sparks Summer 2012 || Vol 1 || Issue 1

2|| sparks

about us From the editors:

Welcome to the first issue of Sparks.

Science and technology are everywhere in our daily life. From the simplest items we consume such as toothpaste and

breakfast cereal, to complex systems we use such as the phone, the internet and the medicine, all these are the products

and results of modern science and technology. Whilst science, being an exciting, captivating area of study, has always

been a strong field of interest for many of us, we recognize that not all people feel the same way. It is our hope that more

and more students would become interested in science and, indeed, take science and technology as their lifetime

endeavor.

And that’s why we founded our PSAT (Promoting Science And Technology) club to produce this magazine. By highlighting

and showcasing the wonders of science, we hope to allow our peers to see science the same way we do. We see this

magazine as a means to explore the intricate and fascinating elements of the world. Our school Westview has a very

strong science program, particularly with regards to the Advanced Placement courses. And we would love to see more

students take advantage of those classes.

This magazine was written for everyone, not only those who enjoy science but also those who have yet to discover how

great it truly is. We have a collection of different articles in order to appeal to the interests of everyone. We wish to be the

spark that lights the flame of interest and participation in science.

We recognize that we produced and published this towards the end of the school year, but we assure you that we’ll be

here in the fall with another issue. Also, we hope to invite guest speakers to present to students on a more personal level.

Finally, we’d like to thank all the contributors who wrote articles and allowed this magazine to come to life. Without you,

there would be no us. Also, thanks to Ms. Weltsch for being our advisor and supporting us. And many thanks to you, the

reader, for opening this magazine. We look forward to hearing the comments and suggestions from you.

Sincerely yours,

Suyang Kevin Wang and Victor Han

Founders

Staff List:

Editors-in-chief/Designers

Suyang Kevin Wang

Victor Han

Article Editor

Ada Ng

Staff Writers

Alvin Ho

Sanket Padmanabhan

Joseph Tsang

Visual Artist

Esther Wang

Cover art courtesy of abstractwallpapers.biz

contents the table of

summer 2012 || volume 1 || issue 1

Features

3|| sparks

4 The DNA Dilemma By: Kevin Wang

A summary of the discovery of the double helix

structure of DNA and the scandal behind it

6 Waves of the Future By: Sanket Padmanabhan

Discover how teleportation could work…

and how it’s likely to appear in the near future

9 How to Travel at 4000 MPH By: Joseph Tsang

A glimpse into the future of transportation

10 A Life of Biochemistry By: Alvin Ho

An exclusive interview with a biochemist

12 The Sky’s Blue Hue By: Victor Han

Answers to the ageless question:

“Why is the sky blue?”

14 A World Surrounded by Water By: Alvin Ho

A dive into the depths of the mysterious marine

world and all its wonders

16 Stem Cells Revealed By: Victor Han

Do stem cells hold the secret to future of

medicine and healthcare?

Extras

8 Question: What is “it”?

17 Scientific Sketches By: Esther Wang

Contact Us:

Looking to give feedback, contribute articles, or advertise? Please email us at westviewsparks@gmail.com Thank you!

Image courtesy of Rick Gomes on Flickr

lmost everyone has heard of the vital substance known

as DNA, the blueprint of life. But just a century ago, it was

a mysterious and relatively unexplored branch of science.

Enormous progress was made throughout the 20th century

on the functionality and form of DNA, including James

Watson and Francis Crick's Nobel Prize winning discovery

of its double-helix structure. While Watson and Crick are

the most famous DNA detectives, a third person and her

crucial contribution - "Photo 51" - allowed the double-

helix structure to be properly understood. She was

Rosalind Franklin and her remarkable X-ray image of DNA,

"Photo 51," was both a scientific breakthrough and a

great wrongdoing.

Born in 1920 in London, Rosalind Franklin came from a

wealthy family of English Jews. As a child, she excelled

academically and eventually entered Cambridge University

to study physics and chemistry. At Cambridge, Franklin

was introduced to X-ray crystallography, an imaging

technique that she would later use to capture Photo 51.

