TED Talk: Reshma Saujani and Teaching Girls Bravery, Not Perfection

 The founder of Girls Who Code, Reshma Saujani discusses the difference between how many boys and girls are raised differently in terms of who is encouraged to take risks (boys) and who is encouraged to be perfect in all they do (girls). This is an interesting presentation that needs to be heard and addressed if we ever want to see greater numbers of women as leaders in science, business, and other fields where the are historically underrepresented, there is a strong argument to be made that this is the way to approach rising girls when young - risk taking is necessary for become a leader in anything, and could be something adults can have some influence on when girls are young.

Can the laws of Physics change over time?

 There is a published study that finds evidence something called the fine-structure constant has changed ever so slightly over the evolution of our universe. This, if true, will make us re-think a lot about our understanding and assumptions about 'universal constants' such as the speed of light, Planck's constant, the gravitational constant, and several others that are believed to be unchanging since the beginning of time. 

We can't know with any certainty if this new study is the final, accepted word on this topic, as many other groups will be going out to verify the results independently (which is how science is supposed to work). But over the years, we have wondered in class whether G, Newton's universal gravitational constant, could change over time? The reason we wonder is because Einstein says gravity is the consequence of curvatures in space and time. Well, since the universe is expanding and space and time can change and vary a lot locally, around big objects such as stars and galaxies, why would we expect G to be a universal constant since the stuff that allows for what we 'feel' as gravity is dynamic and changing?! 

We'll need to find out how this one goes when there are more studies into it! 

Meteorite has building blocks of life

 In a recent study published in the journal Science shows how a meteorite found in Costa Rica has organic molecules, as complex as amino acids, the building blocks of life (proteins). Many scientists have wondered if life was given a 'nudge' by molecules coming to earth from outer space, and this finding would suggest that was a real possibility. It also suggests there could be primitive life on other worlds since these organic molecules are found widespread in space, as well as water molecules. With trillions and trillions of other planets and galaxies out there, most scientists would find it difficult to Believe there isn't at least primitive single-celled or bacterial life out there! The chemistry is just too common and basic not to produce the pieces needed for simple life. Now intelligent life, who knows about that! 

Interesting Book on Quantum Computing - learn the basics

 Check out this book, titled Quantum Computing for the Quantum Curious. It is a good introduction for students into the quantum mechanics concepts and ideas, using minimal math, to understand what the next generation of quantum computers and other technologies are, how they work, and how they will be used in the world. 

What one of our students was working on this past summer - fast radio bursts

 Here is a short review article about a topic one of our seniors helped work on this past summer in the CIERA astrophysics summer program - fast radio bursts. These are star events that are not well-understood, and astronomers are trying to find characteristics of the environments and sources for these energetic bursts. We found this on a good site, phys.org. 

College admissions diversity quotas - students for them...but not for football

 This is an interesting video where some students at the U. of Florida are asked if they support diversity quotas in college admissions. Here what they say for general admissions, and what happens when it is asked if the same thing should apply to the football team. 

Use of AI in Cancer Research

 There are a few articles linked here that get into the use of artificial intelligence in cancer research. AI is revolutionizing many areas of study in all fields of STEM, and of course will only get better and more effective as these technologies continue to advance. 

Wave functions - A good introductory video

 This is one of the better videos I've seen trying to get basic concepts about 'wave functions' across in as clear a way as possible. In your chemistry classes, this term comes up, but you don't ever really go into much detail about what the term means or suggests - it is a really difficult, abstract critter that is necessary to understand how the quantum world behaves! Good luck! 

High-Precision test of Einstein's GR

 General relativity is Einstein's masterpiece, dating back to 1915. It is still our best understanding of the universe, and of gravity. And with new technologies come new tests of any theory. Check out how, using atomic clocks, scientists are measuring the tiniest changes in time caused by the tiniest differences in gravity with a change in height of 1 millimeter!! This is ridiculous precision of the clocks to be able to do this, but we are at that level! It is equivalent to saying it would take 300 billion years for the two clocks to differ by 1 second. WOW!!

Interested in open-ended problems? Try the COMAP math modeling contest.

The COMAP math modeling contest allows teams of 4 students to develop a viable solution to a real-world, open-ended problem in a 2-week period. Teams submit papers to see if their solution has the potential to be a solution to the problem being addressed. Our top two teams in COMAP will have a chance to represent the school in the MathWorks contest.

Good examples of the problems used in the MathWorks contest are found in their Archives. 

