Category: Physics and Technology

2016-17, Engineering, Environment, Technology

Bio-Diesel Enhances the Flow of Emulsions in Pipelines

by Jenna Mallon (’18) Emulsions, mixtures containing two immiscible liquids, are used in a variety of industries including food, paint, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and oil/gas. Emulsions play a large role in petroleum production since they exist at every stage of production, from crude oil to the refined petroleum. Issues arise when it comes to the transport of petroleum: the emulsions in the petroleum may contain solids … Continue reading Bio-Diesel Enhances the Flow of Emulsions in Pipelines

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2016-17, Biology, Engineering

A Step Toward Synthetic Cognition and Artificial Organs

by Aaron Gochman (’18) A team of researchers from Harvard, Stanford, and Sogang University in South Korea made headlines this week with a discovery that captures the future of bioengineering. Living cardiac muscle cells were taken from rats and printed onto a robot shaped like a sting ray. The cells were engineered to express proteins that activate in response to light; when activated, the cells … Continue reading A Step Toward Synthetic Cognition and Artificial Organs

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2016-17, Computer Science, Health

Computer Simulation Offers Alternative Ways to Stop Disease in Schools

by Lillian Pao (’18) Pandemics and seasonal infectious diseases, such as the influenza virus, have drastic negative health and economic consequences. One particular intervention strategy, school closures, can result in significant economic impacts because parents or guardians have to temporarily leave the workforce in order to take care of their child. School closures because of an epidemic outbreak normally last for one to two weeks, … Continue reading Computer Simulation Offers Alternative Ways to Stop Disease in Schools

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2015-16, Physics

Asteroids May Have Fostered Life on Mars

By Julia Newman Fig 1: Analysis of Mars’ surface shows a history of bombardment.   Ever since the official announcement of water on Mars just last September, the search for habitable conditions on the planet has been more intense than ever. Studies from earlier this week suggest that while Earth’s surface is affected mostly by erosion and plate tectonics, Mars has been subjected to billions of … Continue reading Asteroids May Have Fostered Life on Mars

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2015-16, Physics

Factors affecting disaster preparedness in tsunami-prone areas

By Shannon Bohman ’19 Following the 2012 Indian Ocean earthquakes, Dr. Witvorapong and his colleagues surveyed 557 households in tsunami-prone areas of Phang Nga, Thailand. They focused on the relationship between social participation and disaster risk reduction actions, such as stockpiling supplies, making family emergency plans, and promoting risk reduction actions via community involvement. To analyze the data, the scientists employed a multivariate probit model. … Continue reading Factors affecting disaster preparedness in tsunami-prone areas

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2015-16, Psychology, Technology

Application of Psychology in Emails Could Lead to More Effective Communication

By Lee Ann Santore ’19 In this age of technology, email is employed as a fundamental form of communication capable of creating and strengthening both casual and professional relationships. Researchers from the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, having studied 16 billion emails sent by 2 million users, were able to identify several key patterns. The results revealed that most emails are responded to within an hour, … Continue reading Application of Psychology in Emails Could Lead to More Effective Communication

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Technology

Computers Can Learn Like Humans

By Cerise Carey ’16 Scientists have created an algorithm that allows computers to recognize and draw simple visual concepts, such as handwritten characters. A research group under the guidance of Dr. Brenden Lake, a Moore-Sloan Data Science Fellow at New York University, devised an algorithm that serves to shorten the time it takes for computers to “learn” new concepts and replicate types of pattern recognition … Continue reading Computers Can Learn Like Humans

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2015-16, Biology, Technology

Determining the Sex of a Fingerprint

By Shannon Bohman ’19 An new innovative test may help determine whether a fingerprint comes from a man or a woman. Certain amino acids are twice as prevalent in women than in men, meaning that testing for amino acid concentration found in fingerprints can determine the gender of the person they belong to. For more than a century, fingerprints have been analyzed as if they … Continue reading Determining the Sex of a Fingerprint

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Technology

Optimization of a Lithium Flow Battery to Increase Energy Storage

By Meghan Bialt-DeCelie Image acquired from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_power_in_New_Zealand Figure 3: Windmills need reliable large-scale flow batteries to effectively store energy for later use.   The flow battery is a development in large-scale, renewable battery technology. It is often found attached to solar panels and windmills to collect the energy produced. However, it is unable to cost-effectively store large amounts of energy. Dr. Qing Wang, of the University … Continue reading Optimization of a Lithium Flow Battery to Increase Energy Storage

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Technology

Self-Healing Gel Makes the Future of Technology More Flexible

By Meghan Bialt-DeCelie Image acquired from: https://www.flickr.com/photos/creative_stock/5227842611 Figure 2: weak points like junctions and bends in circuits could use the self-healing, conductive gel to keep circuits from wearing.   As technology advances, people in today’s society strive for slimmer, curved, and more flexible gadgets. Typical conductive materials for circuits are not exactly suitable for the latest tech to meet these futuristic features. To address this problem, … Continue reading Self-Healing Gel Makes the Future of Technology More Flexible

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Technology

Your Robot Coworker Won’t Be Stealing Your Job After All

By Cerise Carey Is artificial intelligence as big of a threat to your job as it may seem? Researchers with the McKinsey Global Institute suggest not. Their research indicates that less than five percent of jobs and forty-five percent of general work activities could be automated. Jobs that could benefit from some activities becoming automated include physicians, financial managers, and senior executives. However, there are … Continue reading Your Robot Coworker Won’t Be Stealing Your Job After All

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Physics

Confirmation of Quantum Mechanics

By Shannon Bohman Image acquired from commons.wikipedia.org Figure 1 This picture shows the physics building at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands.   Netherland scientists of Delft University of Technology claimed to have proven quantum entanglement, the idea that if two particles’ spins are aligned, they can still influence each other at all times, no matter the distance between them. Two diamonds, each containing … Continue reading Confirmation of Quantum Mechanics

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