After earning her Ph. D, Franklin spent four years in a lab at

Paris and then moved back to England in 1951, to the

famous King's College laboratory. It was at this facility

that Franklin performed her X-ray crystallography

experiments on DNA in an attempt to understand its

structure. Franklin was not the easiest person to get along

with; she was aggressive, passionate, and somewhat

parochial. Her fierce personality led to conflicts with co-

workers and earned her the sarcastic nickname "Rosy."

As Rosalind worked at King's College, an ambitious young

scientist from America named James Watson arrived in

England to work in the Cavendish research lab. Watson's

partner was Francis Crick, another crystallographer. Both

men were interested in the structure of DNA, and so they

began to focus on model-building as their approach. But

the model was far from perfect. When Watson and Crick

presented their first model to a scientific audience,

Franklin pointed out some clear mistakes in their

interpretation and left them embarrassed.

Despite the initial setback, Watson and Crick continued

their research. Watson even began attending Franklin's

lectures on her research. But it is their relationship with

another scientist, Maurice Wilkins, which became the

greatest source of controversy. Wilkins was another

researcher at King's College, but he grew very angry with

Franklin's attitude and subsequently began meeting with

his old friend Francis Crick. Watson saw and seized the

opportunity and began questioning Wilkins about the data

that Rosalind was collecting. It was never clear how much

information Wilkins passed to Watson and Crick during

their talks.

DNA Dilemma

A

The

“Franklin herself was never fully aware

of how extensively her data had been

used by Watson and Crick”

By: Kevin Wang

4 || sparks

In May 1952, Franklin developed the finest and clearest image of

DNA of her time. Through the use of X-ray crystallography and

complex calculations by hand, she produced an "X" shaped photo

of DNA form B; her notes reflect a clear understanding of how the

X-shape picture suggests the structure of a double helix, but

Franklin was more interested in the DNA form A. The image,

labeled "Photo 51", was placed aside by Franklin for future use.

Meanwhile, Franklin's experience at King's College became

unbearable and she began making arrangements to transfer away

after the end of 1952.

Another contender entered the race to discover the structure of

DNA; Peter Pauling, an American and son of the Nobel Prize winner

Linus Pauling, arrived to work at Cavendish. Pauling used the same

model-structure approach as Watson and Crick, creating a sense

of urgency in Watson's mind. Desperate to uncover the structure of

DNA before Pauling, Watson went to Franklin and asked her to pool

her data with him and Crick. However, Watson's pleas suggested

to Franklin that she was confused and incompetent and caused her

to ignore Watson. Nevertheless, Franklin's data, including the

crucial Photo 51, was passed to Watson through the hands of

Wilkins. After seeing the photograph, Watson and Crick recreated

their model of a double helix with strands of DNA aligned in

opposite directions. At the same time, they hypothesized

(correctly) that the DNA-bases Adenine and Thymine, and Cytosine

and Guanine pair up together in the double-helix. Watson and

Crick quickly published their work in the Nature science journal.

Also published in the issue were Wilkin's article on DNA and an

article on the research Franklin performed at King's College.

However, all of the articles failed to portray how essential

Franklin's data was to the findings of Watson and Crick.

Franklin herself was never fully aware of how extensively her data

had been used by Watson and Crick; she had already moved to

another lab and began a new set of experiments on viruses. Three

years later, in 1956, Franklin discovered she had cancer. The

cancer was most likely caused by her extensive research with X-

rays, and she died two years later on April 16th, 1958.

Then in 1962, Watson, Crick and Wilkins were awarded the Nobel

Prize for the discovery of the structure of DNA and the molecular

structure of nucleic acids. Soon afterwards, Watson published a

best-selling book, The Double Helix, which chronicled his personal

experience on the discovery of DNA structure. In the novel, Watson

portrayed Franklin at her worst: unattractive, incompetent, and

even violent. Though many of Watson's colleagues, including Crick

and Wilkins, opposed the portrayal of Franklin as unfair, Watson

refused to change it. He also mentioned how he took Franklin's

data without her knowledge.

As the Nobel Prize was not, and still is not, awarded posthumously,

it is unclear whether or not Franklin would've been awarded the

Prize for her work. But it is clear that Watson, Crick and Wilkins

took Franklin's data and used it without giving her proper credit,

which she most rightfully deserves.