Nobel Prizes 2021!

 It is Nobel week! 

Physiology: Two Americans won, David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian, for determining how the body takes physical sensations and turn them into electrochemical signals within the body so the brain can interpret them as changes in temperature and touch. See the announcement and some details here. 

Physics: Three split the Prize for their work in understanding the science behind complex systems. One of the best examples of how others apply their work is in climate science, and how one begins to understand one of the most complex systems there is, global climate, that has countless of thousands of parameters and variables that interact in so many ways. How does one approach complexity? How does one go about trying to calculate and simulate such a system? How can we possibly understand how to take microscopic processes and figure out how those affect a macrocosmic system? Well, the work of Giorgio Parisi (Italy), Syukuro Manabe (Japan/Princeton), and Klaus Hasselmann (Germany) created the means to do this. 

Chemistry: A German and American split the chemistry prize for their work twenty years ago, where they independently discovered a third type of catalyst for creating organic molecules; the two types of catalysts prior to this work were metals and enzymes. This has had a major impact in creating new medicines and other areas where organics is a key. Catalysts are those molecules that can help accelerate chemical reactions, but do not directly end up in the products. These are key to all areas of life, including the enzymes that keep us alive. The scientists are Benjamin List and David MacMillan (a 2nd for Princeton this year). 

Literature: A Tanzanian author has won this year, Abdulrazak Gurnah. He is the first black African author to win the prize in 35 years. His work is described in a statement:

 "Abdulrazak Gurnah's dedication to truth and his aversion to simplification are striking," the Nobel Committee for Literature said in a statement.

"His novels recoil from stereotypical descriptions and open our gaze to a culturally diversified East Africa unfamiliar to many in other parts of the world."

"[His] characters find themselves in a hiatus between cultures and continents, between a life that was and a life emerging; it is an insecure state that can never be resolved."

Economics: Three Americans won for their work in finding real-world situations to do 'natural experiments' to test economic theories and models, and for quantifying how to find cause and effect relationships for economic models. Unlike natural scientists, where one has control over controlled experiments (put fertilizer on one field and none on the other to see which one has the best crop yield, for instance), this process of experimentation is much more difficult for social sciences, including numerous ethical considerations for different topics. But when one state has one economic policy such as raising the minimum wage, and a neighboring one does not, now economists can get data to see how raising minimum wage affects the local and state economies, and what effect this has on labor in general. Turns out raising the minimum wage does not cause job losses, and instead has almost no effect at all, despite widespread beliefs among many. The winners are David Card (UC Berkeley), Joshua Angrist (MIT), and Guido Imbens (Stanford).

Peace: Two journalists won the Peace Prize for their reporting of authoritarian government scandal and abuse of power, often putting their lives at risk in countries where journalists can be imprisoned or even killed. Their emphasis has been on trying to preserve freedom of expression/speech as a basic human right, which is essential for honest reporting as well as for sustained peace. Maria Ressa of the Philippines and Dmitry Muratov of Russia are this year's winners. 

A visual way of thinking about General Relativity

 General relativity (GR) is Einstein's masterpiece. It also is the modern theory of gravity, including what causes gravity - the curvature/warping of the spacetime fabric of the universe. Here is an interesting video with a visual way of thinking about what this means, as it is quite abstract for our 3-D brains to imagine a 4-D universe! Thanks to Luca for finding and sharing this. 

Shortest time period ever measured - check this out!

 How much time does it take light to pass a hydrogen atom??? Keep in mind that the ground state orbital for hydrogen is 0.53 Angstroms, and the speed of light is the fastest there is, 300,000,000 m/s. Do the math, and obviously it does not take much time for this to happen. It has been measured, and is 247 zeptoseconds! This might be the only time in your life you even see the prefix 'zepto,' which is 10^-21!! Wow!! 

Check out the article that explains how scientists did this. 

A new state of matter - Time Crystals

 Thanks to Jack B. for finding this article on Time Crystals, a strange form of matter found in a quantum computer of all places! 

This is a material that is switching back and forth between two different quantum energy states when created in a very cold environment. There is no loss or gain of energy externally, and effectively there is no increase in entropy of the system. It is described to be like a pendulum that never stops swinging; there is no change or randomness in its switching behavior as long as it is in this strange state. 

First all-civilian space crew goes up with SpaceX

 An all-civilian crew, with NO professional astronaut, is up in orbit on a SpaceX vehicle! Pretty cool! 

