respectively. The product of those terms gives us the amount of habitable planets in our galaxy. Research from the world’s space programs has given us relatively precise estimates for this first group, so I’ll plug in values that the University of Texas at Austin deems an average estimate. These values would be R* = 10 stars per year, fp = 0.5 (half) of stars have systems of planets and ne = 0.89 planets suitable for life per solar system on average. The fourth term, fl, is the fraction of habitable planets on which life actually does develop. This is where the formula enters guessing territory, which makes it not very airtight, but much more fun for people like you and me to play around with. It’s unclear how common it is for random molecules to become basic life forms, and I would wager that it’s not too likely by random chance. So in this case I will go with a pessimistic value: 0.01, or 1 percent of hospitable planets developing life. Next, we have fi — the fraction of those planets with life where intelligent life emerges, which I think is very high. Intelligence has proven to be such an evolutionary advantage for humans, with our species quickly becoming dominant on our planet, so if animal-like life appears, intelligence would thrive on those planets too. But a lot of life might not make the jump from plant-types to animals, so I would place fi at 0.6, which means 60 percent of planets that have life would produce intelligent life.
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framework for calculating the possibility of extraterrestrial life, according to a National Aeronautic and Space Administration article. The formula is a patchwork of data-driven variables and educated guesses. It estimates how many detectable civilizations are in our very own Milky Way galaxy, represented by “N,” which simply means how many species are likely currently transmitting signals like radio out into space. So let’s take a look at the equation:
Source: Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) The following term, fc, is the chance that those intelligent life forms invent a way to transmit signals like radio out into space which I think is likely, for one main reason. Humans are our only sample of intelligent life (so far), and the Smithsonian Institute reports that Homo Sapiens have been around for about 300,000 years. That’s very little time on a cosmic scale, and we’ve already developed radio transmission capabilities. This leads me to think that most intelligent life will discover some interstellar communication, so I put fc at 0.8, or 80 percent. Now, last but not least, we have L, which represents how many years intelligent life forms remain detectable, or continue transmitting. The species would probably keep transmitting signals until they go extinct, leading this term to have some of the widest possible variation in the equation, but we can still speculate. Again, our own species is the only point of reference we have. A Public Broadcasting Service article explains that radio became widespread around the early 1920s, so humans have been ‘detectable’ for almost 100 years now, but when will we stop transmitting? We’ve been around for a while, so I think the human race certainly has at least 400 years to go. This makes a total of 500 years of detectability to other life forms. When we plug those values in we get… 10 • 0.5 • 0.89 • 0.01 • 0.6 • 0.8 • 500 = 11 intelligent, communicable civilizations in the Milky Way! While I used a few optimistic numbers and a few pessimistic ones, this was overall a pretty rosy projection. Do you think humans are unique in the universe? Or do you think we’re just one of hundreds of civilizations? Plug in your own numbers and find out!
Art by KAITLYN KHOE
LAST THOUGHTS Science comics WASTING AWAY YOU CARRY A HANDFUL OF TRASH FROM LUNCH...
NOW WHERE DOES IT GO?
AFTER FIVE MINUTES OF THIS...
IT ALL GOES IN THE TRASH
ONLY TO BE RE-SORTED
OR STUCK IN LANDFILLS FOR 20 YEARS THAT’S FOR A COFFEE CUP. A PLASTIC WATER BOTTLE? ABOUT 450 YEARS.
SILLY PEOPLE THAT DON’T KNOW NAPKINS CAN BE COMPOSTABLE!
SOURCE: NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ASSOCIATION, CNN
LISTEN UP DURING A TYPICAL DAY AT PALY...
I CHECKED THE SOUND LEVEL OF THE FIRE ALARMS
AND DESPITE MUSINGS... ALTHOUGH AROUND 80 DB IS HIGH, ONE WOULD HAVE TO LISTEN TO THESE ALARMS GO OFF FOR 8 HOURS STRAIGHT BEFORE DAMAGE TO EARS. SOURCE: COCHLEA.ORG
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