-- Adapted from the NOVA episode Secret of Photo 51

(above) Photo 51 - This crucial image of an X pattern allowed Watson and

Crick to correctly postulate the double-helix structure of DNA

How to Extract Your Own DNA

Materials:

•Water

•Clear Dish Soup

•Table Salt

•Food Coloring

•Isopropyl alcohol (70%)

Steps:

1. Mix 500 mL of water with 1 tablespoon of salt.

2. Stir until dissolved. Transfer 3 tablespoons of salt water into

another cup.

3. Gargle salt water for 1 minute (this removes cheek cells).

4. Spit water back into cup.

5. Gently stir the salt water with one drop of soap while avoiding

bubbles (the soap will break cell membranes and release DNA).

6. In another cup, mix 100 mL of isopropyl alcohol with 3 drops of

food coloring .

7. Gently pour the alcohol so that it forms a layer (2 cm) on top of

the salt water cup (tilting may be necessary).

8. Wait a few minutes. White clumps and strings will form.

Congratulations! That’s your DNA! Now go make clones of yourself.

-- from NOVA

5 || sparks

the Future How Teleportation Can Help You

eleportation is one of the coolest parts of science fiction. From Star

Trek to Doctor Who, teleportation is one of the few staples of

futuristic technology, alongside laser cannons and warp drive, and

it’s no wonder. Don’t you wish that teleportation was possible? The

world would totally change if people could instantly be somewhere

else in the blink of an eye. Cars, planes, trucks, and ships would all

become obsolete, since we could just teleport ourselves wherever we

need to go. No more waiting for Amazon’s 4-5 business days either,

because all goods would instantly ship (cutting shipment costs to

boot). Space travel would be easy, and it would be no time at all till

people were colonizing the moon or even Mars. We could teleport

information too, meaning 100% secure communication and a

universe-wide free internet connection.

By: Sanket Padmanabhan

Waves of T

6 || sparks

Image courtesy of imedia51 on Flickr

You may be derisively scoffing at me right now. “Come on,” you

might be thinking. “Sure, teleportation is cool, but it’s impossible,

right?” Surprisingly enough, teleportation doesn’t break any

fundamental rules of physics and is, in fact, being practiced today

on a very small scale.

That’s not to say of course that there aren’t problems with

teleportation. Teleportation would require one to scan an object,

obtain every iota of information about that object, and then send

that data (without losing any of it) to a different area at which point

it must be reconstructed perfectly. But sadly, because of

Heisenberg’s Uncertainty principle, which states that you cannot

know the precise location and velocity of an electron, it’s

impossible to gain enough information about an object to create a

truly exact replica. The act of scanning itself changes the electron,

which seems like it spells the end for teleportation. In fact, when

critics of Star Trek talked about the impossibility of teleportation,

the producers introduced “Heisenberg Compensators”. But if

Heisenberg’s Uncertainty principle is true, how could teleportation

ever come into being?

Although teleportation is totally against the laws of Newtonian

physics, it is possible through Schrödinger’s Quantum physics. You

may have heard of Schrödinger through his thought experiment,

"Schrödinger’s Cat." In the experiment, a cat is put into a closed

box with a vial of poison, a radioactive source, and a Geiger counter.

If the Geiger counter detects radiation, it will release the poison and

kill the cat. Thus the cat could be killed at any time. Schrödinger

postulated that, after a while, the cat is both dead and alive, though

if you try to observe it in some way, it will have to choose one. Nice

guy. This same Schrödinger was teaching a class about the wave

nature of electrons when one student asked what the differential

equation modeling an electron’s wave was. Challenge accepted.

Schrödinger, who had no idea what the answer could be quickly

took a one week vacation to one of his girlfriend’s summer houses.

When he came back, he had created Schrödinger’s equation. This

equation told the quantum state of an object by a function of time.