First group of Top 50 Finalists for the Global Student Prize!

 If you would like to learn about what kind of impact on national and global levels students in high school and college can have, check out the first cohort of Global Student Prize Top 50 finalists! One of these students will be named a winner and receive $100,000 to put towards their missions and organizations. 

If you would ever like to become involved in something that addresses a passion of yours, or even start an organization to address issues of concerns, IT IS POSSIBLE and even as a teen YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE AND AN IMPACT FOR THE BETTER!!!!

Also announced is the 2021 group of Top 50 Global Teacher Prize Finalists, one of whom will win a $1 million award in November. 

Water in Crisis around the world, and check out UN SDGs

 There is a major issue that just a decade or two ago people were beginning to worry about, and now seems to be here at an accelerating pace - water shortages. 

With population growth and climate change, more regions of the world are suffering changes in rain and snow falls, extended droughts, and changes in agriculture. Water is in shortage in more locations around the world, and perhaps Americans will begin to realize this (although those living in the west and southwest are already living it) as rivers and watersheds in the US begin to dry up. 

Check out CNN's feature on the Colorado River, the most important river running through the southwest. In fact, just one week ago the federal government declared a water shortage for the Colorado River for the first time ever. Parts of the Mideast are becoming uninhabitable. The path much of the world, certainly coastlines, can and will need to take for fresh water is desalination (if you can develop a cost-effective, large-scale process for this, you will be among the billionaire crowd and will help hundreds of millions/billions of people in the process). This has already started in very limited locations, but here is a 2015 article outlining the thinking for the past decade. 

Having water, the most basic consumable humans and all life as we know it need to survive, is, of course, one of the great problems and issues the world faces, and is highlighted by the United Nations in its list of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These will be referred to on occasion, and we will have a 2nd quarter project built around whichever goal is most interesting/important to you! 

Former life: Particle detectors over the years

 A good Science News article about particle detectors, which allow us to figure out what we are all made of! There are hundreds of particles, most of which are combinations of the six quarks! We'll get into this a bit in classes!! Here is the CDF detector from Fermilab; I helped build, maintain and run this thing. I'm still impressed these most complicated machines and experiments even work! 

A Study Effectively Confirms Energy Imbalance of the Earth Due to Humans

 A Princeton study confirms the growing energy imbalance of the earth is due to humans, and not natural processes. By 'imbalance' we mean there is no longer an equilibrium between the energy entering the earth's atmosphere and the energy that is re-radiated back into space. The warming of the earth is the result of the imbalance - caused primarily by greenhouse gases trapping more of the energy that should be making it back into space. 

Satellite data over two decades, then fed into numerous independent computer models for climate, all confirm there is no set of natural processes that have occurred over this time period to account for the warming. Only by adding in human contributions does one even approach the observed imbalance. This is but one more of many studies that all reach this conclusion that global warming and the climate change that results is due to humans, as it has a less than 1% uncertainty in these results. 

A pretty good list of how we can be happy and successful - from Michael Jordan

 I grew up watching Michael Jordan play basketball, from college through his entire professional career. Many believe, myself included, he is the best, most complete player of all-time, but of course this sort of thing is subjective and simply fun to think about...and it is not the thing to focus on. 

Instead, remember not to put anyone on a pedestal. Every human being is a flawed individual, we all make mistakes, and we all have struggles to overcome. Having said that, what we can get from the 'greats' in any field are insights and suggestions for how to approach life and find happiness and success (personally I think success in life is achieved when one is happy and healthy, whatever that means to each individual based on our own passions and joys in life...do what you love, that doesn't hurt others!). 

Take this for what it's worth to you, but here are 10 things MJ did that worked for him, and kept him motivated and the fire lit inside to always want to use each day to make himself better. For anyone who has ever read or thought about personal growth methods, this follows along with tried and true methods many have used in some form over centuries of time...some of these could work for YOU, too! 

Point is, each of us can always improve and try to become a better human being every single day of our lives by helping ourselves and others, and that's a pretty cool realization to reach!!  

What is Electrical Resistance?

 Every electrical device you have used has something called electrical resistance. If you've noticed electrical devices get warm - perhaps a calculator or cell phone or a stereo or computer that's been on - that heat is the sign of electrical resistance. 

When electric current flows through anything, where the current is a flow of electrons, those electrons collide with atoms within the lattice of the material. Even good conductors like copper wire and gold, will get warm...there are no perfect materials, and atoms get in the way of the flowing electrons! 