It is one of the most complicated concepts of modern physics and

there are full classes in top universities about deciphering it. But

this wave function allows for some peculiar happenstances to

occur. If you’ve had physics, you might have heard of Quantum

tunneling. One of the things that are allowed by Schrödinger’s

equation is that there is a slight probability that, when smash your

hand on the table, your hand will tunnel through the table, leaving

both the table and you completely whole. There is even a probability

that you will go to sleep on Earth and wake up on some distant

planet. These probabilities are based on size of the object, but the

chance that this would happen to a human is so small that if you

keep hitting the table once a second, every second from the

beginning of the universe to the end of the universe, it would only

happen once. But technically, these quantum fluctuations make a

form of teleportation without any machinery. In fact, in A

Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Universe, the author created a unique

machine called the Infinite Probability Drive, which changes the

odds of any quantum fluctuation at will. So if you want to teleport to

Pandora, you just set the probability that you would teleport there

normally to 100 and you’d suddenly appear on Pandora. Although

we obviously can’t magically change the probabilities of events,

there is something else allowed for in quantum physics that might

give us the teleportation we’ve been searching for.

Theoretical

Teleportation

Key:

X Y Z

1. Y and Z

are pre-

entangled

2. Y scans X

3. Disruption 4. Data sent back 5. Z is the same as X

7 || sparks

The answer comes with a relatively newly discovered phenomenon

called quantum entanglement. Quantum entanglement is a state

that subatomic particles can achieve when they have the exact

same quantum state. If one of them is spinning in a positive

direction then it can be instantly ascertained that the other is

spinning in a negative direction, even universes apart. They are

perfectly anti-correlated. To give an easier example, lets say that

you are watching a sunrise. If you watch the sun rising from the East

you know, faster than the speed of light, that there is no sun rising

from the West as well. So in this way, information can move

instantaneously, a sort of teleportation. But what is the use of the

information that we can transmit through this method? Absolutely

none. It really is useless information, but it forms the basis for what

we call Quantum teleportation.

The process is simple. Let’s say that you want to teleport

information from atom X to atom Z. First, take a separate atom Y

which is entangled with atom Z. Atom X comes in contact with atom

Y, it scans Y and information from X is transferred to Y. This means

that atoms X and Y are now entangled. Since Y was already

entangled to Z, Z is now identical to X. So maybe not simple, but you

understand the gist of it, I hope. This process has already been used

to teleport a gas of cesium atoms over half a yard. The problem is

that, when trying to teleport more than a few atoms of a substance

at a time, the atoms start to lose their cohesion. This makes the

concept of human teleportation incredibly difficult. So although

there is technically nothing stopping teleportation from becoming a

commonplace form of transportation, its not going to be possible

for a long time.

But quantum teleportation could still be used in today’s society,

through quantum computing. Regular digital computers function

based on a binary system. Strings of 0s and 1s called "bits"

basically tell the computer what to do. But things get weird when we

delve into the netherworld of the quantum. Quantum computing

uses a "qubit", which could be any number between 0 and 1. It

works like quantum state of Schrödinger’s cat which we discussed

earlier. There is an equal probability that it is dead or alive, so to

figure out its actual state you have to add the wave functions of both

probabilities, coming up with something in between. Like the

dead/alive duality of the cat, all atoms have a duality in spin. An

atom could be spinning in either a positive or a negative direction

and, quantumly speaking, they’re all spinning both positively and

negatively. Complicated quantum calculations can be found, then,

by measuring the differences of the flips and spins of the wave

functions of many atoms. And to gain the information of these

atoms without changing their conformation and ruining the whole

system, would require a form of quantum teleportation. As of now, it

takes the world’s largest super quantum computer, the Jülich

JUGENE computer with 300,000 processors and a computing

power of 1015 floating point operations per second, to factor

15707 into 113 x 139. This doesn’t seem particularly impressive,

seeing as your computer has to do more intense calculations on a

daily basis. However, quantum computing is a fast growing field,

and it may soon be needed to compete with the speedy progress

that the rest of the computing industry is undergoing. There is only

so much that you fit on a silicon chip and that limit will be reached

in our lifetime. Once it is, computer technology will hit a road block

unless a new race of computers rises.

Real human teleportation probably won’t happen in our lifetime,

but the affects of quantum teleportation definitely will. The near-

instantaneous transport of information will shape our lives for many

generations to come. And who knows, maybe we’ll be able to say

“Beam me up, Scotty” soon too.

Sources:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/03/100331000235.htm

Astronomers do IT all night.

Chemists do IT by bonding.

Newton did IT with force.

Eighteenth century physicists did IT with rigid bodies.

Pascal did IT under pressure.

Hooke did IT using springs.

Coulomb got all charged up about IT.

Hertz did IT frequently.

For Franklin, IT was an electrifying experience.

Edison claims to have invented IT.

When Richter did IT, the Earth shook.

For Darwin, IT was natural.

Freud did IT in his sleep.

Mendel studied the consequences of IT.

When Wegener did IT, continents moved.

Heisenberg was never sure whether he even did IT.

Bohr did IT in an excited state.

Pauli did IT but excluded his friends.

Hubble did IT in the dark.

Cosmologists do IT in a big bang.

Wigner did IT in a group.

Astrophysicists do IT with young starlets.

Planetary scientists do IT with Uranus.

Electron microscopists do IT 100,000 times.

Answer: It is science, of course.

Q WHAT IS “IT”?

8 || sparks

Image courtesy of Oberazzi on Flickr

he idea seems implausible, but some theorize that with the help

of superconducting magnetic levitation, it is possible to create a

mode of transportation which is silent, cheaper than planes,

trains, or cars and faster than jets: Evacuated Tube Transport.

Even now magnetic levitation (or maglev for short) technology is

already being used. China, Germany, and Japan have developed

commercial maglev trains which can travel at speeds up to 361

mph. So what exactly is superconducting magnetic levitation?

Here’s a breakdown:

-- Superconductor: An electrical conductor that allows

electricity to flow without resistance after the conductor is

cooled below a certain temperature.

-- Meissner Effect: After a superconductor is cooled, it will

repel magnetic fields. So if a magnet is brought close to a

superconductor, the superconductor will move away.

-- Flux Trapping Effect: If a magnet is held close to a

superconductor, the magnetic field from the magnet will pass

through the superconductor in small quantities called flux tubes.

Wherever the flux tubes penetrate the superconductor, the

property of “superconductivity” is lost. This means that parts of

the conductor are no longer under the Meissner Effect (it won’t

repel magnetic fields) and will thus be attracted by the magnet.

The other parts of the conductor repel the magnet because they

still have the superconductive property of the Meissner Effect.

The combination of repulsion and attraction cause magnetic

levitation and suspension.

With the help of magnetic levitation, vehicles could be

suspended, guided, and propelled by magnets. Suspension

allows a vehicle to move smoothly and quietly. Compared to

normal mechanical vehicles, maglev transport would require less

maintenance and would be able to travel at speeds impractical

for mechanical transport because of the wear and tear caused by

friction. At the same time, the passenger would sit quite

comfortably in the tubes.

This is just a brief look at the inner mechanism of the proposed

Evacuated Tube Transport system, which would supposedly be

able to take passengers from New York to Beijing in only two

hours by accelerating to speeds around 4,000 mph.

Sources:

http://www.kurzweilai.net/new-york-to-beijing-in-two-hours-without-leaving-the-ground

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/psi-vid/2011/10/19/quantum-levitation-where-science-videos-dont-get-any-cooler/

New York

to Beijing in

2 Hours?

How to Travel at 4000 MPH

Using Magnets

By:

Jo

sep

h T

san

g

T

9|| sparks

Q: What do you

do at your Job?

A: “I work as a

biochemist at a

pharmaceutical

company. The

major part of my

work is in vitro[1]

assay[2]

development for

drug screening.”

Q: Name some of

the instruments

you use in the

laboratory.

A: “Barracuda,

which is a

machine that can

test single cell

membrane

potential[3] in

high-throughput

screen[4] mode.

Each time, the

machine can test

384 sets of cells

in a single run;

comparatively,

the traditional

manual patch

can handle only

one cell at a

time. Another

instrument that

we use is Tetra,

which is a

machine that is

used in the

fluorescence

assay in order to

test ion flux[5] in

the cell when

treated with a

specific

stimulator. To do

liquid transfer,

we use the

Bravo, which is a

robot that can

handle 384 wells

of liquid

transfer.”

Q: What is the

process for

getting a new

drug onto the

market?

A: “You first have

to identify the

target. Next you

have to develop

an assay method

to screen a huge

compound

library. Through

the screen, you

identify several

appropriate tool

compounds

among the hit

compounds and

manipulate

those

compounds to

the point that is

good enough for

a drug

development.