This video will use a simulation to get some images in our heads as to what happens at the micro-level. And also remember this: in mechanics, all collisions have some loss of kinetic energy. So every electron loses KE in a collision to that atom, and the atom then vibrates in place a little faster. From chemistry, we know that the temperature of a material depends on the average KE of its atoms and molecules - so if there is an increase in vibrational KE of the atoms of a material, it feels warmer to us! 

Materials that create few collisions for the electrons in the current have low resistance (small numbers of ohms), and if there are a lot of collisions there is a higher resistance (larger number of ohms, the unit of resistance). 

See another video for how we handle multiple resistors in circuits, in combinations of series and parallel, that we need for circuit analysis. 

New site for our work with our Malawi friends: EMPATHY

 I just wanted to add that we will be maintaining a site for the fundraising and work done with our friends in Malawi, Africa. With some $15,000 raised and provided to Andrews Nchessie, there are amazing results on the ground as far as the farms they have planted, raised, maintained and harvested, feeding some 1500 children year-round so they can be healthier, happier and in school learning full-time! Check out our EMPATHY site: Evanston Malawi Partnership Against The Hunger of Youth. 

Public Science - Zooniverse

 You may have heard of public science, or maybe not. In most fields of science, there are datasets that are SO LARGE that there are not enough actual scientists in those fields to look at it all. And there are some things that people are still better at seeing and identifying or classifying from a dataset than computers are. How do scientists handle the analysis of such large datasets? 

Bring in the global public! 

Some non-professionals are even getting their names on published papers for their contributions to new discoveries, such as new exoplanets.

Check out the Zooniverse website - there are over 80 big data projects that you can participate in, no experience required. Check out all the options, in dozens of different fields! 

Learn About Quantum Mechanics: The Quantum Atlas

 One of the better sites I have seen in order to learn about the fundamental concepts behind quantum mechanics is The Quantum Atlas. It has wonderful animations & interactive simulations, which bring some challenging ideas to life in a more understandable way. Kudos to the group Joint Quantum Institute at the U. of Maryland! 

If you enjoy making videos...

 Here is an international contest sponsored by the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC). It is called PLURAL+, and has a focus on submitting videos dealing with issues in migration, diversity and social inclusion, which many ETHS students are interested in. Could be a good chance to get your personal message out in a creative way, to the world! Check it out.

Here is one example by a Greek student, who is dyslexic and 12 years old, of a friend who teaches her English. 

Project Excite - A Model for Positively Affecting Academic, Opportunity Gaps

 For nearly twenty years, Evanston Township High School (ETHS) was part of a long-term effort, in collaboration with Northwestern University and District 65, to study and try to find a solution to a major problem seen in so many diverse communities and schools around the country - despite great effort, countless conversations and numerous programs, too often we see academic achievement gaps between white students and students of color, that are already in place at young ages and show no signs of improvement through high school graduation. How and why is it that results in things like test scores, grades, participation in honors and advanced placement (AP) classes, participation in academically inclined extracurricular activities and clubs, graduation rates, and college acceptance and attendance become very different between demographic groups, despite the fact that the students all grew up and attended the same schools, with the same resources and teachers, and in theory had exposure to the same potential opportunities? And is it possible to diminish and perhaps even eliminate such gaps before students graduate from the K-12 public school system? 

These were the research questions of Project Excite, and the goal was to determine if there is a systematic, comprehensive, sustained and long-term program or method that would have any significant effect on closing the achievement and opportunity gaps in the community.

Excite no longer exists, and there are no dedicated efforts trying to address achievement gaps in E-town. We hope to resurrect something soon, on a wider scale. It provides a model that demonstrated a long-term, comprehensive, inclusive and more holistic approach to build up not only academic skills and knowledge base, but more importantly self-confidence and self-esteem for the students as well as families, can reduce and eliminate the measured achievement gaps. We also saw consistent increases of Excite students into honors and AP courses when in ETHS, which is part of the opportunity gap that has historically seen underrepresentation of students of color at these academic levels.

Here's a summary of the original Project Excite, and how it was run.

Climate Modeling: EdGCM

 A former professional level climate modeling package has been turned into an educational modeling example and option to do climate modeling research for students. Called the Educational Global Climate  Model, EdGCM, it is a user-friendly, open-source program students can use and work with. We recently had a student figure out how to run the program, and this is a sample video presentation of what he did. 