Once a

compound is

found valuable

during in vitro

and in vivo[6]

tests, the

compound will

be sent to pre-

clinical trials

followed by

clinical trials. If

the compound

passes clinical

trials, it will be

sent to the FDA

for approval. If

FDA approves,

the company will

start

manufacturing

and marketing

the drugs.”

Q: What is the

ratio of your time

working at a desk

versus laboratory

work?

A: “Half-half.”

A Life of Interviewed by 10 || sparks

Q: What are the

safety

requirements

when you work in

the laboratory?

A: “We need to

wear lab coats,

gloves, and

goggles, if no

glasses. Other

requirements

state that we

have to wear

closed toed

shoes and pants.

Furthermore, we

always use fume

hoods to handle

organic solvents,

always check

radioactive levels

with Geiger

Counters (a

radioactive

counter) etc.”

Q: What research

are you currently

working on?

A: We are trying

to find drugs that

will help patients

with Neuron

Disorder

Diseases.”

Q: What do you

enjoy most about

your job?

A: “Like any

other job it has

its highs and

lows. At times

it’s hard work,

but it’s worth it

knowing that

what you’re

doing helps

make many

people’s lives

easier or even

saves some

people’s lives.”

Notes

*The interviewee

wished to be

kept anonymous

[1]Conducted

outside a living

organism

[2]A procedure

that

quantitatively or

qualitatively

measures the

presence or

activity of a

target

[3]The difference

in charge

between the

inside of the

membrane and

the outside

[4]A method of

experimentation

usually used in

the discovery of

drugs

[5]The rate of flow

of ions across a

given surface

[6]Conducted

inside a living

organism

Biochemistry Alvin Ho* 11 || sparks a

here is that one lifelong question that marks the innocence of

our childhoods: why is the sky blue? Many have wondered about

this perplexing phenomenon but few have ascertained a valid

answer. In the olden days, your mama or papa may have just told

you that the sky was just made that way. In your eternal trust in the

godliness of your parents’ knowledge you may have fooled yourself

into accepting that explanation; however, deep down you knew

that there was more. There is a fulfilling reason why the sky is blue.

Honestly, in these days in the month of April in the supposedly

sunny San Diego, the sky is more grey than blue. Even now the sky

is grey, but by grey I mean “grey-t” of course. When the sky does

reveal its luminous blue glow, however, it is better than good. Nay,

it is even better than great. The unbounded blue expanse smiles

down upon the earth’s inhabitants with a revitalizing hope, a hope

that lifts the spirits of the depressed without the scalding side

effects of the scorching sun. With this recollection of the almost

holy quality of a blue sky, I feel that I must rescind a previous

statement. A grey sky is far from being great. It pales in

comparison to the magnificent grandeur of that which has for so

long been the symbol of everlasting hope.

While I would be glad to continue to elaborate on the splendor of a

blue sky, I believe it is about time I delivered what I had implicitly

promised earlier today. I shall inform you of why the sky is blue.

This act pains me, however. With gain in knowledge there is also

loss. If it has not yet already been dispelled, that innocent

admiration of the everyday miracles in nature may be wisped away

upon the advent of newly found information. If you care for your

childhood wonders, I advise you not to read on.

The sky’s blue appearance is a somewhat complex phenomenon.

As you may already know, white light from the sun is a mixture of

all the colors from the visible spectrum. It contains all of the

ROYGBV colors and can be separated using a prism. Why then is

the sky usually only perceived as being blue? Many assume that

the particles in the atmosphere just reflect blue light and absorb

all others. This conclusion, however, is degrading of the

magnificent scope of our atmosphere. Surely all the tiny little

particles that make up the cornucopia of gasses cannot all just

reflect blue and only blue. The true answer lies in the Tyndall

Effect.

By: Victor Han

T

12 || sparks

Image courtesy of Andres Rueda on Flickr

In 1859 John Tyndall discovered that when white light passes

through a medium with suspended small particles, light with

shorter wavelengths is scattered more than light with longer

wavelengths, with violet having the shortest wavelength and red

having the longest wavelength. All the other colors fit in between

these two in the order of ROYGBV. While this is called the Tyndall

Effect, there is a quantitative way to express light scattering as

well. Rayleigh in 1871 discovered that when the particles are much

smaller than the wavelength of light that hits them, the intensity of

the scattered light is inversely proportional to the wavelength of the

light to the fourth power.

Originally, in Tyndall and Rayleigh’s time, it was thought

that the sky’s blue hue was due to the

scattering of blue light from water

vapor and dust. This, however, is

not the case. If it were the case,

dusty and humid days would

have a drastic color distinction

as compared to regular days.

Alas, our sky is not as

variable as that. It is

instead the nitrogen

and oxygen molecules

that contribute to the

color in the sky. This

conclusion was proven

by Einstein in 1911.

If you have been paying

close attention to this

explanation of the sky’s color,

you must surely have at least

one thought nagging at your mind.

If not, then the sky must surely be

feeling blue as well as looking it. If the

Tyndall Effect states that shorter wavelengths

of light are scattered more than longer wavelengths of

light, what happened to violet light? Violet light should be

scattered even more than blue light is. There are several reasons

for the sky’s blueness: more violet light is absorbed by the

atmosphere than other colors of light, human eyes are not very

sensitive to violet light, and human vision is very strange. It just so

happens that we perceive the sky to be that perfect blue.

This perception results from the mechanics of the eye. There are

three types of cones in the human eye: red cones, green cones, and

blue cones. As their names suggest, red cones respond to

wavelengths around red light, green cones respond to wavelengths

around green light, and blue cones respond to wavelengths around

blue light. One would think that an increase in the intensity of

scattered light with a decrease in wavelength would stimulate the

red cone less than the green cone and the green cone less than the

blue cone. This would produce a greenish-blue color to our eyes.

There is, however, some violet light. This violet light stimulates

both the blue cone and the red cone. As a result, the red cone and

the green cone are both stimulated equally and the blue cone is

stimulated abundantly. The final conclusion of these stimulations

is that perfect blue hue that the sky imbues. It’s a wonder that the

red and green cones are stimulated so equally when looking at the

sky. Whether it is due to the evolution of human sight or just plain

old chance, our perception of the sky’s blueness is a true marvel.

Maybe that answer that you have believed in all your life is partially

true. Your eyes are just made that way.

Sources:

http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/physics/General/BlueSky/blu

e_sky.html

http://science.howstuffworks.com/nature/climate-

weather/atmospheric/sky.htm

http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/atmos/blusky.html

http://blue-f0x.deviantart.com/art/Eye-Drawing-Contest-Entry-

123964658

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By: A

lvin H

o

he terrestrial terrain has been studied carefully for a long time and

the creatures that inhabit it are well known to man. However, the

aquatic terrain is not nearly as well known. Only 5% of all the

oceans that cover this planet have been explored, leaving the 95%

unexplored parts to the human imagination. Although many people

think Marine Biology is not a very diverse subject, it actually covers

a vast number of other biological studies, including, but not limited

to, oceanography, cell biology, zoology, ecology, molecular biology

and marine conservation biology. In order to better understand

marine biology, let us explore the aquatic world, as well as the

origins of this fascinating science.

Aristotle (384-322 BC) was considered the father of marine biology

because he was the first man to accurately distinguish between

different aquatic species, including crustaceans, echinoderms,

mollusks and fish. However, the true studies of modern marine

biology began with a ship captain, Captain James Cook (1728-

1729), who explored various unchartered waters and recorded his

observations. Cook circumnavigated the world twice in his lifetime

and kept track of various animals that were unknown to humans at

the time. Following Cook was the famous biologist, Charles Darwin

(1809-1882). Although Darwin is mostly known for his theory of

evolution, he has contributed quite a lot to the study of marine

biology. During his voyage on the HMS Beagle, he collected and

studied various different marine organisms. It was due to his

interest in geology that led him to investigate coral reefs and how

they were created.

Following Darwin’s voyage, Sir Charles Wyville Thomson led a 3 year

voyage on the HMS Challenger. Thomson’s voyage is generally

considered the birth of oceanography, as he collected data of

specimens which spanned 50 volumes of books. During this

voyage, Thomson was able to disprove Forbe’s theory that marine

life couldn’t exist below 550 meters.