For computer savvy students wanting to pursue climate science and modeling, where they can control and change numerous environmental parameters and then run simulations to determine predicted outcomes from the science mathematical models within EdGCM, they can actually do the research! 

A very cool zero-emissions boat: solar + hydrogen

 If you enjoy cool engineering and energy efficiency, climate change innovations, alternative energies, and all related to these topics, check out this really cool ship! It is all solar, wind and hydrogen fueled! 

Voyager mission - still making discoveries

 To the juniors, we were just thinking about the Voyager mission, and how NASA scientists and engineers were able to figure out how to get these two probes, launched in 1977, to the big outer planets and then out of the solar system! This article outlines what one of the probes is doing, outside the boundary of the solar system (the heliopause) and is measuring what the interstellar medium is like. Fascinating, and we still get data from the probe some 44 years after launch and 14 Billion miles away!! Check it out. 

For the Historians: Interesting history to the start of western science, 2500 years ago

 Check out this truly interesting article outlining the start of the modern science approach, coming from Greece some 2500 years ago. Anaxagoras, whom I cannot recall ever reading about, came to Athens, Greece, and may have interacted with Socrates, who of course had the pupil Plato and then Aristotle, to develop the philosophical foundation of Western society. Anaxagoras was a prominent figure in having an off-shoot or purely philosophical reasoning to natural philosophy, which is a term that lasted millennia until we changed it to science! 

Let's appreciate the geniuses from SO long ago. I wonder how many of our names will still be remembered in the year 4521! 

The infamous 'Bowling ball' problem!! Rotations!!

 Things like bowling balls, hitting a billiard ball, and tires on an icy road, sees examples of motion we can label slipping, rolling AND slipping, or rolling WITH NO slipping. These are objects and situations where all three motions can be seen one after the other. The 2012 AP Physics C Mechanics problem #3 was this problem, with a ring doing it. 

A bowling ball type problem sees several key concepts from rotational motion make an appearance, and this video walks through the details about how to think about the situation. The concepts are not too difficult in their own right, but combining them tends to be where confusion and self-doubt enter into the psychology of the problem! Check it out, see if this makes sense. 

Rotational motion - some lab examples

 Here are a few examples of objects that rotate. Remember that rotational motion is NOT the same as circular motion of point masses moving on a circular path; instead it is where all points of a solid, rigid body moves together through an angle. 

Check these out, hopefully it will help reinforce things like moment of inertia and torque, as well as angular displacement or angular velocity. 

Simple harmonic motion (SHM) - Some lab examples

 Check out some examples we would see in the lab for Simple harmonic motion (SHM). A normal spring is the prime example of this motion, where the restoring force depends on the displacement from equilibrium. A spring is F = -kx. So check these out, and we'll figure out the math in class or in the following videos: 

SHM of a spring

SHM for a pendulum (small angle approximation)

SHM for a swinging stick (small angle approx.)

Interesting Stats on STEM employment by race, gender

 A recent update on data collected for STEM employment is broken down by both race and gender. While progress has been made, it largely varies from field to field. 

Check it out.

Faraday's law - The glider problem and heating, B dA/dt case

 Imagine a glider with a wire hoop (circuit) on it, and it slides into a constant B-field. As long as the loop is entering the B-field, and the flux is changing (increasing), an emf and current are induced. This is a case where emf = induced voltage = B dA/dt. 

This example walks us through step by step, but then has a focus on how the glider slows down in time, and how much heat energy is burned off due to current flowing through a resistance. 

Check it out. See if it makes sense. If the glider could have the braking force acting until the glider stops, the energy burned off should be equivalent to the initial KE. Let's see what Faraday's law and others say about this thought! 

Possible hint of new physics at Fermilab

 From my old stomping grounds of Fermilab, about an hour outside Chicago and Evanston, comes measurements of muon magnetic properties that deviate significantly from the Standard Model, the theory we have that explains everything we know about the particles and forces of Nature, with the exception of gravity. 

Muons are in the electron family (200 times more massive...a heavy electron, basically, but it also decays with a lifetime of around 2.2 microseconds), and therefore 'spin' like the electron does. When you put spinning charged particles in a magnetic field, they precess...like a spinning top does if it is slightly tilted while spinning, and its whole axis rotates in a cone shape. By measuring these gyrations of muons as they spin in magnetic fields, precise measurements of their behavior are made. And these behaviors differ from what is predicted in the Standard Model. Some of the only theoretical explanations for such a difference involves new types of particles/matter. 

Check out this article if interested. This is also a good example of how discovery claims need to hold up to standards in a field built around error analysis! There needs to be a large enough gap between the predicted and lab results, but also a large enough gap between their error bars, of 5 sigma (5 standard deviations). The experiments still need more data to shrink these error bars a little smaller before they can claim discovery of some new physics, but it is getting close, and therefore more and more convincing that something new is out there!! 

Faraday's law: Lab examples of AdB/dt

 Faraday's law says that there is an induced voltage (emf) created if you change the magnetic flux through a conductor. Mathematically, this is induced voltage = d(BA)/dt, since flux is magnetic field times the area it flows through. 

One way to cause a change is to change the B-field through an area, or emf = A dB/dt. To see the math for this case, check this video out. 

Here are some lab examples where we see this happening. By the way, the physical reason why and how this works is that whenever you change a magnetic field, it induces a circulating electric field! It is an E-field that is turning on the current in the loops of wire and metal! 

Faraday's law: Lab examples of induced voltage = B dA/dt

 Faraday's law is one of the most important discoveries in the history of physics, in my opinion. It is relatively simple in its mathematical form, but in terms of applications it is invaluable and tells us how to create 90-something percent of the world's electricity, from generators in power plants. 

Faraday's law is: emf = induced voltage = d(BA)/dt. Magnetic flux = (B)(A), where A is the area the magnetic field flows through. 

This video shows a few lab examples of what it looks like for the case of emf = B dA/dt, where the area is changing due to some type of motion of the conductor (loops of wire). To see the math for this case, check out this video. 

Video on black holes

 This video gets into how black holes have now been photographed and directly observed! Cool! You'll notice some things Prof. Tchekhovskoy talked about and showed us in class!!

Ethics of AI in Education report

 I was very fortunate to be invited and involved in a couple different ways to provide thoughts and input into The Institute for Ethical AI in Education's report on ethical concerns of using Artificial Intelligence (AI) in schools and classrooms. The Institute is at the U. of Buckingham in the U.K. We also had two students, Nora Miller and Aidan Goodman, contribute in a student panel (just one of two US high schools involved in this global student participation). AI is already here in various capacities, and the unleashing of 'intelligent machines' into classrooms, with which children will be interacting with them at a variety of different levels and capacities and at all stages of human development, is already happening and will only continue to ramp up exponentially around the world. 

But how many are thinking about the ethics and potential unforeseen consequences of these technologies? With SO many possible benefits as a tool in the teaching and learning portions of education, what are the possible downsides we are not considering? How do we do this to maximize benefits to students and teachers, while respecting the human condition, morality, and health of the whole person who is using the technologies? 

The Final Report is here. There is also an Annex that outlines the key takeaways the Institute had from panel discussions and working groups. 

Some thoughts on what AI is, and some already existing applications: 

Check out UIUC's Engineering Open House...it's online & free!!

 If you want to get a sense of what goes on at arguably the top engineering college in the world (seriously, I am biased but there aren't many that compare), check out the U. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's Engineering Open House. Go here to check it out and anyone can 'attend.' I've been to the live ones, and when those come back, it is worth going to...very cool stuff to see! 

It is March 26-27. You can also sign up to see the keynote speaker, Girls Who Code founder Reshma Saujani, who is awesome! 

A wonderful orchestra performance involving one of our own

 Check out a performance of Midwest Young Artists Conservatory orchestra, which includes August H. A wonderful job! The main performance begins around the 15 minute mark. Thanks for sharing, August. If other students want to share any performance, whether in the arts or athletics, just let me know! Let's celebrate all the talent and interests we collectively have, as everyone has something to share with the world!

A layperson's way of thinking about 'Space.'

 Space, and time, are challenging, abstract ideas in modern physics. There are no good ways of putting these ideas into words, certainly that a person not trained in general relativity would understand. Mathematically there are elegant, well-known ways of explaining how space and time behave and change, etc. 

Check out this more humorous way of thinking about space. It may help clear some ideas up for you.

The Essence of Calculus channel

 There is a channel with 12 videos that do a wonderful job of more visually explaining the essence of the calculus! It looks to be very nicely done, and may be useful for students learning about and being curious about the workings of this top tool we use in physics. 

Thank you to Ezra for finding this. 

A Weakened Magnetic Field 42,000 yrs ago caused global disruptions and extinctions

 New studies seem to have linked a severely weakened global magnetic field (below 6% of its average strength) to global climate changes that caused known extinctions and almost certainly altered the behaviors of humans at the time. Neanderthals also became extinct around that time, likely because of changes in the environment they could not adapt to. A second article in Science News. 