Because the bounds of marine biology are endless, we will look at a

few individual topics under the marine biology branch in order to

obtain a better understanding of the subject. We will begin our

journey with the study of microorganisms, or microbiology.

Microorganisms, also known as microbes, are single-celled

organisms or less complex multi-cellular organisms (ex. Algae,

Bacteria, Fungi, and Protozoa). The study of these is one of the

most important aspects of marine biology because these

microorganisms are what make up the base of the food chain (along

with some aquatic plants) in most aquatic environments. Primary

production is the first level of the food chain and this process

“there are over 25,000 recorded

species of fish and there are still

many thousands more that have

not yet been uncovered”

T

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Image courtesy of Patrick Smith on Flickr

Sources:

http://marinebio.org/oceans/marine-biology.asp

http://library.thinkquest.org/CR0212089/micr.htm

http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/

microorganisms. Microorganisms also consist of 98% of the

ocean’s biomass, and are therefore an integral part of the marine

community. Most microorganisms will live close to the surface of

the water because many, like algae, need sunlight for

photosynthesis. Without understanding microorganisms, there is

no way of understanding the interactions of the marine community.

Another form of marine biology is environmental marine biology.

Environmental marine biology basically checks for the health of a

marine environment to see if the water quality is capable of

sufficiently sustaining life. Checking the health of the coastal

environment is especially important, due to all the coastal

industrialization going on. Scientists involved in environmental

biology will check the coastal waters to see if it is healthy enough

for people to be near it and to make sure that the marine life there

is healthy. These environmental marine biologists don’t only study

the surface of the ocean; they are also responsible for checking on

the Benthic Zone (deepest part of the ocean) and are trained to

predict how erosion of the bottom will affect the environment as

well as the marine life.

You might be wondering why I haven’t mentioned fish (the second

most abundant marine organism) yet. The study of fish,

Ichthyology, includes studies of bony fishes, cartilaginous fishes,

jawless fishes, sharks, skates and rays. The scientists involved in

this field study the classification, morphology, evolution, behavior,

diversity, and ecology of both saltwater and freshwater fish. As of

right now there are over 25,000 recorded species of fish and there

are still many thousands more that have not yet been uncovered.

Finally, there is marine ethology. Marine ethology is the study of

marine animal behavior. Scientists who study marine ethology

want to be able to understand the organisms that share this planet

with us. The study of marine ethology also enables scientists to

better understand how to help a particular species if it’s becoming

endangered. Most of the marine animal behavior is studied in a

natural environment in order to better understand how these

animals live under normal conditions.

Although mankind is making rapid process in aquatic discoveries,

there is much remaining that has yet to be uncovered. The journey

that was started by Captain James Cook has yet to be finished. The

marine environment will continue to baffle mankind for many years

to come.

“The marine environment will continue to

baffle mankind for many years to come”

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Image courtesy of Cliff Barnes on Flickr

Stem Cells Revealed

By: Victor Han

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adult stem cells, and thus they are more easily used and researched.

Adult stem cells, however, also have an advantage: they have the

potential to be less likely rejected by a patient. Adult stem cells can

possibly be taken from a patient and then transplanted back to the

same patient after forced cell differentiation. This may reduce the

immune system rejection rate and is a process that embryonic stem

cells are incapable of doing.

With their ability to regenerate and differentiate into other cell types,

stem cells show potential for the treatment of a variety of illnesses. As

research of stem cells progresses, scientists hope to make the

illnesses of the present into things of the past. By studying how stem

cells transform into other cells, scientists learn what goes wrong when

a normal, harmless cell turns evil and becomes cancerous. Once this

is discovered, scientists can develop a way to prevent cells from going

to the dark side. Not only can stem cells enhance our understanding of

life’s complicated processes, but they also have the potential to be

used in medical therapies. Doctors hope that one day stem cells can

help people in need of new cells. They hope that one day stem cells

can create the organs needed for victims of diseases such as liver

disease, heart disease, diabetes, and many more.

Sources:

http://stemcells.nih.gov/info/basics/ http://www.allaboutpopularissues.org/history-of-stem-cell-research-faq.htm

Art by Esther Wang

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Notes:

Notes:

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