Scientists are using preserved trees in bogs to study levels of certain atmospheric gases and isotopes that would change with the intense increases of radiation bathing the atmosphere and surface of the earth. 

A related article to this explains the need to have better forecasts about solar storms on the Sun, which eject the solar wind and additional onslaughts of charged particles that sometimes hit the Earth. Big ejections have caused problems with everything from global communications to overcharged power grids, and satellite damage and issues with aviation. 

This all fits in with what we were just studying in 4 Chem/Phys! And we need to learn from such studies because of the present decline in the earth's magnetic field, and signs of a global reversal of the field. Check out the solar flare below: 

MinutePhysics on General Relativity

 In 3 Chem/Phys, we are into gravity at the moment, and discussed some of the key concepts of Einstein's General Theory of Relativity, the modern theory of gravity. Turns out that in the past few days, a new MinutePhysics came out about this theory - it is WORTH checking out if you find this sort of topic interesting! Have fun with it! 

First videos of Mac & Cheese creation by Indonesian students, who got the recipe from ETHS

 Let's have some fun by sharing recipes with students in Indonesia! There is a class of teacher Diana Herawati where the students are looking to do some cooking of foreign meals as something new to do during pandemic shutdowns. Thanks to Erin for sharing her homemade Mac & Cheese recipe, which inspired these two videos from Indonesia! My students can find a link to add your own American or family heritage recipes in the post in our Google Classroom.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?fbclid=IwAR3h5f8Epz6IL9jAJDyQC7eD9c-JcXqFxQBpg-MbpoOIAaLil1fMd6EZoVU&v=npbW0fA5LHI&feature=youtu.be 

and

High Speed Video capturing the formation of a lightning bolt

 This short video appears to catch the 'stepped leader' of electrons, coming down from a discharging cloud, connecting with a positive streamer coming from something on the surface of the earth. When that connection is made, it is like closing a switch to a circuit, and we see the bright flash of what we would see as the lightning bolt. Very cool!! And remember that the current will be on order of 10,000-15,000 Amperes. 

 

Magnetic field simulator

 This is a good 3-D simulator of magnetic fields (B-fields) for lots of situations. Set the Display to 'Field Lines' for a good view. You can also rotate the display to see in 3-D. 

NASA's Perseverance landing on Mars

 Mark your calendars for Thursday, February 18, at 1:15 pm Central/2:15 pm Eastern time, for the landing of NASA's Perseverance lander on Mars! 

There is an entire toolkit for this event, so check it out. Think about all the areas of STEM that come together to make this ridiculously complex mission take place...this is part of the set of opportunities that are out there for today's students. SO exciting!! 

Summary of 3/4 Chem/Phys for Sophomores

 Rising juniors, if you have any questions or concerns about the 3 and 4 Chem/Phys classes, please feel free to check this video, and/or contact me or Ms. Gatchell via school email. We have A LOT of fun in the program, and love working with students over their junior and senior years, as well as helping you work on and getting involved in any type of STEM activity you may be interested in! We want to promote and honor your curiosities and get you into whatever STEM pathways that are available. 

Thanks! 

The Lagrangian for the Standard Model

 The Standard Model (SM) is the theory that best explains and describes all the known fundamental particles of nature, and the forces of nature, minus gravity. It is the heart and soul of particle physics. It is built around quantum field theory, which is, as one might expect, is one of the more challenging mathematical theories around. 

The main way to represent all the possible interactions and forces between the different particles is through a Lagrangian operator. Lagrangians are actually a standard way to do classical mechanics, and it can be extended into quantum mechanics, as well. A lagrangian is put together using energy, rather than forces like we would do in Newtonian mechanics. Think of a lagrangian as U - KE, or potential energy - kinetic energy. 

Anyhow, this article allows you to see what the lagrangian in the SM looks like, and breaks it down section by section to show you what the real math looks like for different interactions that build up our fundamental understanding of the universe!! 

"Blue Jet" lightning that goes up, towards outer space

 In electrostatics, we get into the basic concepts for how we think 'normal' lightning is formed. Ice crystals bumping and rubbing together in a storm cloud is the friction needed to separate charge, and turn a cloud into a large battery or capacitor. 

But "blue jet" lightning can be observed both on the ground and from outer space. This article has a wonderful photo from the space station, which captured the flash with certain detectors. Scientists are working on understanding this process fully - the blue glow is due to mostly nitrogen being in the upper reaches of the atmosphere, before heading into outer space. 

A galaxy missing its central supermassive black hole!!

 Thanks to Marc for finding this one. 

Check out a galaxy astronomers are scratching their heads on - missing is a central supermassive black hole! It apparently has drifted out of the main body of stars making up the galaxy, and it is a mystery as to how this could happen. Nothing can out-do Nature as far as variety and having a sense of humor! :-) 

STEM Writing Contest with the NY Times

 For the writers out there: 

New Student Opportunity: 2nd NYTimes/Science News STEM Writing Contest!

Science News in High Schools and The New York Times Learning Network together invite students to participate in the 2nd annual STEM Writing Contest. Students will choose an issue or question in STEM that interests them and then write a 500-word explanation that will engage and enlighten readers. Here is a rubric for the contest, which is open to students ages 11–19. 

Student submissions are due on Tuesday, March 2, 2021 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern time. Winning entries will be published on The New York Times Learning Network. You can read last year’s winning essays  here.

COOL Interactive for 50 gravitational wave events!

 Check out this article, which has an interactive graphic for the 50 detected events of gravitational waves from LIGO! It's cool! 

RC Circuit Lab

 This video shows a series RC circuit, with a 47,000 microfarad capacitor (a large capacitor!) connected to a 10-ohm resistor and a power supply. The capacitor is hooked up to an electronic voltmeter, which can be read out in real time. We can watch the time-dependent behavior of the voltage of the capacitor, which is the same behavior (exponential rise and decay) as the charge being stored by the capacitor. 

Note that as the voltage of the capacitor rises, and the total voltage of the power supply stays constant, then the voltage across the resistor must be decreasing; this means the current in the circuit is decreasing. This is Kirchhoff's voltage rule, V = Vres + Vcap, at all times. And if Rres decreases, then the current must be decreasing because of Ohm's law, I = V/R. 

We first see what happens with a 10-ohm resistor, and then a 200-ohm resistance. Note how much longer it takes the capacitor to charge...this is due to the time constant of the circuit, RC. We can control how quickly or slowly the circuit takes to charge and discharge, which is a key piece of knowledge to have for modern electronics (since everything is basically time dependent). Check it out! 

To see the mathematical derivations we will do in class, check out this one for charging a capacitor in a series circuit; or this one for a discharging capacitor. There is also one for how to think about it if the resistor and capacitor are in parallel. 

Codecademy - FREE platform for learning various programming languages

 Since a number of people have been asking about how to start programming, the most popular platform for a variety of languages, and especially Python, is Codecademy. 

Another option for beginners is a language developed by Northwestern, Netlogo; there is a Web based version of this you should be able to run on Chromebooks.  

Free Competitive Programming course in Java, taught by Alan!!

 For those who are interested in programming, and perhaps have a little beginning knowledge of the Java language, you may want to take senior Alan Wang's Competitive Programming online course. This is an extension to a free, basic Java course he created and ran for over 100 younger students last summer, and is his SDG project. 

The course is free and online, all you need to do is commit to the time to take it!! Registration is open, and we expect it to fill quickly since it is capped at 30 students this time. Check it out if interested!! 

Competitive programming is like math olympiad or science olympiad but for computer science. During competitions, you take a 4-hour test that tests your ability to write code to solve difficult problems. There are 4 divisions bronze, silver, gold, platinum. The class will be introducing how to take the test and going over how to advance from the bronze divisions to silver division. Alan would encourage students who have taken Introduction to Java Programming or know basic Java programming to register. 

Half the observable matter in the universe is in filaments of gas connecting galaxies

 An interesting article about where some 50% of ordinary matter, the observable stuff you and I are made of. is in filaments of gas and plasma connecting galaxies. Some of these filaments are tens of millions of light-years long. Big Bang models of the universe, through computer simulations of the evolution of the universe, predict such filaments, and now astronomers have figured out several ways to finally see them. Truly fascinating! Check it out. 

Help make change for students with special needs in Greece

 If you'd like to again help the 15-year old Greek student, Marios Thomeas, who recently spoke up for equity in education for students with special needs across the globe, he is focusing on trying to help influence the Greek government to make changes. You can sign the petition that will go to the Greek Prime Minister, and if you choose can leave a brief video message stating support for this effort and for better support and resources for kids with special needs, who all have gifts they want to share with humanity.